Buffalo Sundown

(Born 1863-Died December 18, 1923)

a.k.a. George Jackson and Buffalo Sundown,

Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn (meaning “Earth Left by the Setting Sun”), also spelled We-ah-te-nato-ots-ha (meaning “Blanket of the Sun”)

Jackson Sundown, a nephew of Chief Joseph, was with him on the flight of the Nez Perce in 1877. He was the first native American to win a World Championship Bronc Rider title in 1916, at the age of 53, more than twice the age of the other competitors who made it to the final round. He is also the oldest person to ever win a rodeo world championship title. He was posthumously inducted into the Pendleton Round-Up Hall of Fame in 1972, into the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame in 1983, and the American Indian Athletes Hall of Fame in 1994.

Historical accounts of his life cite that Sundown, at a young age, displayed the traits of an athlete, riding his Appaloosa pony from the time he could walk. At age 14, his knack for handling horses earned him the privilege of caring for his tribes’ horses and herding them when they moved camp during the turbulent 1877 Nez Perce War. On Aug. 9, 1877, the daring young Sundown displayed his stealth when his people were ambushed by the forces of the U.S. cavalry at Big Hole in southwestern Montana territory where they suffered many casualties, including women and children. Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn, although badly burned, outwitted the enemy and survived by hiding under a buffalo robe after they had torched his mother’s teepee where he had been sleeping. Another legendary account of Sundown’s bravery was when the Nez Perce, en route to Sitting Bulls camp in Canada, stopped to rest near Snake Creek in the Bear Paw Mountains just 40 miles south of the Canadian border. Unbeknownst to the Nez Perce, Brigadier General Nelson H. Miles had been dispatched to find and intercept them. Combined U.S. forces made an early morning surprise attack on the Nez Perce and after a three day stand-off, the war weary Chief Joseph surrendered and declared he would “fight no more forever.” Sundown, again displaying his prowess as a renegade Nez Perce warrior, escaped, although being wounded, “by clinging to the side of his horse so that it appeared riderless.” Despite having no blankets or food, he and a small band of survivors made their way to Sitting Bull’s camp in Canada. Sundown is said to have lived in hiding with Sitting Bull and those that defeated General George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn as a war criminal for two years.