Roman Nose - The War Bonnet

The War Bonnet

Roman Nose possessed an elaborate warbonnet that he believed gave him special powers. The medicine man Ice, later known as White Bull, made the warbonnet, and assured Roman Nose he would be impervious to the white man's bullets as long as he followed certain conditions. Roman Nose could not shake hands in the way of the white man, nor could he eat food that had been touched with any iron implement. Ice told Roman Nose that should he violate either of these conditions, he would surely be killed in battle.

Several days prior to the Battle of Beecher Island, Roman Nose visited the nearby Sioux camp, where he participated in a feast. During the feast, he ate some fry bread. However, the woman who cooked the bread had used an iron fork to remove it from the cooking pan, which violated one of the conditions of his medicine.

As he left for battle, he was made aware of this fact, but he did not have the time to perform the necessary cleansing ceremony to restore his medicine. Because of this, he did not participate in the fighting as he normally would, preferring to watch the battle from afar. During the battle, he was chastised by an elderly warrior named White Contrary for his lack of participation, and thus decided to enter the battle after all, knowing that he would die. After donning his war clothes, including his war bonnet, he led an assault on the island. He was shot at close range during the attack and died late that afternoon, near sunset.

The demise of Roman Nose had devastating effects on the Cheyenne's efforts to defend their lands, which virtually ended with the defeat of Tall Bull and the Dog Soldiers, at the Battle of Summit Springs, near Sterling, Colorado, in July 1869.