This man is Arrow's Nisson comrade, with the red face paint we have seen in Plates 88 & 90, and the blue-spotted felt hat. He has borrowed Arrow's vaquero saddle, and probably the halter and silver-mounted headstall as well, since it has Arrow's signature eagle feather flying from the brow strap. The horse, however, lacks the protective feather tied to its tail, which would signal that Arrow was aboard; nor is it any of the bays that are shown under Arrow elsewhere in the ledger---the "BB" shoulder brand appears only in this instance.

The Cheyenne is bare-legged, wearing a breechcloth of red wool, and a blanket of the same material belted around his waist with a cartridge belt. He has a red silk shirt with wavy, blue stripes, worn with brass armbands. His partly-beaded moccasins have yellow-painted tops, and long heel fringe of the same color. He wears a dentalium choker, and has wrapped his hair with red polka-dot calico cloth.

The saddle is padded with a red and blue checked blanket that is not shown elsewhere; and a folded blanket of dark blue wool trade cloth. Hanging from the saddle horn is a dark colored, fringed leather bag.

The Cheyenne has broken off the dead branch of a tree to use as a quirt, and is flogging the bay in pursuit of three pronghorn antelope. The lines of earth thrown back from each hoofprint indicate that the horse is running hard.

It is of interest that no weapon is shown. Either the Cheyenne is testing the speed of his horse, against the fastest animals on the continent, or he is intentionally driving them. The latter is more likely, particularly since the artist is not depicting himself: a relative's starring role in a tribal hunt would be a more memorable topic than a mere sprint.

Although it is generally not appreciated, the number of antelope on the Plains approached, or even exceeded, that of the buffalo---uncountable millions. Being smaller animals, and with coloring that tended to blend with the landscape, rather than standing out in dark relief like the buffalo, pronghorns never made as strong an impression on White frontiersmen. Nonetheless, they were a staple of the Plains Indian economy, and a focus of much ceremonial attention from the Cheyennes. Antelope skins were favored for the covers of war shields, for men's shirts and women's dresses; and antelope horns were used on headdresses of the Crazy Dog Society (Grinnell, 1923, I: 190, 217, 221, 224, 278; II: 78).

The nature of the antelope is an odd blend of timidity and curiosity, remarked upon by many. Any strange sight will attract them in droves; while any abrupt movement or loud noise will cause a panicked stampede, as Arrow shows here. Many frontier memoirs describe the practice of "flagging" antelope---a hidden hunter attracting them by waving a handkerchief above the grass, tied to the end of a ramrod (Garrard, 1955: 40, for example).

Perhaps as early as the 17th century, Cheyennes entering the Coteau des Prairies of eastern North Dakota had developed their own variant of this technique, using what were called "antelope arrows" (Vokae mahoz---Petter, 1915: 45 & 59; Grinnell's spelling is Wokai hi mahots)---a pair of hand-held sticks three feet long, with lashed cross pieces or bent hoops attached at the upper ends, and hung with eagle, raven or magpie feathers. With these fluttering lures, whole herds of antelope could be attracted toward favorable terrain such as a cul-de-sac, pit or cutbank, then stampeded and either trapped, or killed and injured in sufficient numbers to feed a village of earnest hunters (Grinnell, 1923, I: 277-290). One of the earliest of Cheyenne historical accounts describes them using a similar technique to trap even buffalo---a far more dangerous proposition (Grinnell, 1907: 181-83).

By the mid-18th century, the North Cave Hills, due north of the Black Hills in the northwest corner of South Dakota, was a favorite Cheyenne locale for trapping both antelope and buffalo. The tribal name for the Little Missouri, which flows near the Cave Hills, memorializes this activity: Voka heeon ohe, Antelope Pit River (Grinnell, 1906: 17, spells it Wokai heyuni ohe).

Like the "Buffalo Mother" petroglyph in the same area (see discussion of Plates 66-67; and Cowdrey, 1999: Fig. 31), there are very clear petroglyph representations of Antelope Callers, "antelope arrows", and herds of antelope at trap sites in the North Cave Hills; and vast quantities of antelope bones have been discovered by excavation (Keyser, 1984 & 1987b, many figures, passim). Cowdrey, 1999: Fig. 42 illustrates some of the petroglyphs recorded by Keyser, although he did not recognize their significance as Cheyenne territorial markers. Southern Cheyenne bands under Black Shin and Grey Beard spent the winter of 1865-66 trapping antelope in this exact area (Hyde, 1968: 20, 243). Northern Cheyennes were driving antelope there as late as 1872 (Marquis, 1931: 58 & 88; Wooden Leg, born in 1858, dates this hunt on Antelope Creek "when I was fourteen years old").

On the Southern Plains, the Cheyennes did not have benefit of a suitable area of eroded terrain like the North Cave Hills, where they might drive antelope into cul-de-sac traps. This forced them to employ more direct methods, but with equal success. An Antelope Priest, who understood how to make and use "antelope arrows", would be asked by the Tribal Council to direct a hunt. After a nightlong ceremony of prayer and singing, the entire population would create a "human fence" to trap the game. Two young women were selected---good-natured and fat, because the Cheyennes wanted the antelope to have those qualities---and each woman was given one of the "antelope arrows". From a central point where the priest took his stand, the two women ran out in diverging lines, describing a widening "V". Soon, young men on horseback raced after each woman, snatched the mystical "arrows" and continued on with the same, diverging trajectories. Behind these riders, also on their fastest horses, followed all the young men and members of the warrior societies.

When the lines of horsemen were perhaps two miles apart, the leaders turned inward with the "arrows". As the two lines of horsemen met, the leaders crossed---each riding back along the other's route---and closing the mystical line of the trap. Simultaneously, all of the other riders turned back toward the Antelope Priest, forming a long crescent line more than a mile wide. The "arrow" carriers raced back to the starting position, where they returned the "arrows" to the priest. Meanwhile all of the women. older children and old men had formed a long crescent line with the priest at its center, and which became the opposite "jaw" of the closing trap.

As the distant riders came back into sight, hundreds of antelope might be running ahead of them. The outer horsemen raced hard to reach the arc of pedestrians, to close the circle and prevent any animals from escaping. That may be what Arrow is depicting in this drawing. All of the riders would be shouting, to frighten and drive the game; and the pedestrians all carried blankets or robes, which they stretched between each pair, to form a sight-barrier that would baffle and turn the herd.

As soon as the ends of the two arcs met, the priest with his "antelope arrows" dashed out into the center of the enclosed area---a quarter mile or more in diameter, but quickly growing smaller as all of the people converged toward the center. When the charginh herd of frightened antelope approached the priest he stood still, but quickly motioned to one side with his powerful "arrows", like a matador using his cape to turn the attention of a charging bull. The leading animals would follow his thrust, turning to one side and taking the whole herd with them. When they approached the blanket-wall of people, the antelope would run along the inside circumference, seeking any escape, but quickly being startled back toward the center by the closing ring of shouting hunters. As the circle narrowed, the antelope became more terrified, and the priest would quickly change the direction of his "arrows", causing the animals to reverse themselves, crashing into each other, piling up, and increasing their panic.

Each of the Cheyennes carried a heavy wooden club, or an axe, since it would have been suicidal for a circle of people to shoot inward at the antelope with arrows, or firearms. As the antelope became crowded into a mass, the Cheyennes killed their prey by clubbing them in the head. Once the circle had closed, within a very few minutes all of the antelope would be dead.

At the age of twelve, in May 1853 (Grinnell, 1923, I: 283 errs in his date of "1858"), George Bent witnessed such a surround:

"I seen White Face Bull make one of these Antelope Calls 60 years ago. He did not use the pit, nor the brush fence, but had all the Indians lined up, men, women & children...this way, V-shape...White Face Bull trapped over a thousand antelope at this time" (Bent, 1904-1918: Sept. 12, 1913; May 11, 1917. Compare Bent's sketch in Hyde, 1968: 19. Unaccountably, Hyde combines two separate descriptions by Bent, and asserts the use of a "pit" by White Face Bull, which is an error).