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diff --git a/old/indhe10.txt b/old/indhe10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75fe93e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/indhe10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4452 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Etext of Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains + +by Charles A. Eastman. + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains, by Charles A. Eastman + +by Charles A. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association / Illinois + Benedictine College" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Illinois Benedictine College". + +This "Small Print!" by Charles B. Kramer, Attorney +Internet (72600.2026@compuserve.com); TEL: (212-254-5093) +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +INDIAN HEROES + +AND + +GREAT CHIEFTAINS + + + + +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 sup- ported 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 mean 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 Project Gutenberg Etext of Indian Heroes & Great Chieftains + + |