Mochi (Cheyenne)
Encyclopedia
Mochi was a Southern Cheyenne woman of the Tse Tse Stus band and the wife of Chief Medicine Water. Mochi, then a 24-year-old, was a member of Black Kettle
's camp and was present on the morning of November 27, 1864, when John Chivington
and over 650 troops of the First Colorado Cavalry, Third Colorado Cavalry
and a company of First New Mexico Volunteers attacked Black Kettle's winter camp at Sand Creek on the plains of eastern Colorado Territory
.
During the unprovoked attack, Mochi witnessed her mother being shot in the forehead and killed by an American soldier who had entered their tipi
. According to her account, he then attempted to rape her, prompting her to shoot and kill him with her grandfather's rifle. She then fled the camp with the other survivors trying to evade Chivington's men. After that attack, which became known as the Sand Creek Massacre
, she became a warrior and engaged in raiding and warfare for the next 11 years.
Mochi became a ruthless warrior who fought alongside her husband in numerous battles and raids and was the only Native American
woman to be incarcerated by the United States Army as a prisoner of war
.
Mochi, Medicine Water and the other members of their band were involved in the massacre of a surveying party led by Capt. Oliver Francis Short, who had fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Short, his 14-year-old son Truman, and four other members of the party were killed, with three of them being scalped.
, Chief Medicine Water and his band, including Mochi, attacked John German and his family as they were breaking camp. The family had camped along the stage route which followed the Smoky Hill River
while en route to Fort Wallace
.
German, his wife Lydia, son Stephen, and daughters Rebecca Jane and Joanna were killed and scalped, with Mochi killing Lydia with a tomahawk blow to the skull. After plundering the camp and setting fire to the wagon, the band took German's four youngest daughters captive. They were Catherine, age seventeen; Sophia, twelve; Julia, seven; and Addie, five.
Julia and Addie were traded to Grey Beard's band, and were liberated after an attack on his camp on November 8, 1874 by a column led by Lt. Frank D. Baldwin. Catherine and Sophia were released in March when Chief Stone Calf and most of the Southern Cheyenne surrendered at Fort Leavenworth
, in Kansas.
, 11 Comanche
, and 1 Caddo
. Two of the Cheyenne died en route, including Grey Beard, who was thwarted in a suicide attempt only to be shot and killed trying to escape.
After being incarcerated at Fort Sill
in Indian Territory
, they were taken in eight prison wagons to Fort Leavenworth and then loaded in a special train for the journey to St. Augustine, Florida
. In St. Augustine, Mochi and the others were incarcerated in an old coquina
stone fort built by the Spanish in the 17th century. The fort, originally named the Castillo de San Marcos
, was renamed Fort Marion by the Americans.
Mochi and the others would remain in captivity at the fort under the supervision of Captain Richard Pratt
until 1878. Upon her release she returned to Oklahoma and died in 1881, in what is present day Clinton, Oklahoma
.
Black Kettle
Chief Black Kettle was a leader of the Southern Cheyenne after 1854, who led efforts to resist American settlement from Kansas and Colorado territories. He was a peacemaker who accepted treaties to protect his people. He survived the Third Colorado Cavalry's Sand Creek Massacre on the Cheyenne...
's camp and was present on the morning of November 27, 1864, when John Chivington
John Chivington
John Milton Chivington was a colonel in the United States Army who served in the American Indian Wars during the Colorado War and the New Mexico Campaigns of the American Civil War...
and over 650 troops of the First Colorado Cavalry, Third Colorado Cavalry
Third Colorado Cavalry
In the mid-1860s, increased traffic on the emigrant trails and settler encroachment resulted in numerous attacks against them by the Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Hungate massacre and the display in Denver of mutilated victims raised political pressure for the government to protect its people...
and a company of First New Mexico Volunteers attacked Black Kettle's winter camp at Sand Creek on the plains of eastern Colorado Territory
Colorado Territory
The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado....
.
During the unprovoked attack, Mochi witnessed her mother being shot in the forehead and killed by an American soldier who had entered their tipi
Tipi
A tipi is a Lakota name for a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles used by the nomadic tribes and sedentary tribal dwellers of the Great Plains...
. According to her account, he then attempted to rape her, prompting her to shoot and kill him with her grandfather's rifle. She then fled the camp with the other survivors trying to evade Chivington's men. After that attack, which became known as the Sand Creek Massacre
Sand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
, she became a warrior and engaged in raiding and warfare for the next 11 years.
Mochi became a ruthless warrior who fought alongside her husband in numerous battles and raids and was the only Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
woman to be incarcerated by the United States Army as a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
.
Lone Tree massacre
On August 24, 1874, in present day Meade County, KansasMeade County, Kansas
Meade County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is named in honor of General George G. Meade. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 4,575...
Mochi, Medicine Water and the other members of their band were involved in the massacre of a surveying party led by Capt. Oliver Francis Short, who had fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Short, his 14-year-old son Truman, and four other members of the party were killed, with three of them being scalped.
German family massacre
On the morning of September 10, 1874, in KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Chief Medicine Water and his band, including Mochi, attacked John German and his family as they were breaking camp. The family had camped along the stage route which followed the Smoky Hill River
Smoky Hill River
The Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through the U.S. states of Colorado and Kansas.-Names:The Smoky Hill gets its name from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows...
while en route to Fort Wallace
Fort Wallace
Fort Wallace was a US Cavalry fort built in Wallace County, Kansas to help defend settlers against Cheyenne and Sioux raids. All that remains today is the cemetery, but for a period of over a decade Fort Wallace was one of the most important military outposts on the frontier.-External links:* * *...
.
German, his wife Lydia, son Stephen, and daughters Rebecca Jane and Joanna were killed and scalped, with Mochi killing Lydia with a tomahawk blow to the skull. After plundering the camp and setting fire to the wagon, the band took German's four youngest daughters captive. They were Catherine, age seventeen; Sophia, twelve; Julia, seven; and Addie, five.
Julia and Addie were traded to Grey Beard's band, and were liberated after an attack on his camp on November 8, 1874 by a column led by Lt. Frank D. Baldwin. Catherine and Sophia were released in March when Chief Stone Calf and most of the Southern Cheyenne surrendered at Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...
, in Kansas.
Fort Marion
Mochi and her husband Medicine Water were among 35 Cheyenne singled out for incarceration in the east. They were among a larger contingent of Plains tribe members to be sent east; in addition to the Cheyenne there were 27 KiowaKiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, 11 Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
, and 1 Caddo
Caddo
The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...
. Two of the Cheyenne died en route, including Grey Beard, who was thwarted in a suicide attempt only to be shot and killed trying to escape.
After being incarcerated at Fort Sill
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...
in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
, they were taken in eight prison wagons to Fort Leavenworth and then loaded in a special train for the journey to St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
. In St. Augustine, Mochi and the others were incarcerated in an old coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
stone fort built by the Spanish in the 17th century. The fort, originally named the Castillo de San Marcos
Castillo de San Marcos
The Castillo de San Marcos site is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It is located in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. Construction was begun in 1672 by the Spanish when Florida was a Spanish territory. During the twenty year period of British possession from 1763 until 1784, the...
, was renamed Fort Marion by the Americans.
Mochi and the others would remain in captivity at the fort under the supervision of Captain Richard Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt is best known as the founder and longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.-Military career:...
until 1878. Upon her release she returned to Oklahoma and died in 1881, in what is present day Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton is a city in Custer and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the 2010 census.-History:The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E...
.