BUFFALO CALF ROAD WOMAN

[Carol Anne Kincaid~Paradis]

Buffalo Calf Road Woman

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In traditional Cheyenne society, women were viewed as subordinate helpmates to men. However, Buffalo Calf Road Woman broke this mold. She was, according to the Encyclopedia of Women in the American West, likely born in the 1850s into the Dull Knife band. 

Buffalo Calf Road’s early life is sketchy. She was married to a warrior named Black Coyote and with him had two children. She may have been witness to the Sand Creek massacre of 1864, which would have undoubtedly fostered a burning hatred toward the United States.

She made her first verified appearance of the Great Sioux War at the Battle of the Rosebud on June 17, 1876, where she was the sole female fighter, and where she gained fame for rescuing her brother who was pinned down by gunfire. According to research published in the journal Frontiers, the fight was named the “Battle Where the Girl Saved Her Brother” to honor her courage.

Buffalo Calf Road also fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In fact, recent Northern Cheyenne oral histories suggest that she may have been the warrior responsible for knocking Custer off his horse. True or not, Buffalo Calf Road certainly distinguished herself because she was given a new honorific name, Brave Woman.

After the Northern Cheyenne were defeated and forced to Indian Territory, Buffalo Calf Road was among the bands that attempted to leave the squalid reservation. In the process, she led the women in battle against the U.S. Army.

In 1879, she was captured and imprisoned, where she died of disease. Her husband, upon learning the news, killed himself.

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