A Northern Cheyenne Indian, Wooden Leg, was at the battle of the Little Big Horn. The last picture I saw of him he was 104 years old and Principal Chief of the Northern Cheyenne. He wrote a book when he was about 85. He explained that there were two main Chiefs, the Principal Chief and the War Chief. Under these chiefs were thousands of sub chiefs and about one in five Cheyenne's were some type of chief. He believed that was why so many white people were descended from the daughter of a chief. I don't know if this holds true for the Cherokee. My g-g-grandmother, Louise Irene Redd, was suposed to be the daughter of a Cherokee Chief but I have a picture and she looks white to me. Bob Adams

Bob: Thank you for relying this story about the Cheyenne and your own family story. It helps illustrate the cornel of truth in many legends or traditions. My own experience is the opposite. My great great grandmother told her daughter (who told my mother) that she was locked in the sea trunk by her stepmother while her father was away...stepmonster's reason? Yep, Zilda was half "filty Ingin." Starvation was also part of the package. Now, when I told the folks who claim heritage from the father and his second wife, they exploded with denials that the 1st wife could have had native American blood, even when shown the pictures of Zilda...whose facial features are most definitely indicative of native ancestry. The vehement protests shocked me, actually. My great grandmother had no reason to fabricate stories of torture and abuse about her own mother, so I have no reason not to believe that it took place. So, I decided that perhaps we were not descended from that couple, but the "experts" assure me that Zilda was the daughter of the 1st wife. They just won't acknowledge that she had a "white" name (Angelique) but native American heritage. Bizarre, huh? It's not 1870 anymore. Forgive the off topic discussion, but many of us in KY do have to deal with native ancestry, and how to find records which establish that heritage. Constance