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@@ -0,0 +1,4272 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, by +[AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. Eastman + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains + +Author: [AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. Eastman + +Release Date: July 5, 2008 [EBook #336] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss + + + + + +INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINS + +By Charles A. Eastman (Ohiyesa) + + + + + CONTENTS + + + 1. RED CLOUD + 2. SPOTTED TAIL + 3. LITTLE CROW + 4. TAMAHAY + 5. GALL + 6. CRAZY HORSE + 7. SITTING BULL + 8. RAIN-IN-THE-FACE + 9. TWO STRIKE + 10. AMERICAN HORSE + 11. DULL KNIFE + 12. ROMAN NOSE + 13. CHIEF JOSEPH + 14. LITTLE WOLF + 15. HOLE-IN-THE-DAY + + + + + +INDIAN HEROES AND GREAT CHIEFTAINS + + + + +RED CLOUD + + +EVERY age, every race, has its leaders and heroes. There were over sixty +distinct tribes of Indians on this continent, each of which boasted +its notable men. The names and deeds of some of these men will live +in American history, yet in the true sense they are unknown, because +misunderstood. I should like to present some of the greatest chiefs of +modern times in the light of the native character and ideals, believing +that the American people will gladly do them tardy justice. + +It is matter of history that the Sioux nation, to which I belong, +was originally friendly to the Caucasian peoples which it met in +succession-first, to the south the Spaniards; then the French, on the +Mississippi River and along the Great Lakes; later the English, and +finally the Americans. This powerful tribe then roamed over the whole +extent of the Mississippi valley, between that river and the Rockies. +Their usages and government united the various bands more closely than +was the case with many of the neighboring tribes. + +During the early part of the nineteenth century, chiefs such as +Wabashaw, Redwing, and Little Six among the eastern Sioux, Conquering +Bear, Man-Afraid-of-His-Horse, and Hump of the western bands, were the +last of the old type. After these, we have a coterie of new leaders, +products of the new conditions brought about by close contact with the +conquering race. + +This distinction must be borne in mind--that while the early chiefs +were spokesmen and leaders in the simplest sense, possessing no real +authority, those who headed their tribes during the transition period +were more or less rulers and more or less politicians. It is a singular +fact that many of the "chiefs", well known as such to the American +public, were not chiefs at all according to the accepted usages of +their tribesmen. Their prominence was simply the result of an abnormal +situation, in which representatives of the United States Government made +use of them for a definite purpose. In a few cases, where a chief met +with a violent death, some ambitious man has taken advantage of the +confusion to thrust himself upon the tribe and, perhaps with outside +help, has succeeded in usurping the leadership. + +Red Cloud was born about 1820 near the forks of the Platte River. He +was one of a family of nine children whose father, an able and respected +warrior, reared his son under the old Spartan regime. The young Red +Cloud is said to have been a fine horseman, able to swim across the +Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, of high bearing and unquestionable +courage, yet invariably gentle and courteous in everyday life. This +last trait, together with a singularly musical and agreeable voice, has +always been characteristic of the man. + +When he was about six years old, his father gave him a spirited colt, +and said to him: + +"My son, when you are able to sit quietly upon the back of this colt +without saddle or bridle, I shall be glad, for the boy who can win a +wild creature and learn to use it will as a man be able to win and rule +men." + +The little fellow, instead of going for advice and help to his +grandfather, as most Indian boys would have done, began quietly to +practice throwing the lariat. In a little while he was able to lasso +the colt. He was dragged off his feet at once, but hung on, and finally +managed to picket him near the teepee. When the big boys drove the herd +of ponies to water, he drove his colt with the rest. Presently the pony +became used to him and allowed himself to be handled. The boy began +to ride him bareback; he was thrown many times, but persisted until he +could ride without even a lariat, sitting with arms folded and guiding +the animal by the movements of his body. From that time on he told me +that he broke all his own ponies, and before long his father's as well. + +The old men, his contemporaries, have often related to me how Red +Cloud was always successful in the hunt because his horses were so well +broken. At the age of nine, he began to ride his father's pack pony upon +the buffalo hunt. He was twelve years old, he told me, when he was +first permitted to take part in the chase, and found to his great +mortification that none of his arrows penetrated more than a few +inches. Excited to recklessness, he whipped his horse nearer the fleeing +buffalo, and before his father knew what he was about, he had seized one +of the protruding arrows and tried to push it deeper. The furious animal +tossed his massive head sidewise, and boy and horse were whirled into +the air. Fortunately, the boy was thrown on the farther side of his +pony, which received the full force of the second attack. The thundering +hoofs of the stampeded herd soon passed them by, but the wounded and +maddened buffalo refused to move, and some critical moments passed +before Red Cloud's father succeeded in attracting its attention so that +the boy might spring to his feet and run for his life. + +I once asked Red Cloud if he could recall having ever been afraid, and +in reply he told me this story. He was about sixteen years old and had +already been once or twice upon the warpath, when one fall his people +were hunting in the Big Horn country, where they might expect trouble at +any moment with the hostile Crows or Shoshones. Red Cloud had followed a +single buffalo bull into the Bad Lands and was out of sight and hearing +of his companions. When he had brought down his game, he noted carefully +every feature of his surroundings so that he might at once detect +anything unusual, and tied his horse with a long lariat to the horn of +the dead bison, while skinning and cutting up the meat so as to pack +it to camp. Every few minutes he paused in his work to scrutinize the +landscape, for he had a feeling that danger was not far off. + +Suddenly, almost over his head, as it seemed, he heard a tremendous +war whoop, and glancing sidewise, thought he beheld the charge of an +overwhelming number of warriors. He tried desperately to give the usual +undaunted war whoop in reply, but instead a yell of terror burst from +his lips, his legs gave way under him, and he fell in a heap. When he +realized, the next instant, that the war whoop was merely the sudden +loud whinnying of his own horse, and the charging army a band of fleeing +elk, he was so ashamed of himself that he never forgot the incident, +although up to that time he had never mentioned it. His subsequent +career would indicate that the lesson was well learned. + +The future leader was still a very young man when he joined a war party +against the Utes. Having pushed eagerly forward on the trail, he found +himself far in advance of his companions as night came on, and at the +same time rain began to fall heavily. Among the scattered scrub pines, +the lone warrior found a natural cave, and after a hasty examination, he +decided to shelter there for the night. + +Scarcely had he rolled himself in his blanket when he heard a slight +rustling at the entrance, as if some creature were preparing to share +his retreat. It was pitch dark. He could see nothing, but judged that it +must be either a man or a grizzly. There was not room to draw a bow. It +must be between knife and knife, or between knife and claws, he said to +himself. + +The intruder made no search but quietly lay down in the opposite corner +of the cave. Red Cloud remained perfectly still, scarcely breathing, +his hand upon his knife. Hour after hour he lay broad awake, while +many thoughts passed through his brain. Suddenly, without warning, +he sneezed, and instantly a strong man sprang to a sitting posture +opposite. The first gray of morning was creeping into their rocky den, +and behold! a Ute hunter sat before him. + +Desperate as the situation appeared, it was not without a grim humor. +Neither could afford to take his eyes from the other's; the tension was +great, till at last a smile wavered over the expressionless face of the +Ute. Red Cloud answered the smile, and in that instant a treaty of peace +was born between them. + +"Put your knife in its sheath. I shall do so also, and we will smoke +together," signed Red Cloud. The other assented gladly, and they +ratified thus the truce which assured to each a safe return to his +friends. Having finished their smoke, they shook hands and separated. +Neither had given the other any information. Red Cloud returned to his +party and told his story, adding that he had divulged nothing and had +nothing to report. Some were inclined to censure him for not fighting, +but he was sustained by a majority of the warriors, who commended his +self-restraint. In a day or two they discovered the main camp of the +enemy and fought a remarkable battle, in which Red Cloud especially +distinguished himself + +The Sioux were now entering upon the most stormy period of their +history. The old things were fast giving place to new. The young men, +for the first time engaging in serious and destructive warfare with the +neighboring tribes, armed with the deadly weapons furnished by the +white man, began to realize that they must soon enter upon a desperate +struggle for their ancestral hunting grounds. The old men had been +innocently cultivating the friendship of the stranger, saying among +themselves, "Surely there is land enough for all!" + +Red Cloud was a modest and little known man of about twenty-eight years, +when General Harney called all the western bands of Sioux together at +Fort Laramie, Wyoming, for the purpose of securing an agreement and +right of way through their territory. The Ogallalas held aloof from this +proposal, but Bear Bull, an Ogallala chief, after having been plied with +whisky, undertook to dictate submission to the rest of the clan. Enraged +by failure, he fired upon a group of his own tribesmen, and Red Cloud's +father and brother fell dead. According to Indian custom, it fell to him +to avenge the deed. Calmly, without uttering a word, he faced old Bear +Bull and his son, who attempted to defend his father, and shot them +both. He did what he believed to be his duty, and the whole band +sustained him. Indeed, the tragedy gave the young man at once a certain +standing, as one who not only defended his people against enemies from +without, but against injustice and aggression within the tribe. From +this time on he was a recognized leader. + +Man-Afraid-of-His-Horse, then head chief of the Ogallalas, took council +with Red Cloud in all important matters, and the young warrior rapidly +advanced in authority and influence. In 1854, when he was barely +thirty-five years old, the various bands were again encamped near Fort +Laramie. A Mormon emigrant train, moving westward, left a footsore cow +behind, and the young men killed her for food. The next day, to their +astonishment, an officer with thirty men appeared at the Indian camp and +demanded of old Conquering Bear that they be given up. The chief in vain +protested that it was all a mistake and offered to make reparation. It +would seem that either the officer was under the influence of liquor, +or else had a mind to bully the Indians, for he would accept neither +explanation nor payment, but demanded point-blank that the young men who +had killed the cow be delivered up to summary punishment. The old chief +refused to be intimidated and was shot dead on the spot. Not one soldier +ever reached the gate of Fort Laramie! Here Red Cloud led the young +Ogallalas, and so intense was the feeling that they even killed the +half-breed interpreter. + +Curiously enough, there was no attempt at retaliation on the part of the +army, and no serious break until 1860, when the Sioux were involved in +troubles with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes. In 1862, a grave outbreak +was precipitated by the eastern Sioux in Minnesota under Little Crow, +in which the western bands took no part. Yet this event ushered in a new +period for their race. The surveyors of the Union Pacific were laying +out the proposed road through the heart of the southern buffalo country, +the rendezvous of Ogallalas, Brules, Arapahoes, Comanches, and Pawnees, +who followed the buffalo as a means of livelihood. To be sure, most of +these tribes were at war with one another, yet during the summer +months they met often to proclaim a truce and hold joint councils and +festivities, which were now largely turned into discussions of the +common enemy. It became evident, however, that some of the smaller +and weaker tribes were inclined to welcome the new order of things, +recognizing that it was the policy of the government to put an end to +tribal warfare. + +Red Cloud's position was uncompromisingly against submission. He made +some noted speeches in this line, one of which was repeated to me by +an old man who had heard and remembered it with the remarkable verbal +memory of an Indian. + +"Friends," said Red Cloud, "it has been our misfortune to welcome the +white man. We have been deceived. He brought with him some shining +things that pleased our eyes; he brought weapons more effective than our +own: above all, he brought the spirit water that makes one forget for a +time old age, weakness, and sorrow. But I wish to say to you that if you +would possess these things for yourselves, you must begin anew and put +away the wisdom of your fathers. You must lay up food, and forget the +hungry. When your house is built, your storeroom filled, then look +around for a neighbor whom you can take at a disadvantage, and seize all +that he has! Give away only what you do not want; or rather, do not part +with any of your possessions unless in exchange for another's. + +"My countrymen, shall the glittering trinkets of this rich man, his +deceitful drink that overcomes the mind, shall these things tempt us to +give up our homes, our hunting grounds, and the honorable teaching of +our old men? Shall we permit ourselves to be driven to and fro--to be +herded like the cattle of the white man?" + +His next speech that has been remembered was made in 1866, just before +the attack on Fort Phil Kearny. The tension of feeling against the +invaders had now reached its height. There was no dissenting voice in +the council upon the Powder River, when it was decided to oppose to +the uttermost the evident purpose of the government. Red Cloud was not +altogether ignorant of the numerical strength and the resourcefulness +of the white man, but he was determined to face any odds rather than +submit. + +"Hear ye, Dakotas!" he exclaimed. "When the Great Father at Washington +sent us his chief soldier [General Harney] to ask for a path through +our hunting grounds, a way for his iron road to the mountains and the +western sea, we were told that they wished merely to pass through our +country, not to tarry among us, but to seek for gold in the far west. +Our old chiefs thought to show their friendship and good will, when they +allowed this dangerous snake in our midst. They promised to protect the +wayfarers. + +"Yet before the ashes of the council fire are cold, the Great Father +is building his forts among us. You have heard the sound of the white +soldier's ax upon the Little Piney. His presence here is an insult and a +threat. It is an insult to the spirits of our ancestors. Are we then +to give up their sacred graves to be plowed for corn? Dakotas, I am for +war!" + +In less than a week after this speech, the Sioux advanced upon Fort Phil +Kearny, the new sentinel that had just taken her place upon the farthest +frontier, guarding the Oregon Trail. Every detail of the attack had +been planned with care, though not without heated discussion, and +nearly every well-known Sioux chief had agreed in striking the blow. +The brilliant young war leader, Crazy Horse, was appointed to lead the +charge. His lieutenants were Sword, Hump, and Dull Knife, with Little +Chief of the Cheyennes, while the older men acted as councilors. Their +success was instantaneous. In less than half an hour, they had cut down +nearly a hundred men under Captain Fetterman, whom they drew out of the +fort by a ruse and then annihilated. + +Instead of sending troops to punish, the government sent a commission +to treat with the Sioux. The result was the famous treaty of 1868, which +Red Cloud was the last to sign, having refused to do so until all of the +forts within their territory should be vacated. All of his demands were +acceded to, the new road abandoned, the garrisons withdrawn, and in the +new treaty it was distinctly stated that the Black Hills and the Big +Horn were Indian country, set apart for their perpetual occupancy, and +that no white man should enter that region without the consent of the +Sioux. + +Scarcely was this treaty signed, however, when gold was discovered in +the Black Hills, and the popular cry was: "Remove the Indians!" This +was easier said than done. That very territory had just been solemnly +guaranteed to them forever: yet how stem the irresistible rush for gold? +The government, at first, entered some small protest, just enough to +"save its face" as the saying is; but there was no serious attempt to +prevent the wholesale violation of the treaty. It was this state of +affairs that led to the last great speech made by Red Cloud, at a +gathering upon the Little Rosebud River. It is brief, and touches upon +the hopelessness of their future as a race. He seems at about this +time to have reached the conclusion that resistance could not last much +longer; in fact, the greater part of the Sioux nation was already under +government control. + +"We are told," said he, "that Spotted Tail has consented to be the +Beggars' Chief. Those Indians who go over to the white man can be +nothing but beggars, for he respects only riches, and how can an Indian +be a rich man? He cannot without ceasing to be an Indian. As for me, +I have listened patiently to the promises of the Great Father, but his +memory is short. I am now done with him. This is all I have to say." + +The wilder bands separated soon after this council, to follow the drift +of the buffalo, some in the vicinity of the Black Hills and others in +the Big Horn region. Small war parties came down from time to time upon +stray travelers, who received no mercy at their hands, or made dashes +upon neighboring forts. Red Cloud claimed the right to guard and hold +by force, if need be, all this territory which had been conceded to his +people by the treaty of 1868. The land became a very nest of outlawry. +Aside from organized parties of prospectors, there were bands of white +horse thieves and desperadoes who took advantage of the situation to +plunder immigrants and Indians alike. + +An attempt was made by means of military camps to establish control and +force all the Indians upon reservations, and another commission was sent +to negotiate their removal to Indian Territory, but met with an absolute +refusal. After much guerrilla warfare, an important military campaign +against the Sioux was set on foot in 1876, ending in Custer's signal +defeat upon the Little Big Horn. + +In this notable battle, Red Cloud did not participate in person, nor in +the earlier one with Crook upon the Little Rosebud, but he had a son in +both fights. He was now a councilor rather than a warrior, but his young +men were constantly in the field, while Spotted Tail had definitely +surrendered and was in close touch with representatives of the +government. + +But the inevitable end was near. One morning in the fall of 1876 Red +Cloud was surrounded by United States troops under the command of +Colonel McKenzie, who disarmed his people and brought them into Fort +Robinson, Nebraska. Thence they were removed to the Pine Ridge agency, +where he lived for more than thirty years as a "reservation Indian." In +order to humiliate him further, government authorities proclaimed the +more tractable Spotted Tail head chief of the Sioux. Of course, Red +Cloud's own people never recognized any other chief. + +In 1880 he appealed to Professor Marsh, of Yale, head of a scientific +expedition to the Bad Lands, charging certain frauds at the agency +and apparently proving his case; at any rate the matter was considered +worthy of official investigation. In 1890-1891, during the "Ghost Dance +craze" and the difficulties that followed, he was suspected of collusion +with the hostiles, but he did not join them openly, and nothing could +be proved against him. He was already an old man, and became almost +entirely blind before his death in 1909 in his ninetieth year. + +His private life was exemplary. He was faithful to one wife all his +days, and was a devoted father to his children. He was ambitious for his +only son, known as Jack Red Cloud, and much desired him to be a great +warrior. He started him on the warpath at the age of fifteen, not then +realizing that the days of Indian warfare were well-nigh at an end. + +Among latter-day chiefs, Red Cloud was notable as a quiet man, simple +and direct in speech, courageous in action, an ardent lover of his +country, and possessed in a marked degree of the manly qualities +characteristic of the American Indian in his best days. + + + + +SPOTTED TAIL + + +Among the Sioux chiefs of the "transition period" only one was shrewd +enough to read coming events in their true light. It is said of Spotted +Tail that he was rather a slow-moving boy, preferring in their various +games and mimic battles to play the role of councilor, to plan and +assign to the others their parts in the fray. This he did so cleverly +that he soon became a leader among his youthful contemporaries; and +withal he was apt at mimicry and impersonation, so that the other boys +were accustomed to say of him, "He has his grandfather's wit and the +wisdom of his grandmother!" + +Spotted Tail was an orphan, reared by his grandparents, and at an +early age compelled to shift for himself. Thus he was somewhat at a +disadvantage among the other boys; yet even this fact may have helped +to develop in him courage and ingenuity. One little incident of his boy +life, occurring at about his tenth year, is characteristic of the man. +In the midst of a game, two boys became involved in a dispute which +promised to be a serious one, as both drew knives. The young Spotted +Tail instantly began to cry, "The Shoshones are upon us! To arms! to +arms!" and the other boys joined in the war whoop. This distracted the +attention of the combatants and ended the affair. + +Upon the whole, his boyhood is not so well remembered as is that of most +of his leading contemporaries, probably because he had no parents to +bring him frequently before the people, as was the custom with the +wellborn, whose every step in their progress toward manhood was publicly +announced at a feast given in their honor. It is known, however, that +he began at an early age to carve out a position for himself. It is +personal qualities alone that tell among our people, and the youthful +Spotted Tail gained at every turn. At the age of seventeen, he had +become a sure shot and a clever hunter; but, above all, he had already +shown that he possessed a superior mind. He had come into contact with +white people at the various trading posts, and according to his own +story had made a careful study of the white man's habits and modes of +thought, especially of his peculiar trait of economy and intense desire +to accumulate property. He was accustomed to watch closely and listen +attentively whenever any of this strange race had dealings with his +people. When a council was held, and the other young men stood at a +distance with their robes over their faces so as to avoid recognition, +Spotted Tail always put himself in a position to hear all that was said +on either side, and weighed all the arguments in his mind. + +When he first went upon the warpath, it appears that he was, if +anything, overzealous to establish himself in the eye of his people; and +as a matter of fact, it was especially hard for him to gain an assured +position among the Brules, with whom he lived, both because he was an +orphan, and because his father had been of another band. Yet it was not +long before he had achieved his ambition, though in doing so he received +several ugly wounds. It was in a battle with the Utes that he first +notably served his people and their cause. + +The Utes were the attacking party and far outnumbered the Sioux on this +occasion. Many of their bravest young men had fallen, and the Brules +were face to face with utter annihilation, when Spotted Tail, with a +handful of daring horsemen, dodged around the enemy's flank and fell +upon them from the rear with so much spirit that they supposed that +strong reinforcements had arrived, and retreated in confusion. The Sioux +pursued on horseback; and it was in this pursuit that the noted chief +Two Strike gained his historical name. But the chief honors of the fight +belonged to Spotted Tail. The old chiefs, Conquering Bear and the rest, +thanked him and at once made him a war chief. + +It had been the firm belief of Spotted Tail that it was unwise to allow +the white man so much freedom in our country, long before the older +chiefs saw any harm in it. After the opening of the Oregon Trail he, +above all the others, was watchful of the conduct of the Americans as +they journeyed toward the setting sun, and more than once he remarked in +council that these white men were not like the French and the Spanish, +with whom our old chiefs had been used to deal. He was not fully +satisfied with the agreement with General Harney; but as a young warrior +who had only just gained his position in the council, he could not force +his views upon the older men. + +No sooner had the Oregon Trail been secured from the Sioux than Fort +Laramie and other frontier posts were strengthened, and the soldiers +became more insolent and overbearing than ever. It was soon discovered +that the whites were prepared to violate most of the articles of their +treaty as the Indians understood it. At this time, the presence of many +Mormon emigrants on their way to the settlements in Utah and Wyoming +added to the perils of the situation, as they constantly maneuvered for +purposes of their own to bring about a clash between the soldiers and +the Indians. Every summer there were storm-clouds blowing between these +two--clouds usually taking their rise in some affair of the travelers +along the trail. + +In 1854 an event occurred which has already been described and which +snapped the last link of friendship between the races. + +By this time Spotted Tail had proved his courage both abroad and at +home. He had fought a duel with one of the lesser chiefs, by whom he +was attacked. He killed his opponent with an arrow, but himself received +upon his head a blow from a battle-axe which brought him senseless to +the ground. He was left for dead, but fortunately revived just as the +men were preparing his body for burial. + +The Brules sustained him in this quarrel, as he had acted in +self-defense; and for a few years he led them in bloody raids against +the whites along the historic trail. He ambushed many stagecoaches and +emigrant trains, and was responsible for waylaying the Kincaid coach +with twenty thousand dollars. This relentless harrying of travelers soon +brought General Harney to the Brule Sioux to demand explanations and +reparation. + +The old chiefs of the Brules now appealed to Spotted Tail and his +young warriors not to bring any general calamity upon the tribe. To the +surprise of all, Spotted Tail declared that he would give himself up. +He said that he had defended the rights of his people to the best of his +ability, that he had avenged the blood of their chief, Conquering Bear, +and that he was not afraid to accept the consequences. He therefore +voluntarily surrendered to General Harney, and two of his lieutenants, +Red Leaf and Old Woman, followed his example. + +Thus Spotted Tail played an important part at the very outset of those +events which were soon to overthrow the free life of his people. I do +not know how far he foresaw what was to follow; but whether so conceived +or not, his surrender was a master stroke, winning for him not only +the admiration of his own people but the confidence and respect of the +military. + +Thus suddenly he found himself in prison, a hostage for the good +behavior of his followers. There were many rumors as to the punishment +reserved for him; but luckily for Spotted Tail, the promises of General +Harney to the Brule chiefs in respect to him were faithfully kept. +One of his fellow-prisoners committed suicide, but the other held out +bravely for the two-year term of his imprisonment. During the second +year, it was well understood that neither of the men sought to escape, +and they were given much freedom. It was fine schooling for Spotted +Tail, that tireless observer of the ways of the white man! It is a fact +that his engaging personal qualities won for him kindness and sympathy +at the fort before the time came for his release. + +One day some Indian horse thieves of another tribe stampeded the horses +and mules belonging to the garrison. Spotted Tail asked permission of +the commanding officer to accompany the pursuers. That officer, trusting +in the honor of a Sioux brave, gave him a fast horse and a good carbine, +and said to him: "I depend upon you to guide my soldiers so that they +may overtake the thieves and recapture the horses!" + +The soldiers recaptured the horses without any loss, but Spotted Tail +still followed the Indians. When they returned to the fort without him, +everybody agreed that he would never turn up. However, next day he did +"turn up", with the scalp of one of the marauders! + +Soon after this he was returned to his own people, who honored him by +making him the successor of the old chief, Conquering Bear, whose +blood he had avenged, for which act he had taken upon himself the full +responsibility. He had made good use of his two years at the fort, and +completed his studies of civilization to his own satisfaction. From this +time on he was desirous of reconciling the Indian and the white +man, thoroughly understanding the uselessness of opposition. He was +accordingly in constant communication with the military; but the other +chiefs did not understand his views and seem to have been suspicious of +his motives. + +In 1860-1864 the Southern Cheyennes and Comanches were at war with the +whites, and some of the Brules and Ogallalas, who were their neighbors +and intimates, were suspected of complicity with the hostiles. Doubtless +a few of their young men may have been involved; at any rate, Thunder +Bear and Two Face, together with a few others who were roving with the +warring tribes, purchased two captive white women and brought them to +Fort Laramie. It was, however, reported at the post that these two men +had maltreated the women while under their care. + +Of course, the commander demanded of Spotted Tail, then head chief, that +he give up the guilty ones, and accordingly he had the two men arrested +and delivered at the fort. At this there was an outcry among his own +people; but he argued that if the charges were true, the men deserved +punishment, and if false, they should be tried and cleared by process +of law. The Indians never quite knew what evidence was produced at the +court-martial, but at all events the two men were hanged, and as they +had many influential connections, their relatives lost no time in +fomenting trouble. The Sioux were then camping close by the fort and it +was midwinter, which facts held them in check for a month or two; but as +soon as spring came, they removed their camp across the river and rose +in rebellion. A pitched battle was fought, in which the soldiers got the +worst of it. Even the associate chief, Big Mouth, was against Spotted +Tail, who was practically forced against his will and judgment to take +up arms once more. + +At this juncture came the sudden and bloody uprising in the east among +the Minnesota Sioux, and Sitting Bull's campaign in the north had begun +in earnest; while to the south the Southern Cheyennes, Comanches, and +Kiowas were all upon the warpath. Spotted Tail at about this time seems +to have conceived the idea of uniting all the Rocky Mountain Indians in +a great confederacy. He once said: "Our cause is as a child's cause, +in comparison with the power of the white man, unless we can stop +quarreling among ourselves and unite our energies for the common good." +But old-time antagonisms were too strong; and he was probably held back +also by his consciousness of the fact that the Indians called him "the +white man's friend", while the military still had some faith in him +which he did not care to lose. He was undoubtedly one of the brainiest +and most brilliant Sioux who ever lived; and while he could not help +being to a large extent in sympathy with the feeling of his race against +the invader, yet he alone foresaw the inevitable outcome, and the +problem as it presented itself to him was simply this: "What is the best +policy to pursue in the existing situation?" + +Here is his speech as it has been given to me, delivered at the great +council on the Powder River, just before the attack on Fort Phil +Kearny. We can imagine that he threw all his wonderful tact and personal +magnetism into this last effort at conciliation. + +"'Hay, hay, hay! Alas, alas!' Thus speaks the old man, when he knows +that his former vigor and freedom is gone from him forever. So we may +exclaim to-day, Alas! There is a time appointed to all things. Think +for a moment how many multitudes of the animal tribes we ourselves +have destroyed! Look upon the snow that appears to-day--to-morrow it +is water! Listen to the dirge of the dry leaves, that were green and +vigorous but a few moons before! We are a part of this life and it seems +that our time is come. + +"Yet note how the decay of one nation invigorates another. This strange +white man--consider him, his gifts are manifold! His tireless brain, +his busy hand do wonders for his race. Those things which we despise +he holds as treasures; yet he is so great and so flourishing that there +must be some virtue and truth in his philosophy. I wish to say to you, +my friends: Be not moved alone by heated arguments and thoughts of +revenge! These are for the young. We are young no longer; let us think +well, and give counsel as old men!" + +These words were greeted with an ominous silence. Not even the customary +"How!" of assent followed the speech, and Sitting Bull immediately got +up and replied in the celebrated harangue which will be introduced under +his own name in another chapter. The situation was critical for Spotted +Tail--the only man present to advocate submission to the stronger race +whose ultimate supremacy he recognized as certain. The decision to +attack Fort Phil Kearny was unanimous without him, and in order to +hold his position among his tribesmen he joined in the charge. Several +bullets passed through his war bonnet, and he was slightly wounded. + +When the commission of 1867-1868 was sent out to negotiate with the +Sioux, Spotted Tail was ready to meet them, and eager to obtain for +his people the very best terms that he could. He often puzzled and +embarrassed them by his remarkable speeches, the pointed questions that +he put, and his telling allusions to former negotiations. Meanwhile Red +Cloud would not come into the council until after several deputations of +Indians had been sent to him, and Sitting Bull did not come at all. + +The famous treaty was signed, and from this time on Spotted Tail never +again took up arms against the whites. On the contrary, it was mainly +attributed to his influence that the hostiles were subdued much sooner +than might have been expected. He came into the reservation with his +band, urged his young men to enlist as government scouts, and assisted +materially in all negotiations. The hostile chiefs no longer influenced +his action, and as soon as they had all been brought under military +control, General Crook named Spotted Tail head chief of the Sioux, thus +humiliating Red Cloud and arousing jealousy and ill-feeling among the +Ogallalas. In order to avoid trouble, he prudently separated himself +from the other bands, and moved to the new agency on Beaver Creek (Fort +Sheridan, Nebraska), which was called "Spotted Tail Agency." + +Just before the daring war leader, Crazy Horse, surrendered to the +military, he went down to the agency and roundly rebuked Spotted Tail +for signing away the freedom of his people. From the point of view of +the irreconcilables, the diplomatic chief was a "trimmer" and a traitor; +and many of the Sioux have tried to implicate him in the conspiracy +against Crazy Horse which led to his assassination, but I hold that the +facts do not bear out this charge. + +The name of Spotted Tail was prominently before the people during the +rest of his life. An obscure orphan, he had achieved distinction by his +bravery and sagacity; but he copied the white politician too closely +after he entered the reservation. He became a good manipulator, and was +made conceited and overbearing by the attentions of the military and of +the general public. Furthermore, there was an old feud in his immediate +band which affected him closely. Against him for many years were the +followers of Big Mouth, whom he had killed in a duel; and also a party +led by a son and a nephew of the old chief, Conquering Bear, whom +Spotted Tail had succeeded at his death. These two men had hoped that +one or the other of them might obtain the succession. + +Crow Dog, the nephew of Conquering Bear, more than once taunted Spotted +Tail with the fact that he was chief not by the will of the tribe, but +by the help of the white soldiers, and told him that he would "keep +a bullet for him" in case he ever disgraced his high position. Thus +retribution lay in wait for him while at the height of his fame. Several +high-handed actions of his at this time, including his elopement with +another man's wife, increased his unpopularity with a large element of +his own tribe. On the eve of the chief's departure for Washington, to +negotiate (or so they suspected) for the sale of more of their land, +Crow Dog took up his gun and fulfilled his threat, regarding +himself, and regarded by his supporters, not as a murderer, but as an +executioner. + +Such was the end of the man who may justly be called the Pontiac of the +west. He possessed a remarkable mind and extraordinary foresight for +an untutored savage; and yet he is the only one of our great men to be +remembered with more honor by the white man, perhaps, than by his own +people. + + + + +LITTLE CROW + + +Chief Little Crow was the eldest son of Cetanwakuwa (Charging Hawk). +It was on account of his father's name, mistranslated Crow, that he was +called by the whites "Little Crow." His real name was Taoyateduta, His +Red People. + +As far back as Minnesota history goes, a band of the Sioux called +Kaposia (Light Weight, because they were said to travel light) inhabited +the Mille Lacs region. Later they dwelt about St. Croix Falls, and still +later near St. Paul. In 1840, Cetanwakuwa was still living in what +is now West St. Paul, but he was soon after killed by the accidental +discharge of his gun. + +It was during a period of demoralization for the Kaposias that Little +Crow became the leader of his people. His father, a well-known chief, +had three wives, all from different bands of the Sioux. He was the only +son of the first wife, a Leaf Dweller. There were two sons of the second +and two of the third wife, and the second set of brothers conspired +to kill their half-brother in order to keep the chieftainship in the +family. + +Two kegs of whisky were bought, and all the men of the tribe invited +to a feast. It was planned to pick some sort of quarrel when all were +drunk, and in the confusion Little Crow was to be murdered. The plot +went smoothly until the last instant, when a young brave saved the +intended victim by knocking the gun aside with his hatchet, so that the +shot went wild. However, it broke his right arm, which remained crooked +all his life. The friends of the young chieftain hastily withdrew, +avoiding a general fight; and later the council of the Kaposias +condemned the two brothers, both of whom were executed, leaving him in +undisputed possession. + +Such was the opening of a stormy career. Little Crow's mother had been +a chief's daughter, celebrated for her beauty and spirit, and it is said +that she used to plunge him into the lake through a hole in the ice, +rubbing him afterward with snow, to strengthen his nerves, and that she +would remain with him alone in the deep woods for days at a time, so +that he might know that solitude is good, and not fear to be alone with +nature. + +"My son," she would say, "if you are to be a leader of men, you must +listen in silence to the mystery, the spirit." + +At a very early age she made a feast for her boy and announced that he +would fast two days. This is what might be called a formal presentation +to the spirit or God. She greatly desired him to become a worthy leader +according to the ideas of her people. It appears that she left her +husband when he took a second wife, and lived with her own band till her +death. She did not marry again. + +Little Crow was an intensely ambitious man and without physical fear. He +was always in perfect training and early acquired the art of warfare of +the Indian type. It is told of him that when he was about ten years old, +he engaged with other boys in a sham battle on the shore of a lake +near St. Paul. Both sides were encamped at a little distance from one +another, and the rule was that the enemy must be surprised, otherwise +the attack would be considered a failure. One must come within so many +paces undiscovered in order to be counted successful. Our hero had a +favorite dog which, at his earnest request, was allowed to take part in +the game, and as a scout he entered the enemy camp unseen, by the help +of his dog. + +When he was twelve, he saved the life of a companion who had broken +through the ice by tying the end of a pack line to a log, then at great +risk to himself carrying it to the edge of the hole where his comrade +went down. It is said that he also broke in, but both boys saved +themselves by means of the line. + +As a young man, Little Crow was always ready to serve his people as a +messenger to other tribes, a duty involving much danger and hardship. +He was also known as one of the best hunters in his band. Although still +young, he had already a war record when he became chief of the Kaposias, +at a time when the Sioux were facing the greatest and most far-reaching +changes that had ever come to them. + +At this juncture in the history of the northwest and its native +inhabitants, the various fur companies had paramount influence. They +did not hesitate to impress the Indians with the idea that they were the +authorized representatives of the white races or peoples, and they were +quick to realize the desirability of controlling the natives through +their most influential chiefs. Little Crow became quite popular with +post traders and factors. He was an orator as well as a diplomat, +and one of the first of his nation to indulge in politics and promote +unstable schemes to the detriment of his people. + +When the United States Government went into the business of acquiring +territory from the Indians so that the flood of western settlement might +not be checked, commissions were sent out to negotiate treaties, and in +case of failure it often happened that a delegation of leading men of +the tribe were invited to Washington. At that period, these visiting +chiefs, attired in all the splendor of their costumes of ceremony, were +treated like ambassadors from foreign countries. + +One winter in the late eighteen-fifties, a major general of the army +gave a dinner to the Indian chiefs then in the city, and on this +occasion Little Crow was appointed toastmaster. There were present a +number of Senators and members of Congress, as well as judges of the +Supreme Court, cabinet officers, and other distinguished citizens. When +all the guests were seated, the Sioux arose and addressed them with much +dignity as follows: + +"Warriors and friends: I am informed that the great white war chief who +of his generosity and comradeship has given us this feast, has expressed +the wish that we may follow to-night the usages and customs of my +people. In other words, this is a warriors' feast, a braves' meal. +I call upon the Ojibway chief, the Hole-in-the-Day, to give the lone +wolf's hunger call, after which we will join him in our usual manner." + +The tall and handsome Ojibway now rose and straightened his superb form +to utter one of the clearest and longest wolf howls that was ever heard +in Washington, and at its close came a tremendous burst of war whoops +that fairly rent the air, and no doubt electrified the officials there +present. + +On one occasion Little Crow was invited by the commander of Fort +Ridgeley, Minnesota, to call at the fort. On his way back, in company +with a half-breed named Ross and the interpreter Mitchell, he was +ambushed by a party of Ojibways, and again wounded in the same arm that +had been broken in his attempted assassination. His companion Ross was +killed, but he managed to hold the war party at bay until help came and +thus saved his life. + +More and more as time passed, this naturally brave and ambitious man +became a prey to the selfish interests of the traders and politicians. +The immediate causes of the Sioux outbreak of 1862 came in quick +succession to inflame to desperate action an outraged people. The two +bands on the so-called "lower reservations" in Minnesota were Indians +for whom nature had provided most abundantly in their free existence. +After one hundred and fifty years of friendly intercourse first with +the French, then the English, and finally the Americans, they found +themselves cut off from every natural resource, on a tract of land +twenty miles by thirty, which to them was virtual imprisonment. By +treaty stipulation with the government, they were to be fed and clothed, +houses were to be built for them, the men taught agriculture, and +schools provided for the children. In addition to this, a trust fund +of a million and a half was to be set aside for them, at five per cent +interest, the interest to be paid annually per capita. They had signed +the treaty under pressure, believing in these promises on the faith of a +great nation. + +However, on entering the new life, the resources so rosily described to +them failed to materialize. Many families faced starvation every winter, +their only support the store of the Indian trader, who was baiting his +trap for their destruction. Very gradually they awoke to the facts. +At last it was planned to secure from them the north half of their +reservation for ninety-eight thousand dollars, but it was not explained +to the Indians that the traders were to receive all the money. +Little Crow made the greatest mistake of his life when he signed this +agreement. + +Meanwhile, to make matters worse, the cash annuities were not paid for +nearly two years. Civil War had begun. When it was learned that the +traders had taken all of the ninety-eight thousand dollars "on account", +there was very bitter feeling. In fact, the heads of the leading stores +were afraid to go about as usual, and most of them stayed in St. Paul. +Little Crow was justly held in part responsible for the deceit, and his +life was not safe. + +The murder of a white family near Acton, Minnesota, by a party of Indian +duck hunters in August, 1862, precipitated the break. Messengers were +sent to every village with the news, and at the villages of Little Crow +and Little Six the war council was red-hot. It was proposed to take +advantage of the fact that north and south were at war to wipe out the +white settlers and to regain their freedom. A few men stood out against +such a desperate step, but the conflagration had gone beyond their +control. + +There were many mixed bloods among these Sioux, and some of the Indians +held that these were accomplices of the white people in robbing them +of their possessions, therefore their lives should not be spared. My +father, Many Lightnings, who was practically the leader of the Mankato +band (for Mankato, the chief, was a weak man), fought desperately for +the lives of the half-breeds and the missionaries. The chiefs had great +confidence in my father, yet they would not commit themselves, since +their braves were clamoring for blood. Little Crow had been accused +of all the misfortunes of his tribe, and he now hoped by leading them +against the whites to regain his prestige with his people, and a part at +least of their lost domain. + +There were moments when the pacifists were in grave peril. It was almost +daybreak when my father saw that the approaching calamity could not be +prevented. He and two others said to Little Crow: "If you want war, you +must personally lead your men to-morrow. We will not murder women and +children, but we will fight the soldiers when they come." They then +left the council and hastened to warn my brother-in-law, Faribault, and +others who were in danger. + +Little Crow declared he would be seen in the front of every battle, and +it is true that he was foremost in all the succeeding bloodshed, urging +his warriors to spare none. He ordered his war leader, Many Hail, to +fire the first shot, killing the trader James Lynd, in the door of his +store. + +After a year of fighting in which he had met with defeat, the +discredited chief retreated to Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, Manitoba, +where, together with Standing Buffalo, he undertook secret negotiations +with his old friends the Indian traders. There was now a price upon his +head, but he planned to reach St. Paul undetected and there surrender +himself to his friends, who he hoped would protect him in return for +past favors. It is true that he had helped them to secure perhaps the +finest country held by any Indian nation for a mere song. + +He left Canada with a few trusted friends, including his youngest and +favorite son. When within two or three days' journey of St. Paul, he +told the others to return, keeping with him only his son, Wowinape, who +was but fifteen years of age. He meant to steal into the city by night +and go straight to Governor Ramsey, who was his personal friend. He was +very hungry and was obliged to keep to the shelter of the deep woods. +The next morning, as he was picking and eating wild raspberries, he was +seen by a wood-chopper named Lamson. The man did not know who he was. +He only knew that he was an Indian, and that was enough for him, so he +lifted his rifle to his shoulder and fired, then ran at his best pace. +The brilliant but misguided chief, who had made that part of the country +unsafe for any white man to live in, sank to the ground and died without +a struggle. The boy took his father's gun and made some effort to find +the assassin, but as he did not even know in which direction to look for +him, he soon gave up the attempt and went back to his friends. + +Meanwhile Lamson reached home breathless and made his report. The body +of the chief was found and identified, in part by the twice broken arm, +and this arm and his scalp may be seen to-day in the collection of the +Minnesota Historical Society. + + + + +TAMAHAY + + +There was once a Sioux brave who declared that he would die young, yet +not by his own hand. Tamahay was of heroic proportions, herculean in +strength, a superb runner; in fact, he had all the physical qualities of +an athlete or a typical Indian. In his scanty dress, he was beautiful as +an antique statue in living bronze. When a mere youth, seventeen years +of age, he met with an accident which determined his career. It was +the loss of an eye, a fatal injury to the sensitive and high-spirited +Indian. He announced his purpose in these words: + +"The 'Great Mystery' has decreed that I must be disgraced. There will be +no pleasure for me now, and I shall be ridiculed even by my enemies. It +will be well for me to enter soon into Paradise, for I shall be happy +in spending my youth there. But I will sell my life dearly. Hereafter +my name shall be spoken in the traditions of our race." With this speech +Tamahay began his career. + +He now sought glory and defied danger with even more than the ordinary +Indian recklessness. He accepted a personal friend, which was a custom +among the Sioux, where each man chose a companion for life and death. +The tie was stronger than one of blood relationship, a friendship sealed +by solemn vow and covenant. Tamahay's intimate was fortunately almost +his equal in physical powers, and the pair became the terror of +neighboring tribes, with whom the Dakotas were continually at war. They +made frequent raids upon their enemies and were usually successful, +although not without thrilling experiences and almost miraculous +escapes. + +Upon one of these occasions the two friends went north into the country +of the Ojibways. After many days' journey, they discovered a small +village of the foe. The wicked Tamahay proposed to his associate that +they should arrange their toilets after the fashion of the Ojibways, +and go among them; "and perhaps," he added, "we will indulge in a little +flirtation with their pretty maids, and when we have had enough of the +fun we can take the scalp of a brave or two and retreat!" His friend +construed his daring proposition to be a test of courage, which it would +not become him, as a brave, to decline; therefore he assented with a +show of cheerfulness. + +The handsome strangers were well received by the Ojibway girls, but +their perilous amusement was brought to an untimely close. A young +maiden prematurely discovered their true characters, and her cry of +alarm brought instantly to her side a jealous youth, who had been +watching them from his place of concealment. With him Tamahay had a +single-handed contest, and before a general alarm was given he had +dispatched the foe and fled with his scalp. + +The unfortunate brave had been a favorite and a leader among the tribe; +therefore the maddened Ojibways were soon in hot pursuit. The Sioux +braves were fine runners, yet they were finally driven out upon the +peninsula of a lake. As they became separated in their retreat, Tamahay +shouted, "I'll meet you at the mouth of the St. Croix River, or in the +spirit land!" Both managed to swim the lake, and so made good their +escape. + +The exploits of this man were not all of a warlike nature. He was +a great traveler and an expert scout, and he had some wonderful +experiences with wild animals. He was once sent, with his intimate +friend, on a scout for game. They were on ponies. + +They located a herd of buffaloes, and on their return to the camp espied +a lonely buffalo. Tamahay suggested that they should chase it in order +to take some fresh meat, as the law of the tribe allowed in the case of +a single animal. His pony stumbled and threw him, after they had wounded +the bison, and the latter attacked the dismounted man viciously. But +he, as usual, was on the alert. He "took the bull by the horns", as the +saying is, and cleverly straddled him on the neck. The buffalo had no +means of harming his enemy, but pawed the earth and struggled until his +strength was exhausted, when the Indian used his knife on the +animal's throat. On account of this feat he received the name +"Held-the-Bull-by-the-Horns." + +The origin of his name "Tamahay" is related as follows. When he was +a young man he accompanied the chief Wabashaw to Mackinaw, Michigan, +together with some other warriors. He was out with his friend one day, +viewing the wonderful sights in the "white man's country", when they +came upon a sow with her numerous pink little progeny. He was greatly +amused and picked up one of the young pigs, but as soon as it squealed +the mother ran furiously after them. He kept the pig and fled with +it, still laughing; but his friend was soon compelled to run up the +conveniently inclined trunk of a fallen tree, while our hero reached the +shore of a lake near by, and plunged into the water. He swam and dived +as long as he could, but the beast continued to threaten him with her +sharp teeth, till, almost exhausted, he swam again to shore, where his +friend came up and dispatched the vicious animal with a club. On account +of this watery adventure he was at once called Tamahay, meaning Pike. He +earned many other names, but preferred this one, because it was the name +borne by a great friend of his, Lieutenant Pike, the first officer +of the United States Army who came to Minnesota for the purpose of +exploring the sources of the Mississippi River and of making peace with +the natives. Tamahay assisted this officer in obtaining land from the +Sioux upon which to build Fort Snelling. He appears in history under the +name of "Tahamie" or the "One-Eyed Sioux." + +Always ready to brave danger and unpopularity, Tamahay was the only +Sioux who sided with the United States in her struggle with Great +Britain in 1819. For having espoused the cause of the Americans, he was +ill-treated by the British officers and free traders, who for a long +time controlled the northwest, even after peace had been effected +between the two nations. At one time he was confined in a fort called +McKay, where now stands the town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He had +just returned from St. Louis, and was suspected of exciting his people +to rebel against British subjects. His life was even threatened, but +to this Tamahay merely replied that he was ready to die. A few months +later, this fort was restored to the United States, and upon leaving +it the British set the buildings on fire, though the United States flag +floated above them. Some Indians who were present shouted to Tamahay, +"Your friends', the Americans', fort is on fire!" He responded with a +war whoop, rushed into the blazing fort, and brought out the flag. For +this brave act he was rewarded with a present of a flag and medal. He +was never tired of displaying this medal and his recommendation papers, +and even preserved to the end of his life an old colonial stovepipe hat, +which he wore upon state occasions. + +The Sioux long referred to the president of the United States as +"Tamahay's father." + +The following story is told of him in his later days. He attempted one +day to cross the first bridge over the Mississippi River, but was not +recognized by the sentinel, who would not allow him to pass until he +paid the toll. Tamahay, who was a privileged character, explained as +best he could, with gestures and broken English, that he was always +permitted to pass free; but as the sentinel still refused, and even +threatened him with his bayonet, the old Indian silently seized the +musket, threw it down into the waters of the Mississippi and went home. +Later in the day a company of soldiers appeared in the Indian village, +and escorted our hero to a sort of court-martial at the fort. When +he was questioned by the Colonel, he simply replied: "If you were +threatened by any one with a weapon, you would, in self-defense, either +disable the man or get rid of the weapon. I did the latter, thinking +that you would need the man more than the gun." + +Finally the officer said to them, "I see you are both partly wrong. Some +one must be responsible for the loss of the gun; therefore, you two +will wrestle, and the man who is downed must dive for the weapon to the +bottom of the river." + +Scarcely was this speech ended when Tamahay was upon the soldier, who +was surprised both by the order and by the unexpected readiness of the +wily old Indian, so that he was not prepared, and the Sioux had the +vantage hold. In a moment the bluecoat was down, amid shouts and peals +of laughter from his comrades. Having thrown his man, the other turned +and went home without a word. + +Sad to say, he acquired a great appetite for "minne-wakan", or +"mysterious water", as the Sioux call it, which proved a source of +trouble to him in his old age. It is told of him that he was treated +one winter's day to a drink of whisky in a trader's store. He afterwards +went home; but even the severe blizzard which soon arose did not prevent +him from returning in the night to the friendly trader. He awoke that +worthy from sleep about twelve o'clock by singing his death dirge upon +the roof of the log cabin. In another moment he had jumped down the mud +chimney, and into the blazing embers of a fire. The trader had to pour +out to him some whisky in a tin pail, after which he begged the old +man to "be good and go home." On the eve of the so-called "Minnesota +Massacre" by the Sioux in 1862, Tamahay, although he was then very old +and had almost lost the use of his remaining eye, made a famous speech +at the meeting of the conspirators. These are some of his words, as +reported to me by persons who were present. + +"What! What! is this Little Crow? Is that Little Six? You, too, White +Dog, are you here? I cannot see well now, but I can see with my mind's +eye the stream of blood you are about to pour upon the bosom of this +mother of ours" (meaning the earth). "I stand before you on three legs, +but the third leg has brought me wisdom" [referring to the staff with +which he supported himself]. "I have traveled much, I have visited among +the people whom you think to defy. This means the total surrender of our +beautiful land, the land of a thousand lakes and streams. Methinks you +are about to commit an act like that of the porcupine, who climbs a +tree, balances himself upon a springy bough, and then gnaws off the very +bough upon which he is sitting; hence, when it gives way, he falls upon +the sharp rocks below. Behold the great Pontiac, whose grave I saw near +St. Louis; he was murdered while an exile from his country! Think of the +brave Black Hawk! Methinks his spirit is still wailing through Wisconsin +and Illinois for his lost people! I do not say you have no cause to +complain, but to resist is self-destruction. I am done." + +It is supposed that this speech was his last, and it was made, though +vainly, in defense of the Americans whom he had loved. He died at Fort +Pierre, South Dakota, in 1864. His people say that he died a natural +death, of old age. And yet his exploits are not forgotten. Thus lived +and departed a most active and fearless Sioux, Tamahay, who desired to +die young! + + + + +GALL + + +Chief Gall was one of the most aggressive leaders of the Sioux nation in +their last stand for freedom. + +The westward pressure of civilization during the past three centuries +has been tremendous. When our hemisphere was "discovered", it had been +inhabited by the natives for untold ages, but it was held undiscovered +because the original owners did not chart or advertise it. Yet some of +them at least had developed ideals of life which included real liberty +and equality to all men, and they did not recognize individual ownership +in land or other property beyond actual necessity. It was a soul +development leading to essential manhood. Under this system they brought +forth some striking characters. + +Gall was considered by both Indians and whites to be a most impressive +type of physical manhood. From his picture you can judge of this for +yourself. + +Let us follow his trail. He was no tenderfoot. He never asked a soft +place for himself. He always played the game according to the rules and +to a finish. To be sure, like every other man, he made some mistakes, +but he was an Indian and never acted the coward. + +The earliest stories told of his life and doings indicate the spirit of +the man in that of the boy. + +When he was only about three years old, the Blackfoot band of Sioux were +on their usual roving hunt, following the buffalo while living their +natural happy life upon the wonderful wide prairies of the Dakotas. + +It was the way of every Sioux mother to adjust her household effects +on such dogs and pack ponies as she could muster from day to day, often +lending one or two to accommodate some other woman whose horse or dog +had died, or perhaps had been among those stampeded and carried away by +a raiding band of Crow warriors. On this particular occasion, the mother +of our young Sioux brave, Matohinshda, or Bear-Shedding-His-Hair +(Gall's childhood name), intrusted her boy to an old Eskimo pack dog, +experienced and reliable, except perhaps when unduly excited or very +thirsty. + +On the day of removing camp the caravan made its morning march up the +Powder River. Upon the wide table-land the women were busily digging +teepsinna (an edible sweetish root, much used by them) as the moving +village slowly progressed. As usual at such times, the trail was wide. +An old jack rabbit had waited too long in hiding. Now, finding himself +almost surrounded by the mighty plains people, he sprang up suddenly, +his feathery ears conspicuously erect, a dangerous challenge to the dogs +and the people. + +A whoop went up. Every dog accepted the challenge. Forgotten were the +bundles, the kits, even the babies they were drawing or carrying. The +chase was on, and the screams of the women reechoed from the opposite +cliffs of the Powder, mingled with the yelps of dogs and the neighing of +horses. The hand of every man was against the daring warrior, the lone +Jack, and the confusion was great. + +When the fleeing one cleared the mass of his enemies, he emerged with a +swiftness that commanded respect and gave promise of a determined chase. +Behind him, his pursuers stretched out in a thin line, first the speedy, +unburdened dogs and then the travois dogs headed by the old Eskimo +with his precious freight. The youthful Gall was in a travois, a basket +mounted on trailing poles and harnessed to the sides of the animal. + +"Hey! hey! they are gaining on him!" a warrior shouted. At this juncture +two of the canines had almost nabbed their furry prey by the back. But +he was too cunning for them. He dropped instantly and sent both dogs +over his head, rolling and spinning, then made another flight at right +angles to the first. This gave the Eskimo a chance to cut the triangle. +He gained fifty yards, but being heavily handicapped, two unladen dogs +passed him. The same trick was repeated by the Jack, and this time he +saved himself from instant death by a double loop and was now running +directly toward the crowd, followed by a dozen or more dogs. He was +losing speed, but likewise his pursuers were dropping off steadily. Only +the sturdy Eskimo dog held to his even gait, and behind him in the frail +travois leaned forward the little Matohinshda, nude save a breech clout, +his left hand holding fast the convenient tail of his dog, the right +grasping firmly one of the poles of the travois. His black eyes were +bulging almost out of their sockets; his long hair flowed out behind +like a stream of dark water. + +The Jack now ran directly toward the howling spectators, but his +marvelous speed and alertness were on the wane; while on the other hand +his foremost pursuer, who had taken part in hundreds of similar events, +had every confidence in his own endurance. Each leap brought him nearer, +fiercer and more determined. The last effort of the Jack was to lose +himself in the crowd, like a fish in muddy water; but the big dog made +the one needed leap with unerring aim and his teeth flashed as he caught +the rabbit in viselike jaws and held him limp in air, a victor! + +The people rushed up to him as he laid the victim down, and foremost +among them was the frantic mother of Matohinshda, or Gall. "Michinkshe! +michinkshe!" (My son! my son!) she screamed as she drew near. The boy +seemed to be none the worse for his experience. "Mother!" he cried, "my +dog is brave: he got the rabbit!" She snatched him off the travois, +but he struggled out of her arms to look upon his dog lovingly and +admiringly. Old men and boys crowded about the hero of the day, the dog, +and the thoughtful grandmother of Matohinshda unharnessed him and poured +some water from a parfleche water bag into a basin. "Here, my grandson, +give your friend something to drink." + +"How, hechetu," pronounced an old warrior no longer in active service. +"This may be only an accident, an ordinary affair; but such things +sometimes indicate a career. The boy has had a wonderful ride. I +prophesy that he will one day hold the attention of all the people with +his doings." + +This is the first remembered story of the famous chief, but other boyish +exploits foretold the man he was destined to be. He fought many sham +battles, some successful and others not; but he was always a fierce +fighter and a good loser. + +Once he was engaged in a battle with snowballs. There were probably +nearly a hundred boys on each side, and the rule was that every fair hit +made the receiver officially dead. He must not participate further, but +must remain just where he was struck. + +Gall's side was fast losing, and the battle was growing hotter every +minute when the youthful warrior worked toward an old water hole and +took up his position there. His side was soon annihilated and there were +eleven men left to fight him. He was pressed close in the wash-out, and +as he dodged under cover before a volley of snowballs, there suddenly +emerged in his stead a huge gray wolf. His opponents fled in every +direction in superstitious terror, for they thought he had been +transformed into the animal. To their astonishment he came out on the +farther side and ran to the line of safety, a winner! + +It happened that the wolf's den had been partly covered with snow so +that no one had noticed it until the yells of the boys aroused the +inmate, and he beat a hasty retreat. The boys always looked upon this +incident as an omen. + +Gall had an amiable disposition but was quick to resent insult or +injustice. This sometimes involved him in difficulties, but he seldom +fought without good cause and was popular with his associates. One of +his characteristics was his ability to organize, and this was a large +factor in his leadership when he became a man. He was tried in many +ways, and never was known to hesitate when it was a question of physical +courage and endurance. He entered the public service early in life, but +not until he had proved himself competent and passed all tests. + +When a mere boy, he was once scouting for game in midwinter, far from +camp, and was overtaken by a three days' blizzard. He was forced to +abandon his horse and lie under the snow for that length of time. +He afterward said he was not particularly hungry; it was thirst and +stiffness from which he suffered most. One reason the Indian so loved +his horse or dog was that at such times the animal would stay by him +like a brother. On this occasion Gall's pony was not more than a stone's +throw away when the storm subsided and the sun shone. There was a +herd of buffalo in plain sight, and the young hunter was not long in +procuring a meal. + +This chief's contemporaries still recall his wrestling match with the +equally powerful Cheyenne boy, Roman Nose, who afterward became a chief +well known to American history. It was a custom of the northwestern +Indians, when two friendly tribes camped together, to establish the +physical and athletic supremacy of the youth of the respective camps. + +The "Che-hoo-hoo" is a wrestling game in which there may be any number +on a side, but the numbers are equal. All the boys of each camp are +called together by a leader chosen for the purpose and draw themselves +up in line of battle; then each at a given signal attacks his opponent. + +In this memorable contest, Matohinshda, or Gall, was placed opposite +Roman Nose. The whole people turned out as spectators of the struggle, +and the battlefield was a plateau between the two camps, in the midst +of picturesque Bad Lands. There were many athletic youths present, but +these two were really the Apollos of the two tribes. + +In this kind of sport it is not allowed to strike with the hand, nor +catch around the neck, nor kick, nor pull by the hair. One may break +away and run a few yards to get a fresh start, or clinch, or catch as +catch can. When a boy is thrown and held to the ground, he is counted +out. If a boy has met his superior, he may drop to the ground to escape +rough handling, but it is very seldom one gives up without a full trial +of strength. + +It seemed almost like a real battle, so great was the enthusiasm, as the +shouts of sympathizers on both sides went up in a mighty chorus. At last +all were either conquerors or subdued except Gall and Roman Nose. The +pair seemed equally matched. Both were stripped to the breech clout, now +tugging like two young buffalo or elk in mating time, again writhing and +twisting like serpents. At times they fought like two wild stallions, +straining every muscle of arms, legs, and back in the struggle. Every +now and then one was lifted off his feet for a moment, but came down +planted like a tree, and after swaying to and fro soon became rigid +again. + +All eyes were upon the champions. Finally, either by trick or main +force, Gall laid the other sprawling upon the ground and held him fast +for a minute, then released him and stood erect, panting, a master +youth. Shout after shout went up on the Sioux side of the camp. The +mother of Roman Nose came forward and threw a superbly worked buffalo +robe over Gall, whose mother returned the compliment by covering the +young Cheyenne with a handsome blanket. + +Undoubtedly these early contests had their influence upon our hero's +career. It was his habit to appear most opportunely in a crisis, and +in a striking and dramatic manner to take command of the situation. The +best known example of this is his entrance on the scene of confusion +when Reno surprised the Sioux on the Little Big Horn. Many of the +excitable youths, almost unarmed, rushed madly and blindly to meet the +intruder, and the scene might have unnerved even an experienced warrior. +It was Gall, with not a garment upon his superb body, who on his black +charger dashed ahead of the boys and faced them. He stopped them on the +dry creek, while the bullets of Reno's men whistled about their ears. + +"Hold hard, men! Steady, we are not ready yet! Wait for more guns, more +horses, and the day is yours!" + +They obeyed, and in a few minutes the signal to charge was given, and +Reno retreated pell mell before the onset of the Sioux. + +Sitting Bull had confidence in his men so long as Gall planned and +directed the attack, whether against United States soldiers or the +warriors of another tribe. He was a strategist, and able in a twinkling +to note and seize upon an advantage. He was really the mainstay of +Sitting Bull's effective last stand. He consistently upheld his people's +right to their buffalo plains and believed that they should hold the +government strictly to its agreements with them. When the treaty of 1868 +was disregarded, he agreed with Sitting Bull in defending the last of +their once vast domain, and after the Custer battle entered Canada +with his chief. They hoped to bring their lost cause before the English +government and were much disappointed when they were asked to return to +the United States. + +Gall finally reported at Fort Peck, Montana, in 1881, and brought half +of the Hunkpapa band with him, whereupon he was soon followed by Sitting +Bull himself. Although they had been promised by the United States +commission who went to Canada to treat with them that they would not be +punished if they returned, no sooner had Gall come down than a part of +his people were attacked, and in the spring they were all brought to +Fort Randall and held as military prisoners. From this point they were +returned to Standing Rock agency. + +When "Buffalo Bill" successfully launched his first show, he made every +effort to secure both Sitting Bull and Gall for his leading attractions. +The military was in complete accord with him in this, for they still had +grave suspicions of these two leaders. While Sitting Bull reluctantly +agreed, Gall haughtily said: "I am not an animal to be exhibited before +the crowd," and retired to his teepee. His spirit was much worn, and he +lost strength from that time on. That superb manhood dwindled, and in +a few years he died. He was a real hero of a free and natural people, a +type that is never to be seen again. + + + + +CRAZY HORSE + + +Crazy Horse was born on the Republican River about 1845. He was +killed at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877, so that he lived barely +thirty-three years. + +He was an uncommonly handsome man. While not the equal of Gall in +magnificence and imposing stature, he was physically perfect, an Apollo +in symmetry. Furthermore he was a true type of Indian refinement and +grace. He was modest and courteous as Chief Joseph; the difference is +that he was a born warrior, while Joseph was not. However, he was a +gentle warrior, a true brave, who stood for the highest ideal of the +Sioux. Notwithstanding all that biased historians have said of him, it +is only fair to judge a man by the estimate of his own people rather +than that of his enemies. + +The boyhood of Crazy Horse was passed in the days when the western +Sioux saw a white man but seldom, and then it was usually a trader or a +soldier. He was carefully brought up according to the tribal customs. At +that period the Sioux prided themselves on the training and development +of their sons and daughters, and not a step in that development was +overlooked as an excuse to bring the child before the public by giving +a feast in its honor. At such times the parents often gave so generously +to the needy that they almost impoverished themselves, thus setting an +example to the child of self-denial for the general good. His first +step alone, the first word spoken, first game killed, the attainment of +manhood or womanhood, each was the occasion of a feast and dance in +his honor, at which the poor always benefited to the full extent of the +parents' ability. + +Big-heartedness, generosity, courage, and self-denial are the +qualifications of a public servant, and the average Indian was keen +to follow this ideal. As every one knows, these characteristic traits +become a weakness when he enters a life founded upon commerce and gain. +Under such conditions the life of Crazy Horse began. His mother, like +other mothers, tender and watchful of her boy, would never once place an +obstacle in the way of his father's severe physical training. They laid +the spiritual and patriotic foundations of his education in such a way +that he early became conscious of the demands of public service. + +He was perhaps four or five years old when the band was snowed in +one severe winter. They were very short of food, but his father was +a tireless hunter. The buffalo, their main dependence, were not to +be found, but he was out in the storm and cold every day and finally +brought in two antelopes. The little boy got on his pet pony and rode +through the camp, telling the old folks to come to his mother's +teepee for meat. It turned out that neither his father nor mother had +authorized him to do this. Before they knew it, old men and women were +lined up before the teepee home, ready to receive the meat, in answer to +his invitation. As a result, the mother had to distribute nearly all of +it, keeping only enough for two meals. + +On the following day the child asked for food. His mother told him that +the old folks had taken it all, and added: "Remember, my son, they went +home singing praises in your name, not my name or your father's. You +must be brave. You must live up to your reputation." + +Crazy Horse loved horses, and his father gave him a pony of his own when +he was very young. He became a fine horseman and accompanied his father +on buffalo hunts, holding the pack horses while the men chased the +buffalo and thus gradually learning the art. In those days the Sioux had +but few guns, and the hunting was mostly done with bow and arrows. + +Another story told of his boyhood is that when he was about twelve he +went to look for the ponies with his little brother, whom he loved much, +and took a great deal of pains to teach what he had already learned. +They came to some wild cherry trees full of ripe fruit, and while they +were enjoying it, the brothers were startled by the growl and sudden +rush of a bear. Young Crazy Horse pushed his brother up into the nearest +tree and himself sprang upon the back of one of the horses, which was +frightened and ran some distance before he could control him. As soon +as he could, however, he turned him about and came back, yelling and +swinging his lariat over his head. The bear at first showed fight but +finally turned and ran. The old man who told me this story added that +young as he was, he had some power, so that even a grizzly did not +care to tackle him. I believe it is a fact that a silver-tip will dare +anything except a bell or a lasso line, so that accidentally the boy had +hit upon the very thing which would drive him off. + +It was usual for Sioux boys of his day to wait in the field after a +buffalo hunt until sundown, when the young calves would come out in the +open, hungrily seeking their mothers. Then these wild children would +enjoy a mimic hunt, and lasso the calves or drive them into camp. Crazy +Horse was found to be a determined little fellow, and it was settled +one day among the larger boys that they would "stump" him to ride a +good-sized bull calf. He rode the calf, and stayed on its back while it +ran bawling over the hills, followed by the other boys on their ponies, +until his strange mount stood trembling and exhausted. + +At the age of sixteen he joined a war party against the Gros Ventres. He +was well in the front of the charge, and at once established his bravery +by following closely one of the foremost Sioux warriors, by the name of +Hump, drawing the enemy's fire and circling around their advance guard. +Suddenly Hump's horse was shot from under him, and there was a rush +of warriors to kill or capture him while down. But amidst a shower of +arrows the youth leaped from his pony, helped his friend into his own +saddle, sprang up behind him, and carried him off in safety, although +they were hotly pursued by the enemy. Thus he associated himself in his +maiden battle with the wizard of Indian warfare, and Hump, who was +then at the height of his own career, pronounced Crazy Horse the coming +warrior of the Teton Sioux. + +At this period of his life, as was customary with the best young men, he +spent much time in prayer and solitude. Just what happened in these days +of his fasting in the wilderness and upon the crown of bald buttes, +no one will ever know; for these things may only be known when one has +lived through the battles of life to an honored old age. He was much +sought after by his youthful associates, but was noticeably reserved and +modest; yet in the moment of danger he at once rose above them all--a +natural leader! Crazy Horse was a typical Sioux brave, and from the +point of view of our race an ideal hero, living at the height of the +epical progress of the American Indian and maintaining in his own +character all that was most subtle and ennobling of their spiritual +life, and that has since been lost in the contact with a material +civilization. + +He loved Hump, that peerless warrior, and the two became close friends, +in spite of the difference in age. Men called them "the grizzly and his +cub." Again and again the pair saved the day for the Sioux in a skirmish +with some neighboring tribe. But one day they undertook a losing battle +against the Snakes. The Sioux were in full retreat and were fast +being overwhelmed by superior numbers. The old warrior fell in a last +desperate charge; but Crazy Horse and his younger brother, though +dismounted, killed two of the enemy and thus made good their retreat. + +It was observed of him that when he pursued the enemy into their +stronghold, as he was wont to do, he often refrained from killing, and +simply struck them with a switch, showing that he did not fear their +weapons nor care to waste his upon them. In attempting this very feat, +he lost this only brother of his, who emulated him closely. A party of +young warriors, led by Crazy Horse, had dashed upon a frontier post, +killed one of the sentinels, stampeded the horses, and pursued the +herder to the very gate of the stockade, thus drawing upon themselves +the fire of the garrison. The leader escaped without a scratch, but his +young brother was brought down from his horse and killed. + +While he was still under twenty, there was a great winter buffalo +hunt, and he came back with ten buffaloes' tongues which he sent to the +council lodge for the councilors' feast. He had in one winter day killed +ten buffalo cows with his bow and arrows, and the unsuccessful hunters +or those who had no swift ponies were made happy by his generosity. When +the hunters returned, these came chanting songs of thanks. He knew that +his father was an expert hunter and had a good horse, so he took no meat +home, putting in practice the spirit of his early teaching. + +He attained his majority at the crisis of the difficulties between the +United States and the Sioux. Even before that time, Crazy Horse had +already proved his worth to his people in Indian warfare. He had risked +his life again and again, and in some instances it was considered almost +a miracle that he had saved others as well as himself. He was no orator +nor was he the son of a chief. His success and influence was purely a +matter of personality. He had never fought the whites up to this time, +and indeed no "coup" was counted for killing or scalping a white man. + +Young Crazy Horse was twenty-one years old when all the Teton Sioux +chiefs (the western or plains dwellers) met in council to determine upon +their future policy toward the invader. Their former agreements had been +by individual bands, each for itself, and every one was friendly. They +reasoned that the country was wide, and that the white traders should be +made welcome. Up to this time they had anticipated no conflict. They +had permitted the Oregon Trail, but now to their astonishment forts were +built and garrisoned in their territory. + +Most of the chiefs advocated a strong resistance. There were a few +influential men who desired still to live in peace, and who were willing +to make another treaty. Among these were White Bull, Two Kettle, Four +Bears, and Swift Bear. Even Spotted Tail, afterward the great peace +chief, was at this time with the majority, who decided in the year 1866 +to defend their rights and territory by force. Attacks were to be made +upon the forts within their country and on every trespasser on the same. + +Crazy Horse took no part in the discussion, but he and all the young +warriors were in accord with the decision of the council. Although so +young, he was already a leader among them. Other prominent young braves +were Sword (brother of the man of that name who was long captain of +police at Pine Ridge), the younger Hump, Charging Bear, Spotted Elk, +Crow King, No Water, Big Road, He Dog, the nephew of Red Cloud, and +Touch-the-Cloud, intimate friend of Crazy Horse. + +The attack on Fort Phil Kearny was the first fruits of the new policy, +and here Crazy Horse was chosen to lead the attack on the woodchoppers, +designed to draw the soldiers out of the fort, while an army of six +hundred lay in wait for them. The success of this stratagem was further +enhanced by his masterful handling of his men. From this time on a +general war was inaugurated; Sitting Bull looked to him as a principal +war leader, and even the Cheyenne chiefs, allies of the Sioux, +practically acknowledged his leadership. Yet during the following ten +years of defensive war he was never known to make a speech, though his +teepee was the rendezvous of the young men. He was depended upon to put +into action the decisions of the council, and was frequently consulted +by the older chiefs. + +Like Osceola, he rose suddenly; like Tecumseh he was always impatient +for battle; like Pontiac, he fought on while his allies were suing for +peace, and like Grant, the silent soldier, he was a man of deeds and +not of words. He won from Custer and Fetterman and Crook. He won every +battle that he undertook, with the exception of one or two occasions +when he was surprised in the midst of his women and children, and +even then he managed to extricate himself in safety from a difficult +position. + +Early in the year 1876, his runners brought word from Sitting Bull +that all the roving bands would converge upon the upper Tongue River in +Montana for summer feasts and conferences. There was conflicting news +from the reservation. It was rumored that the army would fight the Sioux +to a finish; again, it was said that another commission would be sent +out to treat with them. + +The Indians came together early in June, and formed a series of +encampments stretching out from three to four miles, each band keeping +separate camp. On June 17, scouts came in and reported the advance of a +large body of troops under General Crook. The council sent Crazy Horse +with seven hundred men to meet and attack him. These were nearly all +young men, many of them under twenty, the flower of the hostile Sioux. +They set out at night so as to steal a march upon the enemy, but within +three or four miles of his camp they came unexpectedly upon some of his +Crow scouts. There was a hurried exchange of shots; the Crows fled back +to Crook's camp, pursued by the Sioux. The soldiers had their warning, +and it was impossible to enter the well-protected camp. Again and again +Crazy Horse charged with his bravest men, in the attempt to bring the +troops into the open, but he succeeded only in drawing their fire. +Toward afternoon he withdrew, and returned to camp disappointed. His +scouts remained to watch Crook's movements, and later brought word +that he had retreated to Goose Creek and seemed to have no further +disposition to disturb the Sioux. It is well known to us that it is +Crook rather than Reno who is to be blamed for cowardice in connection +with Custer's fate. The latter had no chance to do anything, he was +lucky to save himself; but if Crook had kept on his way, as ordered, +to meet Terry, with his one thousand regulars and two hundred Crow and +Shoshone scouts, he would inevitably have intercepted Custer in his +advance and saved the day for him, and war with the Sioux would have +ended right there. Instead of this, he fell back upon Fort Meade, eating +his horses on the way, in a country swarming with game, for fear of +Crazy Horse and his braves! + +The Indians now crossed the divide between the Tongue and the Little Big +Horn, where they felt safe from immediate pursuit. Here, with all their +precautions, they were caught unawares by General Custer, in the midst +of their midday games and festivities, while many were out upon the +daily hunt. + +On this twenty-fifth of June, 1876, the great camp was scattered for +three miles or more along the level river bottom, back of the thin line +of cottonwoods--five circular rows of teepees, ranging from half a mile +to a mile and a half in circumference. Here and there stood out a large, +white, solitary teepee; these were the lodges or "clubs" of the young +men. Crazy Horse was a member of the "Strong Hearts" and the "Tokala" +or Fox lodge. He was watching a game of ring-toss when the warning came +from the southern end of the camp of the approach of troops. + +The Sioux and the Cheyennes were "minute men", and although taken by +surprise, they instantly responded. Meanwhile, the women and children +were thrown into confusion. Dogs were howling, ponies running hither and +thither, pursued by their owners, while many of the old men were singing +their lodge songs to encourage the warriors, or praising the "strong +heart" of Crazy Horse. + +That leader had quickly saddled his favorite war pony and was starting +with his young men for the south end of the camp, when a fresh alarm +came from the opposite direction, and looking up, he saw Custer's force +upon the top of the bluff directly across the river. As quick as a +flash, he took in the situation--the enemy had planned to attack the +camp at both ends at once; and knowing that Custer could not ford the +river at that point, he instantly led his men northward to the ford to +cut him off. The Cheyennes followed closely. Custer must have seen +that wonderful dash up the sage-bush plain, and one wonders whether he +realized its meaning. In a very few minutes, this wild general of the +plains had outwitted one of the most brilliant leaders of the Civil War +and ended at once his military career and his life. + +In this dashing charge, Crazy Horse snatched his most famous victory out +of what seemed frightful peril, for the Sioux could not know how many +were behind Custer. He was caught in his own trap. To the soldiers it +must have seemed as if the Indians rose up from the earth to overwhelm +them. They closed in from three sides and fought until not a white man +was left alive. Then they went down to Reno's stand and found him so +well intrenched in a deep gully that it was impossible to dislodge him. +Gall and his men held him there until the approach of General Terry +compelled the Sioux to break camp and scatter in different directions. + +While Sitting Bull was pursued into Canada, Crazy Horse and the +Cheyennes wandered about, comparatively undisturbed, during the rest of +that year, until in the winter the army surprised the Cheyennes, but did +not do them much harm, possibly because they knew that Crazy Horse was +not far off. His name was held in wholesome respect. From time to time, +delegations of friendly Indians were sent to him, to urge him to come in +to the reservation, promising a full hearing and fair treatment. + +For some time he held out, but the rapid disappearance of the buffalo, +their only means of support, probably weighed with him more than any +other influence. In July, 1877, he was finally prevailed upon to come in +to Fort Robinson, Nebraska, with several thousand Indians, most of them +Ogallala and Minneconwoju Sioux, on the distinct understanding that the +government would hear and adjust their grievances. + +At this juncture General Crook proclaimed Spotted Tail, who had rendered +much valuable service to the army, head chief of the Sioux, which +was resented by many. The attention paid Crazy Horse was offensive to +Spotted Tail and the Indian scouts, who planned a conspiracy against +him. They reported to General Crook that the young chief would murder +him at the next council, and stampede the Sioux into another war. He was +urged not to attend the council and did not, but sent another officer to +represent him. Meanwhile the friends of Crazy Horse discovered the plot +and told him of it. His reply was, "Only cowards are murderers." + +His wife was critically ill at the time, and he decided to take her to +her parents at Spotted Tail agency, whereupon his enemies circulated the +story that he had fled, and a party of scouts was sent after him. They +overtook him riding with his wife and one other but did not undertake to +arrest him, and after he had left the sick woman with her people he went +to call on Captain Lea, the agent for the Brules, accompanied by all +the warriors of the Minneconwoju band. This volunteer escort made an +imposing appearance on horseback, shouting and singing, and in the words +of Captain Lea himself and the missionary, the Reverend Mr. Cleveland, +the situation was extremely critical. Indeed, the scouts who had +followed Crazy Horse from Red Cloud agency were advised not to show +themselves, as some of the warriors had urged that they be taken out and +horsewhipped publicly. + +Under these circumstances Crazy Horse again showed his masterful spirit +by holding these young men in check. He said to them in his quiet +way: "It is well to be brave in the field of battle; it is cowardly +to display bravery against one's own tribesmen. These scouts have been +compelled to do what they did; they are no better than servants of the +white officers. I came here on a peaceful errand." + +The captain urged him to report at army headquarters to explain himself +and correct false rumors, and on his giving consent, furnished him with +a wagon and escort. It has been said that he went back under arrest, but +this is untrue. Indians have boasted that they had a hand in bringing +him in, but their stories are without foundation. He went of his own +accord, either suspecting no treachery or determined to defy it. + +When he reached the military camp, Little Big Man walked arm-in-arm with +him, and his cousin and friend, Touch-the-Cloud, was just in advance. +After they passed the sentinel, an officer approached them and walked +on his other side. He was unarmed but for the knife which is carried for +ordinary uses by women as well as men. Unsuspectingly he walked toward +the guardhouse, when Touch-the-Cloud suddenly turned back exclaiming: +"Cousin, they will put you in prison!" + +"Another white man's trick! Let me go! Let me die fighting!" cried Crazy +Horse. He stopped and tried to free himself and draw his knife, but +both arms were held fast by Little Big Man and the officer. While he +struggled thus, a soldier thrust him through with his bayonet from +behind. The wound was mortal, and he died in the course of that night, +his old father singing the death song over him and afterward carrying +away the body, which they said must not be further polluted by the touch +of a white man. They hid it somewhere in the Bad Lands, his resting +place to this day. + +Thus died one of the ablest and truest American Indians. His life was +ideal; his record clean. He was never involved in any of the numerous +massacres on the trail, but was a leader in practically every open +fight. Such characters as those of Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph are not +easily found among so-called civilized people. The reputation of great +men is apt to be shadowed by questionable motives and policies, but here +are two pure patriots, as worthy of honor as any who ever breathed God's +air in the wide spaces of a new world. + + + + +SITTING BULL + + +IT is not easy to characterize Sitting Bull, of all Sioux chiefs most +generally known to the American people. There are few to whom his name +is not familiar, and still fewer who have learned to connect it with +anything more than the conventional notion of a bloodthirsty savage. The +man was an enigma at best. He was not impulsive, nor was he phlegmatic. +He was most serious when he seemed to be jocose. He was gifted with the +power of sarcasm, and few have used it more artfully than he. + +His father was one of the best-known members of the Unkpapa band of +Sioux. The manner of this man's death was characteristic. One day, when +the Unkpapas were attacked by a large war party of Crows, he fell upon +the enemy's war leader with his knife. In a hand-to-hand combat of +this sort, we count the victor as entitled to a war bonnet of trailing +plumes. It means certain death to one or both. In this case, both men +dealt a mortal stroke, and Jumping Buffalo, the father of Sitting Bull, +fell from his saddle and died in a few minutes. The other died later +from the effects of the wound. + +Sitting Bull's boyhood must have been a happy one. It was long after the +day of the dog-travaux, and his father owned many ponies of variegated +colors. It was said of him in a joking way that his legs were bowed like +the ribs of the ponies that he rode constantly from childhood. He had +also a common nickname that was much to the point. It was "Hunkeshnee", +which means "Slow", referring to his inability to run fast, or more +probably to the fact that he seldom appeared on foot. In their boyish +games he was wont to take the part of the "old man", but this does not +mean that he was not active and brave. It is told that after a buffalo +hunt the boys were enjoying a mimic hunt with the calves that had been +left behind. A large calf turned viciously on Sitting Bull, whose pony +had thrown him, but the alert youth got hold of both ears and struggled +until the calf was pushed back into a buffalo wallow in a sitting +posture. The boys shouted: "He has subdued the buffalo calf! He made +it sit down!" And from this incident was derived his familiar name of +Sitting Bull. + +It is a mistake to suppose that Sitting Bull, or any other Indian +warrior, was of a murderous disposition. It is true that savage warfare +had grown more and more harsh and cruel since the coming of white +traders among them, bringing guns, knives, and whisky. Yet it was still +regarded largely as a sort of game, undertaken in order to develop the +manly qualities of their youth. It was the degree of risk which brought +honor, rather than the number slain, and a brave must mourn thirty days, +with blackened face and loosened hair, for the enemy whose life he had +taken. While the spoils of war were allowed, this did not extend to +territorial aggrandizement, nor was there any wish to overthrow another +nation and enslave its people. It was a point of honor in the old days +to treat a captive with kindness. The common impression that the Indian +is naturally cruel and revengeful is entirely opposed to his philosophy +and training. The revengeful tendency of the Indian was aroused by the +white man. It is not the natural Indian who is mean and tricky; not +Massasoit but King Philip; not Attackullakulla but Weatherford; not +Wabashaw but Little Crow; not Jumping Buffalo but Sitting Bull! These +men lifted their hands against the white man, while their fathers held +theirs out to him with gifts. + +Remember that there were councils which gave their decisions in +accordance with the highest ideal of human justice before there were +any cities on this continent; before there were bridges to span the +Mississippi; before this network of railroads was dreamed of! There were +primitive communities upon the very spot where Chicago or New York City +now stands, where men were as children, innocent of all the crimes +now committed there daily and nightly. True morality is more easily +maintained in connection with the simple life. You must accept the truth +that you demoralize any race whom you have subjugated. + +From this point of view we shall consider Sitting Bull's career. We say +he is an untutored man: that is true so far as learning of a literary +type is concerned; but he was not an untutored man when you view him +from the standpoint of his nation. To be sure, he did not learn his +lessons from books. This is second-hand information at best. All that he +learned he verified for himself and put into daily practice. In personal +appearance he was rather commonplace and made no immediate impression, +but as he talked he seemed to take hold of his hearers more and more. He +was bull-headed; quick to grasp a situation, and not readily induced to +change his mind. He was not suspicious until he was forced to be so. All +his meaner traits were inevitably developed by the events of his later +career. + +Sitting Bull's history has been written many times by newspaper men and +army officers, but I find no account of him which is entirely correct. +I met him personally in 1884, and since his death I have gone thoroughly +into the details of his life with his relatives and contemporaries. It +has often been said that he was a physical coward and not a warrior. +Judge of this for yourselves from the deed which first gave him fame in +his own tribe, when he was about twenty-eight years old. + +In an attack upon a band of Crow Indians, one of the enemy took his +stand, after the rest had fled, in a deep ditch from which it seemed +impossible to dislodge him. The situation had already cost the lives of +several warriors, but they could not let him go to repeat such a boast +over the Sioux! + +"Follow me!" said Sitting Bull, and charged. He raced his horse to the +brim of the ditch and struck at the enemy with his coup-staff, thus +compelling him to expose himself to the fire of the others while +shooting his assailant. But the Crow merely poked his empty gun into his +face and dodged back under cover. Then Sitting Bull stopped; he saw that +no one had followed him, and he also perceived that the enemy had no +more ammunition left. He rode deliberately up to the barrier and threw +his loaded gun over it; then he went back to his party and told them +what he thought of them. + +"Now," said he, "I have armed him, for I will not see a brave man killed +unarmed. I will strike him again with my coup-staff to count the first +feather; who will count the second?" + +Again he led the charge, and this time they all followed him. Sitting +Bull was severely wounded by his own gun in the hands of the enemy, who +was killed by those that came after him. This is a record that so far as +I know was never made by any other warrior. + +The second incident that made him well known was his taking of a boy +captive in battle with the Assiniboines. He saved this boy's life and +adopted him as his brother. Hohay, as he was called, was devoted to +Sitting Bull and helped much in later years to spread his fame. Sitting +Bull was a born diplomat, a ready speaker, and in middle life he ceased +to go upon the warpath, to become the councilor of his people. From this +time on, this man represented him in all important battles, and upon +every brave deed done was wont to exclaim aloud: + +"I, Sitting Bull's boy, do this in his name!" + +He had a nephew, now living, who resembles him strongly, and who also +represented him personally upon the field; and so far as there is any +remnant left of his immediate band, they look upon this man One Bull as +their chief. + +When Sitting Bull was a boy, there was no thought of trouble with the +whites. He was acquainted with many of the early traders, Picotte, +Choteau, Primeau, Larpenteur, and others, and liked them, as did most +of his people in those days. All the early records show this friendly +attitude of the Sioux, and the great fur companies for a century and a +half depended upon them for the bulk of their trade. It was not until +the middle of the last century that they woke up all of a sudden to the +danger threatening their very existence. Yet at that time many of the +old chiefs had been already depraved by the whisky and other vices of +the whites, and in the vicinity of the forts and trading posts at Sioux +City, Saint Paul, and Cheyenne, there was general demoralization. The +drunkards and hangers-on were ready to sell almost anything they had +for the favor of the trader. The better and stronger element held aloof. +They would not have anything of the white man except his hatchet, gun, +and knife. They utterly refused to cede their lands; and as for the +rest, they were willing to let him alone as long as he did not interfere +with their life and customs, which was not long. + +It was not, however, the Unkpapa band of Sioux, Sitting Bull's band, +which first took up arms against the whites; and this was not because +they had come less in contact with them, for they dwelt on the Missouri +River, the natural highway of trade. As early as 1854, the Ogallalas +and Brules had trouble with the soldiers near Fort Laramie; and again +in 1857 Inkpaduta massacred several families of settlers at Spirit Lake, +Iowa. Finally, in 1869, the Minnesota Sioux, goaded by many wrongs, +arose and murdered many of the settlers, afterward fleeing into the +country of the Unkpapas and appealing to them for help, urging that +all Indians should make common cause against the invader. This brought +Sitting Bull face to face with a question which was not yet fully +matured in his own mind; but having satisfied himself of the justice of +their cause, he joined forces with the renegades during the summer of +1863, and from this time on he was an acknowledged leader. + +In 1865 and 1866 he met the Canadian half-breed, Louis Riel, instigator +of two rebellions, who had come across the line for safety; and in fact +at this time he harbored a number of outlaws and fugitives from justice. +His conversations with these, especially with the French mixed-bloods, +who inflamed his prejudices against the Americans, all had their +influence in making of the wily Sioux a determined enemy to the white +man. While among his own people he was always affable and genial, he +became boastful and domineering in his dealings with the hated race. +He once remarked that "if we wish to make any impression upon the +pale-face, it is necessary to put on his mask." + +Sitting Bull joined in the attack on Fort Phil Kearny and in the +subsequent hostilities; but he accepted in good faith the treaty of +1868, and soon after it was signed he visited Washington with Red Cloud +and Spotted Tail, on which occasion the three distinguished chiefs +attracted much attention and were entertained at dinner by President +Grant and other notables. He considered that the life of the white man +as he saw it was no life for his people, but hoped by close adherence +to the terms of this treaty to preserve the Big Horn and Black Hills +country for a permanent hunting ground. When gold was discovered and the +irrepressible gold seekers made their historic dash across the plains +into this forbidden paradise, then his faith in the white man's honor +was gone forever, and he took his final and most persistent stand +in defense of his nation and home. His bitter and at the same time +well-grounded and philosophical dislike of the conquering race is well +expressed in a speech made before the purely Indian council before +referred to, upon the Powder River. I will give it in brief as it has +been several times repeated to me by men who were present. + +"Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received +the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their +love! Every seed is awakened, and all animal life. It is through this +mysterious power that we too have our being, and we therefore yield to +our neighbors, even to our animal neighbors, the same right as ourselves +to inhabit this vast land. + +"Yet hear me, friends! we have now to deal with another people, small +and feeble when our forefathers first met with them, but now great and +overbearing. Strangely enough, they have a mind to till the soil, and +the love of possessions is a disease in them. These people have made +many rules that the rich may break, but the poor may not! They have a +religion in which the poor worship, but the rich will not! They even +take tithes of the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule. +They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence +their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and +their refuse. They compel her to produce out of season, and when sterile +she is made to take medicine in order to produce again. All this is +sacrilege. + +"This nation is like a spring freshet; it overruns its banks and +destroys all who are in its path. We cannot dwell side by side. Only +seven years ago we made a treaty by which we were assured that the +buffalo country should be left to us forever. Now they threaten to take +that from us also. My brothers, shall we submit? or shall we say to +them: 'First kill me, before you can take possession of my fatherland!'" + +As Sitting Bull spoke, so he felt, and he had the courage to stand +by his words. Crazy Horse led his forces in the field; as for him, he +applied his energies to state affairs, and by his strong and aggressive +personality contributed much to holding the hostiles together. + +It may be said without fear of contradiction that Sitting Bull never +killed any women or children. He was a fair fighter, and while not +prominent in battle after his young manhood, he was the brains of the +Sioux resistance. He has been called a "medicine man" and a "dreamer." +Strictly speaking, he was neither of these, and the white historians +are prone to confuse the two. A medicine man is a doctor or healer; a +dreamer is an active war prophet who leads his war party according to +his dream or prophecy. What is called by whites "making medicine" in war +time is again a wrong conception. Every warrior carries a bag of sacred +or lucky charms, supposed to protect the wearer alone, but it has +nothing to do with the success or safety of the party as a whole. No one +can make any "medicine" to affect the result of a battle, although it +has been said that Sitting Bull did this at the battle of the Little Big +Horn. + +When Custer and Reno attacked the camp at both ends, the chief was +caught napping. The village was in danger of surprise, and the women and +children must be placed in safety. Like other men of his age, Sitting +Bull got his family together for flight, and then joined the warriors +on the Reno side of the attack. Thus he was not in the famous charge +against Custer; nevertheless, his voice was heard exhorting the warriors +throughout that day. + +During the autumn of 1876, after the fall of Custer, Sitting Bull was +hunted all through the Yellowstone region by the military. The +following characteristic letter, doubtless written at his dictation by +a half-breed interpreter, was sent to Colonel Otis immediately after a +daring attack upon his wagon train. + + "I want to know what you are doing, traveling on this road. + You scare all the buffalo away. I want to hunt in this place. I + want you to turn back from here. If you don't, I will fight you + again. I want you to leave what you have got here and turn back + from here. + + "I am your friend + + "Sitting Bull." + + "I need all the rations you have got and some powder. Wish you + would write me as soon as you can." + +Otis, however, kept on and joined Colonel Miles, who followed Sitting +Bull with about four hundred soldiers. He overtook him at last on Cedar +Creek, near the Yellowstone, and the two met midway between the lines +for a parley. The army report says: "Sitting Bull wanted peace in +his own way." The truth was that he wanted nothing more than had been +guaranteed to them by the treaty of 1868--the exclusive possession of +their last hunting ground. This the government was not now prepared to +grant, as it had been decided to place all the Indians under military +control upon the various reservations. + +Since it was impossible to reconcile two such conflicting demands, the +hostiles were driven about from pillar to post for several more years, +and finally took refuge across the line in Canada, where Sitting Bull +had placed his last hope of justice and freedom for his race. Here +he was joined from time to time by parties of malcontents from the +reservation, driven largely by starvation and ill-treatment to +seek another home. Here, too, they were followed by United States +commissioners, headed by General Terry, who endeavored to persuade him +to return, promising abundance of food and fair treatment, despite the +fact that the exiles were well aware of the miserable condition of the +"good Indians" upon the reservations. He first refused to meet them at +all, and only did so when advised to that effect by Major Walsh of the +Canadian mounted police. This was his characteristic remark: "If you +have one honest man in Washington, send him here and I will talk to +him." + +Sitting Bull was not moved by fair words; but when he found that if +they had liberty on that side, they had little else, that the Canadian +government would give them protection but no food; that the buffalo had +been all but exterminated and his starving people were already beginning +to desert him, he was compelled at last, in 1881, to report at Fort +Buford, North Dakota, with his band of hungry, homeless, and discouraged +refugees. It was, after all, to hunger and not to the strong arm of the +military that he surrendered in the end. + +In spite of the invitation that had been extended to him in the name +of the "Great Father" at Washington, he was immediately thrown into a +military prison, and afterward handed over to Colonel Cody ("Buffalo +Bill") as an advertisement for his "Wild West Show." After traveling +about for several years with the famous showman, thus increasing his +knowledge of the weaknesses as well as the strength of the white man, +the deposed and humiliated chief settled down quietly with his people +upon the Standing Rock agency in North Dakota, where his immediate band +occupied the Grand River district and set to raising cattle and +horses. They made good progress; much better, in fact, than that of the +"coffee-coolers" or "loafer" Indians, received the missionaries kindly +and were soon a church-going people. + +When the Commissions of 1888 and 1889 came to treat with the Sioux for +a further cession of land and a reduction of their reservations, nearly +all were opposed to consent on any terms. Nevertheless, by hook or by +crook, enough signatures were finally obtained to carry the measure +through, although it is said that many were those of women and the +so-called "squaw-men", who had no rights in the land. At the same +time, rations were cut down, and there was general hardship and +dissatisfaction. Crazy Horse was long since dead; Spotted Tail had +fallen at the hands of one of his own tribe; Red Cloud had become a +feeble old man, and the disaffected among the Sioux began once more to +look to Sitting Bull for leadership. + +At this crisis a strange thing happened. A half-breed Indian in Nevada +promulgated the news that the Messiah had appeared to him upon a peak in +the Rockies, dressed in rabbit skins, and bringing a message to the red +race. The message was to the effect that since his first coming had been +in vain, since the white people had doubted and reviled him, had nailed +him to the cross, and trampled upon his doctrines, he had come again in +pity to save the Indian. He declared that he would cause the earth to +shake and to overthrow the cities of the whites and destroy them, that +the buffalo would return, and the land belong to the red race forever! +These events were to come to pass within two years; and meanwhile they +were to prepare for his coming by the ceremonies and dances which he +commanded. + +This curious story spread like wildfire and met with eager acceptance +among the suffering and discontented people. The teachings of Christian +missionaries had prepared them to believe in a Messiah, and the +prescribed ceremonial was much more in accord with their traditions than +the conventional worship of the churches. Chiefs of many tribes sent +delegations to the Indian prophet; Short Bull, Kicking Bear, and others +went from among the Sioux, and on their return all inaugurated the +dances at once. There was an attempt at first to keep the matter secret, +but it soon became generally known and seriously disconcerted the Indian +agents and others, who were quick to suspect a hostile conspiracy under +all this religious enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, there was no thought +of an uprising; the dancing was innocent enough, and pathetic enough +their despairing hope in a pitiful Saviour who should overwhelm their +oppressors and bring back their golden age. + +When the Indians refused to give up the "Ghost Dance" at the bidding of +the authorities, the growing suspicion and alarm focused upon Sitting +Bull, who in spirit had never been any too submissive, and it was +determined to order his arrest. At the special request of Major +McLaughlin, agent at Standing Rock, forty of his Indian police were sent +out to Sitting Bull's home on Grand River to secure his person +(followed at some little distance by a body of United States troops for +reinforcement, in case of trouble). These police are enlisted from +among the tribesmen at each agency, and have proved uniformly brave and +faithful. They entered the cabin at daybreak, aroused the chief from +a sound slumber, helped him to dress, and led him unresisting from the +house; but when he came out in the gray dawn of that December morning in +1890, to find his cabin surrounded by armed men and himself led away to +he knew not what fate, he cried out loudly: + +"They have taken me: what say you to it?" + +Men poured out of the neighboring houses, and in a few minutes the +police were themselves surrounded with an excited and rapidly increasing +throng. They harangued the crowd in vain; Sitting Bull's blood was up, +and he again appealed to his men. His adopted brother, the Assiniboine +captive whose life he had saved so many years before, was the first to +fire. His shot killed Lieutenant Bull Head, who held Sitting Bull by the +arm. Then there was a short but sharp conflict, in which Sitting Bull +and six of his defenders and six of the Indian police were slain, with +many more wounded. The chief's young son, Crow Foot, and his devoted +"brother" died with him. When all was over, and the terrified people had +fled precipitately across the river, the soldiers appeared upon the brow +of the long hill and fired their Hotchkiss guns into the deserted camp. + +Thus ended the life of a natural strategist of no mean courage and +ability. The great chief was buried without honors outside the cemetery +at the post, and for some years the grave was marked by a mere board at +its head. Recently some women have built a cairn of rocks there in token +of respect and remembrance. + + + + +RAIN-IN-THE-FACE + + +The noted Sioux warrior, Rain-in-the-Face, whose name once carried +terror to every part of the frontier, died at his home on the Standing +Rock reserve in North Dakota on September 14, 1905. About two months +before his death I went to see him for the last time, where he lay upon +the bed of sickness from which he never rose again, and drew from him +his life-history. + +It had been my experience that you cannot induce an Indian to tell a +story, or even his own name, by asking him directly. + +"Friend," I said, "even if a man is on a hot trail, he stops for a +smoke! In the good old days, before the charge there was a smoke. At +home, by the fireside, when the old men were asked to tell their brave +deeds, again the pipe was passed. So come, let us smoke now to the +memory of the old days!" + +He took of my tobacco and filled his long pipe, and we smoked. Then I +told an old mirthful story to get him in the humor of relating his own +history. + +The old man lay upon an iron bedstead, covered by a red blanket, in a +corner of the little log cabin. He was all alone that day; only an old +dog lay silent and watchful at his master's feet. + +Finally he looked up and said with a pleasant smile: + +"True, friend; it is the old custom to retrace one's trail before +leaving it forever! I know that I am at the door of the spirit home. + +"I was born near the forks of the Cheyenne River, about seventy years +ago. My father was not a chief; my grandfather was not a chief, but +a good hunter and a feast-maker. On my mother's side I had some noted +ancestors, but they left me no chieftainship. I had to work for my +reputation. + +"When I was a boy, I loved to fight," he continued. "In all our boyish +games I had the name of being hard to handle, and I took much pride in +the fact. + +"I was about ten years old when we encountered a band of Cheyennes. +They were on friendly terms with us, but we boys always indulged in sham +fights on such occasions, and this time I got in an honest fight with a +Cheyenne boy older than I. I got the best of the boy, but he hit me hard +in the face several times, and my face was all spattered with blood and +streaked where the paint had been washed away. The Sioux boys whooped +and yelled: + +"'His enemy is down, and his face is spattered as if with rain! +Rain-in-the-Face! His name shall be Rain-in-the-Face!' + +"Afterwards, when I was a young man, we went on a warpath against the +Gros Ventres. We stole some of their horses, but were overtaken and had +to abandon the horses and fight for our lives. I had wished my face to +represent the sun when partly covered with darkness, so I painted it +half black, half red. We fought all day in the rain, and my face was +partly washed and streaked with red and black: so again I was christened +Rain-in-the-Face. We considered it an honorable name. + +"I had been on many warpaths, but was not especially successful until +about the time the Sioux began to fight with the white man. One of the +most daring attacks that we ever made was at Fort Totten, North Dakota, +in the summer of 1866. + +"Hohay, the Assiniboine captive of Sitting Bull, was the leader in this +raid. Wapaypay, the Fearless Bear, who was afterward hanged at Yankton, +was the bravest man among us. He dared Hohay to make the charge. Hohay +accepted the challenge, and in turn dared the other to ride with him +through the agency and right under the walls of the fort, which was well +garrisoned and strong. + +"Wapaypay and I in those days called each other 'brother-friend.' It was +a life-and-death vow. What one does the other must do; and that meant +that I must be in the forefront of the charge, and if he is killed, I +must fight until I die also! + +"I prepared for death. I painted as usual like an eclipse of the sun, +half black and half red." + +His eyes gleamed and his face lighted up remarkably as he talked, +pushing his black hair back from his forehead with a nervous gesture. + +"Now the signal for the charge was given! I started even with Wapaypay, +but his horse was faster than mine, so he left me a little behind as we +neared the fort. This was bad for me, for by that time the soldiers had +somewhat recovered from the surprise and were aiming better. + +"Their big gun talked very loud, but my Wapaypay was leading on, leaning +forward on his fleet pony like a flying squirrel on a smooth log! He +held his rawhide shield on the right side, a little to the front, and +so did I. Our warwhoop was like the coyotes singing in the evening, when +they smell blood! + +"The soldiers' guns talked fast, but few were hurt. Their big gun was +like a toothless old dog, who only makes himself hotter the more noise +he makes," he remarked with some humor. + +"How much harm we did I do not know, but we made things lively for a +time; and the white men acted as people do when a swarm of angry bees +get into camp. We made a successful retreat, but some of the reservation +Indians followed us yelling, until Hohay told them that he did not wish +to fight with the captives of the white man, for there would be no honor +in that. There was blood running down my leg, and I found that both my +horse and I were slightly wounded. + +"Some two years later we attacked a fort west of the Black Hills [Fort +Phil Kearny, Wyoming]. It was there we killed one hundred soldiers." +[The military reports say eighty men, under the command of Captain +Fetterman--not one left alive to tell the tale!] "Nearly every band of +the Sioux nation was represented in that fight--Red Cloud, Spotted +Tail, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Big Foot, and all our great chiefs were +there. Of course such men as I were then comparatively unknown. However, +there were many noted young warriors, among them Sword, the younger +Young-Man-Afraid, American Horse [afterward chief], Crow King, and +others. + +"This was the plan decided upon after many councils. The main war party +lay in ambush, and a few of the bravest young men were appointed to +attack the woodchoppers who were cutting logs to complete the building +of the fort. We were told not to kill these men, but to chase them into +the fort and retreat slowly, defying the white men; and if the soldiers +should follow, we were to lead them into the ambush. They took our bait +exactly as we had hoped! It was a matter of a very few minutes, for +every soldier lay dead in a shorter time than it takes to annihilate a +small herd of buffalo. + +"This attack was hastened because most of the Sioux on the Missouri +River and eastward had begun to talk of suing for peace. But even this +did not stop the peace movement. The very next year a treaty was signed +at Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, by nearly all the Sioux chiefs, in which +it was agreed on the part of the Great Father in Washington that all the +country north of the Republican River in Nebraska, including the Black +Hills and the Big Horn Mountains, was to be always Sioux country, and no +white man should intrude upon it without our permission. Even with this +agreement Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were not satisfied, and they +would not sign. + +"Up to this time I had fought in some important battles, but had +achieved no great deed. I was ambitious to make a name for myself. +I joined war parties against the Crows, Mandans, Gros Ventres, and +Pawnees, and gained some little distinction. + +"It was when the white men found the yellow metal in our country, and +came in great numbers, driving away our game, that we took up arms +against them for the last time. I must say here that the chiefs who were +loudest for war were among the first to submit and accept reservation +life. Spotted Tail was a great warrior, yet he was one of the first to +yield, because he was promised by the Chief Soldiers that they would +make him chief of all the Sioux. Ugh! he would have stayed with Sitting +Bull to the last had it not been for his ambition. + +"About this time we young warriors began to watch the trails of the +white men into the Black Hills, and when we saw a wagon coming we would +hide at the crossing and kill them all without much trouble. We did +this to discourage the whites from coming into our country without our +permission. It was the duty of our Great Father at Washington, by the +agreement of 1868, to keep his white children away. + +"During the troublesome time after this treaty, which no one seemed to +respect, either white or Indian [but the whites broke it first], I was +like many other young men--much on the warpath, but with little honor. +I had not yet become noted for any great deed. Finally, Wapaypay and I +waylaid and killed a white soldier on his way from the fort to his home +in the east. + +"There were a few Indians who were liars, and never on the warpath, +playing 'good Indian' with the Indian agents and the war chiefs at the +forts. Some of this faithless set betrayed me, and told more than I +ever did. I was seized and taken to the fort near Bismarck, North Dakota +[Fort Abraham Lincoln], by a brother [Tom Custer] of the Long-Haired War +Chief, and imprisoned there. These same lying Indians, who were selling +their services as scouts to the white man, told me that I was to be shot +to death, or else hanged upon a tree. I answered that I was not afraid +to die. + +"However, there was an old soldier who used to bring my food and stand +guard over me--he was a white man, it is true, but he had an Indian +heart! He came to me one day and unfastened the iron chain and ball with +which they had locked my leg, saying by signs and what little Sioux he +could muster: + +"'Go, friend! take the chain and ball with you. I shall shoot, but the +voice of the gun will lie.' + +"When he had made me understand, you may guess that I ran my best! I was +almost over the bank when he fired his piece at me several times, but +I had already gained cover and was safe. I have never told this before, +and would not, lest it should do him an injury, but he was an old man +then, and I am sure he must be dead long since. That old soldier +taught me that some of the white people have hearts," he added, quite +seriously. + +"I went back to Standing Rock in the night, and I had to hide for +several days in the woods, where food was brought to me by my relatives. +The Indian police were ordered to retake me, and they pretended to hunt +for me, but really they did not, for if they had found me I would have +died with one or two of them, and they knew it! In a few days I departed +with several others, and we rejoined the hostile camp on the Powder +River and made some trouble for the men who were building the great iron +track north of us [Northern Pacific]. + +"In the spring the hostile Sioux got together again upon the Tongue +River. It was one of the greatest camps of the Sioux that I ever saw. +There were some Northern Cheyennes with us, under Two Moon, and a few +Santee Sioux, renegades from Canada, under Inkpaduta, who had killed +white people in Iowa long before. We had decided to fight the white +soldiers until no warrior should be left." + +At this point Rain-in-the-Face took up his tobacco pouch and began again +to fill his pipe. + +"Of course the younger warriors were delighted with the prospect of +a great fight! Our scouts had discovered piles of oats for horses and +other supplies near the Missouri River. They had been brought by the +white man's fire-boats. Presently they reported a great army about a +day's travel to the south, with Shoshone and Crow scouts. + +"There was excitement among the people, and a great council was held. +Many spoke. I was asked the condition of those Indians who had gone upon +the reservation, and I told them truly that they were nothing more than +prisoners. It was decided to go out and meet Three Stars [General Crook] +at a safe distance from our camp. + +"We met him on the Little Rosebud. I believe that if we had waited +and allowed him to make the attack, he would have fared no better than +Custer. He was too strongly fortified where he was, and I think, too, +that he was saved partly by his Indian allies, for the scouts discovered +us first and fought us first, thus giving him time to make his +preparations. I think he was more wise than brave! After we had left +that neighborhood he might have pushed on and connected with the +Long-Haired Chief. That would have saved Custer and perhaps won the day. + +"When we crossed from Tongue River to the Little Big Horn, on account +of the scarcity of game, we did not anticipate any more trouble. Our +runners had discovered that Crook had retraced his trail to Goose +Creek, and we did not suppose that the white men would care to follow us +farther into the rough country. + +"Suddenly the Long-Haired Chief appeared with his men! It was a +surprise." + +"What part of the camp were you in when the soldiers attacked the lower +end?" I asked. + +"I had been invited to a feast at one of the young men's lodges [a sort +of club]. There was a certain warrior who was making preparations to go +against the Crows, and I had decided to go also," he said. + +"While I was eating my meat we heard the war cry! We all rushed out, +and saw a warrior riding at top speed from the lower camp, giving the +warning as he came. Then we heard the reports of the soldiers' guns, +which sounded differently from the guns fired by our people in battle. + +"I ran to my teepee and seized my gun, a bow, and a quiver full of +arrows. I already had my stone war club, for you know we usually carry +those by way of ornament. Just as I was about to set out to meet Reno, a +body of soldiers appeared nearly opposite us, at the edge of a long line +of cliffs across the river. + +"All of us who were mounted and ready immediately started down the +stream toward the ford. There were Ogallalas, Minneconjous, Cheyennes, +and some Unkpapas, and those around me seemed to be nearly all very +young men. + +"'Behold, there is among us a young woman!' I shouted. 'Let no young man +hide behind her garment!' I knew that would make those young men brave. + +"The woman was Tashenamani, or Moving Robe, whose brother had just been +killed in the fight with Three Stars. Holding her brother's war staff +over her head, and leaning forward upon her charger, she looked as +pretty as a bird. Always when there is a woman in the charge, it causes +the warriors to vie with one another in displaying their valor," he +added. + +"The foremost warriors had almost surrounded the white men, and more +were continually crossing the stream. The soldiers had dismounted, and +were firing into the camp from the top of the cliff." + +"My friend, was Sitting Bull in this fight?" I inquired. + +"I did not see him there, but I learned afterward that he was among +those who met Reno, and that was three or four of the white man's miles +from Custer's position. Later he joined the attack upon Custer, but was +not among the foremost. + +"When the troops were surrounded on two sides, with the river on the +third, the order came to charge! There were many very young men, some of +whom had only a war staff or a stone war club in hand, who plunged into +the column, knocking the men over and stampeding their horses. + +"The soldiers had mounted and started back, but when the onset came they +dismounted again and separated into several divisions, facing different +ways. They fired as fast as they could load their guns, while we used +chiefly arrows and war clubs. There seemed to be two distinct movements +among the Indians. One body moved continually in a circle, while the +other rode directly into and through the troops. + +"Presently some of the soldiers remounted and fled along the ridge +toward Reno's position; but they were followed by our warriors, like +hundreds of blackbirds after a hawk. A larger body remained together at +the upper end of a little ravine, and fought bravely until they were cut +to pieces. I had always thought that white men were cowards, but I had a +great respect for them after this day. + +"It is generally said that a young man with nothing but a war staff in +his hand broke through the column and knocked down the leader very early +in the fight. We supposed him to be the leader, because he stood up in +full view, swinging his big knife [sword] over his head, and talking +loud. Some one unknown afterwards shot the chief, and he was probably +killed also; for if not, he would have told of the deed, and called +others to witness it. So it is that no one knows who killed the +Long-Haired Chief [General Custer]. + +"After the first rush was over, coups were counted as usual on the +bodies of the slain. You know four coups [or blows] can be counted on +the body of an enemy, and whoever counts the first one [touches it for +the first time] is entitled to the 'first feather.' + +"There was an Indian here called Appearing Elk, who died a short time +ago. He was slightly wounded in the charge. He had some of the weapons +of the Long-Haired Chief, and the Indians used to say jokingly after we +came upon the reservation that Appearing Elk must have killed the Chief, +because he had his sword! However, the scramble for plunder did not +begin until all were dead. I do not think he killed Custer, and if he +had, the time to claim the honor was immediately after the fight. + +"Many lies have been told of me. Some say that I killed the Chief, and +others that I cut out the heart of his brother [Tom Custer], because he +had caused me to be imprisoned. Why, in that fight the excitement was +so great that we scarcely recognized our nearest friends! Everything was +done like lightning. After the battle we young men were chasing horses +all over the prairie, while the old men and women plundered the bodies; +and if any mutilating was done, it was by the old men. + +"I have lived peaceably ever since we came upon the reservation. No one +can say that Rain-in-the-Face has broken the rules of the Great Father. +I fought for my people and my country. When we were conquered I remained +silent, as a warrior should. Rain-in-the-Face was killed when he put +down his weapons before the Great Father. His spirit was gone then; only +his poor body lived on, but now it is almost ready to lie down for the +last time. Ho, hechetu! [It is well.]" + + + + +TWO STRIKE + + +It is a pity that so many interesting names of well-known Indians have +been mistranslated, so that their meaning becomes very vague if it is +not wholly lost. In some cases an opposite meaning is conveyed. For +instance there is the name, "Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses." It does +not mean that the owner of the name is afraid of his own horse--far from +it! Tashunkekokipapi signifies "The young men [of the enemy] fear his +horses." Whenever that man attacks, the enemy knows there will be a +determined charge. + +The name Tashunkewitko, or Crazy Horse, is a poetic simile. This leader +was likened to an untrained or untouched horse, wild, ignorant of +domestic uses, splendid in action, and unconscious of danger. + +The name of Two Strike is a deed name. In a battle with the Utes this +man knocked two enemies from the back of a war horse. The true rendering +of the name Nomkahpa would be, "He knocked off two." + +I was well acquainted with Two Strike and spent many pleasant hours +with him, both at Washington, D. C., and in his home on the Rosebud +reservation. What I have written is not all taken from his own mouth, +because he was modest in talking about himself, but I had him vouch for +the truth of the stories. He said that he was born near the Republican +River about 1832. His earliest recollection was of an attack by the +Shoshones upon their camp on the Little Piney. The first white men he +ever met were traders who visited his people when he was very young. +The incident was still vividly with him, because, he said, "They made +my father crazy," [drunk]. This made a deep impression upon him, he +told me, so that from that day he was always afraid of the white man's +"mysterious water." + +Two Strike was not a large man, but he was very supple and alert in +motion, as agile as an antelope. His face was mobile and intelligent. +Although he had the usual somber visage of an Indian, his expression +brightened up wonderfully when he talked. In some ways wily and shrewd +in intellect, he was not deceitful nor mean. He had a high sense of duty +and honor. Patriotism was his ideal and goal of life. + +As a young man he was modest and even shy, although both his father +and grandfather were well-known chiefs. I could find few noteworthy +incidents in his early life, save that he was an expert rider of wild +horses. At one time I was pressing him to give me some interesting +incident of his boyhood. He replied to the effect that there was plenty +of excitement but "not much in it." There was a delegation of Sioux +chiefs visiting Washington, and we were spending an evening together in +their hotel. Hollow Horn Bear spoke up and said: + +"Why don't you tell him how you and a buffalo cow together held your +poor father up and froze him almost to death?" + +Everybody laughed, and another man remarked: "I think he had better tell +the medicine man (meaning myself) how he lost the power of speech when +he first tried to court a girl." Two Strike, although he was then close +to eighty years of age, was visibly embarrassed by their chaff. + +"Anyway, I stuck to the trail. I kept on till I got what I wanted," he +muttered. And then came the story. + +The old chief, his father, was very fond of the buffalo hunt; and +being accomplished in horsemanship and a fine shot, although not very +powerfully built, young Two Strike was already following hard in his +footsteps. Like every proud father, his was giving him every incentive +to perfect his skill, and one day challenged his sixteen-year-old son to +the feat of "one arrow to kill" at the very next chase. + +It was midwinter. A large herd of buffalo was reported by the game +scout. The hunters gathered at daybreak prepared for the charge. The +old chief had his tried charger equipped with a soft, pillow-like Indian +saddle and a lariat. His old sinew-backed hickory bow was examined and +strung, and a fine straight arrow with a steel head carefully selected +for the test. He adjusted a keen butcher knife over his leather belt, +which held a warm buffalo robe securely about his body. He wore neither +shirt nor coat, although a piercing wind was blowing from the northwest. +The youthful Two Strike had his favorite bow and his swift pony, which +was perhaps dearer to him than his closest boy comrade. + +Now the hunters crouched upon their horses' necks like an army in line +of battle, while behind them waited the boys and old men with pack +ponies to carry the meat. "Hukahey!" shouted the leader as a warning. +"Yekiya wo!" (Go) and in an instant all the ponies leaped forward +against the cutting wind, as if it were the start in a horse race. Every +rider leaned forward, tightly wrapped in his robe, watching the flying +herd for an opening in the mass of buffalo, a chance to cut out some of +the fattest cows. This was the object of the race. + +The chief had a fair start; his horse was well trained and needed no +urging nor guidance. Without the slightest pull on the lariat he dashed +into the thickest of the herd. The youth's pony had been prancing and +rearing impatiently; he started a little behind, yet being swift passed +many. His rider had one clear glimpse of his father ahead of him, then +the snow arose in blinding clouds on the trail of the bison. The whoops +of the hunters, the lowing of the cows, and the menacing glances of the +bulls as they plunged along, or now and then stood at bay, were enough +to unnerve a boy less well tried. He was unable to select his victim. +He had been carried deeply into the midst of the herd and found himself +helpless to make the one sure shot, therefore he held his one arrow in +his mouth and merely strove to separate them so as to get his chance. + +At last the herd parted, and he cut out two fat cows, and was +maneuvering for position when a rider appeared out of the snow cloud on +their other side. This aroused him to make haste lest his rival secure +both cows; he saw his chance, and in a twinkling his arrow sped clear +through one of the animals so that she fell headlong. + +In this instant he observed that the man who had joined him was his +own father, who had met with the same difficulties as himself. When the +young man had shot his only arrow, the old chief with a whoop went after +the cow that was left, but as he gained her broadside, his horse stepped +in a badger hole and fell, throwing him headlong. The maddened buffalo, +as sometimes happens in such cases, turned upon the pony and gored him +to death. His rider lay motionless, while Two Strike rushed forward +to draw her attention, but she merely tossed her head at him, while +persistently standing guard over the dead horse and the all but frozen +Indian. + +Alas for the game of "one arrow to kill!" The boy must think fast, for +his father's robe had slipped off, and he was playing dead, lying almost +naked in the bitter air upon the trampled snow. His bluff would not +serve, so he flew back to pull out his solitary arrow from the body of +the dead cow. Quickly wheeling again, he sent it into her side and she +fell. The one arrow to kill had become one arrow to kill two buffalo! At +the council lodge that evening Two Strike was the hero. + +The following story is equally characteristic of him, and in explanation +it should be said that in the good old days among the Sioux, a young +man is not supposed to associate with girls until he is ready to take +a wife. It was a rule with our young men, especially the honorable and +well-born, to gain some reputation in the hunt and in war,--the more +difficult the feats achieved the better,--before even speaking to +a young woman. Many a life was risked in the effort to establish a +reputation along these lines. Courtship was no secret, but rather a +social event, often celebrated by the proud parents with feasts and +presents to the poor, and this etiquette was sometimes felt by a shy or +sensitive youth as an insurmountable obstacle to the fulfilment of his +desires. + +Two Strike was the son and grandson of a chief, but he could not claim +any credit for the deeds of his forbears. He had not only to guard their +good name but achieve one for himself. This he had set out to do, and he +did well. He was now of marriageable age with a war record, and admitted +to the council, yet he did not seem to trouble himself at all about a +wife. His was strictly a bachelor career. Meanwhile, as is apt to be the +case, his parents had thought much about a possible daughter-in-law, and +had even collected ponies, fine robes, and other acceptable goods to be +given away in honor of the event, whenever it should take place. Now and +then they would drop a sly hint, but with no perceptible effect. + +They did not and could not know of the inward struggle that racked his +mind at this period of his life. The shy and modest young man was dying +for a wife, yet could not bear even to think of speaking to a young +woman! The fearless hunter of buffaloes, mountain lions, and grizzlies, +the youth who had won his eagle feathers in a battle with the Utes, +could not bring himself to take this tremendous step. + +At last his father appealed to him directly. "My son," he declared, "it +is your duty to take unto yourself a wife, in order that the honors won +by your ancestors and by yourself may be handed down in the direct line. +There are several eligible young women in our band whose parents have +intimated a wish to have you for their son-in-law." + +Two Strike made no reply, but he was greatly disturbed. He had no wish +to have the old folks select his bride, for if the truth were told, +his choice was already made. He had simply lacked the courage to go +a-courting! + +The next morning, after making an unusually careful toilet, he took his +best horse and rode to a point overlooking the path by which the girls +went for water. Here the young men were wont to take their stand, and, +if fortunate, intercept the girl of their heart for a brief but fateful +interview. Two Strike had determined to speak straight to the point, +and as soon as he saw the pretty maid he came forward boldly and placed +himself in her way. A long moment passed. She glanced up at him shyly +but not without encouragement. His teeth fairly chattered with fright, +and he could not say a word. She looked again, noted his strange looks, +and believed him suddenly taken ill. He appeared to be suffering. At +last he feebly made signs for her to go on and leave him alone. The +maiden was sympathetic, but as she did not know what else to do she +obeyed his request. + +The poor youth was so ashamed of his cowardice that he afterward +admitted his first thought was to take his own life. He believed he +had disgraced himself forever in the eyes of the only girl he had ever +loved. However, he determined to conquer his weakness and win her, +which he did. The story came out many years after and was told with much +enjoyment by the old men. + +Two Strike was better known by his own people than by the whites, for +he was individually a terror in battle rather than a leader. He achieved +his honorable name in a skirmish with the Utes in Colorado. The Sioux +regarded these people as their bravest enemies, and the outcome of +the fight was for some time uncertain. First the Sioux were forced to +retreat and then their opponents, and at the latter point the horse of a +certain Ute was shot under him. A friend came to his rescue and took him +up behind him. Our hero overtook them in flight, raised his war club, +and knocked both men off with one blow. + +He was a very old man when he died, only two or three years ago, on the +Rosebud reservation. + + + + +AMERICAN HORSE + + +One of the wittiest and shrewdest of the Sioux chiefs was American +Horse, who succeeded to the name and position of an uncle, killed in +the battle of Slim Buttes in 1876. The younger American Horse was born +a little before the encroachments of the whites upon the Sioux country +became serious and their methods aggressive, and his early manhood +brought him into that most trying and critical period of our history. He +had been tutored by his uncle, since his own father was killed in battle +while he was still very young. The American Horse band was closely +attached to a trading post, and its members in consequence were inclined +to be friendly with the whites, a policy closely adhered to by their +leader. + +When he was born, his old grandfather said: "Put him out in the sun! +Let him ask his great-grandfather, the Sun, for the warm blood of a +warrior!" And he had warm blood. He was a genial man, liking notoriety +and excitement. He always seized an opportunity to leap into the center +of the arena. + +In early life he was a clownish sort of boy among the boys--an expert +mimic and impersonator. This talent made him popular and in his way a +leader. He was a natural actor, and early showed marked ability as a +speaker. + +American Horse was about ten years old when he was attacked by three +Crow warriors, while driving a herd of ponies to water. Here he +displayed native cunning and initiative. It seemed he had scarcely a +chance to escape, for the enemy was near. He yelled frantically at the +ponies to start them toward home, while he dropped off into a thicket +of willows and hid there. A part of the herd was caught in sight of +the camp and there was a counter chase, but the Crows got away with the +ponies. Of course his mother was frantic, believing her boy had been +killed or captured; but after the excitement was over, he appeared in +camp unhurt. When questioned about his escape, he remarked: "I knew they +would not take the time to hunt for small game when there was so much +bigger close by." + +When he was quite a big boy, he joined in a buffalo hunt, and on the way +back with the rest of the hunters his mule became unmanageable. American +Horse had insisted on riding him in addition to a heavy load of meat and +skins, and the animal evidently resented this, for he suddenly began to +run and kick, scattering fresh meat along the road, to the merriment of +the crowd. But the boy turned actor, and made it appear that it was at +his wish the mule had given this diverting performance. He clung to the +back of his plunging and braying mount like a circus rider, singing a +Brave Heart song, and finally brought up amid the laughter and cheers +of his companions. Far from admitting defeat, he boasted of his +horsemanship and declared that his "brother" the donkey would put any +enemy to flight, and that they should be called upon to lead a charge. + +It was several years later that he went to sleep early one night and +slept soundly, having been scouting for two nights previous. It happened +that there was a raid by the Crows, and when he awoke in the midst of +the yelling and confusion, he sprang up and attempted to join in the +fighting. Everybody knew his voice in all the din, so when he fired his +gun and announced a coup, as was the custom, others rushed to the spot, +to find that he had shot a hobbled pony belonging to their own camp. +The laugh was on him, and he never recovered from his chagrin at this +mistake. In fact, although he was undoubtedly fearless and tried hard to +distinguish himself in warfare, he did not succeed. + +It is told of him that he once went with a war party of young men to +the Wind River country against the Shoshones. At last they discovered +a large camp, but there were only a dozen or so of the Sioux, therefore +they hid themselves and watched for their opportunity to attack an +isolated party of hunters. While waiting thus, they ran short of food. +One day a small party of Shoshones was seen near at hand, and in the +midst of the excitement and preparations for the attack, young American +Horse caught sight of a fat black-tail deer close by. Unable to resist +the temptation, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and sent it through +the deer's heart, then with several of his half-starved companions +sprang upon the yet quivering body of the animal to cut out the liver, +which was sometimes eaten raw. One of the men was knocked down, it is +said, by the last kick of the dying buck, but having swallowed a few +mouthfuls the warriors rushed upon and routed their enemies. It is still +told of American Horse how he killed game and feasted between the ambush +and the attack. + +At another time he was drying his sacred war bonnet and other gear +over a small fire. These articles were held in great veneration by the +Indians and handled accordingly. Suddenly the fire blazed up, and our +hero so far forgot himself as to begin energetically beating out the +flames with the war bonnet, breaking off one of the sacred buffalo horns +in the act. One could almost fill a book with his mishaps and exploits. +I will give one of them in his own words as well as I can remember them. + +"We were as promising a party of young warriors as our tribe ever sent +against any of its ancestral enemies. It was midsummer, and after going +two days' journey from home we began to send two scouts ahead daily +while the main body kept a half day behind. The scouts set out every +evening and traveled all night. One night the great war pipe was held +out to me and to Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses. At daybreak, having met +no one, we hid our horses and climbed to the top of the nearest butte to +take an observation. It was a very hot day. We lay flat on our blankets, +facing the west where the cliff fell off in a sheer descent, and with +our backs toward the more gradual slope dotted with scrub pines and +cedars. We stuck some tall grass on our heads and proceeded to study the +landscape spread before us for any sign of man. + +"The sweeping valleys were dotted with herds, both large and small, +of buffalo and elk, and now and then we caught a glimpse of a coyote +slinking into the gulches, returning from night hunting to sleep. While +intently watching some moving body at a distance, we could not yet tell +whether of men or animals, I heard a faint noise behind me and slowly +turned my head. Behold! a grizzly bear sneaking up on all fours and +almost ready to spring! + +"'Run!' I yelled into the ear of my companion, and we both leaped to our +feet in a second. 'Separate! separate!' he shouted, and as we did so, +the bear chose me for his meat. I ran downhill as fast as I could, but +he was gaining. 'Dodge around a tree!' screamed Young-Man-Afraid. I took +a deep breath and made a last spurt, desperately circling the first tree +I came to. As the ground was steep just there, I turned a somersault +one way and the bear the other. I picked myself up in time to climb the +tree, and was fairly out of reach when he gathered himself together and +came at me more furiously than ever, holding in one paw the shreds of +my breechcloth, for in the fall he had just scratched my back and cut my +belt in two, and carried off my only garment for a trophy! + +"My friend was well up another tree and laughing heartily at my +predicament, and when the bear saw that he could not get at either of us +he reluctantly departed, after I had politely addressed him and promised +to make an offering to his spirit on my safe return. I don't think I +ever had a narrower escape," he concluded. + +During the troublous times from 1865 to 1877, American Horse advocated +yielding to the government at any cost, being no doubt convinced of the +uselessness of resistance. He was not a recognized leader until 1876, +when he took the name and place of his uncle. Up to this time he bore +the nickname of Manishnee (Can not walk, or Played out.) + +When the greater part of the Ogallalas, to which band he belonged, came +into the reservation, he at once allied himself with the peace element +at the Red Cloud agency, near Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and took no small +part in keeping the young braves quiet. Since the older and better-known +chiefs, with the exception of Spotted Tail, were believed to be hostile +at heart, the military made much use of him. Many of his young men +enlisted as scouts by his advice, and even he himself entered the +service. + +In the early part of the year 1876, there was a rumor that certain bands +were in danger of breaking away. Their leader was one Sioux Jim, so +nicknamed by the soldiers. American Horse went to him as peacemaker, but +was told he was a woman and no brave. He returned to his own camp and +told his men that Sioux Jim meant mischief, and in order to prevent +another calamity to the tribe, he must be chastised. He again approached +the warlike Jim with several warriors at his back. The recalcitrant came +out, gun in hand, but the wily chief was too quick for him. He shot and +wounded the rebel, whereupon one of his men came forward and killed him. + +This quelled the people for the time being and up to the killing of +Crazy Horse. In the crisis precipitated by this event, American Horse +was again influential and energetic in the cause of the government. From +this time on he became an active participant in the affairs of the +Teton Sioux. He was noted for his eloquence, which was nearly always +conciliatory, yet he could say very sharp things of the duplicity of +the whites. He had much ease of manner and was a master of repartee. I +recall his saying that if you have got to wear golden slippers to enter +the white man's heaven no Indian will ever get there, as the whites have +got the Black Hills and with them all the gold. + +It was during the last struggle of his people, at the time of the +Messiah craze in 1890-1891 that he demonstrated as never before the real +greatness of the man. While many of his friends were carried away by +the new thought, he held aloof from it and cautioned his band to do the +same. When it developed into an extensive upheaval among the nations he +took his positive stand against it. + +Presently all Indians who did not dance the Ghost Dance were ordered +to come into camp at Pine Ridge agency. American Horse was the first to +bring in his people. I was there at the time and talked with him daily. +When Little was arrested, it had been agreed among the disaffected to +have him resist, which meant that he would be roughly handled. This was +to be their excuse to attack the Indian police, which would probably +lead to a general massacre or outbreak. I know that this desperate move +was opposed from the beginning by American Horse, and it was believed +that his life was threatened. + +On the day of the "Big Issue", when thousands of Indians were gathered +at the agency, this man Little, who had been in hiding, walked boldly +among them. Of course the police would arrest him at sight, and he was +led toward the guardhouse. He struggled with them, but was overpowered. +A crowd of warriors rushed to his rescue, and there was confusion and +a general shout of "Hurry up with them! Kill them all!" I saw American +Horse walk out of the agent's office and calmly face the excited mob. + +"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Stop, men, stop and think before +you act! Will you murder your children, your women, yes, destroy your +nation to-day?" He stood before them like a statue and the men who held +the two policemen helpless paused for an instant. He went on: "You are +brave to-day because you outnumber the white men, but what will you do +to-morrow? There are railroads on all sides of you. The soldiers will +pour in from every direction by thousands and surround you. You have +little food or ammunition. It will be the end of your people. Stop, I +say, stop now!" + +Jack Red Cloud, son of the old chief rushed up to him and thrust a +revolver almost in his face. "It is you and men like you," he shouted, +"who have reduced our race to slavery and starvation!" American Horse +did not flinch but deliberately reentered the office, followed by Jack +still flourishing the pistol. But his timely appearance and eloquence +had saved the day. Others of the police force had time to reach the +spot, and with a large crowd of friendly Indians had taken command of +the situation. + +When I went into the office I found him alone but apparently quite calm. +"Where are the agent and the clerks?" I asked. "They fled by the back +door," he replied, smiling. "I think they are in the cellar. These fools +outside had almost caught us asleep, but I think it is over now." + +American Horse was one of the earliest advocates of education for +the Indian, and his son Samuel and nephew Robert were among the first +students at Carlisle. I think one or two of his daughters were the +handsomest Indian girls of full blood that I ever saw. His record as +a councilor of his people and his policy in the new situation that +confronted them was manly and consistent. + + + + +DULL KNIFE + + +The life of Dull Knife, the Cheyenne, is a true hero tale. Simple, +child-like yet manful, and devoid of selfish aims, or love of gain, he +is a pattern for heroes of any race. + +Dull Knife was a chief of the old school. Among all the Indians of the +plains, nothing counts save proven worth. A man's caliber is measured +by his courage, unselfishness and intelligence. Many writers confuse +history with fiction, but in Indian history their women and old men and +even children witness the main events, and not being absorbed in daily +papers and magazines, these events are rehearsed over and over with +few variations. Though orally preserved, their accounts are therefore +accurate. But they have seldom been willing to give reliable information +to strangers, especially when asked and paid for. + +Racial prejudice naturally enters into the account of a man's life by +enemy writers, while one is likely to favor his own race. I am conscious +that many readers may think that I have idealized the Indian. Therefore +I will confess now that we have too many weak and unprincipled men among +us. When I speak of the Indian hero, I do not forget the mongrel in +spirit, false to the ideals of his people. Our trustfulness has been our +weakness, and when the vices of civilization were added to our own, we +fell heavily. + +It is said that Dull Knife as a boy was resourceful and self-reliant. He +was only nine years old when his family was separated from the rest of +the tribe while on a buffalo hunt. His father was away and his mother +busy, and he was playing with his little sister on the banks of a +stream, when a large herd of buffalo swept down upon them on a stampede +for water. His mother climbed a tree, but the little boy led his sister +into an old beaver house whose entrance was above water, and here they +remained in shelter until the buffalo passed and they were found by +their distracted parents. + +Dull Knife was quite a youth when his tribe was caught one winter in a +region devoid of game, and threatened with starvation. The situation was +made worse by heavy storms, but he secured help and led a relief party +a hundred and fifty miles, carrying bales of dried buffalo meat on pack +horses. + +Another exploit that made him dear to his people occurred in battle, +when his brother-in-law was severely wounded and left lying where no one +on either side dared to approach him. As soon as Dull Knife heard of it +he got on a fresh horse, and made so daring a charge that others joined +him; thus under cover of their fire he rescued his brother-in-law, and +in so doing was wounded twice. + +The Sioux knew him as a man of high type, perhaps not so brilliant as +Roman Nose and Two Moon, but surpassing both in honesty and simplicity, +as well as in his war record. (Two Moon, in fact, was never a leader of +his people, and became distinguished only in wars with the whites during +the period of revolt.) A story is told of an ancestor of the same name +that illustrates well the spirit of the age. + +It was the custom in those days for the older men to walk ahead of the +moving caravan and decide upon all halts and camping places. One day the +councilors came to a grove of wild cherries covered with ripe fruit, and +they stopped at once. Suddenly a grizzly charged from the thicket. The +men yelped and hooted, but the bear was not to be bluffed. He knocked +down the first warrior who dared to face him and dragged his victim into +the bushes. + +The whole caravan was in the wildest excitement. Several of the +swiftest-footed warriors charged the bear, to bring him out into the +open, while the women and dogs made all the noise they could. The bear +accepted the challenge, and as he did so, the man whom they had supposed +dead came running from the opposite end of the thicket. The Indians were +delighted, and especially so when in the midst of their cheers, the man +stopped running for his life and began to sing a Brave Heart song as he +approached the grove with his butcher knife in his hand. He would dare +his enemy again! + +The grizzly met him with a tremendous rush, and they went down together. +Instantly the bear began to utter cries of distress, and at the same +time the knife flashed, and he rolled over dead. The warrior was too +quick for the animal; he first bit his sensitive nose to distract his +attention, and then used the knife to stab him to the heart. He fought +many battles with knives thereafter and claimed that the spirit of the +bear gave him success. On one occasion, however, the enemy had a strong +buffalo-hide shield which the Cheyenne bear fighter could not pierce +through, and he was wounded; nevertheless he managed to dispatch his +foe. It was from this incident that he received the name of Dull Knife, +which was handed down to his descendant. + +As is well known, the Northern Cheyennes uncompromisingly supported +the Sioux in their desperate defense of the Black Hills and Big Horn +country. Why not? It was their last buffalo region--their subsistence. +It was what our wheat fields are to a civilized nation. + +About the year 1875, a propaganda was started for confining all the +Indians upon reservations, where they would be practically interned or +imprisoned, regardless of their possessions and rights. The men who +were the strongest advocates of the scheme generally wanted the Indians' +property--the one main cause back of all Indian wars. From the warlike +Apaches to the peaceful Nez Perces, all the tribes of the plains were +hunted from place to place; then the government resorted to peace +negotiations, but always with an army at hand to coerce. Once disarmed +and helpless, they were to be taken under military guard to the Indian +Territory. + +A few resisted, and declared they would fight to the death rather than +go. Among these were the Sioux, but nearly all the smaller tribes were +deported against their wishes. Of course those Indians who came from +a mountainous and cold country suffered severely. The moist heat and +malaria decimated the exiles. Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces and Chief +Standing Bear of the Poncas appealed to the people of the United States, +and finally succeeded in having their bands or the remnant of them +returned to their own part of the country. Dull Knife was not successful +in his plea, and the story of his flight is one of poignant interest. + +He was regarded by the authorities as a dangerous man, and with his +depleted band was taken to the Indian Territory without his consent in +1876. When he realized that his people were dying like sheep, he was +deeply moved. He called them together. Every man and woman declared that +they would rather die in their own country than stay there longer, and +they resolved to flee to their northern homes. + +Here again was displayed the genius of these people. From the Indian +Territory to Dakota is no short dash for freedom. They knew what they +were facing. Their line of flight lay through a settled country and they +would be closely pursued by the army. No sooner had they started than +the telegraph wires sang one song: "The panther of the Cheyennes is at +large. Not a child or a woman in Kansas or Nebraska is safe." Yet they +evaded all the pursuing and intercepting troops and reached their native +soil. The strain was terrible, the hardship great, and Dull Knife, like +Joseph, was remarkable for his self-restraint in sparing those who came +within his power on the way. + +But fate was against him, for there were those looking for blood money +who betrayed him when he thought he was among friends. His people were +tired out and famished when they were surrounded and taken to Fort +Robinson. There the men were put in prison, and their wives guarded in +camp. They were allowed to visit their men on certain days. Many of them +had lost everything; there were but a few who had even one child left. +They were heartbroken. + +These despairing women appealed to their husbands to die fighting: their +liberty was gone, their homes broken up, and only slavery and gradual +extinction in sight. At last Dull Knife listened. He said: "I have lived +my life. I am ready." The others agreed. "If our women are willing to +die with us, who is there to say no? If we are to do the deeds of men, +it rests with you women to bring us our weapons." + +As they had been allowed to carry moccasins and other things to the men, +so they contrived to take in some guns and knives under this disguise. +The plan was to kill the sentinels and run to the nearest natural +trench, there to make their last stand. The women and children were to +join them. This arrangement was carried out. Not every brave had a gun, +but all had agreed to die together. They fought till their small store +of ammunition was exhausted, then exposed their broad chests for a +target, and the mothers even held up their little ones to be shot. Thus +died the fighting Cheyennes and their dauntless leader. + + + + +ROMAN NOSE + + +This Cheyenne war chief was a contemporary of Dull Knife. He was not +so strong a character as the other, and was inclined to be pompous and +boastful; but with all this he was a true type of native American in +spirit and bravery. + +While Dull Knife was noted in warfare among Indians, Roman Nose made +his record against the whites, in defense of territory embracing the +Republican and Arickaree rivers. He was killed on the latter river in +1868, in the celebrated battle with General Forsythe. + +Save Chief Gall and Washakie in the prime of their manhood, this chief +had no peer in bodily perfection and masterful personality. No Greek or +Roman gymnast was ever a finer model of physical beauty and power. He +thrilled his men to frenzied action when he came upon the field. It was +said of him that he sacrificed more youths by his personal influence in +battle than any other leader, being very reckless himself in grand-stand +charges. He was killed needlessly in this manner. + +Roman Nose always rode an uncommonly fine, spirited horse, and with +his war bonnet and other paraphernalia gave a wonderful exhibition. The +Indians used to say that the soldiers must gaze at him rather than aim +at him, as they so seldom hit him even when running the gantlet before a +firing line. + +He did a remarkable thing once when on a one-arrow-to-kill buffalo hunt +with his brother-in-law. His companion had selected his animal and +drew so powerfully on his sinew bowstring that it broke. Roman Nose +had killed his own cow and was whipping up close to the other when the +misfortune occurred. Both horses were going at full speed and the arrow +jerked up in the air. Roman Nose caught it and shot the cow for him. + +Another curious story told of him is to the effect that he had an +intimate Sioux friend who was courting a Cheyenne girl, but without +success. As the wooing of both Sioux and Cheyennes was pretty much all +effected in the night time, Roman Nose told his friend to let him do +the courting for him. He arranged with the young woman to elope the next +night and to spend the honeymoon among his Sioux friends. He then told +his friend what to do. The Sioux followed instructions and carried off +the Cheyenne maid, and not until morning did she discover her mistake. +It is said she never admitted it, and that the two lived happily +together to a good old age, so perhaps there was no mistake after all. + +Perhaps no other chief attacked more emigrants going west on the Oregon +Trail between 1860 and 1868. He once made an attack on a large party of +Mormons, and in this instance the Mormons had time to form a corral +with their wagons and shelter their women, children, and horses. The +men stood outside and met the Indians with well-aimed volleys, but they +circled the wagons with whirlwind speed, and whenever a white man fell, +it was the signal for Roman Nose to charge and count the "coup." The +hat of one of the dead men was off, and although he had heavy hair and +beard, the top of his head was bald from the forehead up. As custom +required such a deed to be announced on the spot, the chief yelled at +the top of his voice: + +"Your Roman Nose has counted the first coup on the longest-faced white +man who was ever killed!" + +When the Northern Cheyennes under this daring leader attacked a body of +scouting troops under the brilliant officer General Forsythe, Roman Nose +thought that he had a comparatively easy task. The first onset failed, +and the command entrenched itself on a little island. The wily chief +thought he could stampede them and urged on his braves with the +declaration that the first to reach the island should be entitled to +wear a trailing war bonnet. Nevertheless he was disappointed, and his +men received such a warm reception that none succeeded in reaching it. +In order to inspire them to desperate deeds he had led them in person, +and with him that meant victory or death. According to the army +accounts, it was a thrilling moment, and might well have proved +disastrous to the Forsythe command, whose leader was wounded and +helpless. The danger was acute until Roman Nose fell, and even then his +lieutenants were bent upon crossing at any cost, but some of the older +chiefs prevailed upon them to withdraw. + +Thus the brilliant war chief of the Cheyennes came to his death. If he +had lived until 1876, Sitting Bull would have had another bold ally. + + + + +CHIEF JOSEPH + + +The Nez Perce tribe of Indians, like other tribes too large to be +united under one chief, was composed of several bands, each distinct in +sovereignty. It was a loose confederacy. Joseph and his people occupied +the Imnaha or Grande Ronde valley in Oregon, which was considered +perhaps the finest land in that part of the country. + +When the last treaty was entered into by some of the bands of the Nez +Perce, Joseph's band was at Lapwai, Idaho, and had nothing to do with +the agreement. The elder chief in dying had counseled his son, then not +more than twenty-two or twenty-three years of age, never to part with +their home, assuring him that he had signed no papers. These peaceful +non-treaty Indians did not even know what land had been ceded until the +agent read them the government order to leave. Of course they refused. +You and I would have done the same. + +When the agent failed to move them, he and the would-be settlers called +upon the army to force them to be good, namely, without a murmur to +leave their pleasant inheritance in the hands of a crowd of greedy +grafters. General O. O. Howard, the Christian soldier, was sent to do +the work. + +He had a long council with Joseph and his leading men, telling them they +must obey the order or be driven out by force. We may be sure that he +presented this hard alternative reluctantly. Joseph was a mere youth +without experience in war or public affairs. He had been well brought +up in obedience to parental wisdom and with his brother Ollicut had +attended Missionary Spaulding's school where they had listened to the +story of Christ and his religion of brotherhood. He now replied in +his simple way that neither he nor his father had ever made any treaty +disposing of their country, that no other band of the Nez Perces was +authorized to speak for them, and it would seem a mighty injustice and +unkindness to dispossess a friendly band. + +General Howard told them in effect that they had no rights, no voice in +the matter: they had only to obey. Although some of the lesser chiefs +counseled revolt then and there, Joseph maintained his self-control, +seeking to calm his people, and still groping for a peaceful settlement +of their difficulties. He finally asked for thirty days' time in which +to find and dispose of their stock, and this was granted. + +Joseph steadfastly held his immediate followers to their promise, but +the land-grabbers were impatient, and did everything in their power +to bring about an immediate crisis so as to hasten the eviction of the +Indians. Depredations were committed, and finally the Indians, or some +of them, retaliated, which was just what their enemies had been looking +for. There might be a score of white men murdered among themselves on +the frontier and no outsider would ever hear about it, but if one were +injured by an Indian--"Down with the bloodthirsty savages!" was the cry. + +Joseph told me himself that during all of those thirty days a tremendous +pressure was brought upon him by his own people to resist the government +order. "The worst of it was," said he, "that everything they said was +true; besides"--he paused for a moment--"it seemed very soon for me to +forget my father's dying words, 'Do not give up our home!'" Knowing as I +do just what this would mean to an Indian, I felt for him deeply. + +Among the opposition leaders were Too-hul-hul-sote, White Bird, and +Looking Glass, all of them strong men and respected by the Indians; +while on the other side were men built up by emissaries of the +government for their own purposes and advertised as "great friendly +chiefs." As a rule such men are unworthy, and this is so well known to +the Indians that it makes them distrustful of the government's sincerity +at the start. Moreover, while Indians unqualifiedly say what they mean, +the whites have a hundred ways of saying what they do not mean. + +The center of the storm was this simple young man, who so far as I can +learn had never been upon the warpath, and he stood firm for peace and +obedience. As for his father's sacred dying charge, he told himself that +he would not sign any papers, he would not go of his free will but from +compulsion, and this was his excuse. + +However, the whites were unduly impatient to clear the coveted valley, +and by their insolence they aggravated to the danger point an already +strained situation. The murder of an Indian was the climax and this +happened in the absence of the young chief. He returned to find the +leaders determined to die fighting. The nature of the country was in +their favor and at least they could give the army a chase, but how long +they could hold out they did not know. Even Joseph's younger brother +Ollicut was won over. There was nothing for him to do but fight; and +then and there began the peaceful Joseph's career as a general of +unsurpassed strategy in conducting one of the most masterly retreats in +history. + +This is not my judgment, but the unbiased opinion of men whose knowledge +and experience fit them to render it. Bear in mind that these people +were not scalp hunters like the Sioux, Cheyennes, and Utes, but peaceful +hunters and fishermen. The first council of war was a strange business +to Joseph. He had only this to say to his people: + +"I have tried to save you from suffering and sorrow. Resistance means +all of that. We are few. They are many. You can see all we have at a +glance. They have food and ammunition in abundance. We must suffer great +hardship and loss." After this speech, he quietly began his plans for +the defense. + +The main plan of campaign was to engineer a successful retreat into +Montana and there form a junction with the hostile Sioux and Cheyennes +under Sitting Bull. There was a relay scouting system, one set of +scouts leaving the main body at evening and the second a little before +daybreak, passing the first set on some commanding hill top. There were +also decoy scouts set to trap Indian scouts of the army. I notice that +General Howard charges his Crow scouts with being unfaithful. + +Their greatest difficulty was in meeting an unencumbered army, while +carrying their women, children, and old men, with supplies and such +household effects as were absolutely necessary. Joseph formed an +auxiliary corps that was to effect a retreat at each engagement, upon a +definite plan and in definite order, while the unencumbered women were +made into an ambulance corps to take care of the wounded. + +It was decided that the main rear guard should meet General Howard's +command in White Bird Canyon, and every detail was planned in advance, +yet left flexible according to Indian custom, giving each leader freedom +to act according to circumstances. Perhaps no better ambush was ever +planned than the one Chief Joseph set for the shrewd and experienced +General Howard. He expected to be hotly pursued, but he calculated that +the pursuing force would consist of not more than two hundred and fifty +soldiers. He prepared false trails to mislead them into thinking that +he was about to cross or had crossed the Salmon River, which he had no +thought of doing at that time. Some of the tents were pitched in plain +sight, while the women and children were hidden on the inaccessible +ridges, and the men concealed in the canyon ready to fire upon the +soldiers with deadly effect with scarcely any danger to themselves. They +could even roll rocks upon them. + +In a very few minutes the troops had learned a lesson. The soldiers +showed some fight, but a large body of frontiersmen who accompanied +them were soon in disorder. The warriors chased them nearly ten miles, +securing rifles and much ammunition, and killing and wounding many. + +The Nez Perces next crossed the river, made a detour and recrossed it +at another point, then took their way eastward. All this was by way of +delaying pursuit. Joseph told me that he estimated it would take six +or seven days to get a sufficient force in the field to take up their +trail, and the correctness of his reasoning is apparent from the facts +as detailed in General Howard's book. He tells us that he waited six +days for the arrival of men from various forts in his department, then +followed Joseph with six hundred soldiers, beside a large number of +citizen volunteers and his Indian scouts. As it was evident they had +a long chase over trackless wilderness in prospect, he discarded his +supply wagons and took pack mules instead. But by this time the Indians +had a good start. + +Meanwhile General Howard had sent a dispatch to Colonel Gibbons, with +orders to head Joseph off, which he undertook to do at the Montana end +of the Lolo Trail. The wily commander had no knowledge of this move, but +he was not to be surprised. He was too brainy for his pursuers, whom he +constantly outwitted, and only gave battle when he was ready. There at +the Big Hole Pass he met Colonel Gibbons' fresh troops and pressed them +close. He sent a party under his brother Ollicut to harass Gibbons' rear +and rout the pack mules, thus throwing him on the defensive and causing +him to send for help, while Joseph continued his masterly retreat toward +the Yellowstone Park, then a wilderness. However, this was but little +advantage to him, since he must necessarily leave a broad trail, and the +army was augmenting its columns day by day with celebrated scouts, both +white and Indian. The two commands came together, and although General +Howard says their horses were by this time worn out, and by inference +the men as well, they persisted on the trail of a party encumbered by +women and children, the old, sick, and wounded. + +It was decided to send a detachment of cavalry under Bacon, to Tash +Pass, the gateway of the National Park, which Joseph would have to pass, +with orders to detain him there until the rest could come up with them. +Here is what General Howard says of the affair. "Bacon got into position +soon enough but he did not have the heart to fight the Indians on +account of their number." Meanwhile another incident had occurred. Right +under the eyes of the chosen scouts and vigilant sentinels, Joseph's +warriors fired upon the army camp at night and ran off their mules. He +went straight on toward the park, where Lieutenant Bacon let him get by +and pass through the narrow gateway without firing a shot. + +Here again it was demonstrated that General Howard could not depend upon +the volunteers, many of whom had joined him in the chase, and were going +to show the soldiers how to fight Indians. In this night attack at Camas +Meadow, they were demoralized, and while crossing the river next day +many lost their guns in the water, whereupon all packed up and went +home, leaving the army to be guided by the Indian scouts. + +However, this succession of defeats did not discourage General Howard, +who kept on with as many of his men as were able to carry a gun, +meanwhile sending dispatches to all the frontier posts with orders to +intercept Joseph if possible. Sturgis tried to stop him as the Indians +entered the Park, but they did not meet until he was about to come out, +when there was another fight, with Joseph again victorious. General +Howard came upon the battle field soon afterward and saw that the +Indians were off again, and from here he sent fresh messages to General +Miles, asking for reinforcements. + +Joseph had now turned northeastward toward the Upper Missouri. He told +me that when he got into that part of the country he knew he was very +near the Canadian line and could not be far from Sitting Bull, with whom +he desired to form an alliance. He also believed that he had cleared all +the forts. Therefore he went more slowly and tried to give his people +some rest. Some of their best men had been killed or wounded in battle, +and the wounded were a great burden to him; nevertheless they were +carried and tended patiently all during this wonderful flight. Not one +was ever left behind. + +It is the general belief that Indians are cruel and revengeful, and +surely these people had reason to hate the race who had driven them from +their homes if any people ever had. Yet it is a fact that when Joseph +met visitors and travelers in the Park, some of whom were women, he +allowed them to pass unharmed, and in at least one instance let them +have horses. He told me that he gave strict orders to his men not to +kill any women or children. He wished to meet his adversaries according +to their own standards of warfare, but he afterward learned that in +spite of professions of humanity, white soldiers have not seldom been +known to kill women and children indiscriminately. + +Another remarkable thing about this noted retreat is that Joseph's +people stood behind him to a man, and even the women and little boys did +each his part. The latter were used as scouts in the immediate vicinity +of the camp. + +The Bittersweet valley, which they had now entered, was full of game, +and the Indians hunted for food, while resting their worn-out ponies. +One morning they had a council to which Joseph rode over bareback, as +they had camped in two divisions a little apart. His fifteen-year-old +daughter went with him. They discussed sending runners to Sitting Bull +to ascertain his exact whereabouts and whether it would be agreeable to +him to join forces with the Nez Perces. In the midst of the council, +a force of United States cavalry charged down the hill between the +two camps. This once Joseph was surprised. He had seen no trace of the +soldiers and had somewhat relaxed his vigilance. + +He told his little daughter to stay where she was, and himself cut right +through the cavalry and rode up to his own teepee, where his wife met +him at the door with his rifle, crying: "Here is your gun, husband!" The +warriors quickly gathered and pressed the soldiers so hard that they +had to withdraw. Meanwhile one set of the people fled while Joseph's own +band entrenched themselves in a very favorable position from which they +could not easily be dislodged. + +General Miles had received and acted on General Howard's message, and he +now sent one of his officers with some Indian scouts into Joseph's camp +to negotiate with the chief. Meantime Howard and Sturgis came up with +the encampment, and Howard had with him two friendly Nez Perce scouts +who were directed to talk to Joseph in his own language. He decided that +there was nothing to do but surrender. + +He had believed that his escape was all but secure: then at the last +moment he was surprised and caught at a disadvantage. His army was +shattered; he had lost most of the leaders in these various fights; +his people, including children, women, and the wounded, had traveled +thirteen hundred miles in about fifty days, and he himself a young man +who had never before taken any important responsibility! Even now he was +not actually conquered. He was well entrenched; his people were willing +to die fighting; but the army of the United States offered peace and he +agreed, as he said, out of pity for his suffering people. Some of his +warriors still refused to surrender and slipped out of the camp at night +and through the lines. Joseph had, as he told me, between three and four +hundred fighting men in the beginning, which means over one thousand +persons, and of these several hundred surrendered with him. + +His own story of the conditions he made was prepared by himself with my +help in 1897, when he came to Washington to present his grievances. I +sat up with him nearly all of one night; and I may add here that we +took the document to General Miles who was then stationed in Washington, +before presenting it to the Department. The General said that every word +of it was true. + +In the first place, his people were to be kept at Fort Keogh, Montana, +over the winter and then returned to their reservation. Instead they +were taken to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and placed between a lagoon and +the Missouri River, where the sanitary conditions made havoc with them. +Those who did not die were then taken to the Indian Territory, where the +health situation was even worse. Joseph appealed to the government again +and again, and at last by the help of Bishops Whipple and Hare he was +moved to the Colville reservation in Washington. Here the land was very +poor, unlike their own fertile valley. General Miles said to the chief +that he had recommended and urged that their agreement be kept, but the +politicians and the people who occupied the Indians' land declared they +were afraid if he returned he would break out again and murder innocent +white settlers! What irony! + +The great Chief Joseph died broken-spirited and broken-hearted. He did +not hate the whites, for there was nothing small about him, and when he +laid down his weapons he would not fight on with his mind. But he was +profoundly disappointed in the claims of a Christian civilization. I +call him great because he was simple and honest. Without education or +special training he demonstrated his ability to lead and to fight +when justice demanded. He outgeneraled the best and most experienced +commanders in the army of the United States, although their troops were +well provisioned, well armed, and above all unencumbered. He was great +finally, because he never boasted of his remarkable feat. I am proud of +him, because he was a true American. + + + + +LITTLE WOLF + + +If any people ever fought for liberty and justice, it was the Cheyennes. +If any ever demonstrated their physical and moral courage beyond cavil, +it was this race of purely American heroes, among whom Little Wolf was a +leader. + +I knew the chief personally very well. As a young doctor, I was sent to +the Pine Ridge agency in 1890, as government physician to the Sioux and +the Northern Cheyennes. While I heard from his own lips of that gallant +dash of his people from their southern exile to their northern home, I +prefer that Americans should read of it in Doctor George Bird Grinnell's +book, "The Fighting Cheyennes." No account could be clearer or simpler; +and then too, the author cannot be charged with a bias in favor of his +own race. + +At the time that I knew him, Little Wolf was a handsome man, with the +native dignity and gentleness, musical voice, and pleasant address of so +many brave leaders of his people. One day when he was dining with us at +our home on the reservation, I asked him, as I had a habit of doing, for +some reminiscences of his early life. He was rather reluctant to speak, +but a friend who was present contributed the following: + +"Perhaps I can tell you why it is that he has been a lucky man all his +life. When quite a small boy, the tribe was one winter in want of food, +and his good mother had saved a small piece of buffalo meat, which she +solemnly brought forth and placed before him with the remark: 'My son +must be patient, for when he grows up he will know even harder times +than this.' + +"He had eaten nothing all day and was pretty hungry, but before he could +lay hands on the meat a starving dog snatched it and bolted from +the teepee. The mother ran after the dog and brought him back for +punishment. She tied him to a post and was about to whip him when the +boy interfered. 'Don't hurt him, mother!' he cried; 'he took the meat +because he was hungrier than I am!'" + +I was told of another kind act of his under trying circumstances. While +still a youth, he was caught out with a party of buffalo hunters in a +blinding blizzard. They were compelled to lie down side by side in the +snowdrifts, and it was a day and a night before they could get out. The +weather turned very cold, and when the men arose they were in danger of +freezing. Little Wolf pressed his fine buffalo robe upon an old man who +was shaking with a chill and himself took the other's thin blanket. + +As a full-grown young man, he was attracted by a maiden of his tribe, +and according to the custom then in vogue the pair disappeared. When +they returned to the camp as man and wife, behold! there was great +excitement over the affair. It seemed that a certain chief had given +many presents and paid unmistakable court to the maid with the intention +of marrying her, and her parents had accepted the presents, which meant +consent so far as they were concerned. But the girl herself had not +given consent. + +The resentment of the disappointed suitor was great. It was reported in +the village that he had openly declared that the young man who defied +and insulted him must expect to be punished. As soon as Little Wolf +heard of the threats, he told his father and friends that he had done +only what it is every man's privilege to do. + +"Tell the chief," said he, "to come out with any weapon he pleases, and +I will meet him within the circle of lodges. He shall either do this +or eat his words. The woman is not his. Her people accepted his gifts +against her wishes. Her heart is mine." + +The chief apologized, and thus avoided the inevitable duel, which would +have been a fight to the death. + +The early life of Little Wolf offered many examples of the dashing +bravery characteristic of the Cheyennes, and inspired the younger men +to win laurels for themselves. He was still a young man, perhaps +thirty-five, when the most trying crisis in the history of his +people came upon them. As I know and as Doctor Grinnell's book amply +corroborates, he was the general who largely guided and defended them in +that tragic flight from the Indian Territory to their northern home. I +will not discuss the justice of their cause: I prefer to quote Doctor +Grinnell, lest it appear that I am in any way exaggerating the facts. + +"They had come," he writes, "from the high, dry country of Montana and +North Dakota to the hot and humid Indian Territory. They had come from +a country where buffalo and other game were still plentiful to a land +where the game had been exterminated. Immediately on their arrival they +were attacked by fever and ague, a disease wholly new to them. Food was +scanty, and they began to starve. The agent testified before a committee +of the Senate that he never received supplies to subsist the Indians for +more than nine months in each year. These people were meat-eaters, but +the beef furnished them by the government inspectors was no more than +skin and bone. The agent in describing their sufferings said: 'They have +lived and that is about all.' + +"The Indians endured this for about a year, and then their patience gave +out. They left the agency to which they had been sent and started north. +Though troops were camped close to them, they attempted no concealment +of their purpose. Instead, they openly announced that they intended to +return to their own country. + +"We have heard much in past years of the march of the Nez Perces under +Chief Joseph, but little is remembered of the Dull Knife outbreak and +the march to the north led by Little Wolf. The story of the journey has +not been told, but in the traditions of the old army this campaign was +notable, and old men who were stationed on the plains forty years ago +are apt to tell you, if you ask them, that there never was such another +journey since the Greeks marched to the sea.... + +"The fugitives pressed constantly northward undaunted, while orders were +flying over the wires, and special trains were carrying men and horses +to cut them off at all probable points on the different railway lines +they must cross. Of the three hundred Indians, sixty or seventy were +fighting men--the rest old men, women, and children. An army officer +once told me that thirteen thousand troops were hurrying over the +country to capture or kill these few poor people who had left the +fever-stricken South, and in the face of every obstacle were steadily +marching northward. + +"The War Department set all its resources in operation against them, +yet they kept on. If troops attacked them, they stopped and fought +until they had driven off the soldiers, and then started north again. +Sometimes they did not even stop, but marched along, fighting as they +marched. For the most part they tried--and with success--to avoid +conflicts, and had but four real hard fights, in which they lost half a +dozen men killed and about as many wounded." + +It must not be overlooked that the appeal to justice had first been +tried before taking this desperate step. Little Wolf had gone to the +agent about the middle of the summer and said to him: "This is not a +good country for us, and we wish to return to our home in the mountains +where we were always well. If you have not the power to give permission, +let some of us go to Washington and tell them there how it is, or do you +write to Washington and get permission for us to go back." + +"Stay one more year," replied the agent, "and then we will see what we +can do for you." "No," said Little Wolf. "Before another year there will +be none left to travel north. We must go now." + +Soon after this it was found that three of the Indians had disappeared +and the chief was ordered to surrender ten men as hostages for their +return. He refused. "Three men," said he, "who are traveling over wild +country can hide so that they cannot be found. You would never get back +these three, and you would keep my men prisoners always." + +The agent then threatened if the ten men were not given up to withhold +their rations and starve the entire tribe into submission. He forgot +that he was addressing a Cheyenne. These people had not understood that +they were prisoners when they agreed to friendly relations with the +government and came upon the reservation. Little Wolf stood up and shook +hands with all present before making his final deliberate address. + +"Listen, my friends, I am a friend of the white people and have been so +for a long time. I do not want to see blood spilt about this agency. I +am going north to my own country. If you are going to send your soldiers +after me, I wish you would let us get a little distance away. Then if +you want to fight, I will fight you, and we can make the ground bloody +at that place." + +The Cheyenne was not bluffing. He said just what he meant, and I presume +the agent took the hint, for although the military were there they +did not undertake to prevent the Indians' departure. Next morning the +teepees were pulled down early and quickly. Toward evening of the second +day, the scouts signaled the approach of troops. Little Wolf called his +men together and advised them under no circumstances to fire until +fired upon. An Arapahoe scout was sent to them with a message. "If you +surrender now, you will get your rations and be well treated." After +what they had endured, it was impossible not to hear such a promise with +contempt. Said Little Wolf: "We are going back to our own country. We do +not want to fight." He was riding still nearer when the soldiers fired, +and at a signal the Cheyennes made a charge. They succeeded in holding +off the troops for two days, with only five men wounded and none killed, +and when the military retreated the Indians continued northward carrying +their wounded. + +This sort of thing was repeated again and again. Meanwhile Little +Wolf held his men under perfect control. There were practically no +depredations. They secured some boxes of ammunition left behind by +retreating troops, and at one point the young men were eager to follow +and destroy an entire command who were apparently at their mercy, but +their leader withheld them. They had now reached the buffalo country, +and he always kept his main object in sight. He was extraordinarily +calm. Doctor Grinnell was told by one of his men years afterward: +"Little Wolf did not seem like a human being. He seemed like a bear." +It is true that a man of his type in a crisis becomes spiritually +transformed and moves as one in a dream. + +At the Running Water the band divided, Dull Knife going toward Red Cloud +agency. He was near Fort Robinson when he surrendered and met his sad +fate. Little Wolf remained all winter in the Sand Hills, where there was +plenty of game and no white men. Later he went to Montana and then to +Pine Ridge, where he and his people remained in peace until they were +removed to Lame Deer, Montana, and there he spent the remainder of his +days. There is a clear sky beyond the clouds of racial prejudice, and +in that final Court of Honor a noble soul like that of Little Wolf has a +place. + + + +HOLE-IN-THE-DAY + +[I wish to thank Reverend C. H. Beaulieu of Le Soeur, Minnesota, for +much of the material used in this chapter.] + +In the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Indian nations of the +Northwest first experienced the pressure of civilization. At this period +there were among them some brilliant leaders unknown to history, for the +curious reason that they cordially received and welcomed the newcomers +rather than opposed them. The only difficulties were those arising among +the European nations themselves, and often involving the native tribes. +Thus new environments brought new motives, and our temptations were +increased manyfold with the new weapons, new goods, and above all the +subtly destructive "spirit water." + +Gradually it became known that the new race had a definite purpose, and +that purpose was to chart and possess the whole country, regardless of +the rights of its earlier inhabitants. Still the old chiefs cautioned +their people to be patient, for, said they, the land is vast, both races +can live on it, each in their own way. Let us therefore befriend them +and trust to their friendship. While they reasoned thus, the temptations +of graft and self-aggrandizement overtook some of the leaders. + +Hole-in-the-Day (or Bug-o-nay-ki-shig) was born in the opening days of +this era. The word "ki-shig" means either "day" or "sky", and the name +is perhaps more correctly translated Hole-in-the-Sky. This gifted man +inherited his name and much of his ability from his father, who was a +war chief among the Ojibways, a Napoleon of the common people, and who +carried on a relentless warfare against the Sioux. And yet, as was our +custom at the time, peaceful meetings were held every summer, at which +representatives of the two tribes would recount to one another all the +events that had come to pass during the preceding year. + +Hole-in-the-Day the younger was a handsome man, tall and symmetrically +formed, with much grace of manner and natural refinement. He was an +astute student of diplomacy. The Ojibways allowed polygamy, and whether +or not he approved the principle, he made political use of it by +marrying the daughter of a chief in nearly every band. Through these +alliances he held a controlling influence over the whole Ojibway nation. +Reverend Claude H. Beaulieu says of him: + +"Hole-in-the-Day was a man of distinguished appearance and native +courtliness of manner. His voice was musical and magnetic, and with +these qualities he had a subtle brain, a logical mind, and quite a +remarkable gift of oratory. In speech he was not impassioned, but clear +and convincing, and held fast the attention of his hearers." + +It is of interest to note that his everyday name among his tribesmen was +"The Boy." What a boy he must have been! I wonder if the name had the +same significance as with the Sioux, who applied it to any man who +performs a difficult duty with alertness, dash, and natural courage. +"The Man" applies to one who adds to these qualities wisdom and maturity +of judgment. + +The Sioux tell many stories of both the elder and the younger +Hole-in-the-Day. Once when The Boy was still under ten years of age, he +was fishing on Gull Lake in a leaky birch-bark canoe. Presently there +came such a burst of frantic warwhoops that his father was startled. He +could not think of anything but an attack by the dreaded Sioux. Seizing +his weapons, he ran to the rescue of his son, only to find that the +little fellow had caught a fish so large that it was pulling his canoe +all over the lake. "Ugh," exclaimed the father, "if a mere fish scares +you so badly, I fear you will never make a warrior!" + +It is told of him that when he was very small, the father once brought +home two bear cubs and gave them to him for pets. The Boy was feeding +and getting acquainted with them outside his mother's birch-bark teepee, +when suddenly he was heard to yell for help. The two little bears had +treed The Boy and were waltzing around the tree. His mother scared them +off, but again the father laughed at him for thinking that he could +climb trees better than a bear. + +The elder Hole-in-the-Day was a daring warrior and once attacked and +scalped a Sioux who was carrying his pelts to the trading post, in full +sight of his friends. Of course he was instantly pursued, and he leaped +into a canoe which was lying near by and crossed to an island in the +Mississippi River near Fort Snelling. When almost surrounded by Sioux +warriors, he left the canoe and swam along the shore with only his nose +above water, but as they were about to head him off he landed and hid +behind the falling sheet of water known as Minnehaha Falls, thus saving +his life. + +It often happens that one who offers his life freely will after all +die a natural death. The elder Hole-in-the-Day so died when The Boy was +still a youth. Like Philip of Massachusetts, Chief Joseph the younger, +and the brilliant Osceola, the mantle fell gracefully upon his +shoulders, and he wore it during a short but eventful term of +chieftainship. It was his to see the end of the original democracy on +this continent. The clouds were fast thickening on the eastern horizon. +The day of individualism and equity between man and man must yield to +the terrific forces of civilization, the mass play of materialism, +the cupidity of commerce with its twin brother politics. Under such +conditions the younger Hole-in-the-Day undertook to guide his tribesmen. +At first they were inclined to doubt the wisdom of so young a leader, +but he soon proved a ready student of his people's traditions, and yet, +like Spotted Tail and Little Crow, he adopted too willingly the white +man's politics. He maintained the territory won from the Sioux by +his predecessors. He negotiated treaties with the ability of a born +diplomat, with one exception, and that exception cost him his life. + +Like other able Indians who foresaw the inevitable downfall of their +race, he favored a gradual change of customs leading to complete +adoption of the white man's ways. In order to accustom the people to a +new standard, he held that the chiefs must have authority and must be +given compensation for their services. This was a serious departure from +the old rule but was tacitly accepted, and in every treaty he made there +was provision for himself in the way of a land grant or a cash payment. +He early departed from the old idea of joint ownership with the Lake +Superior Ojibways, because he foresaw that it would cause no end of +trouble for the Mississippi River branch of which he was then the +recognized head. But there were difficulties to come with the Leech Lake +and Red Lake bands, who held aloof from his policy, and the question of +boundaries began to arise. + +In the first treaty negotiated with the government by young +Hole-in-the-Day in 1855, a "surplus" was provided for the chiefs +aside from the regular per capita payment, and this surplus was to +be distributed in proportion to the number of Indians under each. +Hole-in-the-Day had by far the largest enrollment, therefore he got the +lion's share of this fund. Furthermore he received another sum set apart +for the use of the "head chief", and these things did not look right to +the tribe. In the very next treaty he provided himself with an annuity +of one thousand dollars for twenty years, beside a section of land near +the village of Crow Wing, and the government was induced to build him +a good house upon this land. In his home he had many white servants and +henchmen and really lived like a lord. He dressed well in native style +with a touch of civilized elegance, wearing coat and leggings of fine +broadcloth, linen shirt with collar, and, topping all, a handsome +black or blue blanket. His moccasins were of the finest deerskin and +beautifully worked. His long beautiful hair added much to his personal +appearance. He was fond of entertaining and being entertained and was +a favorite both among army officers and civilians. He was especially +popular with the ladies, and this fact will appear later in the story. + +At about this time, the United States government took it upon itself to +put an end to warfare between the Sioux and Ojibways. A peace meeting +was arranged at Fort Snelling, with the United States as mediator. +When the representatives of the two nations met at this grand council, +Hole-in-the-Day came as the head chief of his people, and with the +other chiefs appeared in considerable pomp and dignity. The wives of the +government officials were eager for admission to this unusual gathering, +but when they arrived there was hardly any space left except next to +the Sioux chiefs, and the white ladies soon crowded this space to +overflowing. One of the Sioux remarked: "I thought this was to be a +council of chiefs and braves, but I see many women among us." Thereupon +the Ojibway arose and spoke in his courtliest manner. "The Ojibway +chiefs will feel highly honored," said he, "if the ladies will consent +to sit on our side." + +Another sign of his alertness to gain favor among the whites was seen in +the fact that he took part in the territorial campaigns, a most unusual +thing for an Indian of that day. Being a man of means and influence, +he was listened to with respect by the scattered white settlers in his +vicinity. He would make a political speech through an interpreter, but +would occasionally break loose in his broken English, and wind up with +an invitation to drink in the following words: "Chentimen, you Pemicans +(Republicans), come out and drink!" + +From 1855 to 1864 Hole-in-the-Day was a well-known figure in Minnesota, +and scarcely less so in Washington, for he visited the capital quite +often on tribal affairs. As I have said before, he was an unusually +handsome man, and was not unresponsive to flattery and the attentions +of women. At the time of this incident he was perhaps thirty-five years +old, but looked younger. He had called upon the President and was on his +way back to his hotel, when he happened to pass the Treasury building +just as the clerks were leaving for the day. He was immediately +surrounded by an inquisitive throng. Among them was a handsome young +woman who asked through the interpreter if the chief would consent to +an interview about his people, to aid her in a paper she had promised to +prepare. + +Hole-in-the-Day replied: "If the beautiful lady is willing to risk +calling on the chief at his hotel, her request will be granted." The +lady went, and the result was so sudden and strong an attachment that +both forgot all racial biases and differences of language and custom. +She followed him as far as Minneapolis, and there the chief advised her +to remain, for he feared the jealousy of some of his many wives. She +died there, soon after giving birth to a son, who was brought up by a +family named Woodbury; and some fifteen years ago I met the young man +in Washington and was taken by him to call upon certain of his mother's +relatives. + +The ascendancy of Hole-in-the-Day was not gained entirely through the +consent of his people, but largely by government favor, therefore there +was strong suppressed resentment among his associate chiefs, and the Red +Lake and Leech Lake bands in fact never acknowledged him as their head, +while they suspected him of making treaties which involved some of their +land. He was in personal danger from this source, and his life was +twice attempted, but, though wounded, in each case he recovered. His +popularity with Indian agents and officers lasted till the Republicans +came into power in the sixties and there was a new deal. The chief no +longer received the favors and tips to which he was accustomed; in +fact he was in want of luxuries, and worse still, his pride was hurt by +neglect. The new party had promised Christian treatment to the Indians, +but it appeared that they were greater grafters than their predecessors, +and unlike them kept everything for themselves, allowing no perquisites +to any Indian chief. + +In his indignation at this treatment, Hole-in-the-Day began exposing +the frauds on his people, and so at a late day was converted to their +defense. Perhaps he had not fully understood the nature of graft until +he was in a position to view it from the outside. After all, he was +excusable in seeking to maintain the dignity of his office, but he had +departed from one of the fundamental rules of the race, namely: "Let no +material gain be the motive or reward of public duty." He had wounded +the ideals of his people beyond forgiveness, and he suffered the +penalty; yet his courage was not diminished by the mistakes of his past. +Like the Sioux chief Little Crow, he was called "the betrayer of +his people", and like him he made a desperate effort to regain lost +prestige, and turned savagely against the original betrayers of his +confidence, the agents and Indian traders. + +When the Sioux finally broke out in 1862, the first thought of the +local politicians was to humiliate Hole-in-the-Day by arresting him +and proclaiming some other "head chief" in his stead. In so doing they +almost forced the Ojibways to fight under his leadership. The chief had +no thought of alliance with the Sioux, and was wholly unaware of the +proposed action of the military on pretense of such a conspiracy on his +part. He was on his way to the agency in his own carriage when a runner +warned him of his danger. He thereupon jumped down and instructed the +driver to proceed. His coachman was arrested by a file of soldiers, who +when they discovered their mistake went to his residence in search of +him, but meanwhile he had sent runners in every direction to notify +his warriors, and had moved his family across the Mississippi. When +the military reached the river bank he was still in sight, and the +lieutenant called upon him to surrender. When he refused, the soldiers +were ordered to fire upon him, but he replied with his own rifle, and +with a whoop disappeared among the pine groves. + +It was remarkable how the whole tribe now rallied to the call of +Hole-in-the-Day. He allowed no depredations to the young men under +his leadership, but camped openly near the agency and awaited an +explanation. Presently Judge Cooper of St. Paul, a personal friend +of the chief, appeared, and later on the Assistant Secretary of the +Interior, accompanied by Mr. Nicolay, private secretary of President +Lincoln. Apparently that great humanitarian President saw the whole +injustice of the proceeding against a loyal nation, and the difficulty +was at an end. + +Through the treaties of 1864, 1867, and 1868 was accomplished the final +destiny of the Mississippi River Ojibways. Hole-in-the-Day was against +their removal to what is now White Earth reservation, but he was +defeated in this and realized that the new turn of events meant the +downfall of his race. He declared that he would never go on the new +reservation, and he kept his word. He remained on one of his land grants +near Crow Wing. As the other chiefs assumed more power, the old feeling +of suspicion and hatred became stronger, especially among the Pillager +and Red Lake bands. One day he was waylaid and shot by a party of these +disaffected Indians. He uttered a whoop and fell dead from his buggy. + +Thus died one of the most brilliant chiefs of the Northwest, who never +defended his birthright by force of arms, although almost compelled to +do so. He succeeded in diplomacy so long as he was the recognized head +of his people. Since we have not passed over his weaknesses, he should +be given credit for much insight in causing the article prohibiting the +introduction of liquor into the Indian country to be inserted into the +treaty of 1858. I think it was in 1910 that this forgotten provision was +discovered and again enforced over a large expanse of territory occupied +by whites, it being found that the provision had never been repealed. + +Although he left many children, none seem to have made their mark, yet +it may be that in one of his descendants that undaunted spirit will rise +again. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, by +[AKA Ohiyesa], Charles A. 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