Talk:Lean Bear

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Lean Bear article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Biography: Military Start‑class

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
Start	This article has been given a rating which conflicts with the project-independent quality rating in the banner shell. Please resolve this conflict if possible.
	This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as Low-importance).

Indigenous peoples of North America

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Native Americans, Indigenous peoples in Canada, and related indigenous peoples of North America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Indigenous peoples of North AmericaWikipedia:WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North AmericaTemplate:WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North AmericaIndigenous peoples of North America articles
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

United States: Old West Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States articles
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject American Old West (assessed as Low-importance).

Military history: Biography / North America / United States C‑class

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

C

This article has been rated as C-class on the project's quality scale.

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military biography task force
	North American military history task force
	United States military history task force

Untitled[edit]

Hello! I plan to begin adding more information about Lean Bear's deals made as peace chief. I hope to draw information from Nation to Nation by Suzan Harjo, as well as other sources.Jminteal (talk) 05:53, 27 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment[edit]

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jminteal. Peer reviewers: Meliasimpkins, Clarksc2.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 02:21, 17 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestions[edit]

This article is managing to rescue an often obscure figure. Here are some suggestions for improving it.

Lead section should include a summary of the main events of LB's life and of his murder.
Who are the Council and what is their relationship to the Dog Soldiers, and other Cheyenne? Also, what's a "peace chief"?
Lean Bear's peace making efforts should be contextualized within the overall US-Cheyenne war, the particular compromises made for peace, and the differences of opinion within Cheyenne society over what course to pursue.
Lean Bear's death is widely reported as a murder by current sources. You could use this term outright, or attribute it to multiple sources.
Lean Bear's wife — Do we have a name? Or further details about her murder?
"when the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment arrived" — This seems like an unduly passive description.
"The rest of the tribe… was killed as well" — this seems to be false. See Weeks' account below.
The description of the death should include the role of Black Kettle after the murders.
The National Park Service biography below attributes Dog Soldier reprisal actions and escalating tensions leading to the Sand Creek massacre to the killing of Lean Bear and his companions. This deserves discussion.
It's legally permissible to use the out-of-copyrights photo assumed to be Lean Bear in this article. Its age makes it public domain/out of copyright.

Incorporate the information found in these sources…

Philip Weeks, Farewell, My Nation: The American Indian and the United States in the Nineteenth Century — a substantial scholarly account of the killing of Lean Bear. Also claims that he was a participant in the Fort Wise Treaty Council.
Peter Cozzens, The Earth is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West offers a detailed description of Lean Bear and the other chiefs' visit to East Coast cities in the Prologue.
[1]
Biography of Lean Bear's brother: [2]
Douglas C. McChristian, Fort Laramie: Military Bastion of the High Plains, [3]
Barbara Nixon, Mi' Taku'Ye-Oyasin: Letters from Wounded Knee: [4]

--Carwil (talk) 15:30, 21 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Peer Review[edit]

Your article did a good job of illuminating a previously un-remembered Cheyenne chief. I appreciated that you included a note at the end about how there are little know images of Lean Bear, but you should consider adding some of the works you do mention. I think you article could be improved by adding a longer introduction at the top of the page using more details from Lean Bear's life. For example, you could include that het met with Abraham Lincoln. Additionally, the article was choppy to read at times, and jumped from topic to topic with each sentence. More details/sources are needed, especially in the personal life section. I appreciate that it must be hard to find sources for a more obscure historical figure -- nice job so far!

I agree that the it would help to expand the lead section to summarize the rest of the article in a paragraph. Also, I know there is very little coverage on Lean Bear, but if you could just expand a little more in detail in your sections I think it would really round out the article. Some suggestions would be giving context on the importance of the Council of the Forty Four, maybe some information on the Cheyenne people, or just more details about his life if you can find anything. Great job and props for picking a topic that isn't easy to find information on. Meliasimpkins (talk) 21:20, 23 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Lead image[edit]

Not sure we should be leading with an image that might not be him but here's a better quality version of the image and another from the same series:

©Geni (talk) 19:37, 1 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]