Chief War Eagle

War Eagle (Dakota: Waŋbdí Okíčhize; - Autumn 1851) was a Dakota-born tribal chief of the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Life Little is known of War Eagle's early life in regard to his birthplace and the dating of his birth, however historians estimate that he was born around 1785 in present-day Minnesota or Wisconsin. In his early years, War Eagle left his own tribe, the Santee, to avoid bloodshed in a fight as to who would be chief. As a young man, War Eagle spent considerable time working among the white Americans. During the War of 1812, he carried messages for the United States government, and worked among the native peoples to promote the cause of the United States against the British. He worked as a riverboat guide on the upper Mississippi and also served as a messenger for the American Fur Company on the Missouri. After marrying in Minnesota around 1830, he was adopted into the Yankton Sioux tribe. He and his wife had four girls and three boys. By the mid-1830s, he had been elected a chief of the tribe, and traveled to Washington, D.C., with other tribal leaders to negotiate peace treaties. War Eagle was especially proud of a silver Peace Medal given to him by President Martin Van Buren in 1837.