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1876 Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.

An unfortunate mis-translation of history: Dull Knife was his Lakota Sioux name-given in battle; his Cheyenne name was Morning Star (Cheyenne: Vóóhéhéve. He was noted for his active resistance to Western expansion and the Federal government. Transported to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma and unable to hunt, the tribe began to suffer from starvation and disease until September 1878, when Morning Star began to lead the tribe back toward their ancient homelands. He lead his people in a 1,500 mile long journey back to their homeland, where his people wanted to live. The retreat did not come easy and it was not as successful as they hoped it would. Fighting through, the Cheyenne were able to outmaneuver Federal troops in the until they were captured near Fort Robinson in Nebraska. The tribe was said to have taken apart their guns, hidden under blankets or worn as necklaces and bracelets by children. On January 8, 1879, the tribe again tried to escape north when most of the Cheyenne, mostly women and children, were killed by Federal troops. Of those who attempted the break for freedom, 64 were killed, and 78, most of them wounded, were recaptured. However a few of the tribe managed to escape, including Dull Knife. For ten days they lived in terrible conditions before, on January 9, 1879, they stumbled upon Pine Ridge Agency which was at South Dakota. Many months later the Northern Cheyenne were given a reservation in Montana, forced by public opinion to establish a reservation for the northern Cheyenne on the Tongue and Rosebud rivers — the Tongue River Reservation. It is due to the courage and determination of Morning Star and other Cheyenne leaders that the Northern Cheyenne still possess a homeland in their traditional country (present-day Montana). Dull Knife College is in present- day Lame Deer, Montana. wiki