porcupine fought against the u.s. in hancock's war in 1867 in which the cheyenne resisted moving to a reservation. porcupine's group was pursued by the 7th cavalry from kansas to nebraska. in nebraska he succeeded in derailing and wrecking a train, the first time this had been done by indians. at the conclusion of the great sioux war of 1876, the cheyenne surrendered and were deported to oklahoma. porcupine took part in the northern cheyenne exodus in which a part of the starving tribe fought their way back to their homeland in montana. porcupine was one of a group of cheyennes who were subsequently arrested on charges of murdering settlers as the cheyennes crossed kansas. after spending most of 1879 in prison, the charges were dismissed without a full trial taking place.