A Band Of Brothers

This book, The Cheyenne and Arapaho Ordeal by Donald Berthrong, is a valuable source of well-documented information. On page 109 is the description of one particular event that has been of special interest to me.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho had been leasing portions of their reservation to cattlemen for grazing. By 1885 one group of Cheyennes led by Stone Calf were calling for the leasing program to be terminated. Stone Calf told General Sheridan that George Bent had made misleading or false statements in an effort to get the Cheyenne to agree to the leasing program. Stone Calf now insisted that George and Robert Bent, Ben Clark, and Ed Guerrier be removed from the reservation.

Stone Calf clearly did not like these four individuals, and it seems to me that he considered them members of a group. They were, actually, a band of brothers. George and Robert were children of William Bent, and Ed Guerrier had married their sister Julia. Ben Clark was a member of their extended family, having married Cheyenne women.

George, Robert, Ed, and Ben had all served as interpreters. Ed and Ben had also served as scouts. Each of these four individuals had also been involved, in one form or another, in the massacres at Sand Creek (1864) and the Washita (1868). Similar in age and experience, it is my opinion they likely held similar values and beliefs.