Touch the Clouds
Encyclopedia
Touch the Clouds (c. 1838 – September 5, 1905) was a chief of the Minneconjou Teton Lakota (also known as Sioux) known for his bravery and skill in battle, physical strength and for his diplomacy in counsel. The youngest son of Lone Horn
, he was brother to Spotted Elk
, Frog, and Roman Nose
. There is evidence suggesting that he was a cousin to Crazy Horse
.
When Touch the Clouds's Wakpokinyan band split in the mid 1870s, the band traveled to the Cheyenne River Agency. He assumed the leadership of the band in 1875 after the death of his father, and retained leadership during the initial period of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77
. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn
, he took the band north, eventually surrendering at the Spotted Tail Agency, where he enlisted in the Indian Scouts. However, not long after being present at the death of Crazy Horse, Touch the Clouds transferred with his band back to the Cheyenne River Agency.
Touch the Clouds became one of the new leaders of the Minneconjou at the Cheyenne River Agency in 1881, keeping his position until his death on September 5, 1905. Upon his death his son, Amos Charging First, took over as the new chief.
By the time that Touch the Clouds had reached his thirties, he had earned the respect of his peers and had been selected as the head of one of the tribe's warrior societies. In this role, he often led war parties against enemy tribes. White Bull
later recalled an occasion in 1872 when Touch the Clouds led a horse-raiding party but decided to turn back upon discovering that they were greatly outnumbered by the Crow
.
The crisis over the increasing European-American presence on the northern Great Plains caused growing dissension among the various Lakota bands as they debated what to do. The Wakpokinyan appear to have split, with part of the band (including Touch the Clouds) going in to the Cheyenne River Agency on the Missouri River
. A portion led by Lame Deer
chose to remain out. Lone Horn struggled to maintain dialogue between the various factions of Minneconjou and their relatives, part of his long record as a Lakota diplomat. After Lone Horn died in 1875, the mantle of leadership fell to his son, just as the US Army was beginning its campaign against the non-treaty Cheyenne
and Lakota bands.
, Touch the Clouds stayed with his band at the Cheyenne River Agency through that summer. Shortly after word of Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn
reached the reservation, Touch the Clouds pleaded with army officers at the nearby post: “Have compassion on us. Don’t punish us all because some of us fought when we had to.” Believing that agency bands were supporting the "hostiles", the army prepared to disarm the friendly Lakota and confiscate their ponies. In late September 1876, suspicious of the Army’s intentions, Touch the Clouds led a breakout of Minneconjou and Sans Arc
who fled the agency, abandoning their lodgepoles and other possessions in their hurried flight north.
The arrival of these refugees, including Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose, Bull Eagle, Spotted Elk and other headmen, introduced a more moderate element into the leadership of the northern villages. In October 1876, the combined force fought troops in several skirmishes along the new road to the Tongue River
Cantonment. After Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull
departed with their bands, representatives of the Minneconjou met with Colonel Nelson Miles to discuss the possibility of surrender. By February 1877, Touch the Clouds was camped near Short Pine Hills on the Little Missouri River
with about 60 or 70 lodges. Here, he met the famed Brule
leader, Spotted Tail
, in a five-day council. He agreed to take his band in to surrender at the Spotted Tail Agency in northwestern Nebraska
. They arrived on April 14, 1877 and Touch the Clouds was the first to ride forward. "I lay down this gun," he announced to all who could hear, "as a token of submission to Gen. Crook
, to whom I wish to surrender."
In the months that followed, Touch the Clouds and the Minneconjou lived peacefully at the Spotted Tail agency. The interpreter at Spotted Tail, Louis Bordeaux, described the Minneconjou leader as "an honorable and peaceable Indian, a man of good character, a very fine man, deprecated hostilities and was a peacemaker." The army persuaded him to enlist in the Indian Scouts. Touch the Clouds served as the first sergeant for Company E.
Touch the Clouds' relationship with Army officials soured in late August 1877 when he and Crazy Horse were asked to lead scouts north to fight Chief Joseph
and the Nez Perce. Four days later, the army attempted to arrest Crazy Horse, but he slipped away to the Spotted Tail Agency. Touch the Clouds accompanied his friend back to Camp Robinson, where Crazy Horse was fatally bayonetted when army soldiers attempted to force him into the guardhouse. Touch the Clouds was allowed to remain with Crazy Horse that night until the Oglala died. Placing his hand on Crazy Horse's chest, Touch the Clouds said, "It is good: he has looked for death, and it has come." Touch the Clouds went to Washington, D.C.
as a delegate the following month.
In October 1877, the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies were removed to the Missouri River
, during which time Touch the Clouds and his band joined the Oglala. Many of the northern bands that had surrendered the previous spring broke away. They headed north to join Sitting Bull in Canada, where he had gone after the Battle of the Little Bighorn
. Touch the Clouds was able to keep most of his band quiet and prevent them from leaving. He asked that they be transferred back home to the Cheyenne River Agency. Dr. James Irwin, agent at Red Cloud, supported the transfer. He noted that Touch the Clouds had been "very obedient and orderly during his stay with me and with his band remained behind when all the others left here."
, Big Crow, White Swan
and Touch the Bear. At the ceremony, the new leaders sang the following song: "It is hard to be chief; But I do my best to be a chief."
In 1898, Touch the Clouds traveled to Omaha, Nebraska
as part of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, where he was photographed by Frank A. Rinehart.
Touch the Clouds continued to be a vocal advocate for his people for the remainder of his life. In 1884, Rev. Addison Foster visited the Cheyenne River Reservation. Following a church service, Touch the Clouds remained behind "to say that he felt the importance of this new way and that he wished for himself and his people schools and churches." He died on September 5, 1905, on Cherry Creek, South Dakota
.
Touch the Clouds was married at least twice. He had several daughters and at least one son. His oldest son, Amos Charging First, succeeded his father as a community leader, the next in the dynasty of Minneconjou headmen starting with the great Lone Horn
.
Lone Horn
Lone Horn, , was chief to the Minneconjou Teton Lakota. He was father to Spotted Elk and uncle to Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose and Frog. He was uncle of Crazy Horse. He participated in the signing of the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868...
, he was brother to Spotted Elk
Spotted Elk
Spotted Elk , , was the name of a chief of the Miniconjou Lakota Sioux. He was a son of chief One Horn and became a chief upon the death of his father. He was a highly renowned chief with skills in war and negotiations...
, Frog, and Roman Nose
Roman Nose
Roman Nose, a.k.a. Hook Nose , was a Native American of the Northern Cheyenne, and possibly the greatest and most influential warrior during the Plains Indian War of the 1860s...
. There is evidence suggesting that he was a cousin to Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
.
When Touch the Clouds's Wakpokinyan band split in the mid 1870s, the band traveled to the Cheyenne River Agency. He assumed the leadership of the band in 1875 after the death of his father, and retained leadership during the initial period of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77
Great Sioux War of 1876-77
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 involving the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, against the United States...
. After the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
, he took the band north, eventually surrendering at the Spotted Tail Agency, where he enlisted in the Indian Scouts. However, not long after being present at the death of Crazy Horse, Touch the Clouds transferred with his band back to the Cheyenne River Agency.
Touch the Clouds became one of the new leaders of the Minneconjou at the Cheyenne River Agency in 1881, keeping his position until his death on September 5, 1905. Upon his death his son, Amos Charging First, took over as the new chief.
Rise to leadership
Born between 1837 and 1839, Touch the Clouds was the youngest son of the influential headman Lone Horn, leader of a Minneconjou band called the Wakpokinyan (Flies Along the Stream). Touch the Clouds was known for his height and great strength, to which his name relates. Lieutenant Henry R. Lemly, who met Touch the Clouds in 1877, described him as a Minneconjou "of magnificent physique, standing six feet five inches in his moccasins, and without an ounce of surplus flesh, weighing 280 pounds".By the time that Touch the Clouds had reached his thirties, he had earned the respect of his peers and had been selected as the head of one of the tribe's warrior societies. In this role, he often led war parties against enemy tribes. White Bull
White Bull
White Bull was the nephew of Sitting Bull, and a famous warrior in his own right. White Bull participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. For years it was said White Bull boasted of killing Lt. George Armstrong Custer at the famous battle...
later recalled an occasion in 1872 when Touch the Clouds led a horse-raiding party but decided to turn back upon discovering that they were greatly outnumbered by the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
.
The crisis over the increasing European-American presence on the northern Great Plains caused growing dissension among the various Lakota bands as they debated what to do. The Wakpokinyan appear to have split, with part of the band (including Touch the Clouds) going in to the Cheyenne River Agency on the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
. A portion led by Lame Deer
Lame Deer
John Fire Lame Deer, , also known as Lame Deer, John Fire, John Lame Deer and later The Old Man, was a Lakota holy man, member of the Heyoka society, grandson of the Miniconjou head man Lame Deer, father of Archie Fire Lame Deer.John Fire Lame Deer was a Mineconju-Lakota Sioux born on the...
chose to remain out. Lone Horn struggled to maintain dialogue between the various factions of Minneconjou and their relatives, part of his long record as a Lakota diplomat. After Lone Horn died in 1875, the mantle of leadership fell to his son, just as the US Army was beginning its campaign against the non-treaty Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
and Lakota bands.
Great Sioux War of 1876–77
At the beginning of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77Great Sioux War of 1876-77
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 involving the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, against the United States...
, Touch the Clouds stayed with his band at the Cheyenne River Agency through that summer. Shortly after word of Custer’s defeat at the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
reached the reservation, Touch the Clouds pleaded with army officers at the nearby post: “Have compassion on us. Don’t punish us all because some of us fought when we had to.” Believing that agency bands were supporting the "hostiles", the army prepared to disarm the friendly Lakota and confiscate their ponies. In late September 1876, suspicious of the Army’s intentions, Touch the Clouds led a breakout of Minneconjou and Sans Arc
Sans Arc
The Sans Arc, or Itázipčho in Lakota, are a subdivision of the Lakota people. Sans Arc is the French translation of the Lakota name which means, "Without bows." The translator of Wooden Leg: A Warrior Who Fought Custer renders the name as Arrows all Gone...
who fled the agency, abandoning their lodgepoles and other possessions in their hurried flight north.
The arrival of these refugees, including Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose, Bull Eagle, Spotted Elk and other headmen, introduced a more moderate element into the leadership of the northern villages. In October 1876, the combined force fought troops in several skirmishes along the new road to the Tongue River
Tongue River
The Tongue River may refer to:*The Tongue River , a tributary of the Red River of the North in North Dakota in the United States.*The Tongue River , a tributary of the Yellowstone in Wyoming and Montana in the United States....
Cantonment. After Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
departed with their bands, representatives of the Minneconjou met with Colonel Nelson Miles to discuss the possibility of surrender. By February 1877, Touch the Clouds was camped near Short Pine Hills on the Little Missouri River
Little Missouri River
The Little Missouri River can refer to two rivers in the United States:*The Little Missouri River in Arkansas*The Little Missouri River in Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota...
with about 60 or 70 lodges. Here, he met the famed Brule
Brule
-Native American:* Brulé, a branch of the Sioux tribe* Brulé , a Native American World Beat band-Canada:* Brûlé, Alberta, hamlet in Alberta, Canada* Brule, Nova Scotia, a community in Nova Scotia, Canada...
leader, Spotted Tail
Spotted Tail
Siŋté Glešká was a Brulé Lakota tribal chief. Although a great warrior in his youth, and having taken part in the Grattan massacre, he declined to participate in Red Cloud's War, having become convinced of the pointlessness of opposing the white incursions into his homeland; he became a...
, in a five-day council. He agreed to take his band in to surrender at the Spotted Tail Agency in northwestern Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. They arrived on April 14, 1877 and Touch the Clouds was the first to ride forward. "I lay down this gun," he announced to all who could hear, "as a token of submission to Gen. Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
, to whom I wish to surrender."
Touch the Clouds' relationship with Army officials soured in late August 1877 when he and Crazy Horse were asked to lead scouts north to fight Chief Joseph
Chief Joseph
Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, popularly known as Chief Joseph, or Young Joseph was the leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain band of Nez Perce during General Oliver O. Howard's attempt to forcibly remove his band and the other "non-treaty" Nez Perce to a reservation in Idaho...
and the Nez Perce. Four days later, the army attempted to arrest Crazy Horse, but he slipped away to the Spotted Tail Agency. Touch the Clouds accompanied his friend back to Camp Robinson, where Crazy Horse was fatally bayonetted when army soldiers attempted to force him into the guardhouse. Touch the Clouds was allowed to remain with Crazy Horse that night until the Oglala died. Placing his hand on Crazy Horse's chest, Touch the Clouds said, "It is good: he has looked for death, and it has come." Touch the Clouds went to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
as a delegate the following month.
In October 1877, the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies were removed to the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
, during which time Touch the Clouds and his band joined the Oglala. Many of the northern bands that had surrendered the previous spring broke away. They headed north to join Sitting Bull in Canada, where he had gone after the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
. Touch the Clouds was able to keep most of his band quiet and prevent them from leaving. He asked that they be transferred back home to the Cheyenne River Agency. Dr. James Irwin, agent at Red Cloud, supported the transfer. He noted that Touch the Clouds had been "very obedient and orderly during his stay with me and with his band remained behind when all the others left here."
The Cheyenne River Reservation
Touch the Clouds and his band finally returned in February 1878 to the Cheyenne River Reservation in central South Dakota. He lived there the remainder of his life. By the spring of 1882, the last remaining Minneconjou bands had returned to Cheyenne River, bringing together the tribe for the first time in several decades. By this time, only three of the traditional six headmen of the tribe were still alive. In 1882, the Minneconjou either affirmed or appointed new leaders to fill vacancies. Touch the Clouds was confirmed as a "shirt wearer" to fill the position of his late father. The other new leaders selected included White BullWhite Bull
White Bull was the nephew of Sitting Bull, and a famous warrior in his own right. White Bull participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. For years it was said White Bull boasted of killing Lt. George Armstrong Custer at the famous battle...
, Big Crow, White Swan
Paul Swan
Paul Swan was a prominent Minneconjou Lakota headman on the Cheyenne River Reservation.-Early life:...
and Touch the Bear. At the ceremony, the new leaders sang the following song: "It is hard to be chief; But I do my best to be a chief."
In 1898, Touch the Clouds traveled to Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
as part of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, where he was photographed by Frank A. Rinehart.
Touch the Clouds continued to be a vocal advocate for his people for the remainder of his life. In 1884, Rev. Addison Foster visited the Cheyenne River Reservation. Following a church service, Touch the Clouds remained behind "to say that he felt the importance of this new way and that he wished for himself and his people schools and churches." He died on September 5, 1905, on Cherry Creek, South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
.
Touch the Clouds was married at least twice. He had several daughters and at least one son. His oldest son, Amos Charging First, succeeded his father as a community leader, the next in the dynasty of Minneconjou headmen starting with the great Lone Horn
Lone Horn
Lone Horn, , was chief to the Minneconjou Teton Lakota. He was father to Spotted Elk and uncle to Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose and Frog. He was uncle of Crazy Horse. He participated in the signing of the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868...
.
External links
- Touch the Clouds, American Tribes
- Indian genealogy
- Discussion board about Touch the Clouds.