William Selby Harney was a well-known cavalry officer of the Indian Wars who worked for peace with the Native Americans by advocating a good neighbor policy. He strove throughout his career to improve the nation’s treatment of the native population. The Crows gave him the name “Man-who-runs-like-the-deer” after he challenged them to foot races outside the walls of the fort.
After the Civil War, Harney was a key figure in the Southern Treaty Commission that negotiated treaties with all the Plains tribes in 1867-68, and urged Congress to honor past treaties. After his death, the Sioux (Lakota) changed his name to “Man-who-always-kept-his-word.”
Harney was part of a group gathered for a meeting regarding the Union Pacific Railroad at Fort Sanders in July of 1868. Other attendees included Generals P. H. Sheridan, John Gibbon, U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman and Joseph H. Potter, Commander of Fort Sanders.