# Red Cloud — A Cycle of the West character guide

> Red Cloud in A Cycle of the West by John G. Neihardt.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Man Afraid, the Ogalalas

**First appearance:** 0025-the-song-of-the-indian-wars

## Snapshot

An Oglala Lakota leader whose memory of prairie mornings thick with game measures the loss his people suffer as the white man's hunger closes in.

## Who they are

Red Cloud stands among the Ogalala as a keeper of the old days, recalling lodge smoke rising straight into sunlight and valleys running full with fading cows and thundering bulls. Around him the Sioux gather news of Nez Perce Joseph's fighting retreat and of Crazy Horse's brooding silence, and the border shudders at rumors of a human prairie-fire. His presence frames the Lakota side of the story, giving the encroaching tragedy a memory and a voice rather than a mere tally of defeats.

## Relationships

### [Hugh Glass](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/hugh_glass)

_rivalry_

Hugh Glass and Red Cloud are adversaries, representing the clash between white frontiersmen and Native American resistance.

### [Mike Fink](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/mike_fink)

_rivalry_

Mike Fink and Red Cloud are enemies, embodying the violent frontier conflict between white trappers and Lakota warriors.

### [Crazy Horse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/crazy_horse)

_friendship_

Crazy Horse and Red Cloud are allies and fellow Lakota war leaders, united in resistance against U.S. expansion.

### [Crazy Horse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/crazy_horse)

_friendship_

Crazy Horse and Red Cloud are allies and fellow Lakota war leaders, united in resistance against U.S. expansion.

## In the story

### [The Song of the Indian Wars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/the-song-of-the-indian-wars)

Red Cloud is mentioned as a war leader who successfully resisted U.S. expansion in earlier conflicts, setting a precedent for later resistance.

### [II: Red Cloud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ii-red-cloud)

Emerges as a commanding presence, serene and defiant, rejecting the white man's offers with a speech that likens the prairie to his mother.

### [III: The Council on the Powder](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iii-the-council-on-the-powder)

Leads the Ogalalas and Brulés to the council, silent and burdened with tribal sorrow.

### [IV: Fort Phil Kearney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/iv-fort-phil-kearney)

Mentioned as relentlessly watching the column's progress from the south, counting the soldiers left at Reno Post.

### [VI: The Wagon Boxes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vi-the-wagon-boxes)

The unifying war leader; his name inspires warriors across tribes; orchestrates the attack on the wagon boxes.

### [VII: Beecher's Island](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/vii-beecher-s-island)

Red Cloud refuses peace overtures, insisting the white men remove their forts; his victory over the soldier-towns is celebrated.

### [IX: The Village of Crazy Horse](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/ix-the-village-of-crazy-horse)

Referenced indirectly as 'Man Afraid' in the context of the Oglalas, but not directly appearing in this chapter.

### [XIII: The Twilight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/chapters/xiii-the-twilight)

Described as a 'cougar in a cage,' self-eaten by silent rage.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters/red_cloud
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_cycle_of_the_west_se/characters