Warrior Woman - The Story of Mo-chi

Following the horrific massacre of Sand Creek in 1864, the Arapaho and Cheyenne, along with bands of Northern Cheyenne, Sioux and Comanche, fought back.

Along the South Platte and Smoky Hill trails, the Indians wreaked havoc from western Kansas to Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. Freight wagons were attacked, wagon trains with westward travels were attacked, homesteads were raided, women and children were kidnapped.

In Colorado, from Julesburg to Denver, ranches, farms, and towns were burned. Telegraph lines were cut, railroad ties were torn up, and wagon trains were threatened, for a time, shutting down all travel east and west.

It was clear that the Indians were now on the war path.

Into this warring faction stepped a young Southern Cheyenne woman, Mo-chi. Mo-chi, twenty years old, seized her dead father’s Hawken rifle, a previous gift from a grateful white man, and pledged revenge.

 “This day, I vow revenge for the murder of my family and my people. This day, I declare war on veho - white man.

This day I become a warrior and a warrior I will be forever.” She would become known by her people as Warrior Woman.

With the help of Cheyenne Oral history, as told to John L. Sipes, Jr., her great-great grandson, her full, correct story is finally told.