Charley Bent, Cheyenne warrior

Charles "Charley" Bent was a a well-known and feared Cheyenne warrior. He was the mixed-race son of the fur trader William Bent, the founder of the trading post named Bent's Fort; and Yellow Woman, a Cheyenne.

During the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864, Charley was nearly executed by the soldiers, but was rescued by friends. Many Cheyenne were killed by US forces led by Colonel John Chivington.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_Massacre

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Chivington

After the Sand Creek Massacre, Charley joined the Cheyenne Dog Soldiers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Soldiers

The Cheyenne and Arapaho planned revenge for the Sand Creek Massacre. In January 1865, Charley Bent and his half-brother, George Bent, joined an Indian army of nearly 1,000 warriors in a successful attack on Julesburg, Colorado, in which they killed many townspeople and soldiers. Most of the Cheyenne went north to join Red Cloud on the Powder River in Wyoming. Before leaving the area, they burned many homesteads in the South Platte River valley. "At night the whole valley was lighted up with the flames of burning ranches and stage stations, but these places were soon destroyed and darkness fell on the valley." For the next two years, Charley and George Bent traveled and raided with Cheyenne war parties from Wyoming south to Texas. George Bent wrote about this period and expressed his opinion that the "savages" in the conflict were the U.S. soldiers.

In 1867, Charley Bent was killed in a skirmish with soldiers.