The battle between the United States Cavalry and the Cheyenne raged across the Western plains for forty years. The white man demanded peace or total war, and the Cheyenne would not pay the price of peace. They knew their people were meant to range with the eagle and the wolf. They would fight to be free until the last warrior had gone forever upon the last warpath. The war chief chose to die rather than to suffer further dishonor; he chose death rather than continued imprisonment; he chose death as a free man instead of life as a slave.