The West Old & New December Vol. II Issue XII | Page 9

Howling Wolf
Surviving the Sand Creek Massacre at
the age of 15 he was later incarcerated.
He began using old sheets of
ledger paper to do
drawings of the event.
Howling Wolf (Cheyenne: Ho-na-nist-to, 1849–July 5, 1927) was a Southern Cheyenne warrior who was a member of
Black Kettle's band and was present at the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado. After being imprisoned in the Fort
Marion in Saint Augustine, Florida in 1875, Howling Wolf became a proficient artist in a style known as Ledger art for
the accounting ledger books in which the drawings were done.
Howling Wolf, along with his father Eagle Head (Minimic), were in the Southern Cheyenne camp on Sand Creek in
Colorado Territory on the morning of November 29, 1864 when they were attacked by Colonel John Chivington and
the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers. The camp was caught off guard as Black Kettle was instructed to camp
there by the U.S. Army and most of the braves were out on a hunt.
Howling Wolf, who was only 15 at the time, and Eagle Head, were among the few warriors to defend against the unprovoked attack. The approximate number of deaths amongst the Southern Cheyenne and allied Arapaho some of which
were in Black Kettle's camp is 137, most were women and children. The Americans committed numerous atrocities at
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