08/27/2026
Meany interview Chase Alone, son of Big Road.
Oyuhpe.
Wounded Knee
Manderson, S.D. 19 July 1907
Joseph Pourier, Interpreter
Big Road
Chan-ku-Ton ka
40 years old
Ogalala
Before his father's death his name was "Charges Alone." His father was chief of the Wounded Knee band and bore the name of Big Road. Before Big Road the chief was Black Fox.
He never was in a war party but got his name from a deed of his father.
The buffalo were not gone when he was a young man and he took part in buffalo hunts. When 15 holding horses on the prairie a herd of buffalo came. He and his companion chased and with arrows killed two young buffaloes.
On another occasion there was a big party including two of his uncles. They had extra horses and he was taken along to help care for those horses. They started the chase. He went on slow leading two horses. He met an old fellow butchering a buffalo. He got off and got a piece of liver to eat. In the meantime a wounded buffalo cow came that way. He did not see it until it bumped him over and he crawled into the carcass. His uncles came and shot the cow and rescued the boy who was all smeared with blood. The uncles had shot the cow with arrows. When they approached she got up and took after one of the uncles striking the horse and cutting a gash in its thigh.
On another occasion he and four other boys took after a stray buffalo. They shot all their arrows into the buffalo except one lone arrow which he had. He wanted to make a sure shot at close range. He got so close that the buffalo took after him. There was some timber near and he tried to get to the timber but his horse got tangled in vines and threw him off. The buffalo was close behind. He scrambled behind a tree and commenced to climb the tree. The buffalo staid there all day and he was kept in the tree. The other boys went to the village and reported when one of the men came out and killed the buffalo. In the excitement he lost that precious arrow. John Red Dog, his cousin, was the one who killed the buffalo. They went back to cut up the buffalo. A creek had swollen while away and while wading the water came up to his mouth so he dropped the meat and escaped drowning.
He fasted on a hill near his home one day and a night. He laid down facing the west. It seemed as though a man approached. He heard footsteps. When it got close he raised up and saw it was a black spider with yellow spots on its sides. Right behind him there seemed some one whispering. He looked up and saw a couple of magpies.
He laid down again and he heard a woman speaking, saying: "Young man get up. Go and catch it." So he got up and looked towards the place. It was rather dark but he could plainly see a horse tied up near him. Several days afterward there was a fine horse given to him.