21 Native American Legends — How They REALLY Died JJ

Hollywood has always shown native people dying in epic battles or as wise elders surrounded by respect. But the real story is very different. Leaders were betrayed by those who promised peace, died from diseases brought in from outside or ended up forgotten on reservations without food. There’s nothing romantic here. Now you’re going to see 21 facts that were left out of school textbooks and that reveal what really happened to these figures. Subscribe to our channel and comment on what you want to see in the next videos.

Number one, Sitting Bull wasn’t just a warrior leader. He was a visionary who united entire tribes against the push into their lands. In 1876, his strategies helped defeat Kuster at Little Bigghorn, one of the biggest defeats of the US Army against native people. After that, Washington never forgot his name. He spent years in exile in Canada, came back, and even became an attraction in Buffalo Bill’s show. But the government always kept a close watch on him. When the ghost dance movement

started gaining strength on the reservations, the authorities got nervous. They feared Sitting Bull would inspire a new uprising. In the early hours of December 15th, 1890, native police working for the government went to arrest him at Standing Rock. What was supposed to be an arrest turned into a shootout. Sitting Bull was shot in the head. He was 59 years old. Two weeks later came the Wounded Knee Massacre. If you love the Wild West as much as I do, you need to check out a bonus I put together just for people who are

passionate about the real raw history of the Wild West. Secrets revealed that you won’t find in the history books. Check the pinned comment. Number two, Geronimo. You’ve probably heard soldiers shouting that name before jumping out of planes. But do you know who the man behind the shout was? Geronimo was born as Goyth, which means the one who yawns. Nothing suggested he would become the nightmare of two countries. Mexican soldiers massacred his wife and children in 1858. From that point on, he declared war. For

nearly 30 years, he led a small group of Apache warriors against the armies of Mexico and the United States. We’re talking about a man who was captured several times and always managed to escape. The US Army even used 5,000 soldiers to chase a band of only 38 people. He surrendered in 1886 and spent his final years as a prisoner at Fort Sil, Oklahoma. In 1909, at 79 years old, he fell off his horse after a night of drinking. He got pneumonia and died days later. The most feared warrior of the Southwest

was beaten by the cold. Number three, Crazy Horse was the Lakota warrior who humiliated the US Army at Little Bigghorn in 1876. Kuster and his 268 men fell in less than an hour. But here’s a detail few people know. No one managed to photograph this man while he was alive. He refused every attempt, believing the camera stole part of the soul. A year after the battle in September 1877, he surrendered at Fort Robinson, Nebraska under the promise of peaceful negotiations. It was a trap. While he

was being taken to a cell, a soldier drove a bayonet into his back. He was only 35 years old. His body was handed over to his parents who buried him in a secret location. To this day, no one knows exactly where his remains are. The man who defeated Kuster became a ghost with no grave and no portrait. Number four, Chief Joseph. In 1877, this Nez Purse leader did something that left American generals stunned. With about 800 people, including elders, women, and children, he crossed mountains, rivers, and hostile territory

for more than 1,100 miles. The destination was Canada and freedom. The army sent more than 2,000 soldiers after him. And even so, Joseph escaped multiple times using tactics the military still studies to this day. When he finally surrendered, he was only 40 miles from the Canadian border. 40 miles. His people were freezing and starving. His surrender words went down in history. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. The government promised he would return to his land. A lie. Joseph spent the

rest of his life in exile, far from his mountains in Oregon. He died in 1904 at 64 years old. The reservation doctor said the cause was a broken heart. Number five, Pocahontas, Matawaka. You probably know the Disney story, but the reality was very different. Matawaka, that was her real name, was around 11 or 12 when she supposedly saved John Smith. Serious historians question whether that really happened or if Smith made up the story to promote himself. What we do know for sure, she was captured by the English in [music]

1613 and used as a bargaining chip. During captivity, she converted to Christianity and married the tobacco farmer John Rolf. The English took her to London as a kind of exotic attraction, living proof that savages could be civilized. In March 1617, just as she was about to go back home, Matawaka became seriously ill. She died in Graves End, England, probably of smallpox or pneumonia. She was only 21 and never saw her homeland again. Number six, Sakagawa was only 16 when she joined Louiswis and Clark on a

mission that seemed impossible, crossing a territory no American knew. She did it while pregnant and then carrying her newborn baby on her back for more than 8,000 miles. Without her, the expedition probably would have failed. Sakagawa knew the roots, the edible plants, and most importantly, she could negotiate with the tribes they met along the way. At a key moment, she recognized her own brother, who had become a Shosonyi chief, and that secured horses and safe passage for the group. After that

historic journey from 1804 to 1806, she simply disappeared from the records. 6 years later in December [music] 1812, she died from a severe infection at Fort Manuel, [music] South Dakota. She was only 25, a short life, but one that helped shape the map of the United States. Number seven, Tecumpsa. This Shaune warrior almost changed the map of North America. Tecumpsa realized something few indigenous leaders had understood up to that point. Tribes fighting separately would never stop the settller’s advance. He spent years

traveling thousands of miles from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, convincing enemy nations to put their differences aside. The Confederation he built truly scared Washington. When the War of 1812 broke out, Tecumpsa allied with the British, betting that an English victory would secure indigenous lands forever. The plan made sense on paper. But in October [music] 1813 at the Battle of the Tempames in Canada, a bullet to the chest ended it all. He was 45 years old. With his death, the Confederation collapsed and the dream of

an independent indigenous nation died with him. Number eight, Blackhawk. This sock warrior took on the US government in a dispute that shaped the Midwest. In 1832, he led his people back to Illinois, refusing to abandon the land where his ancestors were buried. Washington responded with military force, setting off a bloody conflict. After the defeat came humiliation. Authorities took Blackhawk east on a kind of forced tour. He was displayed in cities like a curiosity so Americans could see the defeated Indian. Crowds paid to watch

him. What’s interesting is that many white people ended up admiring his dignity. He never bowed his head. When he met President Andrew Jackson, he looked him in the eye as an equal. He spent his last years on a reservation in Iowa, far from everything he knew. He died in October 1838 at 71 years old. His body didn’t have peace even after death because his remains were stolen and displayed in a museum for decades. Number nine, Red Cloud pulled off something few native leaders ever did. He defeated the US Army and forced

Washington to negotiate. In the 1860s, he led a relentless campaign against the military forts that were pushing into Lakota territory. The soldiers couldn’t hold their positions, and the government eventually gave in. In 1868, the Americans signed a treaty recognizing indigenous lands. But here’s the part that hurts. That same treaty was torn up when gold was discovered in the Black Hills. The man who humbled American generals spent his last decades watching everything he fought for get

taken away. When he died in 1909 at 87 years old, he was living on the Pine Ridge Reservation, blind and without a penny. The warrior who brought the army to its knees ended his days forgotten by the country he once made tremble. Number 10. Check out this story. This man was the son of a Texan woman who was kidnapped at age nine by the Comanche. His mother, Cynthia Anne Parker, lived 24 years with the tribe and didn’t want to go back when she was rescued. Quana never knew a reservation until he

was 30. He led the last Comanche warriors on the plains, facing the US Army in battles that seemed impossible to win. When he realized resistance would only bring more deaths, he made a hard decision. He surrendered in 1875. But it didn’t end there. He completely reinvented himself, became a respected negotiator, and even became friends with Theodore Roosevelt, who visited him. He built a mansion with stars painted on the ceiling in honor of his mother’s Texas flag. He passed away in February

1911 at 66 years old, a victim of pneumonia and rheumatism [music] in Cash, Oklahoma. Number 11, Pontiac. In 1763, the British thought they had everything under control after beating the French. They were wrong. An Ottawa chief named Pontiac did something no one expected. He convinced tribes that were enemies with each other to fight together [music] against a common enemy. Picture it. Warriors from different nations who could barely stand each other, marching [music] side by side. Pontiac laid siege

to British forts for months, leaving English soldiers in a panic. His uprising changed England’s policy in America. But here’s the part nobody talks about. Pontiac didn’t die in battle. 6 years later in April 1769, he was in Cahokia, Illinois, when a Peoria warrior attacked him from behind. He was 49 years old. The man who united entire tribes was taken down by an old rivalry. They say his death sparked a revenge war that lasted for years. A leader who challenged an empire ended like that, betrayed by his own people.

Number 12. In 1837, the US government tried to negotiate with a seol leader who had already humiliated the army multiple times in the swamps of Florida. Oyola agreed to talk under a white flag. It was a trap. The military arrested him right there, breaking the truce they themselves had offered. The man who had led devastating attacks against US troops who knew every inch of that impossible terrain and who refused to leave his land ended up in a cell at Fort Moltry, South Carolina. 3 months later in January 1838, he was

dead at 34. Some say malaria, others talk about a throat infection. But there are people who swear it was prison that killed him. Years later, his head showed up in a museum. The war he started lasted seven more years and cost the government millions. If you love the Wild West as much as I do, you need to check out a bonus I put together just for people who are passionate about the real raw history of the Wild West. Secrets revealed that you won’t find in the history books. Check the pinned comment.

Number 13. Mongus Coloradus was over 6 feet tall at a time when that was rare. Mexicans paid bounties for Apache scalps and in 1837 they massacred members of his own family. From then on he swore revenge. For decades he led brutal raids on both sides of the border, bringing together bands that normally would never fight side by side. The US government tried treaties, but settlers kept pushing into Apache territory. In January 1863, already an old man, he agreed to a white flag to negotiate peace in Pinos Altos,

New Mexico. It was a trap. Soldiers captured him, tortured him through the night with bayonets heated in the fire, and when he fought back, they shot him, claiming he was trying to escape. His skull ended up in an eastern museum. His son, Mongus, and other warriors never forgot. The Apache war would stay bloody for another 20 years. Number 14, Coochis. For almost 10 years, the US Army couldn’t capture a single man. Coochis knew every rock, every canyon in Apache territory like nobody else. But here’s a

detail few people know. He started out on the American side. For years, Coochis [music] kept peace with the settlers and even helped the government track down other hostile groups. Everything changed in 1861 when soldiers falsely accused him of kidnapping a child. In the chaos that followed, members of his family were killed. From that day on, Coochis swore war. He led attacks so effective that the government had to negotiate with him directly. He achieved something rare for an indigenous leader of that time. He

died free on a reservation. He chose himself in Arizona. Stomach cancer took him in June 1874 at 68 years old. They say warriors carried his body to a secret spot in the mountains that no one has ever found. Number 15. The man who gave his name to one of the biggest American cities never wanted that honor. Chief Seattle Seal led the Dwamish and Suwamish peoples through decades of tense negotiations with settlers. In 1855, he signed a treaty handing over thousands of acres to the United States. What many people don’t know is that he

was against the city being named after him because he believed it would disturb his eternal rest after death. Ironic, right? The environmental speech attributed to him became a symbol of the environmental movement in the 1970s, but historians still debate whether he actually said those words or if they were made up later. Seattle spent his last years on the Port Madison reservation where a fever took him in June 1866. He was around 80 years old and saw his world change completely in a single lifetime.

Number 16, Hayawa. Just imagine it. Five tribes living in constant war, killing each other for generations. Then a guy shows up who lost his own family to that violence. And instead of going for revenge, decides to do something nobody thought was possible. Hayawa was an Onandaga leader carrying a huge amount of pain, they say his daughters were killed by a cruel rival chief. But instead of feeding the bloodshed, he teamed up with a visionary named Danowida. and together they created something revolutionary, the Irakcoy Confederacy.

In the 16th century, long before the founding fathers, those five nations already had a system of government with representatives, voting, and a balance of power. Some historians believe it influenced the US Constitution itself. Hayawa disappeared around 1570. Some say he drowned. Others say he was assassinated. The truth got lost over time, but the system he helped create lasted for centuries and changed the history of this continent. Number 17. This man was kidnapped twice, crossed the ocean as a slave, learned

English in Europe, and came home only to find his entire tribe had been wiped out by disease. Tisquantum known as Squanto found his Puxit village completely empty. No one was left. No relatives, no friends. Imagine going back to your hometown and not a single living soul is there waiting for you. That’s exactly the abandoned land where the Mayflower pilgrims decided to settle in 1620. Squanto had every reason to hate Europeans. But he did the opposite. He taught those starving colonists how to

plant corn, fish for eels, and survive Massachusetts’s brutal winter. Without him, Plymouth probably would have become just another failed colony. In November 1622, while serving as a guide on a trading expedition, Squanto came down with a fever and a nose bleed. He died days later in Chattam at 37 years old. Some historians suspect he was poisoned. Number 18, Wahun Sakau ruled an empire of 30 tribes when the English arrived in Virginia in6007. The colonists simply called him Pauhatan, but he was a lot more than an

ordinary chief. He had built a powerful confederacy through war, marriage, and diplomacy. When John Smith was captured, something strange happened during that ceremony that no one has ever really fully explained. Smith said he nearly died and was saved by the chief’s daughter, Pocahontas. But many historians believe it was just an adoption ritual. Powatan played political chess with the English, sometimes negotiating, sometimes attacking. His daughter ended up marrying a colonist and became a piece

in that game. In April 1618 at 70 years old, he died in his village of Wowakcomo. The cause was never clear. Some say illness, others whisper about poison. Number 19, King Phillip Metacom. Did you know the bloodiest war on American soil wasn’t the Civil War? It was a conflict that happened 200 years earlier. And not many people know this story. Metacom was the son of Masasoit, the same chief who helped the pilgrims survive that first Thanksgiving. Ironic, right? The father saved the colonists

and decades later, the son had to fight them for his people’s survival. In 1675, Metaccom saw the Wanoag being pushed off their land. There was no room left for negotiation. He brought allied tribes together and started what we call King Phillips War. For months, colonists in New England live terrified. But in August [music] 1676, the tide turned. Metacom was ambushed at Mount Hope, Rhode Island. A gunshot ended his life at 38 years old. Number 20. Imagine creating a complete writing system [music] without ever

learning to read. Sounds impossible, right? Well, Sequoia did exactly that. For 12 years, this Cherokee man worked on an idea many people thought was crazy. Neighbors mocked him. His own wife burned his notes in a fire. Even so, he kept going. In 1821, he introduced a syllibary with 86 symbols that let any Cherokee learn to read and write in a matter of weeks. Within a few years, the Cherokee Nation had literacy rates higher than many nearby white communities. They published newspapers and books in their own language. But

Sequoia’s story doesn’t end there. At 73, he set out on a risky mission to find a lost Cherokee group in Mexico. He never came back. In August 1843, an infection killed him in unknown territory trying to reunite his scattered people. Number 21. While Hollywood showed male warriors fighting the US Army, an Apache woman was leading battles that had generals freaking out. Lozen wasn’t your typical figure among the Apache. The sister of Chief Victoria, she refused marriage and children to become a

warrior. Her own people said she could sense enemy soldiers getting close before any scout. She fought side by side with Geronimo in the last Apache resistances. When she was finally captured, the government didn’t execute her in combat like she probably would have wanted. Instead, they sent her to a damp prison in Alabama, far from the mountains she defended her whole life. There in June 1889, tuberculosis did what bullets couldn’t. She was 49 years old. One of the last Apache warriors died coughing in a place

that should have never been her home.