old chief smoke was an oglala lakota head chief and one of the last great shirt wearers, a highly prestigious lakota warrior society. the smoke people were one of the most prominent lakota families of the 18th and 19th centuries. old chief smoke was one of the first lakota chiefs to appreciate the power of the whites and the need for association. in 1849, old chief smoke moved his wágluȟe camp to ft. laramie, wyoming when the u.s. army first garrisoned the old trading post to protect and supply wagon trains of white migrants along the oregon trail. lakota families from other camps who preferred the safety of ft. laramie joined smoke's camp. old chief smoke was aware of the power of the whites, their overwhelming numbers and the futility of war. old chief smoke observed and learned the customs of the whites. by the late 1850s, some lakota from the wild buffalo-hunting camps began to disparage old chief smoke's camp at ft. laramie and call old chief smoke's community wágluȟe (loafers), meaning they were like men who lived with their wives' relatives, that is, hangers-on, loafers. on the other hand, some wagluhe thought of the wild lakota as county bumpkins. during the increasing strife of the 1860s, the ft. laramie took on a military posture and was the primary staging ground for the u.s. army during red cloud's war. in 1864, old chief smoke died and was placed on a scaffold near sight of his beloved ft. laramie and replaced by chief big mouth.