Cheyenne (redirected from Cheyenne (ethnic group))

Cheyenne, city, United States

Cheyenne, city (1990 pop. 50,008), alt. 6,062 ft (1,848 m), state capital and seat of Laramie co., SE Wyo., near the Colo. and Nebr. lines; inc. 1868. It is a market for sheep and cattle ranches and a shipping center with good transportation facilities. Manufactures include dairy, wood, petroleum, and metal products; feeds, lumber, machinery, and construction materials. The city was established after the Union Pacific RR selected the site for a division point in 1867. It was made territorial capital in 1869. In the 1870s the development of cattle ranching and the opening of the Black Hills gold fields stimulated the city's growth. Cheyenne revives its past annually with a Frontier Days celebration, first held in 1897. Landmarks include the state capitol and the supreme court building, which houses the state historical museum and library. Nearby is Francis E. Warren Air Force Base.

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Cheyenne, indigenous people of North America

Cheyenne (shīăn`, –ĕn`), indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). The Cheyenne abandoned their settlements in Minnesota in the 17th cent., leaving the region to the hostile Sioux and Ojibwa. Gradually migrating W along the Cheyenne River and then south, they established earth-lodge villages and raised crops. After the introduction of the horse (c.1760) they eventually became nomadic buffalo hunters. The tribe split (c.1830) when a large group decided to settle on the upper Arkansas River and take advantage of the trade facilities offered by Bent's Fort. This group became known as the Southern Cheyenne. The Northern Cheyenne continued to live about the headwaters of the Platte River. For the next few years the Southern Cheyenne, allied with the Arapaho, were engaged in constant warfare against the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache. Peace was made c.1840, and the five tribes became allies.

The Cheyenne were generally friendly toward white settlers until the discovery of gold in Colorado (1858) brought a swarm of gold seekers into their lands. By a treaty signed in 1861 the Cheyenne agreed to live on a reservation in SE Colorado, but the U.S. government did not fulfill its obligations, and they were reduced to near starvation. Cheyenne raids resulted in punitive expeditions by the U.S. army. The indiscriminate massacre (1864) of warriors, women, and children at Sand Creek, Colo., was an unprovoked assault on a friendly group. The incident aroused the Cheyenne to fury, and a bitter war followed. Gen. George Custer

Civil War Service

Custer fought in the Civil War at the first battle of Bull Run , distinguished himself as a member of General McClellan's
.....  destroyed (1868) Black Kettle's camp on the Washita River, and fighting between the whites and the Southern Cheyenne ended, except for an outbreak in 1874–75. The Northern Cheyenne joined with the Sioux and overwhelmed Custer and his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. They finally surrendered in 1877 and were moved south and confined with the Southern Cheyenne in what is now Oklahoma. Plagued by disease and malnutrition, they made two desperate attempts to escape and return to the north. A separate reservation was eventually established for them in Montana. There were almost 12,000 Cheyenne in the United States in 1990.

Bibliography

See G. B. Grinnell, The Fighting Cheyennes (1915, repr. 1956) and The Cheyenne Indians (2 vol., 1923, repr. 1972); E. A. Hoebel, The Cheyennes (1960); D. J. Berthrong, The Southern Cheyennes (1963); J. Millard, The Cheyenne Wars (1964); John Stands in Timber and M. Liberty, Cheyenne Memories (1967); P. J. Powell, Sweet Medicine (2 vol., 1969); J. H. Moore, The Cheyenne Nation (1987).

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Cheyenne, river, United States

Cheyenne, river, 527 mi (848 km) long, rising in E Wyo. and flowing NE to the Missouri River near Pierre, S.Dak. The Cheyenne basin is part of the Missouri River basin project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has established a project on the Belle Fourche River, the Cheyenne's main tributary; the Rapid Valley irrigation project in the Cheyenne valley; and the Angostura Dam, for irrigation, hydroelectric power, and flood control, on the Cheyenne itself.

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Cheyenne

City (pop., 2000: 53,011), capital of Wyoming, U.S. It is the state's largest city and has been the capital since 1869. It became an outfitting point for the Black Hills goldfields to the northeast and a major shipping point for cattle from Texas. Its own grazing lands became famed for their herds and cattle barons. In July it celebrates Frontier Days, which includes one of America's oldest and largest rodeos. Nearby Fort Francis E. Warren was the site of the nation's first intercontinental ballistic missile base (1957).

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Cheyenne

Plains Indian people of Algonquian language stock, living principally in Montana and Oklahoma, U.S. Originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers who lived in central Minnesota, the Cheyenne moved in the early 19th century to regions around the Platte and Arkansas rivers and split into the Northern Cheyenne and the Southern Cheyenne. In these areas they adopted the lifestyle of the Plains Indians; after acquiring horses, they became more dependent on the buffalo for food and developed a tepee-dwelling nomadic mode of life. They performed the sun dance and placed heavy emphasis on visions in which an animal spirit adopted an individual and bestowed special powers on him or her. They had well-organized military societies and fought constantly with the Kiowa until c. 1840. In the 1870s they participated in various Indian uprisings, joining the Sioux at the Little Bighorn in 1876. Cheyenne descendants numbered more than 20,000 in the early 21st century.

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Cheyenne

a city in SE Wyoming, capital of the state. Pop.: 54 374 (2003 est.)

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Cheyenne

North American Indians who made up part of the Wild West scene. [Am. Hist.: NCE, 562]

See : Wild West

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Cheyenne

cowboy of the strong, silent type. [TV: Terrace, I, 153–154]

See : Wild West