Chief Left Hand

Chief Left Hand

Born in the 1840's somewhere west of the present Fort Supply. Left Hand ( Niwath also Nawathit) became principle chief of the southern Arapahoes on the death of Little Raven in 1889. A noted buffalo hunter and warrior he survived the Battle of Sand Creek in 1864. In 1867 he sign the Treaty of Medicine Lodge moving the Cheyennes and Arapahoes to Oklahoma and he and his people were at peace with the whites believing the Great Spirit would bring back the buffalo and return the land to the Indians. Left Hand became deeply involved in the Ghost Dance movement in 1889. However in 1890 He actively backed the agreement to open their reservation to settlement. He died in 1911 and was buried nearby on this land which was his allotment. The springs bears his name. Left Hand Springs.