Lone Chief

Also known as: Running Chief / Skür´-ar-a Le-shar / Skür´-ar-a le-shar / Wi-ti-ti le-shar´-uspi · Family: Pawnee · Role: warrior · First appears: Lone Chief · Part 1

Before he was a year old, Lone Chief’s father died. His mother supported and raised him by farming until he was old enough to go to war. When he was ten, his sister was killed by her jealous husband; he mourned her, and she had been his only sister, whom he loved.

In 1867, he enlisted in the Pawnee Scouts under Major Frank North and counted coup on an Arapaho woman and man near Cheyenne Pass. That year he gave a horse to the chief priest as a sacrifice to Ti-ra´-wa, becoming a warrior. In 1868, he decided to enter an enemy camp, and the friend who accompanied him said, “Whatever you have determined on I also will do.” At the Head Chief’s lodge, the two ate and drank, then admitted they were on the warpath. The Head Chief spared them, saying, “By their bravery they are safe.” The Pawnees received many presents and stayed with the Wichitas for two months before preparing to return home.

In March 1869, Lone Chief and the friend returned to their village, where their people rejoiced and praised them. His name was changed from Wi-ti-ti le-shar´-uspi to Skür´-ar-a le-shar, or Lone Chief. That August, he led Pawnees to visit the Wichitas, Kiowas, and Comanches, receiving horses and other presents; he made peace with the Kiowas. In the winter of 1869–70, he and the friend led a war party against the Cheyennes and took six hundred horses. A three-day snowstorm left the party frozen, some with lost toes or fingers, but they survived and brought in the horses.