Howling Wolf

Southern Cheyenne, 1849–1927

BiographyHowling Wolf was the son of Eagle Head, a Southern Cheyenne tribal council chief who initially supported peaceful coexistence with the rapidly expanding European-American world. As a teenager, Howling Wolf gained a reputation as a brave warrior, and soon became a leader in Southern Cheyenne society. By the 1870s, he was a member of the Bowstring Society, a fraternal warrior group that engaged in armed conflict against the American military and other enemy tribes. In an effort to suppress resistance among Native American communities being forced onto reservations, the federal government arrested Howling Wolf in 1875, along with seventy other Southern Cheyenne, and sent him to prison at Fort Marion in Florida.

Howling Wolf’s ledger drawings—executed on ruled paper from account books used at western territory outposts—recount experiences before and after life on the reservation. Most depict warrior exploits and battles with U.S. government troops and local militia, though some of his most striking works illustrate Cheyenne ceremonies and hunting scenes. Howling Wolf’s participation in these events is indicated by the presence of his name pictogram above the scene. The majority of Howling Wolf’s drawings predate his imprisonment, although he was encouraged to continue his work while there. By 1878, Howling Wolf was released from prison and returned to the reservation, where he created at least twelve of the AMAM’s nearly thirty ledger sheets.