Amache Prowers
Amache Ochinee Prowers, also known as Walking Woman (1846–1905), was a Native American activist, advocate, cattle rancher, and operator of a store on the Santa Fe Trail. Her father was a Cheyenne peace chief who was killed during the Sand Creek massacre on November 29, 1864, after which she became a mediator between Colorado territorial settlers, Mexicans, and Native Americans during the 1860s and 1870s. She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2018. Personal life Early life Amache, a full-blooded member of the Southern Cheyenne tribe, was born in the summer of 1846 during a forced march of her tribe across the plains of Southeastern Colorado. Her father Ochinee (Nah-ku-uk-ihu-us) was a Cheyenne Peace Chief who often camped near Bent's Fort (Big Timbers) with other Cheyenne. In 1846, the Cheyenne of the Arkansas River Valley were subject to significant change as they saw whites arrive in significant numbers. General Stephen W. Kearny led United States soldiers through Colorado during the Mexican–American War. In late July, when the Cheyenne were encamped at Bent's Fort, 1,700 soldiers were encamped for miles along the Arkansas River. The Cheyenne had noticed an increase in the number of white people that