Sauk and Fox delegations of chiefs and braves entered the room in the War Department that warm October day in 1837. They were followed by several Sioux chiefs and orators. The Fox went to the left, the Sioux to the right. They sat on the floor and glared across the room at each other as the nervous secretary of war, Indian commissioners, and interpreters quickly prepared for a peace pipe.

One Fox warrior stood out among all the others. He was tall and husky with streaks of paint like black fingers stretching upward from below his mouth to his cheeks. But what made him taller and more terrifying was his crown of a buffalo skull and horns.

The Sioux seemed hypnotized by it. They muttered among themselves as the Fox brave, arms folded, sat on a high bench staring down at the angry dark faces of his people's ancient enemies.

The Indian agents, sensitive to the undercurrents always present at any Indian council, finally discovered why the conference had reached an impasse. The Fox brave, named Kishkekosh, had single-handedly invaded a large Sioux village, scalped several braves, then tore the buffalo crown from the head of a popular chief. The Indian commissioners and agents knew Kishkekosh's arrogant display of contempt could result in a confrontation between the two nations at any moment. Gifts, promises and threats persuaded Kishkekosh to leave behind his trophy, and both tribes finally signed un uneasy peace treaty.

The portrait of Kishkekosh has been variously labeled as "Kee-o-kuck,The Watchful Fox, principal chief of the confederate tribes" or "Kis-te-kosh".

Colonel McKenney translated his name as The Man with One Leg, but ethnologists say He with a Cut Hoof would be more correct.Curiously, the Fox chief had no deformity.