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diff --git a/78411-0.txt b/78411-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f087ec --- /dev/null +++ b/78411-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9453 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78411 *** + + + + +Transcriber’s Note: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: +_italics_. + + + + +[Illustration: WOODEN LEG, A WARRIOR WHO FOUGHT CUSTER, HOLDING A +RIFLE CAPTURED BY A CHEYENNE COMPANION WARRIOR AT CUSTER’S LAST +BATTLE] + + + + + A WARRIOR WHO + FOUGHT CUSTER + + Interpreted by + + THOMAS B. MARQUIS + + _Illustrated_ + + [Illustration: (Colophon)] + + MINNEAPOLIS + THE MIDWEST COMPANY + MCMXXXI + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1931, BY + THE MIDWEST COMPANY + + Printed in the United States + + + + +“I OFTEN THINK THAT IF I WERE AN INDIAN I WOULD GREATLY PREFER TO +CAST MY LOT AMONG THOSE OF MY PEOPLE WHO ADHERED TO THE FREE OPEN +PLAINS RATHER THAN SUBMIT TO THE CONFINED LIMITS OF A RESERVATION, +THERE TO BE THE RECIPIENT OF THE BLESSED BENEFITS OF CIVILIZATION, +WITH ITS VICES THROWN IN WITHOUT STINT OR MEASURE.” + + --_From page 18 of General Custer’s book_, MY LIFE ON THE PLAINS, + _published 1876, a few months before his death_. + + + + +_The Author’s Statement._ + + +The Indian story of Custer’s last battle has never been told, except +in a few fragmentary interviews that have been distorted into +extravagant fiction. There were no white men survivors of that most +thrilling of American frontier tragedies, so the veteran hostile red +warriors have exclusive possession of the key to the mystery as to +how it happened. + +The present author, sixty-one years old and a resident of Montana +throughout the past forty-one years, decided in 1922 to apply himself +at probing into this matter. He served a few months as agency +physician for the Northern Cheyennes, a tribe allied with the Sioux +in the annihilation of Custer. Since then, the investigator has been +in close association with these Indians. He has learned the old-time +plains Indian sign-talk to a degree enabling him to dispense with +interpreters, except in rare instances. He has held out continual +invitation for Custer-battle veteran warriors to visit his home, +partake of his food and smoke his tobacco. After a long siege, they +began to come. Later, they began to talk, but only a little. Still +later, after they had found out that this ingratiating white man +was not scheming to entrap them into fatal admissions, they told the +whole story. Not only did they answer all questions, but they added +spontaneous information concerning every detail of the battle and of +the entire hostile Indian movements during that eventful summer of +1876. + +Sixteen hundred of these Montana Cheyennes were with the Sioux horde +in the battle camps beside the Little Bighorn river. All of the +Sioux were settled soon afterward in the Dakotas, and they stayed +there. The Cheyennes were located on a reservation in the heart of +the region where had been the conflicts. During the subsequent more +than fifty years they have viewed over and over the central historic +spots. Thus they have kept their memories fresh or have kept each +other prompted into true recollections. This advantageous condition +has rendered them the best of first-hand authorities. Up to late +1930, seventeen Cheyennes who were adult warriors at Custer battle +were yet alive. + +Wooden Leg became the author’s favorite narrator. It seemed that his +lifetime biography should surround his special battle story, so that +readers might learn what kind of people were the hostile Indians +of that day. Hour after hour, on scores of different occasions in +recent years, the elderly white man doctor has sat enthralled by +the well-connected and vivid sign-talk recountings of this companion +so congenial. Wooden Leg’s gestures often were supplemented by his +dainty pencil drawings and by his sketched maps--papers now treasured +as precious documents. A few stray English words from his extremely +scant vocabulary of them were besprinkled through the efforts at full +expression. + +The principal story-teller’s statements of essential facts have +been amalgamated with those of his fellow tribesmen who fought as +companions with him. Groups of them, with him as the leader, took the +author many times into assemblage. Thus all points of importance have +been checked and corroborated or corrected. The helpers have been +Limpy, Pine, Bobtail Horse, Sun Bear, Black Horse, Two Feathers, Wolf +Chief, Little Sun, Blackbird, Big Beaver, White Moon, White Wolf, +Big Crow, Medicine Bull, the younger Little Wolf and other old men, +as well as some old women and a few Sioux, all of whom were with the +hostile Indians when Custer came. + + THOMAS B. MARQUIS, M.D. + + + + +_Contents._ + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I BOYHOOD WILD DAYS 1 + + II ROAMERS IN THE GAME LANDS 20 + + III CHEYENNE WAYS OF LIFE 56 + + IV WORSHIPING THE GREAT MEDICINE 123 + + V OFF THE RESERVATION 155 + + VI SWARMING OF ANGERED INDIANS 177 + + VII SOLDIERS FROM THE SOUTHWARD 193 + + VIII ON THE LITTLE BIGHORN 208 + + IX THE COMING OF CUSTER 217 + + X THE SPOILS OF BATTLE 258 + + XI ROVINGS AFTER THE VICTORY 272 + + XII SURRENDER OF THE CHEYENNES 295 + + XIII TAKEN TO THE SOUTH 310 + + XIV HOME AGAIN ON TONGUE RIVER 325 + + XV A TAMED OLD MAN 348 + + XVI CLEARING THE DOCKET 375 + + + + +_Illustrations._ + + + Wooden Leg, a warrior who fought Custer, holding a rifle + captured by a Cheyenne companion warrior at Custer’s + last battle _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + Stone pen used by old-time Indians as lookout shelter for + sentinel. This one is on a hill overlooking Tongue river, + near Ashland, Montana 28 + + Cheyenne women setting up a tepee 76 + + A Cheyenne sweat lodge 112 + + A Cheyenne woman tanning 112 + + Wooden Leg making Custer battle drawings for the author 220 + + Limpy, a Cheyenne veteran of Custer’s last battle, standing + at the Little Bighorn ford where the Indians crossed to + meet the Custer soldiers 240 + + Big Beaver, a veteran Cheyenne warrior, standing at the + spot where he saw the last Custer soldier killed, June + 25, 1876 296 + + Wooden Leg, his wife and their daughter, in 1914 360 + + + MAPS + + Camp sites and other salient points in vicinity of Custer + battlefield, Montana 387 + + Sketch map of hostile Indians’ course of travel in Montana, + 1876 389 + + + + + A WARRIOR WHO FOUGHT CUSTER + + + + + I + +_Boyhood Wild Days._ + + +Seventy-three years ago (1858) I was born when my people were camped +by the waters of the Cheyenne river, in the Black Hills. Both of my +parents were of the Northern Cheyenne tribe of Indians. My father had +two names, as often is the case among us. He sometimes was called +Many Bullet Wounds, because of such marks of warfare on his body. +But his preferred name was White Buffalo Shaking Off the Dust. My +mother’s name was Eagle Feather on the Forehead. Marriage during the +old Indian days did not change any woman’s name, so all through her +lifetime this same term was used for her. + +My father’s father went to Washington, as a delegate from our tribe, +before I was born. He was known as No Braids. The differing words +to indicate my grandfather, my father, my mother, and myself show +our old way of keeping individuality, regardless of parentage or +marriage. My brothers and sisters each had a name different from +mine and from our father and mother. + +I was known, during my boyhood, as Eats From the Hand. But this baby +name was set aside during my youth. The change came about in this +manner: + +On a certain occasion, many years before my birth, the Cheyennes +were camped on the western side of the middle part of Powder river. +At this same time the Crows were assembled on a branch of what now +is known as the Mizpah river, which flows into the lower part of +the Powder river. They were only two or three days of travel from +our camp. The Cheyennes organized a war party and went to fight the +Crows. As a result of the battle the Cheyennes captured five Crow +women and one boy about ten years old. The women were made wives for +their captors. The boy was adopted as a son of one of them. All of +these captives stayed permanently thereafter with our people. + +The Crow boy liked Eagle Feather on the Forehead, who then was +only a little older than he. He said, “This girl is my sister.” +She accepted him as a brother. In later years the girl was married +to White Buffalo Shakes Off the Dust, and these became my parents. +The Crow boy came to manhood and married a Cheyenne girl. Myself +and my brothers and sisters were taught to look upon him as our +uncle, since he had been an adopted brother of my mother. He was an +admirable man, brave and capable. All of the Cheyennes had a high +regard for him. He knew he was born a Crow, but he never showed any +desire to leave us for returning to them. He went, though, to the +Southern Cheyennes, following the great warrior Roman Nose. He died +there, in Oklahoma, a very old man. + +This Crow-Cheyenne Indian man was a wonderful traveler on foot. +Even as a boy he could outwalk and wear down most of the young +men who journeyed with him. His capabilities in this regard were +so noticeable that people said: “His legs must be made of wood, +since he never becomes tired.” Then they fixed upon him a name, +Kum-mok-quiv-vi-ok-ta--Wooden Leg. + +I also was a youthful wonder in the matter of walking. By the time I +was fifteen years old I could go all day following in the footsteps +of my uncle Wooden Leg. I was tall and gaunt, and I grew yet taller +in young manhood. Friends began jokingly to apply to me the name of +this enduring uncle, who then had become a middle-aged or elderly +man. I liked the name, I liked the man who bore it, and I liked the +honor of comparison with him. I told my father I wished to be known +as Wooden Leg. It was a common custom to pass down names to junior +relatives. My father told me that when the right time came he would +confer upon me the new name. The time came when I was about seventeen +years old. + +The Cheyennes then were camped far up the Tongue river, on a small +creek branch at its western side. It was in winter, there was deep +snow and the weather was cold. One morning we discovered that twenty +of our horses were missing. A blizzard was whirling, so we could only +get glimpses of the trail of the thieves. We supposed them to be Crow +Indians, of course. Thirteen Cheyennes, including myself, mounted +ponies and set off in pursuit. We struggled all day through the +blinding snowstorm. We got the general direction of the trail, so we +kept on going during all of the succeeding night. None of us slept. +The following morning was clear, but a cold north breeze was sifting +the snow along as if it were sand. We then were far up the valley of +the Little Bighorn river. + +We saw two Indians driving a band of horses out of the valley and +upon the benches to the westward. It was evident they were Crows +urging our lost animals toward their camp west of the Bighorn. We +approached them as rapidly as possible while concealing our presence. +When we arrived on the benchland we found the two men had stopped in +a sheltered gulch, had dismounted and were preparing to light their +pipe for a smoke. We charged upon them. One of them got to his horse +and dashed away, but Black Eagle’s rifle brought him down dead. The +other one was surrounded and cut to death with knives and hatchets. +We got back all of our horses and their two horses in addition. + +My companions informed my father that I had shown great bravery in +rushing upon and helping to dispatch our Crow enemy. My father gave a +feast to honor me, and at this feast he proclaimed: “Henceforth the +name of this son of mine is Wooden Leg.” + +As a little boy I used to ride in a travois basket when the tribe +moved camp. Two long lodgepoles were crossed over the shoulders +or tied to the sides of a horse. Thus they were dragged over the +country. Buffalo skins were used to stretch across between the widely +gaping poles behind the horse. Upon or into these bagging skins were +placed all of the family property, in rawhide satchels or as separate +loose articles. The smaller children also rode there. I have fond +recollections of this kind of traveling. Many an hour I have slept +in that kind of gentle bed. Roads were not needed for this kind of +vehicle. A travois can be taken anywhere a horse will go, and there +never is any jolting. The spring of the poles and the skin takes up +all of the shocks. + +When I was six years old I asked my father: “Will you give me a +horse?” “Yes, you may have any horse of mine that you want, but you +must catch him,” he replied. He gave me a rawhide lariat rope. He +and my mother and some other older people laughed about it, but I +took the matter seriously. With the lariat looped and coiled I went +out among the herd to search for horses belonging to my father. I +selected a small pony as being my choice. I maneuvered a long time +before I could get the loop about its neck. It struggled, but I hung +on. When it quieted down I followed carefully along the line, talking +soothingly, until it allowed me to pat its neck. After a while I +got into its mouth and around its lower jaw a loop of the rawhide, +according to the old Indian way of making a bridle. When it had +calmed after this new advance I began to make strokes upon its back. +Then I tucked the long coil into my belt, the same as I had seen men +do, and I climbed quickly upon the little animal. It shied, and I +fell off. But I still had my rope, this uncoiling from my belt as the +pony moved away. I seized the tether and followed again its guidance +to the coveted mount. More petting and soothing talk. Another attempt +at riding. Off again. Before making a third try I spent a long +time at the gentle taming procedures. Nevertheless, the pony shied +and then bucked after I had mounted it. But I grabbed its mane and +stuck to my seat. Within a few minutes I had control. I rode to my +father’s lodge. + +“Yes, that is your pony, to keep,” he told me. + +Bands of us boys went out at times on horseback to hunt wolves. We +had only the bows and arrows. We killed many wolves with the arrows. +My father had given me a good bow and a supply of arrows when I was +nine or ten years old. We then were in the Black Hills country. + +The only trading post I ever saw during those years was somewhere on +the Geese river.[1] The trader was known to us as Big Nosed White +Man. I was twelve years old the first time I went there, and I never +was at any other trading place during those times. My father got +me a rifle at this place. It used powder and bullets and caps, not +cartridges. I learned how to make bullets for it. + +I recollect very clearly one certain boyhood hunting experience. We +were camped on Otter creek about two miles from the present white +man town of Ashland, Montana, situated by the Tongue river. It was +midwinter, the snow was deep, the weather was cold. My mother said to +me: “We have no meat.” + +Another boy and I set off for a hunt. We were about the same age, +fifteen years old. We each had on a shirt, leggings and moccasins, +all of buckskin or other skin. The leggings had no seat in them, +as was the Indian way of clothing the lower limbs. We had no head +coverings nor any mittens for our hands. Although we were accustomed +to hardship, this was a cold day for us. We waded and wallowed +through snow up to our knees and our thighs. I had my muzzle-loading +rifle and a bow and arrows. My companion had only his bow and arrows. + +A brush rabbit sat huddled under a shelter in a brier patch. I +fumbled out an arrow and placed it upon the bow. My numb fingers +scarcely could hold the arrow alone, surely could not draw the bow to +a tensity enough for accurate shooting. The arrow missed. I rubbed +and slapped together my hands to make them warm and mobile. Then I +strung another pointed missile and took a careful aim. This time the +rabbit’s body was perforated. We laid it beside our trail and went on +in pursuit of more game. + +We saw four buffaloes on the land where now stand the Mennonite +missionary houses. They also saw us, and they ran away. They crossed +Tongue river on the ice, and soon afterward we got a view of them +clambering up the hillside beyond the river and going on to the +timbered benchland out of our sight. No chance to shoot at them. We +trudged on, though, rubbing and pounding our hands and our bodies in +order to keep from freezing. We crossed the river on the ice and +came out from the bordering timber near the present-day home of my +friend Joe Crow. + +A deer jumped out and stood looking at us. The first shot from +my rifle brought it down. We rushed to it and cut its throat. We +hurriedly cut open the body and jammed our hands inside, to get them +warm. Many a time I have done that same thing in other instances. +After this limbering of the fingers we skinned the animal and cut off +all of the meat from the bones. The meat was wrapped into the skin, +then we set off on the back trail for the home camp. We took turns +at carrying the burden. As we plodded along we paused to pick up the +dead rabbit. About dark we arrived at our lodges, very tired but +contented. + +On another winter hunt I went alone. My mother said, “We have no +meat.” So I took a packhorse and started out. The snow was deep. I +led the horse as I walked, to keep warm. It was a long and tiresome +day. I was becoming discouraged when I found the tracks of a buffalo. +I followed them, and finally I got into the right position and killed +the animal with a rifle. It was hard work, me alone skinning off the +hide, cutting off the meat, rolling the bundle and packing my horse. +I got through with it, though, and set out for the home lodge. My +legs carried me there, but it was after dark when I gave the horse’s +leading rope to my mother. All of our family laughed in joy, for we +had plenty of meat. + +But I was in great bodily distress. I was snow-blind and the soles +of my feet were frozen. The firelight dazzled my eyes to the utmost +painfulness. My feet tortured me as they began to get warm in the +comfortable lodge. My mother sent for the doctor, a medicine man +named Red Bear. He got snow and rubbed the soles of my feet. He took +snowflakes between his lips, puffed flicks of them into my eyes, +and also he flipped snowflakes from his fingertips into my eyes. +Pretty soon I felt much better. Before he went away that night I was +entirely cured. He was a wise medicine man for sick people. Many of +our doctors in the old times made wonderful cures. + +One time when I was on a hunting trip with others in the Bighorn +mountains I saw an eagle capture and carry away a buffalo calf. +The big bird took the little animal far up to the top of a cliff, +where there was an eagle nest. We sat on our horses and watched, to +see what would happen. Ordinarily a capturing eagle would drop its +prey from high in the air, so it would be killed by the fall to the +ground. But this did not happen in this case. As long as we stayed +there watching, we still could see the buffalo calf standing up there +on the cliff and wiggling its tail. + +A band of soldiers fought our Cheyennes back and forth across a river +one time when I was seven or eight years old. It was the Lodgepole +river, near where it flows into Geese river. Members of our Crazy Dog +warrior society did all of our fighting that day. The Elk warriors +and the Fox warriors stayed back with the body of our people who were +looking on. My father belonged to the Elk warriors, so he was an +onlooker. Roman Nose and High-Backed Wolf were the specially brave +Crazy Dogs on that day. + +The Shoshones, the Crows and the Pawnees were the tribes we fought +most during my time of growing up to manhood. The Pawnees, though, +were too far away from the regions where I spent a large part of +my early life--the Black Hills, the Powder, Tongue and Bighorn +countries. So my own youthful warrior experiences were mostly in +combat against the Crows and the Shoshones. One incident out of many +in this kind of warfare will show how it was carried on. + +A band of Shoshones came at night and stole some of our horses. We +were camped on a divide between the upper part of Tongue river and +the Little Bighorn. Deep snow and winter weather. I then was sixteen +years old. I went with the party of Cheyennes who took the trail of +the thieves. After traveling all day and into the night we found a +small camp of Shoshones. Most of them, alarmed by their dogs, had +fled when we made our attack upon them. But repeated shots kept +coming from one certain lodge. We concentrated our assault upon this +lodge. Two Cheyennes were killed and another one mortally wounded +before we could suppress this destructive defense. White Wolf, eleven +years older than I was and yet living as my neighbor on Tongue river, +was the brave warrior who dealt the fatal blow to that Shoshone. +White Wolf crept along the ground and into the lodge. He had in +his right hand a six-shooter. It was totally dark in there, and he +fumbled about the interior, seeking whomsoever he might find. His gun +bumped into somebody, and he pulled the trigger. Later developments +revealed this was the only occupant of the lodge. The victim was an +old man. He was the only Shoshone we killed in that fight, so far as +we could learn. But we won the battle and got back our horses. + +We cut up the body of the old Shoshone man. We cut off his hands, +his feet, his head. We ripped open his breast and his belly. I stood +there and looked at his heart and his liver. We tore down the lodge, +built a bonfire of it and its contents and piled the remnants of the +dead body upon this bonfire. We stayed there until nothing was left +but ashes and coals. + +The Cheyennes during my youth associated much with the Ogallala +Sioux, the Arapahoes and the Minneconjoux Sioux. Many Cheyennes +learned the speech of these other tribes, and in turn they had many +members who used ours. Most of my outside mingling was with the +Ogallalas. By the time I was grown to full stature I could talk +Sioux about as well as I could talk Cheyenne. I still can use either +language. + +Forty army mules were brought into our camp on Rosebud creek when +I was about nine years old. Three Cheyennes got them. These three +were Wrapped Braids, Old Bear and Pipe, a half-man-and-half-woman +Cheyenne. They had chased away a lone soldier herding the mules near +a soldier fort on the Bighorn river.[2] There were many attacks on +this and other forts by the Cheyennes and the Sioux, but I was too +young to take part in them. + +Some Crow chiefs visited our camp on Rosebud creek. The Crows were +our enemies, but our people treated these visitors well, as was the +Indian custom when enemies came peaceably. After a feast and a smoke +had been given them they told our chiefs that the big chief of the +soldiers at the Bighorn fort had sent them to make peace with us and +invite us to join the Crows and the soldiers in warring against the +Sioux. They said the soldiers would give us lots of presents if +we would be friendly with them. All of our camp moved over there. +We were given some blankets, many boxes of crackers, and our women +received beads and other gifts. We then went back to the Rosebud +valley. I do not know what was done about making peace, but I know +that our young men warriors kept on doing as they had been doing. + +Another soldier fort that was being fought by the Ogallala Sioux and +some of the Cheyennes was on what we called Buffalo creek.[3] Little +Wolf was then our most important old man chief. Crazy Head was next +in importance among us. Red Cloud was the leading old man chief of +the Ogallalas, with Crazy Horse as their principal warrior chief. +At a time when our whole tribe were in camp on Rosebud creek, just +below the mouth of Lame Deer creek, and when the Ogallalas were on +Tongue river, just below where Birney, Montana, is now situated, some +of their people came over the divide to us and asked the Cheyennes +to join them in a great attack on the Buffalo creek fort. Our chiefs +considered the matter. It was decided that whatever young men of us +might wish to go would be allowed to do so. Our camp then was moved +up Lame Deer creek to the base of the divide, a short day’s ride from +the Ogallalas on Tongue river. Our great medicine man, Crazy Mule, +showed that he could cause bullets shot at him to fall harmless at +his feet. A hundred or more of our young men said they could go to +fight the soldiers if Crazy Mule would go with them. He agreed to go. +Our second chief, Crazy Head, led the band of warriors. Little Wolf +stayed in our camp. + +My oldest brother, named Strong Wind Blowing, was killed in that +midwinter battle with the soldiers.[4] He was about sixteen years +old. Chief Little Wolf’s younger brother also was killed. These two +were the only Cheyennes who fell that day. I do not know how many +Sioux may have been cut down by the soldier bullets, but I believe +there were not many. Our returning warriors said that more than a +hundred white men lost their lives, that Crazy Mule’s medicine caused +them to fall down dead without need for the Indians to kill them.[5] +There was rejoicing in our camp on account of the victory. But our +family and all relatives of the two dead Cheyennes were in mourning. +We wept and prayed for the spirits of our lost ones. + +Some time after that battle a half-breed Indian came as a messenger +from the soldier fort chief to the Cheyennes. He said, “Come, +friends, and let us have peace.” Little Wolf told us we ought to go, +so the whole tribe moved near to them. Little Wolf and others of our +chiefs had a council with the soldier chiefs. The big chief of the +soldiers said to Little Wolf: “We are going away from this country. +I give to you all of these soldier houses. Your people may live in +them and learn how to cultivate the land.” A separate council of our +chiefs was held. They replied, “Yes, we will take the houses.” + +The Cheyennes were pleased. “That one will be my house,” some one of +them would say, pointing out a certain building. “I want that one,” +another would claim, indicating some other structure. But Little Wolf +was not satisfied. He meditated and expressed his disapproval. “We +can not live here,” he urged. “It is impossible for Indians to live +in the same houses all the time and get enough buffalo and other meat +to sustain them.” The women especially implored him to change his +mind. The question was settled fully one morning when Little Wolf set +fire to the fort. He went from building to building, carrying his +firebrands. He did not cease his efforts until the entire evidence of +white man occupation was in ashes.[6] + +Little Wolf had been a big tribal chief, the most influential one, +for about two years before that time. In his earlier manhood years +he was for a long time chosen over and over again as the leading +chief of the Elk warrior society. If during his time any Cheyenne +was looked upon as the bravest man of all, he was the man. He never +was afraid to speak the truth. The people all believed him. He was +a gentle and charitable man, but if insulted to anger he was likely +to hurt somebody. In either disturbed or undisturbed mood everybody +knew he meant just what he said. He was my uncle by marriage, one +of his two wives being a sister of my father. He used to tell me +many thrilling stories, both at his lodge and at my father’s lodge. +I recall one in particular, when he had a hand-to-hand combat with +a Shoshone. Each had a sheathknife. They grappled and wrestled and +slashed one another. Finally Little Wolf pinioned the arms of the +Shoshone, threw him to the ground, plunged upon him and stabbed +him to death. He gave me a great deal of good advice, both as to +warfare and as to how to carry myself uprightly as a man among my own +people. My conduct all throughout my life has been influenced by his +teachings, more than by those of any other preceptor except my own +father. + +I think my body grew more rapidly than did my mind. By the time I +was eighteen years old I was among the tallest men of the tribe. I +believe there were but two who stood a little above me. Both of +these two were killed in the great battle against the soldiers of +Custer. Then remained myself and Tall Bull as the two topmost in +stature. We were the same in height, were about the same age, but he +was distinctly the heavier. We were close associates during youth and +manhood. He died at Lame Deer eight or ten years ago. I do not know +by any measurement just what was my height when I was a young man. I +think I have grown shorter as old age has crept upon me. My friend +the white man doctor measures me now at six feet two inches and +weighs me at 235 pounds. + +Our tribe during my growing years moved here and there throughout +the region between the Black Hills and the Bighorn mountains and +Bighorn river. We never went north of the Elk river (the Yellowstone) +except on two occasions when some of the tribe went across for only a +few days each time. The places of crossing were just above and just +below the mouth of the Bighorn. Only one time was the tribal camp +circle made west of the Bighorn river. We considered that country as +belonging to the Crows. Our war parties went there, but our campings +were eastward from this stream. I do not know why we crossed to that +side on this occasion. We had been having a series of ceremonial +dances at successive camping places, and it may be that this +invasion of Crow land was intended as a challenge. + +I was about fourteen years old, I believe. The season was what in +later life I have come to know as June. It was the time for our usual +early-summer religious devotions. A medicine dance had been led by +White Horse, an old man, when we were just below where Greasy Grass +creek flows into the Little Bighorn. We stayed there five sleeps. +Then we moved a few miles down the Little Bighorn, where Crazy Mule +led a buffalo dance. Camped there four sleeps. Moved again down the +Little Bighorn, this time placing our camp circle on the exact spot +where it was located four years later, at the time we killed all of +the soldiers. Bear Sits Down gave a buffalo dance at this place. Four +sleeps here. The movement was continued on down the Little Bighorn to +its mouth, where we crossed the Bighorn and set up our camp circle on +its west side. Here Brave Wolf led a Great Medicine or Great Spirit +dance, the ceremony known to the white people as a sun dance. Four +sleeps we stayed here, then we crossed back to the east side of the +Bighorn. That was the only time our people as a tribe ever crossed +that river. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[1] North Platte river. + +[2] Fort C. F. Smith. + +[3] Fort Phil Kearny, on Little Piney creek. + +[4] Fort Phil Kearny fight, December, 1866. + +[5] Suicidal acts, to avoid capture alive?--T. B. M. + +[6] Autumn, 1868. + + + + + II + +_Roamers in the Game Lands._ + + +The first agency for our Northern Cheyennes that I heard anything +about was said to have been at the mouth of the Cheyenne river, east +of the Black Hills. But I never was there. Afterward it was located +south of the Black Hills, near the present Pine Ridge agency for +the Ogallala Sioux. I have been told the white people called this +the Red Cloud agency, but the Cheyennes knew it as the White River +agency. I was at this place two times, but only for a few days in +each instance. My father’s family was almost all of the time with +other Cheyennes moving about over the country between the Black Hills +and the Bighorn river. Here we hunted the game and the enemy Crows +and Shoshones, and here we lived in every way the life of the plains +Indians of those times. It was not an idle existence. We were busy +much of the time, fighting our enemies or gathering food and clothing +and sheltering skins. + +As we were camped on lower Tongue river, when I was about nine years +old, one morning a herald startled the people by his cry: + +“Our horses all are gone!” + +There followed a lively stir among the young men. A party of them, +mounted on a few horses that had been overlooked by the raiders, +hurried away on the trail. A thin snow helped them. In the late +afternoon they caught up with the lost herd, apparently abandoned. +But after a search of the vicinity they discovered that somebody was +in a canyon cave there. One of the Cheyennes crawled into the cave, +in an endeavor to verify the supposition. The verification came in +the form of an arrow that hit him in the right eye. He quickly backed +out. “Everybody bring wood,” the Cheyenne leader ordered. They built +a fire at the cave’s opening. With blankets they fanned the flames +and the smoke into the hole. The prisoners fanned outward and thrust +sticks at the fire heap to push it away. “Bring more wood,” the +leader called. The one-sided contest went on until two Crow Indian +men burst out from the cave almost suffocated and in desperation. +The first one out was beaten and stabbed to death by the surrounding +Cheyennes. The second one got past them, sprang upon one of their +horses and dashed away. The Cheyennes pursued him. He happened to +mount a slow animal, so it was not long before the chase developed +into a beating by pony whip handles. The Crow suddenly jerked his +mount to a standstill. At the same moment he flashed out his +sheathknife and made a vicious sidewise stab. The blade buried itself +in the breast of a Cheyenne, who fell dead. The other Cheyennes +rushed upon the Crow. In a twinkling he had received many death blows +from various weapons. Somebody scalped him, and then they cut off his +feet, hands and head. I was not with this party, but I was in the +camp. I heard all about it when they returned. + +I saw the killing of another Crow, though, when we were at this same +camp on Tongue river. One morning a Cheyenne horse was discovered +dragging a rawhide lariat looped about its lower jaw. This was +peculiarly the Crow way of bridling a horse, the Sioux and Cheyennes +ordinarily making a headstall and mouth bit with the rope. Evidently +some Crow had captured our horse and it had escaped from him during +the night. There was a scurrying out to inspect and count our herd. +Apparently no others were missing. The inquiry was directed then +toward an examination of the ground on the outskirts of the area +where the ponies were grazing. Three strange horses had come from +the hills to the westward and gone away in a gallop. Another trail +was of human footprints, these imprinted as if the maker of them had +been lame and had been using a stick for support. This trail led to a +hillside cliff. There under the shelter of an overhanging stone roof +lay a Crow Indian man apparently dead or sound asleep. A Cheyenne +leveled his rifle at close range and fired. The Crow partly jumped up +to a sitting attitude and then fell back dead. Investigation showed +him to have a broken leg and a broken arm. The horse he had captured +was not well tamed, and it had bucked him off. Perhaps it first had +carried him away from his companions, and perhaps either he or the +horse had made a noise that might have alarmed the camp, whereupon +the two other marauders had abandoned him and fled. As I now reflect +back sixty years, I pity that unfortunate Crow Indian. But at that +time I felt no pity. + +Nine Crows came and stole a band of our horses at a time when we +were camped far up the Tongue river. I then was about sixteen years +old. I joined the pursuing party of Cheyennes. We rode fast and far, +following the trail over hills and valleys toward the Bighorn river. +Some of our horses, including mine, played out. Four of us turned +to go back while the others went on after the Crows. Porcupine was +the oldest of my returning group of four. Night was coming upon us, +so we stopped to sleep and to rest our horses. During the night a +sound of moving horses awakened us. We kept quiet, listening and +looking. Porcupine saw someone on horseback about a hundred yards +distant from us. He called out a challenge: “Cheyenne? Crow?” The +rider lashed his mount to dash away. Porcupine fired his rifle in +the direction of the fleeing prowler. We learned nothing then of the +outcome of this incident. But several months later an Arapaho friend +told us of the ending. He had been hunting in this region, and right +where we had slept that night he found the dead body of a Crow shot +through from back to front. + +The others who had gone on after the Crows driving our herd caught up +with them just below the old soldier fort on the Bighorn river. My +older brother was with them, and he told me what happened there. The +horse band was across on the west side, and four Crows were having a +playful time at bathing in the river. They were swimming, splashing, +joking, laughing. The dozen or more Cheyennes kept themselves hidden +and hurriedly dressed themselves for a fight while their horses +rested a few minutes. Then they burst into their war-songs and +charged into the water upon the surprised and defenseless bathers. +Three Crows were killed, one escaped. All of our horses were +recovered and three of theirs were added to the band. The third Crow +killed was an old man, but he was very active. He dodged, jumped, +dived. But the Cheyennes had too many spears jabbing at him and too +many bullets flying toward him. My brother’s six-shooter put the +fatal blow upon him. + +The following year, when our tepees were assembled on the west side +of Tongue river just across from the mouth of Hanging Woman creek, +my father and I went out one day to get an antelope. He was about to +shoot at one when the animal and some others with it suddenly ran +away. We were hidden, so it seemed certain their fright came from +someone else. We crept and peeped. Pretty soon we saw a group of +Indian hunters on horseback. + +“They are Crows,” my father excitedly whispered. + +Oh, what clever dodging we did! We got to our horses, mounted them, +kept them moving through gullies and brushy spots until we reached +the home camp. A band of Cheyennes joined us to attack the Crows. At +a long distance off we followed them until our horses tired out. By +this time we were at the upper branches of the Rosebud. We gave up +the chase. Nobody hurt. + +Great herds of buffalo west of the Bighorn used to draw the Cheyennes +over into that Crow country for the hunt. We camped on the eastern +side, but our hunting parties crossed the river and went as far as +Shooting at the Bank creek.[7] Each hunter led one or more pack +horses to carry the meat and skins taken. Many times I have swam the +Bighorn or some other river while holding in my teeth the leading +rope of my riding pony. The pack horse rope would be held in the same +way or might be tied to the tail of this leader. My clothing would be +compressed into a bundle and strapped to the back of my head. + +As we were camped on the east side of the Bighorn, about two years +before the great Custer battle, three Crows were seen one day chasing +antelope on our side of the river. Report of their presence there +was brought to our camp. An old man herald mounted his pony and went +about the camp circle calling out: + +“Crows are after our antelope herds. They may steal our horses.” + +Six Cheyenne young men got their war clothing packs, mounted their +war ponies and set out to find the bold Crows. I was not with them, +but a special friend of mine was one of the pursuing party and he +told me of their experience. They crossed the Bighorn river just +below where had been the soldier fort. During the course of the +pursuit they killed two Crows. The third one was followed on to the +main Crow camp beside Shooting at the Bank creek. The six Cheyennes +lingered there to spy upon the camp. The lingering was a little too +extended, for soon they found themselves engaged in a fight with +a much larger band of Crows. A Cheyenne wearing a double tailed +warbonnet had his horse shot down, then the man himself was shot +through the thigh, this disability rendering him an easy mark for +fatal blows that soon fell upon him. A second Cheyenne was killed by +arrows or bullets. A third one met death by the same means. The other +three escaped and made their way back to our side of the river and to +the home camp circle. + +During this same summer the Crows made a raid one night on our horse +herd. Of course, when daylight revealed the situation a war party +of Cheyennes went out for revengeful retaliation. I was not in camp +at this time, being on a hunting trip toward the mountains, but +Braid told me of what happened. He was one of the band of avenging +Cheyennes. The Crows drove all of the horses to their camp on +Shooting at the Bank creek. The Cheyennes hid themselves to watch +for some opportunity for reprisal. But the crafty Crows evidently +discovered them or had planned thus to entrap them. Notice came +only when a horde of them charged out for a fight. Two of the Crows +were killed and two Cheyennes also met death. Braid’s horse was +shot down and he himself was hit by a bullet that broke the bones +in the lower part of one of his legs. A companion on horseback took +Braid up behind him and the two got away into safety. All of the +Cheyennes then fled from the field. Braid is yet alive, at the age of +eighty-nine years, his home being on the Rosebud side of this Tongue +River reservation. The white people call him Arthur Brady. + +About a year before these events just related a big camp of Cheyennes +was located on the Little Bighorn a short distance below where Greasy +Grass creek empties into it. Fresh footprints of unknown horses +near the camp site aroused suspicion. Crows? Shoshones? People +conjectured. An old man herald rode about and notified everybody. +That night all of the horses were brought into the camp circle and +picketed among the lodges. Many watchful people slept lightly or +awakened from time to time and peered out from the tepee flaps. Last +Bull, asleep in a small tepee with his wife, was startled by the +snorting of a mule he had picketed near by. The mule snorted again, +then a third time. Last Bull saw a human form crawling along toward +his mule. The aroused man had no gun, so he crept under his tepee +wall and into the next one, there to borrow a six-shooter from an old +woman. + +[Illustration: STONE PEN (IN FOREGROUND) USED BY OLD-TIME INDIANS +AS LOOKOUT SHELTER FOR SENTINEL. THIS ONE IS ON A HILL OVERLOOKING +TONGUE RIVER, NEAR ASHLAND, MONTANA] + +Fire Wolf saw the wriggling form cut the rope and move off leading +the mule. He bravely jumped out, without any weapon, and seized the +intruder. They grappled and struggled. The stranger had a rifle. +During the scuffle it was discharged. The noise aroused the camp. +Cheyennes came running. Cries rang out: + +“Kill the Crow! Kill the Crow!” + +The thief jerked out a sheathknife and stabbed Fire Wolf again and +again until the Cheyenne had to let loose his hold. The freed man +sprang to his feet and ran, leaving the mule. A shot from Last Bull’s +borrowed six-shooter brought him down. A dozen Cheyennes closed in +upon him and beat him to death. Fire Wolf had some bad knife wounds, +but he recovered. The clothing, the bodily decorations in general +and the mode of hair dressing revealed the dead Indian as being not +a Crow. He was a Flathead, perhaps a visitor among the Crows or a +member of a band visiting and hunting with them. + +A battle with the Shoshones was fought near the headwaters of Powder +river when I was about fifteen years old (1873). A small band of +Cheyennes had their lodges a day’s journey farther up the river from +the main body of the tribe. I was with the small band. Four or five +Shoshones came at night to our little camp and stole our horses. We +walked to the main camp and told of the raid. All were for immediate +war against the whole Shoshone tribe. “Kill all of the Shoshones,” +was the common cry. The main camp moved on up the river to our small +encampment. There preparations were made for the warfare. That very +night thirty-two Shoshone warriors came into the view of our night +sentinels. Evidently the enemies had planned to wipe out our little +band, not knowing of the presence now of the whole tribe. + +The sentinels raised an alarm. Yet the Shoshones did not offer to +retreat until they found themselves overwhelmed by a great body of +our warriors. Their horses were tired from the journey to our camp +while ours were just taken from their picket ropes. Perhaps the +raiders had been saying, “We shall kill all of the Cheyennes here,” +but now they plunged their horses into a long and deep canyon in +their effort to get away from us. The Cheyennes strung themselves +all along both sides of the canyon. Shooting was kept up during the +balance of the night and until an hour or more after daylight. Two of +the enemy escaped. Thirty of them were killed in the canyon. Seven of +our Cheyennes also lost their lives. We recovered the horses the four +had stolen. This fight was on a small creek flowing into the west +side of Powder river from the mountains near by. + +White Bull was leading a hunting party one time in the Elk river +country. I was yet a small boy, so I was not with them. Their scouts +observed the distant herds of buffalo excited. Crows? Shoshones? +White soldiers? The Cheyennes hid themselves for the night. In the +early morning they found moccasin tracks by a creek. The moccasin +trail led to a Blackfeet camp. There the Cheyennes stirred up a +fight, but I believe nobody was killed. The great warrior Roman Nose +rode back and forth in front of the Blackfeet and defied them. All of +them were said to have shot at him without a bullet or arrow having +harmed him. He had a powerful spirit or medicine protection for +himself. White Bull had taught him this medicine. + +Soldiers got after a small band of mingled Cheyennes and Sioux near +the Black Hills one time. We were running away when a Cheyenne was +killed. Two Sioux, another Cheyenne and myself went back to recover +his dead body. We got off our horses and crept over a hill. We four +took our dead companion by his hands and feet and dragged him over +the knoll. There we rolled him into a blanket and we took the four +corners. Bullets were whistling all about us. The blanket ripped and +the body fell through the opening. We again took hold of the hands +and feet, and in this way we got him to our horses and delivered him +to his own people. + +Several months before the great battle with Long Hair (General +Custer) and his soldiers, some Cheyennes coming from the agency +on White river told us that the white men were going to come out +and fight us. As parties went out for hunting, a lookout was kept +for these white enemies. My brother, myself and two other Cheyenne +young men went on a special scouting journey. We were camped then +far up the Powder river. At night we four slept out in the open +country. Early in the morning a fifth Cheyenne came to us. “Soldiers +are near us,” he said. We learned our horses were missing. The +soldiers had taken them. We all ran away afoot. We scattered in +different directions, except my brother and me, who went together +into a canyon. Soldiers rode along on both sides of the canyon and +shot at us. We shot back at them, first using up our bullets and +then resorting to our arrows. We kept creeping along the canyon. +The soldiers gradually dropped away. We were not harmed nor did +we know of our having harmed any of them. When they left us we +carefully worked our way on up the canyon and over a hill toward our +camp. Breathing hard, almost exhausted, frightened to the verge of +collapse, we stopped for a few minutes of rest. Then we hurried on. +At the outskirts of the camp circle we paused to send a warning wolf +howl. The people all gathered about us. + +“What has happened?” they asked. + +We told of our experience. At the same time the other returned young +men were giving the same kind of information. The chiefs ordered +everybody to pack up, and the camp was moved far on down the Powder +river. Some of us stayed back to watch the soldiers. One night I saw +them in their camp. Two sentinels were walking back and forth near +their horses. I or any of my companions could have killed either or +both of them. But this would have endangered our people, so we did +nothing of that kind. We stole back our horses, though. I got the +same horse they had taken from me a few nights before this. Our camp +kept on moving, and the soldiers never found us on this hunt. + +A great band of Southern Cheyennes came for a visit to us in the +Black Hills about two years before the Custer battle on the Little +Bighorn. All of us joined together then for a long hunting journey to +the westward, to the Powder river, the Tongue and the Little Bighorn. +Many thousands of buffalo, deer, antelope. Many skins, much meat, +everybody happy and prosperous and in health. On the Little Bighorn +river we had one day of Great Medicine thanksgiving dancing just +below the mouth of Greasy Grass creek. Further down the valley the +camp divided, half of the people going northwestward to trouble the +Crows while the other half took a southwestward course toward the +country of the Shoshones. + +I went to the Shoshone country. We did not see any of those Indians, +but a few of us saw their agency. We saw also the soldier houses +there. We kept clear of the soldiers, and I think they never knew we +were in that region until after we had gone. We rounded up and drove +off a herd of white man cattle and killed every beef. Game was scarce +there, and we needed the food. + +We followed the mountains to upper Powder river, where we joined +again with the Cheyennes who had separated from us on the Little +Bighorn. After a few days of feasting in the great combined camp, +there began to be departures in bands, bands, bands, for return to +the agency south of the Black Hills. My small remaining group went +to Otter creek, a tributary of the lower Tongue river. Good hunting, +lots of game, on this creek. We followed it to its head and moved +on eastward to Powder river. We went up that stream and diverted to +the Little Powder river. Here other Cheyennes came to us. Then more +arrived, and yet more. Again a great band of us were roaming together. + +An early autumn snowstorm in the upper Powder river region put a +check upon our great summer movements. Separations came again. +Indians went back again to the agency for the winter. My band moved +over to the upper Tongue river. Here, only a short distance down that +stream from the present white man town of Sheridan, Wyoming, buffalo +in great throngs were feeding. We had but to kill and eat. As I now +think back upon those days, it seems that no people in the world ever +were any richer than we were. That is all anybody actually needs--a +good shelter, plenty of food, plenty of fuel, plenty of good water. +We stayed all winter in this vicinity. My father and his family never +cared to live at the agency. + +In every herd of buffaloes the adult males were about equal in size +and of the same dark brown color. All buffalo cows likewise were +about equal in size, smaller than the bulls. The sucking calves were +of yellow color. At the age of one year they began to change to the +darker yellow and then to brown and dark brown or black. + +A white buffalo was killed by the Cheyennes on a branch of the upper +Powder river. That was when I was a boy, about the time the soldier +fort was there. Many Cheyennes were after the animal, but Left Handed +Shooter killed it. Such animal was regarded as a spirit being or a +“medicine” animal. The assembled Cheyennes stood back from this one +in respectful awe. Left Handed Shooter could not persuade anyone to +help him in skinning it. He alone took the hide from the whole body, +separating off the head and horns. + +Four medicine women were called to Left Handed Shooter’s lodge. They +pegged down the sacred skin, dried it, scraped it with their elkhorn +scrapers, did all of the work of tanning it as a robe with the hair +left on it. An old medicine man then took it to his lodge. There he +painted it. He put upon the smooth inside many black suns, many black +moons, many stripes, all in groups of four, the Indian sacred number. + +The painted skin then was hung upon a tall pole. The horned head was +put upon another pole near by. All of the spirit men or medicine men +came, all of the people assembled. There were many long prayers, to +the Great Medicine above and to the spirits below. Finally an old man +announced: + +“We give this tanned white robe to the Great Medicine above. We give +the head and horns to the spirits below.” + +The robe was taken down from the pole and was carefully folded. +Medicine men and women then respectfully carried it with the head and +horns to the top of a hill. There these revered objects were left +as gifts to the unseen rulers of the Indian world. The meat of the +animal was not considered as sacred. It was eaten, the same as if it +were any other buffalo flesh. + +After that time another white buffalo was seen and chased by +Cheyennes on Tongue river below the present town of Sheridan, +Wyoming. It was a fleet-footed and long-winded animal. All of the +Cheyenne horses were exhausted in the chase. The coveted buffalo +escaped us, and I never heard of anyone having seen it afterward. + +I killed a buffalo cow having white hair covering the upper and inner +thighs, the back part of the belly, the udder, and having white +teats. My mother took great care in tanning it and made of it a fine +robe for me. It either was taken or was burned by the soldiers who +drove us from our camp on the Powder river a few months before the +Custer soldiers came. + +A black buffalo calf was killed by Exhausted Elk far up the Tongue +river. It being black instead of the usual yellow color of the +calves caused it to be treated as a spirit animal. Four medicine +women tanned its skin, assembled medicine men held ceremonies, the +congregated people looked upon it with veneration. The skin was +painted and placed upon a hill as a sacrifice gift to the Great +Medicine, the same as was done with the skin of the white buffalo. +Also, its flesh was eaten as if it were only an ordinary buffalo calf. + +A half-bull-half-cow buffalo was killed one time by the Cheyennes. My +father helped in the killing of it. This animal was of enormous size. +It was big, fat, had a tall back, long horns, and its hump was almost +double the size of the average buffalo bull. My father called friends +to his lodge for a feast upon this meat. It was not regarded as a +medicine animal. The heart and the liver were cut into big slices +to be eaten raw, as Indians usually ate these parts. Only the old +medicine men ate of these slices at my father’s feast. + +There always was some danger mixed with the pleasures of wild game +hunting. I remember a Cheyenne who was gored terribly by a buffalo +bull. He recovered, though. After that he became known as Buffalo +Not Kill Him. Walking Whirlwind, a young man about my age, had his +shoulder torn by a bear. He also recovered. + +A bear attacked three old Cheyenne women as they were picking +berries on Tongue river. One of the women was badly clawed. The +two companions put her upon a horse and took her to camp. She died +just after her arrival there. At that same time one of our men was +out hunting. He saw a bear, shot it and killed it. As he approached +the dead animal he observed dried blood all about its nose and its +cheeks. This strange condition puzzled him. In skinning the bear he +carefully preserved the bloody muzzle. When he arrived in camp with +his meat packed in the skin he learned of the killing of the old +woman. Everybody agreed this must have been the bear that killed her. + +Two Cheyenne men, Bear Dung and Sun Road, went buffalo hunting from +a camp of ours on the lower Rosebud. As they were circling about a +milling herd a bull sunk its horns into the belly of Bear Dung’s +horse, ripped it open, lifted and tossed aside the animal. Bear Dung +went sprawling to the ground. The bull immediately plunged at the man +and gored him to death. Sun Road hurried into camp and told of the +sad occurrence. The dead man’s women relatives took out a travois +and brought him to camp. He was a brother of Buffalo Hump, an old +Cheyenne now living on the Rosebud. Sun Road also is still alive, his +home being on the Rosebud side of our reservation. + +Competitive sports used to interest us. Horse races, foot races, +wrestling matches, target shooting with guns or with arrows, tossing +the arrows by hand, swimming, jumping and other like contests were +entered upon. In the tribe such competition usually was between +men representing the three warrior societies. These were the Elk +warriors, the Crazy Dog warriors and the Fox warriors. If any +Sioux tribe or big band camped jointly with us the matches were +between representative members of the two tribes. Bets were made on +every kind of contest. The stakes were of guns, ammunition, bows +and arrows, blankets, horses, robes, jewelry, shirts, leggings, +moccasins, everything in the line of personal property. The betting +always was on even terms. Articles were piled upon a blanket, matched +articles in apposition to each other. The winners took all and +shouted over the victory. + +The Elk warriors, the society to which I belonged, had the best +runners. Our speediest man on foot was named Apache. He was almost as +tall as I was and he was much heavier. He had remarkably big thighs. +One time at a double camping with the Ogallalas on upper Powder +river a foot race was arranged between the two tribal champions. The +Ogallala fast man was tall and slender. His name was Black Legs. The +distance they were to run was about a mile, I believe, although at +that time we had no measurements for distance. Four friends of each +man accompanied the two racers to the starting point. A revolver shot +told them when to go. Near the finish the Sioux fell exhausted. Our +man Apache was very tired, but he ran on to the end of the route. Of +course, the Cheyennes took all of the stakes, let out a chorus of +cheers and fired their guns into the air. “The Cheyenne medicine +broke his legs,” the Sioux said when their man collapsed. + +The old Chief Little Wolf had been a great runner when he was a +young man. The longer the distance the better it suited him. As the +Cheyennes and the Ogallalas were traveling together in moving camp +there was much bantering such as, “I think the Sioux can travel +faster than the Cheyennes can,” or, “It appears the Cheyennes must go +a little more slowly in order not to run away from their friends the +Sioux.” Finally a young Sioux jokingly challenged Little Wolf to a +foot race. + +“How,” assented Little Wolf, “I’ll run with you.” + +The caravan was stopped and arrangements were made for the race. +Little Wolf then was past fifty years of age, while his Sioux +challenger was just entering young manhood. Nevertheless, the +Cheyennes backed their chief heavily. A great pile of bets were +placed upon the containing blankets. Four Cheyennes and four Sioux +went with the two men to the agreed starting point, which must have +been three or four miles away. At the crack of a revolver shot the +race began. Up to the last mile the young Sioux kept well in the +lead. Then he began to move more slowly. It appeared Little Wolf +never changed his pace. So he closed up toward the leader. In the +last part of the last mile he went ahead, still running at what +appeared to be his same rate while the other man’s speed continued to +lessen. By a broad hundred yards Little Wolf won the contest. Many +of the Sioux, even some who had lost bets, joined the Cheyennes in +cheering for the old man. + +A good wrestler and general strong man was Little Hawk. He and +Buffalo Hump and Brave Wolf made up a playful raiding group in the +camp one time after a great hunting party had brought in lots of +buffalo beef. All about the camp circle there were drying poles +loaded with meat. The three young men had not been fortunate in the +chase, so they decided to borrow from their friends. They went to a +certain tepee. + +“We need meat,” they announced. “Your drying poles are too full, and +we think our wants can be supplied there. But Little Hawk wants to +wrestle for it. If anybody here can throw him we shall not take any +food from this lodge.” + +Nobody there wanted to accept this challenge. The young men took some +meat and went on to another tepee. There they made the same kind of +announcement and proposition. There likewise all of the men present +feared to grapple with Little Hawk, and there also the three joking +robbers helped themselves from the bountiful store. At the next +tepee the transaction was more complex. After some exchange of talk +the spokesman of the lodge said: + +“Big Thigh is here. He says he will wrestle you.” + +The conditions of the match were agreed upon. The two men stripped to +their breechcloths. A group of onlookers assembled. The group soon +became a great crowd. Big Thigh and Little Hawk appeared equally +confident. Both of them rushed into the grapple. They tugged and +shoved and tripped. The advantage seemed to shift back and forth. +The throng of spectators whooped and danced. There was some partisan +cheering, but most of it was merely the expression of delight at +witnessing this tribal championship battle. After several minutes +of fierce and continuous struggling Little Hawk began to weaken and +wilt. Big Thigh pinioned the arms of his antagonist and bore him +face downward to the ground. The victor sat astride the back of the +vanquished and sprinkled handfuls of dirt upon him. He also picked +up a folded blanket lying near by and used this as a soft club in +pretense at beating into complete submission the defeated Little +Hawk. Shouts of congratulation greeted the conqueror while jeers +were heaped upon the under dog and his two confederates. Brave Wolf +and Buffalo Hump, ridiculed to complete embarrassment and compelled +to replace their looted buffalo meat, quickly took themselves into +hiding. + +Our target shooting was with rifles, revolvers and arrows. For the +arrow contests an erect wooden figure of a man was the customary +mark. Sometimes the arrows were shot from the bow, sometimes they +were tossed by hand. Both accuracy and extent of penetration counted +in either form of this archery. Shooting arrows for long distance was +another test of capability. Here a strong bow and a powerful arm and +hand were important elements for success. In all of these games the +regular rule allowed four successive shots for each contestant. Fine +points in the manipulation of arrows were brought out in the sidewise +tossing of them at short distances, each toss being made in attempt +at the exact crossing of another arrow thrown out by an opponent. + +Most of our few rifles were muzzle loaders and our revolvers usually +were of the kind using caps and moulded bullets. The target for +practice with them ordinarily was a black ring as broad as a large +hand marked upon an animal’s dried shoulderblade or upon a barked +tree. Teams of three or more men on each side often were arrayed +against each other for either the arrow or gun contests. Usually +the teams represented their respective warrior societies. On many +occasions, though, there were personal engagements. In these there +might be sought only an honorable distinction or there might be +betting added as an incentive to achievement. An incident of this +character that was much talked about among the Cheyennes came up at a +time when we were camped on the Powder river. + +Jules Seminole brought a keg of whisky to the camp. He got it at +some white man trading post. He was a southern half-breed married to +one of our Northern Cheyenne women and accounted as belonging to our +tribe. One of our young men solicited him: + +“Give me a drink of your whisky.” + +“No, but I’ll bet a drink that I can beat you at shooting,” Seminole +proposed. “What have you to bet?” + +The young man feared defeat. But he went canvassing here and there in +an effort to find someone who would take up Seminole’s challenge. One +after another declined to contest. Finally, in jest rather than in +earnest, he put the case before an old medicine man who was totally +blind in one eye and partly blind in the other. + +“I’ll bet a good buffalo robe against the whole keg of whisky that I +can beat you at shooting,” the old man declared to Seminole. + +Seminole evidently suspected some kind of trick. He hesitated, but +the urgings of the gathered crowd carried him into acceptance of this +counter proposition. + +A tree was barked and a black circle target drawn upon this clean +surface. Seminole shot first. He had a cartridge rifle. The bullet +imbedded itself an inch or so below the black circle. + +“Get me a pin,” the old medicine man requested of his young helper. + +The pin was brought. The aged Cheyenne placed it point forward upon +his right palm. He held this palm upward in front of his eyes. His +squint wrinkles deepened and his lips formed themselves into a +pucker. A sudden puff of his breath caused the pin to vanish. Nobody +knew what had become of it. + +“Examine the target,” the performer told them. + +There it was, buried to its head just inside the circle. The people +all wondered. The keg of whisky was conceded to its new owner. + +“I’ll bet a horse against the whisky that you can’t do anything like +that again,” Seminole dared him. + +“How,” came instantly a responsive agreement. + +The target was placed more distant, this at the request of Seminole +and by assent of his competitor. Onlookers became involved in the +betting. The medicine man found many backers of his mysterious +powers. The half-breed adjusted his sights. He took an unusually +long and careful and steady aim. “Bang!” His bullet struck within an +inch of the circle’s center. His betting supporters were gleeful, the +opposition were in doubt. They awaited anxiously the next move of +their champion. + +“Bring me a claw of a redbird,” he calmly ordered. + +A dozen young men put themselves into his service. They wanted to +help him in drinking the whisky. Within a minute he had the required +object. + +The redbird claw was placed upon the same upturned palm where had +been the pin. “The target is too far,” came a complaint. Then: “Yes, +I can see it now.” Puff! The claw was gone. Where? Right into the +central black spot of the black circle target! + +All comers had a drink of the whisky. A tin cup was brought and the +old medicine man dipped in and passed out hot liquid mouthfuls to +hundreds of Cheyennes. Nobody got enough to make him drunk. I spat +out my mouthful. It did not taste good. + +Red Haired Bear and his wife were traveling with their lone lodge +one time in the Black Hills. At their noon camp he saw deer tracks +and set off to follow them. They led him up a dry coulee and into +the timber. There a strong and disagreeable odor was wafted to him. +He grasped his gun more firmly and went on. Just then a big snake +stood up and flashed its tongue at him. Its head was above his +head and its body resembled a tree. It struck him--one, two, three, +four times. It backed off and poised as if to strike again. He was +sickened, but he aimed his gun. + +“Great Medicine, help me,” he prayed. + +“Yes, be brave and I will help you,” a reply came from above. + +He bethought himself not to shoot at its head, since the bullet might +glance off harmless. He shot it through the neck. The immense serpent +threshed about in terrible fashion, crushing bushes and tearing up +the earth. But it gradually quieted down, and finally it lay dead. + +The faint and terrified man took the back trail for his camp. He +had four gullies to cross. He got over the first one without much +difficulty. The second one troubled him. Just before he started +across the third one he almost fainted. But he braced up and went +over it. He was dizzy and wobbling as he approached the fourth gully. +“Be brave now,” the Great Medicine said to him. He had dropped his +gun, but the encouraging words led him to pick it up and go on. He +staggered into and out of this fourth obstacle. At the camp he told +his wife of what had occurred. She gave him a big dose of gunpowder +in water. Then he vomited, the vomit having the same odor as had come +from the snake. A second dose of gunpowder brought up more of the +poison. A third treatment had the same effect, but the odor now was +almost gone. The fourth time he took the mixture it stayed down in +his stomach. Then he felt all right. Red Haired Bear himself told me +of this experience. But he was not a reliable man, so I never was +sure whether it was true or not. + +White Frog and Red Hat told a story of them having an adventure of +this same kind. They had been to the trading post, where they had +taken their pack horses loaded with skins of beaver, buffalo and +antelope. While returning they arrived at Tongue river just above the +mouth of Crow creek. The water was high. They dismounted, waded and +led their horses to an island. For crossing the next channel they +drove the horses ahead of them. The men were naked and were holding +their clothing over their heads as they waded. + +A monstrous snake rose up from the water and threatened them. “It +will eat up both of us,” they exclaimed together. They prayed the +Great Medicine to pity them. At once there came a flood of rain and +a whirling wind. The wind picked up the snake, dragged it along the +water’s surface for a short distance, then lifted it into the air. It +went up, up, up, and soon it was gone from their sight. White Frog +and Red Hat agreed in their stories to us that the snake was so big +it looked like a floating log. One Cheyenne who heard them said it +might have been a floating log that looked like a snake. + +When Black Wolf went one time on a deer hunt he saw two women sitting +on the edge of a cliff. Both women were beautiful in face and form. +As they sat there dangling their feet over the cliff they beckoned +to him. He went to them and sat down beside them. Pretty soon his +nostrils perceived a strong odor of deer. At the foot of the cliff, +in a pool of clear water, he saw a reflection of himself with two +deer beside him. “You are only two deer,” he accused the women. At +that they both jumped up. They changed instantly into deer and went +bounding away into the timber. + +A Southern Cheyenne out hunting saw a lovely woman by a grove of +trees, braiding her hair. She looked at him and smiled. That was +enough to draw him straight to her. But when he took hold of her he +smelled her flesh. + +“Oh, you deceitful deer!” he exclaimed. + +She struggled then to free herself from him. But he held firm. He +tied her hands together and tied her feet together. The deer woman +declared: + +“If you keep me thus tied you will die. If you let me go loose you +will live to be old and always will be in good luck.” + +He decided to let her go free. She ran away as a doe deer. When the +man arrived at his home lodge he was wildly insane. Medicine men were +called. He told them the story of his meeting the deer woman. The +medicine men prayed for him. His right mind soon came back to him. + +I had one time a strange adventure with a deer. I shot it with my +rifle, the bullet passing through it from the rump forward. It ran +away, I followed. I shot again, this time the bullet going through +its chest, right to left. It turned around. Another shot made another +hole through its chest, left to right. A fourth and a fifth bullet +likewise was sent into and out of its front body. It ran to a bushy +grove. In this grove I found it lying down. It was facing me. It +was not only alive, but it appeared not to have been hurt at all. I +hesitated and trembled a little as I drew my six-shooter. At close +range I aimed at the middle of its forehead. The bullet brought +blood from the exact point where I had aimed. But the deer appeared +unharmed. I fired again, aiming at the same spot, and a new trickle +of blood flowed out. Still the animal gave no sign of having been +injured. I stood there and thought about the case. I decided to shoot +once more--an eighth effort. That is two times the Indian sacred +number four. I moved up close and put my revolver’s muzzle near the +middle of the ridge above the deer’s right eye. Holding myself +steady, I pulled the trigger. Instantly afterward the animal’s body +became limp. It was dead. + +I do not entirely understand that. It may be I was dreaming, but it +does not seem like a dream.[8] The Cheyennes consider all deer as +having strong spirit powers. Medicine men like to get their medicine +strength. + +An old Cheyenne man and his wife told me a story, when I was a boy, +about a big stone that stands near Antelope creek west of the Black +Hills. They said that at some time, long ago, some Indian girls were +at play there. They were poking a forked stick into a hole, in search +for beaver. They touched something, twisted, pulled, and brought out +some hair on the end of the stick. They supposed it to be the hair +of a wolf, a coyote or a porcupine. As they talked of it, a bear of +immense size came from the hole. It chased the girls, capturing many +of them and tearing them to pieces. Two sisters escaped. The bear +followed them, going to their home tepee, but it did not harm them. +When night came, the two girls crept out. They met two young men and +told them of the frightful animal. “It can not be killed by any shot +in its head nor its heart nor in other parts of its body,” they told +the two young men, “but a shot through its foot, from the bottom +upward, will kill it.” The young men considered the case. Then they +said to the two girls: “All of us will hide here and wait.” + +When the bear awakened in the morning it learned the two girls were +gone. It moved about inside and then outside, smelling of the ground. +Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff. It set off on the trail of the girls, +following to the base of the great stone. There it sat down upon +its haunches and looked upward toward the stone’s top. Pretty soon +it began climbing up the steep side. A little distance up, its feet +slipped and it slid down. It tried again, this time going higher, but +it slid down again. Trials were made at many places. But always the +effort was a failure. + +The two young men and the two girls were hidden close by. One of the +young men shot an arrow at the bottom of the bear’s foot as it was +clambering up the stone. When it went up again he shot another arrow. +On another effort of the bear a third arrow was sent after it. The +three arrows whizzed past the bear and went on high into the air. +They came down without doing any damage. The fourth arrow flashed +past very close to the bear’s left hind foot. The animal slid down +and ran away. The arrow kept on going up, up, and it never came down. + +I have seen many times the long upright marks of the bear’s claws on +this great column of stone. They are deep seams or furrows. It must +have been a monster of a bear. As far back as I can remember, all of +the Indians called this stone Bear Tepee or Bear Lodge.[9] + +An old Cheyenne man and I were traveling together one time past the +Bear Tepee. He told me a story about it. He said that a long time +ago--nobody knew how long--an Indian man journeying alone chose to +sleep at the base of this tall stone. A buffalo head was lying near +him. He slept four nights. During that time the Great Medicine took +both him and the buffalo head to the top of the high rock. When the +man awakened he could find no way to get down. He was hungry and +thirsty, but he had neither food nor water. He was greatly distressed +in mind. He thought of his wife and his children. He wept and prayed +all day. At night, exhausted, he slept again. During that night the +Great Medicine gently took him down again to his leaf bed on the +ground. The buffalo head was left at the top, near the edge. That +Indian man was said by some people to have been an Apache, others +said he was a Shoshone, yet others declared he was a Cheyenne. + +I saw that buffalo head many times. The first time was when I was +with the old man and he told me the story of it. He had a spyglass +and we looked through it. We could see plainly that it was the head +of a buffalo. I was a small boy at that time, eight or ten years old. +The Bear Tepee is four or five hundred feet high, maybe higher, and +its sides are straight up and down. How else could a buffalo head get +up there except it be placed there by the Great Medicine? + +I have heard many old Cheyennes say that a long time ago the Great +Medicine used to come down to the earth and talk with people. +They said He had camped and visited and smoked with the old-time +Cheyennes. Lots of times I have heard them talk about Him having +given to our people the Black Hills and all of the gold there. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[7] Pryor creek. + +[8] In telling all of these fanciful stories. Wooden Leg exhibited a +queer mingling of belief and doubt. They show an odd mental streak in +a man having a large stock of level-headed common sense, and whose +statements of fact as to genuine occurrences are worthy of full +credit. He is the kind of man who could not tell a lie without at +once retracting and correcting his misstatement, if he knew it to be +such.--T. B. M. + +[9] Modern whites know this as “Devil’s Tower.” + + + + + III + +_Cheyenne Ways of Life._ + + +The warrior societies were the foundation of tribal government among +the Cheyennes. That is, the members of the warrior societies elected +the chiefs who governed the people. Every ten years the whole tribe +would get together for the special purpose of choosing forty big +chiefs. These forty then would select four past chiefs, or “old men” +chiefs, to serve as supreme advisers to them and to the tribe. There +were not any hereditary chiefs among the Cheyennes. + +The Elk warriors, the Crazy Dog warriors and the Fox warriors +were the ruling societies of the Northern Cheyennes. Other like +organizations had been in existence before my time, but during all +of the period of my boyhood and manhood those three were the only +active ones in our northern branch of the double tribe. Each warrior +society had a leading war chief and nine little war chiefs. So, there +were many men who might claim the title of chief. All together there +were seventy-four such officials, counting both the tribal rulers +and the warrior society rulers. There were four “old men” tribal +chiefs, forty tribal big chiefs, three leading warrior chiefs and +twenty-seven little warrior chiefs. Ordinarily they were ranked or +held in respect in this order, the old men chiefs first, the little +warrior chiefs last. + +The warrior chiefs had original authority only in their societies, +each in his own special organization. By alternation, though, the +tribal chiefs delegated governmental power to the warrior chiefs. +That is, one group or another of the warrior chiefs and their +followers were called upon to serve as active subordinate officials +to carry out the orders promulgated by the big chiefs. Such warrior +society group, when on this duty, were like the white man’s sheriffs, +policemen, soldiers. + +Promotion in public life followed the line from private member of a +warrior society to little chief of the same, then to leading chief, +then to big chief of the tribe, finally to old man chief. Of course, +all of the tribal and old men chiefs were members of one or another +of the warrior societies. It often occurred that in time of battle or +in organized great hunting expeditions a tribal big chief or an old +man chief had, during such time, the low standing of a mere private +person subordinate to the rule of the warrior chiefs. And, in many +instances some man might be at the same time both a warrior chief and +a tribal big chief or even an old man chief. Little Wolf had this +honor put upon him. Even after he had become one of the four old men +chiefs he was kept in office as leading chief of the Elk warriors. + +Four unmarried and virtuous young women were chosen as honorary +members of each warrior society. If one of these entered into +marriage or became unchaste she lost her membership and some other +young woman was chosen in her place. The young women took no active +part in the proceedings. They were allowed merely to sit inside the +lodge of assemblage, there quietly looking on. At the society dances +no women were permitted to do any of the work. Two little chiefs were +appointed on each occasion to do the cooking, to serve the feast or +to perform any other menial service necessary. The meetings or dances +were held in privately owned lodges of members. The coverings were +lifted or were removed so that spectators might view the affair from +the outside. The three different societies had the same character of +organization, and their social and military operations were carried +out on the same general lines. A man could join only one of them. + +I joined the Elk warriors when I was fourteen years old. We were +camped then at Antelope creek, near the Black Hills. Their herald +chiefs were going about the camp circle calling, “All Elk warriors +come for a dance and a feast.” They were gathering at a large tepee +made of two family lodges combined into one. Left Handed Shooter, at +that time leading chief of the Elks, came to my father’s lodge and +said to me: + +“We want you to join the Elk warriors.” + +Oh, how important I felt at receiving this invitation! I had been +longing for it, waiting to be asked, wishing I might grow older more +rapidly in order to get this honorable standing already held by my +father and my two older brothers. Seventy or more Elks were dancing. +Occasionally one fired a gunshot into the air. As they danced they +were scraping their “rattlesnake sticks,” the special emblem of Elk +membership. Each of these sticks was made of hard wood, in the form +of a stubby rattlesnake seven or eight inches long. On each stick was +cut forty notches. Another stick was used for scraping back and forth +along the notches. The combined operation of many instruments made a +noise resembling the rattlesnake’s warning hum. Each member owned his +personal wooden stick, but there was one made from an elkhorn that +was kept always by someone as a trustee for the society. No payment +nor gift was necessary for admission into a warrior organization. + +In the camp circles, in the tribal movings from place to place, in +the great tribal hunts, in the times of Great Medicine or other +general ceremonial dances--in fact, at all times of our lives some +one or other warrior society was authorized or commanded by the +tribal chiefs to take charge of the government. Ordinarily there was +shift of the delegated authority by regular rotation, but such change +in regular order was not always the case. The conclave of big chiefs +decided which society should have it. A society might be appointed +to act for one day, two days, three days, any stated length of time, +or they might be appointed to serve during the continuation of some +certain event. At any time their appointment might be revoked by the +big chiefs and another society named in their stead. Anyhow, some one +or other warrior band was on duty at all times to put into execution +the will of the big chiefs. + +Perhaps at some time the Crazy Dog warriors might be acting as the +policemen at this particular place of camping. Perhaps the four old +men chiefs might determine that a general buffalo hunt ought to +be entered upon. A herald on horseback was sent about the camp to +proclaim: + +“All chiefs, open your ears and listen. Come to the council lodge.” + +There the matter was discussed. Perhaps it was decided first to move +camp farther down the river, or up the river, or over to the next +valley, or yet farther away. The big chiefs then considered which +warrior society should conduct the camp movement. Perhaps they agreed +upon the Fox warriors. The leading chief and the little chiefs of +this society were notified there at the council. The old man herald +went out to ride again about the camps and call out: + +“All Cheyennes, open your ears and listen. Tomorrow morning we move +to Tongue river. Have your lodges down and yourselves and your horses +ready. The Fox warriors will lead us.” + +The next morning, as all were preparing for the move, the Fox +warriors assembled out forward in the direction of the intended +movement. The old man herald instructed them: “You are the leaders +today. Make all of the people obey you. Make them stay in their +proper places. If any of them disobey our ordinary rules of travel +you may pony-whip them, you may shoot their horses, you may kill +their dogs, you may break their guns or their bows, you may punish +them in any way that seems to you best, except you are not allowed to +kill any Cheyenne.” The Crazy Dog warriors, who had been policemen in +the camp, now went off duty and became merely Cheyenne individuals. +The leading chief of the Fox warriors was the most important man +of that day, his little chiefs and their subordinate warriors were +his helpers. The tribal old men chiefs and big chiefs led the camp +movement, the Fox warrior band immediately following them or sending +their members from time to time back along the caravan to keep +order. The big chiefs in front decided when it was time to stop +for a rest, when to move on again, when and where to camp. The Fox +soldiers transmitted and enforced their orders. When the big chiefs +chose a spot for the camp their herald stationed himself where he +could tell all of the oncoming people, “Camp here.” If there were any +disputes about special location of lodges the Fox warriors settled +the disputes. In fact, though, there rarely were any such disputes. +Every camp circle of the Cheyennes was arranged very much like their +preceding circles. Families or related families or clans set up their +lodges at all times in about the same location with regard to each +other. Always the horseshoe incomplete circle opened to the east. +Always every individual lodge in the camp likewise had its entrance +opening toward the east--toward the rising sun. + +To organize for the tribal buffalo hunt another council was called. +This or any other council usually was held at and after darkness, by +the light of a great bonfire. The big chiefs regularly would tell +the leading warrior chiefs, “We want four good and reliable warriors +to scout and discover the location of a buffalo herd.” When the +warrior leaders had nominated these four the old man herald moved +on horseback through the camp calling out their names and the duty +put upon them. They went to the council and there received their +instructions through their warrior chiefs. They performed the scout +duty according to their orders--nobody ever dared refuse to go--and +upon their return a report was made to the old man herald. Meantime, +perhaps the big chiefs decided that the Elk warriors should conduct +the buffalo hunting party. The herald went out and proclaimed: + +“All Cheyennes, open your ears and listen. Many buffalo have been +discovered by our scouts. Sharpen your knives and your arrow points. +See that your guns are in good order. Have your riding horses and +your pack horses ready. Tomorrow morning we go. The Elk warriors will +lead and conduct the hunt.” + +The Elks then actually led the party. Nobody but big chiefs were +allowed to go in front of them. The Elk warriors did all of the +scouting for game and watching for enemies while the party was on +the move. Any non-Elk intruder would be pony-whipped, or worse. If +any Elk himself disobeyed the orders of his warrior chiefs this +disobedient one was punished, either by his fellow Elks upon their +own initiative or by command of the warrior chiefs. The effort at all +times was to carry out well whatever governmental task was placed +upon the warriors, either on the hunts, at the camps, during a +journey, in time of battle or under any conditions where they were +vested with authority. The three societies competed against each +other for efficiency in governmental action as well as in all other +affairs appertaining to respectable manhood. There was competition +also within each society, every ambitious member trying to outdo his +fellows in all worthy activities. + +The Fox warriors were leading a buffalo hunt one time when I was +about sixteen years old. We then were on Crow creek, northeast of +where Sheridan, Wyoming, now stands. Last Bull was the leading chief +of the Fox soldiers. I was riding with three other youths about my +age. + +“Oh, lots of buffalo!” one boy suddenly exclaimed. + +We skirted around the band of hunters and got forward. A Fox warrior +saw us crowding ahead. We also saw him, and we whirled our horses +to go back. Two or three of the Foxes followed us. We scattered. I +made a dash for Tongue river. It was frozen solid. My horse slipped +and slid, but I got across. My pursuers stopped at the stream, but I +kept on going away from them. I did not know what became of the other +three boys. I was scared. My heart was thumping, thumping, pounding +my breast. I expected to be pony-whipped, to have my horse killed +and my clothing torn to pieces. But it appeared they never found out +our identity. + +Another time, about a year later, I got into the same kind of +trouble. This time we were moving camp. The Crazy Dog warriors were +in the lead and conducting the movement. We were traveling up the +Tongue river, far up, above the present Sheridan, and were about to +go over the divide to the upper Powder river. Two other youths and +myself forgot the rules. We rode forward from our proper place in the +procession and went on out to a hilltop, there to have a look over +the country, as every Indian naturally likes to do. + +Four Crazy Dog warriors were right after us. They were riding fast. +The other two boys got away, but my pony played out on me. I had +to stop and dismount. I was frightened to distraction, but my mind +was made up to take bravely whatever punishment they might inflict. +Nevertheless, I became mentally upset when four determined-looking +Fox warrior policemen dashed up to me. + +“Do not whip me,” I begged. “Kill my horse. You may have all of my +clothing. Here--take my gun and break it into pieces.” + +But after a talk among themselves they decided not to do any of these +penal acts. They scolded me and said I was a foolish little boy. +They asked my name, and I told them. That was the last time I ever +flagrantly violated any of the laws of travel or the hunt. + +A guard line usually was thrown out by the warrior policemen when any +buffalo herd was about to be attacked. It was required that all of +the hunters remain behind this line until every preparation was made +and until the appointed managers gave the word for a general advance. +Of course, all were excited, anxious to get at the game. Or, somebody +might think the policemen were too slow in completing the preparatory +steps. So, occasionally an impatient hunter became obtrusive. This +one was pretty sure to bring upon himself a lashing with pony whip +thongs or a clubbing with the reversed heavy handle. Finally would +come the signal: + +“Go!” Then the wild Indian chase was on. + +Special warrior society hunts often were engaged upon. For these only +the members of the one particular organization were eligible. The +societies contested against each other in this regard, each trying +to beat the others in quantity of meat and skins brought back to +camp. Left Handed Shooter, leading chief of the Elk warriors, one +time appointed me as one of the four preliminary scouts to locate +buffalo for an exclusively Elk warrior hunt. We went out at night. +Winter weather, snow on the ground. Early in the morning we found a +big herd. We returned to camp and reported the discovery. An old man +herald called the Elk warriors and shouted out information of our +report and of the proposed hunting party. + +Old Bear, a big chief, got four or five other Cheyennes to slip out +with him for a premature raid upon the herd we had located for our +Elk warrior adventure. Little Wolf, at that time a little warrior +chief, took with him a band of Elks and followed the lawbreakers. +Little Wolf opened the attack upon them by sending an arrow that +killed Old Bear’s horse. The Elk band pony-whipped all of the Old +Bear group, including the big chief himself, and made them go back +and stay in camp. + +Feathered Wolf, an Elk warrior, one time attached himself uninvited +to a hunting party of Crazy Dog warriors. He was leading two pack +horses for carrying the meat he expected to get. Some Crazy Dogs +warned him: + +“You do not belong with us. You ought to go back.” + +“But I am badly in need of meat,” he pleaded. + +Others came and urged him to return. They talked of punishing him by +whipping, but they did nothing. They ended merely by telling him: + +“You are crazy.” + +He mingled with the hunters and shot away all of his arrows as they +chased the herd. When the killing was done he said: + +“I killed one buffalo and helped in the killing of another. You +should give me plenty of meat.” + +“Yes, we’ll give you some of it,” different ones promised him. + +But nobody gave him any. He had to go back to his home lodge with his +two pack horses empty and himself hungry. + +At his lodge that evening he announced a smoking circle. He stood out +in front of his tepee and called invitations to many members of the +Crazy Dog society. It was supposed he hoped thus to lead them into +making gifts of the appetizing food. But all of the invited ones were +busy at something else, so he had to smoke alone and the drying poles +beside his tepee remained bare. His wife brought him the smoking +outfit. “Ah, kinnikinick,” he chuckled contentedly. He filled his +pipe and smoked it to the last ashes. Pretty soon he became pale, +weak, sick, then he vomited. His wife too had punished him. She had +given him the strongest tobacco she could find in the camp. + +Two certain men were observed one time to have a big supply of +buffalo meat hanging on the drying poles by their tepees. There had +been a special warrior society hunt that day, but these men did not +belong to that society. Investigation showed they had obtained their +store from one of the animals killed in a side coulee and overlooked +by the lawful hunters. The meat was taken from the two men, their +guns were broken, their pack saddles were cut up, their lodges were +torn down and burned. + +Half a dozen Sioux pushed themselves one time into an Elk warrior +hunt. We always were friendly with the Sioux, about the same as if +they were Cheyennes, but these were out of place at this particular +time, and they knew it. Little Wolf led a party of his Elks in +whipping them away. Two or three of the uninvited guests had blood +running from head cuts made by the heavy handles of the pony whips. +The Sioux--the plains Indians generally--had laws and customs similar +to ours, so it was considered they had incurred our penalty. Often a +disobedient Cheyenne or an intruding hunter might gain immunity from +a whipping by prompt confession of guilt and by voluntary yielding of +horses to be killed or of other property to be destroyed. + +The arrow was the preferred weapon when on a tribal hunt in a +buffalo herd or when a large party were joined in the pursuit. Each +rider shot arrow after arrow into whatever animal was convenient +to him during the tumult of the running chase. When it was ended +he had one or more arrows in various dead buffalo scattered over +the area covered by the flight of the herd. Every man kept his own +arrows always marked in some peculiar manner whereby they could be +identified, so when the field was reviewed after the termination of +the killing he could find out which buffalo he had killed or had +helped to kill. It could be learned in each instance which arrow was +the fatal one and which were of little or no importance. Thus the +claims to skin and meat could be settled. In case of disagreement, +the chiefs decided the question. Gun bullets could not be +distinguished the one from the other, so the guns were used only when +one man was hunting alone or when a small party of special friends +hunted together. The guns also had to have powder and lead and caps, +which we did not always have on hand. We could make the arrows, or we +often recovered them from the dead animal. + +Different tribes had different ways of making their arrows. All +arrows belonging to members of any certain tribe were made according +to a certain general plan, so that by examination of any arrow it +could be learned to what tribe the owner belonged. I used to be able +to distinguish several different tribal forms from one another. I can +recollect now the distinguishing features of four of them: The Crow, +Sioux, Pawnee and Cheyenne. + +The Crow butt end was whittled to a sharp ridge and the notch was +cut across this ridge, the same as was done by the Cheyennes. Their +metal or stone point was a long triangle with its shortest side at +the arrow’s shaft and with all three sides formed in exactly straight +lines, these features likewise the same as in the Cheyenne arrows. +Both of these had the slender neck whittled from the notch end in a +long taper to the main shaft. But the distinction was in the size +of the shaft. The Crow shaft always was fat and heavy. The Cheyenne +shaft was slender. + +The Sioux arrow had its notch extremity cut flat across the end, in +this respect differing from all of the others, which were beveled +on two sides to make a sharp ridge for the notch. The neck of the +Sioux arrow was begun just below the notch by a circular cut straight +into the wood. Then, beginning further down, the neck was shaved +and tapered carefully up to this straight cut. The Sioux metal or +stone points differed from all others. The form in general was the +same long triangle, but the short side at the arrow’s shaft had a +deep concave curve. Thus it had two horns or barbs. Here was the +particular brand of the Sioux arrow. + +The Pawnees had the flat butt end and its notch the same as the +Sioux. But the neck below the notch was tapered like a Crow or a +Cheyenne arrow. The triangle points were also the same as on the Crow +and Cheyenne arrows, having no horns or barbs. + +The Cheyenne arrow was distinguished from the Pawnee by its notch +cut into a sharp ridge instead of into a flat surface butt end. Its +tapering neck, its sharp ridge butt end and its straight line point +separated it from the Sioux. The diameter of the shaft rendered +it readily distinguishable from the Crow. Moreover, the Cheyennes +had one peculiar brand that plainly indicated their arrows. This +characteristic was in the three wavy lines symmetrically spaced +around the shaft and painted all the way along it from the feathers +to the base of the hard point. These special wavy stripes were +designed as having a spirit or medicine influence, to help in killing +the buffalo. Communication with the Great Medicine above us is +supposed to be made in wavy lines, not straight lines. + +All Indian arrows I ever saw have three rows of clipped feathers +set symmetrically into slots in the neck and upper shaft for a +distance of five or six inches. Between these feather rows are three +straight lines painted in color, usually red. The shaft may be +painted according to the fancy of the individual, or according to +his personal mode of branding it. Old Cheyennes told me that in past +times all Cheyenne arrows were painted blue. This was done by way +of respectful regard for the blue waters of a certain highly revered +lake in the Black Hills. During my days most arrow points were metal, +although a few men, especially the older men, continued to make them +of stone. All Indian arrows were of the same length--that is, every +man made his own arrows to measure exactly from his armpit to the +tips of his fingers. + +Other weapons differed in the different tribes, and sometimes a +certain form of weapon was characteristic of a certain tribe. The +Sioux were the only Indians I knew who made regular use of the stone +war-club made by attaching an oval stone to the end of a stick +wrapped with rawhide. The Cheyennes rarely carried one of these, +while a Sioux appeared not fully equipped unless he had one tucked +into his belt. Instead, the Cheyenne counterpart implement was a +hatchet or small ax. Sometimes the hatchet was transformed into a +fancy pipe for ceremonial smoking. The metal head was drilled for the +bowl and a little round canal was burned through the central length +of the handle to serve as a pipestem. + +Spears were used by the Cheyennes. The long and slender points +might be of metal or they might be of stone or of bone, the rib of +a buffalo or a bone from some other animal serving well for such +purpose. The shaft was decorated, of course. Great care often was +taken in its coloring and general design. A regular feature of the +plan was the eagle feather attachments. One eagle feather having a +black tip dangled from the shaft near the hard point’s base. Two +eagle feathers floated from a slender buckskin thong tied to the +upper end of the shaft. + +The Sioux had knife sticks for fighting. These had long shafts, the +same as a spear. But instead of the attached point at the end there +were three blades at the shaft’s side and near its end. The blades +were in a row, close together, and were tied there by rawhide after +having been set into a slot. They projected out three or four inches +from the heavy shaft. Sometimes the edges were straight, sometimes +they were pointed so that they resembled a section of sickle bar for +a mowing machine. Always they were kept sharpened to a keen edge. + +The earrings of an Indian often indicated his tribal stock. A +Cheyenne ear had but one piercing, only one ring, and this ring was +looped directly through or close up to the ear. The Crow likewise +had but one piercing and only one ring or shell disc, but this was +suspended below the ear by an intervening strand. The one piercing +of the Sioux ear had a long loop directly through it, and from the +bottom of this long loop dangled another loop of the same kind. The +Pawnees, Kiowas and Apaches had various piercings around the edge of +the ear lobe, each piercing having in it a small ring. The Arapahoes +and the Utes had ear decorations resembling the Cheyennes. + +The Sioux wore necklaces, regularly in single strands. The Crow +necklaces ordinarily were in multiple strands. In the old times the +Cheyennes did not wear decorative necklaces, but later they adopted +the fashion to some extent. Mostly they designed them in single +strands, like the Sioux standard plan. But the multiple curved loops +of the Crows became also fashionable among us. Eagle feathers stuck +up from the back hair of many a Sioux. The number of such feathers +worn by any one man was supposed to denote the number of enemies he +had killed. The Cheyennes never adopted this custom. + +All Indian lodges coming under my observation were built on the same +general lines. The conical tepee was the standard form. Buffalo +skin was the standard material for covering the poles. The size was +regulated according to the quantity of skins available or according +to the number of persons in the household or according to some other +special condition. But there were tribal differences that enabled an +informed observer to distinguish camps or even to classify a lone +tepee. + +The Sioux lodge was unusually tall and was narrow at the base. Its +flap opening at the top was large and long. The Pawnee lodge was the +opposite of the Sioux. It was remarkably low and broad, and it had +a short and small top flap opening. The Cheyennes and the Arapahoes +had tepee plans alike, in general form midway between the Sioux and +the Pawnee structure. The camp circle as a whole was in all cases +the same--a horseshoe with its opening to the east. All Indians had +also the same custom of placing each tepee with its entrance opening +facing the rising sun. + +Inside the Cheyenne lodge an old woman slept just at the left side +of the entrance. Next past her, still on the left side, the lodge’s +owner and his wife had their bed. If the family was large the girls +slept near the father and mother while the boys were located across +on the opposite side of the earth floor. Other adults, or whatever +guests might be there, were placed between the spaces allotted to the +boys and the girls or were put between the boys and the right hand +side of the entrance opening. + +An old woman was an important part of every household organization. +This was the custom among all of the plains Indians, especially in +families where girls were growing up. This old woman saw that each +occupant of the lodge used only his or her own proper bed or place +of waking repose. She compelled each to keep his or her personal +belongings beside or at the head of the owner’s assigned space. She +was at the same time the household policeman, the night watchman +and the drudge. Ordinarily her badge of office was a club. She was +conceded the authority to use this club in enforcing the rules of the +lodge. + +[Illustration: CHEYENNE WOMEN SETTING UP A TEPEE] + +From fifteen to seventeen buffalo skins were united to make a +covering for the usual Cheyenne lodge. When skins were plentiful not +many lodges had less than fifteen, regardless of the condition that +some of the tepees might have in each only a young married couple, +with perhaps an old woman or some other one or two added people. +On the other hand, rarely was a lodge larger than seventeen skins, +even if twenty people were sheltered there. The larger lodges had +to have heavier poles, and, in moving, these with the skins had to +be transported by the horses. Too much of such burden hindered the +progress of the camp movement. Big lodges made pleasant abodes, but +they were troublesome in traveling. The average and usual Cheyenne +tepee was twelve to fifteen feet in diameter across its earth floor. +The height from the floor’s center to the tepee’s peak was the +same as the diameter of the floor. That was the regular standard +architectural plan of a Cheyenne lodge. + +The camp circle of the Northern Cheyenne tribe, all assembled, +enclosed a space about one-fourth or one-third of a mile in +diameter. It usually straddled a small stream of water. If the +location permitted, a position was taken near to a larger stream +into which the small one emptied. Hunting parties or war parties of +men made themselves temporary night shelters of willow wands stuck +into the ground, bent over and tied together for a dome roof, then +covered with robes. Or, such parties crept into caves or sought the +protection of heavy brush and thick foliage. The main camp never +went into high mountains during the winter. Too much snow. Mountain +campings were made during the summer season. + +For moving the village, the usual time for leaving the old site +was about nine o’clock in the morning, I believe. Not much if any +preparation was made until that morning came. The arrival at the next +stop would be about the middle of the afternoon. Long before dark +the whole village would be set up and everybody would be at home, as +if this had been the dwelling place for many months. A thousand or +several thousand people might travel along that way from day to day, +actually moving their towns or cities, taking all of their property, +their wives and children and old people, their horses and their dogs, +everything that made up a full home life. I think that is better +than the white people can do. + +The women did all of the work of moving. They took down the lodges, +packed and attended to the transportation of them and all of the +household effects, set up the lodges at the new location and put +all of the furnishing and personal baggage in the right places in +each lodge. The whole removal was accomplished during a part of +one day. In such traveling we sometimes could outrun the soldiers, +notwithstanding they had only themselves and their horses to +care for. We often got our homes and all of our people and their +belongings across rivers where the soldiers could not or did not +follow us. + +The women brought wood, cut it, kept the fires burning, cooked the +food, cared for the children, did all of the home work. The men took +care of the horses, guarded against enemies and fought them when +necessary or when desirable, hunted the wild game, brought in the +meat and the skins. Ordinarily a man did not toil at domestic tasks +nor did a woman hunt or fight. In emergency, though, either a man or +a woman might aid or take the place of the other. + +Women used saddles for riding. They sat astride. The saddles were +made by them, the tree of elkhorn or of hard wood, this wrapped with +buffalo rawhide sewed in place with shredded tendon sinew thread. +They also made pack saddles of the same material, but having a +different form. Old men likewise used saddles. But young men always +rode bareback. I learned to use a saddle as a scout at Fort Keogh +after our Indian roaming and fighting days were past. The white +people say we mount a horse from the wrong side, but I never changed +that. They say too that we do not know how to sharpen a knife. In +doing this we grind only one side of the knife’s edge. But we make +them keen by that method. I see no need for grinding both sides of a +knife’s blade. + +I did not smoke during my boyhood. As a youth I took occasional +tastes, but the habit was not formed. The Cheyennes of those days did +not chew tobacco. My father gave me a medicine pipe, for devotional +or ceremonial smoking, when I was seventeen years old. He himself +made it. The bowl was of red stone. My mother made me a long buckskin +pouch and beaded it, this to contain my pipe and tobacco--or, the +mixture that commonly is known as kinnikinick. This mixture was half +tobacco--plug tobacco shaved off and dried--and half dried inner bark +of the red willow. In the South our people used some other kind of +bark, as our northern red willow did not grow there. + +Old-time pipes, before my days, were made of deer leg bone. The bone +was wrapped with rawhide strips taken from the back of a buffalo’s +head. This wrapping was partly for the spirit influence and partly to +keep the bone from breaking when heated by the smoking. + +We wore clothing, winter and summer. We had light summer moccasins +and heavy winter moccasins. These always were cut low and had but one +string, whereas the Sioux moccasins were cut high, to lap around the +legs, and had two or more strings. One time I saw some white children +barefooted. I pitied them, supposing them to be very poor. When I was +a small boy, a soldier at the fort on Buffalo creek gave me a hat. +Not long afterward I lost it. I was eighteen years old before I got +another one. It was not customary for men, except old men, to wear +any special head covering. Women all went bareheaded or covered the +head with a shawl or a blanket or a robe. + +The buffalo hat was worn by old men. It was made of buffalo rawhide. +A broad oval segment of the skin was used. An irregular circle was +marked on this surface, the drawing made to accord with the shape of +the head. From the center to the outer rim of this circle several +cuts were made. The cut flaps were lifted to stand upright. This left +the crown wide open and its rim surrounded by the upstanding diamond +points. A leather thong under the chin held the hat in place. + +Our people learned from the Crows this way of making hats. That +is, we discovered the idea from them. One time, when the Cheyennes +were camped on Tongue river above the present Sheridan, the Crows +stole some horses from us. As the Cheyennes pursued them the Crows +abandoned the horses and fled. They lost two hats, and the Cheyennes +found these. They were used as patterns. My father used to wear a +cloth over his open-top hat, to shield his head from the sun’s heat. +Every old man made his own hat. + +Buffalo robes from adult animals served as overcoats for men or +women. Buffalo calf or deer robes were used by the children. Buffalo +hair sometimes was stuffed into the moccasins to keep the feet +warm. Grease paint was used on the face for the principal purpose +of shielding the skin from cold during the winter and from sunburn +during the summer. The most common color was a brownish red, but +personal fancy might choose some other color or some combination. +Each warrior also had his particular mode of painting himself, his +spirit or medicine ornamentation, when preparing for battle or for +death or for social mingling. + +All of the best clothing was taken along with him when any warrior +set out upon a search for conflict. The articles were put into a +special bag--ordinarily a beautifully beaded buckskin pouch, but +perhaps a rawhide one--and this was slung at one side of his horse. +The bag also contained extra moccasins--beaded moccasins--warbonnet, +paints, a mirror, special medicine objects, or anything else of +this nature. If a battle seemed about to occur, the warrior’s first +important preparatory act was to jerk off all his ordinary clothing. +He then hurriedly got out his fine garments. If he had time to do +so he rebraided his hair, painted his face in his own peculiar way, +did everything needful to prepare himself for presenting his most +splendid personal appearance. That is, he got himself ready to die. + +The idea of full dress in preparation for a battle comes not from a +belief that it will add to the fighting ability. The preparation is +for death, in case that should be the result of the conflict. Every +Indian wants to look his best when he goes to meet the Great Spirit, +so the dressing up is done whether the imminent danger is an oncoming +battle or a sickness or injury at times of peace. Some Indian tribes +did not pay full attention to this matter, some of them seeming not +to care whether they took life risks while naked or while only partly +clad or shabbily clad. But the Cheyennes and the Sioux were careful +in following out the procedure. When any of them got into a fight not +expected, with no opportunity to dress properly, they usually ran +away and avoided close contact and its consequent risks. Enemy people +not understanding their ways might suppose them to be cowards because +of such flight. In fact, these same apparent cowards might be the +bravest of the brave when they have on their good clothing and feel +that they may present a respectable appearance if called from this +life to meet the Great Spirit. + +The naked fighters, among the Cheyennes and the Sioux, were such +warriors as specially fortified themselves by prayer and other +devotional exercises. They had special instruction from medicine men. +Their naked bodies were painted in peculiar ways, each according to +the direction of his favorite spiritual guide, and each had his own +medicine charms given to him by this guide. A warrior thus made ready +for battle was supposed to be proof against the weapons of the enemy. +He placed himself in the forefront of the attack or the defense. His +thought was: “I am so protected by my medicine that I do not need to +dress for death. No bullet nor arrow can harm me now.” On the other +hand, a warrior not made ready by special religious exercise and +appliances had in his heart the thought: “A bullet or an arrow may +hit me and kill me. I must dress myself so as to please the Great +Spirit if I should go now to Him.” + +Warbonnets were not worn by all warriors. In fact, there were only +a few such distinguished men in each warrior society of our tribe. +It was expected that one should be a student of the fighting art for +several years, or else that he be an unusually apt learner, before +he should put on the crown of eagle feathers. He then did so upon +his own initiative, or perhaps because of the commendatory urgings +of his seniors. The act meant a profession of fully acquired ability +in warfare, a claim of special accomplishment in using cunning and +common sense and cool calculation coupled with the bravery attributed +to all warriors. The wearer was supposed never to ask mercy in +battle. If some immature young man pretended to such high standing +before it seemed to his companions that he ought to do so, he was +twitted and shamed into awaiting his proper time. I first put on my +warbonnet when I was thirty-three years old, fourteen years after +I had quit the roaming life. After a man had been accepted as a +warbonnet man he remained so throughout his lifetime. War chiefs +and tribal chiefs ordinarily were warbonnet men, but this was not a +requirement for these positions. Pure modesty might keep the bravest +and most capable fighter from making the claim. Also, an admittedly +worthy wearer of the warbonnet might not be chosen for or might +refuse all official positions. The feathered headpiece, then, was not +a sign of public office. It was a token of individual and personal +feeling as to his own fighting capabilities. + +The warbonnet was made by the man who was to wear it. His wife, +mother or sister made only the beaded band for the forehead. The +man made also whatever spirit charm objects he might use, or he got +a medicine man to make them for him. The women made all of the war +shirts, leggings, moccasins and such clothing for the men. They also +made all of the common clothing for the men, for themselves, and for +all members of the household. The men made their own pipes, weapons, +lariat ropes and such other articles as were used by men only. + +Our hand mirrors were not used entirely for dressing and painting. We +made use of them for signaling. Two persons who understood each other +could exchange thoughts in this way over long distances, and even +when they could not see each other. Some kinds of such signals were +understood by all of our people. The little glass was often useful +in approaching a camp when the traveler was in doubt whether it was +an assemblage of his own people or of an enemy or unknown people. In +such cases, flashes of inquiry and flashes of response, or lack of +responses, settled the doubt. + +My father bought me a rifle and a six-shooter when I was about +sixteen years old. He got them at a trader’s store somewhere, when he +went away on a journey to the place. He exchanged buffalo robes for +them. The rifle was a muzzle loader, using powder, bullet and caps. +The six-shooter also was loaded in the same way. Before that time I +had learned to shoot with other people’s guns, but these were the +first ones I ever owned. + +Some Indians used to cut off the rifle barrels, to make them lighter +for carrying on horseback. It was supposed they would shoot just as +well with the short barrel. We never cut off the stock. The shortened +rifles were used in chasing buffalo on horseback. Such weapons could +be handled with one hand while the horse was controlled with the +other. They were known to us as the “buffalo gun.” + +An old-time way of killing buffalo was by chasing them in winter +over a steep bluff into a deep snowdrift. As they floundered there +they could be speared or beaten to death. A few times I was in that +kind of hunt. I heard old people tell of having used snowshoes to go +after buffalo, but I never saw any of that kind of hunting. We always +stripped the meat from the bones while butchering. The only bones we +took were the ribs. We sometimes used the legs as mauls to break up +the ribs. Oh, how good was buffalo rib roast! + +Four arrows was the regular allowance for the killing of one buffalo +during a horseback chase. The need of more than that number was +discreditable to the skill of the bowman. Less than that was a matter +for boasting. If one killed a buffalo with only one arrow, that was +wonderful. + +I have helped in the chasing of antelope bands over a cliff. In the +Black Hills was one special place where we worked for our meat in +that manner. The creek near by was called Antelope creek. The first +time I went there an old man accompanied me. We located ourselves +in hiding near the base of the cliff, with women and old people and +children. Two young men rounded up a herd and drove them over for us. +Many of them were killed or got broken legs. We clubbed to death the +injured ones. + +We could get food, clothing and shelter from the buffalo only. +Saddles and harness, halters and bridles, were made by using their +rawhide. Stout thongs for all purposes were cut from them. For a +rawhide lariat rope, long strands were cut by following around the +outside of a buffalo rawhide. Three or four of these strands were +plaited together. Buffalo hair, particularly from the neck of a bull, +also was spun into long strands and plaited to make a lariat. The +buffalo, then, was very important to us in our mode of life. When any +man went out specially hunting them he usually led two or three pack +horses to bring in his gathered supply of food and skins. + +Fishing lines were made of horsehair. The hairs were tied to make +long threads, and these were plaited together. We got metal hooks +from the white men traders. I have caught rabbits also with baited +hooks on the horsehair lines. I heard of eagles having been captured +in that way. But I never tried it on an eagle. The Arapahoes used to +be great eagle hunters. Old men told me the Cheyennes in past times +had caught them from pits. The pit was covered with sticks, and a +dead rabbit or some other tempting flesh bait was placed upon the +sticks over the center of the pit. The hunter hid himself below the +bait. When an eagle alighted he seized its legs, jerked it down, +grabbed its head and wrung its neck. + +Twisting rabbits out of a hollow log, using a forked stick to get the +hold for pulling them, was a boyhood game. I set my muzzle loader +rifle one time on the upper Rosebud as a trap and caught a fox. I +have caught coyotes by that same means. The taking of the bait pulled +the trigger and shot the animal. A piece of fat meat was the best +lure for them. I have poisoned lots of wolves and got their pelts. +A good way is to put the poisoned meat upon the top of a stick stuck +into the snow, the meat being about on a level with a wolf’s body. +The trapper goes back next day and follows the trial of whatever wolf +might have gone away from the stick. + +My first choice of meat was antelope. Buffalo was a close second +choice. Deer and elk came next. It appeared, though, that no Indian +ever got actually turned against buffalo flesh. Beaver, rabbit, +prairie chickens, bear, fish and turtles are good. Otter or wolf are +not good, except wolf pups taste good if one be hungry. Dogs are the +same as wolves. An old dog or an old wolf being boiled sickens me. +Boiling pups give out almost as bad an odor. + +Salt was in use by the Cheyennes before I was born. We used it when +we had it, but we did not always have it. There was a stream known +to the Indians as Salt creek somewhere in the South. From there the +Southern Cheyennes used to bring to us great chunks of salt. We +sometimes smoked our meat, partly to help in preserving it and partly +because the flavor was an agreeable change at times. + +Steel and flint was the usual source of fire. Neither my older +brother nor myself had these, but my father had a good pair. We used +to borrow from him. In the usual personal traveling pack was a small +box or bag containing steel, flint and kindling. Dried buffalo dung, +usually known as “buffalo chips,” makes good kindling when it is +pulverized. Spark, kindle, blow, spark, kindle, blow, until a small +blaze is started. Then put on twigs or grass, then small wood, then +large wood. Buffalo chips in their natural chunks made good wood. + +The Crows used to have a custom of making a pile of buffalo chips to +be kicked to pieces by whoever might come to camp pretending to bear +an important message. This was by way of oath that he would tell the +truth. There was no such custom among the Cheyennes. Our way was to +build a bonfire and call the chiefs. No oath of any kind was taken. +It was supposed the truth would be told without special promise. +Perhaps that was not the case with the Crows. + +I have heard of another Crow custom different from the Cheyenne way. +I have been told that when a Crow stole a horse or found any article +it was expected of him that he give it away. It was considered not +right for him to keep it. A Cheyenne might present a stolen horse or +a found article to a relative or a friend, but it was regarded as +entirely fair and proper for him to keep it for himself if he chose +to do so. Ordinarily he kept it. I admire the old Crow way of acting +in that respect. Such conduct makes a good and unselfish heart. + +The Sioux often buried their dead on scaffolds, but I never saw +any Cheyenne burials in that way. Sometimes our dead were put upon +platforms on tree branches. Mostly, though, they were placed in small +hillside rocky caves if these were convenient. In later times, and in +many instances at the present day on our reservation, the dead body +was deposited on the surface of the ground on a rocky hill or in some +place out of the way of usual travel. The body was well wrapped in +blankets or skins, and it may or may not have been put into a wooden +box. In either case a heap of stones was piled over it to shield it +from animals. + +Our women used to cut their legs and arms, usually in crosswise +slashes, as an act of mourning. Some of them--the older ones--yet +do this. A married woman cut off her hair, in ragged form, if her +husband died. In mourning for other relatives the hair might be worn +loose and uncombed for a long or a short time. Men did not cut the +flesh in mourning. They let loose the hair or cut off their braids. +Men who had lost relatives often cut off also the manes and the tails +of their horses as a sign of mourning. + +There was no marriage ceremony among the Cheyennes. Such union was +mainly a simple agreement between the two principal parties. In far +back old times young men purchased their brides, but during my days +this was not the custom among us. In our later practice presents +might be given by the young man, these ordinarily to the girl’s +brothers. But these were given after the marriage, as an indication +of good will, not as a purchase price. Reciprocal gifts often were +made to the newly married couple. + +The older way of entering upon the preliminary steps toward marriage +was for the young man first to consult his own father. An old woman +relative was enlisted as an emissary. “Tell the girl’s father I +will give him four horses (or some other number of horses) for his +daughter as a wife for my son.” The old woman went and negotiated +with the father and his daughter. If the offer or some modification +of it were agreed upon, the initiative father gathered together or +borrowed from relatives such horses or blankets or other gifts as +were required. These were taken to the lodge of the girl’s father. +The prospective bride was put upon a blanket. Her personal belongings +were put there with her or were wrapped in another package. She and +her property were carried to the lodge of the young man’s father and +placed inside, the carriers leaving her there and going elsewhere. +The young man seized her as his wife. All of the supposed purchase +gifts often were bestowed upon the young couple. Relatives of the two +parties exchanged presents and compliments. The old woman emissary +got a horse. Gifts all around were made in accordance with the +ability of the people interested and in accordance with the degree of +satisfaction felt because of the event. + +Our most common custom was for the young man to do all of his own +managing of the affair. In the night time he crept stealthily to +the vicinity of the loved one’s parental tepee. He looked and +listened--listened long and intently. He crept closer, still closer, +until he was at the outside wall of that side of the lodge where +slept the one he was seeking. He whispered, perhaps had to whisper +more loudly, to awaken her. They conversed in whispers, possibly the +first time they ever had spoken directly to each other, although all +their lives they had lived in the same camps. + +“Will--will--will you marry me?” + +“Y-y-yes.” + +She crept out and joined him. They went together to the lodge of +the young man’s brother or sister or to a place where dwelt elder +relatives of his. + +The next morning two intruders were discovered there, a young man and +his young wife. The discovery was announced, all parties interested +were informed. Not often was the information displeasing. Ordinarily +all concerned were contented and manifested their contentment in the +usual exchange of gifts. + +The newly married couple lived temporarily at the lodge of relatives +on one or the other side, preferably with a brother or a sister of +the husband. This was but a fleeting residence. The first important +duty of the husband was to get skins for a tepee, either by borrowing +them or by taking them in the hunt. Then it was the duty of the young +wife to tan and sew together these skins and set up a home lodge. + +Plural wives were kept by many of the old Cheyennes. The one family +lodge sheltered the entire combined family. Commonly the two or +more wives were born sisters. This condition checked or prevented +the jealous quarreling likely to occur were they from different +families. Two wives ordinarily was the limit. But in my time I knew +two different men who each had three wives living with him. In each +of these instances the three wives were sisters. The two men were +named Red Arms and Plum Tree. Both of them and their entire families +were in the Cheyenne camp on the Little Bighorn when we had the great +battle there. Plum Tree was the father of Sun Bear and Two Feathers. +Both of these sons of his fought the soldiers at that time, and Two +Feathers is yet living here on the Tongue river. + +Captive women from other tribes were made wives of our men. There +were many of such among us. Spotted Hawk’s mother was a Ute woman +captured by our people when she was a small girl. The old Chief +Dull Knife, or Rabbit, or Morning Star, had as his wife a Pawnee +captive woman. At the time she came to us, two other Pawnee women +were brought and were taken into marriage for bringing up Cheyenne +children. Crow women stolen long ago by our warriors in raids were +mothers of some important Cheyennes, including Big Foot, Big Thigh +and the Chiefs Crazy Head and Little Horse. I do not know of any +Cheyenne women having been captured from us by the Crows. The Pawnees +and the Shoshones got away with some of them. + +An unfaithful wife did not incur any public penalty, according to the +laws of the Cheyennes and the Sioux. Her husband might inflict some +penalty. That was permissible, but he was not conceded the right to +kill her. I knew one man who cut a great gash in his wife’s forehead +because of her going with another man. Ordinarily, though, the loss +of his wife’s affection was looked upon as a joke on the husband, and +he kept quiet about it or pretended that he did not bewail the loss. +The Arapahoes had a tribal punishment for a wife’s unfaithfulness. +They cut off the end of the woman’s nose. Then any future observer +might have notice of her frailty when contemplating the taking of her +as his wife. + +Fighting between Cheyennes, either men or women, was forbidden by +the tribal laws. In case of a fight some chief near at hand would +call out: “Warriors, separate these fighters and whip them.” The +warrior policemen then on duty would respond to the call. A band +of them would give such punishment as seemed to them fitting. If +the fighters renewed their strife they might have punishment added, +might have their tepees torn down, their horses killed, property +damage done to them in some other way, any suitable and sufficient +punishment--except, no policeman warrior nor anyone else lawfully +could kill a Cheyenne. + +Pony whips, either the lashes or the heavy stick handles, were the +customary attacking weapons in a personal fight. Cheyennes did not +use fists as the white people do. Not often did any two women fight. +If they did, they merely scratched and pulled hair. It was more of +a comic show than an alarming sight to see two women clawing each +other. I never heard of any Cheyenne woman killing another nor +maliciously killing a man. Nor did the men kill women. I used to +hear old people talk about a Cheyenne named Wounded Elk who had +beaten his wife and then shot her, killing her. I never heard of any +other like case. That incident happened before I was born. + +Suicides were not uncommon among us. Men shot themselves, women +hung themselves. Foolish ones yet do such acts. Several years ago +my neighbor and friend Whirlwind shot himself to death. Five or six +years ago a woman hanged herself at Lame Deer. Many of these sad +occurrences, particularly among the women, have come to pass during +my lifetime. + +A sister of Bobtail Horse and Hollow Wood hung herself when I was +yet a small boy and our people were camped on a branch of the Tongue +river. Her mother had scolded and threatened her, but had not +struck her, as the striking of any child was not customary among +the Cheyennes. But the girl was ashamed and crestfallen because of +the scolding. She brooded a while, then she disappeared. Searchers +failed to find her. Two years later, a Cheyenne young man hunting +deer in that vicinity found the remains of her body suspended by the +neck from a tree limb. Several years before that time another young +woman had done this same act near there on this same stream. From +this first incident, and confirmed by the later one, the creek got +a permanent name. It became known as Hanging Woman creek. It flows +into Tongue river from the east side, just above the present white +man village of Birney, Montana. + +As we were in camp one time on the Rosebud, below Lame Deer creek, +another boy and I went rambling afoot among the timber by the stream. +We suddenly came upon a woman dangling and strangling. I had no +knife. The other boy had one. + +“Cut the rope,” I urged him. + +He already was about to do this. We let the woman down upon the +ground. I ran to the creek near by, got a mouthful of water, hurried +back and squirted the water into her face. I stayed beside her while +my companion rushed into the camp to tell her people. A band of women +came, bringing a blanket. They put the disabled one upon the blanket +and carried her to her home lodge. A medicine man was called. The +next day I saw the woman. She gave no indication then of having had +any unusual experience. + +A widow Cheyenne woman was living in our camp at a time when we had +stopped on the east side of the upper Little Bighorn river. Her +husband had been killed three or four years before then, in the +battle where Cheyennes and Sioux had won a great victory over the +soldiers. (Fort Phil Kearny, 1866.) From this Little Bighorn camp +my older brother and another boy and myself went out riding. I then +was about twelve years old. Ahead of us, on a branching creek, we saw +a woman walking rapidly afoot. She had a blanket over her head and +shoulders. She turned into a thickly wooded gulch beside the creek +and disappeared into the timber. We wondered a little at her strange +actions, but we felt it not proper to follow her. Pretty soon three +other boys came galloping their horses. + +“Did you see any lone woman around here?” they asked anxiously. + +“Yes, she went there,” and we indicated the wooded gulch. + +My two companions followed them. I went to a plum patch. As I stood +there eating plums I saw a man and a woman hurrying up toward the +gulch. Both of them were crying. I followed them. + +The five boys were trying to revive the woman being sought, who had +hanged herself. But she now was dead. The body was rolled into the +blanket she had been wearing and she was taken into camp. + +This widow had been dependent upon friends for her support since her +husband’s death. She had a daughter eight or nine years old. One +day the young widow asked her mother for a certain fine robe. The +mother refused. The request was urged. Still the mother for some +reason said, “No.” The aggrieved and disconsolate young woman was so +downcast by this apparent coldness of her mother that she went out +and hanged herself. + +My mother’s sister hung herself in their family lodge when we were +in camp one time on Powder river. I was nine years old. Our family +lodge was right beside the one where dwelt this aunt of mine. My +mother heard the noise of the struggling and strangling. The sister’s +tepee entrance flap was tied shut, but my mother burst through it. +She found my aunt suspended by a rawhide rope tied high upon a pole +of the lodge. She hastily cut the rope and cut it again from her +sister’s neck. White Bull, a medicine man, was called. His medicine +then was the tusks of a bear. He held these over and around my aunt +while he got down upon his hands and knees and grunted like a bear. +He kept this up until she suddenly had a hard coughing spell and +brought up a chunk of something that had been choking her. She soon +stood up and was all right. White Bull was a good medicine man. He +saved the lives of lots of Cheyennes. + +Only one wildly insane Cheyenne person did I ever see. As I was +out on a hill beside the camp one day I heard a woman screaming. I +looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman outside a lodge +charging about here and there and tearing off her clothing. People +were running to the scene. I hastened down there. A chief called out: + +“Warriors, come.” + +Warrior policemen rushed there from all parts of the camp. They +seized the woman and held her while medicine men were summoned. I +stood there among the surrounding crowd and watched the proceedings. +Finally the medicine men caused her to gag and choke and cough +out the tail of a deer. At once she came into her right mind. Our +medicine men always could cure that kind of sickness. + +This woman had another attack of this same kind some months after +that first one. The medicine men gave her the same kind of treatment. +Again she spat out the tail of a deer and instantly became sane. Not +long after that she got married. She had a third attack a month or +so after the marriage. Her husband did not send for any medicine man +this time. He himself tied her and whipped her. He beat and lashed +his wife until she spat out a deer tail. This cured her right away. I +never heard of her going insane after that time. + +The killing of any Cheyenne was the most serious offense against our +tribal laws. The punishment was prompt. A council of the big chiefs +and the warrior chiefs was called at once. The case was inquired +into. If guilt was evident, the offender began without delay the +payment of his penalty. Sometimes action was taken without the +council being assembled, the situation being so clear that unanimity +of feeling was expressed either for or against the person charged +with the crime. The defendant was not permitted to be present at the +trial council. When the decision was rendered he was notified at his +lodge by the warrior policemen. If found guilty they proceeded at +once to put into effect the regular fixed and standard punishment. + +“Get ready to go,” they ordered him. + +Banishment for four years was the main penalty. It had to be entered +upon that same day. If the offender protested or dallied, he might +suffer the additional infliction of being whipped, of having his +horses killed or his tepee destroyed. If he acceded willingly, he was +allowed to take along his possessions. In any case, he had to go. +His wife or his children might go with him or remain with the tribe, +as they might choose. If he had a medicine pipe, that sacred object +regularly possessed by every adult male Cheyenne, his very first act +of entrance upon the banishment was the smashing to fragments of this +most revered talisman. Everything else he owned he might take along +with him. But he must not have the devotional medicine pipe. + +Two or three miles from the main camp was considered a sufficient +distance for the banished one. Relatives might visit him there or +take food to him, but it was not allowable for them to remain long, +and in no case should they remain after sundown. The chief spiritual +guide or medicine man of the tribe withdrew the sacred protection, +so the outlawed one was altogether out of touch with the Great +Medicine. He kept watch of the camp movements, and he could follow +at a distance with his lone tepee and set it up at a distance within +sight of but out of convenient hearing of the new camp location. He +hunted alone. If in the course of his hunting he accidentally came +close to other Cheyennes, it was expected he should hasten away +from them. The warrior policemen would whip him, or they might kill +him, if he should offer to intrude himself. It was not permissible +for anyone to speak to him nor in any other manner extend to him a +friendly recognition. He was entirely avoided--or, it was required +of him that he entirely avoid all other Cheyennes. Day after day, +month after month, summer and winter, fair or foul weather, for four +complete years he lived altogether the life of a scorned hermit. He +was conceded the right to join some other tribe, but he did not do +this. The great obstacle was, the people of the other tribe surely +would ask: “Whence came you, and why?” + +When the four years ended, the absolved man came back and took +temporary abode in the lodge of relatives. Soon he set up his own +lodge. He was admitted then to the principal rights, privileges +and immunities of a recognized member of the tribe. But to this +rehabilitation there were some important exceptions. For one, he +never thereafter was allowed to have a medicine pipe nor to take part +in any smoking circle. He was tolerated in personal presence there, +if he chose thus to place himself, but as the pipe was being moved +along from one to another it always went on past him, just as if he +were not there at all. Nobody abused him. They simply ignored him. +Hence, he ordinarily kept entirely away from such gatherings. + +An insignificant little pipe having a short stem was conceded to him +as an individual comfort. But he had to smoke always alone. Such +little pipes were made of stone or of the leg bone of a deer or of +some other material not used for making the venerated pipe used in +formal smoking. When I was a little boy I used to see one certain +very old man who smoked one of these little short-stemmed pipes. I +did not understand why he should do this. I asked my father about it. +He told me: “He killed a Cheyenne.” + +Social ostracism in various ways haunted the subsequent life of the +murderer otherwise cleansed from his stain. If he came hungry to +any lodge he was fed. But when he was gone, the spoon or dish he had +used was destroyed. If he sat upon a robe, nobody else ever afterward +would sit upon it. If he became needy, gifts were taken to his lodge, +but this was done by way of pity rather than by way of friendly +feeling. By exemplary conduct he might partly restore his standing, +but it never was fully restored. + +One time, when I was a boy five or six years old, all of the Northern +Cheyennes and all of the Southern Cheyennes were camped together by +the Giving White Medal river.[10] Each of the tribes had its sacred +medicine tepee, the Northern Cheyennes for their Buffalo Head and the +Southern Cheyennes for their Medicine Arrows. The great double camps +remained together several days. There were many ceremonies, many +social dances and other affairs, much going back and forth between +the two camps in the renewal of old acquaintance and the making of +new acquaintance. + +Chief of Many Buffalo and Rolling Wheel were two men belonging +then to our Northern Cheyenne tribe. Chief of Many Buffalo was not +married. Rolling Wheel had a wife and a small boy. This wife was +tempted by the single man, and she took her boy and went to live with +him. Rolling Wheel complained to the chiefs. He asked that Chief of +Many Buffalo be compelled to give him a certain running horse, the +swiftest animal in the whole tribal herd. + +“Yes, he must give you that horse,” the chiefs decided. + +An old man was sent to notify Chief of Many Buffalo. The owner of the +racer announced that he would keep it, that he had concluded he did +not want the woman. He sent her away to her father’s lodge. “That +makes no difference,” the old man said. “Rolling Wheel now owns that +horse.” + +He went and informed the aggrieved husband of the situation. He told +him: + +“The horse belongs to you. Go and get it.” + +“I go now,” Rolling Wheel replied. + +He took his lariat rope and went out among the herd. There on a +little knoll stood Chief of Many Buffalo, armed with a rifle. + +“Go away,” the armed man commanded. + +But Rolling Wheel kept on after the horse. The rifle flashed and +barked. The man with the lariat tumbled forward dead. Chief of Many +Buffalo was a murderer. + +This banished man was not allowed to have any tepee. For four years +he slept in caves or in other natural shelters he might find in +the neighborhood of our camping places. At the end of his term of +isolation he left us and went to the Southern Cheyennes. There he +married a widow of that tribe. Soon afterward he brought her and her +two children to join us. They made their permanent home with our +people. I remember clearly the time of their arrival at our camp. I +was ten years old. We were on Crow creek, a stream that flows into +Tongue river just north of the present Sheridan. + +The misguided wife of the dead Rolling Wheel remained for several +years an inhabitant of her father’s lodge. Finally she was married +to another Cheyenne. She was my aunt, a sister of my father, White +Buffalo Shaking Off the Dust. + +A Cheyenne named Hawk came to us when I was a small boy. I heard +people talk of him. They said he had been away four years, in +consequence of his having killed Sharp Nose. From the repeated +stories I learned the details. + +The two men had been out together capturing wild horses or on a raid +upon an enemy herd. They brought home three horses, one of them +considered a specially good animal and the other two of inferior +grade. Each one wanted to keep the first choice and give the two +others to his companion. They quarreled. It appeared that Sharp Nose +had the better claim to preference, but Hawk had possession of the +disputed animal. He had it picketed beside his lodge. + +Sharp Nose on horseback and his father afoot went there to argue +further about the matter. Hawk sat just outside his tepee entrance. +He had his bow and arrows. As the two approached, he stood up and +declared: + +“I am going to kill you right now.” + +His arrow went through the body of the young man on horseback. +Sharp Nose plunged forward and fell dead to the ground. His father +shouted imprecations upon the hot-headed killer. The father of Hawk +intervened to take a part in the affair. This old man went into their +tepee and came out with a muzzle-loading rifle in his hands. The +father of the dead Sharp Nose turned and walked away toward the camp +boundaries. The rifle was leveled and fired at him. He staggered, +evidently wounded, but he did not fall. The shooter reloaded his +rifle with powder, bullet and cap. By that time the retreating victim +was far off and still walking away. A second shot was sent after him. +This time the result was fatal. + +Hawk and his father were banished at once, not being allowed to take +with them any property whatever. I used to gaze upon the returned +Hawk with awe-stricken feelings. People whispered, “He killed a +Cheyenne.” I do not remember ever having seen his father. I believe +the old man died while they were in exile. The killing had been done +somewhere between Cherry creek and the Arickaree river (northeastern +Colorado). When Hawk joined the tribe again we were near the agency +south of the Black Hills. + +No property indemnity payment nor any other substitute penalty could +take the place of the four years of banishment put upon a willful +killer. If a killing were accidental, the survivor might be compelled +to give horses and other presents to the relatives of the deceased, +or he voluntarily and promptly might do his best to make amends to +them in that manner. If no blame whatever rested upon him, he need +pay nothing. Yet, it was customary for him to show in some such way +his sadness of heart because of the occurrence. + +Two youths, brothers, found one time a wolf’s den. One of them took +his lariat and crawled into the hillside cave to get pups. He felt +about in the darkness, got the rope about a pup’s hind feet and +dragged it out. They knocked it in the head and he went back after +another one. This time, either a pup or an old wolf bit his hand. He +retreated. Outside he got a forked stick. With this projecting out in +front of him, he returned to the attack upon the wolves. The forked +end got engaged in the hair and skin of the wolf. The youth twisted +and tugged, backing out and dragging after him the snarling and +snapping animal. The brother stood with his rifle poised and ready +to shoot. Limbs of brush diverted his aim, and the bullet crashed +into the head of the other boy. The shocked and weeping brother put +the dead body upon a horse and took it to their home lodge. People +flocked there to see and to hear. + +“You killed him in anger,” somebody accused. + +“No, it was an accident,” he sobbed out. And he explained how it had +occurred. + +A group of warrior policemen went with him out to the wolf’s den. +There he rehearsed for their observation all of the incidents of the +happening. They became fully satisfied that he had no intention to +kill his brother, that it truly was entirely accidental. The youth +was released with no penalty whatever. + +As we were camped one time on the upper Powder river, when I was +about thirteen years old, Wolf Medicine and other men loaded their +pack horses with buffalo robes and other skins and went to the trader +post at the southward (Fort Laramie) for buying some supplies. They +got tobacco, caps, powder, lead, sugar, and goods of that character. +Wolf Medicine brought a sack of flour. Our women were just then +learning how to make bread. Wolf Medicine’s wife knew how to make it +so it tasted good. He was a little chief of the Elk warriors, and he +wanted to give them a feast. He said to his wife: + +“Make plenty of bread. I shall invite all Elks to come.” + +“How,” she assented, and she went immediately at mixing flour and +water. Then: “Oh, I have no soda.” + +A young woman there said: “My mother has soda. I will go and get +some.” She went to her home lodge and told her mother. This woman +rummaged among her packages, looking into one after another. “Here it +is,” she finally announced. The young woman took the white powder to +the wife of Wolf Medicine. As the good cook proceeded with her work, +her proud husband went out to the front of his lodge and stood there +calling: + +“All Elk warriors, come. Wolf Medicine has a feast of bread.” + +That brought them in droves. The wife engaged some helpers. They +fried many slices of bacon and they boiled a great potful of coffee. +When the food was being eaten everybody said: “Wolf Medicine’s wife +can make good bread.” The hearts of the husband and the wife were +made glad by the compliments showered upon them. + +[Illustration: A CHEYENNE SWEAT LODGE] + +[Illustration: A CHEYENNE WOMAN TANNING] + +After the feast, Wolf Medicine brought a supply of tobacco. The +assemblage was converted into a grand smoking party. They passed the +pipe and chatted and told stories. After a while somebody said: “I +feel sick. My stomach pains me.” Just then the neighbor woman came +running and screaming: + +“I gave you the wrong powder! It is the wolf poison!” + +The commotion aroused and brought the whole population of the camp. +The victims were wallowing and groaning. An old man herald went +among them calling out: “Make yourselves vomit.” Some already had +done this, others began at once to gag their throats with fingers +poked into them. Two men, Old Bear and White Elk, did not do this. +Instead, they took doses of gunpowder in water. Both of these men had +convulsions and were sick a long time, but they finally recovered +full health. All of the others got relief soon after the gagging and +vomiting. One of them was my father. As a test, some remnants of +bread was given to two dogs. Both of the dogs went into convulsions +and died. The woman who had provided the supposed soda was not +punished. On the contrary, she was for a long time afterward so +distressed in mind that people sympathized with and tried to console +her. + +A certain half-Sioux-half-Cheyenne man was married to a Cheyenne +woman and they lived with our tribe. He killed one of our Cheyennes, +served his exile term of four years and returned to a small village +of Cheyennes where were his relatives. That was considered right, but +his next movement was considered not right. He went to visit another +Cheyenne village where were many relatives of the man he had killed. +Warning was sent to him not to come there, that he would be killed, +but he heeded not the notice, or he designed to show special bravery +that might win a good standing. Two Cheyenne men accompanied him to +the visited camp. + +The three companions went from lodge to lodge, being received +courteously and fed at the various stopping places. A brother of the +man who had been killed sat in his own lodge, there meditating and +saying nothing to anybody. He kept beside him a loaded rifle. From +time to time, as the three men moved among the lodges he watched them +from the interior of his tepee. People began to taunt him: + +“You are afraid.” + +“No, I will kill him today.” + +The Sioux-Cheyenne walked at all times between the two Cheyenne +companions when the three went from any one lodge to another. But as +they were passing across one open area the middle man stopped and +bent himself forward to tie a loose moccasin string. In a moment +the bang of a rifle shot rang out from the watcher’s tepee. The +half-Sioux pitched headfirst to the ground. His death was regarded +by all as an earned infliction. The chiefs agreed: “He ought not to +have come so soon to this place where are his victim’s relatives. His +slayer did right.” + +An Ogallala Sioux man had one of our women as his wife. They lived +with our people. The couple had much domestic trouble. It was said +the husband grossly abused his wife. The matter came to a climax as +our Cheyennes were camped on the Giving White Medal river. I was a +baby or a small child, and my knowledge of it comes only from hearsay +stories. But in later times I knew the people involved. + +The maltreated wife had two brothers, Dirty Moccasins and Tall White +Man--not the present old man Tall White Man, but another Cheyenne +dead many years ago. These two brothers decided to end the continual +humiliation of their sister. They got their bows and arrows and went +man-hunting. Each of them sent an arrow through the body of the +offending Sioux and put out the lights of his life. They were not +banished. Besides their having the natural sympathy of the people, +the dead man was a Sioux, not a Cheyenne. Nevertheless, ever after +that, Dirty Moccasins smoked only a deer bone pipe and Tall White Man +used always a little stone one. For many years I saw him as a scrawny +and feeble old man smoking the tiny short-stemmed stone pipe. + +The Sioux and his wife had a ten-year-old daughter. When she grew to +womanhood she married a Cheyenne man named Elk Creek. This couple +had three daughters, grandchildren of the Sioux killed by the two +brothers. One of these grandchildren married Round Stone, another +married a Fort Keogh soldier named Thompson, the third is the wife of +Willis Rowland, our present interpreter at the Lame Deer agency. + +I heard a story about two Sioux in a Sioux camp who quarreled +concerning the ownership of a horse. One of them had possession +of the animal. The other sat in his lodge and brooded over what +he regarded as a wrong done to him. He planned an unusual mode of +carrying out revenge. He went to a Cheyenne camp near by and inquired +there for a medicine man. A Cheyenne led him to a certain lodge. + +“I have important business,” the Sioux announced. “Come out where +nobody can hear us.” + +The three went out of the camp, to a hilltop. The young Cheyenne +served as negotiator between the Sioux and the medicine man. + +“I want him to kill a Sioux,” the visitor proposed. + +There was some exchange of talk about the compensation to the +medicine man. Finally, an agreement was reached. The medicine man +received a blanket, some moccasins and clothing, some food and a +keen-bladed and sharp-pointed sheathknife. A day was consumed in +settling the conditions. While this was going on, the Sioux camp +moved away and was set up elsewhere. The angry Sioux and the medicine +man followed them. The lodge of the enemy was pointed out. The +medicine man drew the figure of a man upon the outside wall of the +lodge. At the right place he made a special picture of the heart. +Then he told the angry Sioux: + +“Take this knife. At dawn tomorrow morning you must stab the heart +picture I have drawn. Then bring to me the knife.” + +The commanded procedure was carried out. The wielder of the weapon +was astonished when blood flowed freely from the stabbed picture +heart. He ran away and told the medicine man, told him of the blood +and returned to him the knife. + +“Good. He will die tonight,” came the assuring declaration. + +As the medicine man went back to the Cheyennes he congratulated +himself on the clever trick he had played upon his confiding +employer. “Good knife, good blanket, good clothing, all for me,” he +chuckled. But: That same night the enemy Sioux man actually became +ill. He vomited blood, and before morning he was dead. I do not +like that kind of medicine actions. Such use of the powers makes bad +Indians. + +The warrior days of a Cheyenne man began at the age of about sixteen +or seventeen, or sometimes a little earlier for such activities +as were not very difficult or risky. They ended somewhere between +thirty-five and forty, according to particular circumstances. The +regular rule was, every man was classed as a warrior and expected to +serve as such until he had a son old enough to take his place. Then +the father retired from aggressive fighting and the son took up the +weapons for that family. If a man came into early middle age without +any son, he adopted one. If he had more than one son, he might allow +the additional one or more to be adopted by another man who had none. +By following this system, all of the offensive fighting was done +by young men, mostly the unmarried young men. The fathers and the +older men ordinarily stayed in the background, to help or to shield +the women and children. Or, if it was practicable, the fathers and +old men and women followed out the young warriors and stayed at a +safe distance behind, there to sing cheering songs and to call out +advice and encouragement. If a warrior’s father or some other old +person put himself unnecessarily forward in a battle he was likely +to be criticised for his needless risk, and also the young warriors +felt aggrieved at his taking from them whatever of honors might be +gained in the combat. In general, the young men were supposed to +be more valuable as fighters and less valuable as wise counselors, +while the older men were estimated in the opposite way. It was +considered as being not right for an important older man to place +himself as a target for the missiles of the enemy, if he could avoid +such exposure. Even in a surprise attack upon us, it was expected +the seniors should run away, if they could get away, while the more +lively and supposedly more ambitious young men met the attack. + +Our war chiefs--that is, the three leading chiefs and the +twenty-seven little chiefs of our three warrior societies--were +more useful as instructors in quiet assemblage than as directors +of operation in times of battle. There were frequent gatherings of +the warrior societies, each in its own gathering, where the chiefs +exchanged ideas about methods of combat and about daily care of the +personal self, and where the listening young warriors learned their +lessons. If some aggressive war was contemplated, these chiefs agreed +upon the plans. But when any battle actually began it was a case +of every man for himself. There were then no ordered groupings, no +systematic movements in concert, no compulsory goings and comings. +Warriors of all societies mingled indiscriminately, every individual +went where and when he chose, every one looked out for himself only, +or each helped a friend if such help were needed and if the able +one’s personal inclination just then was toward friendly helpfulness. +The warrior chiefs called out advice, perhaps a reminder of some +rule of action theretofore discussed in the gatherings, or perhaps +some special suggestion that exactly fitted the immediate situation, +such as, “Yonder is one whose horse is down; go right in after him.” +Ordinarily the advice of the chiefs was heeded. But the obedience was +a voluntary one. In battle, the chiefs had not authority to issue +commands that must be obeyed. + +Special war parties made up of members of some certain warrior +society often went out seeking conflict with the enemy. The warrior +societies competed with each other for effectiveness in this kind of +activity, as well as in all other activities regarded as commendable. +At times, the members of some certain warrior society would be +selected by the tribal chiefs to do all of the tribal fighting in +some case where the opposition was looked upon as being not great +enough to make necessary the use of the entire tribal military +forces. If this appointed segment of our fighters did well they were +acclaimed. If they did not do well, especially if other warriors had +to go to their assistance, the original combatants were discredited. +Ordinarily, whatever warrior society was on duty as camp policemen +had also the duty as special camp defenders. It was their business +to be the first ones out to meet any attack upon the camp. Members +of the other societies added their help if necessary, refrained from +doing so if they were not needed. If the enemy onset was sufficient +to render needful the resistance of all of the warriors in the camp, +all of them were called by the heralds of the tribal chiefs. In cases +of extreme danger, even the old men and some of the women might use +whatever weapons they could seize and wield. + +The Sioux tribes had ways closely resembling those of the Cheyennes. +We traveled and visited much with them, particularly with the +Ogallalas, sometimes with the Minneconjoux. The Sioux tribal +governments were almost the same as ours. Each of them had numerous +tribal chiefs, each had various warrior societies and chiefs of +them. Their warriors dressed for death in battle, all of their +people dressed for death in time of peace, according to the same +customs among us. Their warrior training by precept and by discipline +was similar to our system. They fought their battles as a band of +individuals, the same as we fought ours, and the same as was the way +of all Indians I ever knew. They had war dances and medicine dances +differing only a little from our ceremonies of this kind. So when +white people learn the ways of the Cheyennes they have learned also a +great deal of the ways of the Sioux and of other Indians in this part +of the world. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[10] Smoky Hill river (?). + + + + + IV + +_Worshiping The Great Medicine._ + + +I made medicine the first time when I was seventeen years old (1875). +It was during the month of May, I believe, although we did not divide +the years into months or weeks as the white people later taught us +to divide them. Our family was in a camp of fourteen or fifteen +lodges of Cheyennes in the hills at the head of Otter creek, a stream +flowing into the eastern side of Tongue river. The main camp of the +tribe was on Powder river, east of our location. + +To “make medicine” is to engage upon a special period of fasting, +thanksgiving, prayer and self denial, even of self torture. The +procedure is entirely a devotional exercise. The purpose is to subdue +the passions of the flesh and to improve the spiritual self. The +bodily abstinence and the mental concentration upon lofty thoughts +cleanses both the body and the soul and puts them into or keeps them +in health. Then the individual mind gets closer toward conformity +with the mind of the Great Medicine above us. + +I said to my father: “All during my boyhood and youth the Great +Medicine has been good to me. I have fond parents and kind brothers +and sisters. I have had plenty of food and have had no bad sickness. +No bullet nor arrow has hit me. No serious injury of any kind has +fallen upon me. I ought to do something to show my gratitude for all +of these favors.” + +“Yes, my son, you owe a debt for them,” my father agreed. + +Red Haired Bear, a good medicine man or spiritual adviser, was in our +small camp. His wife was my mother’s sister. I went to him. + +“I want to make medicine,” I told him. “I think I have lived in a way +good enough to render me worthy. I want to become still better. I +want to thank the Great Medicine and ask His continued favor. I want +to become able to kill all enemies I may meet and to be shielded from +their assaults upon me. I do not want to die in any manner until I +reach old age. I wish you would help me.” + +“How,” he responded encouragingly. “What number of days do you think +you can endure?” + +“The whole four days,” I replied confidently. + +“How,” he glowed. “I will help you.” + +He warned me it was a difficult undertaking for any young man. +He urged me to be brave. He said the bravest ones always got the +greatest spiritual benefit. I asserted myself as feeling equal to any +distress that might come to me. + +“That is good,” he cheered me on. “You shall have the strongest of +trials. You shall stay out one night without any shelter, the next +night you may have a little cone tepee, the third night you may build +for yourself a willow dome lodge.” + +This proposition put a check upon my eagerness. I had not thought +of being unprotected from bad weather during any part of the time. +It occurred to my mind that a rainstorm might interfere with the +devotions. Even with a little cone tepee over me, a strong wind might +upset the entire programme. My medicine might be broken by accidents +like these. I asked if a willow dome lodge could be used during the +entire procedure. + +“How. It shall be as you desire.” + +He started me out to cut willow wands for making the medicine lodge. +He told me I must get seventeen of them, each a clean and strong +and long piece of pliable green wood. I carefully gathered them, +selecting and rejecting. I tied them into a pack bundle. Throwing +the bundle upon my back and taking a crowbar in my hands, I carried +the burden far up a gulch and into the timber at the hilltop. I +chose a spot for the lodge and put down my load. With the crowbar I +punched in the ground sixteen holes around a circle about eight feet +in diameter. Into these holes I set upright sixteen of the wands. +I then bent their tops across, pairing them and tying together +the pairs. The skeleton dome was completed by weaving through the +coupled tops the seventeenth strand, this running from east to west. +I returned then to Red Haired Bear for further instructions. + +“Get a buffalo head,” he ordered me. + +I searched the neighborhood until I found one. Under his directions +I heaped up dirt into a low mound about eight feet due east from +where was to be the eastern entrance opening of the lodge. Upon this +mound was placed the buffalo head, it being set to face toward the +lodge. I cleared off all grass and twigs to make a clean path between +the buffalo head and the lodge opening. I gathered armfuls of sweet +sagegrass and spread it as a carpet upon the floor of the enclosed +circle. The two of us returned then to Red Haired Bear’s lodge. + +The medicine man painted my whole body. Red clay mixed into water, +in a dish, was used for most of the painting. Four times he took +portions of the powdered red earth, each separate time casting the +portion upon the water’s surface and uttering low prayers as he +stirred it into solution. After having put the red coloring upon the +entire surface of my skin he got out from his medicine bag a package +of pulverized black earth. Four different casts and four separate +stirrings into water were made likewise with this coloring material. +With the black paint he made first a circle about my face, including +the forehead, the chin and the cheeks. Black wristlets and black +anklets were next formed. On the middle of my breast he painted a +black sun. On my left shoulderblade he put a black moon. + +My director then offered a prayer: + +“Great Medicine Above: You see Wooden Leg. He wants to be a good man. +Look upon him and favor him. Make him brave and wise and kind. Make +him generous to his people, to all Indians, even to his enemies if +they come peaceably and in need. Help him to defeat all enemies who +may beset him, and shield him from their efforts to take his life. +Guide him so that he may be rich in food and skins and horses. Help +him to find a good wife. Give to them many children. Keep them all in +good health and make them live a long time.” + +He prayed also to the ground spirits. As he prayed to the Great +Medicine he looked upward, and as he addressed the spirits below he +looked down toward the ground. When the prayers were ended we walked +together to the medicine lodge I had built in the hilltop forest. +We sat down there beside the slender path I had made to connect the +buffalo head and the entrance to the lodge. He talked to me: + +“This is going to be a hard trial for you, the hardest trial you ever +have had. Throughout four days you will have neither food nor water. +Your desires will distress you. Other distresses may be piled upon +these. You may retreat now and postpone it to another time if you +want to do so. What say you?” + +“I dread it,” I confessed, “but I know it will not kill me. I do not +want to wait. I want to go on right now. I shall keep my courage from +failing by fixing my thoughts upon being a good man.” + +“That is good,” he cheered me. Then he added: “Be brave.” + +The medicine man prayed again for me. He looked again upward and +again downward, going through the same prayer for the below spirits +as he had made to the Above Spirit. The praying was of the same kind +as he had uttered just after the painting preparations, but he added +some other solicitations for my welfare. + +After this prayer had ended I crept in upon the sagegrass floor of +the skeleton willow dome. He covered the frame all over with many +buffalo robes we had brought. Not even a faint ray of light could get +inside. He then went away to our camp. + +I now was alone. For a little while I just sat there in the +darkness--complete darkness, although it was about the middle of +the afternoon. I was naked, except for the breechcloth and a buffalo +robe. I had a supply of kinnikinick, some matches, and my medicine +pipe that had been given to me by my father. I loaded and lit the +pipe for a thoughtful smoke. The flash of the match dazzled my eyes. +Time dragged along. I could not smoke continuously, so I just sat +there and meditated, or tried to do so. I did not know when the sun +went down nor when darkness came. It began to seem rather lonely. +I grew sleepy, so I stretched myself out with the robe about me +and drifted into a doze. But every little sound startled me. I sat +up and had another smoke. Soon I had another, and then another. I +slept again, this time more soundly. I had not the least notion as +to how long I remained asleep. It seemed I had been there more than +a day and night, that the medicine man had forgotten me. I listened +intently to every slight rustle in the surrounding forest. My prayers +all had been in thoughts, not in spoken words. I almost wished for +some disturbing intrusion to break up the entire proceeding. Noise of +a horse’s footsteps fell into my ears. Closer, closer, very close. + +“Hey, Wooden Leg!” It was the voice of Red Haired Bear. “One day has +passed. It now is noon.” + +He dismounted and opened slightly the entrance covering. The light +blinded me for a moment. Gradually he opened it wider, finally +throwing it altogether aside. He allowed me to go outside for a few +minutes, then I had to return to the interior. + +“Let us smoke together,” he invited. + +He sat just outside and I sat just inside. My smoking equipment was +brought into use. He pointed the stem and sent a puff to each of the +four principal directions, then to the above, to the below and to the +buffalo head. We passed the pipe back and forth in many exchanges, +until one loading of it was exhausted. He prayed again for me. Then +he admonished me: + +“The next day will be more difficult. But, be not afraid. The Great +Medicine sees you.” + +He shut up the lodge, mounted his horse and went away. + +Fitful slumbers, prayers, smoking, efforts at meditation, these +alternated in my quiet activities. I was hungry and thirsty, +especially thirsty. My body was hot. My heart was heavy. My ears +constantly were listening, listening, to every faint whisper of +Nature. All of the time appeared to be night, the blackest of night. +Suddenly there came a stamp--stamp--stamp. Then: + +“Boo-o-o-o! Boo-o-o-o!” + +A buffalo bull! The animal snorted, stamped and bellowed again. It +surely would charge upon my lodge and tear it to pieces, I thought. I +did not move, but I prayed earnestly: “Great Medicine, shield me. I +have tried to be a good young man. You have been kind to me in past +times. Be kind to me now.” I heard the threatening beast move away. +It did not return. + +Hours, hours, hours. I did not know whether it was day or night. I +heard a horse coming. That was a welcome sound. I was all attention. + +“Hey, Wooden Leg!” + +“Hey!” + +“Two days have passed,” Red Haired Bear informed me. “The sun now is +far toward the west on your third day.” + +Again he opened my dark retreat, gradually letting in more and more +light. Again we smoked together. I told him of the buffalo bull. He +listened with evident great interest. + +“That is a good sign,” he comforted me. “No buffalo ever will harm +you. You and all other Cheyennes will get plenty of meat and skins +from them. The bull was your friend, telling you all this.” + +Another prayer went from the medicine man to the Above and to the +below. After a short allowance of time for me outside, he put me +again into the enclosure and shut tightly the small hole. + +“Be brave,” were his parting words. + +“Yes,” I replied. But I was not sure. + +Hot, thirsty, yet more hot and more thirsty. I prayed particularly +for strength of body and firmness of heart to carry me through to +the end of the trial. I loaded my pipe for a solacing smoke. But +it was not a solace. The heat burned my already parching tongue. I +tried to sleep. Maybe I did sleep. I do not know. I made attempts +to meditate quietly. I do not know whether I actually was thinking +or was following dreams racing through my mind. All I could be sure +about was that I either was sitting down or lying down all the time. +I heard something that cleared my mind at once. My mother brought +wood and stones and placed them out by the buffalo head. She did not +speak nor make any sign of recognition, but I knew it was my mother. +It seemed I could look right through the robes and see her there. +After she had deposited her burden she went away. + +Oh, how lonely I was! I loaded and lit my pipe. No, it was not good. +My mouth and throat were burning. Water! Water! But: “The Great +Medicine sees me,” I kept thinking. My thoughts whirled and chased +each other rapidly in circles. I dreamt that I heard the footsteps of +a horse. + +“Hey, Wooden Leg!” + +“Hey!” + +“This is the day.” + +Happiness almost filled my heart. The only hindrance was in the +thirst and the hot body. After I had been let out we smoked together. +It was a torture to my tongue, but I did not complain. We went then +to my father’s lodge in the camp. My father called out invitations to +old men friends. They came and sat in a circle upon the robes spread +over the lodge’s floor. I sat with them, by the side of my father. My +mother brought a bucketful of water and set it off a little distance +in front of me. I suppressed a strong desire to plunge my face into +it, but I could not keep my eyes from staring at it. The medicine +man sprinkled red powder upon the surface of the water, four small +scatterings in four separate places. He passed his hands to and fro +over it and prayed. It seemed I never in my life had heard so long a +prayer. When it was ended he said to me: + +“Wooden Leg, you have been four days without water. Now you may drink +four sups.” + +I seized the sides of the bucket. The four sups were four long-drawn +mouthfuls. The water rumbled through my bowels. After a few minutes +I was told, “Now you may have more, but do not take all you want.” +I drank slowly, but I drew in big mouthfuls and took many of them. +Not long afterward I was allowed to apply myself a third time at the +bucket. + +My mother brought a potful of buffalo meat she had been boiling. All +of the guests were given portions of it. A piece was put upon a tin +plate and set before me. It looked good enough to grab and swallow +immediately. But I waited for advice. My adviser did not long detain +me. + +“Wooden Leg, you have been four days without meat. Take four +sliced-off bites, one for each day of the fast.” + +I selected a long chunk from the plate. I stuck the end of it far +into my mouth, and with a sheathknife I cut it off. The chewing was +vigorous, and I soon had it swallowed. The chunk was pushed a second +time into my mouth and its end cut off there. A third and a fourth +mouthful were taken in the same manner. After a few minutes, more +meat was allowed to me. Then still more, all I cared to eat. It was +the best meat I ever tasted. + +The old men joined in asking me: + +“Tell us of your experience.” + +I told them--told them particularly of the coming of the buffalo +bull. They complimented me, said I was brave, said the Great Medicine +was my friend, assured me that no buffalo ever would harm me. Their +approval and their assurances made me glad. My heart was like the sun +coming up on a summer morning. + +All of these old men, some of their wives, my father and mother and +the medicine man went with me to my medicine lodge. We were to have a +sweat bath worship together. My mother carried a bucketful of water +for sprinkling upon the hot stones inside the lodge. The medicine man +piled the stones into a cone heap. He leaned sticks of wood up the +sides of this stone structure and set a fire to going among them. +The other men stripped themselves to breechcloth and crept into the +lodge. When the stones had become well heated by the wood fire over +them the medicine man passed them to one of the men inside. They were +handled with forked sticks and were piled into a pit some of the men +had made in the center of the lodge’s earth floor. When the pit was +filled with the hot stones the medicine man set inside the bucketful +of water. He himself then crept in, on hands and knees as we all had +done. One man remained outside to close the opening, to ventilate +temporarily when we might require, to wait upon us in whatever way +our needs might demand. Not any of the women went into the lodge. +Twelve men were in there. + +At the left inside of the entrance sat the medicine man. I was next +at his left side. My father was third, at my left. The other men +were seated on beyond, the row extending around the circle. All had +backs to the wall. We had smoked together while the stones were being +heated, but the pipe now had been placed outside. Its bowl rested on +the ground beside the buffalo head and its stem projected upward past +the nose and eyes of the hallowed object. A good spirit influence was +coming from the nostrils of the head straight along the clean path +and into the lodge. No knowing and worshipful Indian ever crossed +that path. Such act would cut off the steady flow of healing virtue. + +The medicine man opened the interior proceedings with another prayer +for my welfare. Once more he pleaded with the Great Medicine to make +me good and generous, to give me success in hunting, to protect me +from enemies and to enable me to kill them. Once more he asked that I +might get a good wife, might have many children, and that myself and +all of my family might keep good health and live to advanced years. +He beseeched again that I might gather together many horses and not +lose any of them. I believed his prayers would be heard. My hopes +were high. My trust in the Being Above was strong. + +Water was squirted upon the hot stones in the central pit. The +medicine man first gave each one in the lodge a drink of water. +He took into his own mouth a chew of herb. After its mastication +he supped and squirted four successive mouthfuls of water. Between +the acts were short prayers. Thus he released from the stones the +vitality put into them by the burning wood that had got it from the +sun, the material representative of the Great Medicine. The stones +hissed their protests as the water compelled them to release into +the air the spiritual curative forces. Our bodies were enveloped +by the steam wherein floated the vital energy. The vivifying and +purifying influence soaked into our skins. Bad spirits were driven +out of us and drowned in the water that dripped from us. The medicine +man repeated from time to time the sprinkling of water upon the +protesting stones. + +The soft whisperings of an eagle wing bone flute came into my ears. +The sound seemed to come from the roof and from other points in the +utterly dark interior of the lodge. After a few of the gentle blasts, +I felt the instrument being placed in my hands. My father put it +there. It now was mine, to keep. It was to be worn about my neck, +suspended at the mid-breast by a buckskin thong, during all times of +danger. If I were threatened with imminent harm I had but to put it +to my lips and cause it to send out its soothing notes. That would +ward off every evil design upon me. It was my mystic protector. It +was my medicine. + +After an hour or more together in the devotional dome, all of us went +to our respective lodge homes. There my father presented me also with +a shield of rawhide taken from the rump of a buffalo bull. The hair +had been removed and the piece of skin had been dried rapidly before +a fire, to make it extremely tough. It was covered with antelope +buckskin sewed in place. The cover had medicine designs drawn in +color upon its surface. This shield would turn off any bullet or +arrow or other missile coming toward me. My father made it. He +delivered it into my left hand. + +My second medicine experience took place a month or so after that +first one. Black White Man, a medicine man, took me through it. This +time the plan was for but two days of self denial and worship. I made +the dome lodge according to the same rules as had governed in making +the first one, which was the regular way of making them. Black White +Man painted me in the same way and with the same ceremony used by +Red Haired Bear. I had the same kind of harassing sensations while +alone, but they covered only two days instead of four. The resumption +of water and food was carried out in a manner exactly like had been +done in the previous proceedings. The sweat bath devotions had a +like preparatory programme and followed a course like that of the +other one and of all such affairs entered upon among the Cheyennes. +But during this second time of spiritual upbuilding there was one +intervening incident that marked it as different from all others. + +During the last part of my lonely vigil--I learned afterward it +was during my second night--my quietude was broken by the tread of +horses, many horses. I heard men talking. Gabble-gabble-gabble. It +was not Cheyenne talk. It was not Sioux. This being the case, the +horsemen necessarily must be enemies, either whites or Indians. It +seemed now that the bellowing buffalo bull of my previous experience +had been but a tame threat. It appeared I surely would be discovered +or already had been discovered, by the gabbling strangers. It seemed +that death threatened me. My hair raised itself and I could feel it +standing upright. My heart thumped. It throbbed and pounded the inner +wall of my breast. To my senses its noise was so boisterous as to +notify the intruders and all the rest of the world that a human being +frozen by fright awaited the fatal blow. I did not move--perhaps was +not able to move. But I could think. I centered my thoughts upon +whispering over and over, “The Great Medicine sees me.” + +“Hi-ye-e-e-e!” The war-cry! + +“Bang! Bang! Bang-bang!” Rifle shots. + +The horses near me clattered away. One of them bawled as if wounded +by a bullet. The strange voices went out of my hearing. Other voices +shouted. These were Cheyennes. I heard Cheyenne women and children +crying as they ran past my retreat. But I could do nothing but just +sit there with my buffalo robe over my head. The commotion gradually +died down. My pious meditations were much disturbed by the alarming +turmoil. I could not keep myself from wondering what had happened. +I wondered if the Cheyennes had been driven from their camp and had +left me there alone. This thought chilled me. But I stayed, waiting, +waiting. Many hours later Black White Man came. + +“They were Crows trying to steal our horses,” he explained. The +raiders had been repulsed, but one of our Cheyennes had been killed. +“It shows that the Crows never can hurt you,” the medicine man +assured me. + +For a third season of warrior discipline I went one morning at dawn +to the top of a hill. There I fasted, prayed, meditated and dreamed +all day. During the day I saw the lodges taken down and the whole +camp move away down the valley. But I had to stay. When the sun had +set I started out afoot to follow the trail of my people. I drank +water along the way, but I got no food until my arrival at the home +lodge at the end of my journey of ten or twelve miles. + +Another disciplinary means for subduing the flesh was to stand +upright all day, from sunrise to sunset, on a hill. The devotee did +not move during that time except to keep his face turned at all +times toward the sun. He might keep his eyes closed or shaded, but +his countenance had to be presented ever toward the venerated token +of the Great Medicine’s existence. He prayed or otherwise kept his +thoughts fixed on a high plane. This system of self denial was varied +by the attitude taken. One might stand all day or sit in one position +all day or lie down during all of the time. But the attitude assumed +at the beginning must be kept to the end. My all-day supplications +were made while sitting down. + +Standing upright in water from sunrise to sunset was one way of +putting the body under the rule of the spirit. The water had to be +up to the neck or the upper breast. Not any drink of it was taken. +It was not permissible to move the body except for keeping the face +toward the sun. The bodily torture incident to the full standard +Great Medicine dance--what the white people call the sun dance--was +the most severe test of hardihood, so it was looked upon as the +highest form of self scourging. I never undertook this extreme step. + +Women did not make medicine by feats of endurance. Such was for men +only. Sometimes two men would go together for the all-day hilltop +fast or for some other similar performance. Ordinarily, though, only +one man made up the vigil. I like best the solitary way. I think +it is better to be alone at such times. At any of the occasions +observable it was permissible for onlookers to view the act. Such +scrutiny might aid greatly in spurring on to full compliance with the +rules. Payment to any medicine man helper was due. This might be such +as was agreed upon in advance--often paid in advance--or it might be +in the form of subsequent free gifts to him. The standard fee was a +horse. + +Our tribal Great Medicine dance was a ceremony of one, two or three +days, the period depending upon immediate conditions. In times before +mine the full period had been four days, but in my time three days +was the maximum. It was not held at any regular time. Once every +two or three years was the usual custom. It would be held, though, +in successive years if the tribe was having misfortune or if enough +special devotees wanted to undergo the trials. The summer season was +the special time. The prime purpose was to ask the Great Medicine’s +favorable attention to the tribe as a whole, not to any particular +persons. The prayers were for good grass, new colts in the horse +herds, plenty of berries and roots, many children, success in hunting +game and in repelling enemies. + +The Cheyennes and the Arapahoes had their two Great Medicine ceremony +dances together on one occasion when I was about twelve years old +(1870). We were south of the mountains beyond the headwaters of +Powder river. The two tribes camped as one, in one great camp circle, +but all of the Cheyenne lodges were at one side of the camp and all +of the Arapaho lodges at the opposite side. Each tribe had its Great +Medicine lodge at its own side of the combined camp. I went back and +forth looking on at both of them. The other people of both tribes did +the same. I was not quite old enough during our free roaming days +to take a part in the important tribal affairs. I merely looked, +listened, kept quiet and thought about them. This double sacred dance +of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes was for only one day. During that +one day all of the participants and many other people took neither +food nor water. After sunset they had a great feast. That was the +regular way--the participants took neither food nor water while the +ceremonies were being carried out, one, two, three or four days. + +Special invocation dances were held irregularly, often several times +during one season. One or several or many persons would perform the +rites. At a buffalo dance the intent was to obtain the aid of the +Great Medicine in our efforts at getting the meat and skins of these +animals. Deer dances, elk dances, antelope dances, were engaged +upon by individuals, by parties or by the tribe. The object was to +enlist spiritual forces to help us in gathering meat and skins. Berry +dances, by few or by many people, had a like incentive. Always the +dances were in summer, none of them in winter. Always there was self +denial in various forms, sacrifices were made in various ways. At +times the self denial was carried to the point of bodily torture. +That was our way of paying in advance for the favors asked. That was +all we could do by way of payment. + +The spirits of animals joined themselves often to assist or to hinder +human beings. Sometimes one would give its medicine to a man, at +other times some animal would break a man’s medicine, or would try to +do so. At my father’s lodge an old man, Pockmarked Nose, told of a +certain experience that came to him. My father afterward told me. + +Pockmarked Nose went one time with a young man to hunt buffalo. They +were on horseback and were leading pack horses to bring back the +meat and skins. They traveled up and down hills and over the level +plains. Finally they found a band of buffalo. They got themselves +ready and charged into the band. The young man had a bow and arrows, +Pockmarked Nose had a flintlock gun. He killed a buffalo. Just +afterward a shot came from somewhere aside and another buffalo went +down. That shot from aside puzzled the two hunters, but they rode +on. Each time the old man or the young man killed a buffalo the shot +from aside brought down another to match it. But, who was doing this +shooting? Was it a friend or an enemy? They could not see anybody. +When six buffalo lay dead on the plain the old man applied himself +at discovering the identity of the third hunter. Far off, on a +slight elevation of the land, stood a dimly outlined human figure. +Pockmarked Nose rode toward it. + +Was it the Above Spirit, the Great Medicine? Or was it a below +spirit? Or was some powerful medicine man playing tricks? Pockmarked +Nose did not know, and he never did find out to his satisfaction. The +stranger had a wooden gun. He said: “Come, I give you this medicine +gun. It never fails to kill.” Pockmarked Nose took and kept the +offered gun. I do not know what use he may have made of it. + +My father himself saw a marvelous example of the spirit powers +regularly belonging to the deer tribe. When he was a young man he +and a companion were hunting near the medicine water[11] not far +from the present town of Sheridan, Wyoming. They saw bubbles coming +up and bursting upon the water’s surface. They went up close, to +learn what was causing this agitation. As they peered down into the +deep but clear lake they saw there a deer moving about and quietly +grazing along the bottom. While they were watching the animal it +stopped grazing and floated slowly up to the water’s surface. My +father killed it with an arrow. He skinned it, cut the meat from the +bones, wrapped the skin about the meat and loaded the bundle upon his +packhorse. At his home lodge he stood out and called the names of +various friends. He invited them: + +“Come, feast with me. Good deer meat.” + +But when he shouted these words the flesh and the skin all jumped +together and formed again the same live deer he had killed. The +animal went running away. It ran back to the medicine water, plunged +into it and disappeared. My father searched for it, but he could not +see it. He told me he did not understand how a deer could do such +things except it were by the help of the Great Medicine. + +Three of our medicine men invited some of us young men into a tepee +on one certain occasion when I was about fourteen or fifteen years +old. They said, “We will show you how to make the winter go away +so that the grass may grow, for the good of the young colts coming +to our herds.” Just at that time there was a big snowstorm making +the people and the horses shiver. But the three medicine men went +confidently at their ceremonies. + +They sent a young woman out to gather some certain kind of sprigs of +vegetation. It was not tobacco, but pretty soon the medicine men had +it changed into tobacco. They formed a circle with us, loaded the +pipe, and soon it was passing from one to another. To each of us in +turn they said: “Draw in only a little of the smoke, but draw it in +slowly and deeply. Hold it there a short time, then let it flow out +from wide-open lips, not in puffs from firm lips.” We did as they +directed. While the smoking was being done the three old men made +prayers. After a while one of them said: “Look outside.” We looked. +The storm had quit, the sky had cleared, the ground was wet but bare +of snow, green grass was peeping up everywhere. + +Every Indian had, or tried to have, some special medicine or spirit +power of his own, to bring him good fortune or to shield him from +harm. He had some object or objects that held this helpful influence, +or he had certain ways of doing certain acts, or he had both of +these aids. I had my special protective possessions and my particular +methods of using them. It was considered not prudent to reveal these +things, and I never have done so, except in some features that I +could not keep secret. + +A powerful spirit man during my boyhood was one whose name originally +was Walks Above the Earth. He was known as a man whose mind was at +all times on spiritual things, who gave little or no thought to +ordinary earthly matters. His name got changed, though, in his later +life. This came about because of his choice of a mule for his riding +animal. One time when he and Little Chief were approaching a Sioux +camp somebody remarked, in derision, “Here comes that crazy Cheyenne +on his mule.” That fixed upon him the name Crazy Cheyenne on a Mule. +This afterward was shortened to Crazy Mule. + +He had a variety of medicine powers. He put himself through many +trials, so the spirits helped him. One time, when we were in camp +far up the Powder river, he had four Cheyennes go up close to him +and shoot at him, each in successive turn. They sent four bullets +directly at his body. He was standing with his back against a tree. +After the four shots had been fired he stooped forward and pulled off +his moccasins. From them he poured out the four bullets. I saw this. +I was eight years old. I saw him do the same feat at a time when our +tribal camp was pitched on the Rosebud valley, just below where the +present Forsythe road forks to go to Lame Deer and to Ashland. At +another time he showed his powers when the tribe were on upper Lame +Deer creek. This was just before our warriors joined the Ogallala +Sioux to fight the soldiers in the fort[12] at the south of us. + +Roman Nose was, I believe, the most admired of all warriors I ever +saw. He was killed when I yet was a boy, but I remember him, and as I +grew older I heard much talk of him as an example for the young men. +The water spirits told him not to marry, so he lived a single and +pure life. At various Great Medicine dances he went bravely through +the bodily tortures as a sacrifice of self for the good of the tribe. +White Bull, sometimes known also as Ice, was his usual medicine man +adviser. In later years White Bull and others told me a great many +stories illustrative of the admirable qualities of Roman Nose. + +He made medicine one time when we were camped on Goose creek, a +stream flowing into the upper Tongue river. The medicine water lake +was not far away. At dawn Roman Nose stripped himself, made a raft of +logs and went out upon the lake. He took with him his medicine pipe. +He had a large buffalo robe for a bed and a small one for a pillow. +No food, no water for drinking. He spent the day on his robe bed. +He prayed, “Great Medicine, let me conquer all enemies,” and other +prayers of this kind. He meditated upon the Above. + +That night a storm came. Lightning flashed and thunder shook the +earth. Waves washed upon the raft and tossed it over the surface of +the water. His friends were fearful he would be drowned. Early in +the morning two men went to look for him. They saw him on the raft, +floating safely. They told the people, “He was not harmed.” + +The second day he likewise prayed and meditated all day. His fast was +continued. When that night arrived another storm came. The thunder +and lightning were more active than they had been during the previous +night. The waves lifted themselves higher. But when the calm morning +dawned his watchers learned that nothing harmful had fallen upon him. +The third day and night passed in the same manner, but the storm +during the hours of darkness was yet more furious. “He surely will be +killed by the water spirits tonight,” the people said. But he was not. + +The fourth night the storm was a terrible one, the worst any of the +Cheyennes ever had seen. They were fearful for themselves as well +as for the young man on the raft. Hailstones pelted our lodges and +scattered our pony herds. “He will be beaten to death,” everybody +agreed. When the quiet twilight of morning came, two men went upon a +hill to search over the waters. There was Roman Nose still floating +on his raft. They helped him to land it and to put himself upon the +shore. Not a hailstone had hit him. The water had been angry, crazy, +reaching for his body, but not a drop of it had touched him. The +water spirits failed to devour him. The Great Medicine prevented +them. At the camp all of the old men sat themselves in a circle and +listened to his rehearsal of the events of his great devotional +adventure. + +At a battle with soldiers on Powder river (1865) Roman Nose showed +the people that he had special protection against enemies. He rode +his horse several times back and forth in front of the white men. He +rode slowly, not fast. The soldiers shot at him, but not a bullet +went into him. They either missed him or fell back harmless. He had a +strong medicine warbonnet. I did not see him defy the soldiers, but +I heard a great deal of talk about it. Our camp was above the forks +of Powder river and Little Powder river. The battle was down below, +on Powder river. Both the Northern and the Southern Cheyenne tribes +were in the upper valley, camping side by side. Both of the Great +Medicine tribal lodges were in the camps, the one for our sacred +Buffalo Head, and the other for the Medicine Arrows of the Southern +Cheyennes. + +White Bull made many medicine fasts. He told me about them. He said +that one time when he was fasting and praying on a hill, not in a +lodge, on the third day a doe antelope came near to him. She lay +down there on the ground and gave birth to twin fawns. White Bull +reached out and seized the doe’s hind feet. She struggled, but he did +not release her. She promised that if he would let her go free she +would give to him the two fawns. But he told her he did not want the +fawns, he wanted her medicine, her spirit powers. The doe groaned and +protested, but finally she agreed: + +“Yes, I give you my medicine.” + +He got the bear medicine also in a manner like that. When he was +fasting and praying on a hill the bear came sniffing, sniffing, on +his trail. It stopped suddenly as it came into his view. Both of +them were startled and frightened. White Bull trusted the Great +Medicine, but the bear was altogether afraid. It said, “If you will +not harm me I will give you my medicine, and then you can speak fire +from your mouth.” It gave him then its power over spirits. He got +also the medicine of a wild hog. Perhaps he had other medicines. I +do not know. He had a good reputation for doctoring sick people. I +have heard him “Blaa-a-a-a,” like a doe antelope, when he was making +medicine for them. I have heard him, lots of times, grunting like a +hog or whoofing like a bear. I never knew how much to believe of his +stories. Lots of people said he told big lies. + +My father taught me some medicine practices for myself. He showed me +where to gather the seed of certain grass that had power to shield +me. A quantity of the seed was put into a buckskin pouch, and this +I carried tied to my back hair. In the pouch was also a piece of +loose buckskin. To prepare the medicine, a few seeds were pulverized +between the fingers and the powder was allowed to fall upon the +piece of buckskin spread out. A little saliva was mixed with it by +the stirring of a finger. A slight spray of saliva then was put into +the palms, after which the mixed seed and saliva medicine was taken +into the palms and they were rubbed together. When they had been well +rubbed they were passed all about my body or clothing, near the skin +or clothing but not touching. Bullets then would be diverted and slip +aside from me. + +My horse was protected by the same medicine. In the same way the +palms were passed all over the body of the horse, close but not +touching. This would turn aside bullets from him. The hoofs were +lifted and the bottom of the feet treated by the palm passing. He +then would be not easily tired, would be surefooted, would not step +into a hole and fall down. The palms were passed across the front +of the horse’s nose. The medicine made him have a keen sense of +smell and a clear eyesight. This helped him to find his way without +difficulty during darkness or at any time when running. + +The face painting as it was done for me by Red Haired Bear at +my first medicine making was adopted as my fixed mode of battle +preparation in this regard. It was a black ring about my face, +including lower forehead, chin and cheeks in its circle. All of the +surface enclosed in the circle was painted yellow. I kept at all +times right at hand a supply of charcoal and yellow clay paint. It +did not take long for me to apply them when an occasion for their +need might come. With this preparation, with my best clothing, my +shield, my eagle wing bone whistle, myself and my horse protected by +the grass seed medicine, I was almost fearless. I was not entirely +so, but almost. In every time of danger I tried to keep myself +thinking: + +“The Great Medicine sees me.” + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[11] Lake DeSmet. + +[12] Fort Phil Kearny. + + + + + V + +_Off the Reservation._ + + +After we had been driven from the Black Hills and that country +was given to the white people my father would not stay on any +reservation. He said it was no use trying to make farms as the +white people did. In the first place, that was not the Indian way +of living. All of our teachings and beliefs were that land was not +made to be owned in separate pieces by persons and that the plowing +up and destruction of vegetation placed by the Great Medicine and +the planting of other vegetation according to the ideas of men was +an interference with the plans of the Above. In the second place, it +seemed that if the white people could take away from us the Black +Hills after that country had been given to us and accepted by us +as ours forever, they might take away from us any other lands we +should occupy whenever they might want these other lands. In the +third place, the last great treaty had allowed us to use all of the +country between the Black Hills and the Bighorn river and mountains +as hunting grounds so long as we did not resist the traveling of +white people through it on their way to or from their lands beyond +its borders. My father decided to act upon this agreement to us. He +decided we should spend all of our time in the hunting region. We +could do this, gaining our own living in this way, or we could be +supported by rations given to us at the agency. He chose to stay away +from all white people. His family all agreed with him. So, for more +than a year before the great battle at the Little Bighorn we were all +the time in the hunting lands. + +Not all of the dissatisfied Indians stayed away from the +reservations. Bands were moving to and from the hunting grounds +at all times, even during the winter, but only a few remained +here throughout the year. The Indians involved were both Sioux +and Cheyennes, but there were many more Sioux than Cheyennes. A +band of Uncpapas, led by Sitting Bull, remained entirely away from +Dakota. There were at all times a big camp and some smaller camps +of Ogallalas. Families or small bands of other Sioux came and went. +The Cheyenne camps varied from thirty or forty lodges to two hundred +or more. During the winter before the soldiers came after us the +Cheyennes and Ogallalas kept near each other much of the time. We +spent the earlier part of the cold weather season on Otter creek. +Then we moved together over to Tongue river, setting our two camp +circles near each other on the west side of the river where now is +the home place of John Bigheadman, known also as All See Him. + +Sugar, coffee, tobacco, ammunition, everything of that kind, were +scarce with us. We were not greatly distressed because of this, but +we had learned to use and to like these additions to our old ways, +so we were pleased when such things came to us. We liked to get +ammunition, as that helped us to kill more game. But, best of all, we +liked to get tobacco. We used the plug tobacco that most white people +use for chewing. We shaved it off in thin layers, using a board to +lay it upon while cutting it. It was mixed with willow bark. This +bark we called kinnikinick. It was the dried inside layer. + +Red Haired Bear had some tobacco, just a little piece, at one time +when a certain very old man came to visit him. The old man was feeble +and shaky. He was a good man, so Red Haired Bear determined to give +him a treat. The host got out his pipe. “Give me a knife,” he said to +his woman. Then, “Get me the tobacco board.” She did as he had asked. +He cut off only a little of the tobacco and mixed it with plenty of +kinnikinick. He loaded his pipe and lit it. When he had sent puffs to +the four directions, to the Above and to the below spirits, he handed +the pipe to the guest. The old man drew in and let out one draft. He +stopped a moment as if thinking intently about something. Then he +drew in another draft. He let out a cloud through his nose. + +“Oh, tobacco!” he exclaimed in delight. + +He took deep and slow inhalations. He let them out slowly, by the +mouth and by the nose. As Red Haired Bear took his turn at the pipe +the old man grasped handfuls of the smoke, rubbed together his palms, +sniffed them over and over, rubbed his face and his clothing. “Good, +good,” he kept saying. When the pipeful had been burned he had Red +Haired Bear empty very carefully the ashes, mix some more kinnikinick +willow bark with them and fill the pipe with this mixture. They had a +third smoke of this kind. + +Four men went to the lodge of a certain medicine man. He told them +he had some tobacco, and that made their hearts glad. He had a chunk +of wood that looked like a plug of tobacco. He put this piece of +wood upon the tobacco board and pretended to shave off slices from +it to mix with kinnikinick. Even while he was shaving the stick +the men were sniffing and saying, “Oh, good tobacco.” They smoked +four pipefuls. The ashes were saved carefully. They were mixed then +with other kinnikinick and four more pipefuls were smoked. The four +men went away praising their host for having given them such fine +entertainment. + +As Cheyennes came to us from the agency they brought coffee, sugar +and tobacco. Other articles were brought, but these were the +most desired. The luxuries were distributed among friends, small +quantities here and there. Someone and another then would go to +the front of his tepee, call out the names of special friends and +invite: “I have tobacco. Come and smoke with me.” Or: “I have coffee +and sugar. Come and feast with me.” Sioux might make such gifts to +Cheyennes or Cheyennes might provide them to the Sioux. Or, members +of the two sets of Indians might invite each other to smoke or to +eat. Usually, though, the givings and the invitings were within +tribal bounds. Yet every Indian who might prosper in any way was +expected to hold himself always willing to share and desirous of +sharing his prosperity with his fellows, with all friendly people, +even with avowed enemies if such should come peaceably and should be +in want. A first principle of Indian conduct was: Be generous to all +Indians. + +Last Bull, leading chief of the Fox warriors, came to us with his +family at the last end of the winter.[13] He was the first one to +disturb our peace of mind with the announcement: + +“Soldiers are coming to fight you.” + +He said that the whites would fight all Cheyennes and Sioux who were +off the reservations. He did not know from what forts the soldiers +would come. He had not heard who would be their chiefs. But this did +not matter. He and his family stayed with us. Other Cheyennes came. + +We did not believe Last Bull’s report. We thought somebody had told +him what was not true. The treaty allowed us to hunt here as we might +wish, so long as we did not make war upon the whites. We were not +making war upon them. I had not seen any white man for many months. +We were not looking for them. We were trying to stay away from all +white people, and we wanted them to stay away from us. Our old men +said that the reason the white people wanted us to leave off the +roaming and hunting was that we should stay near them, so they could +sell us more of their goods and their whisky. Our old men ever were +urging the young men not to drink the whisky. The advice often was +disregarded, but it appeared to be given serious consideration. Up to +that time in my life I never had swallowed a drink of it. + +Lots of buffalo were feeding on the grass at the upper Tongue and +Powder rivers, on all of their branches and on the other lands in +this whole region. Lots of elk, deer and antelope could be found +almost anywhere the hunter might go to seek them. Lots of colts were +being born in our horse herds this spring. We were rich, contented, +at peace with the whites so far as we knew. Why should soldiers come +out to seek for us and fight us? No, the report seemingly was a +mistake. + +Spotted Wolf, Medicine Wolf and Twin, three Cheyenne chiefs, came to +us as we camped on Powder river. They advised us to go to our agency. +“Soldiers will come to fight you,” they assured us. We now believed +this to be true. The chiefs in our band had a council. The next day +they had another council. + +“No, we shall stay here,” they decided. “If soldiers come we shall +steal their horses. Then they can not fight us.” + +Forty lodges of Cheyennes now were in camp on the west side of Powder +river, forty or fifty miles above where Little Powder river flows +into it. The report brought by the three chiefs aroused us into +watchful activity. Every hunting party was on the lookout for white +soldiers or for their trails. The women and old people in the camp +kept themselves ever ready for immediate flight. + +My older brother Yellow Hair and I went scouting. We mounted our +horses at night and went up the Powder river valley. As we were +creeping and peeping over a hill our horses got away from us. But +we kept on afoot. We saw camp fires in a dry gulch on the east side +of Powder river. Some other groups of Cheyennes were scouting in the +same vicinity. A figure on horseback showed for a moment on a ridge. +White Man? Cheyenne? Other Indian? Must be a white man, a soldier. +Somebody off aside from us acted quickly. + +“Bang!” + +The horse and rider went at once out of sight. My brother and I +dropped down and lay quiet a long time. We talked of stealing soldier +horses. Our own were gone, and we needed mounts. We crawled along +further until we could see a soldier walking to and fro along the +line of their horses, between us and the animals. He had a rifle. As +we conferred together about what to do, other soldiers came to the +horses. They were getting ready to move. Within a few minutes the +entire body of them were gone. We went then close to the abandoned +camp. We began to poke up the smoldering fires. Suddenly: + +“Bang!” The bullet whistled past us. + +We ran. Other shots were fired at us. We hurried into a narrow gulch +or canyon. As we dodged from hiding place to hiding place up the +gulch we could see soldiers on horseback following along the high +sides. They were shooting down toward us. But they could not see us. +There was a high wind blowing, the weather was of the blustering kind +usual at that time of year. We hastened on to where the gulch led to +the high bench land. Our pursuers had left us before we reached this +broad area. We were tired, very tired. We wanted to stop and rest, +but we feared our legs might grow stiff, so we trudged on. At dawn we +heard barking of dogs at our camp. That was a welcome sound. + +“Waoo-oo-oo-oo,” we wolf-howled from a hilltop before we went into +the camp. Our alarm brought out the people. They flocked to our +lodge. A council of the old men was called. My brother and I were +brought before it. Other young men who had been out also were at the +council. “Young men, what do you know?” the chiefs asked us. We told +them. We learned that the lone horseman shot during the night before +was a Cheyenne. Another Cheyenne had sent the bullet. It had gone in +at the wrist and out just below the elbow. The affair was entirely a +case of mistaken identity. + +The council of old men decided we should keep away from the soldiers, +not try to fight them. They sent out an old man herald to proclaim: + +“Soldiers have been seen. We think they are looking for us. Today we +move camp far down the river.” + +Our hunters and scouts kept a lookout for the soldiers. Our camp was +moved to a point just above where Little Powder river flows into +Powder river and on the west side of the larger stream. The soldiers +went over the hills to the headwaters of Hanging Woman creek. They +followed this stream down to Tongue river. We felt safe then. Many of +our people thought they were not seeking us at all. + +But one day some Cheyennes hunting antelope at the head of Otter +creek, just over the hills west from our camp, saw the soldiers +camped there. The hunters urged their horses back to warn us. Some +of the horses became exhausted in the run, so their riders had to +come on afoot. A herald notified the people. All was excitement. The +council of old men appointed ten young men to go out that night and +watch the movements of the soldiers. Others were out scouting or were +awake and watching, but these ten had the special duty. Most of the +people slept, feeling secure under the protection of the appointed +outer sentinels. Early in the morning an old man arose and went to +the top of a nearby knoll to observe or to pray, as old men were in +the habit of doing. He had been there only a few moments when he +began shouting toward the camp: + +“The soldiers are right here! The soldiers are right here!” + +Already the attacking white men were between the horse herd and the +camp. The ten scouts during the hours of darkness and storm had +missed meeting the soldiers. They found a trail, this trail going up +the creek valley. They turned their horses and whipped them in the +effort to get ahead of the invaders. But the tired horses played out. +They did not catch up with the soldiers until these had arrived at +the camp, or afterward. + +Women screamed. Children cried for their mothers. Old people tottered +and hobbled away to get out of reach of the bullets singing among the +lodges. Braves seized whatever weapons they had and tried to meet +the attack. I owned a muzzle-loading rifle, but I had no bullets for +it. I owned also a cap-and-ball six shooter, but I had loaned it to +Star, a cousin who was one of the ten special scouts of the night +before. In turn, he had let me have bow and arrows he had borrowed +from Puffed Cheek. My armament then consisted of this bow and arrows +belonging to Puffed Cheek. + +I skirted around afoot to get at our horse herd. I looped my lariat +rope over the neck of the first convenient one. It belonged to Old +Bear, the old man chief of our band. But just now it became my war +pony. I quickly made a lariat bridle and mounted the recovered +animal. A few other Cheyennes did the same as I had done. But most +of them remained afoot. I shot arrows at the soldiers. Our people had +not much else to shoot. Only a few had guns and also ammunition for +them. + +All of the soldiers who first appeared had white horses. Another +band of them who charged soon afterward from another direction had +only bay horses. I started back to try to get to my home lodge. I +wanted my shield, my other medicine objects and whatever else I might +be able to carry away. Women were struggling along burdened with +packs of precious belongings. Some were dragging or carrying their +children. All were shrieking in fright. I came upon one woman who had +a pack on her back, one little girl under an arm and an older girl +clinging to her free right hand. She was crying, both of the girls +were crying, and all three of them were almost exhausted. They had +just dived into a thicket for a rest when I rode up to them. It was +Last Bull’s wife and their two daughters. + +“Let me take one of the children,” I proposed. + +The older girl, age about ten years, was lifted up behind me. A +little further on I picked up also an eight-year-old boy who was +trudging along behind a mother carrying on her back a baby and under +her arms two other children. The girl behind me clasped her arms +about my waist. I wrapped an arm about the boy in front of me. With +my free arm and hand I guided my horse as best I could. The animal +too was excited by the tumult. It shied and plunged. But I got the +two children out of danger. Then I went back to help in the fight. + +Two Moons, Bear Walks on a Ridge and myself were together. We +centered an attack upon one certain soldier. Two Moons had a +repeating rifle. As we stood in concealment he stood it upon end +in front of him and passed his hands up and down the barrel, not +touching it, while making medicine. Then he said: “My medicine is +good; watch me kill that soldier.” He fired, but his bullet missed. +Bear Walks on a Ridge then fired his muzzle-loading rifle. His bullet +hit the soldier in the back of the head. We rushed upon the man and +beat and stabbed him to death. Another Cheyenne joined us to help in +the killing. He took the soldier’s rifle. I stripped off the blue +coat and kept it. Two Moons and Bear Walks on a Ridge took whatever +else he had and they wanted. + +One Cheyenne was killed by the soldiers. Another had his forearm +badly shattered. Braided Locks, who is yet living, had the skin of +one cheek furrowed by a bullet. The Cheyennes were beaten away from +the camp. From a distance we saw the destruction of our village. Our +tepees were burned, with everything in them except what the soldiers +may have taken. Extra flares at times showed the explosion of powder, +and there was the occasional pop of a cartridge from the fires. +The Cheyennes were rendered very poor. I had nothing left but the +clothing I had on, with the soldier coat added. My eagle wing bone +flute, my medicine pipe, my rifle, everything else of mine, were gone. + +This was in the last part of the winter.[14] Melted snow water was +running everywhere. We waded across the Powder river and set off to +the eastward. All of the people except some of the warriors were +afoot. The few young men on horseback stayed behind to guard the +other people as they got away. One old woman, a blind person, was +missing. All others were present except the Cheyenne who had been +killed. + +The soldiers did not follow us. That night we who had horses went +back to see what had become of them. At the destroyed camp we saw +one lodge still standing. We went to it. There was the missing old +blind woman. Her tepee and herself had been left entirely unharmed. +We talked about this matter, all agreeing that the act showed the +soldiers had good hearts. + +We found the soldier camp. We found also our horses they had taken. +We crept toward the herd, out a little distance from the camp. One +Cheyenne would whisper, “I see my horse.” Another would say, “There +is mine.” Some could not see their own, but they took whichever ones +they could get. I got my own favorite animal. We made some effort +then to steal some of the horses of the white men. But they shot +at us, so we went away with the part of our own herd that we could +manage. When we returned with them and caught up with our people we +let the women and some of the old people ride. I gave then to Chief +Old Bear his horse I had captured when the soldiers first attacked +us. He said, “Thank you, my friend,” and he gave the horse to his +woman while he kept on afoot. + +We kept going eastward and northward. We forded the Little Powder +river and went upon the benches beyond. Three nights we slept out. +Only a few had robes. There was but little food, only a few women +having little chunks of dry meat in their small packs. There was hard +freezing at night and there was mud and water by day. But nobody +appeared to become ill from the exposure. Early on the fourth day +we arrived at where we had aimed, a camp of Ogallala Sioux far up +a creek east of Powder river. Three or four Ogallala lodges had +been beside our Cheyenne camp when the soldiers came. These people +traveling with us led us to their main camp. + +The Ogallalas received us hospitably, as we knew they would do. Crazy +Horse was their principal chief. Heads of lodges all about the camp +were calling out to us: + +“Cheyennes, come and eat here.” + +They fed us to fullness and gave us temporary shelter and robes. +At night a council was held by the chiefs of the two bands. At the +council our people told about the soldier attack. It was decided that +the Ogallalas and the Cheyennes should go together to the Uncpapa +Sioux, located northeastward from us. The next forenoon all of us set +out in that direction. Horses were loaned to the Cheyennes by the +Ogallalas, so none of us had to walk. + +Buffalo Bull Sitting Down, known to the white people as Sitting Bull, +was the principal chief of the Uncpapas in that camp. There were more +of them than of Cheyennes and Ogallalas combined. When we arrived +there they set up at once two big special lodges in the center of +their camp circle. Our men were placed in one of these lodges, our +women in the other. In each lodge sat a circle of Cheyennes about the +inner wall. Uncpapa women had set their pots to boiling when first we +had been seen. Now they came with meat. They kept on coming, coming, +with more and more meat. We were filled up, and we had plenty extra +to keep for another day. An Uncpapa herald went riding about the camp +and calling out: + +“The Cheyennes are very poor. All who have blankets or robes or +tepees to spare should give to them.” + +Crowds of women and girls came with gifts. A ten-year-old Uncpapa +girl put a buffalo robe in front of me and left it there. It was mine +now. An Uncpapa man gave my father a medicine pipe to replace his +lost one. I did not receive that kind of present, but I was provided +with every important comfort. Whoever needed any kind of clothing got +it immediately. They flooded us with gifts of everything needful. +Crowds of their men and women were going among us to find out and to +supply our wants. + +“Who needs a blanket?” + +“I do.” + +“Take this one.” + +“Who wants this tepee?” + +“Give it to me.” + +“It is yours.” + +They brought horses--lots of horses. + +“Who wants a horse?” + +“I.” + +“You may have this one.” + +Oh, what good hearts they had! I never can forget the generosity of +Sitting Bull’s Uncpapa Sioux on that day. + +Our women’s backs were burdened and our gift horses were loaded as we +went to the nearby place assigned to us for the setting up of our own +camp circle. Every household had a lodge, the same as had been the +case at our lost camp. Some of the new tepees were small, but they +served all necessary purposes until we could get buffalo skins for +making larger ones. + +This triple camp was fifty or more miles east of Powder river, on +east from a big and tall white stone which the white people call +Chalk Butte. It was at the headwaters of a stream flowing westward +into Powder river. The Cheyennes had been three sleeps on the way to +the Ogallalas. One sleep there. Three sleeps of travel by Cheyennes +and Ogallalas to the Uncpapa camp. Five or six sleeps the three +tribes stayed together at this place. + +Various scouting parties went out to find out where were the +soldiers. Eight or ten of us Cheyennes went to Tongue river and +beyond. At Tongue river we stopped for a daytime rest. Our horses +were picketed out to graze. After a while they began to show signs +of alarm. A Cheyenne went out to look. He saw a lone white man afoot +among the herd. Indian horses were afraid of white people, so they +were snorting. The Cheyenne approached the white man and called out: + +“How!” + +“How,” the white man responded. + +They shook hands. The Cheyenne got his own horse, mounted it, and +asked the white man to go with him to the other Indians. They set +off, the Cheyenne on horseback, the white man afoot. The stranger +had a six shooter in a scabbard at his belt, but he made no offer to +use it. He appeared friendly. He was thin and hungry-looking. His +clothing was very ragged. The other Cheyennes got their horses, and +they all gathered about the newcomer. Some of them mounted their +horses, others stood afoot holding them. + +“Who are you?” a Cheyenne signed. + +The white man could make signs, but not very well. He made us +understand him, though. He said he had been a soldier, but he got +lost from them. He told us he had not fought us, as he had been +lost before that time. He said the ragged clothing he had on was +taken from a dead Sioux, as he did not want to be seen with soldier +clothing. One Cheyenne kept saying, in our language, “Let’s kill +him.” But nobody agreed with him. Finally he jerked up his rifle and +fired. The white man fell dead. Others then cut him and beat him, so +that no one man could have the blame nor receive the honor. + +Robbing the body was the next step. About all he had was the six +shooter, some cartridges for it, and a little package tied to his +belt. It had meat in it. It was horse meat and had been cooked in an +open blazing fire. We threw it away. + +This man was killed not many miles down the Tongue river from my +present home place. The exact spot is on a ranch where now lives a +white man named Wolf. The place is on Tongue river below the present +town of Ashland, Montana. + + + HISTORICAL NOTE + + A sketch of the military campaign of 1876 against the roaming + Sioux and Cheyennes is interposed here for the enlightenment of + such readers as may not be familiar with the frontier history of + that period. There is nothing new in this sketch; it is simply a + synopsis of what heretofore has been accepted and published. + + After the Indian troubles during and immediately following our + civil war, in 1868 a treaty was made with the Sioux and Cheyenne + tribes of the northern plains country. A few of the Sioux, mainly + a band of Uncpapas led by Sitting Bull, refused to go into the + treaty council. Various reservations in the Dakotas were agreed + upon as belonging exclusively to the various tribes of Indians + involved. All lands lying westward of these reservations, as far + as the Bighorn river and Bighorn mountains, in Montana, were + to be hunting grounds for the Indians as long as wild game in + abundance remained there. + + Bands of these Dakota red people were going out to the hunting + grounds and returning again from time to time. Some of them + elected to remain most of the time, or all of the time, in the + Montana open country. Sitting Bull and a few others like him + stayed entirely away from the agencies. They were actuated partly + by resentment and partly by a sincere desire to avoid conflict + that regularly resulted from prolonged contiguity of Indians and + whites. + + The Cheyennes and the Ogallala Sioux were assigned to the Black + Hills country as their reservation--forever, according to the + terms of the treaty. Soon afterward it became apparent that rich + gold fields were hidden away somewhere in the lands conceded + to them. In 1874, obedient to orders from Washington, General + George A. Custer led his Seventh cavalry from Fort Lincoln, + Dakota, on an exploratory expedition into the Cheyenne-Ogallala + country. They found ample verification of the rumors as to the + presence of gold there. The news spread rapidly, and there was a + rush of white men fortune-seekers into the midst of these Indian + possessions. + + The government made a weak effort to restrain the intruders. + But the eager migrants flooded in and burst through the flimsy + military barriers. The vexing problem was dodged by moving + the Indians to other lands. But not all of them went to the + designated new reservations. Many of them, angered at what they + deemed a wrongful ousting, took their tepees and their families + and went to live altogether in the open hunting regions. Indians + from other reservations did likewise. That was the beginning of + the “Indian uprising” of 1876. + + In December, 1875, pursuant to our governmental policy, General + Sherman, then commander-in-chief of the United States army, + issued an important general order. He proclaimed that all Indians + found off their reservations after the last day of January, + 1876, would be regarded as hostiles to be fought by the military + forces. It being evident that not many of the Dakota roamers in + Montana would return to the reservations until they were forced + to do so, bodies of soldiers were set in motion for seeking + out and driving these wanderers back within their assigned + territorial bounds. + + The active military field leaders in this campaign were + Brigadier-General Terry, Brigadier-General Crook, Colonel Gibbon + and Lieutenant-Colonel Custer. Each of these four officers had + been brevetted Major-General of Volunteers during the civil war, + but the contracting of the army after the war set each of them + back to a lower ranking. Terry had infantry from Fort Rice and + Custer’s Seventh cavalry, from Fort Lincoln, Dakota. Crook had a + force of cavalry and infantry at Fort Fetterman, Wyoming. Gibbon + had infantry from Fort Shaw and cavalry from Fort Ellis, Montana. + + From their three basic points--in Dakota, in Wyoming and in + Montana--the three bodies of soldiers moved toward a common + central area between the Powder and Bighorn rivers, in Montana, + where the Indians being sought were roaming. Details of these + military movements are too extensive for review here. The most + thrilling phase of the campaign began when Custer and his Seventh + cavalry set off up the Rosebud valley to follow a recent Indian + trail. The result of this subsidiary proceeding was the supreme + tragedy in the annals of our American frontier warfare. + + The first fight of that 1876 struggle was this attack upon the + Cheyenne camp on Powder river, March 17th. There have been + published many worthy books recounting the military operations + of that year. Reliable edification on this subject may be found + in General Godfrey’s magazine articles, in Colonel Graham’s + “The Story of the Little Bighorn,” in Grinnell’s “The Fighting + Cheyennes,” in Brininstool’s “A Trooper with Custer,” in the + diaries of Lieutenants Bradley and McClernand, and in some other + published writings.[15] These tell the stirring story of where + our soldiers went and what they did during that eventful summer. + Wooden Leg tells the equally stirring story of where the Indians + went and what they did during that same time. + + THOMAS B. MARQUIS. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[13] February, 1876. + +[14] March 17th, 1876. Gen. J. J. Reynolds in command of soldiers. +Historians mistakenly mention this incident as a victory over “Crazy +Horse’s village.”--T. B. M. + +[15] EDITOR’S NOTE: The interested reader will find also much +enlightenment in Dr. Marquis’ “Soldiering in the Old West,” to be +published soon by The Midwest Company. + + + + + VI + +_Swarming of Angered Indians._ + + +A band of Minneconjoux Sioux arrived at the Uncpapa camp either just +before or just after we got there. They had not been troubled by +the soldiers, but they wanted to keep out of trouble. Lame Deer was +their principal chief. The Cheyennes were well acquainted with the +Minneconjoux. We had camped and hunted with them many times. There +were some intermarriages with them, so there were a few Cheyennes +among them and a few of their people belonging to our tribe. We had +mingled with them almost as much as we had with the Ogallalas. We +never had associated closely with the Uncpapas. They were almost +strangers to us. We knew of them only by hearsay from the Ogallalas +and the Minneconjoux. + +The movement to the Uncpapas was because they had a much larger +band in the hunting grounds than had any of the other tribes. Some +of them, with Sitting Bull as their leader, had been out all of the +time for several years. At this first assembling, the Ogallala band +was in number next to the Uncpapas. The Minneconjoux had not quite +as many as had the Ogallalas. The Cheyenne band was the smallest. +During past times, when the Cheyennes and the Ogallalas and the +Burned Thighs (Brûlé Sioux) had fought the white soldiers many times +in the country farther southward, not many of the Uncpapas had been +with them. These people kept mostly at peace by staying away from +all white settlements. Now it was becoming generally believed among +Indians that this was the best plan. + +Sitting Bull had come into notice as the most consistent advocate +of the idea of living out of all touch with white people. He would +not go to the reservation nor would he accept any rations or other +gifts coming from the white man government. He rarely went to the +trading posts. Himself and his followers were wealthy in food and +clothing and lodges, in everything needful to an Indian. They did +not lose any horses nor other property in warfare, because they had +not any warfare. He had come now into admiration by all Indians +as a man whose medicine was good--that is, as a man having a kind +heart and good judgment as to the best course of conduct. He was +considered as being altogether brave, but peaceable. He was strong +in religion--the Indian religion. He made medicine many times. He +prayed and fasted and whipped his flesh into submission to the will +of the Great Medicine. So, in attaching ourselves to the Uncpapas +we other tribes were not moved by a desire to fight. They had not +invited us. They simply welcomed us. We supposed that the combined +camps would frighten off the soldiers. We hoped thus to be freed from +their annoyance. Then we could separate again into the tribal bands +and resume our quiet wandering and hunting. + +The four camps could not remain long together in any one location. +The food game would become scarce there and the feed for our horses +would be eaten away. We had to move on. A council of all of the +tribal chiefs decided we should go northward to the head of the next +stream flowing into the east side of Powder river. The next morning +after the decision had been made, the four different bands set off in +procession toward the appointed place. + +The Cheyennes were in the lead. The Ogallalas came next. Following +them were the Minneconjoux. The Uncpapas were last. The order of +movement was the result of an agreed plan. The Cheyennes and the +Uncpapas had the specially dangerful positions. I do not know on just +what grounds this was the arrangement, but I know that this was the +intention. The Cheyennes kept scouts out in front looking forward +from high points. The Uncpapas had always some of their young men +staying back to observe if any enemies were following. The Ogallalas +and the Minneconjoux sent guardians off to the hill points at the +sides. + +Three sleeps, I believe, our four camp circles stood in this new +location. The Cheyennes in advance had been allowed to choose first +the spot for the encampment. The Ogallalas and the Minneconjoux then +located themselves only a little distance from us and from each +other. The Uncpapas placed their circle on whatever good ground +was left and on ground most suitable for guarding that side of the +combined body of Indians. In the camping as well as in the traveling, +the Cheyennes and the Uncpapas occupied the specially exposed +positions. + +The scarcity of feed for our horses led the council into a decision +to move on yet farther northward. As I remember it, we spent one +sleep in temporary camp during this movement as well as in the first +combined shift of base. Our horses were weak for lack of food, so we +had to travel slowly. We stopped at the upper regions of the next +creek tributary to Powder river. I believe we stayed there three +sleeps. + +The Arrows All Gone Sioux (the Sans Arcs) came to us at this camping +place. Five camp circles now were in close communion. The number +of people in this added band was about the same as in the Ogallala +or the Minneconjoux organizations. In the case of each of the five +tribes, only a part of their members were here. But in each case +more were coming from time to time while few or none were going back +to the reservations. I believe the number of Cheyenne lodges now must +have been increased to fifty. The Ogallalas, Minneconjoux and Arrows +All Gone each had more, perhaps sixty or seventy. The comparative +size of the Uncpapa circle indicated they might have had as many as a +hundred and fifty lodges. + +After three or four sleeps the five camps moved again. This time we +swerved to the northwestward. Our stopping place now was lower down +on the next creek flowing into Powder river. New grass was beginning +to peep up here. Our hungry horses searched greedily for it. The +herder boys were kept busy at keeping them from rambling too far. +The tribal herds were kept separate, boys or youths from each tribe +guarding their own bands. + +The Blackfeet Sioux joined us here, I believe. I am not sure of the +exact place where they came, but I can not recollect any other point +where they might have come. I recall clearly, though, that when we +got to Powder river there were six camp circles, the Blackfeet Sioux +making up the sixth one. Theirs was not a very large circle, but it +was a separate one. They camped close to the Uncpapas. + +Many extra horses were brought in by some of the newly arriving +Indians. I think most of them were brought by the Blackfeet Sioux, +or perhaps by the Arrows All Gone. But wherever they were needed by +members of other tribes they were distributed out as gifts. + +A few Waist and Skirt Indians[16] attached themselves to us. They +were known also as No Clothing people, because their men had no +clothing. They were extremely poor, having but little property and no +horses. They had plenty of dogs--big dogs--to drag or to carry their +tepees and other scant property. Their tribal name, as known to us, +arose from their women having dresses made up in two parts. Other +Indian women made up their dresses in one piece. I heard Cheyennes +talk about Sitting Bull’s father being with these people. He may have +been there, but I do not remember having seen him. These Indians had +small tepees, and their lodge poles were placed with the butt ends +up. They camped all the time in a little group beside the Uncpapa +circle. Some Assiniboines also were mingled with the Uncpapas, and +others of them were with the Blackfeet Sioux. A few Burned Thigh +tepees were with the Ogallalas and the Blackfeet Sioux. Many of the +incoming Indians talked of having been north of Elk river.[17] Some +of the talk I had heard was that they had been searching there for +us. As I remember it, the extra horse bands were brought from the +north side of that stream. + +Chief Lame White Man and a big band of other Cheyennes came to us +at Powder river. They had made a long journey out from the White +River agency. They had been looking for us all about the heads of +the Powder, Tongue and Rosebud rivers. They doubled back and found +our trail east of Powder river. They had not learned of the soldier +attack upon our Cheyenne camp. + +Lame White Man did not belong to the Northern Cheyenne tribe, but he +had been much of the time with us. He was a big chief or an old man +chief of the Southern Cheyennes. He was not a chief with us, but he +was a wise and good man. For this reason he had much influence among +us, even as an adviser to our chiefs. His wife and family were with +him, and their lodge became a part of our growing camp circle. + +From Powder river our course was directed westward. We went over the +hill country. The grass was coming up everywhere, and our horses were +growing stronger. I believe we camped in two or three places between +there and the Tongue river, one sleep at each place. Individual +hunters and small hunting parties were gathering meat for their +families. Even when we stopped for but one sleep at any place, all of +the camp circles were formed and all of the lodges set up. It was the +taking down, moving and setting up again every day of a little city. + +A big band of additional Cheyennes came to us on Tongue river. They +were led by Dirty Moccasins, an old man chief. They had crossed +Powder river, journeyed over the divide west of it to Otter creek +and followed this stream down to Tongue river. Our camp was thirty +or forty miles down from where Otter creek flows into the river. +Straggling lodges had been reaching us, but this was the largest +annexation in any one group. Our Cheyenne circle now was double what +it had been when we first joined the Uncpapas. The other circles +likewise were growing in the same way. These Cheyennes brought extra +ammunition, sugar, coffee and tobacco. + +Going on west from Tongue river, we stopped several days, perhaps +four or five sleeps, at the upper part of a stream we knew as Wood +creek. It is the first creek of importance west of Tongue river and +flowing, I believe, into Elk river. Our horses now were getting much +grass. As the main part of the herds grazed, the men were hunting. +Big parties of Indians killed lots of buffalo in this neighborhood. +There were many thousands of these animals here. The Cheyennes made +a special effort to get a plentiful supply of robes for making larger +lodges. The smaller ones given to our people by the Uncpapas had been +comfortable, but larger ones were more comfortable. We also got skins +for robes. Men and women all were busy, the men at hunting and the +women at tanning the skins. + +Councils of the chiefs of the six tribes assembled together were +held at each place of camping. They talked of whatever might be of +general interest. Particularly, a council settled where we should go +next, at each move. We had not set out to go into any special region. +The moves depended upon reports of hunting parties or scouts. They +learned and reported where was most of such game as we were seeking. + +Many young men were anxious to go for fighting the soldiers. But the +chiefs and old men all urged us to keep away from the white men. They +said that fighting wasted energy that ought to be applied in looking +only for food and clothing, trying only to feed and make comfortable +ourselves and our families. Our combination of camps was simply for +defense. We were within our treaty rights as hunters. We must keep +ourselves so. + +From Wood creek we went yet westward to the upper part of what we +called Sioux creek. Here we stayed but one sleep and followed the +same direction the next day. All of the people were on horses or on +lodgepole travois dragged by horses. All of the personal or family +belongings were in travois baskets or on the backs of special pack +horses. We had not any wagons. Such vehicles could not have been used +in most of the country that Indians inhabited then. + +We arrived at the Rosebud river or large creek about the middle of +May, I believe. I did not know then anything about a calendar, but +judging from my recollection of the condition of the grass and the +trees, about the weather and other natural conditions, that must have +been about the time.[18] Many times during the later years of peace I +have been up and down that valley, on my way to and fro between the +reservation and the town of Forsythe, so I with other Cheyennes have +kept exactly in mind all of the old camping places along this stream. + +The first Rosebud camping place of the six great circles of Indians +was about seven or eight miles up from Elk river. The Uncpapa circle +at that time was partly on the land where now is a ranch house +occupied by white people. The place now is known as the James +Kennedy place, as a white man having that name lived there during +many years. The Uncpapa circle extended from the present location of +this house out across the present highway road and upon the bench +eastward. The Cheyennes were camped about a mile and a half up the +valley from Sitting Bull’s Uncpapas. Our location included a line of +trees such as yet are there extending from the creek across the road +east of it. An old white man named Eugene Noyes was living there a +few years ago, in a house just off a short distance southwest from +that old Cheyenne camp site. The other four circles were at four +different places between the Uncpapas and the Cheyennes. All of them +were on the east side of the creek. + +Charcoal Bear, chief medicine man of the Northern Cheyennes, came to +us at this first Rosebud camp. Lots of our people were with him. He +brought the tribal medicine lodge and our sacred Buffalo Head and all +other of our tribal medicine objects. The lodge was set up in the +midst of our camp circle. It put good thoughts and good feeling into +the hearts of all Cheyennes. + +I have heard in later years that soldiers from north of Elk river +came across and saw our camp here. But I never knew of any soldiers +having been seen by any of the Indians in this region. We did lots +of buffalo hunting all across from Tongue river and continued to +kill many of them on the hills west of the Rosebud. I did not hear +any talk of the buffalo or other game showing signs of having been +alarmed by any other people. Six or seven sleeps, I believe, we +stayed here. Then we moved up the valley about twelve miles. + +At this second Rosebud camp the Uncpapa circle was on land just +across the present highway road westward from and almost in front +of a school house now standing east of the road. A mile and a half +or more on up the valley was the Cheyenne circle. Between them, all +on the east side of the creek, were the other four tribal circles. +On this Cheyenne camping ground I had been in a camp of our people +ten years before this, when I was a boy. Here Crazy Mule had made +medicine and had done some wonderful acts. Here also at that past +time a Cheyenne woman had gone out eastward up a wooded gulch and had +hanged herself. + +While we now were at this second Rosebud combined camp a report was +brought in that Crows had been seen in our vicinity. A herald rode +about our camp circle making the announcement. It was agreed our +Crazy Dog warriors should go out to find them. The Crazy Dogs built +a bonfire and had a preparatory dance. All of them stripped naked +and painted their bodies. All of them danced barefooted. It was +considered wonderful that they could do this without getting cactus +thorns into their feet. As the dance was going on it began to become +known that the report of Crows was a mistake, that nobody had seen +them. The war dance was ended and the bonfire died down. It may have +been that Crows actually had been seen, as I have learned in later +times that some of them were scouting as helpers for soldiers north +of Elk river. + +After one sleep at the second Rosebud camp we traveled on up the +valley another twelve or fifteen miles. This time the Uncpapas +occupied land now on both sides of the highway road and to the west +and south of a painted peak the white people now call Teat butte. The +other camps were scattered irregularly on up the valley, all yet on +the east side of the creek. It was about a mile and a half from the +lower or last Uncpapa site to the upper or advanced Cheyenne site. +Only one sleep here. The next forenoon the Cheyennes headed again a +procession up the Rosebud valley. + +The fourth Rosebud camp was at and above the place where now the +main highway from Forsythe forks to go toward Lame Deer and toward +Ashland. The lower or northern end of the group, the site of Sitting +Bull’s people, was on the benchland by the present roadside east and +northeast from the forks. Four camp circles were, as usual, somewhere +between them and the Cheyennes in front and the Uncpapas at the rear. +One of the Sioux camps was on the west side of the creek, the first +time any of the circles had been set up on that side. The Cheyennes +were about a mile east of where a roadside trading store in late +years has been managed by a white man named Parkins. We were at the +mouth of a stream flowing into the Rosebud and known now as Greenleaf +creek. Our circle was only about a mile southward from the Uncpapas. +The others were in an irregular curve between us. All of the Indians +had been using the dirty yellow water of Rosebud creek, but now the +Cheyennes had better water from Greenleaf creek. While we were here, +some more Cheyennes arrived from the reservation. They told us: + +“Lots of soldiers are being sent to fight the Indians.” + +Three sleeps I remained with our people at this camp. Great bands of +Sioux went buffalo hunting among the hills and small mountains west +of the Rosebud. I went hunting also, but I did not go there. Eleven +Cheyennes, including myself, got our pack horses and set out over +the low pass to Tongue river. We were on the lookout for soldiers or +signs of them, but we did not want to fight them. We had our war +bags, of course, but Indians did not take pack horses when going out +to fight. + +Two or three days after we had left our people they moved on up the +Rosebud. This time the camp circles extended from just above the +present Toohey ranch to a point about a mile and a half up the valley +from that place. As usual, the Uncpapas were at the last end while +the Cheyennes were at the first or upper end. The Uncpapas were on +the east side of the creek, just west of the present main highway. +The Cheyennes at the upper end of the group were on the west side of +the creek, on a bench, a mile or so across west from the road. I was +not there at the time, but this place is only ten or twelve miles +north of our present reservation, so I have learned all about it from +other Cheyennes as we have traveled up and down the road now there. + +At this camp the Uncpapas had a Great Medicine dance. No other +Indians took part in it, but great throngs of people from the other +camp circles assembled to look on. This Great Medicine dance, or sun +dance, as the white people call it, was held about a quarter of a +mile west of the present highway that extends along the valley. The +medicine lodge was pitched just north from the Uncpapa camp circle. +Its exact site was on a flat bottom by the creek about a quarter of +a mile south by southwest from the present Toohey ranch house. By the +present roadside, just below the Toohey ranch house, is a signboard +that tells people, “Custer camped here June 23, 1876.” The place +where Sitting Bull’s people had their Great Medicine dance is only +half a mile southwest from this roadside signboard. + +A few miles up the valley from this camp site are the deer medicine +rocks. They are three or four miles below the present reservation +northern gate. They may be seen about a mile west of the present +road and off from the base of the hills. They are about half a mile +or farther southwest from the big ranch house of a white man named +Bailey. In the old times, both Cheyennes and Sioux had reverence for +these separated cliff towers. As hunters were about to go for deer +or antelope, they assembled on horseback and grouped around the deer +medicine rocks. There they looked up to the tops and made prayers +for success in the oncoming hunt. It is probable that the Indians at +that camping time paid the usual respect to this old-time place of +worship. But I do not know. I was not there. I then was traveling up +the Tongue river valley, with ten other Cheyenne buffalo hunters. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[16] Santee Sioux, Wahpeton group, refugees from Minnesota, dwelling +in Canada. + +[17] The universal Indian name for the Yellowstone river. + +[18] Thomas H. Leforge and his Crow scouts learned that the hostile +Indians arrived on the Rosebud about May 19th, 1876. They observed a +great camp there on May 26th. A few days later this camp was gone. +Lieutenant Bradley’s diary records these facts. Bradley, Leforge and +the Crow scouts were of the Gibbon forces, located then on the north +side of the Yellowstone river.--T. B. M. + + + + + VII + +_Soldiers from the Southward._ + + +Our party of eleven buffalo hunters went over the same low pass that +is traversed by the road now going from the Rosebud to Tongue river +and Ashland. We did not find any big herd of buffalo. We had killed +only four by the time we arrived at Hanging Woman creek. We decided +then to go on over to Powder river. We followed Powder river almost +up to the mouth of Lodgepole creek. On the way we came across a +dead Indian on a burial scaffold. The body had been stripped of all +wrappings and of clothing. We wondered if this had been a Sioux, a +Crow or a Shoshone. We wondered also who had robbed the body. + +One of our men named Lame Sioux went out to a hill for a look over +the country. Pretty soon he began to signal. He had seen a camp of +soldiers. All of us got out to look. Yes, this was a soldier camp. We +dropped back into hiding. Ourselves and our horses all were put into +concealment until darkness came. Then we dressed ourselves, painted +ourselves and went on a night scout for a closer view. We saw the +camp fires burning. We worked our way carefully toward them. It was +after the middle of the night when we arrived at a point where we +could see well the entire scene. But all of the soldiers then were +gone. + +We slept then until morning came. When we went to the abandoned +camp site the first thing to arouse our special interest was a beef +carcass having yet on the bones many fragments of meat. The next +interesting object was a box of hard crackers. It had been raining, +and they were wet, but this made them all the better. We ate what +we wanted of them. We cooked pieces of the beef on the fire coals. +We enjoyed a fine breakfast. Then we set out on the trail of the +soldiers. + +The trail led us northwestward over the divide and down Crow creek. +Near where Crow creek empties into Tongue river we saw the soldier +camp.[19] The time was late in the afternoon. We retreated and +skirted around up the river. At dusk we crossed it to the west side. +The water was running high. We stripped and tied our clothing in +bundles about our necks. We sat upon our riding horses and led our +pack horses as they swam through the lively current. We hid ourselves +among the trees on that side of the valley and slept until morning. + +From a cliff the next morning we saw first a band of about twenty +Indians riding away from the soldier camp. Were they Crows? Were +they Shoshones? We exchanged guesses, but we did not know. We talked +among ourselves about making an attack upon them. There was some talk +of trying to steal soldier horses. We were anxious to do something +warlike, to get horses or to count coups. But the general agreement +was that it was too risky. We considered it most important that we +return and notify our people on the Rosebud. We did not want to tire +out our horses in an effort to get others or to get fighting honors. +But we lingered to do some more looking. We saw soldiers walking +about their camp. It had been flooded by the high waters. They were +splashing about here and there and appeared to be getting ready to +travel. We decided it was time for us also to travel. + +Six of us, including myself, started out toward the hills between us +and the uppermost Rosebud. The five other Cheyennes remained behind +to see where the soldiers might go. During the day two of these came +on and joined us. Before night the final three were with us. “They +are coming in this direction,” the three reported. We then were on +the upper small branches of Rosebud creek. + +We killed a buffalo there. We hurried in cutting from it some of +the choice pieces. We quickly divided up the liver and ate the raw +segments. Over a hastily built fire we scantily toasted little chunks +of buffalo meat. As we devoured them we spoke but few words. Whatever +speech was uttered was in jerky sputterings. Everybody was excited. +Every minute or two somebody was jumping up to go somewhere and look +for pursuing soldiers. After the food had been bolted we hastened to +move on. When darkness had well advanced we stopped for the night. +Our horses needed rest and food. We picketed them. We felt safe +during the night, so we slept soundly. + +Before the sun was up we were several miles on down the Rosebud +valley. We did not know just where our people were, but we knew they +were somewhere on this stream. We found them strung along from the +location of our present Indian dance hall there up almost to the +present home of Porcupine. We wolf-howled and aroused the people. +Cheyennes flocked to learn why we had given the alarm. We went on +into camp and reported to an old man. Some Sioux were there, and they +carried the news to their people. Soon all of the camp circles were +in a fever of excitement. Heralds in all of them were riding about +and shouting: + +“Soldiers have been seen. They are coming in this direction. Indians +are with them.” + +Councils were called. Lots of young men wanted to go out and fight +the soldiers, but the chiefs would not allow this. Our chiefs +appointed Little Hawk, Crooked Nose and two or three others to go +scouting and find out about the further movements of the white men. +Maybe some Sioux scouts also were sent out. I do not know, but I +think they depended upon the Cheyennes to do the work. + +The Indians all moved camp, going on up the valley about ten miles. +Here the Cheyennes chose for their location a spot on the east side +of the Rosebud, just across from the present Davis creek and on the +land now occupied by Rising Sun. The Sioux following them set their +circles on down the creek, the Uncpapas being below the present Busby +school. My recollection is we stayed here more than one sleep, but +I am not sure. When we left this place we went westward up Davis +creek and across the hills beside it, going toward the dividing hills +separating us from the Little Bighorn river. It was understood we +were on our way to that valley. + +We camped that afternoon just east of the divide. The place is about +a mile north of the present road there, the camps extending northward +up a broad coulee full of plum thickets. Dry camp, no water, at this +place. One sleep here. The next morning we went on over the divide +and down the slopes to what we called Great Medicine Dance creek, +but known now to the white people as Reno creek. We stopped where +the main forks of the creek come together. Our circles were formed +along the valley and on the bench. The Cheyennes were at the advance +or west end, the Uncpapas at the rear or east end. From our camp to +theirs the distance was about two miles. The grouped camps centered +about where the present road crosses a bridge at the fork of the +creek.[20] + +Little Hawk and the other scouts returned to us here. They reported +the soldiers as being on the upper branches of the Rosebud. The Sioux +were told of this report, or they may have had information from +scouts of their own. Heralds in all six of the camps rode about and +told the people. The news created an unusual stir. Women packed up +all articles except such as were needed for immediate use. Some of +them took down their tepees and got them ready for hurrying away if +necessary. Additional watchers were put among the horse herds. Young +men wanted to go out and meet the soldiers, to fight them. The chiefs +of all camps met in one big council. After a while they sent heralds +to call out: + +“Young men, leave the soldiers alone unless they attack us.” + +But as darkness came on we slipped away. Many bands of Cheyenne and +Sioux young men, with some older ones, rode out up the south fork +toward the head of Rosebud creek. Warriors came from every camp +circle. We had our weapons, war clothing, paints and medicines. I had +my six-shooter. We traveled all night. + +We found the soldiers[21] about seven or eight o’clock in the +morning, I believe. We had slept only a little, our horses were very +tired, so we did not hurry our attack. But always in such cases +there are eager or foolish ones who begin too soon. Not long after +we arrived there was fighting on the hillsides and on the little +valley where was the soldier camp. In this early fighting, one young +Cheyenne foolishly charged too far, and some Indians belonging to the +soldiers got after him. They shot and crippled his horse. I and some +other Cheyennes drove back the pursuers. I took the young man behind +me on my horse, and we hurried away to our main body of warriors. + +Jack Red Cloud, son of the old Ogallala Chief Red Cloud, was wearing +a warbonnet. His horse was killed. According to the Indian way, in +such case the warrior was supposed to stop and take off the bridle +from the killed horse, to show how cool he could conduct himself. +But young Red Cloud forgot to do this. He went running as soon as +his horse fell. Three Crows on horseback followed him, lashed him +with their pony whips and jerked off and kept his warbonnet. They did +not try to kill him. They only teased him, telling him he was a boy +and ought not to be wearing a warbonnet. Some of his Sioux friends +interfered, and the Crows went away. The Sioux told us that young Red +Cloud was crying and asking mercy from the Crows. He was my same age, +eighteen years old.[22] + +White Wolf, a Cheyenne almost thirty years old, had a repeating +rifle. In drawing this weapon from its scabbard at his left side it +was accidentally discharged. The bullet broke his left thigh bone. He +finally recovered and is yet living (1930). He still limps on account +of that accidental wound. + +Until the sun went far toward the west there were charges back and +forth. Our Indians fought and ran away, fought and ran away. The +soldiers and their Indian scouts did the same. Sometimes we chased +them, sometimes they chased us. One time, as I was getting away from +a charge, I caught up with a Cheyenne afoot and driving his tired +horse ahead of him. My horse also was very tired, so I dismounted +and we two drove our mounts into a brush thicket. There we rested a +while. It appeared that all of the Cheyennes were in hiding just then. + +Chief Lame White Man, the old Southern Cheyenne, rode out into the +open on horseback. He called to us for brave actions. Our young men +had high regard for him. The Cheyennes came out from hiding and went +flocking to him. I and my companion joined them. It then became the +turn of the soldiers and their Indians to get out of our way. + +The soldiers finally left the field and went back southward, on the +trail where they had come to this place. Some Sioux and Cheyennes +followed them a short distance, but not far. The soldiers lost or +left behind some of the packs from their mules.[23] We got crackers +and bacon and other food material. I found a good white hat and a +good pair of gloves. I picked up a little package of something and +stuffed it under my belt. As I went riding away, the package rubbed +between the belt and my body. The day was hot, and I was sweating +freely. My nostrils perceived a pleasant odor. I traced it to the +package. I took it from my belt, sniffed at it, then fumbled at the +heavy paper and tore off a corner. + +“Oh, coffee!” My heart was glad. I had something good to take as a +gift for my mother. + +The only naked Cheyenne in that battle was Black Sun. All of the +rest of us had on whatever war clothing he owned. I do not recollect +having seen there any Sioux who was not dressed in his best. But +Black Sun had a special medicine painting for himself. He spent a +long time at getting ready. All of his body was colored yellow. On +his head he wore the stuffed skin of a weasel. He wrapped a blanket +about his loins. The soldiers and enemy Indians fired many shots at +him without harming him. Finally some one of them got behind him and +shot him through the body. He fell, not dead, but unable to stand up. +Some of his friends rescued him. I caught his horse. When we were +ready to go back to our camps we put him upon a travois and had his +horse drag this bed for him. He died that night, at his home lodge. +He was the only Cheyenne killed that day. Limpy was shot in his left +side and had his horse killed. Other Cheyennes had slight wounds. + +One Burned Thigh Sioux was killed during the battle, and one +Minneconjoux died after arrival at the camps. I do not know how many +other Sioux were killed, but some Cheyennes said there were twenty +or more. I think the Uncpapas lost the most warriors. I remember +that one of the dead Sioux was a boy about fourteen years old. Black +Sun was buried in a hillside cave. I believe that all of the Sioux +dead were left in burial tepees on the camp site when we left there. + +All camps were moved again early the next morning after the Rosebud +battle. We followed a short distance down Medicine Dance creek and +then turned southward across the benches to the Little Bighorn. In +present times, where the Busby road joins the graveled highway there +is a bridge over the river. About half a mile south of this bridge, +on the west side of the highway and on the east side of the river, +stood the camp circle of the Uncpapas. The Cheyennes were a mile or +more farther up the river. The other four tribal camps were scattered +here and there between the Uncpapas and the Cheyennes. There was +not here nor at any other camping location a placing of the camp +circles in line with one another. The groupings between Uncpapas and +Cheyennes were according to the form of the land or the curves of the +stream. The only strict rule of camp circle location was that none +should be set up ahead of the Cheyennes nor behind the Uncpapas. + +Six sleeps we remained at this first camping place on the Little +Bighorn. We had beaten the white men soldiers. Our scouts had +followed them far enough to learn that they were going farther and +farther away from us. We did not know of any other soldiers hunting +for us. If there were any, they now would be afraid to come. There +were feasts and dances in all of the camps. On the benchlands just +east of us our horses found plenty of rich grass. Among the hills +west of the river were great herds of buffalo. Every day, big hunting +parties went among them. Men and women were at work providing for +their families. That was why we killed these animals. Indians never +did destroy any animal life as a mere pleasurable adventure. + +Six Arapaho men came to the Cheyenne camp while we were at this +place. They said they were afraid of soldiers, as they had killed a +white man on Powder river. Many Sioux and some Cheyennes suspected +them as spies, but finally all of us were satisfied they wanted to +stay with us as friends. They were invited into lodges of different +ones of the Cheyennes. Some more of our own people from the +reservation joined us here. It is likely some Sioux also arrived, but +I am not sure about that. + +Our plans had been to go up the Little Bighorn valley. But our game +scouts reported great herds of antelope west of the Bighorn river. +Because of this, the chiefs decided we should turn and go down the +Little Bighorn, to its mouth. From there our hunting parties would +cross the Bighorn and get antelope skins and meat that we now wanted. + +These councils of chiefs of all of the tribal circles were held +sometimes at one camp circle and sometimes at another. In each case, +heralds announced the meeting and told where it would be held. Each +tribe operated its own internal government, the same as if it were +entirely separated from the others. The chiefs of the different +tribes met together as equals. There was only one who was considered +as being above all of the others. This was Sitting Bull. He was +recognized as the one old man chief of all the camps combined. + +Almost all of our Northern Cheyenne tribe were with us on the Little +Bighorn. Only a few of our forty big chiefs were absent. Two of our +four old men chiefs, Old Bear and Dirty Moccasins, were here. Old +Bear had been off the reservation throughout all of the past year, +while Dirty Moccasins had come to us on the Rosebud. The absent two +old men chiefs were Little Wolf and Rabbit, this last one known +sometimes as Dull Knife, or Morning Star. Our tribal medicine tepee +was at its place in our camp circle, and Charcoal Bear, its keeper, +was with it. I believe all of the thirty chiefs of the three warrior +societies were present, except Little Wolf, leading chief of the +Elk warriors. I do not know how many Cheyennes in all were in the +camp.[24] In fact, I do not know how many of us there were in our +tribe at that time. I never knew of any count having been made during +those times. + +We crossed the Little Bighorn river to its west side and set off down +the valley. Cheyennes ahead, Uncpapas behind, in the usual order of +march. The journey that day was not a long one. After eight or nine +miles of travel the Cheyennes stopped and began to form their camp +circle. The tribes following us chose their ground, and their women +began to set up the villages taken down that forenoon. The last +tribe, the biggest one, the Uncpapas, placed themselves behind the +others. + +The Cheyenne location was about two miles north from the present +railroad station at Garryowen, Montana. We were near the mouth of a +small creek flowing from the southwestward into the river. Across the +river east of us and a little upstream from us was a broad coulee, or +little valley, having now the name Medicine Tail coulee. + +The Uncpapas, at the southern end of the group and most distant from +us, put their circle just northeast of the present Garryowen station. +The other four circles were placed here and there between us and the +Uncpapas. + +Our trail during all of our movements throughout that summer could +have been followed by a blind person. It was from a quarter to half +a mile wide at all places where the form of the land allowed that +width. Indians regularly made a broad trail when traveling in bands +using travois. People behind often kept in the tracks of people in +front, but when the party of travelers was a large one there were +many of such tracks side by side. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[19] Prairie Dog creek? Finerty writes that the soldiers were camped +there June 8th.--T. B. M. + +[20] Wooden Leg, Big Beaver and Limpy, each on a separate occasion, +went with me and pointed out the exact locations of the 1876 Indian +campings on the Rosebud and the Little Bighorn.--T. B. M. + +[21] General Crook’s soldiers, June 17th, 1876. Historians have +copied each other in repetitions that the hostiles here were “Crazy +Horse and his Ogallalas,” and that they were from the “Crazy Horse +village” supposed to have been only a short distance down the +Rosebud.--T. B. M. + +[22] The Crow aspect of this same story was told to me by Along the +Hillside, an old Crow man who was a scout with Crook. He was one of +the pursuers who jerked the warbonnet from the amateur Sioux.--T. B. +M. + +[23] Finerty writes that Crook had 1,000 pack mules, and that the +Crows and Shoshones joined him on June 14th, at the Goose Creek +camp.--T. B. M. + +[24] At the Northern Cheyenne fair at Lame Deer in 1927 I estimated +the encampment at about 1,100. Wooden Leg and some other old men +were asked to compare this camp with the one on the Little Bighorn. +After a consultation, it was generally agreed that there must have +been 1,600 or more Cheyennes in their camp when the Custer soldiers +came.--T. B. M. + + + + + VIII + +_On the Little Bighorn._ + + +Every one of the six separate camp circles had its open and +unoccupied side toward the east. Every lodge in each of these camps +was set up so that the entrance opening was at its east side. This +was the arrangement at all of our campings in this entire summer of +combined movement. This was the regular Indian way of putting up a +lodge or arranging a camp. + +Some old Cheyennes talk of seven camp circles, and a few of them +mention eight. But there were only six important ones. The extra one +or two were not of tribal bands governing themselves as such. These +additional Indians in considerable number were the Burned Thighs, +Assiniboines and Waist and Skirt people. These kept themselves +mainly in their own separated groups, but the groups would be placed +close to some main camp circle and considered as belonging to it. +At this particular camping place the Waist and Skirt Sioux were +right beside the great Uncpapa circle, the Burned Thighs were partly +with the Blackfeet Sioux and partly with the Ogallalas. Beginning +with the Cheyennes at the north side and following up the river, +four camp circles succeeded each other: Cheyennes, Arrows All Gone, +Minneconjoux, Uncpapas. Away from the river and southwest of the +Cheyennes and Arrows All Gone was the Ogallala camp. Between the +Ogallalas and the Uncpapas, but nearer to the Uncpapas, was the +Blackfeet Sioux camp, this also back a short distance from the river. +A small and irregular camp of Burned Thigh Sioux was located by the +river between the Cheyennes and the Arrows All Gone, or just east of +the Ogallalas. All of the camps were east of the present railroad and +highway. + +One big lodge of Southern Cheyennes was in our circle. In it were +eight men, six women and some children. Lame White Man, the Southern +Cheyenne chief, had his own family lodge. He and his family had been +with our northern branch of the tribe so long that they were looked +upon as belonging to us. The six Arapaho men were attached to the +lodge of Two Moons, one of the little chiefs of the Fox warrior +society. One of his two wives was an Arapaho woman. There was not any +white person nor any mixed-breed person with us. I never heard of +there being any such person there with any of the Sioux tribes. + +Our tribal medicine tepee, containing our sacred Buffalo Head and +other revered objects, was in its place at the western part of the +open space enclosed by our camp circle. The medicine arrows, which +belong to the Southern Cheyennes, were not here. Ours was the only +tribal medicine lodge in the whole camp. The Sioux tribes did not +maintain this kind of institution. They had tribal medicine pipes, +but no special lodges for them. + +Our family dwelling had in it seven people. These were my father and +mother, my older brother Yellow Hair, my older sister Crooked Nose, +myself Wooden Leg, a younger sister and a small boy brother. All of +us together owned nine horses. I personally owned two of these. Other +tepees had more people in them, some not as many. A few unmarried +young men had little willow dome and robe shelters. Old couples +likewise had this sort of temporary housing. These would be abandoned +and built anew at each time of moving camp. + +Three hundred lodges seems to me now as being about the size of our +Cheyenne camp. The Blackfeet Sioux had about the same number, or a +few less. The Arrows All Gone had more. The Minneconjoux and the +Ogallalas each had more than the Arrows All Gone. The Uncpapas had, I +believe, twice as many as had the Cheyennes.[25] + +The principal chiefs of the various camp circles were: + +Uncpapas: Sitting Bull. He also was recognized as the one old man +chief of the combined tribes. The Uncpapa medicine man chief was +named Buffalo Calf Pipe. + +Ogallalas: Crazy Horse, old man chief. + +Minneconjoux: Lame Deer, old man chief. + +Arrows All Gone: Hump Nose, or Hump, important chief of some kind. + +Blackfeet: I do not know name of any chief there. Also, I do not know +what chiefs may have been with the small irregular bands of other +Indians. + +Cheyennes: Old Bear and Dirty Moccasins, old men chiefs. Next to +them, Crazy Head was considered the most important tribal big chief. +Lame White Man was regarded as the most capable warrior chief among +us, although Last Bull and Old Man Coyote also were held in special +high esteem. + +Our Cheyenne warrior society chiefs were these:[26] + +Elk warriors: Leading chief--Lame White Man. Nine little chiefs--Left +Handed Shooter, Pig, Goes After Other Buffalo, Plenty Bears, Wolf +Medicine, Broken Jaw, A Crow Cut His Nose, White Hawk and Tall White +Man. + +Crazy Dog warriors: Leading chief--Old Man Coyote. Nine little +chiefs--Black Knife, Beaver Claws, Iron Shirt, Little Creek, Snow +Bird, Crazy Mule, Strong Left Arm, Red Owl and Crow Necklace. + +Fox warriors: Leading chief--Last Bull. Nine little chiefs--Wrapped +Braids, Plenty of Buffalo Bull Meat, Little Horse, Sits Beside His +Medicine, Two Moons, Bears Walks on a Ridge, Mosquito, Rattlesnake +Nose and Weasel Bear. + +The Fox warriors were on duty as camp policemen at this time. It was +their business, while remaining on duty, to watch for the approach of +enemies as well as to enforce the tribal laws. A few of the little +chiefs of the warrior societies, and various members of the different +ones, were not in the camp. + +Our three leading warrior chiefs were allowed to talk in the tribal +councils, where the tribal big chiefs and old men adviser chiefs +assembled for the consideration of tribal affairs. The little warrior +chiefs were expected to attend these councils, but they were not +permitted to talk there. They were required to keep still and listen. +The place for them to talk was in the warrior society meetings, where +they were the instructors while the young warriors had to remain +quiet and listening. The Sioux and other tribes had this same kind of +system. + +Guns were not plentiful among us. Most of our hunting had been with +bows and arrows. Of the Cheyennes, Two Moons and White Wolf each +had a repeating rifle. Some others had single-shot breech-loading +rifles. But there was not much ammunition for the good guns. The +muzzle-loaders usually were preferred, because for these we could +mold the bullets and put in whatever powder was desired, or according +to the quantity on hand. I believe the Sioux had, in proportion to +their numbers, about the same supply of firearm material that we had. +The Waist and Skirt people had few or no guns, were in every way very +poor. My muzzle-loading rifle had been lost with my other personal +effects when we had been driven out and had our lodges burned on +Powder river. + +Six or eight guns, I suppose, had been taken from soldiers at the +Rosebud fight. I recall seeing only two, a rifle and a revolver, +among the Cheyennes. Both of them used cartridges. The ammunition +belt I saw taken there had a special piece of belting swung in a +curve from the main girdle. Around the main circle were loops for +forty rifle cartridges. The revolver cartridges were carried in +twelve or fifteen loops on the suspended curve. On the surface of a +revolver scabbard I saw were six other loops for its cartridges. +I never heard of the Indians getting from the Rosebud soldiers any +ammunition except what was in the belts captured. + +My cap-and-ball six shooter was my warring weapon. I had plenty +of caps, powder and lead for it. I had a bullet mold to make its +bullets from the lead. I kept the bullets and the caps in two small +tin boxes. The powder I carried in a horn swung by a thong from my +shoulder. For the gun I had a good scabbard. This was fastened to my +leather belt. + +The Cheyenne horses were put out to graze on the valley below our +camp. Horses belonging to other tribes were placed at other feeding +areas on the valley and on the bench hills just west of the combined +Indian camps. The tribal herds were kept separate from each other. +Boys from each tribe guarded their horse bands. An occasional riding +horse was picketed near to or within each camp circle. It could get +better feed with the herd, and probably it felt better satisfied +there, but always there was somebody here or there, particularly +among the policemen, who picketed a horse for ready use. + +I had no thought then of any fighting to be done in the near future. +We had driven away the soldiers, on the upper Rosebud, seven days +ago. It seemed likely it would be a long time before they would +trouble us again. My mind was occupied mostly by such thoughts as +regularly are uppermost in the minds of young men. I was eighteen +years old, and I liked girls. + +That night we had a dance. It was entirely a social affair for young +people, not a ceremonial or war dance. In the midst of the open area +within our camp circle the women and girls cleared off and leveled +a broad surface of ground. The young men brought a tall pole and +set it up at the center of the dancing ground. Charcoal Bear, the +medicine chief, brought the buffalo skin that regularly hung from +the top of the sacred tepee. He tied it to the top end of our long +pole before we raised it. We built a big bonfire. The drums and the +Cheyenne dance songs enlivened the assemblage. It seemed that peace +and happiness was prevailing all over the world, that nowhere was any +man planning to lift his hand against his fellow man. + +The same kind of amusement was going on in the Sioux camps. An +occasional group from them came to our party. An occasional group of +Cheyennes went visiting among them. I was enjoying myself in our own +gathering. Finally, though, a young man friend of mine proposed: + +“Let’s go and dance a while with the Sioux girls.” + +Four of us went to the neighboring camp, that of the Arrows All Gone +Sioux. Pretty soon the girls were asking us to dance.[27] The Sioux +women gave us plenty of food. We were treated well, so we did not +go elsewhere nor back to our own people. We stayed there and danced +throughout the remainder of that night. + +At the first sign of dawn the dance ended. I walked wearily across +to the Cheyenne camp. I did not go into our family lodge. Instead, I +dropped down upon the ground behind it. I do not remember anything +that might have happened during the two or three hours that followed. +When I awoke I went into the family lodge. My mother prepared me a +breakfast. Then she said: “You must go for a bath in the river.” + +My brother Yellow Hair and I went together. Other Indians, of all +ages and both sexes, were splashing in the waters of the river. The +sun was high, the weather was hot. The cool water felt good to my +skin. When my brother and I had dabbled there a few minutes we came +out and sought the shelter of some shade trees. We sat there a little +while, talking of the good times each of us had enjoyed during the +previous night. We sprawled out to lie down and talk. Before we knew +it, both of us were sound asleep. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[25] Estimating the Cheyennes at 1,600, it appears the entire camp +numbered about 12,000.--T. B. M. + +[26] List made up in various conferences wherein Wooden Leg was +assisted by Sun Bear, White Wolf, Big Crow, Two Feathers and Big +Beaver, all warriors at the battle.--T. B. M. + +[27] The customary Indian way is for the women to choose partners at +the social dances.--T. B. M. + + + + + IX + +_The Coming of Custer._ + + +In my sleep I dreamed that a great crowd of people were making lots +of noise. Something in the noise startled me. I found myself wide +awake, sitting up and listening. My brother too awakened, and we both +jumped to our feet. A great commotion was going on among the camps. +We heard shooting. We hurried out from the trees so we might see as +well as hear. The shooting was somewhere at the upper part of the +camp circles. It looked as if all of the Indians there were running +away toward the hills to the westward or down toward our end of the +village. Women were screaming and men were letting out war cries. +Through it all we could hear old men calling: + +“Soldiers are here! Young men, go out and fight them.” + +We ran to our camp and to our home lodge. Everybody there was +excited. Women were hurriedly making up little packs for flight. +Some were going off northward or across the river without any packs. +Children were hunting for their mothers. Mothers were anxiously +trying to find their children. I got my lariat and my six shooter. I +hastened on down toward where had been our horse herd. I came across +three of our herder boys. One of them was catching grasshoppers. The +other two were cooking fish in the blaze of a little fire. I told +them what was going on and asked them where were the horses. They +jumped on their picketed ponies and dashed for the camp, without +answering me. Just then I heard Bald Eagle calling out to hurry with +the horses. Two other boys were driving them toward the camp circle. +I was utterly winded from the running. I never was much for running. +I could walk all day, but I could not run fast nor far. I walked on +back to the home lodge. + +My father had caught my favorite horse from the herd brought in by +the boys and Bald Eagle. I quickly emptied out my war bag and set +myself at getting ready to go into battle. I jerked off my ordinary +clothing. I jerked on a pair of new breeches that had been given +to me by an Uncpapa Sioux. I had a good cloth shirt, and I put it +on. My old moccasins were kicked off and a pair of beaded moccasins +substituted for them. My father strapped a blanket upon my horse and +arranged the rawhide lariat into a bridle. He stood holding my mount. + +“Hurry,” he urged me. + +I was hurrying, but I was not yet ready. I got my paints and my +little mirror. The blue-black circle soon appeared around my face. +The red and yellow colorings were applied on all of the skin inside +the circle. I combed my hair. It properly should have been oiled and +braided neatly, but my father again was saying, “Hurry,” so I just +looped a buckskin thong about it and tied it close up against the +back of my head, to float loose from there. My bullets, caps and +powder horn put me into full readiness. In a moment afterward I was +on my horse and was going as fast as it could run toward where all of +the rest of the young men were going. My brother already had gone. +He got his horse before I got mine, and his dressing was only a long +buckskin shirt fringed with Crow Indian hair. The hair had been taken +from a Crow at a past battle with them. + +The air was so full of dust I could not see where to go. But it +was not needful that I see that far. I kept my horse headed in the +direction of movement by the crowd of Indians on horseback. I was +led out around and far beyond the Uncpapa camp circle. Many hundreds +of Indians on horseback were dashing to and fro in front of a body +of soldiers. The soldiers were on the level valley ground and were +shooting with rifles. Not many bullets were being sent back at them, +but thousands of arrows were falling among them. I went on with a +throng of Sioux until we got beyond and behind the white men. By +this time, though, they had mounted their horses and were hiding +themselves in the timber. A band of Indians were with the soldiers. +It appeared they were Crows or Shoshones. Most of these Indians had +fled back up the valley. Some were across east of the river and were +riding away over the hills beyond. + +Our Indians crowded down toward the timber where were the soldiers. +More and more of our people kept coming. Almost all of them were +Sioux. There were only a few Cheyennes. Arrows were showered into the +timber. Bullets whistled out toward the Sioux and Cheyennes. But we +stayed far back while we extended our curved line farther and farther +around the big grove of trees. Some dead soldiers had been left among +the grass and sagebrush where first they had fought us. It seemed to +me the remainder of them would not live many hours longer. Sioux were +creeping forward to set fire to the timber. + +Suddenly the hidden soldiers came tearing out on horseback, from +the woods. I was around on that side where they came out. I whirled +my horse and lashed it into a dash to escape from them. All others +of my companions did the same. But soon we discovered they were not +following us. They were running away from us. They were going as +fast their tired horses could carry them across an open valley +space and toward the river. We stopped, looked a moment, and then we +whipped our ponies into swift pursuit. A great throng of Sioux also +were coming after them. My distant position put me among the leaders +in the chase. The soldier horses moved slowly, as if they were very +tired. Ours were lively. We gained rapidly on them. + +[Illustration: WOODEN LEG MAKING CUSTER BATTLE DRAWINGS FOR THE +AUTHOR] + +I fired four shots with my six shooter. I do not know whether or not +any of my bullets did harm. I saw a Sioux put an arrow into the back +of a soldier’s head. Another arrow went into his shoulder. He tumbled +from his horse to the ground. Others fell dead either from arrows or +from stabbings or jabbings or from blows by the stone war clubs of +the Sioux. Horses limped or staggered or sprawled out dead or dying. +Our war cries and war songs were mingled with many jeering calls, +such as: + +“You are only boys. You ought not to be fighting. We whipped you on +the Rosebud. You should have brought more Crows or Shoshones with you +to do your fighting.” + +Little Bird and I were after one certain soldier. Little Bird was +wearing a trailing warbonnet. He was at the right and I was at the +left of the fleeing man. We were lashing him and his horse with our +pony whips. It seemed not brave to shoot him. Besides, I did not +want to waste my bullets. He pointed back his revolver, though, and +sent a bullet into Little Bird’s thigh. Immediately I whacked the +white man fighter on his head with the heavy elkhorn handle of my +pony whip. The blow dazed him. I seized the rifle strapped on his +back. I wrenched it and dragged the looping strap over his head. As +I was getting possession of this weapon he fell to the ground. I did +not harm him further. I do not know what became of him. The jam of +oncoming Indians swept me on. But I had now a good soldier rifle. +Yet, I had not any cartridges for it. + +Three soldiers on horses got separated from the others and started +away up the valley, in the direction from where they had come. Three +Cheyennes, Sun Bear, Eagle Tail Feather and Little Sun,[28] joined +some Sioux in pursuit of the three white men. The Cheyennes told +afterward about the outcome of this pursuit. One of the soldiers +turned his horse eastward toward the river and escaped in the timber. +The other two kept on southward. Of these two, one went off to the +right, up a small gulch to the top of the bench. There he was caught +and killed. The remaining one rode on toward the mouth of Reno creek. +As he neared that point he swerved to the right. He made a circle +out upon the valley and returned to the timber just across west from +the mouth of Reno creek. Here he dismounted from his exhausted horse +and got himself into the brush. The Sioux and Cheyennes surrounded +him and killed him. They told that he fought bravely to the last, +making use of his six shooter. + +A warbonnet Indian belonging with the soldiers was chased by Crooked +Nose, a Cheyenne, and some Sioux. The chase was afoot, across a wet +slough and into some timber northward from where the soldiers had +been hidden for a few minutes. After many exchanges of shots, after +much dodging and shifting of position, the enemy Indian was killed +there.[29] I was told afterward about this killing. I did not see it. +I was following the fleeing soldiers to and across the river. + +Indians mobbed the soldiers floundering afoot and on horseback in +crossing the river. I do not know how many of our enemies might have +been killed there. With my captured rifle as a club I knocked two of +them from their horses into the flood waters. Most of the pursuing +warriors stopped at the river, but many kept on after the men with +the blue clothing. I remained in the pursuit and crossed the river. + +Whirlwind, a Cheyenne, charged after a warbonnet Indian belonging +with the whites. The enemy Indian bravely charged also toward +Whirlwind. The two men fired rifles at the same moment. Both of them +fell dead. This was on the flat land just east of the river where the +soldiers crossed. + +Another enemy Indian was behind a little sagebrush knoll and shooting +at us. His shots were returned. I and some others went around and got +behind him. We dismounted and crept toward him. As we came close up +to him he fell. A bullet had hit him. He raised himself up, though, +and swung his rifle around toward us. We rushed upon him. I crashed +a blow of my rifle barrel upon his head. Others beat and stabbed +him to death. I got also his gun. It was the same as the one I had +taken from the soldier, but the Indian’s gun had a longer barrel. +A Sioux said: “You have two guns. Let me have one of them.” I gave +him the one I had taken from the Indian just killed. I liked better +the shorter barreled one, so I kept it. The Sioux already had the +Indian’s ammunition belt. He did not give me any of the cartridges. +There were only a few of them. One of the Sioux scalped the dead man. +Different ones took his clothing. I took nothing except the gun I had +given away. + +I returned to the west side of the river. Lots of Indians were +hunting around there for dead soldiers or for wounded ones to kill. +I joined in this search. I got some tobacco from the pockets of one +dead man. I got also a belt having in it a few cartridges. All of +the weapons and clothing and all other possessions were being taken +from the bodies. The warriors were doing this. No old people nor +women were there. They all had run away to the hill benches to the +westward. I went to a dead horse, to see what might be found there. +Leather bags were on them, behind the saddles. I rummaged into one of +these bags. I found there two pasteboard boxes. I broke open one of +them. + +“Oh, cartridges!” + +There were twenty of them in each box, forty in all. Thirty of them +were used to fill up the vacant places in my belt. The remaining ten +I wrapped into a piece of cloth and dropped them down into my own +little kit bag. Now I need not be so careful in expending ammunition. +Now I felt very brave. I jumped upon my horse and went again to fight +whatever soldiers I might find on the east side of the river. + +The soldiers had gone up gulches and a backbone ridge to the top of +a steep and high hill. Indians were all about them. Shots were going +toward them and coming from them. A friend here told me that Hump +Nose, a Cheyenne two years younger than I was, had been killed on +the west side of the river. My heart was made sad by this news, but I +went on up the hill. I joined with others in going around to the left +or north side of the place where were the soldiers. From our hilltop +position I fired a few shots from my newly-obtained rifle. I aimed +not at any particular ones, but only in the direction of all of them. +I think I was too far away to do much harm to them. I had been there +only a short time when somebody said to me: + +“Look! Yonder are other soldiers!” + +I saw them on distant hills down the river and on our same side of +it. The news of them spread quickly among us. Indians began to ride +in that direction. Some went along the hills, others went down to +cross the river and follow the valley. I took this course. I guided +my horse down the steep hillside and forded the river. Back again +among the camps I rode on through them to our Cheyenne circle at the +lower end of them. As I rode I could see lots of Indians out on the +hills across on the east side of the river and fighting the other +soldiers there. I do not know whether all of our warriors left the +first soldiers or some of them stayed up there. I suppose, though, +that all of them came away from there, as they would be afraid to +stay if only a few remained. + +Not many people were in the lodges of our camp. Most of the women +and children and old Cheyennes were gone to the west side of the +valley or to the hills at that side. A few were hurrying back and +forth to take away packs. My father was the only person at our lodge. +I told him of the fight up the valley. I told him of my having helped +in the killing of the enemy Indian and some soldiers in the river. I +gave to him the tobacco I had taken. I showed him my gun and all of +the cartridges. + +“You have been brave,” he cheered me. “You have done enough for one +day. Now you should rest.” + +“No, I want to go and fight the other soldiers,” I said. “I can fight +better now, with this gun.” + +“Your horse is too tired,” he argued. + +“Yes, but I want to ride the other one.” + +He turned loose my tired horse and roped my other one from the little +herd being held inside the camp circle. He blanketed the new mount +and arranged the lariat bridle. He applied the medicine treatment +for protecting my mount. As he was doing this I was making some +improvements in my appearance, making the medicine for myself. I +added my sheathknife to my stock of weapons. Then I looked a few +moments at the battling Indians and soldiers across the river on the +hills to the northeastward. More and more Indians were flocking from +the camps to that direction. Some were yet coming along the hills +from where the first soldiers had stopped. The soldiers now in view +were spreading themselves into lines along a ridge. The Indians were +on lower ridges in front of them, between them and the river, and +were moving on around up a long coulee to get behind the white men. + +“Remember, your older brother already is out there in the fight,” my +father said to me. “I think there will be plenty of warriors to beat +the soldiers, so it is not needful that I send both of my sons. You +have not your shield nor your eagle wing bone flute. Stay back as far +as you can and shoot from a long distance. Let your brother go ahead +of you.” + +Two other young men were near us. They had their horses and were +otherwise ready, but they told me they had decided not to go. I +showed them my captured gun and the cartridges. I told them of the +tobacco and the clothing and other things we had taken from the +soldiers up the valley. This changed their minds. They mounted their +horses and accompanied me. + +We forded the river where all of the Indians were crossing it, at +the broad shallows immediately in front of the little valley or wide +coulee on the east side. We fell in with others, many Sioux and a +few Cheyennes, going in our same direction. We urged our horses on +up the small valley. As we approached the place of battle each one +chose his own personal course. All of the Indians had come out on +horseback. Almost all of them dismounted and crept along the gullies +afoot after the arrival near the soldiers. Still, there were hundreds +of them riding here and there all the time, most of them merely +changing position, but a few of them racing along back and forth in +front of the soldiers, in daring movements to exhibit bravery. + +I swerved up a gulch to my left, where I saw some Cheyennes going +ahead of me. Other Cheyennes were coming here from the east side of +the soldiers. Although it was natural that tribal members should +keep together, there was everywhere a mingling of the fighters from +all of the tribes. The soldiers had come along a high ridge about +two miles east from the Cheyenne camp. They had gone on past us and +then swerved off the high ridge to the lower ridge where most of them +afterward were killed. While they were yet on the far-out ridge a few +Sioux and Cheyennes had exchanged shots with them at long distance, +without anybody being hurt. Bobtail Horse, Roan Bear and Buffalo +Calf, three Cheyennes, and four Sioux warriors with them, were said +to have been the first of our Indians to cross the river and go to +meet the soldiers. Bobtail Horse was an Elk warrior, Roan Bear a Fox +warrior, and Buffalo Calf a Crazy Dog warrior. They had been joined +soon afterward by other Indians from the valley camps and from the +southward hills where the first soldiers had taken refuge. + +Most of the Indians were working around the ridge now occupied by +the soldiers. We were lying down in gullies and behind sagebrush +hillocks. The shooting at first was at a distance, but we kept +creeping in closer all around the ridge. Bows and arrows were in +use much more than guns. From the hiding-places of the Indians, the +arrows could be shot in a high and long curve, to fall upon the +soldiers or their horses. An Indian using a gun had to jump up and +expose himself long enough to shoot. The arrows falling upon the +horses stuck in their backs and caused them to go plunging here and +there, knocking down the soldiers. The ponies of our warriors who +were creeping along the gulches had been left in gulches farther +back. Some of them were let loose, dragging their ropes, but most of +them were tied to sagebrush. Only the old men and the boys stayed all +the time on their ponies, and they stayed back on the surrounding +ridges, out of reach of the bullets. + +The slow long-distance fighting was kept up for about an hour and a +half, I believe. The Indians all the time could see where were the +soldiers, because the white men were mostly on a ridge and their +horses were with them. But the soldiers could not see our warriors, +as they had left their ponies and were crawling in the gullies +through the sagebrush. A warrior would jump up, shoot, jerk himself +down quickly, and then crawl forward a little further. All around the +soldier ridge our men were doing this. So not many of them got hit by +the soldier bullets during this time of fighting. + +After the long time of the slow fighting, about forty of the +soldiers[30] came galloping from the east part of the ridge down +toward the river, toward where most of the Cheyennes and many +Ogallalas were hidden. The Indians ran back to a deep gulch. The +soldiers stopped and got off their horses when they arrived at a +low ridge where the Indians had been. Lame White Man, the Southern +Cheyenne chief, came on his horse and called us to come back and +fight. In a few minutes the warriors were all around these soldiers. +Then Lame White Man called out: + +“Come. We can kill all of them.” + +All around, the Indians began jumping up, running forward, dodging +down, jumping up again, down again, all the time going toward the +soldiers. Right away, all of the white men went crazy. Instead of +shooting us, they turned their guns upon themselves. Almost before +we could get to them, every one of them was dead. They killed +themselves. + +The Indians took the guns of these soldiers and used them for +shooting at the soldiers on the high ridge. I went back and got my +horse and rode around beyond the east end of the ridge. By the time I +got there, all of the soldiers there were dead. The Indians told me +that they had killed only a few of those men, that the men had shot +each other and shot themselves. A Cheyenne told me that four soldiers +from that part of the ridge had turned their horses and tried to +escape by going back over the trail where they had come. Three of +these men were killed quickly. The fourth one got across a gulch and +over a ridge eastward before the pursuing group of Sioux got close +to him. His horse was very tired, and the Sioux were gaining on him. +He was moving his right arm as though whipping his horse to make it +go faster. Suddenly his right hand went up to his head. With his +revolver he shot himself and fell dead from his horse. + +I raced my horse to hurry around to the hillside north of the soldier +ridge. The Indians there were all around a band of soldiers on the +north slope.[31] I got off my horse and fired two shots, at long +distance, with my soldier gun. I did not shoot any more, because the +sagebrush was full of Indians jumping up and down and crawling close +to the soldiers, and I was afraid I might hit one of our own men. +About that time, all of this band of soldiers went crazy and fired +their guns at each other’s heads and breasts or at their own heads +and breasts. All of them were dead before the Indians got to them. + +Many hundreds of boys on horseback were watching the battle. They +were on the hills all around, far enough away to be out of reach of +the soldier bullets. The ridge north of the soldier ridge was crowded +with these boys and some old men. When the warriors were crowding in +close to the soldiers on the north slope, one soldier there broke +away and ran afoot across a gulch toward the northward hill. I +suppose he thought there were no warriors in that direction, as all +of them were hidden and creeping through the sagebrush and gullies. +But several of them jumped up and ran after him. Just after he got +across the gulch he stopped, stood still, and killed himself with his +own revolver. A Cheyenne boy named Big Beaver lashed his pony into a +dash down to the dead white man. The boy got the soldier’s revolver +and his belt of cartridges, jumped back upon his pony, and hurried +away again to the hilltop. A Cheyenne warrior scalped the soldier and +hung the scalp on a bunch of sagebrush, leaving it there. While I +was at this part of the field, a Waist and Skirt Indian said to me: + +“I think I see the big chief of the soldiers. I have been watching +one certain man who appears to be telling all of the others what to +do.” + +He tried to point out this man. But just then another bunch of +soldier horses went running wildly among them, kicking up a great +dust and knocking down or jostling the men. So I did not get to see +the special man the Indian was trying to show me. + +I saw one Sioux walking slowly toward the gulch, going away from +where were the soldiers. He wabbled dizzily as he moved along. He +fell down, got up, fell down again, got up again. As he passed near +to where I was I saw that his whole lower jaw was shot away. The +sight of him made me sick. I had to vomit. I did not know him, and I +did not learn whether he died or not. + +I had remained on my horse during most of the long time of the +fighting at a distance. I rode from place to place around the +soldiers, keeping myself back, as my father had urged me to do, while +my older brother crept close with the other warriors. I got off and +crept with them, though, for a little while at the place where the +band of soldiers rode down toward the river. After they were dead I +got my horse and mounted again. I stayed mounted until I got around +into the gulch north from the west end of the soldier ridge. By this +time all of the soldiers were gone except a band of them at the west +end of the ridge. They were hidden behind dead horses. Hundreds or +thousands of warriors were all around them, creeping closer all the +time. From the gulch where I was I could see the north slope of the +ridge covered by the hidden Indians. But the soldiers, from where +they were, could not see the warriors, except as some Indian might +jump up to shoot quickly and then duck down again. We could get only +glimpses of the soldiers, but we knew all the time right where they +were, because we could see their dead horses. + +I got down afoot in the gulch. I let out my long lariat rope for +leading my horse while I joined the warriors creeping up the slope +toward the soldiers. During all of the earlier fighting, when I had +been most of the time going from place to place on horseback, I had +fired several shots with my rifle captured from the soldier when we +chased them across the river. I also had used my six-shooter. I had +replaced the four bullets expended during the chase of the first +soldiers in the valley. In this second battle I used up the six, +reloaded the six-shooter, and fired all of these additional six shots +at the soldiers. But it is hard to shoot straight when on horseback, +especially when there is much noise and much shooting and excitement, +as the horse will not stand still. When I went crawling up the slope +I could lie down and shoot. I could not see any particular soldier +to shoot at, but I could see their dead horses, where the men were +hiding. So I just sent my bullets in that direction. + +A Sioux wearing a warbonnet was lying down behind a clump of +sagebrush on the hillside only a short distance north of where now is +the big stone having the iron fence around it. He was about half the +length of my lariat rope up ahead of me. Many other Indians were near +him. Some boys were mingled among them, to get in quickly for making +coup blows on any dead soldiers they might find. A Cheyenne boy was +lying down right behind the warbonnet Sioux. The Sioux was peeping up +and firing a rifle from time to time. At one of these times a soldier +bullet hit him exactly in the middle of the forehead. His arms and +legs jumped in spasms for a few moments, then he died. The boy +quickly slid back down into a gully, jumped to his feet and ran away. + +A soldier on a horse suddenly appeared in view back behind the +warriors who were coming from the eastward along the ridge. He was +riding away to the eastward, as fast as he could make his horse go. +It seemed he must have been hidden somewhere back there until the +Indians had passed him. A band of the Indians, all of them Sioux, I +believe, got after him. I lost sight of them when they went beyond a +curve of the hilltop. I suppose, though, they caught him and killed +him. + +The shots quit coming from the soldiers. Warriors who had crept close +to them began to call out that all of the white men were dead. All +of the Indians then jumped up and rushed forward. All of the boys +and old men on their horses came tearing into the crowd. The air was +full of dust and smoke. Everybody was greatly excited. It looked like +thousands of dogs might look if all of them were mixed together in a +fight. All of the Indians were saying these soldiers also went crazy +and killed themselves. I do not know. I could not see them. But I +believe they did so. + +Seven of these last soldiers broke away and went running down the +coulee sloping toward the river from the west end of the ridge. I was +on the side opposite from them, and there was much smoke and dust, +and many Indians were in front of me, so I did not see these men +running, but I learned of them from the talk afterward. They did not +get far, because many Indians were all around them. It was said that +these seven men, or some of them, killed themselves. I do not know, +as I did not see them.[32] + +After the great throng of Indians had crowded upon the little space +where had been the last band of fighting soldiers, a strange incident +happened: It appeared that all of the white men were dead. But there +was one of them who raised himself to a support on his left elbow. +He turned and looked over his left shoulder, and then I got a good +view of him. His expression was wild, as if his mind was all tangled +up and he was wondering what was going on here. In his right hand he +held his six-shooter. Many of the Indians near him were scared by +what seemed to have been a return from death to life. But a Sioux +warrior jumped forward, grabbed the six-shooter and wrenched it from +the soldier’s grasp. The gun was turned upon the white man, and he +was shot through the head. Other Indians struck him or stabbed him. +I think he must have been the last man killed in this great battle +where not one of the enemy got away. + +This last man had a big and strong body. His cheeks were plump. All +over his face was a stubby black beard. His mustache was much longer +than his other beard, and it was curled up at the ends. The spot +where he was killed is just above the middle of the big group of +white stone slabs now standing on the slope southwest from the big +stone. I do not know whether he was a soldier chief or an ordinary +soldier. I did not notice any metal piece nor any special marks on +the shoulders of his clothing, but it may be they were there. Some of +the Cheyennes say now that he wore two white metal bars. But at that +time we knew nothing about such things. + +One of the dead soldier bodies attracted special attention. This was +one who was said to have been wearing a buckskin suit. I had not seen +any such soldier during the fighting. When I saw the body it had been +stripped and the head was cut off and gone. Across the breast was +some writing made by blue and red coloring into the skin. On each arm +was a picture drawn with the same kind of blue and red paint. One of +the pictures was of an eagle having its wings spread out. Indians +told me that on the left arm had been strapped a leather packet +having in it some white paper and a lot of the same kind of green +picture-paper found on all of the soldier bodies. Some of the Indians +guessed that he must have been the big chief of the soldiers, +because of the buckskin clothing and because of the paint markings on +his breast and arms.[33] But none of the Indians knew then who had +been the big chief. They were only guessing at it. + +The sun was just past the middle of the sky.[34] The first soldiers, +up the valley, had come about the middle of the forenoon. The earlier +part of the fighting against these second soldiers had been slow, all +of the Indians staying back and approaching gradually. At each time +of charging, though, the mixup lasted only a few minutes. + +I took one scalp. As I went walking and leading my horse among the +dead I observed one face that interested me. The dead man had a long +beard growing from both sides of his face and extending several +inches below the chin. He had also a full mustache. All of the beard +hair was of a light yellow color, as I new recall it. Most of the +soldiers had beard growing, in different lengths, but this was the +longest one I saw among them. I think the dead man may have been +thirty or more years old. “Here is a new kind of scalp,” I said to a +companion. I skinned one side of the face and half of the chin, so as +to keep the long beard yet on the part removed.[35] I got an arrow +shaft and tied the strange scalp to the end of it. This I carried in +a hand as I went looking further. + +[Illustration: LIMPY, A CHEYENNE VETERAN OF CUSTER’S LAST BATTLE, +STANDING AT THE LITTLE BIGHORN FORD WHERE THE INDIANS CROSSED TO MEET +THE CUSTER SOLDIERS] + +Somebody told me Noisy Walking was badly wounded. I went to where he +was said to be, down in the gulch where the band of soldiers nearest +the river had been killed in the earlier part of the battle. He +was my same age, and we often had been companions since our small +boyhood. White Bull, an important medicine man, was his father. I +asked the young man: “How are you?” He replied: “Good.” But he did +not look well. He had been hit by three different bullets, one of +them having passed through his body. He had also some stab wounds in +his side. Word had been sent to his relatives in the camp west of the +river, and it was said his women relatives were coming after him with +a travois. I moved on eastward up the gulch coulee. + +I discovered almost hidden the dead body of an Indian. I did not go +up close to it, but I could see the scalp was gone. That puzzled me. +Could this be a Crow or a Shoshone? I had not known of there being +any Indians belonging to these soldiers killed here. As I stood there +looking, it seemed there was something familiar about the appearance +of that body. I backed away and went to find my brother Yellow Hair. +We two returned to the place. We got off our horses and walked to +the dead Indian. We rolled the body over and looked closely. + +“Yes, it is Lame White Man,” my brother agreed. + +We called other Cheyennes. Several of them came. All of them promptly +confirmed our identification. All of us were satisfied some Sioux +had scalped him, or maybe had killed him, finding him in among the +soldiers and supposing him to be a Crow or a Shoshone belonging to +them. We knew he had gone with the young men in their charge upon +the soldiers there. Perhaps he had gone farther than the others and +was killed on his way back to us, the killer mistaking him for an +attacking enemy Indian. A bullet had gone in at his right breast and +out at his back. He also had many stab wounds. He was still dressed +in his best clothing, none of it having been taken. The Cheyennes +never made any inquiries among the Sioux concerning the case. We just +kept quiet about it. + +My brother took the blanket from his horse and covered the body of +the favorite Cheyenne warrior chief. A young man hurried away to go +across the river and tell his people. When I came back to the place +an hour or so afterward the dead man’s wife and three or four women +helpers had come with a horse dragging a travois. Four of us young +men rolled the body into the blanket and put it upon the buffalo +hide stretched across the lodgepoles. The women set off with it +toward the river. + +I helped likewise in putting my friend Noisy Walking upon the +swinging bed when his father and mother and other women came after +him. Judging by his appearance then, this was the last good act I +ever should do for him. Various groups of women, many more of the +Sioux than of the Cheyennes, were on the field searching for and +taking away their dead and wounded men. Two Sioux had been killed +in this same first charge upon the soldiers. I did not like to hear +the weeping of the women. My heart that had been glad because of the +victory was made sad by thoughts of our own dead and dying men and +their mourning relatives left behind. + +I noticed decorations on the shoulders and stripes on the arms of +some of the soldier coats. I did not think of their meanings. I did +not hear any of the Indians there talk about any meanings for these +special marks. If I thought about it at all, I may have thought +these were particular medicine ways the soldiers had for preparing +themselves. It was a long time after that day before I learned that +the wearers of these were the soldier chiefs. + +Each Indian horse used for going into the battle had only a blanket +strapped upon its back and a lariat rope about the neck. In riding, +the lariat was looped into the horse’s mouth, or was looped over the +head and then into the mouth, for a bridle. The surplus of the long +rope was coiled and tucked into the rider’s belt. If a man fell from +his horse the coil would be jerked from his belt, so he would not +be dragged. Also, the uncoiling as the horse might move away would +leave a long rope trailing after it, so it was easy to recapture the +animal. That was the regular Indian way of riding. + +Warbonnets were worn by twelve Cheyennes among the three hundred or +more of our warriors in the battle. It may be I have forgotten a few +of them, but as I recollect it our warbonnet men on that day were +these:[36] Crazy Head, Crow Necklace, Little Horse, Wolf Medicine, +White Elk, Howling Wolf, Braided Locks, Chief Coming Up, Mad Wolf, +Little Shield, Sun Bear and White Body. Three of these were little +warrior chiefs. Ten of the warbonnets had trails. Sun Bear had a +single buffalo horn projecting out from the front of his forehead +band. Crazy Head was a big chief of the tribe, had been a great +fighter in past times, but was not now a warrior chief. While he had +on his warbonnet here, I suppose he stayed in the background and let +the young men do the fighting. Chief Lame White Man was not wearing +a warbonnet on this occasion. It was not usual for a man of his high +standing to go into the battle as he did. I suppose he did so because +he had not there any son to serve as a warrior. + +Not any Cheyenne fought naked in this battle. All of them who were in +the fight were dressed in their best, according to the custom of both +the Cheyennes and the Sioux. Of our warriors, Sun Bear was nearest to +nakedness. He had on a special buffalo-horn head dress. I saw several +naked Sioux, perhaps a dozen or more. Of course, these had special +medicine painting on the body. Two different Sioux I saw wearing +buffalo head skins and horns, and one of them had a bear’s skin over +his head and body. These three were not dressed in the usual war +clothing. It is likely there were others I did not see. Perhaps some +of the naked ones were No Clothing Indians. + +A dead Uncpapa Sioux received something of the same kind of mistaken +attention given to our Lame White Man. The dead Sioux was mixed in +with dead bodies of the soldiers. An Arapaho and a No Clothing Indian +supposed him to be a Crow or a Shoshone belonging to the white men +fighters. They jabbed spears many times into the body. They were much +embarrassed when they learned of their mistake. + +I found a metal bottle, as I was walking among the dead men. It was +about half full of some kind of liquid. I opened it and found that +the liquid was not water. Soon afterward I got hold of another bottle +of the same kind that had in it the same kind of liquid. I showed +these to some other Indians. Different ones of them smelled and +sniffed. Finally a Sioux said: + +“Whisky.” + +Bottles of this kind were found by several other Indians. Some of +them drank the contents. Others tried to drink, but had to spit out +their mouthfuls. Bobtail Horse got sick and vomited soon after he +had taken a big swallow of it. It became the talk that this whisky +explained why the soldiers became crazy and shot each other and +themselves instead of shooting us. One old Indian said, though, that +there was not enough whisky gone from any of the bottles to make +a white man soldier go crazy. We all agreed then that the foolish +actions of the soldiers must have been caused by the prayers of our +medicine men. I believed this was the true explanation. My belief +became changed, though, in later years. I think now it was the +whisky.[37] + +I took a folded leather package from a soldier having three stripes +on the left arm of his coat. It had in it lots of flat pieces of +paper having pictures or writing I did not then understand. The paper +was of green color. I tore it all up and gave the leather holder to +a Cheyenne friend. Others got packages of the same kind from other +dead white men. Some of it was kept by the finders. But most of +it was thrown away or was given to boys, for them to look at the +pictures.[38] + +I rode away from the battle hill in the middle of the afternoon. Many +warriors had gone back across the hills to the southward, there to +fight again the first soldiers. But I went to the camps across on the +west side of the river. I had on a soldier coat and breeches I had +taken. I took with me the two metal bottles of whisky. At the end of +the arrow shaft I carried the beard scalp. + +I waved my scalp as I rode among our people. The first person I met +who took special interest in me was my mother’s mother. She was +living in a little willow dome lodge of her own. “What is that?” she +asked me when I flourished the scalp stick toward her. I told her. +“I give it to you,” I said, and I held it out to her. She screamed +and shrank away. “Take it,” I urged. “It will be good medicine for +you.” Then I went on to tell her about my having killed the Crow +or Shoshone at the first fight up the river, about my getting the +two guns, about my knocking in the head two soldiers in the river, +about what I had done in the next fight on the hill where all of +the soldiers had been killed. We talked about my soldier clothing. +She said I looked good dressed that way. I had thought so too, but +neither the coat nor the breeches fit me well. The arms and legs were +too short for me. Finally she decided she would take the scalp. She +went then into her own little lodge. + +I passed one bottle of the whisky among friends. Each took a small +drink of it until all of it was gone. The other bottle I gave to +Little Hawk. He himself drank all of the whisky in it. Pretty soon, +though, he became sick and he vomited up everything in his stomach. + +Some special excitement was going on over beyond the Arrows All +Gone camp. A big crowd of Sioux were gathered there. I went to see +what they were doing. They had surrounded some Indians just then +arrived in the camp. “Kill them, every one of them,” some Sioux were +shouting. Others were saying: “Wait. Let us be sure.” Above the +confusion of threats and general noise of the excited throng I heard +an angry thundering: + +“No. I had nothing to do with the soldiers. I am all Indian, all +Cheyenne.” + +It was the voice of Little Wolf, most respected of the four old men +chiefs of the Cheyennes. He was speaking in our language. He could +not talk Sioux. He never had mingled much with them, so not many of +them knew him. + +Yellow Horse, an old Southern Cheyenne man, was with me. He said to +me: “Let us go to Little Wolf. You are his relative, you know the +Sioux language, and you should talk for him.” We crowded our way +through to the old chief. Both of us shook hands with him. The Sioux +began talking to us about him. Some Cheyennes also were accusing him. +One of these was White Bull. He knew Little Wolf, but he said the +chief ought to have been with the Cheyennes long ago, that he ought +not to have waited until after the fighting before joining us, that +he stayed too long on the reservation. I knew that White Bull’s heart +was troubled, though, about his own son, Noisy Walking. Finally, +Yellow Horse called out: “Wait until this young man talks to Little +Wolf. He will find out and tell everybody.” + +“Have you been with the soldiers?” I asked the chief. + +“No, you foolish boy,” he flared back at me. “Do these people think +I am a crazy man? I have with me seven lodges of our people. There +are families of women and children. They have their tepees, their +packhorses, all of their property. Does anybody suppose that is the +way to join the soldiers and help them? Not any part of me ever was +white man. I am all Indian. I am willing to fight any man who says I +am not.” + +He went on to tell all about the experiences of his little band of +Cheyennes. On their way out from the reservation they saw soldiers +camped on the upper Rosebud, just the afternoon before. They kept +hidden back in the hills and watched the soldiers go on toward the +divide leading to the Little Bighorn. His people did not set up +their lodges that night. Instead, they traveled a while and rested a +while, their scouts all the time watching the soldiers. Early in the +morning, some of Little Wolf’s young men out in front found a box of +something the soldiers had lost. Just then, some soldiers came back, +shot at these young men, and they returned to Little Wolf.[39] The +band continued to follow the soldiers, but kept themselves hidden. +From the hilltops they heard the guns and saw some of the fighting. +It appeared that all of the Indians in the camps were running away. +Finally, the shooting mostly died down. The frightened little band +peeped over the hilltops and saw that the camps and the Indians still +were on the valley. Then they cautiously came on to join us. + +I repeated all of this story to a Sioux chief. He told the assembled +Sioux warriors and I told the Cheyennes. Some grumbling continued, +many saying that Little Wolf ought to have been with us long ago, +but all of them became satisfied that neither he nor his companions +deserved killing. The crowd scattered, and the newcomers moved on +to join the Cheyenne camp. There were some additional scoldings of +them on account of their having stayed so long at the reservation. +But their women had plenty of sugar and coffee in their packs, and +with gifts of these desirable extra foods they soon quieted all +complaints. Little Wolf at that time was fifty-five years old. + +Burial parties of Cheyennes were going to the hill gulches west of +our camps, to put our dead into rock crevices. Each warrior lost was +disposed of by his women relatives and his young men friends. A big +band of people went out to help bury Lame White Man. I accompanied +the relatives of Limber Bones, one of our young men who had been +killed. We took him far back up a long coulee. We found there a +small hillside cliff. Four of us young men helped the women to clear +out a sheltered cove. In there we placed the dead body, wrapped in +blankets and a buffalo robe. We piled a wall of flat stones across +the front of the grave. His mother and another woman sat down on the +ground beside it to mourn for him. The rest of us returned to the +valley. + +The Sioux likewise were disposing of their dead. Their customary way +was to set up burial tepees. It appeared that in all of the Sioux +camps these were being set up. They were placed where had been the +dwelling lodges, or near them. In some cases the original dwelling +lodges of the dead ones were left standing, in each case the body +being all dressed for burial and left on a scaffold in the lodge +or on the dirt floor, the dwelling being then abandoned by the +inhabitants. This was a common mode of Sioux burial, and sometimes +the Cheyennes did it in this way. + +All of the camps were being moved. This was in accordance with a +regular custom among the Indian tribes. When any death occurred +in a camp, either from battle or from other cause, right at once +the people began to get ready to move camp to some other place. +The Cheyennes selected a camping spot down the river about a mile +northwestward. The Sioux all began moving northwestward and back +from the Little Bighorn toward the base of the bench hills west +from the river. In the new locations, all of the camps except the +Cheyennes were west of the present railroad and highway. + +Most of the women and children and older people in the camps had fled +toward the hills to the northward and westward when the first band +of soldiers made the attack upon the Uncpapas at the upper part of +the group of camps. I suppose there were very few people left in the +camps at that end until after those soldiers had been chased away and +across the river. When I rode up there and around the west and south +sides of the Uncpapa and Blackfeet circles it was hard to keep from +running over the Indians who were hurrying afoot toward the bench +lands to the westward. + +Our Cheyenne people who were not active warriors started to go toward +the north, down the valley, and some of them crossed the river. But +when the second band of soldiers were seen on the high ridge far out +eastward these Cheyennes who had crossed the river returned to the +camping side. Of course, nobody knew how many soldiers were coming. +Nobody knew what would be the outcome of their attack. They had +surprised us by their sudden appearance. We were not prepared for +battle. + +At the first time of the flight from the camps, many women and some +of the men seized small packs of food or other precious possessions +and carried them away. The fleeing ones stopped on the benchlands +west of where had been their camp circles. They stayed there and +watched the fighting. After a little while, since no more of the +soldiers had come to that side of the river, people began hurrying +to the camps, quickly gathering up other things, then hurrying back +to the hilltops. Later, as none of our warriors were returning, it +became evident that we were winning the contest. Our people then +became more confident. The old men who were making medicine prayers +for our success added words of encouragement to the waiting families. + +Throngs of women now were busy going back and forth between the +old and the new camp positions. They were carrying water from the +river and wood from the timber. All of the lodges not abandoned were +taken down. Most of them were packed, not set up in the new spots of +location. The poles were wrapped, the buffalo skin coverings were +put into bundles, packs were made up, all put into readiness for +quick movement elsewhere if need be. Only the cooking pots and other +essential articles were left in use. The women went by hundreds to +cut willows for making little skeleton dome shelters, in substitution +for the regular tepee lodges kept packed. It had not rained here +during all of that day, but rain might come at any time. Not all of +the Indians, though, prepared shelters. Many depended only upon robes +for shielding them if shielding should become needful. The lodges +of mourning Cheyennes were torn or cut to pieces or burned, and +their furnishings were cast away. These bereft people, according to +our customs, now had to live during their time of mourning without +any lodge or any property of their own. They dwelt outside or with +hospitable friends. The poles and skins of any travois used to carry +dead bodies were also thrown away. Sometimes the horses used to drag +the travois of a dead person were killed or were turned loose to be +captured by whoever might want them. + +After sundown I visited Noisy Walking. He was lying on a ground bed +of buffalo robes under a willow dome shelter. His father White Bull +was with him. His mother sat just outside the entrance. I asked my +friend: “How are you?” He replied: “Good, only I want water.” I did +not know what else to say, but I wanted him to know that I was his +friend and willing to do whatever I could for him. I sat down upon +the ground beside him. After a little while I said: “You were very +brave.” Nothing else was said for several minutes. He was weak. His +hands trembled at every move he made. Finally he said to his father: + +“I wish I could have some water--just a little of it.” + +“No. Water will kill you.” + +White Bull almost choked as he said this to his son. But he was a +good medicine man, and he knew what was best. As I sat there looking +at Noisy Walking I knew he was going to die. My heart was heavy. But +I could not do him any good, so I excused myself and went away. + +There was no dancing nor celebrating of any kind in any of the camps +that night. Too many people were in mourning, among all of the Sioux +as well as among the Cheyennes. Too many Cheyenne and Sioux women +had gashed their arms and legs, in token of their grief. The people +generally were praying, not cheering. There was much noise and +confusion, but this was from other causes. Young men were going out +to fight the first soldiers now hiding themselves on the hill across +the river from where had been the first fighting during the morning. +Other young men were coming back to camp after having been over there +shooting at these soldiers. Movements of this kind had been going on +all the time since the final blows fell upon all of the soldiers in +the second and greatest battle. Old men heralds were riding about all +of the camps, singing the braveheart songs and calling out: “Young +men, be brave.” The only fires anywhere among us were little camp +fires for cooking. Or, there may have been at times a larger blaze +coming from some mourning family’s lodge being burned. + +I did not go back that afternoon nor that night to help in fighting +the first soldiers. Late in the night, though, I went as a scout. +Five young men of the Cheyennes were appointed to guard our camp +while other people slept. These were Big Nose, Yellow Horse, Little +Shield, Horse Road and Wooden Leg. One or other of us was out +somewhere looking over the country all the time. Two of us went once +over to the place where the soldiers were hidden. We got upon hill +points higher than they were. We could look down among them. We could +have shot among them, but we did not do this. We just saw that they +yet were there. + +Five other young men took our duties in the last part of the night. I +was glad to be relieved. I did not go to my family group for rest. I +let loose my horse and dropped myself down upon a thick pad of grassy +sod. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[28] Little Sun, in the presence of Wooden Leg and other veteran +Cheyennes, told me of this incident.--T. B. M. + +[29] This apparently was Bloody Knife, Custer’s favorite Arikara +scout.--T. B. M. + +[30] The Indians differ as to the color of the horses ridden by these +soldiers, but military students of the case believe this to have been +Lieutenant Smith’s troop.--T. B. M. + +[31] Captain Keogh or Captain Tom Custer, or both troops.--T. B. M. + +[32] The story of wholesale suiciding is such a reversal of our +accepted conceptions that some reader may exclaim: “That is a +villifying falsehood!” _But it is the truth._ Most of the Seventh +cavalry enlisted men on that occasion were recent recruits. Only a +few of them ever had been in an Indian battle, or in any kind of +battle. It is evident, though, that they fought well through an hour +and a half or two hours. Then, finding themselves vastly outnumbered, +they “went crazy,” as the Indians tell. They put into panicky +practice the old frontiersman rule, “When fighting Indians keep the +last bullet for yourself.” A great mass of circumstantial evidence +supports this explanation of the military disaster. The author hopes +to attain publication, at some future time, of his own full analysis +of the entire case.--T. B. M. + +[33] Evidently this was Captain Tom Custer.--T. B. M. + +[34] All old Cheyennes insist the battle ended about noon.--T. B. M. + +[35] This unfortunate soldier probably was Lieutenant Cook.--T. B. M. + +[36] Various old Cheyennes helped Wooden Leg in making this list.--T. +B. M. + +[37] The whisky explanation is regularly advanced by the warrior +veterans nowadays. It appears none of them have any conception of +suicide to avoid capture.--T. B. M. + +[38] Paper money. The soldiers received two months’ pay after they +had left Fort Lincoln. There had been no opportunity for them to +spend a cent, except among themselves, since that time.--T. B. M. + +[39] Here appears to have been the key incident that misled Custer +into supposing his presence revealed to the camps and that caused +him to attack at once, lest they escape. Big Crow, Black Horse and +Medicine Bull, all of them with the Little Wolf band, told me the +details of this experience.--T. B. M. + + + + + X + +_The Spoils of Battle._ + + +I slept late that next morning after the great battle. The sun had +been up an hour before I awoke. I went to the willow lodge of my +father and mother. When I had eaten the breakfast given to me by my +mother I got myself ready again to risk death in an effort to kill +other white men who had come to kill us. I combed and braided my +hair. My braids in those days were full and long, reaching down my +breast beyond the waist belt. I painted anew the black circle around +my face and the red and yellow space enclosed within the circle. I +was in doubt about which clothing to wear, but my father said the +soldier clothing looked the best, even though the coat sleeves ended +far above my wrists and the legs of the breeches left long bare spots +between them and the tops of my moccasins. I put on my big white hat +captured at the Rosebud fight. My sister Crooked Nose got my horse +for me. Soon afterward I was on my way up and across the valley +and on through the river to the hill where the first soldiers were +staying. + +I had both my rifle and my six shooter. I still was without my +medicine shield and my other medicine protectors that had been lost +on Powder river. Most of the other Cheyennes and Sioux had theirs. +The shields all were of specially shrunken and toughened buffalo skin +covered with buckskin fringed and painted, each with his own choice +of designs, for the medicine influence. I went with other young men +to the higher hills around the soldiers. I stayed at a distance from +them and shot bullets from my new rifle. I did not shoot many times, +as it appeared I was too far away, and I did not want to waste any of +my cartridges. So I went down and hid in a gulch near the river. + +Some soldiers came to get water from the river, just as our old +men had said they likely would do. The white men crept down a deep +gulch and then ran across an open space to the water. Each one had a +bucket, and each would dip his bucket for water and run back into the +gulch. I put myself, with others, where we could watch for these men. +I shot at one of them just as he straightened up after having dipped +his bucket into the water. He pitched forward into the edge of the +river. He went wallowing along the stream, trying to swim, but having +a hard time at it. I jumped out from my hiding place and ran toward +him. Two Sioux warriors got ahead of me. One of them waded after +the man and struck him with a rifle barrel. Finally he grabbed the +man, hit him again, and then dragged him dead to the shore, quite a +distance down the river. I kept after them, following down the east +bank. Some other Sioux warriors came. I was the only Cheyenne there. +The Sioux agreed that my bullet had been the first blow upon the +white soldier, so they allowed me to choose whatever I might want of +his belongings.[40] + +I searched into the man’s pockets. In one I found a folding knife and +a plug of chewing tobacco that was soaked and spoiled. In another +pocket was a wad of the same kind of green paper taken from the +soldiers the day before. It too was wet through. I threw it aside. +In this same pocket were four white metal pieces of money. I knew +they were of value in trading, but I did not know how much was their +value. In later times I have learned they were four silver dollars. +A young Cheyenne there said: “Give the money to me.” I did not care +for it, so I gave it to him. He thanked me and said: “I shall use +it to buy for myself a gun.” I do not remember now his name, but he +was a son of One Horn. A Sioux picked up the wad of green paper I +had thrown upon the ground. It was almost falling to pieces, but he +began to spread out some of the wet sheets that still held together. +Pretty soon he said: + +“This is money. This is what white men use to buy things from the +traders.” + +I had seen much other paper like it during the afternoon before. Wolf +Medicine had offered to give me a handful of it. But I did not take +it. I already had thrown away some of it I had found. But even after +I was told it could be used for buying things from the traders, I did +not want it. I was thinking then it would be a long time before I +should see or care to see any white man trader. + +I went riding over the ground where we had fought the first soldiers +during the morning of the day before. I saw by the river, on the west +side, a dead black man. He was a big man. All of his clothing was +gone when I saw him, but he had not been scalped nor cut up like the +white men had been. Some Sioux told me he belonged to their people +but was with the soldiers.[41] + +As some of us were looking at the body of an Indian who had been with +the soldiers, an old Sioux said: + +“This is a Corn[42] Indian, not a Crow nor Shoshone.” + +He showed us the differences in appearance, especially the earrings +and the hair dressing. The Crow men wore their hair cut off above +the forehead and roached up. The Shoshones had almost the same way +of placing this foretop. The Corn Indians kept their hair in braids, +parted like that of the Sioux and Cheyennes, but the Corn Indian +parting was not in the middle of the top, as ours was. I examined +again the one I had helped in beating to death. I learned he also was +a Corn Indian. I found yet a third one. We who had killed them were +young men, and there was great excitement at the time, so we had not +observed their tribal connection. We had supposed them to be the same +Crows and Shoshones we had fought on the upper Rosebud creek a few +days before. Now there began to be talk that maybe these soldiers +were not the same ones we had fought there. Or, perhaps they had +added the Corn Indians to their forces since that time. There were +different opinions on the matter. + +Some Sioux caught a mule that wandered out from the place where the +soldiers were together on the hilltop. The animal was going down +toward the river when the Indians got it. They tried to lead it +toward their sheltered place behind a knoll, but it would not go. +It appeared to be wanting a drink of water. One Sioux got behind it +and whipped it, while a companion pulled at the leading strap. But +the mule just stood there, would not move. On its back were packs of +cartridges. The Sioux took these and let the mule go. + +I went with other Cheyennes along the hills northward to the ground +where we had killed all of the soldiers. Lots of women and boys were +there. The boys were going about making coups by stabbing or shooting +arrows into the dead men. Some of the bodies had many arrows sticking +in them. Many hands and feet had been cut off, and the limbs and +bodies and heads had many stabs and slashes. Some of this had been +done by the warriors, during and immediately after the battle. More +was added, though, by enraged and weeping women relatives of the +Sioux and Cheyennes who had been killed. The women used sheathknives +and hatchets. + +A dog was following one of the Sioux women among the dead soldiers. I +did not see any other dog there, neither on that day nor on the day +before, when the fight was on. There were some Indian dogs tangling +among the feet of the horses at the time of the fighting of the first +soldiers, on the valley above the camps. But even here most of them +were called away by the women and old people going to the western +hilltops. + +Three different soldiers, among all of the dead in both places of +battle, attracted special notice from the Indians. The first was the +man wearing the buckskin suit and who had the colored writing and +pictures on his breast and arms. Another was the black man killed +among the first soldiers on the valley. The third was one having gold +among his teeth. We did not understand how this metal got there, nor +why it was there. + +Paper boxes of ammunition were in the leather bags carried on the +saddles of the soldiers. Besides, in all of the belts taken from the +dead men there were cartridges. Some belts had only a few left in +them. In others the loops still contained many, an occasional one +almost full. I did not see nor hear of any belt entirely emptied of +its cartridges. + +All during that forenoon, as well as during the afternoon and night +before, both in the camps and on the battle grounds, Indians were +saying to each other: “I got some tobacco.” “I got coffee.” “I got +two horses.” “I got a soldier saddle.” “I got a good gun.” Some got +things they did not understand. + +One young Cheyenne took something from a dead soldier just after all +of them had been killed. He was puzzled by it. Some others looked at +it. I was with them. It was made of white metal and had glass on one +side. On this side were marks of some kind. While the Cheyenne was +looking at it he got it up toward his ear. Then he put it up close. + +“It is alive!” he said. + +Others put it to their ears and listened. I put it up to mine. + +“Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick,” it was saying. + +We talked about its use. We agreed generally it was that soldier’s +special medicine. Many Indians came and wondered about it. The young +man decided to keep it for his own medicine. + +When I was getting ready the next morning to go and fight again the +soldiers staying on the hilltop, the Cheyenne young man had a crowd +around him again examining his strange white man medicine. They were +listening, but it made no sound. After different ones had studied it, +he finally threw it away as far as he could throw it. + +“It is not good medicine for me,” he said. “It is dead.” + +I saw another soldier medicine thing something like this one, but the +other one was larger and it did not make the ticking noise. It acted, +though, like it was alive. When it was held with the glass side up +a little arrow fluttered around. When it was held quiet for a while +the arrow gradually stopped fluttering. Every time it stopped the +point of the arrow was toward the north, down the valley. There was +talk then of other soldiers coming from that direction, so it was +decided this medicine object was useful for finding out at any time +where might be soldiers. Little Shield had it when I saw it. He gave +it to High Walking. Another Cheyenne got a pair of field glasses. We +understood them. This was a big pair. + +Cleaners for the rifles puzzled us a while. They were in joints and +were carried in a long hole in the end of the wooden stock. Pretty +soon we learned what was their use. I saw one rifle that had a shell +of cartridge in its barrel. A Sioux had it. He could not put into the +gun any other cartridge, so he threw it into the river. + +Yellow Weasel, a Cheyenne, got a bugle. He tried to make a noise with +it, but he could not. Others tried. Different ones puffed and blowed +at it. But nobody could make it sound out. After a while we heard a +bugle making a big noise somewhere among the Sioux. The Cheyennes +said: “The Sioux got a good one. This one Yellow Weasel has is no +good. He might as well throw it away.” But he kept it, and it was not +long until he was making it sound. + +One Cheyenne got a flag. There were several others among the Sioux. I +do not know just how many they got, but I believe I saw nine of them. + +Bridle bits were thrown away, but the leather parts were kept. I +got two sets of bridle reins, but no other parts of the bridles. A +Cheyenne gave them to me. All of the soldier boots were taken from +them. But they were not worn by the Indians. The bottoms were cut off +and discarded. Only the tops used. These made good leather pouches, +or the leather was cut up to make something else. Old men were +allowed to have all of the saddles. But only a few of the Cheyenne +old men got them. I saw lots of Sioux old men riding around on +soldier saddles, either on the soldier horses or the Indian horses. + +All of the soldier horses taken by the Indians were good. They were +fat and sleek and strong and lively. They were better than any of the +Indian horses. Some were killed or were so badly wounded we did not +want them. But when we could scare them away from the soldiers as the +fighting was going on, we did this. Any time that horses got among +us we turned them toward the river, for the old men or the boys to +capture. It was easy to do this, as they were very thirsty. One big +band of them went down from the west end of the ridge. + +Noisy Walking died during the night after the great battle. Six +Cheyennes now had been killed. Another man, Open Belly, was badly +wounded and was expected to die. He was about thirty years old, but +he had neither wife nor children. The six dead were: + +Lame White Man, age about thirty-eight, wife and two children. + +Limber Bones, age twenty, not married. + +Black Bear, age twenty, not married. + +Noisy Walking, age eighteen, not married. + +Hump Nose, age sixteen, not married. + +Whirlwind, age sixteen, not married. + +Others had wounds that crippled them but did not threaten to kill +them. Little Bird got a bullet through a thigh. Many had scratch +wounds. Sun Bear almost got killed. He went into the first great +Cheyenne charge. A bullet glanced off his forehead. He was dazed and +he fell down. But he got up right away and went on fighting. + +Hump Nose and Whirlwind were killed during the first battle, above +the camps. Hump Nose fell on the west side of the river, in the +valley fighting. Whirlwind’s death took place on the east side, +when he had the fight with the Corn Indian, who also was killed. +Lame White Man and Noisy Walking received their bullets at the time +of the first charge among the Custer soldiers who rode down toward +the river. Open Belly, our man who died after we arrived east of +Powder river, was hit by a soldier bullet when he was riding across +the bench where the stone house of the Custer Battlefield National +Cemetery now is standing. Limber Bones and Black Bear were killed on +the steep slope just north of the present Custer stone monument. Both +Limber Bones and Black Bear were a little taller than I was. After +they were gone I was the tallest young man in the tribe, I believe. +I heard of a few women riding out to watch the fighting, but I did +not see any women there during that time. None of them was doing any +fighting. All of them kept far back. + +The Indians supposed all the time that these were the same soldiers +we had fought on the upper Rosebud valley. Little Wolf and his +people, arriving just after the fight ended, explained to us that +these men just killed came from another direction. Then, when we +learned that the Indians with these soldiers at the Little Bighorn +were Corn Indians, not Crows or Shoshones, it began to appear that +the Little Wolf band had it right, that these really were not the +Rosebud battle soldiers. + +During the afternoon it was learned that yet another band of white +men were coming up the Little Bighorn valley.[43] All of the young +men wanted to fight them. A council of chiefs was held. They decided +we should continue in our same course--not fight any soldiers if we +could get away without doing so. All of the Indians then got ready to +move. + +Mourning families abandoned and left behind their meat, robes, +cooking pots and everything else they owned, as well as their vacated +or destroyed lodges. That was a custom among all of the Sioux tribes +the same as with the Cheyennes. I saw several Sioux tepees left +standing. I supposed there were dead warriors in some of them, or +perhaps in all of them. Some Cheyenne tepees were left standing. +These had belonged to families wherein a member had been killed. But, +except the lodges and property abandoned by mourning people, all of +the possessions of the Indians were taken with us. + +Late in the afternoon the procession of tribes was in movement. +Again, as at all other times, the Cheyennes went ahead and the +Uncpapas came last. Several parties of young men went aside to go +across the river and shoot again among the soldiers camped on the +high hill. A few stayed there until darkness came. Uncpapa scouts +watched behind, observing particularly the new band of soldiers +coming up the Little Bighorn valley. + +We set out southwestward up the small valley of a creek just south +of the present Garryowen railroad station. Soon we mounted to the +benchland and traveled southward. Late in the night, the whole +caravan stopped and rested a few hours, all sleeping in the open, +with no lodges. At daylight we traveled on, now following up the +Little Bighorn valley. During the afternoon we stopped for camping. +The Cheyenne circle, at the leading or southern end, was about two +miles below the mouth of Greasy Grass creek, below the place where +now is located the town of Lodge Grass, Montana. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[40] In a letter published in Brady’s book, Private Wm. E. Morris +tells of the death of Tanner, of Troop M, while he was after water +for the Reno wounded men.--T. B. M. + +[41] Isaiah, a negro, Sioux interpreter for the Seventh cavalry.--T. +B. M. + +[42] The Arikaras were known as Corn people.--T. B. M. + +[43] The Terry-Gibbon forces. They camped that night on the site of +the present Crow Agency.--T. B. M. + + + + + XI + +_Rovings after the Victory._ + + +All of the lodges were set up here below the mouth of Greasy Grass +creek. All of the six tribal camp circles were arranged as they had +been before the soldiers came and troubled us. The Cheyennes again +were on one of their favorite old camping spots. They still were at +the advance side of the group of circles. The Uncpapas still were at +the opposite side. + +I was stationed as a wolf to keep lookout from a hill near our camp. +As I sat there, an Indian young man rode up to me. He asked me, in +Sioux language, “Who are you?” I said, “I am a Cheyenne.” He got +down from his horse. He had tobacco and a pipe, and we had a smoke +together. He told me he belonged to the Waist and Skirt people, but I +already could see that, by his earrings. All of the Waist and Skirt +men wore elk teeth hanging from their ears. After we had smoked and +visited a while, he said: + +“I think the big chief of the soldiers we killed was named Long Hair. +One of my people killed him. He has known Long Hair many years, and +he is sure this was him. He could tell him by the long and wavy +yellow hair.” + +This was the first time I ever had heard of any such person as Long +Hair. The news was interesting to me at first, but after I had +thought a few moments about it the story seemed not very important. I +recalled myself having seen at least three soldiers having long and +light-colored hair. One of these I had shot after he was dead. Just +after the end of the fighting I saw this long-haired soldier lying +there without any appearance of wounds on him. So I put the muzzle +of my rifle against the side of his head and sent a bullet through +it. This man’s clothing was gone when I first saw him. I had not any +thought about whether or not he was a chief. + +A great council was held at the Greasy Grass camp that night. Chiefs +of all of the tribes were there. It was out of doors, in the midst of +the camp circles. I believe it was at the Ogallala camp, but I am not +sure. At this council I heard an Uncpapa Sioux war chief say: + +“Long Hair was big chief of the soldiers. I saw him there, and I +killed him. I know it was him. I could not mistake the long and wavy +yellow hair.”[44] + +I did not hear anyone else during that time make claims of knowing +who was the soldier big chief. There was some talk, though, that all +of those soldiers had been chosen specially for their bravery and had +been sent out direct from Washington. It was generally agreed that +whoever was the big chief of them, he must have been the big chief of +all of the white man soldiers in the world. + +At this council I heard chiefs of the different tribes announce the +number of their killed. The Cheyennes had lost 6. Uncpapas, 7. Arrows +All Gone, 4. Minneconjoux, 3. Ogallalas, 2. I have forgotten the +numbers from the Waist and Skirt, Burned Thigh and Blackfeet Sioux. +I think, though, that all of these three tribes together might have +lost 7 or 8. Total deaths, about 30.[45] + +The Cheyenne warriors had a dance at this Greasy Grass camp. +Charcoal Bear, our medicine chief, brought the buffalo skin from +the sacred tepee and put it upon the top of a pole in the center of +our camp circle. We danced around this pole. No women took part in +the dancing. Many of them had sore legs from the mourning cuts. Our +dance was not carried very far into the night. It was mostly a short +telling of experiences, a counting of coups. My father told, in a few +words, what his two sons had done. When he had ended the telling of +my warrior acts, he said: “The name of this son of mine is Wooden +Leg.” Up to this time some people still used my boyhood name, Eats +From His Hand. But now this old name was entirely gone. + +Some of the Sioux people had little dances here, the same as the +Cheyennes were having. But not all of them did this. The Uncpapas did +not dance. They said it was not time, that we ought to mourn yet a +while. Some of them came to look on quietly at our gathering. + +Only one sleep we stayed at the Greasy Grass location. The great band +of Indians trailed from there on up the Little Bighorn valley. Our +next stop was near where is the present town of Wyola. + +An accidental killing took place during the time we were at this next +camp. That afternoon, as we were traveling, a Cheyenne named Coffee +was among the men who hunted buffalo along the way. He got a load of +meat on his pack horse and joined us just after the camp had been set +up. He belonged to our tribal medicine lodge, as a helper for the +chief medicine man. He rode to the medicine lodge and made a movement +to dismount from his horse. He had a rifle strapped in front of his +body. As he swung himself from the horse, his rifle accidentally was +discharged. Coffee originally had been a Southern Cheyenne, but for +many years he had been a member of our tribe. He was an old man, but +he never was married. He said that one having his position as helper +to the medicine chief ought not to have a wife. But Charcoal Bear, +the medicine chief, had a wife and two children. + +After one sleep at this place we turned eastward and went over the +hills to the extreme upper Rosebud. One sleep at this place. We moved +on down, going past the ground where we had fought the soldiers on +this creek. We camped a few miles below where this fight had taken +place. One sleep here. The movement was kept up down this valley. The +next camp was pitched near the present Busby. After one sleep here +we traveled on northward. This time we stopped at our favorite old +camping place on the Rosebud above the mouth of Muddy creek. + +I was not with the camps at all of these stopping places. Like many +others, I was out a part of the time looking for meat. I took it to +my people when I could get any. Buffalo were scarce along the line of +travel, so most of the game killed was elk, deer or antelope. Many +people among the Indians were hungry for more food. Partly because of +the fast traveling and partly because the hunters were not going far +on account of soldiers in the country, the food demands of the people +could not be supplied to their full satisfaction. + +I went out with one party, though, as far as the present town of +Sheridan, Wyoming. We found there plenty of buffalo. We loaded our +pack horses and started to return to the moving Indians. But somebody +saw soldiers, or it was said they had been seen. I did not see them. +But I quickly threw off the meat from my pack horse, the same as the +others did, and we rode away southward as fast as our horses could +go. Not far off we got into a wooded canyon and hid there until +darkness came. At night we went back and picked up all of our meat. +We then traveled on, and the next day we got to our people. + +We Cheyennes had a dance at our camp near the mouth of Muddy creek, +on the Rosebud. I do not recollect any dance in any other tribal +circle at this place. Our warriors again talked in public of acts +at the great battle. One would dance, flourish a gun, and say, “I +killed a white man soldier.” Another would do the same. Each one who +did this had to have witnesses to verify his claims. A few women +took part in the dance. My grandmother was one of them. She had the +bearded face scalp I gave to her, and she told of my doings in the +fight with the first soldiers. After this dance, she threw away the +scalp. + +One sleep we stayed here. Then we continued down the Rosebud. The +next stop was below the mouth of Lame Deer creek, as it now is +known. We moved from there on down to the mouth of the stream now +called Greenleaf creek. All along the Rosebud we had seen the trail +of the soldiers we had killed at the Little Bighorn. We now had full +proof that they had come up this valley from the Yellowstone. After +one sleep at the Greenleaf camping place we left the Rosebud valley. + +The direction of movement was turned eastward. We followed the little +branch stream to its head and went on over the divide to Tongue +river. Stopped there, one sleep. Next day, traveled up this valley +to Otter creek and on up this little valley several miles. One sleep +in the camp on Otter creek. The next camp was set up at the head of +Otter creek. The day after that our great band of tribes went over +another divide and camped on what the white people call Pumpkin +creek. One sleep, then eastward to a branch of Powder river. Next, +to Powder river. Following, one day of travel down Powder river and +one more camping beside this stream. Crossed the river and went up a +creek flowing into its east side. This creek is the next one south +of that one where the combined Indians had traveled in starting from +east of Powder river toward the valleys westward from there. + +We now were in the same region where all of the tribes had come +together three months before this time. In coming back to the +gathering place all of the Indians traveled together, as we had done +in going westward from it. The Cheyennes still were moving in the +advance and camping in the advance. The Uncpapas still were following +last and camping last. On the return we hurried from place to place. +There was no stopping for special hunting. I believe we remained +only one sleep at each of the camps. I may have forgotten one or two +places of our camping. I think, though, that it was sixteen or more +sleeps from the battle camp on the Little Bighorn back to this place +on the creek east of Powder river. + +Open Belly, our badly wounded man, died here east of Powder river. +One wounded Sioux had died along the way. This brought the Cheyenne +loss from the battle up to seven. Some Sioux count also was increased +by one. All of the Indians then had lost about thirty-two warriors as +a result of the great battle. The wounded men had been carried during +all of the journey on travois beds. That makes easier riding than any +other way I know. But it may have been they could have become well if +during all the time they had been quiet in a lodge. + +The Indians were hungry. Our meat was all gone. The horses had been +traveling hard every day and were tired. The fat and sleek soldier +horses we had were more tired than the Indian ponies. It was said +this was because they were not used to living on grass alone, as the +Indian ponies were. + +We stayed four or five sleeps at this camping place. Every day the +chiefs met in council. Finally, they decided on a separation of the +tribes. It seemed there was no danger just now from soldiers. By +traveling separately, or in small bands, more meat and skins could be +taken by each tribe or band. The horses all could get more grass when +scattered. Everybody agreed it was best to separate. I think this +was the intention of the chiefs all the time, but we were staying +together for yet a few days of final visiting in a quiet camp before +the separation. + +The Cheyennes went first down the Powder river. We followed it to +where it flows into Elk river. We found a big pile of corn in sacks +by Elk river. We fed some of it to our soldier horses. Some people +cooked a little and ate it. We emptied out most of the remainder and +took the sacks. + +By Powder river we saw lying dead an old man and an old woman. They +were Sioux. Both of the bodies were humped down close together among +some brush as if they had been in hiding there when they had been +shot. Many bullet wounds were in both of them, all of the holes in +the back of the head and back of the body. There were lots of tracks +of soldier horses there. The old man was scalped, but the woman was +not. + +We saw a steamboat on Elk river. Soldiers were on the boat. As they +passed along, some of the Cheyennes shot at them. I do not know +whether or not any soldier was hit by the shots. They did not shoot +back at us. The boat did not stop. + +We moved back up Powder river. We camped and hunted all along far +above the forks of the Powder and the Little Powder. We went over +to Tongue river, to the upper Rosebud, to the upper Little Bighorn +branches. We moved back and forth among the valleys of these higher +regions. We got plenty of game and our horses had plenty of grass. + +Four Cheyennes, Bear Man, Bullets Not Harm Him, Big Nose and myself +Wooden Leg, went out from a camp on the upper Rosebud to get buffalo +meat. We went far out southward. We got our pack horses loaded and +started back. We heard many shots following close after each other. + +“Soldiers are after somebody,” we agreed. + +We hurried away from that neighborhood. None of us went to look. The +next day at camp we learned what had happened. Some soldiers had been +after a mixed hunting party of Sioux and Cheyennes. Tall Bear, a +Cheyenne, had been killed. + +All during the remainder of the summer the Cheyennes traveled and +hunted. We kept mostly in the upper parts of the valleys. Not many +of our people went to the reservation. But some more came out and +joined us. Dull Knife, the old man chief, was with us soon after the +separation of the tribes. All of the four old men chiefs now were +here. Charcoal Bear kept our tribal medicine lodge set up at every +place of camping. When the leaves began to fall we were on Powder +river. We camped and hunted along up its valley. As the snows of +winter began to fall we moved farther up. + +Ten of us young men decided to go on a war party against the Crows. +Black Hawk and Yellow Weasel were the big men or leaders of this +party. We left the tribal camp on a small creek flowing into the west +side of Powder river. It was located then almost in the Big Horn +mountains, far up beyond where now is Buffalo, Wyoming. + +Six sleeps we ten Cheyenne warriors traveled westward and northward, +looking all the time for Crows. We would kill any Crow found, if we +could, or whatever horses of theirs we might find would be made ours +if we could get them. Our sixth sleep was on the west side of the +Bighorn river, just below the place where in past times had been the +soldier fort.[46] We now were in Crow land. But we had not yet seen +any Crow Indian. + +We followed on down the west side of the Bighorn to its mouth. We +crossed there to its east side and went a little distance down the +Elk river. There we saw a Crow man, woman and some children traveling +up the valley with only their one lodge. We hid back. They did not +see us. We decided not to harm them. We turned back and set off +up the east side of the Bighorn. When we got to the mouth of the +Little Bighorn we followed up this valley. Our tenth sleep of the +war journey found us camping where now is Crow Agency, only a short +distance down the river from where had been the great combined camp +when we had fought the soldiers during the early summer. + +We rode next morning all about the camping places of the Indians when +the soldiers had come. We looked where had been the little shelter +camps after the battle with them. We went then across the river +and over to the ridge where we had killed all of the soldiers. The +weather was clear and chilly, but not cold. There was no snow on the +ground. We led our horses as we walked all over the battle field. +Each man told the others of his own experiences during the fight. I +showed them where Noisy Walking had been found and where my brother +and I came upon the body of Lame White Man. The places where all of +the killed Cheyennes and many of the Sioux had fallen were known by +some one or other of us. We visited all of these places and talked of +the dead Indian friends. + +Dirt and sagebrush mounds now were at the places where had been the +dead soldiers. In a few places we could see some parts of their +bodies exposed. But mostly the graves were good, except they had no +stones piled over them. At one end of many different ones of the +graves was a straight board stuck into the ground, to stand up there. +They were straight boards, not crosses. Dead horses were lying in +decay here and there among the graves. Wolves had been eating at the +horses. I did not notice any place where it appeared wolves had been +at the graves. + +I found a folding knife that had belonged to some soldier. Another of +our party found a Sioux sheathknife. Soldier boot bottoms and other +pieces of soldier belongings were scattered here and there. I saw +some broken Cheyenne spears. There were many hundreds of arrows lying +all along the ridge and on its sides. Some were Cheyenne arrows, but +mostly they were from the bows of the Sioux. + +I hunted specially for cartridges. The others also picked them up, +but they were getting them to give to friends. I was the only one of +this party having a soldier rifle. There were lots of empty shells, +and from place to place we picked up loaded ones. Near a dead horse +I found a whole pasteboard boxful of good cartridges. There were +forty of them in the box. The box had been rotted by rain and had +fallen apart, but the cartridges were good. They only needed to be +wiped dry. I filled my belt and put the remainder into my pockets. +Others found other boxfuls. + +We went on southward over the hills to the place where the first +soldiers had hidden themselves on the hilltop. We found other +cartridges here. After having looked a while at this place we forded +the river to the west side and walked about over the valley where the +first fight had taken place. One other man and myself were the only +two in this party who had been in this battle. We told our companions +about how we chased the soldiers and killed them. I showed them right +where I had taken my rifle from the soldier and where I had helped in +killing the Corn Indian. I pointed out to them the place where I was +hidden and where was the soldier when I shot him as he was dipping up +water. I told of my getting the wet tobacco from a hip pocket and the +metal money from another pocket. They laughed when I told of having +thrown aside the wet paper money the soldier had folded and laid into +a little paper box. + +We slept this night only a little distance up the valley from this +first battle ground. Here we made for ourselves the same kind of +little brush shelters we had been making each night. We slept by twos +or in groups, to keep warm. + +The next morning we set out over the divide eastward toward the +Rosebud. We followed the same trail regularly used by the Indians +traveling this region, the same that had been used by the soldiers +in coming to us. Four more sleep camps we made in going on eastward +to Tongue river and up this valley. Somewhere below the mouth of +Hanging Woman creek our scouts caught sight of Indians coming down +the valley. All of us got to where we might see. Most of the Indians +were afoot. Only a few had horses. We watched and wondered. Who were +these people? + +The band of walking Indians were our Cheyennes, the whole tribe. They +had but little food. Many of them had no blankets nor robes. They had +no lodges. Only here and there was one wearing moccasins. The others +had their feet wrapped in loose pieces of skin or of cloth. Women, +children and old people were straggling along over the snow-covered +trail down the valley. The Cheyennes were very poor. + +Our people told us of soldiers and Pawnee Indians having come to the +camp far up Powder river where we had left them. The Cheyennes had +to run away with only a few small packs, as our small band had done +on lower Powder river during the late winter before this time. The +same as we had done, they had to see all of their lodges burned and +most of their horses taken. Many of our men, women and children had +been killed. Others had died of wounds or had starved and frozen to +death on the journey through the mountain snow to Tongue river. Three +Cheyenne women and a boy had been captured by the Pawnees.[47] + +The tribe were hunting now for the Ogallala Sioux, where Crazy Horse +was the principal chief. These Sioux were somewhere in this region. +We crossed to the east side of Tongue river just above the present +white man town of Ashland, Montana, and went over the benches to +Otter creek. After a night of sleep here we moved on eastward over +the little mountains. Travel and sleep, travel and sleep, we kept +going. Eleven sleeps the tribe had journeyed when we arrived at the +place on Beaver creek where now is a white man trading store and a +postoffice called Stacey. Here we found the Ogallalas. + +The Ogallala Sioux received us hospitably. They had not been +disturbed by soldiers, so they had good lodges and plenty of meat and +robes. They first assembled us in a great body and fed us all we +wanted to eat. To all of the women who needed other food they gave a +supply. They gave us robes and blankets. They shared with us their +tobacco. Gift horses came to us. Every married woman got skins enough +to make some kind of lodge for her household. Oh, how generous were +the Ogallalas! Not any Cheyenne was allowed to go to sleep hungry or +cold that night. + +We had traveled and hunted much during past times with these Sioux +people. At all times there was some one or more families of them with +us or some of our Cheyennes with them. Of our friendly intermarrying, +there was more connection with the Ogallalas than with any other +tribe. Their people during the summer and fall had been going to and +from the agency more than ours had been. Our few incoming Cheyennes +had brought us some news about the soldiers we had fought on the +Little Bighorn. But the Ogallalas informed us more fully. From them +we learned that the big chief of the soldiers was Long Hair, the +same man who several years before this time had fought the Southern +Cheyennes. + +After we had rested with the Ogallalas a few days the chiefs +counciled together and decided that the tribes should join in +movement up the Tongue river. All of us then followed our back trail +over to Otter creek and on to Tongue river. We moved slowly and +hunted along the way. The Cheyennes got a new supply of buffalo meat +and many more skins for enlarging their lodges. We crossed Tongue +river on the ice, to the east side. Not far up the valley we went +back over the ice, to the west side. We traveled then on up the +benchland trails, to Hanging Woman creek. The Ogallalas had some +cattle they had taken from white people or from soldiers. These +were butchered along the way. They had yet also a few of the horses +taken at the battle on the Little Bighorn. But these horses that had +been so fat and strong were now poor and weak. Most of them already +had died. They did not know how to find winter food like the Indian +ponies could find it. + +At Hanging Woman creek it was decided the two tribes would separate. +The Ogallalas would go eastward up this stream. The Cheyennes would +continue on up the Tongue river valley. As usual, a few Cheyennes +joined the Sioux and a few of their people decided to come with us. +My sister Crooked Nose started with the other people. Chiefs Crazy +Horse and Water All Gone and a few other Ogallalas came to us. Just +as the tribes were about to separate, some scouts brought in the +report: + +“Soldiers are coming!” + +The two bands of Indians began to come again together. The warriors +mingled themselves as being of one tribe. The women and children and +older men of both sets of people moved together up the Tongue river. +The young men put themselves behind their fleeing people. Somebody +said to me: + +“They have captured some women. Your sister is one of them.” + +My heart jumped when this news came to me. I lashed my horse into +a run toward where it was said they had been captured. There I saw +tracks of soldier horses. The trail led to the river ice. On the +opposite side of the river, the west side, were soldiers. They began +shooting at me. I had to get away. I did not see any of the women, so +I supposed they had been killed. My heart then became bitter toward +these white men. + +I hid my horse in the brush at the foot of a ridge where some +warriors were on its top. I walked up there. Many Indians were hidden +behind rocks and were shooting toward the soldiers. I chose for +myself a hiding place and did the same. I had my soldier rifle and +plenty of cartridges. Many soldiers were coming across on the ice, to +fight us. But we had the advantage of them because of our position on +the high and rocky ridge. + +Big Crow, a Cheyenne, kept walking back and forth along the ridge +on the side toward the soldiers. He was wearing a warbonnet. He had +a gun taken from the soldiers at the Little Bighorn battle. He used +up his cartridges and came back to us hidden behind the rocks, to ask +for more. Cheyennes and Sioux here and there each gave him one or two +or three. He soon got enough to fill his belt. He went out again to +walk along the ridge, to shoot at the soldiers and to defy them in +their efforts to hit him with a bullet. All of us others kept behind +the rocks, only peeping around at times to shoot. Crazy Horse, the +Ogallala chief, was near me. Bullets glanced off the shielding rocks, +but none hit us. One came close to me. It whizzed through the folds +of my blanket at my side. + +Big Crow finally dropped down. He lay there alive, but apparently in +great distress. A Sioux went with me to crawl down to where he was +and bring him into shelter. Another Sioux came after us. When we got +to the wounded man I took hold of his feet and the two Sioux grasped +his hands. The three of us crawled and dragged him along on the snow. +Bullets began to shower around us. We let loose our holds and dodged +behind rocks. When the firing quieted, we crept out and again got +him. My brother just then called out to me: “Wooden Leg, come, we +are going away from here.” I let loose again and went to my brother. +The two Sioux continued to drag Big Crow. + +The Indians moved back and forth, down and up, fighting the soldiers +at different times all day. After darkness came, the fighting +stopped. The group where I was built a little fire, so we might warm +ourselves. As soon as the light of it showed, the bullets began to +sing over our heads. We quickly threw snow upon the fire. Then we +moved to another place. I got down where I had left my horse. It was +still there. I mounted and joined my friends. All of the Indians left +there during the night. Some of the Ogallalas already had gone on up +Hanging Woman creek. Chiefs Crazy Horse and Water All Gone, with many +lodges of their people, attached themselves to the Cheyennes. We went +up Tongue river. We traveled all night and all the next day before we +stopped to camp. + +We did not know where these soldiers had come from.[48] We did not +know either how far they might follow us. But our scouts remaining +behind saw them go back down Tongue river. At the camp, Big Crow’s +relatives went about inquiring for him. I told where I last had seen +him. Finally, they found the two Sioux who had been with him when I +left him. These men said he was dead. That was our one man lost in +the battle. Two Sioux were killed. + +The missing Cheyennes were: Sweet Woman, an old woman, age fifty or +older. Lame White Man’s widow and her two girls. Little Chief’s wife, +their girl and their boy. My sister Crooked Nose, past twenty-one +years old. A boy belonging to some other family. There were four +women and five children. These were said to be in one group together, +and all were captured by the soldiers. We were not sure, though, but +some of them or all of them might have been wounded or killed. + +The Cheyennes and the few Ogallalas now with us traveled far up +Tongue river. We found plenty of buffalo there. We went on west to +the upper Little Bighorn. After camping and hunting there, we went +farther west to the Bighorn at the mouth of Rotten Grass creek. We +did not stay here long. We returned to the Little Bighorn. Most of +the last part of the winter was spent in camp on this valley. All of +the time during the next few months we had good hunting. Soldiers did +not trouble us nor we did not trouble them. + +Almost the entire Northern Cheyenne tribe was in this winter camp on +the upper Little Bighorn. Little Wolf, Dull Knife, Dirty Moccasins +and Old Bear, our four old men chiefs, were here. Charcoal Bear, +the medicine chief, had kept possession of the sacred buffalo head +through all of our distress. We had now as good a medicine lodge for +it as we ordinarily had. This lodge was at its usual place at the +back part of the space within our horseshoe camp circle. All of the +people had good lodges. In every way we were living yet according to +our customary habits. We were not bothering any white people. We did +not want to see any of them. We felt we were on our own land. We had +killed only such people as had come for driving us away from it. So, +our hearts were clean from any feeling of guilt. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[44] In fact, his wife and others to whom he was well known assert +that General Custer was not wearing his hair long at the time he was +killed. For some time before that occasion he had kept his hair cut +short.--T. B. M. + +[45] The small loss is explainable by the extensive suiciding among +the soldiers.--T. B. M. + +[46] Fort C. F. Smith. + +[47] This Powder river fight was on November 26th, 1876.--T. B. M. + +[48] These soldiers were commanded by Colonel Nelson A. Miles. They +had come from Fort Keogh, which he had established on the Yellowstone +just above the mouth of Tongue river. This fight was on January 1, +1877.--T. B. M. + + + + + XII + +_Surrender of the Cheyennes._ + + +Just before the grass began to show itself in the early part of the +spring, two visitors arrived at our camp on the Little Bighorn. One +of these was our captured old woman, Sweet Woman. The other was a +half-breed Sioux we called White.[49] Each had a horse to ride and +each was leading a pack horse. In their packs were tobacco and other +things, for gifts to the principal chiefs. The visitors said they had +been sent out from the soldier fort at the mouth of Tongue river, +to invite us to come there and surrender peaceably. They brought a +promise from Bear Coat,[50] the soldier chief there, that we should +not be harmed and should be given plenty of food. + +Sweet Woman told us all of the captives were well. She said they had +been treated well, that they had a lodge for themselves and that Bear +Coat had a soldier guard near their lodge at all times to keep other +soldiers from bothering them. This Sweet Woman was a sister of White +Bull’s wife. She was a widow. Her husband had been dead many years. +He had been a black man, and the name for him was Black Man. As a +boy he had been captured by the Cheyennes. She was a tall and thin +woman, but she was healthy. + +Our chiefs counciled about this proposal. It was decided quickly that +we might as well go in that direction. The final decision could be +made at some other place. We moved then eastward by camps and sleeps +of one night each. We stopped one night at the mouth of Hanging Woman +creek, where we had fought the soldiers in the middle of the winter +before. Some other young men and I climbed up among the rocks where +we had fought. We searched for Big Crow’s body. We found it. It was +lying with the back partly propped up against a bush in a thin group +of small pines. The right hand was up and behind the head. The left +hand was over the breast. We could not decide whether he had been +dead when left there or had put himself into this position and had +frozen to death. We stretched out the dead man and covered him with +stones. His people felt better when we told them what we had done. + +The half-breed Sioux traveled with us to Tongue river. Some of the +chiefs decided to go with him to the soldier fort and find out what +might happen to the Cheyennes if all should go there. They left us +and went down the valley. The Cheyennes going on this journey of +peacemaking were: Old Wolf and Crazy Head, tribal big chiefs. +Little Creek and Two Moons, little chiefs of the Crazy Dog and Fox +warrior societies. White Bull, a medicine man but not a chief. The +Elk warriors did not send any chief. + +[Illustration: BIG BEAVER, A VETERAN CHEYENNE WARRIOR, STANDING AT +THE SPOT WHERE HE SAW THE LAST CUSTER SOLDIER KILLED JUNE 25, 1876] + +The tribe and the Ogallalas with us kept on moving eastward. At +Powder river it was decided to wait for the return of the chiefs +who had gone to the fort. The Ogallalas with us separated from us +and traveled on. Most of them said they were going to the agency. +A little band of them went down Powder river. All of the Cheyennes +remained in tribal circle camp on the west side of Powder river, +above the mouth of Little Powder river, only a short distance above +the place where we had been burned out a year before this time. + +The four chiefs came back to us at this Powder river camp. White Bull +was not with them. They told us he had stayed with the soldiers, to +scout for them in hunting for Indians. This news did not please us. +As we looked at it, the surrendering to the soldiers was good if +one felt like doing this. But an offer to help them to kill friends +showed a bad heart. + +I was affected more, though, by other news the chiefs brought. It +was concerning my sister Crooked Nose, one of the captives. When the +chiefs were only a part of the first day out in coming back from the +fort, somebody followed them to tell them about her. She had been +very sad in heart because of a belief she never again would see her +people. She had felt better when the chiefs came, but when they went +away again she fell into deep grief. Her sorrow was so great that she +got out her hidden six-shooter I had given to her and shot herself +dead. My heart almost stopped beating when I heard about her death in +this way. She had been a good sister, kind to everybody. + +Seven Cheyennes from the agency came to the camp on Powder river. +They had one tepee lodge but no women were with them. They came only +to tell us we ought to surrender at the agency. They said all of +the Indians there were being fed well, were being treated well in +every way. Nobody was being punished in any manner for past conduct +in warfare against the soldiers. To my father and to most of the +Cheyennes this sounded more attractive than the invitation to go +to the Elk river fort.[51] Our people were better acquainted with +conditions at the agency. Besides, the Ogallalas had the same agency +with us, so these people also would be there. Our old men counciled +about whether the tribe should surrender. And, if so, where they +should go. It was decided to let every Cheyenne choose for himself. + +Little Wolf and the other principal chiefs chose to go to the agency. +Charcoal Bear, the medicine chief, said the sacred buffalo head and +the medicine lodge should follow them. Their choice influenced the +course of most of the tribe. My father said we ought to go with them. +For two or three days, I believe, the chiefs and the people talked +about the matter. Finally, the main body of the tribe set off toward +the agency. A smaller part of it determined to go to the Elk river +soldier fort. These were convinced by Two Moons and White Bull’s +relatives that they would receive better treatment there. + +But not all of the Cheyennes were ready yet to surrender at any +place. Fourteen or fifteen men, six or seven of them having wives and +children, separated off to go westward. White Hawk, a little chief +of the Elk warriors, was with them. They said they were going to +join the Minneconjoux Sioux, who then were in camp on Rosebud creek +or on a branch of it that afterward was called Lame Deer creek. The +principal chief of these Minneconjoux Sioux was Lame Deer. + +I joined another band still desiring most the freedom we considered +to be ours by right. Thirty-four Cheyennes made up this band. Last +Bull, leading chief of the Fox warrior society, was the big man of +our party. His warrior followers at this time were from all three +of the societies. The people making up this group of further hunters +were these: + +Last Bull, his wife and two daughters. + +Many-Colored Braids, his wife, two daughters and a son. + +Little Horse, his wife, two daughters and a son. + +Black Coyote, his wife and small daughter. + +Dog Growing Up, his wife and one small boy. + +Fire Wolf, Yellow Eagle, Spotted Wolf, Chief Going Up a Hill, White +Bird, Buffalo Paunch, Big Nose, Meat, Medicine Wolf, Horse Road, +Little Shield, Yellow Horse, my brother Yellow Hair and myself Wooden +Leg. All of these were unmarried young men. + +Five tepee lodges were taken along and set up at each camping place, +by the wives of the five married men. The unmarried young men slept +mostly unsheltered, or at each camping they made for themselves +little willow or tree branch lodges. They did their own cooking, most +of the time, but often some young man would give a part of his meat +to some woman as payment to her for cooking his meat for him. I dwelt +all the time in the lodge of Last Bull, as a member of his family. +He felt very friendly to me because of my having helped his wife and +children at the time the soldiers came to the Cheyenne camp the year +before, on Powder river. + +Every man in this band had a good gun of some kind. I had my rifle +taken from the soldier. I had not used up much of the ammunition I +had found on the battle grounds at that time and afterward. I did not +do any more shooting than was necessary in getting plenty of meat. I +was saving my cartridges for fighting whatever soldiers might come. + +We traveled and hunted all about the country on the upper Powder +river and the upper Tongue river. We had to be moving often, because +game was not plentiful. Every day scouts were out trying to locate +buffalo. All of the time they were on the lookout too for soldiers or +for Crows or Shoshones. We were not loafing idly. We were working and +earning our living. + +A baby boy was born to the wife of Black Coyote at one of the camps. +The wife of Many-Colored Braids took care of her, as medicine woman. +As we moved from place to place, the young woman and her baby were +put into a travois bed. The other women helped in taking down and +setting up her lodge. Her personal name was Calf Road. She was +specially famous because she had fought as a warrior with her husband +Black Coyote at the battle with the soldiers on the upper Rosebud. +Now there were thirty-five people in our band. + +I was sent alone from this band one time to scout for buffalo. I +took with me a pack horse to bring back whatever meat I might get. I +had on the led horse a soldier pack saddle belonging to Last Bull. I +stayed out three sleeps. I saw a few deer and antelope but no buffalo. + +We were having a good many days of hunger. Our horses had plenty of +grass, but our own ribs were becoming thin. Our clothing was wearing +out, and we could not get enough of skins to renew them and to keep +our beds and our lodges in good order. My soldier coat and breeches +were gone, and my last shirt and cloth breeches were almost in +tatters. The only good article of wear I had now was my big white hat +I had captured at the Rosebud battle. + +A Cheyenne named Yellow Eagle added himself to us. He had been at +the agency not long before. We decided to have him and White Bird go +there together and spy out the conditions. They went. In a week or so +they were back among us. + +“Good treatment, plenty of food, blankets, everything, nobody +punished,” they reported. + +We started right away for the agency. But not all of us yet were +ready to go there. Medicine Wolf, Growing Dog, Meat and my brother +Yellow Hair said they were going to stay out hunting. They said it +would not be long before lots of Indians would be back out here, the +same as had been here during the year before. I was almost persuaded +to remain with them, but Last Bull said he now was convinced the +Indians would not come back to this country. So I kept with the main +part of our band. We traveled southeastward toward the White River +agency of the Cheyennes and the Ogallalas. + +At a white man house far along our way we stopped to see if the +people there might give us some food. The only people there were two +white men. They acted as if they were badly frightened, but we made +peace signs to them, and only two of us went to their door. We made +signs that our Indians all were very hungry, and we asked them for +something to eat. They gave us a little beef meat and some sugar and +coffee. We were glad to get this, and we told them our hearts were +good toward them. + +Three strange Indians on horseback approached us from our front as +we arrived about a day’s journey from the agency. We could see they +were Indians, but they had on soldier clothing. This alarmed us. All +of our men cocked their guns and went out in front of the women and +children. We watched and waited. The three Indians stopped. At a +distance they made signs to us. They told us they were soldier scouts +come out to help us find our way to the agency. We allowed them to +join us and remain with us the remainder of the way. One of them was +a Cheyenne, another was a Sioux, the third was a Cheyenne-Sioux +named Fire Crow. + +It made all of us feel good to see the hundreds of Indian lodges +as we came near to the agency.[52] We galloped our horses forward. +We cheered and fired gunshots into the air. Some soldiers came +running out from their tents, but they soon saw we were friendly +and were only celebrating and notifying our people we had come. We +saw great camps of Arapahoes and Ogallalas as well as the tribal +camp circle of our own Cheyennes. Many soldiers also were there, +in their own separate camp. Several of the soldier chiefs came and +shook hands with our men and said, “How.” One of these soldier chiefs +we specially liked. We learned from a Cheyenne his name among the +Indians was White Hat.[53] He could make good sign-talk. It appeared +he understood Indians better than any white man soldier I ever had +seen. I suppose that was why we liked him. + +A white man married to a Cheyenne woman was acting as interpreter for +the soldiers. His name was Rowland. But White Hat did not need any +interpreter in talking to us, he could make the sign-talk so well. +After the general handshaking, White Hat said: + +“Now, you men must give to me your guns and your horses.” + +We were not expecting this, but we trusted him, so we began to do as +he had asked. But Black Coyote jumped back and said he would not give +up his gun. He cocked it and stood there. He was much excited. Just +then three Sioux dressed in soldier clothing came riding toward us. +Black Coyote aimed his gun at them. Last Bull pushed the gun aside +and said: + +“Don’t shoot. You are crazy.” + +He talked to Black Coyote, telling him that a shot just now might +cause all of us to get killed. White Hat motioned the three Sioux to +go away, and they did so. Black Coyote then quieted down. He gave his +gun to Last Bull, and this leader gave it to a soldier with White +Hat. I was the only one among us having a gun captured from the +soldiers at the battle on the Little Bighorn. When I handed it to a +soldier he gave it to White Hat. White Hat examined it with apparent +great interest. He then called other soldier chiefs to look. Finally +he asked me: + +“Where did you get this gun?” + +I did not answer him at once. He asked me again, making signs so +clear that I could not help but make some kind of answer. I told him +the truth. I showed him just how I had seized it and wrenched it away +from a soldier riding toward the river during the first part of the +great battle a year before this time. The way they talked about it, +it appeared the Indians had not been giving them these guns taken +from the soldiers. After a little while, White Hat shook hands again +with me and made signs to me: “You are a brave man. Do not be afraid +any soldier will want to kill you.” + +The next morning all of us went to the agency buildings for gifts we +had been told would be there for us. Wagons came with the presents. +They were unloaded in piles. Blankets, clothing and different kinds +of food were in the piles. Two of our people were appointed to divide +up and distribute the articles among all of us. Our hearts now were +glad. It seemed good to be here with plenty and not be in fear of +soldiers. + +I received other gifts. An Ogallala Sioux presented me with a +medicine pipe, the first one I had owned since the loss of mine when +the soldiers burned out our forty lodges on lower Powder river. A +Cheyenne young man gave me a wad of paper money like I had seen at +the time of the great battle. He said: “You can buy things at the +trader’s store with this paper.” I put it into my pocket. After a +while I got a Sioux young man friend to go with me to the agency +trader’s store. I took out my money and gave it all to the trader. +He counted it over and over. Then he asked me, in Sioux speech: + +“Where did you get all of this money?” + +My Sioux friend quickly answered: + +“He got it from Custer.” + +The trader said to me: + +“The soldiers are going to hang you.” This startled me at first, but +both he and my Sioux friend laughed, so I knew he was only joking. + +“Now, what all do you want?” the trader asked, after they had joked +me a little while. + +I got first a red and yellow shirt. Then I got some breeches that +fitted me much better than the pair that had been given to me by +the agency people. I picked out a fine red blanket, a hat and a big +silk scarf. I got plenty of tobacco. I bought coffee, sugar, meat +and other things. I did not want all of the goods I bought, but the +trader kept telling me of what I ought to have. After each time he +brought me what I asked for, he took from the money some part of it. +Then he would ask: + +“And what else?” + +I did not know how much the different articles were worth. I kept on +choosing some other until finally the trader said: + +“Your money is all gone.” + +My friend helped me to carry all of my property to my home lodge. I +wore the new hat just bought. But I took along the old white hat I +had captured from the soldiers. I gave this old one to my father. He +was much pleased to get it. It was the first white man hat he ever +owned. He threw away then the old Indian buffalo hat he had been +wearing. + +Some of the Cheyennes who had gone to the Elk river soldier fort were +here now. They had been sent here by the soldiers. Other Cheyennes +had stayed at that fort, the men joining the soldiers as scouts for +them. All of these Cheyennes brought here were dwelling in soldier +tents. Many other Indians, Cheyennes, Ogallalas and Arapahoes, also +had the soldier tents. These were larger than most of the Indian +tepees then in use. The tepees were smaller than usual because only a +few buffalo skins had been taken during this summer. + +There was some dissatisfaction among the Cheyennes on account of talk +of them being taken to the South. The agent and the soldier chiefs +had said we ought to go there and be joined as one tribe with the +Southern Cheyennes. Our people did not like this talk. All of us +wanted to stay in this country near the Black Hills. But we had one +big chief, Standing Elk, who kept saying it would be better if we +should go there. I think there were not as many as ten Cheyennes in +our whole tribe who agreed with him. There was a feeling that he was +talking this way only to make himself a big Indian among the white +people. The white men chiefs would not talk much to any Cheyenne +chief but him. They gave him extra presents and treated him as if he +were the only chief in the tribe, when he was but one of our forty +tribal big chiefs. One day he went about telling everybody: + +“All get ready to move. The soldiers are going to take us from here +tomorrow.” + +Lots of Cheyennes were angry. We had understood that when we +surrendered we were to live on our same White River reservation. We +had given up our guns and our horses and had quit fighting because +of this promise. Now, after we had put ourselves at this great +disadvantage, the promise was to be broken. But we could not do +anything except obey him. So, three sleeps after my small band had +come to what we thought was to be our home, the whole tribe was on +its way to what we now call Oklahoma. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[49] Bruyère, a Frenchman-Sioux scout for Miles. + +[50] The Cheyenne name for General Miles. + +[51] Fort Keogh, at the mouth of Tongue river. + +[52] White River agency, Fort Robinson, Nebraska. + +[53] Lieutenant W. P. Clark, who wrote a book on sign language. + + + + + XIII + +_Taken to the South._ + + +The soldier leader of our movement to the South was known to us as +Tall White Man. He was a good man, always kind to the Indians. We had +to do whatever he said we must do, but he talked good to our chiefs, +so all of us were pleased to have him guiding us. He had with him a +band of soldiers. I do not know how many, but I think there may have +been almost a hundred of them. + +Our horses that had been taken away from us at the agency were now +returned to us. Still, many Cheyennes did not own any. Old people +who had no animal to ride were provided with them from the soldier +herd. Or, very old or sick people were allowed to ride in the soldier +wagons. Young men who owned no horses had to walk or borrow from +friends. I owned four. I had three of them loaned out most of the +time. + +Soldier tents were used by the Indians as well as by the soldiers. I +think the Indians had a few canvas cone tepees, but I do not remember +seeing among us any buffalo skin lodges. We had not killed for a +long time enough buffaloes to renew the old dwelling shelters we +liked so well. Wagons were used to haul the tents. Other wagons were +loaded with bread, crackers, coffee, sugar and other food. Every day, +rations were issued to all of the soldiers and all of the Indians.[54] + +A drove of cattle was kept moving along behind us. Some of them were +butchered every day for meat. This was good, but the Indians liked +better the wild meat when it could be found. Our chiefs talked to +Tall White Man about this. He listened to their talk. He said it was +good. He told them how it would be arranged for some of the Indians +to hunt along the way. + +Thirty men, ten from each of the three warrior societies, were chosen +by our warrior chiefs to do the hunting. Each of these thirty was +given a rifle. At every time of hunting, each of them was allowed to +have five cartridges for his gun. Other Indians were allowed also to +hunt, but they had to use the bows and arrows or whatever else they +might have for use. A few took out guns they had kept hidden when we +had surrendered at the agency, but they had to be sly about this so +the soldiers would not find out about them. + +We traveled slowly and camped often, so there was plenty of time for +hunting at distances from the moving people. The soldiers went always +ahead. The Indians followed them. The wagons came behind the Indians. +The drove of cattle were last. We kept mostly along the old trails of +the Cheyennes as they had gone back and forth between the Black Hills +and the South. These were across the high lands at the headwaters of +the rivers. Not yet were many white people living here. + +Buffalo and antelope were plentiful. There were a few deer, but no +elk. I rode out at times with the hunters, but I had neither gun nor +bow and arrows. I could do nothing but look on and wish I could do +some killing. I knew of one certain Cheyenne who had a rifle hidden. +One night in camp I said to him: + +“I see every day lots of antelope. Let me take your gun tomorrow.” + +I killed a buffalo the next day with his gun. I killed also two +antelope. I gave him half of the meat. Both of us had plenty to +distribute among our friends. The soldiers never knew anything about +it. Or, none of them said anything to me. + +Soldiers hunted with the Indians. All of the soldiers were friendly +and good to us. They were good shooters and they killed lots of game. +They gave us most of the meat. I became specially friendly with two +or three of them. I liked to be with them, and they appeared to like +me. I went at times to their camp in the evening and visited with +them. When we were about half along our journey I asked one of them: + +“Let me take your gun tomorrow.” + +“Yes, you may take it,” he told me. + +He let me have five cartridges when I got the gun the next morning. +Oh, how good I felt--on horseback, having a good rifle, and after +buffalo! I killed one and brought in the best parts of its meat. I +gave the soldier his choice of it and all he wanted, when I returned +his gun that night in camp. + +Either a rifle or a six shooter was loaned to me for a day at other +later times. Each time, with the rifle came five cartridges. Each +time, with the six shooter came six loads for it. Each time, I +returned the borrowed gun at the night camp and gave the friendly +soldier whatever meat he might want. Most of them did not want much +of it, so I had at all times plenty of the food we liked most, for +our family group and for our friends who might need it. + +We camped near one certain big town far along on our journey. None of +us were allowed to go into the town, but I went walking all about the +outside of it to look at it. As I walked I found a big piece of wood +that I wanted. I had seen at past times this same kind of wood, and I +knew its usefulness to us. It was the heavy piece that lays across +the necks of cattle when they draw a wagon. The Indians liked to get +these, because they made the best kind of bows and arrows. I picked +it up and lifted it over a shoulder. I went right away to my home +tent lodge. + +I made a good bow. My mother had in her packs some dried sinew from +buffalo back tendons. This I used to string my bow. I made then ten +arrows. I got here and there some pieces of metal for the points. My +mother made a pouch for the bow and arrows. She made it of a calfskin +she had tanned as we were moving. I was glad now, with the full pouch +slung from my shoulder and dangling at my left side. Two days I spent +most of our camping time at this work. + +On the first day out with my new bow and arrows I killed a buffalo. +I could have killed more, but I did not want any more. There were +not so many of them here as we had found farther north, but we still +were finding a few. There were yet plenty of antelope feeding out on +the rolling hills and level lands. An antelope, though, is hard to +hit with arrows. It can run fast and can dodge quickly. Still, if +one be chased a long time it becomes tired. Any ordinary horse then +can catch up with it. It is easy enough then to shoot arrows into +its body. One arrow often is enough to kill it. I killed several of +them, as many as I wanted to kill, while we were going on our way. I +killed also a few more buffalo. + +One sleep before we got to the Southern Cheyenne agency we had some +special doings. The agent there came out to see us. He had with him +a half-breed Cheyenne as interpreter. They went to every tent of the +Indians. At each place the interpreter asked the names and he wrote +them on paper. We were in camp beside a soldier fort. That evening I +saw some of the soldiers there trying to rope loose horses. I went +to them and asked them to let me try it. They did. I could loop the +lariat noose over a running horse almost every time I tried. The +soldiers cheered. They were very friendly to me. + +The thirty Cheyennes who had been allowed to have soldier guns for +hunting were told now they must give back these guns. But Little Wolf +and Standing Elk talked to Tall White Man about this. They said: “Let +us keep these guns for hunting, or we might need them for protecting +ourselves.” But the good soldier chief replied: “No, I cannot do +that. They must be returned to us.” Others of our chiefs joined +Little Wolf and Standing Elk. Tall White Man sat in a long council +with them. Finally, he agreed: + +“Yes, the Cheyennes may keep the few guns they have.” + +I learned in the South the white man name of Long Hair, the soldier +big chief we had killed on the Little Bighorn. I was told he was +called General Custer. I had heard this name spoken at the White +River agency, but I did not understand clearly who was meant by it. +The Southern Cheyennes knew of him because of his having fought +against them before he had come into our northern country. They had +surrendered to him. + +A few of our Northern Cheyennes had not yet joined us before we left +the White River agency, at the North. Or, some of these fled from us +as soon as it was decided we must go to the South. My brother Yellow +Hair had not yet come in to surrender. He stayed hunting or he went +to the Ogallalas. Not long after we became settled in the new home +the news came to us that he had been killed. He was hunting on Crow +creek, a stream flowing into the east side of upper Tongue river, +when some white men not soldiers shot him. Our family now was made up +of my father and mother, myself, my younger sister and the small boy +brother. + +My first shoes were given to me at the southern agency. They were too +big, but I wore them a part of the time. All of my life before this, +I had worn only the moccasins made by Indians. I yet liked best the +moccasins, but we did not have skins enough to make all of them we +needed. + +I did some hunting in the southern country. But the hunting was +not for the large food game animals. Very few of these got on the +reservation, and we were not allowed to go off the reservation for +hunting. So, my searching for something to shoot at with bow and +arrows or with gun was for whatever small game could be found there. + +On one certain bow and arrow hunt I was afoot and alone. The weather +was hot. I was tired and sweating. I went to the shade of two big +trees. As I rested there, a fluttering noise attracted my attention +to the tops of two trees. I looked. There sat an eagle perched high +up. I aimed an arrow and shot. No harm done. I drew out another arrow +and fitted it to my bowstring. I aimed more carefully this time. In a +moment after the second shot, the eagle fluttered and tumbled to the +ground out a little distance from the trees. I ran out there. The big +bird flopped and hobbled along away from me. Before I could get hold +of it the eagle had lifted itself into the air. It flew on and up, +farther and higher. I watched it until it was gone entirely from my +view. + +I learned how to hunt specially for eagles. Their regular sleeping +places were at the tops of big trees. I would go out on horseback and +locate myself under a big tree just as darkness was about to come. +One night I sat under a tree waiting. I had both a rifle and a six +shooter. Two eagles came. I shot and killed one with the rifle. I +jerked out the six shooter and fired at the other one. It too tumbled +down dead. That was good shooting, considering that the light was +dim. But always in shooting eagles at night the dark body against the +sky made a good enough target. + +On another eagle hunt at night, when I shot up into the tree the +eagle fell to the ground wounded but not dead. It lay there moving +about a little but not much. I ran to it and seized it, to hold it +while I might beat it with the handle of my pony whip. It grasped in +its two taloned feet my left forearm and my right thigh just above +the knee. I struck it with the whip handle, but this only made it +sink the talons in more deeply. I had to pry them loose. Then I beat +it to death. I still own and make regular use of a fan made from a +wing of that eagle. + +I shot one certain eagle in a tree above my head one night. Right +after I fired the shot it tumbled. But it did not fall to the ground. +I looked up among the branches, but I could not see it. I began to +look about me on the ground. Just then a heavy thump on top of my +head almost knocked me down. The eagle had lodged somewhere and then +had fallen. It seized my hat in its talons and bounced off my head to +the ground. There I killed it with my six shooter. + +One night, as I stood watching under a tree I saw something moving +along on a branch high up. It did not appear to be an eagle, but +when it stopped on the branch I aimed my rifle and fired. It dropped +straight down and plumped hard upon the ground. It was dead. It was +to me a strange animal. It looked somewhat like the badgers of the +northern country, except this animal I had killed was smaller. I +remembered, too, that badgers do not live in trees. When I took it to +the home lodge I found out what it was. The white people call this +kind of animal a coon. I afterward saw others. I saw also what the +white people call possums. We ate these little animals when we could +get them. + +The tallest Indian I ever saw was a Southern Cheyenne young woman. +I first saw her at one of our Omaha dances. I stood beside her, for +measurement. The top of my head came just above the level of her +shoulders. She was extremely slender and she stood up straight, not +stooping. Her name was Slit Eyes. I did not see her father, but I saw +her mother. The mother was a short woman. This very tall young woman +died when she was about twenty years old. + +After we had been a year on this reservation, many of our people +began to ask to be taken back to the North. There was no game here, +we were not allowed to go off the reservation for hunting, and we +were not given food as it had been promised we should be given. At +times, some of our young men would violate the orders and would slip +away from the reservation to get a buffalo or some other animal +good to eat. Some white people said the Indians were killing their +cattle. I do not know. I did not do this. I stayed all the time on +the reservation. But if any Indians did kill the white men cattle +they did so because they were very hungry and could not find any wild +game. We ate the beef because it was the best we could get. We always +liked better the wild game. + +There was much sickness among the Northern Cheyennes. To us it was +a new kind of sickness. Chills and fever and aching of the bones +dragged down most of us to thin and weak bodies. Our people died, +died, died, kept following one another out of this world. Finally, +Chief Little Wolf declared that he for one was going to move back +North, whether the white people consented or not. Others said they +would follow him. The agent told them that soldiers would go on their +trail and would kill them. They were promised more food. They waited +for it, but it did not come. More people flocked to Little Wolf’s +side. Dull Knife said he too would go. Late in the summer, more than +half of the tribe started out. Little Wolf’s last message to the +agent was: + +“The soldiers may kill all of us, but they cannot make us stay in +this country.” + +Soldiers went after them. Other soldiers from other places were sent +out to head them off. The Cheyennes were hunted from all directions. +They were found many times, but each time the Cheyennes fought off +their pursuers and kept on going northward. Many of our people were +killed, but the most of them got back to their old home country and +were allowed to stay there. + +My father and I considered joining Little Wolf. But we had managed in +one way and another to keep our family from starving, and we believed +that after a while the food would be more plentiful. Some of us had +been sick at times, but none of us yet had come near to death. We +sympathized fully with our deceived and suffering people, and both of +us had a high admiration for Little Wolf. But we settled our minds to +stay here and keep out of trouble. + +From the Southern Cheyennes I learned a great deal about General +Custer’s dealing with them in that country. All of them said he had +smoked the peace pipe with them at the time they had surrendered to +him, seven years before he was killed. According to the custom among +us, this was understood as a promise by him that never again would +he fight against the Cheyennes. When they learned that he had been +killed by our people and the Sioux, they considered him as having +deserved that kind of death, on account of his failure to keep his +peace pipe oath. + +They told us also about the band of Southern Cheyennes who started +out for the North, to join us, during the summer when we fought the +great battle. Their medicine man chief was with the band, and he had +the tribal medicine arrows and its tepee with him. Soldiers got after +them. The medicine man chief and his wife separated themselves in the +scattering flight from the soldiers, each of the two taking two of +the four sacred arrows. After a few days the band all got together +again, on upper Powder river. But there were so many soldiers in the +country that they decided to go back to the South. + +An assemblage of army officers asked me to tell them about the Custer +battle. When they sent for me my heart said thump--thump--thump. I +was afraid they might hang me. I went, but I told only a little. They +asked for more talk. They assured me their hearts were good toward +me. They gave me lots of money, about five dollars, I believe. Good! +My heart quit thumping. I told them all they asked, answering many +questions. Some things I kept to myself, but all that I told them was +true. + +I got a wife from the Southern Cheyennes. She was my same age, twenty +years old. All of my people and all of her people appeared to be +pleased at our marriage. They gave us presents and we set up our own +lodge. She had been a girl in the Cheyenne camp at the Washita river +when Custer and his soldiers came there and killed many Cheyennes and +burned their lodges (November, 1868). Chief Black Pot was one of the +killed. + +The women and children fled, the same as ours had done at the Powder +river. It was winter, and there was at that time a deep snow for +that country. Soldiers chased the women and children and killed +many of them as well as the men. My wife, at that time a girl, was +barefooted, as others also were. They had been surprised early in the +morning. She stopped and cut off pieces of buffalo robe to tie about +her feet, to keep them warm as she ran. They went to a camp of Snake +Indians (Comanches), farther down the river. + +My wife told me she also was with the Cheyennes when they surrendered +to General Custer (1869) after he had smoked the pipe with their +chiefs. When they surrendered, some of the chiefs were put into +prison and had chains put upon their ankles. When I heard all of this +from my wife, as well from many others of the Southern Cheyennes, it +seemed the Great Medicine may have directed Custer to his death, as a +punishment for having broken his promise to the Cheyennes. + +When I had been six years in the South, the Northern Cheyennes were +told they might go back now to their old country. The Little Wolf +people had been given lands on the Rosebud and Tongue rivers. We +could go to them or back to the White river, where the agency had +become known as Pine Ridge. + +My father had died while we were in the land of the southern Indians. +My wife and myself, my mother and her two remaining children all +agreed we would move. A few of our tribal people decided to remain as +members of the Southern Cheyenne tribe. We who left them went first +to Pine Ridge. After not a very long stay there we were located in a +region I always liked, the Tongue river country in Montana. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[54] The movement to the South began in early May, 1877. Seventy days +were spent in the journey.--T. B. M. + + + + + XIV + +_Home Again on Tongue River._ + + +Many changes had taken place in the affairs of our tribe when I got +back among the principal body of them in Montana. Most of the men who +had surrendered at Fort Keogh went into service there as scouts for +the soldiers of General Miles, whose Indian name was Bear Coat. They +had many stories to tell of these experiences. They helped in finding +and in fighting some bands of our old friends the Sioux, who remained +hunting through the country after we had gone from it. I did not like +to hear these stories. I could not help but think these tribesmen of +mine had done wrong in this kind of warfare. That was the way the +Pawnees, Crows and Shoshones had done in past times, and we had been +enemies to them because of their having done so. There came into my +heart thoughts that possibly the death of my own brother Yellow Hair +had been brought about by reason of some Cheyenne having guided the +white men who killed him. + +The Nez Perces had come through the country soon after the part of +our tribe had surrendered at the Elk river fort. The Cheyennes went +with the soldiers to fight these other Indians. They had a battle +far to the northward. Most of the Cheyennes were not in special +danger during this battle, but two of them were said to have been +very brave. These two were White Wolf and All See Him. White Wolf +received a bullet wound across his scalp. He was stunned and he fell, +but he was not killed. A Sioux scout dragged him into safety. The +white soldiers gave money to the Sioux for his action. This was the +same White Wolf who shot himself through the left thigh at our battle +with the soldiers on the Rosebud and had to lie in his bed while his +companion warriors fought the soldiers of Custer. All See Him had +been a brave man in the Custer battle. He has another name, John +Bighead Man. White Wolf also got another name after the Nez Perces +bullet had hit him. His new name was Shot in the Head. + +Two Moons and White Moon were two Cheyenne scouts of that time who +were not in the Nez Perces fight. They were out with some Cheyennes +chasing buffalo as the soldier and Indian army traveled in their hunt +for the Nez Perces. In the course of the chase Two Moons accidentally +shot White Moon through the body. White Moon was entirely disabled, +and Two Moons did not feel then like fighting anybody. He helped in +taking care of White Moon, and he paid the Indian doctor a horse for +curing him. + +People told me all about the journey of Little Wolf’s band from the +South, with the soldiers after them all along the way. They had come +to Fort Keogh and had surrendered to General Miles. Many of their men +also enlisted as scouts. The Cheyennes at this place stayed a part of +the time about the fort and a part of the time were allowed to live +on the Rosebud and the Tongue rivers, near the fort. These combined +Fort Keogh Cheyennes had been the beginning of our Tongue River +reservation. + +The Little Wolf people had some trouble among themselves on their +way from the southern country. One case was where a man who had +become angered to craziness about something went at beating his whole +family. He clubbed every one of them he could reach. All of them +were put into an insane fright. An adult daughter, screaming and +struggling to get away from him, stabbed him with her sheathknife. +He let loose of her, walked away staggering, and soon fell dead. The +young woman was in great grief because of her having killed her own +father. The chiefs and all of the people sympathized with her. She +was not punished. That was the only case I ever knew of a Cheyenne +woman having killed anyone. + +Black Coyote was the cause of one big trouble. He was the same man +of our little band who was about to shoot when we were giving up our +guns at the time of our surrender at the White River agency. At a +camp east of Powder river, during the last part of this flight with +the Little Wolf people, an old chief said to him: + +“Black Coyote, you have been riding during all of the journey. Many +women are walking. You should let some one of them have your horse.” + +“No, it is my horse, and I want to ride,” Black Coyote answered. + +“But some of the women are old, and they are very tired,” the chief +persisted. + +“It is my horse, and I intend to ride it,” the young man stubbornly +responded. + +“Black Coyote, you are crazy.” + +“No. You are the crazy one.” + +The chief flourished his pony whip and lashed Black Coyote. He laid +on stroke after stroke, many of them. The humiliated man humped his +body and stubbornly hugged his rifle. He was sitting in front of his +lodge. Suddenly he jumped up and ran away. A short distance off he +turned and fired at the chief. The old man fell dead. + +Black Coyote ran on out of the camp. Some Cheyennes shot at him, but +he was not injured. He kept on going, and he never returned. His +wife at once gathered a few of their belongings and followed out to +join him. Her two children and an old woman went with her. Whetstone, +another Cheyenne man, also left the camp and stayed away with the +outcast people. + +The two men went, just after dark one night, to a camp on Powder +river, where were a few soldiers having a Sergeant with them. The +Indians said, “How,” and approached the campfire in a friendly way. +The soldiers were fearful and were on the lookout, but they replied, +“How.” After the Indians had warmed themselves a little, Black Coyote +said: + +“Give us some bread.” + +“How,” the Sergeant answered, and he gave them bread. + +As the two walked away, for some reason Black Coyote jerked up his +rifle and killed the Sergeant. Then they rushed off into the darkness. + +The soldiers took the body of their Sergeant and went to Fort Keogh. +Soldiers and Cheyennes from there went out to search for the bad +Indians. They captured them and brought them to the fort. The two men +were put into jail with chains upon their ankles. A soldier chief +known to the Cheyennes as Little Chief talked to them: + +“Did you kill the Sergeant?” he asked them. + +“No,” they answered him. + +The next day Little Chief again asked them: “Did you kill the +Sergeant?” Still they said: “No.” After a few days, Black Coyote +said: “Yes, I killed him.” + +Both of the men were hanged. I was told their bodies were not taken +by the Cheyennes, but were buried by the white people. The hanging +was at Miles City, I believe. + +Black Coyote’s wife, the woman warrior at the Rosebud battle, died +while he was in jail. Cheyennes made signs to him from a distance, +through the jail windows, and told him she was sick. Every day he +asked: “How is my wife today?” She was dying, but to cheer him they +told him, “She is better now.” When finally somebody told him she was +dead, he went entirely crazy. He would take no food, and he fought +every white man who came to him. He had to be beaten and tied first +when they went to hang him. His relatives said it was her death that +caused him to say he had killed the Sergeant. They say the Sergeant +and the soldiers were trying to kill him at the time. But I know that +Black Coyote was a very excitable man. Bad Indians like him made lots +of trouble for the whole tribe. + +The most sorrowful new condition we found in coming back to our +Cheyenne country was in the case of Little Wolf himself. Some white +men about the fort were selling or giving whisky to the Indians. One +night, Little Wolf got a bottle of whisky and right away he drank +all of it. He went into the fort trader’s store and leaned forward +upon the counter. He was quiet, but he was dizzy and stumbling here +and there. The trader said: “Little Wolf, you had better go to your +lodge.” But he said: “No, I want to stay here.” + +Some Cheyenne men and women were playing cards at a table in the +store. Famished Elk, a young man Sergeant of the scouts, was with +them. He talked to Little Wolf. But the old chief paid no attention +to his talk. Famished Elk took hold of Little Wolf’s arm and said: +“Come, I will help you to get to your lodge.” He spoke and acted +respectfully, but Little Wolf was angered because of the taking hold +of him. He pulled himself away. His eyes blazed like fire. He stood a +moment looking at the young man. Then he said: + +“I will kill you.” + +He staggered on alone out from the store. Famished Elk returned to +sit in the card game. Nobody was expecting any further trouble. But +not long afterward the door was opened and Little Wolf stumbled +into the room. He straightened himself, leveled a rifle and fired. +Famished Elk sank down dead upon the floor. + +The old chief went back to his lodge and told his two wives what he +had done. “We must go,” he added. The three of them went out into the +darkness of the night. Soldiers and Cheyennes searched for them. They +searched during the next day and the next. The missing man and his +two wives appeared in Miles City and sat themselves down at a place +in plain view of the people there. A Captain and some soldiers went +to him. This Captain we knew as Little Chief. He told Little Wolf +what it was said he had done. He further told him: + +“You are no more chief of the Cheyennes.” + +“That is true and just,” Little Wolf agreed. + +All of the Cheyennes said: “How. It is right. Little Wolf shall be +not any more a chief among us.” But their hearts were sad, not angry, +when they said this. He was not punished in any other way. But he +further punished himself. Before he and his wives had left their +lodge he smashed into pieces his medicine pipe. Our old tribal laws +required this. It was allowable for him afterward to smoke alone +any small and short-stemmed pipe, such as might be made from a deer +leg bone. But he did not do this. He denied himself all smoking. He +never made any offer even to sit in the company of other Cheyennes +smoking together. White men sometimes offered him cigarettes, but +he always refused them. After a time he learned to chew tobacco, a +habit never followed by the old-time Cheyennes. It seemed he did this +deliberately, for self-humiliation. He never tried to intrude himself +into any tribal public affairs. The people remembered his great +services in past times. But nobody consulted him on tribal matters in +present times. Truly, in every way he never more was chief among the +Cheyennes. + +Some Cheyennes who had run away or who could not be found, when +we had been told we must go to the South, joined other tribes. Of +these, some stayed away, others finally came back to us. Two of them +came back to us on Tongue river. One was Joseph Tall White Man. He +had dodged from the southern movement by escaping and joining the +Blackfeet Sioux. The other was Little Crow. He had joined some tribe +of the Sioux. + +When I was thirty-one years old (1889) I enlisted with other +Cheyennes to form a new band of scouts for the soldiers at Fort +Keogh. For a long time we did not do much except to drill and work at +getting out logs from the timber and building houses for ourselves. +The soldier officers bought horses for us to ride. All of the new +horses were wild. We had to break them. I got bucked off at times. +But finally, all of us had horses that would not buck. + +I learned to drink whisky at Fort Keogh. The trader at the fort +sold whisky and beer to the soldiers, but he was not allowed to +sell anything of this kind to the Indians. That made only a little +difference. White men not soldiers would get whisky for us whenever +we had money to give to them. They may have bought it at the fort +trader’s store or it may have come from Miles City. I spent most +of my scout pay for whisky. I never got into any trouble for being +drunk, but sometimes an Indian did get into trouble. + +Tall Bull and some other scouts got drunk and went at night to where +some soldiers were sleeping. The Cheyennes pointed their six-shooters +at the soldiers and said: “Give us blankets.” The soldiers were +scared, so blankets were given the Indians. A Sergeant went to tell +the officers. A Lieutenant officer came back with him. But the +Lieutenant was as drunk as were the Indians. He went away without +doing anything about the matter. + +We had plenty to eat at the fort. A soldier named Jules Chaudel was +the cook for our thirty Cheyennes. A part of my work was to haul +water in barrels for him. I never got so drunk that I forgot to keep +the barrels filled. He often gave me meat when it was not time for +the Indians to eat. + +All of the scouts went for making war the next year after I enlisted. +We were taken to Pine Ridge reservation. We were told the Sioux were +going to fight against the Cheyennes in that country, so we were +willing to help our own people. Our scouts were led by an officer we +knew as Big Red Nose.[55] Willis Rowland, the half-Cheyenne, was our +Sergeant. Soldiers from some other fort came to Fort Keogh and went +with us to Pine Ridge. + +When we got to Pine Ridge we learned that it was mostly the other +Sioux tribes, not the Ogallalas, who were wanting to fight against +the white people. The Cheyennes living there did not want any +trouble, so the bad Sioux were angered also at the Cheyennes. Some +Ogallalas joined the bad Indians. Our Cheyenne relatives had their +lodges torn down and burned. Big Foot was the principal chief of the +Sioux making the trouble. We knew him, and we were sorry at having +to fight against him, but we were willing to be on the side of the +whites and our own Cheyennes. + +We Cheyenne scouts did not get into any battle. At one time we were +all dressed and ready, but the officers made us stop behind a hill +while the soldiers went on and killed many Sioux at a camp on a +little valley just over the hill. A Sioux started that fight by +killing an officer who was taking all guns from them. The soldiers +then began to shoot, and many women and children as well as men were +killed. This trouble was on Wounded Knee creek. At the time of our +advance up the hill I was wearing a warbonnet for the first time at +any battle. + +Big Red Nose, our officer, was killed by a Sioux before this fight. +White Moon and Rock Roads, two of our scouts, were out riding +somewhere with him. They saw four or five Sioux coming on horseback. +The Sioux were riding slowly, and it appeared they did not intend any +harm. But while Big Red Nose had his head turned in another direction +one of the Sioux fired his rifle. The bullet went through the head of +the officer, from back to front, and he fell dead from his horse. The +two Cheyennes whipped their horses and got away. The Sioux scalped +Big Red Nose and took all of his clothing. + +As the Wounded Knee fight was going on, the Sioux fled in all +directions. The soldier officer now leading us was White Hat. He sent +me out to a little hilltop to watch where the people running away +might go. I saw one Sioux man ride to a big house. He limped when +he got off and walked into the house. I told White Hat about him. +After a while he got some soldiers, and all of us went to the place. +From a distance, I called out in Sioux language for all people in +the house to come out and surrender. Nobody came out. We went close +to the door. I called to ask how many people were in there. A man’s +voice answered me that there were three of them. I told him they must +come out, but he did not answer me. White Hat knocked on the door. +He knocked a second time and a third time. Then he and the soldiers +smashed the door and went into the house. I followed them. + +A Sioux man was lying on a floor bed. A boy was lying on another +floor bed. A woman was sitting beside the boy. The man had a sheet +covering all of him but his head and neck. I did not know what else +might be under the sheet, but I said: + +“You must give up your gun. You will be treated kindly.” + +He at once drew a rifle out from under the sheet and handed it to +me. We learned that he had bullet holes through both legs, but no +bones were broken. The boy had been shot through the left arm. The +woman was not injured. The soldiers got a wagon and took them to the +agency. A soldier doctor there took care of them. + +The troublesome Sioux were gathered out in what the Indians knew as +the Bad Lands. It was a very rough country having no trees and not +much grass. The Cheyennes went out with soldiers and camped between +the agency and that country. We kept watching to try to find out how +many were there and how many were going there or coming back to the +reservation. It was winter, and the wind blows hard there much of the +time. We had some cold rides. + +One night our officer gave me a writing on paper and told me to +take it to the agency. He had the interpreter explain to me which +officer there was to receive it. The air was full of whirling snow. +The gusts of wind appeared to come from everywhere except behind me. +I wrapped my blanket tightly about me and kept my body humped up as +my horse moved along the trail. At first I was not afraid, as it +seemed the night was too stormy for any Sioux to be traveling. Then +I began thinking that perhaps the Sioux might suppose the same thing +about the Cheyennes and the soldiers, and so there might be many of +them along the way. I was startled and my heart was jumping at every +little doubtful sight or noise. But I could not do anything but keep +on going. I tried to make myself feel better by thinking of what a +good sleep I should have after so hard a ride. + +At the agency I found the officer and gave to him the paper. Then I +lay down on the floor behind his stove and went to sleep. Pretty +soon the interpreter awakened me. The officer wanted me. He said: +“You are a good scout. I want you now to take a message for me back +to your officer.” I was yet half asleep. But right away I became all +awake again and got myself ready to go. I was as much afraid on the +way back as I had been in coming. The snow and the wind whirling +it were the same. I did not freeze, though, and I got to our camp +and gave this paper to my officer. He said: “Good. Now you may go +and sleep.” It was almost morning. I slept far into the day. Nobody +awakened me this time. + +All of the scouts and Long Yellow Neck, the officer now with us, +were out one night after some Sioux who had been seen. The Cheyennes +were afraid. We thought there might be many more Sioux not seen. I +went off a little distance aside from the others, to look and listen +where there was more quietude. I saw the flash of a match. I went +cautiously in that direction. I got down into a deep gulch. I could +hear Sioux voices talking above me. My heart seemed to be jumping all +around in my breast. I kept still until the sound of the voices went +beyond my hearing. I could not see anybody, but the sounds told me +the direction the Sioux were traveling. I went back to the band and +told of what had occurred. All of us then followed a trail along the +rim of the gulch. It led us to two lodges. We surrounded them and +then let them know we were there. They did not fight us. We captured +ten Sioux. We made them give us their guns. I was one of ten scouts +appointed to take them to the agency. + +Some Ogallalas were with the Cheyennes as scouts. All together our +band must have numbered sixty or more. I do not know exactly how many +there were of either Cheyennes or Ogallalas, but I know there were +more of the Cheyennes. Three Cheyennes and three Ogallalas were sent +out one night to watch the trails. I was one of the three Cheyennes. +Long Yellow Neck said: “I want you to find out how many bad Indians +are going out from the reservation.” + +The six of us got upon our horses and rode away together into the +night storm. One Ogallala and I separated off and dismounted, to look +and listen. We watched particularly for match lighting, as any Indian +who had tobacco was likely to stop long enough to light a match for +smoking. After a little while, we saw what we were looking for. We +moved quickly, but carefully, toward where we had seen the flash. We +heard voices. + +“Yes, they are Sioux,” we whispered in agreement. + +We rejoined our companions and told them. Everybody said we ought +to go back and tell the officer. All of us went then to our camp. +An Ogallala knocked on the post at our officer’s tent. “Come in,” +he said. All of us went into the warm shelter. Long Yellow Neck was +writing. He put aside his paper and called the interpreter. We told +what we had seen. + +“How many of them were there?” the officer asked one of the Ogallalas. + +“I don’t know,” the Indian replied. + +“You are foolish,” the officer told him. + +He asked others. Each one said: “I don’t know.” I said the same. But +we explained that it was too dark to see anybody, that only the flash +of the match had been seen and the voices had been heard. The officer +said: + +“Good. Now, all of you go out again. If you see any Sioux, count +them.” + +We found a fresh trail of horses going toward the Bad Lands. By a +creek we saw that different campings had been made. Many carcasses of +cattle were there. They were white men cattle that had been stolen +and butchered by the Sioux. + +We three Cheyennes separated off from the three Ogallalas. The two +parties scouted at a little distance from each other. After our three +had traveled only a short while, I left my horse to be held by one +of the others while I crept to the top of a bluff for looking and +listening. A commonly traveled trail followed along past this bluff. +Pretty soon I heard horses coming. I hugged close to the ground +behind a rock. Four Sioux men rode past me toward the Bad Lands. They +were almost close enough to reach out and strike me. I kept as still +as the rock, except for my shivering from fright. When they were gone +far enough I slid back a little distance and then jumped up and ran +to my two companions. We found the three Ogallalas. They also had +seen the four men. All six of us hurried back to our camp. The others +appointed me to do the talking for our report. I told of how I had +hidden behind the rock and counted them as they had passed by me. +“There were four of them,” I said. Long Yellow Neck wrote my name on +a piece of paper. Then he said: + +“Good. All of you may go now and sleep.” + +I believe I slept, but I am not sure whether I was sleeping and +dreaming or was only lying there and thinking. I kept my cartridge +belt buckled on me and I hugged my rifle to my body. It seemed that +angry Sioux Indians were all about me. They were searching for me, to +kill me. Some of them were striking at me with war clubs and slashing +at me with knives. I heard calling of my name: “Wooden Leg.” I jumped +up and stood there wide awake. + +Long Yellow Neck and a soldier with him were in our tent. The +soldier was reading off our names from a paper he had in his hands. + +“The same six are to go and scout again,” he said. + +Another Cheyenne was added to us. The seven of us got our horses. We +were about to go when an Ogallala rode into camp. He had come from +the agency. We wondered what was his errand. We waited to find out. +He went to Long Yellow Neck’s tent. Pretty soon everybody was saying: + +“All of the scouts and soldiers go back to Pine Ridge.” + +I do not know how the others felt, but my own heart fluttered in +pleasure. I did not want then to fight any Sioux. We were only a +short time in getting all of the camp ready to move. When we were +about to start on our way, Long Yellow Neck said: “Now, I want +someone to stay behind and watch, to see if any of the Sioux are +following us.” He asked if I would stay. I said, “No, I do not want +to stay behind.” He asked Bad Horses, Foolish Man, White Bird, Sweet +Grass and others. Some Ogallalas were asked. Everybody asked said, +“No.” While this was going on, three of the Ogallalas slipped away +afoot, leaving their three horses. Long Yellow Neck told us he had +thought all of us were brave men, but he had learned now that we were +not brave. Finally I said: “I will stay behind and watch.” Little +Thunder, an Ogallala, then said he would stay with me. + +We two caught the three horses left by the Ogallalas who had run away +afoot. Little Thunder said: “I am hungry.” I too was hungry, but +we had no food. We drove the three horses ahead of us and hurried +forward. Soon we caught up with the scouts and soldiers. “Give us +something to eat,” we asked. A soldier took a big box of crackers +from a pack mule and gave it to us. He gave us also plenty of bread. +We ate until we were full up, and then we put what was left upon one +of the three horses we had been driving. We led the three now and +followed on far behind the other people. + +The three Ogallalas afoot came to us. They asked us for bread and +crackers. “If you will stay with us we will give you some,” we told +them. They agreed. We gave them all they wanted. We let them have +their horses. They rode with us all of the remainder of the way to +the agency, helping us in watching back to see if any Sioux were +following. We kept ourselves far behind. None of us saw any of the +bad Indians anywhere along the way. When we rode into the agency +camp, all of the soldiers and scouts were already there. We told Long +Yellow Neck that we had not seen any Sioux following us. He said: + +“Good. Now you may sleep.” + +During the time we were scouting for the soldiers at Pine Ridge I got +a Sioux head dress. It was a cap of some kind of skin having at its +front a buffalo horn. I got it while the soldiers and scouts were +camped on lower Wounded Knee creek. I was wearing it as I rode into +camp. A soldier Sergeant said to me: “I wish you would give that to +me.” “What would you give to me?” I asked him. “Five dollars,” he +said. He gave me the five dollars and I gave him the buffalo horn +head dress. + +About four hundred Cheyennes came with us when we left Pine Ridge to +return to Fort Keogh. These were people of ours who had fled from the +South with Little Wolf and Dull Knife, and who had been staying since +then among the Ogallalas on the Pine Ridge reservation. But now they +were allowed to come and join the main body of Cheyennes in Montana. +A few Cheyennes still remained with the Ogallalas, but this movement +of the big band brought together what was considered to be the entire +Northern Cheyenne tribe. An officer known to us as Small Chief[56] +brought us back. + +Cheyenne visitors from the Rosebud and Tongue river lands were camped +at all times near Fort Keogh. We scouts who had families kept lodges +for them among the visiting campers. Relatives and friends were +shifting constantly to or from the fort, Miles City and our Cheyenne +country seventy miles south of us. I had my food with the other +scouts, from the soldier supplies and at our eating room at the fort. +But I spent much of my time at the home lodge. One day I saw the old +man Little Wolf at the camp. I said to my wife: + +“I see Little Wolf. He is my relative. One of his wives is a sister +of my father. I think I ought to invite him to eat at our lodge.” + +“I am glad to hear you say that,” she answered me. “Tell him to come +now.” Right away she began to prepare bread and meat and coffee. + +When I brought Little Wolf I found he was partly drunk. He fumbled +the food as he sat and ate. He ate freely, as though he were very +hungry. He kept quiet and kept looking downward during all of the +time. When he was done eating, I told him of my sympathy with him in +his great trouble. He then told me all about the affair. “I loved the +young man and all of his people,” he said. “I was crazy when I shot +him.” At this time of conversation, Little Wolf was about seventy +years old. + +This man gave away all of his horses after he had been put out of +his position as our greatest chief. After that, all of his traveling +was done afoot. Sometimes he went alone, sometimes one or both of +his wives accompanied him. They took along whatever packs they could +carry, and they slept in temporary shelters or with no shelter. He +went at times to visit the Crows. He visited also the Arapahoes, in +Wyoming, walking two hundred miles or more and back again. He died in +1904, at the age of eighty-three years. His wives and close friends +stood his dead body upright on a high hill overlooking the Rosebud +valley, where many Cheyennes had their reservation homes. A great +heap of stones was built up to enclose him thus standing upright. +Twenty-four years later, his bones were brought to the agency +cemetery and put into a grave there. Bird,[57] the old-time Indian +story white man who lives in New York, had a stone put at the head of +this agency grave. + +Even the nearest relatives of Famished Elk never kept bad hearts +against Little Wolf. At different times I have heard talk of him from +Bald Eagle, a brother of the young man killed. Bald Eagle said: + +“Little Wolf did not kill my brother. It was the white man whisky +that did it.” + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[55] Lieutenant Casey. + +[56] Lieutenant McEniney. + +[57] Dr. George Bird Grinnell, the author. + + + + + XV + +_A Tamed Old Man._ + + +Thirty years after the great battle against Custer, there was a +gathering of Indians and white people at the Little Bighorn. Besides +a few of our people, there were Crows, Sioux, Arapahoes, Shoshones, +Nez Perces, Kiowas, Piegans, Gros Ventres and Paiutes, these last +known to us as Fish-Eaters. + +All Cheyennes who had fought in the battle were asked to come and +join the other Indians and the white people in a peace feast. The +place is only two short days of wagon traveling from our Lame Deer +agency. But only a few Cheyennes would go there for the gathering. +Among us there was much of such talk as: “Soldiers will be there. +Seeing us might anger them so much as to make them want to kill +us.”[58] Seven of us decided to go. These were the younger Chief +Little Wolf, White Elk, Bobtail Horse, Two Moons, Buffalo Calf, +myself Wooden Leg, and Brave Bear, a Southern Cheyenne. Four of the +seven men took along their wives and their lodges. + +In a big council lodge of the Crows a white man medicine doctor[59] +asked different ones to tell something of the great battle. He said +he had heard the white people say that Two Moons was a great warrior +there, and he asked Two Moons to make a speech. This Cheyenne stood +up and talked a long time. He said he had been the big chief of all +the Cheyennes during the fight. He filled the ears of his hearers +with lots of other lies, while the rest of us laughed among ourselves +about what he was saying. Other Cheyennes and Sioux were asked to get +up and talk, but none of them would do so. + +The medicine doctor looked at my cousin, the younger Chief Little +Wolf, and asked him: + +“Were you at the Custer battle?” + +“Yes.” + +“Were you in the first fight above the camps?” + +“No.” + +“Who took the soldier horses?” + +“The Sioux took most of them. The Cheyennes got a few. There were +many Sioux and only a few Cheyennes in the fight.” + +“Who took the soldier guns?” + +“The same--the Sioux got many, the Cheyennes got a few.” + +“Did you see Custer, either before or after he was killed?” + +“I do not know. Nobody knew anything about Custer.” + +“Our soldiers afterward could not find the bodies of all the white +men killed. What became of them?” + +“I do not know.” + +“Were any of them taken away and hidden?” + +“I think not, but I do not know.” + +“Were any of them, either dead or alive, taken to the camps?” + +“I think not. I never heard of any taken there.” + +“Tell me all about what you saw and what you did at the battle.” + +But Little Wolf would not tell. I said to him: “Go on, tell the +truth, but do not talk like Two Moons did.” He was afraid, though. +There were many white people and soldiers all around us, and he +feared they might become angry. + +White Elk, Bobtail Horse, Two Moons, Brave Bear, Buffalo Calf and the +Sioux men all answered the same kind of questions in the same way. +But none of them except Two Moons would say anything further about +the fight. Bobtail Horse was either nervous or scared, so he got +tangled a little. The doctor asked him the same kind of questions. +Then he asked: + +“How old are you?” + +Bobtail Horse sat there as though he did not understand what was +being asked. Pretty soon he began to count on his fingers. He counted +them over and over. Finally he said: “I do not know.” All of us knew +exactly one another’s age, but none of us interfered to help him +in answering the question. The doctor did not ask him any further +questions. + +In my turn at the talking I was asked the same kind of questions: + +“Wooden Leg, were you in the Custer battle?” + +“Yes, I was there.” + +“Were you in the first fight up above the camps?” + +“Yes.” + +“Good. How old were you at that time?” + +“Eighteen winters.” + +“How old are you now?” + +“Forty-eight.” + +“Good. Tell me where you were during all of the time. Tell me what +you saw and what you did.” + +I told him. It happened I was the only Indian at this gathering who +had been in the first fight with what the white people call the +Reno soldiers. It began with my brother and I being awakened by the +shooting and our running to get our horses. I followed my own doings +up the valley and into the chase after the soldiers through the river +and up the hill. I showed how I had taken a rifle from a soldier. I +described the killing of the Corn Indian and my taking his gun. The +doctor wrote on a piece of paper as I talked. My cousin Little Wolf +interrupted me: “You tell too much. Stop talking.” + +But I did not stop. It appeared none of the soldiers nor other white +people listening to me were angry. This medicine doctor looked to +me like a good man, one who understood that we had killed soldiers +who had come to kill us. I described to him the way I had helped +to kill the soldier getting water at the river. I told about the +Indians surrounding the Custer soldiers on the long ridge and about +many things that happened there. The doctor still was writing on the +paper. He broke in with some questions and I answered each one as +straight as I knew how to answer it. Little Wolf said to me: “Tell +him Custer killed himself, and see if he becomes angry.” But I did +not say anything about that. Other Indians, at other times, had tried +to tell of the soldiers killing themselves, but the white people +listening always became angry and said the Indians were liars, so I +thought it best to keep quiet. Other questions came: + +“Did you see Custer?” + +“I suppose I did, but I do not know. I think that no Indians there +knew anything about him being with the soldiers.” + +“Did you see soldiers having special marks on the shoulders of their +coats?” + +“Yes, I noticed some of them.” + +“Did you know they were chiefs among the soldiers?” + +“I did not know then, but I know now.” + +“How many soldiers did you see having the markings on the shoulders?” + +“I do not know. When we were fighting them they all looked alike to +us, the same as a herd of buffalo.” + +“How many Indians were killed?” + +I told him the number of dead Cheyennes, Uncpapas and others. + +“Good,” he said, and he wrote the numbers on his paper. + +The Cheyennes and some other Indians went with a few soldiers to Fort +Custer, not far from the place where had been the great battle. The +soldier officers at the fort shook hands with all of us. We gathered +together, and some friendly speeches were made by officers and by +Indians. All I said there was: “A long time ago we were enemies. +Today we are friends.” The medicine doctor rode beside me as we were +going to and from the fort. We made sign-talk together along the way. +I showed him the only place where the Cheyenne tribe ever camped west +of the Bighorn river. From the top of the Fort Custer hill we could +see the place, just across from the mouth of the Little Bighorn. + +Many pictures were made of Cheyennes, Sioux, Nez Perces and Crows. +Some were made on the valley and by the river where had been the +first fight, others were made on the battle ridge and at its northern +side. Pictures were made at night when the Indians were dancing. The +bright flashes scared some of the Indians, but soon it was learned +what was being done. + +Wagons came loaded with rations. We were given plenty of beef, bacon, +bread, crackers, coffee, sugar, meat in cans, and other food. We were +on the valley by the river, where had been the fight with the Reno +soldiers. A soldier officer rode about, saying: + +“All Indians who were in the Custer battle get rations. No others are +to be given any food.” + +But when the distribution began, lots of Crows came running. They +crowded forward saying: + +“Oh, meat! Give some to us.” + +Their actions made me angry. I let loose my tongue: + +“You--Crows--you are like children. All Crows are babies. You are not +brave. You never helped us to fight against the white people. You +helped them in fighting against us. You were afraid, so you joined +yourselves to the soldiers. You are not Indians.” + +Bobtail Horse said to me: “Ssh, keep your temper.” My cousin Little +Wolf said: “You are doing right. Tell them what we think of them.” +The Crows stopped asking for the rations. All of them went back and +kept quiet. + +Besides the rations given to us every day, each of us was paid three +dollars at the end of each day, for four days. When the gathering +ended and we were getting ready to go back to our reservation, we +were given plenty of extra food to eat along the way. Some of it was +eaten by ourselves and our friends after we arrived home. + +Another great gathering of whites and Indians assembled there fifty +years after the battle. All of the Cheyennes, particularly the men +who had been in the battle, were invited to go. Many lodges of our +people traveled over the divide to that place and camped there, but +I stayed at my home. Two times I was called to our Ashland district +telephone for a talk from the agency. “We want you to go to the +great peace celebration,” I was told. At each time of this talking +I made reply: “I will think about it.” The more I thought about it, +the more I felt like staying away. The battlefield is on the present +Crow Indian reservation. I do not want to go upon their lands. I +have made up my mind never again to go to any place where I might be +called upon to shake hands with a Crow. + +The younger Chief Little Wolf, my cousin, had the boyhood name Thorny +Tree. His mother was a sister of my father and of the older Little +Wolf’s first wife. The young nephew Thorny Tree showed special +bravery at a battle with the Shoshones. The old chief was so pleased +at this manly conduct of his wife’s relative that he told the young +warrior: + +“I give you my name. From this day on you shall be Little Wolf.” + +This younger man stayed with the Cheyennes at the Pine Ridge +reservation, after the peaceful times came. Among them he was made a +tribal chief. When the band of them were moved to our Tongue River +reservation he was made a chief of the entire tribe. A few years +later he was accepted as the principal old man chief. He told me that +during the years he was living at Pine Ridge he often was mistaken +for the same Little Wolf who led the Cheyennes in their flight from +the South. In fact, he was with that band of fleeing Cheyennes, but +he joined that group of them who went to Pine Ridge. The older Little +Wolf and his last followers came to Powder river and on to Fort +Keogh. The old chief never was at Pine Ridge after that time. + +My cousin told me that white people often embarrassed him also in +supposing him to have been famed as Chief Little Wolf at the Custer +battle. In this case, the older man was not in the fight, he and a +small band of Cheyennes having followed on the trail of the soldiers +and having arrived at the camps after the white men all had been +killed. The younger Little Wolf was already there with the great +tribal assemblage. The family lodge of his father, Big Left Hand, was +near to my own father’s family lodge. This last Chief Little Wolf, my +cousin, died in 1927, at the age of 76 years. + +I visited the Arapahoes and the Shoshones, in Wyoming, several years +ago. Eight Cheyenne men, some of us with our wives and our tepees +went on this trip. I had a Custer gun, borrowed from a Cheyenne +who kept it in hiding. We saw a big band of elk in a valley of the +Bighorn mountains. I was chosen to lead the hunters in getting +ourselves close to them. I said: “Yes, I will lead, but you others +must stay back until I tell you it is time for all to show themselves +and begin to shoot.” As we got well toward the elk band they suddenly +ran away into a forest. I soon learned that one of our men had pushed +on ahead and frightened them. “You are foolish,” was all I could say +to him. We saw trails of other elk, plenty of them, but we did not +see any others of the elk themselves. + +High up on the top of a rocky bluff we saw a bighorn, what the white +people call a mountain sheep. Different ones of us shot at it and +missed it. Another man and I then shot, at the same moment. The +animal tumbled down the mountain. When we got to it we found that +both of our bullets had struck the front part of its body. We enjoyed +that meat. It was the first bighorn meat I had eaten for several +years. + +Nine sleeps we made on our way to the reservation where we were +going. We stopped with the Arapahoes, good friends of the Cheyennes +all during the old times. There had been friendly intermarriages +between our people and theirs. There was much of inquiring about +Arapahoes living among us on our reservation. These people made gifts +to us. They could not give much, because they were as poor as the +Cheyennes. + +We moved camp for a visit with the Shoshones. In the old times they +and the Cheyennes were constantly on terms of enmity. But now they +received us cordially. From all sides came, “How,” “How,” “How.” +An old chief of theirs went riding among them and calling out: +“Everybody come and shake hands with our guests, the Cheyennes. Let +them know we are glad they came to visit us.” + +Men, women, old people, boys, girls, all moved along past our group +and greeted us with handshakes. They brought food. There were big +piles of all kinds of things the Indians like to eat. After a while, +they began to bring horses. One after another they kept giving these +to us. Every Cheyenne among us had more horses than he could lead, +when we parted from the Shoshones. I had nine of them presented to +me. When we got back among our own people at home we were the richest +Indians in our tribe. We had horses to give away to our friends. All +of the Cheyennes agreed that the Shoshones have good hearts, that +they are a good people. + +An Arickaree Indian visited me at my place on Tongue river a few +years ago. We talked of the Custer battle. He told me one of their +chiefs had been killed there. He described him. The special features +of his war clothing were a fine buckskin shirt and a necklace made of +bear claws. I described to him the Arickaree I had helped to kill. +This one had on a buckskin shirt. An eagle feather stood up from his +back hair. A red string tied his hair together behind. If he had +a bear-claw necklace I did not see it. I did not see this kind of +necklace on any of the three Arickarees I saw dead. It may be one of +the other two had one and it had been taken from him before I saw the +dead body. + +I went to Washington when I was fifty-five years old. Little Wolf, +Two Moons and Black Wolf were old men with me as delegates to speak +for our tribe. Three younger men who could talk the white man +language went with us. They were Willis Rowland, Ben Shoulderblade +and Milton Little White Man. At a meeting with white men, there were +some speeches made. Two Moons did most of the talking for us. The +rest of us did not care to make any long talks. Two Moons told these +people he was a big chief leading all of the Cheyennes at the Custer +battle. None of us said anything in dispute of him at the meeting, +but when we got away to ourselves Black Wolf said to him: “You are +the biggest liar in the whole Cheyenne tribe.” Two Moons laughed and +replied: “I think it is not wrong to tell lies to white people.” + +The same white man medicine doctor who had been at the gathering by +the Little Bighorn was in Washington. He was good to us, helping us +to see the strange sights in the big city. He could make good signs, +so he and I talked much together. We went up to the top of a very +tall stone he said was Washington’s monument. We rode up to the top +and walked a long and winding stairway to the bottom. + +[Illustration: Photo by Hogan + +WOODEN LEG, HIS WIFE AND THEIR DAUGHTER, IN 1914] + +A big ship took us Cheyennes out upon the great water. All of us +became sick and vomited. “It is the same as whisky,” we said to each +other. The ship took us to New York. There we visited our friend +Bird, the old-time Indian story white man. The white man medicine +doctor was traveling with us. He went with us on to Philadelphia, +where we visited the biggest trader store I ever saw. In a theater +in this city we sat upon a platform before a great crowd of white +people. I was asked to make a speech. I talked, but only for a short +time. One of our interpreters repeated to them what I said. This +visit to the great cities was at some time during the spring (1913), +in March or April, I believe. + +I lied to one man in New York. He asked me many questions. For a +while I answered them as best I could. But it began to appear he was +trying to show the old-time Indians as being low and mean people. I +had told him a great deal about the fighting, about the taking of +horses and saddles and guns, about other matters of this kind. I +found I did not like him, so I decided to end our talk. + +“What time of day was it when all of the Custer soldiers had been +killed?” he asked me. + +“I don’t know,” I answered him. + +“Did the Indians keep the money they took from the soldiers?” + +“I don’t know.” + +“Did you get any of it?” + +“I don’t know.” + +After these answers he quit talking to me and went away. + +The medicine doctor friend came several years afterward from +Washington to our Lame Deer agency. I saw and talked with him here. I +still keep a big flag he gave to me. I liked him. He was a good man, +one having a heart good toward Indians. + +The guns taken by Cheyennes from the Custer soldiers were given up or +had been thrown away by those of our people who surrendered at the +White River agency. I think that all of the Sioux also had to give +their guns of all kinds to the soldiers chiefs at their reservations. +But at Fort Keogh General Miles was good to the Cheyennes. He allowed +them to keep their guns. I suppose that many Indians threw away their +Custer guns, for fear of being found out and punished for having +killed those soldiers. But the Fort Keogh Cheyennes kept theirs +hidden. A few of these have been buried with the owners who died. But +even to this day, I know of several of the Custer rifle guns hidden +among the people on our reservation. White Elk and Spotted Wolf used +to have Custer soldier six-shooters. These two men are dead. I do +not know what became of their six-shooters. The Cheyennes also have +yet some of the Custer soldier ammunition belts and saddle-bags. They +do not like to tell of having these captured war things, because +there are some white people who become angry when they talk of the +old times of warfare between the whites and the Indians.[60] + +I have yet four of the ten arrows I made from the cattle neckyoke +picked up at the town when we were on our way to the South. For +keeping my comb and paints I have a flat pouch made from a bootleg. +The boots I got at the White River agency the next day after my +hunting party went there to surrender. Another young man and I were +walking in the neighborhood of the soldier tents there. I found a +pair of soldier boots among some other articles also cast aside by +the white men. The soles were worn, but the tops were good. I knew +how to make use of them. I cut off the worn bottom parts and kept +the tops. My mother sewed one of them into the pouch. I know of some +Cheyennes who still have such carriers made from bootlegs of Custer +soldiers. + +I lost the medicine pipe given to me by the Ogallala Sioux man at +the White River agency. That was my second medicine pipe. The third +one came to me when I was somewhere past forty years old. An Uncpapa +Sioux visiting me at my place gave it to me. I still have it. It +is made of the red stone found in their part of the country. After +he had given to me this pipe I went on a journey into the Bighorn +mountains. There I got some blue stone of the kind used for making +Indian pipes. I made two of them. I now have three pipes, one red one +and two blue ones. I have kept all three of them for several years, +and I do not expect to sell any of them. + +I was baptized by the priest at the Tongue river mission when I was +almost fifty years old. My wife and our two daughters were baptized +too. I think the white people pray to the same Great Medicine we do +in our old Cheyenne way. I do not go often to the church, but I go +sometimes. I think the white church people are good, but I do not +believe all of the stories they tell about what happened a long time +ago. The way they tell us, all of the good people in the old times +were white people. I am glad to have the white man churches among +us, but I feel more satisfied when I make my prayers in the way I +was taught to make them. My heart is much more contented when I sit +alone with my medicine pipe and talk with the Great Medicine about +whatever may be troubling me. + +Our old ways of worship were kept up through several years after +we came to this reservation. Our Great Medicine dances and other +old ceremonies were carried out as we had them in the days when we +traveled over the whole hunting region. Then the government compelled +us to quit them. I think this was not right. Lately, though, the +conditions have changed. We were allowed to have our Great Medicine +dance in 1927, again in 1928 and in 1929. + +We had good medicine men in the old times. It may be they did not +know as much about sickness as the white men doctors know, but our +doctors knew more about Indians and how to talk to them. Our people +then did not die young so much as they do now. In present times our +Indian doctors are put into jail if they make medicine for our sick +people. Whoever of us may become sick or injured must have the agency +white man doctor or none at all. But he can not always come, and +there are some who do not like him. I think it is best and right if +each sick one be allowed to choose which doctor he wants. When Eddy +was agent he let us keep our own old ways in all these matters. Our +people liked him the best of all the agents we have had. + +A policeman came to my place, one time, and told me that Eddy wanted +to see me at the agency office. He did not say what was wanted. I +thought: “What have I done?” I went right away. I never had been much +about the agency, and I did not know Eddy very well. But the people +all the time were saying he was a good man, so I was not afraid. When +I got there, a strange white man was at the office. The interpreter +told me this man was from Washington. Eddy and the other man talked +to me a little while, about nothing of importance. Then Eddy said: + +“We want you to be judge.” + +The Indian court was held at the agency. My home place was where +it now is, over a divide from the agency and on the Tongue river +side of the reservation. I accepted the appointment. I was paid ten +dollars each month for going to the agency and attending to the court +business one or two times each month. Not long after I had been +serving as judge, Eddy called me into his office. He said: + +“A letter from Washington tells me that Indians having two or more +wives must send away all but one. You, as judge, must do your part +toward seeing that the Cheyennes do this.” + +My heart jumped around in my breast when he told me this. He went on +talking further about the matter, but I could not pay close attention +to him. My thoughts were racing and whirling. When I could get them +steady enough for speech, I said to him: + +“I have two wives. You must get some other man to serve as judge.” + +He sat there and looked straight at me, saying nothing for a little +while. Then he began talking again: + +“Somebody else as judge would make you send away one of your wives. +It would be better if you yourself managed it. All of the Indians in +the United States are going to be compelled to put aside their extra +wives. Washington has sent the order.” + +I decided to keep the office of judge. It appeared there was no +getting around the order, so I made up my mind to be the first one to +send away my extra wife, then I should talk to the other Cheyennes +about the matter. I took plenty of time to think about how I should +let my wives know about what was coming. Then I allowed the released +one some further time to make arrangements as to where she should go. +The first wife, the older one, had two daughters. The younger wife +had no children. It seemed this younger one ought to leave me. I was +in very low spirits. When a wagon came to get her and her personal +packs I went out and sat on a knoll about a hundred yards away. I +could not speak to her. It seemed I could not move. All I could do +was just sit there and look down at the ground. She went back to her +own people, on another reservation. A few years later I heard that +she was married to a good husband. Oh, how glad it made my heart to +hear that! + +I sent a policeman to tell all Cheyennes having more than one wife to +come and see me. One of them came that same afternoon. After we had +smoked together, I said: + +“The agent tells me that I as the judge must order all Cheyennes to +have only one wife. You must send away one of yours.” + +“I shall not obey that order,” he answered me. + +“Yes, it will have to be that way,” I insisted. + +“But who will be the father to the children?” he asked. + +“I do not know, but I suppose that will be arranged.” + +“Wooden Leg, you are crazy. Eddy is crazy.” + +“No. If anybody is crazy, it is somebody in Washington. All of the +Indians in the United States have this order. If we resist it, our +policemen will put us into jail. If much trouble is made about it, +soldiers may come to fight us. Whatever man does not put aside his +extra wife may be the cause of the whole tribe being killed.” + +Many of our men were angered by the order. My heart sympathized with +them, so I never became offended at the strong words they sometimes +used. Finally, though, all of them sent away their extra wives. +Afterward, from time to time, somebody would tell me about some man +living a part of the time at one place with one wife and a part of +the time at another place with another wife. I just listened, said +nothing, and did nothing. These were old men, and I considered it +enough of change for them that they be prevented from having two +wives at the same place. At this present time I know of only one old +Cheyenne man who has two wives. They are extremely old, are sisters, +and they have been his two wives for sixty or more years. He stays +a part of the time with one of them and a part of the time with the +other. The sister-wives visit each other, but they have different +homes, several miles apart. + +Throughout ten years I kept the position of judge. I rode my horse or +went in my wagon to the agency once or twice each month. It became +tiresome to me. Eddy went away, and we had another agent. I decided +to resign, and I did so. After I had been out of the office a few +years there was another change in agents. The man we now have, the +one we have named Sioux Agent, was put in charge of our reservation. +One day, Sioux Agent sent a message calling me to his office. + +“I want you to be judge again,” he said. “You will be paid +twenty-five dollars each month.” + +That was better than the ten dollars each month I had been paid +during the ten years of my first service. I took his offer. So now, +in my old age, I am helping my people to learn the ways of the white +man government. For the old people, it is a great change, so I try +to apply my thoughts at teaching the young Cheyennes whatever I am +expected to teach. + +I was chosen two times as a little chief of the Elk warriors, in the +old times. But in each instance I got somebody else to take my place. +Also, at two different times of election of tribal chiefs, since +we have been on the reservation, a band of warriors came to me and +said: “We want you to be a big chief of the tribe.” But I did not +want to have that position, so in each instance I told my friends to +choose some other man, some one who would like to have it. Some white +people, at different times, have called me, “Chief Wooden Leg.” But I +never was a chief, neither of my warrior society nor of the tribe. + +My younger brother’s name was Twin. When he grew up to manhood he +went from here to the Minneconjoux Sioux. There he was appointed a +policeman. He continued in that duty until his death, a few years +ago. My mother died here at my home, on the Tongue river reservation. +My younger sister and myself are the only members of my father’s +family yet living. This sister is the wife of Little Eagle. Their +farm place is only a few miles down the valley from mine. + +Both of my daughters went to school at the Tongue river mission. They +lived there during the school months. Each Sunday we were allowed to +take them to our home. At other times we might go to the mission and +see them for a few minutes. Later, I built a house only a quarter of +a mile from the Mission, and on a sloping hillside above it. We could +look from our front door and see the children at any time when they +might be outside of the school buildings. My wife and I were pleased +at their situation in life. “They will have more of comfort and +happiness than we have had,” we said to each other. + +But the younger daughter fell into an illness when she was about +fourteen years old. We expected she soon would be herself again, but +she grew worse instead of better. She became so weak she could not +stay any longer at the school. She continued to go on downward after +we brought her to our home. Finally, her spirit went back to the +Great Medicine. + +All of our love now was fixed upon the other daughter. She advanced +to full young womanhood. She could read the white man books, and +she could write letters to our friends far away. But she too became +ill, the same as her younger sister. During all of one winter she +gradually wasted away. Every afternoon her body burned with fever. +Every night her bed was soaked with the sweating. Every morning she +coughed almost to strangling. Neither the medicines of the agency +physician nor the prayers of our own medicine men could help her. +Just when the spring grass was coming up, she was buried in our +mission cemetery. + +My heart fell down to the ground. I decided then that the white man +school is not good for Indian children. I think they do not get +enough of meat at the boarding schools. I think too that they are +kept in school too much during each year. They ought to be out and +free to go as they please during all of the good weather of the +autumn and the spring. It may be that white children can stand it to +be in school most of the year. I do not believe, though, that Indian +children can stand it. It is not good sense to have the whites and +the Indians living by the same rules. + +My sister’s daughter and her husband had pity for me and my wife. +They gave to us their oldest son. He makes his home with us. On the +agency roll his name is Joseph White Wolf. But according to the +Indian way he is our boy, our grandson. He is a good boy, comforting +and helpful to us. I pray often that he may become a good man, may +get a good wife, may have many children and may live far into old age. + +My farming land is back from the valley, on a creek flowing into +Tongue river. Each year I have some alfalfa hay and some oats or +wheat, or both. I have a garden of vegetables, including an acre or +more of corn for our own food. All together, twenty-one acres was the +most land I had in cultivation in one season. That was a few years +ago. I do not have that much now. I become tired more quickly than I +did in past times. It appears my legs are not now made of wood, as +they used to be. + +I get pension money each month because of my service as a scout at +Fort Keogh. For a while it was twenty dollars monthly. Then it was +increased to thirty dollars. Now it is forty dollars. As I grow older +it will be further increased. My pay as judge added to this pension +money makes enough for me to buy food and clothing for my wife and +boy, without need for farming. But I like to have more than I need, +so I can help my friends. I can not do this many more years. + +A few other old Cheyennes get the pension money. We few are the rich +men of our tribe of very poor people. Many of our old men and women +have a hard time getting enough food. Some white people say to them: +“You have good land, so you ought to be prosperous.” They appear not +to understand that Indians are not born farmers. Besides, many among +us are older than I am. Even if these did know how to farm, they have +not the strength to do it. + +Another thing the white people appear not to understand: The old +Indian teaching was that it is wrong to tear loose from its place +on the earth anything that may be growing there. It may be cut off, +but it should not be uprooted. The trees and the grass have spirits. +Whatever one of such growths may be destroyed by some good Indian, +his act is done in sadness and with a prayer for forgiveness because +of his necessities, the same as we were taught to do in killing +animals for food or skins. We revere especially the places where our +old camp circles used to be set up and where we had our old places +of worship. There are many of such spots on our reservation. White +people look at them and say: “These Indians are foolish. There is +good land not plowed.” But we like to see these places as they were +in the old times. They help to keep in our hearts a remembrance of +the virtues of the good Cheyennes dead and gone from us. + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[58] A few old Cheyennes still talked this way in 1926. Fear kept +them from attending the fiftieth anniversary of the battle.--T. B. M. + +[59] The Cheyenne interpreter for them on that occasion informed me +this man was Doctor Dixon.--T. B. M. + +[60] During 1926 and 1927 I came into possession of six carbines, +three ammunition belts, one full pair of saddle-bags and one +half-pair of same, that these Fort Keogh Cheyennes had kept hidden +ever since their having been taken from the Custer soldiers in +1876.--T. B. M. + + + + + XVI + +_Clearing the Docket._ + + +Cheyennes still disagree among themselves about the number of sleeps +the combined tribes stayed at different camps along the way from +east of Powder river to the Little Bighorn and back again to the +Powder river country. For a long time there was disagreement as to +the length of time we had been at the battle camp before the Custer +soldiers came. Some said we had been there only one sleep, others +said two sleeps. This dispute was settled, though, several years +ago, when a band of Ogallalas visited us on this reservation. In +a great gathering with them at our Lame Deer agency there was a +general rehearsing of the battle at the Little Bighorn. Little Hawk, +a Cheyenne, spoke of us having slept there two nights before the +soldiers came. Somebody corrected him: + +“We had slept there only one night.” + +“I bet you we had been there two sleeps,” Little Hawk replied. He +spread out a blanket and laid upon it some money. + +His money was matched. Other bets were made, by other Indians +differing in their beliefs on the subject. Old men then were +called upon, one after another, to tell what was in their memories +concerning the question. White Elk, young Chief Little Wolf, Wooden +Leg, various other old Cheyennes and several of the old Sioux, all +were asked for expressions of their beliefs. Each one of them said: + +“One sleep.” + +Little Hawk and his supporters finally had to admit themselves +mistaken. In the general exchange of talk, many corroborating +incidents were mentioned. There came then a full agreement that we +had been in this camp only one night, that the soldiers attacked us +the next morning, that after the fighting had ended we moved our +camps a short distance northwestward and stayed there all of this +night, and that in the late afternoon of the day after the great +battle we left the place and traveled all night and all the next day +up the Little Bighorn valley. Of the two nights at the battle place, +one had been at the first camping spot where the soldiers attacked us +and the other had been at the second camping spot, a short distance +away, where we moved on account of our death losses. + +For fifty years we old Cheyennes talked of Bear Coat, or General +Miles, as having been big chief of the soldiers who came up the +Little Bighorn valley the next day after the Custer battle.[61] +We have been corrected by our present white man doctor friend. He +informs us that General Miles did not come into this country until +more than a month after that time. He says that a General Terry and a +General Gibbon were the chiefs of these soldiers. I never before had +heard of either of these two men. + +I never had heard of any of General Custer’s relatives having been +killed with him, until our present white man doctor friend told us +about the two brothers and the brother-in-law and the nephew. He +tells us also that General Custer’s body was not cut up. I do not +know why he was spared, if such was the case. I never heard of any +favorings of any dead man there. I do not know of any reason for +intentional difference in treatment of them. + +It was not then known to us who was the chief of these white men +soldiers. It was not known to us where they had come from. We +supposed them to be the same men we had fought on the Rosebud, eight +days before. We had not known who was the chief of those soldiers on +the Rosebud. I never heard any Indians at that time guessing as to +who he may have been. It made no difference to us. + +I have been told that certain different ones of Indians have claimed +special honor for having killed Custer himself. All such men are only +boasting to get attention. There was no talk of this kind during the +hours and days right after the battle. If there had been, all of us +would have known of it. I tell you again: None of us knew anything +about Custer being there. The few Southern Cheyennes and the few +Sioux warriors who had seen him in earlier times did not learn until +many weeks later that he had been killed in this battle. It was weeks +or months later when the most of us first learned that there ever was +such a man. The white people, not the Indians, told us. + +Even if some white man soldier in the battle had been well known to +all of the Indians it would have been hard to recognize him there. +During the first hour or two of the fighting we were too far away to +single out and recognize any particular one. As we got close, the air +became more and more full of smoke and dust. The Indians were greatly +excited. All of the white men went crazy. It must have been that not +any one of them looked like his natural self. I believe that not any +warrior then was thinking of trying to find out which one was the +chief of the soldiers nor which soldier might be a past acquaintance. +Every fighter, on both sides, was sweating and dust-covered. The +dead soldiers were dirty and bloody. Very soon, they were much worse +than that. Their best friends would not have known them. + +Of the thirty Indians killed in both fights, I believe about half +fell from the bullets of the Custer men. Of these fifteen or so +killed by the Custer men, there were more of them fell during the +first close fighting, when Lame White Man led us and himself was +killed, down toward the river, than fell at any other one section +of the field. The soldiers in the entire battle with the Custer men +could have killed a great many more of us, or we should have gone +away and left them after some further fighting, if their whisky had +not made them go crazy and shoot themselves. I do not know just how +many of them we killed, but I believe the number was not more than +twenty or thirty, all together. Some of these were during the slow +distant shooting time and some were after we had gone among them +and found badly wounded men to kill at once. There was no capturing +alive. I did not hear any Indian talk of wanting to make such capture. + +All of our dead Cheyennes were found, were taken away and were +buried. I am not sure about all of the Sioux dead, but it seems +they all must have been found, as there was the remainder of that +afternoon and much of the next day to make search. The three dead +Corn Indians I saw were left where they had been killed. + +None of the Custer soldiers came any closer to the river than they +were at the time they died. When the first Indians went out and met +them, and exchanged shots with them, these soldiers were riding along +the ridge far out northeastward.[62] They kept moving westward along +its crest until they spread out on the ridge lower down, the ridge +where the most of the battle took place. After about an hour and +a half of the slow fighting at long distances, the group of forty +soldiers who rode down from the ridge along a broad coulee and toward +the river were charged upon by Lame White Man, followed at once by +many Cheyennes and Sioux. This place of the first Indian charge and +the first sudden great victory is inside of the present fence around +the battlefield and at its lower side. + +The most important warrior among the Cheyennes was Lame White Man. +I believe all of our old men consider him so. Next in importance +and usefulness were Old Man Coyote, leading chief of the Crazy Dog +warriors, Last Bull, leading chief of the Fox warriors, and Crazy +Head, one of our tribal chiefs who had been a warrior society chief +when he was a younger man. The first Indians to go across the river +and fire upon the Custer soldiers far out on the ridge were two Sioux +and three Cheyennes. These three Cheyennes were Roan Bear, Buffalo +Calf and Bobtail Horse. This last named man is still living, his home +being on the Rosebud side of our reservation. + +Two Moons used to tell white people of his own great importance in +the battle. I believe he was brave, like many others there, but he +was not thought of as being very important. He was one of the nine +little chiefs of the Fox warriors. The only special way I heard +him talked about was concerning his having a repeating rifle, the +only one of such guns among the Cheyennes in this battle. When the +smaller part of our Cheyenne tribe surrendered to General Miles, at +Fort Keogh, Two Moons was chosen by him as their one big chief. For +several years those Indians were governed by General Miles. From time +to time, in the years following, others of our people were added to +these. The coming of Little Wolf made a difference, but he lost his +place when he killed the Cheyenne. When all of the tribe finally +were assembled on the present reservation, the Fort Keogh officers +and the government agents still kept Two Moons as the one big chief +over all of us. I do not know of there being among us any great +dissatisfaction because of this, but I do know that it was General +Miles, not the Cheyennes, who selected him as our leader. + +There are yet living (1930) among the Cheyennes more than twenty men +and about the same number of women who were full-grown people with us +in the camp beside the Little Bighorn. I suppose that each tribe of +the Sioux have, in proportion, the same numbers. We have many more +who were children in the camp and who remember much of what was done +at that time. Last Bull, leading chief of the Fox warriors, took his +family and joined the Crows after the days of peace came. His two +daughters married Crow men. The scared and screaming girl I took upon +my horse when the soldiers burned our forty lodges on Powder river +has become an old woman, a Cheyenne-Crow woman. She is known to the +white people as Mrs. Passes. + +Every time I have been where white people have been asking questions +about the Custer battle, somebody has wanted to know: + +“Where was Sitting Bull during the fight?” + +For a long time I did not understand why this question was pressed so +strongly. Then I learned that white people had been saying: “Sitting +Bull was a coward. He was not with the warriors in the fighting.” + +I do not know where he was. I had not thought about trying to find +out. I suppose he was helping the women and children and old people, +where he belonged. He had a son in the fight. Any man having a son +serving as a warrior was expected to stay out of battles and give the +son his chance to get warrior honors. Lame White Man, the Southern +Cheyenne tribal chief who was killed, went into the fight because of +his having no son there. I suppose it was the same with Chief Crazy +Horse, of the Ogallalas, and Chief Hump Nose, of the Arrows All Gone. +I do not know of any other tribal chiefs or old men having mixed into +the battle. My father stayed in the camps, but his staying there was +not on account of personal fear. + +I am not ashamed to tell that I was a follower of Sitting Bull. I +have no ears for hearing anybody say he was not a brave man. He had a +big brain and a good one, a strong heart and a generous one. In the +old times I never heard of any Indian having spoken otherwise of him. +If any of them changed their talk in later days, the change must have +been brought about by lies of agents and soldier chiefs who schemed +to make themselves appear as good men by making him appear as a bad +man. + +It is comfortable to live in peace on the reservation. It is pleasant +to be situated where I can sleep soundly every night, without fear +that my horses may be stolen or that myself or my friends may be +crept upon and killed. But I like to think about the old times, when +every man had to be brave. I wish I could live again through some +of the past days when it was the first thought of every prospering +Indian to send out the call: + +“Hoh-oh-oh-oh, friends: Come. Come. Come. I have plenty of buffalo +meat. I have coffee. I have sugar. I have tobacco. Come, friends, +feast and smoke with me.” + + + FOOTNOTES: + +[61] This mistake of the old Cheyennes arose from their having found +Miles in command of the soldiers at Fort Keogh when they surrendered +there in 1877. They supposed, and kept right on supposing, that he +had been the leader of the Yellowstone river soldiers who came up the +Bighorn and the Little Bighorn in June, 1876.--T. B. M. + +[62] Many Custer rifle shells have been found scattered along this +high far-out ridge, by J. A. Blummer and other residents.--T. B. M. + + + THE END + + + + + Legend for opposite map: A.--Near the present-day Crow Agency, + Montana. + + 1. Uncpapa camp circle. + + 2. Blackfeet Sioux camp circle. + + 3. Minneconjoux camp circle. + + 4. Arrows All Gone camp circle. + + 5. Ogallala camp circle. + + 6. Cheyenne camp circle. + + Arrows ➝ ➝ show Reno troops’ advance and + retreat. + + 7. Reno battle line, for a few minutes. + + 8. Present Garryowen railroad station. + + 9. Reno entrenchment hill, after retreat across the river. + + 10. Present Custer monument, in field enclosed by fence. + + 11. Broad coulee of Medicine Tail creek just across east from + Cheyenne camp circle. + + The long links, ⬭ ⬭ show approach of Custer troops, + moving northwestward, along a high ridge. + + Scattered crossmarks, x x x, show where irregular second camps + of Indians were placed. + + Little Bighorn river flowing northwestward. + + Indians forded river at Medicine Tail coulee and also went + along hills from Reno hill, 9, to intercept Custer soldiers. + +[Illustration: CAMP SITES AND OTHER SALIENT POINTS IN VICINITY OF +CUSTER BATTLEFIELD, MONTANA.] + + + + + Legend for opposite map: A.--Present-day Miles City, Montana. + B.--Present-day Hardin, Montana. C.--Near the present-day + Sheridan, Wyoming. + + 1. Cheyenne camp whipped out and burned, on Powder river, just + above mouth of Little Powder river, March 17, 1876. + + 2. Where Cheyennes joined the Ogallala band. + + 3. Where Ogallalas and Cheyennes together joined Sitting Bull’s + Uncpapas. Minneconjoux Sioux also came here, making four separate + camp circles. + + 4. Arrows All Gone Sioux joined here, making five camp circles. + + 5. Powder river. Blackfeet Sioux made here the sixth camp circle. + Other small bands had come, but not enough for tribal camp + circles. + + 6. Camp at Tongue river. + + 7. Upper Wood creek, where they stayed five or six days, for a + great buffalo hunt. + + 8. The six camp circles on the Rosebud river, about May 19th. + + 9. Where the Uncpapas had their sun dance, in early June. + + 10. Reno creek camp, from which the Indians went out at night to + fight Crook’s soldiers, on the upper Rosebud. + + 11. Site of the Crook fight, on the upper Rosebud, June 17th. + + 12. Custer battle, June 25th. + + All moved away together, in the same six tribal camp circles, + until they arrived back at 3, east of Powder river. Here the + great combined camp was broken up, and the tribes separated, + about July 15th. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF HOSTILE INDIANS’ COURSE OF TRAVEL IN +MONTANA, 1876.] + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + +Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been +silently corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences +within the text and consultation of external sources. Some hyphens +in words have been silently removed and some silently added when +a predominant preference was found in the original book. Except +for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text and +inconsistent usage have been retained. + + Table of Contents: “Roving after the Victory” replaced by + “Rovings after the Victory”. + + Page 146: “They sa. bubbles” replaced by “They saw bubbles”. + + Page 180: “in the Ogallalla” replaced by “in the Ogallala”. + + Page 334: “wheneven we had” replaced by “whenever we had”. + + Page 371: “few years age” replaced by “few years ago”. + +Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. + +New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the +public domain. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78411 *** |