Young Wolf and Tu-Na-Yee had served together in the Cherokee forces on the Union side of the Civil War before returning to the Cherokee Nation.
After learning that there were white men running an extensive line of traps in the area, the two men made a plan to kill them. After tracking them down, they shot and killed the two men – whose names were not recorded – sometime in early 1873.
After the men’s bodies were found, Young Wolf and Tu-Na-Yee were arrested. At trial in Fort Smith in June 1873, the two men were convicted and sentenced to death.
On October 10, 1873, Young Wolf and Tu-Na-Yee were hanged in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They were reported to have confessed from the gallows.
The Federal Death Penalty Project 