Chief spotted tail biography sample

Spotted Tail was the leader of the Brule Sioux during the Plains Wars of the 1870s. His name came from a striped raccoon pelt given to him by a trapper. His prowess as a warrior against the Pawnee during the 1850s elevated the young warrior to be a war leader before he was thirty.

A valiant man, Spotted Tail surrendered himself to soldiers Ft. Laramie in about 1855 to spare the tribe retaliation after a Brule committed murder. Spotted Tail thought he would be executed, but instead was imprisoned for a year at Ft. Leavenworth. During his year in prison he learned to read and write English.

Spotted Tail allied himself with the war leaders after the Massacre of Sand Creek, but during Red Cloud’s war over the Bozeman Trail, he cooperated with peace negotiations. After the death of Chief Little Thunder, the Brule chose Spotted Tail as their new chief. He signed the Treaty of Ft. Laramie in 1868 agreeing to a large Brule reservation in South Dakota. During the 1870s h Chief red cloud!