Ledger Drawing

Cheyenne · 1884-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Maffet Ledger is named for George West Maffet, who in the 1880s lived in Darlington, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), where he was a newspaper publisher. There, he got to know Indian men who filled ledger books with drawings that gave narrative to their lives, depicting times of heroism and freedom. The Maffet Ledger is one of those books. In this drawing, attributed to the Northern Cheyenne [Richard] Wooden Legs (1858-1940), an army officer is fighting a member of the Crazy Dog Society. The Crazy Dog Society was a warrior society, and the Chief wears its full-feathered headdress topped with antelope horns. Tracks of the swift antelope form the pattern on the arms and chest of his shirt. He is striking his enemy with a captured army saber.