On this date in 1879, in weather even colder than today’s, the long saga of Dull Knife’s (aka Morning Star) band of Cheyenne reached a climax. Three years earlier, in the aftermath of the Battle of the Greasy Grass (Custer’s Last Stand), the group was attacked at night in their winter camp, sending families with small children fleeing into forty-below weather. Many died and they were forced to slice open their horses to create a warm place to keep their babies from freezing.

In late 1878, they found themselves imprisoned on a reservation in Oklahoma, dying of malaria at an alarming rate. One night they all fled. In what became known a “Cheyenne Autumn”, they outmaneuvered thousands of US Army troops and pioneer vigilantes in a desperate attempt to return home. Almost there, Dull Knife’s band of 150 men, women, and children ended up surrendering at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. On…