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Red Cloud

Red Cloud, born in 1822, with no hereditary claim to chieftainship, through force of character alone, became the most famous and powerful chief in the history of his tribe - that of the Oglala-Teton Sioux. His scarlet blanketed warriors, covering the hillsides like a red cloud, gave rise to his name. He fierceley resisted all government attempts to build roads from Wyoming and the gold region of Montana, fearing that travel would destroy Buffalo grounds for the Indians. As a delegate to Washington he was as courtly in his manners as a natural born gentleman. Ever loyal to the Indian cause, he died in South Dakota in 1909.