The First Yellow Bear

The first Yellow Bear was a prominent headman among the Tapisleca Tiyospaye (translated as the Spleen or Melt Band), one of the major divisions of the southern Oglala Lakota

Oglala Lakota

The Oglala Lakota or Oglala Sioux are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people; along with the Nakota and Dakota, they make up the Great Sioux Nation. A majority of the Oglala live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the eighth-largest Native American reservation in the...

. He accompanied the first Oglala delegation 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....

 in 1870. By the following year, Colonel John E. Smith rated the size of this leader’s village at about 40 lodges, one of the largest family groups within the Tapisleca Band. Yellow Bear was murdered in 1872 near Fort Laramie during a fight with the controversial white trader John Richard Jr.

As the Lakota reservations were being established following the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, the majority of the Tapisleca gave up their buffalo hunting way of life and settled at the Red Cloud Agency

Red Cloud Agency

The Red Cloud Agency was an Indian agency for the Oglala Lakota as well as the Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho, from 1871 to 1878. It was located at three different sites in Wyoming Territory , before being moved to South Dakota. It was then renamed the Pine Ridge Reservation.- Red Cloud Agency No...

. By 1874, leadership of Yellow Bear's band appears to have passed to his younger brother, Black Hawk. At about this same time, another Oglala named Yellow Bear began to emerge among the Tapisleca, perhaps another "brother" (in the widest Lakota sense).

Great Sioux War of 1876-77

Born about 1844 or 1845, Yellow Bear was one of several younger Oglala leaders who came into prominence among the Lakota during 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...

. With the traditional avenues of a warrior no longer available, he is an example of how a new generation of leaders found success as an intermediary between the U.S. government and the Lakota people. Yellow Bear enlisted as a scout in General George 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:...

’s Indian Scouts in the fall of 1876 and he participated in the Powder River Expedition, fighting alongside the Army against the Northern Cheyenne in the Dull Knife Fight

Dull Knife Fight

The Dull Knife Fight, or the Battle of Bates Creek, was a Great Plains battle in the Wyoming Territory between the United States Army and the Northern Cheyenne as part of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77. The battle essentially ended the Cheyennes' ability to wage war.After the battles of the Rosebud...

.

By February 1877, Yellow Bear had been promoted to Sergeant in Company B, Indian Scouts, and he was recognized as the primary headman or spokesman of the Tapisleca band at the Red Cloud Agency, indications of his growing influence. Photographer D. S. Mitchell included a portrait of Yellow Bear in his series of prominent Oglala portraits taken that summer or fall. During the excitement over Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...

 in the fall of 1877, Yellow Bear attended the council with other Oglala headmen. When Indian scouts were used to surround Crazy Horse’s village on September 4, Yellow Bear was not present but he sent word that he agreed with the action. In the fall of 1877, he was selected as one of the Oglala delegates together with Red Cloud

Red Cloud

Red Cloud , was a war leader and the head Chief of the Oglala Lakota . His reign was from 1868 to 1909...

 sent to Washington, D.C. to meet with the President. “I want to know now which is the best way we can live for a long time,” he told President Hayes. “I have a band of my own and I have come down to work for them.”

Later life

Yellow Bear married his first wife, Wild Horse, about 1870. About four years later, he married his wife’s younger sister, Holy Day. Together, the family bore eight children, four of whom grew to adulthood.

As the Oglala settled on the Pine Ridge Agency after 1878, the family bands within the Tapisleca established various communities. Yellow Bear’s community, known as the Shkokpaya, settled just northwest of Allen, South Dakota

Allen, South Dakota

Allen is a census-designated place in Bennett County, South Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 420. It is considered the poorest place in the United States...

, within what later became known as the Pass Creek District of the reservation

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...

. The 1890 Pine Ridge census lists the Shkokpaya with 22 families or 99 people. Among the band members listed was Imitates Dog (Sunka Onca), a brother of Yellow Bear. Other sisters of Yellow Bear’s wives married Yellow Hawk and Little Crow, both also members of the Shkokpaya. Another prominent member of the Shkokpaya was Pawnee Killer, though his relationship to Yellow Bear is not known.

Yellow Bear continued to serve as a prominent Oglala leader at Pine Ridge, again traveling to Washington, D.C. in 1888. He died September 1, 1913 near Allen, South Dakota.