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Full text of "LONE EAGLE THE WHITE SIOUX"

9?0.2 LSiffii 56-111-557 

Maine 

Lone Eagle *,Bae White Sioux. . . 





JUN ? 1877 

8 1977 



1 8 1378 
DEC 2 01978 

%m 




By 

FLOYD 

SHUSTER 

MAINE 



LONE EAGLE 

...The White Sioux 



THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PRESS 
Albuquerque - 1956 




COPYRIGHT, 
NEW MEXICO 



1956 UNIVERSITY OF 
PRESS ALBUQUERQUE 



Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 56-9365 



DEDICATED 
TO THE MEMORY OF MY PARENTS 

Rev. George W. Maine and Emma (Shuster) Maine., 
Pioneer missionaries in the West 

AND TO MY SON AND DAUGHTER 

Merle Eagle and Shirley Juanita, 

who were born too late to know the West 

as it was 




Publishers Foreword 

LONE EAGLE, THE WHITE SIOUX, WAS NEITHER THE FIRST NOR 

the only white child to be adopted into an Indian tribe. How 
ever, the true story of this child o missionary parents who lost 
their lives ministering to the needs of the Oglala Sioux of 
Dakota during a smallpox epidemic, rivals the most imagina 
tive novel. 

The tiny baby, adopted by Chief Big Elk and his wife, 
"Ma-pi Winna" (Cloud Woman), was given the name "Wam 
ble Ish-na-la" (Lone Eagle), and thus lost all identification 
with his white ancestry. Until twelve years of age he believed 
himself to be an Oglala Sioux Indian. 

Meeting of the brothers, Floyd Shuster Maine (author of 
this book), and Lone Eagle, neither of whom knew of the 
other s existence, is a narrative worth reading. But the real 
value of this biography is the insight into the Indian life it 
reveals. Only a child so reared could give so accurately the 
Indian s viewpoints, customs, and history. 

Here may be found the Indians own version of Custer s 
last fight, as related to Lone Eagle by the chiefs and warriors 
involved. 

Several chapters, written by Lone Eagle himself, draw vivid 
pictures of the life and training of an Indian boy. He retells 
stories and legends of the Oglalas of the buffalo hunts, the 
effect of the coming of the white men on Indian life as told 
him by Chief Big Elk, his father; and others who thus passed 
on the history and legends of their proud heritage. 

We recommend this book to all desiring a clearer under 
standing of the Indians and their relations with the white 
people. 




Foreword 

I HAVE WAITED LONG FOR THIS STORY TO BE WRITTEN. THE 

co-author of this book is one of the very few persons living 
today whose own personal experience^ gained from long years 
of actual living in the tepees of the Sioux as one of them 
has given him a true knowledge of the real Indian. I know of 
no other person who can write with more knowledge and un 
derstanding of my people. 

It is a great honor to write a word of introduction for this 
book, a privilege I appreciate very deeply, for I have had ex 
periences in life somewhat similar to that of Lone Eagle. 

The unusual life of Lone Eagle., a white man, as authen 
tically related in the following pages, presents an important 
-fundamental aspect of the differences between the two races 
the white and the red. 

Lone Eagle, in later years, received training and education 
among his own people; nevertheless^ his knowledge of the psy 
chology of the tribe, which molded his early life, makes him 
still remain a proud member. 

This strange and unusual experience of a lone white child, 
who grew up among the Sioux Indians, as related in this book, 
serves to promote better understanding between the two races. 

HENRY STANDING BEAR 
Chief of Sioux Tribes 
April 30,1950 

[Chief Henry Standing Bear, "Mato Najin," was a member of one of the 
first groups of Indian boys ever to be sent to the Carlisle Indian School 1880 
from the Sioux reservations of the West. He died October 17, 1953.] 




Contents 

I THE OLD HOMESTEAD i 

II COMING OF THE BLACK ROBES 3 

III THE OLD CORRAL 1 1 

IV THE BUFFALO HUNT 26 

V HOMESTEADING IN MONTANA 34 

VI ROUNDUP DAYS 56 

VII WESTERN HOSPITALITY 65 

VIII EARLY CREE RUSTLERS IN MONTANA 75 

IX THE SCAFFOLD INDIAN BURIAL 79 

X THE COWBOY 88 

XI LONE WOLF THE Sioux SCOUT 99 

XII LOVERS LEAP ROCK 107 

XIII INDIAN STRATEGY 113 

XIV AN INDIAN S DREAM 118 
XV CUSTER S LAST BATTLE 123 

XVI LAST CHIEF OF THE OGLALAS 139 

XVII MY BOYHOOD DAYS AMONG THE Sioux 143 

XVIII THE HERMIT OF HIDDEN CANYON 168 

XIX TRIP THROUGH THE ENCHANTED BADLANDS 181 

XX THE RED MAN S SUPREME MYSTERY 192 

XXI LOOKING BACK OVER THE YEARS 203 



Chapter I 




The Old Homestead 



THE PIONEER IS A MAN OF ADVENTURE, WITHOUT WHOM NO NEW 

country would ever have been explored or made possible for 
settlement and permanent habitation. It was the spirit of ad 
venture and a love of freedom that brought our forefathers 
to the eastern shores of America. This same inherited spirit 
urged their sons and daughters to seek new and less populated 
areas, in order to establish homes for their families. Their 
first settlements necessarily were close to the place of original 
landing and, as population increased and values advanced in 
the settled communities along the eastern coast, this same love 
of adventure brought caravans of pioneer settlers, pushing 
new frontiers ever toward the great West. 

In one of these rock-strewn and picturesque valleys of north 
ern New Jersey, in the county of Sussex, came a settlement of 
pious Dutch and German immigrants from the valley of the 
Rhine. They built a stone grist mill on the banks of Paulins 
Kill, and soon scattered homes were erected in the snug little 
valley around the mill, and the settlement was given the serene 
and peaceful name of Stillwater. 

Among the first families to take up permanent residence 
along this picturesque little stream, was Johannes Henri 
Shuster and his wife, Marie, whose German-inscribed head 
stones may still be seen in the old stone-walled cemetery ad- 



2 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

joining the village, although the moss-covered stones were 

placed there nearly two centuries ago. 

In their wake came the proud and pious Jacob Maine, who 
settled on a plantation of some four hundred acres, where his 
nine stalwart sons and daughters grew up in their spacious 
twenty-room home of gray cut limestone. Old Jacob, the im 
migrant, was justly proud of his ancestry. His family had 
claimed title to a vast landed estate along the River Rhine 
since the sixteenth century and, if that was not enough to be 
proud of, he had documents to show that, in Normandy, his re 
gal ancestors traced their lineage to Baron Geoffrey de 
Mayenne, who built the great stone Castle d Mayenne along 
the River Mayenne in the beginning of the tenth century. 

Jacob was a God-fearing man and most strict in his religious 
beliefs. His word was his bond and no man doubted his sin 
cerity. It is no great wonder that, out of my grandfather s fam 
ily of nine, my father should choose the ministry as his career. 

He had recently been graduated from the state university, 
and had married the only daughter of the late Jacob Shuster. 
My mother was a graduate nurse and my father was rector of 
a small parish for a number of years following his marriage. 
On several occasions he had engaged as helper Rev. Chief 
Amos White Feather, an educated Sioux Indian. During their 
acquaintance my father became interested in White Feather 
and his glowing accounts of life among his tribesmen and, 
being fascinated with the idea of adventure in a new and little- 
known part of our country, he and my mother made serious 
plans to go west. 

I was their only child and was then five years old. As my 
parents were desirous of giving me the best available educa 
tion, it was decided that I should stay with my aunt and uncle 
in New Jersey and attend school, with the promise that my 
parents would return in three years. I did not realize then that 
I would never see them again. So, with much preparation and 
many tearful adieus, my parents departed for the West to be 
come missionaries among the Sioux tribes of the Dakotas. 



Chapter TL 




Coming of the Black Robes 



SOME TWELVE WINTERS AFTER LONG HAIR GEN. GEORGE A. OUSTER 

had fought his people on the Little Big Horn, in Montana, 
Chief "Un-pan Tan-ka" (Big Elk) and his band were living 
between the Missouri River and the Black Hills country in 
South Dakota. The buffalo had been driven off the plains and 
wantonly killed by the paleface hunters merely for their hides. 

The Teton and Oglala Sioux then occupied most of the ter 
ritory west of the Missouri River, in Dakota. Besides the few 
provisions that were given them by the government from the 
various agencies, they fished, trapped, and hunted for a living, 
moving from place to place along streams and in the hills in 
quest of fish and game. 

While Chief Big Elk s band was camped on the White 
River, waiting for the warm spring to come, several of them 
had gone to the agency with their winter s catch of hides. 
Their trader, Antone Renville, a French and Sioux half- 
blood, had gone with them and would return with many 
freight wagons of store articles for the Indians. 

One day in May (the Green Grass Moon) Antone and his 
freight-wagon teams were seen coming over the hills from the 
south, followed by several Indians on horseback and a new, 
white-canvas-covered wagon. On the front seat were two 
strangers, a tall white man of medium weight, wearing a long, 



4 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

black coat and a black, broad-brimmed hat. Beside him was a 
woman somewhat shorter in height, and of slightly stouter 
build. She wore a long black dress and a bonnet of the same 
material. In the wagon were several trunks, well-roped cases, 
and leather handbags. When they reached the camp, the 
Indians were informed that the two strangers were mission 
aries from the land toward the rising sun. 

At first they lived in the lodge of Antone, the trader, and 
his half-Indian wife, but later they were given a lodge of their 
own. When possible, the Black Robes, as the Indians called 
them, built and occupied small cabins of pine or cottonwood 
logs along the small streams where the Indian camps were set 
up. If no logs could be found for this purpose, the missionaries 
lived in a canvas tepee like the Indians. 

For two summers and one winter the missionaries had lived 
among Big Elk s people. The winter had been long and cold, 
and wild game had been scarce. It was now the month of 
"Wi-wa-zu-pi" (October), the Falling-Leaf-Moon, and Big Elk 
decided to move the camp to the Black Hills, where game was 
reported plentiful and good grass and shelter for their ponies 
could be had. They soon reached their new campsite and the 
hunters were sent out immediately in search of wild game for 
their winter store. 

It was not long after their arrival when a tiny white papoose 
had come to gladden the lodge of the palefaces. After several 
days, many came to see the new white baby and bring him 
presents in token of their friendship. The hunters began to 
return with many deer, elk, antelope, and fowl, which the 
Indian women dressed the hides they tanned to be used 
for moccasins and clothing. 

The gods had been good to their red children and had given 
them plenty of mountain berries, meat, and furs. "Ta-tan-ka 
Na-zene" (Standing Buffalo), the tribal medicine man, had 
made good medicine and was now making ready for a feast 
and dance to the gods of the chase. 

However, the two missionaries were not a little concerned 
over a score or more of the band who had what they thought 



Coming of the Black Robes 5 

to be a light form of smallpox. More people came down with 
it, and soon many lodges contained men, women, and children 
victims of the disease. As soon as the missionaries found out 
that it really was smallpox, they took their infant son to the 
lodge of "Mah-pi Winna" (Cloud Woman), the chiefs wife, 
who cared for him while the white woman and her husband 
cared for the sick. They worked for many days but the disease 
steadily spread. 

Days and weeks went by, many more took sick and several 
died. The missionary and his wife doctored and worked all 
through each day taking but little rest during the night, but 
by the time spring had come again over one hundred had died. 

The worst of the disease passed; fewer were now sick, and 
deaths were less frequent. Soon there were no new cases. Sev 
eral more died, but most of the sick were recovering. One day 
when nearly the last sick person was able to be out, the camp 
crier went through the village telling his people that their 
beloved paleface friends had been stricken with the dreaded 
disease. Helping hands came from many lodges, but no one 
had worked with the sick as they had. Day and night, men and 
women cared for them, doing everything in their power for 
their comfort and recovery, but not many days passed until 
the news went from lodge to lodge that the white woman had 
died, and before another week had passed the grief-stricken 
camp had buried both of their ever true and faithful friends. 

After the death of the two missionaries, the white boy was 
kept in the chief s lodge and adopted as their own son. He 
was named "Wam-ble Ish-na-la" (Lone Eagle), after a brother 
of Big Elk, who had been killed in an Indian battle on the 
Little Big Horn. Lone Eagle grew up in the chiefs tepee with 
"Ta-cin-ca Ska" (White Fawn), their niece, never knowing 
that he was not an Indian. As he grew up, he was taught all 
the craft of the young Indian boy. Big Elk made him bow and 
arrows, with which he learned to shoot birds and rabbits. He 
was taught how to fish and hunt, the art of scouting, how to 
track down horses and wild animals, and to follow all kinds 
of Indian trails; if he should chance to find a discarded mocca- 



6 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

sin along the trail he could tell to what tribe the wearer be 
longed by its design and style. 

Lone Eagle often spent long winter evenings in the lodge 
of Hollow Horn Bear, best sign talker of all the Oglalas. Here 
he learned the Indian sign language of the western plains 
tribes, the unique and universal language as used by all the 
plains Indians, of whom the Crows, Blackf eet, Cheyennes, and 
Sioux were the most efficient. This most graceful and silent 
gesture language of the hands and body was the only means of 
communication as they did not understand each other s 
spoken language. He thus became a recognized sign talker in 
his band, and often acted as interpreter when meeting other 
tribes on the plains. When important messages were sent be 
tween bands or groups of Indians at distances too great to use 
the sign language, the fire and smoke signals, produced by 
means of a small fire and blanket, were used. This method 
was used in the earlier days to call tribes together for im 
portant council meetings, or among the individual Indians on 
hunting trips and war expeditions. Strange as it may seem to 
the unlearned observer, this sign language of the Western 
plains was as detailed in its use by an efficient sign talker as 
the spoken language itself, and valuable information was 
often sent across great distances in a matter of minutes by the 
experienced Indian with his sagebrush fire and blanket. 

When in camp, Lone Eagle often watched his Indian 
mother as she tanned deer skins for clothing, made beaded 
moccasins, working pretty designs in colored porcupine quills, 
or made new tepee covers from canvas bought at the agencies, 
when buffalo skins could no longer be had. 

Often in the evening as they sat in their lodge watching the 
dying embers of the smouldering fire, Big Elk and his warrior 
friends would smoke and tell stories of the long ago, when Big 
Elk was a young warrior and the buffalo roamed the vast plains 
in great herds, before the paleface had ventured far into the 
Sioux country. They would sit in the honored place in the 
tepee opposite the lodge entrance and after carefully unwrap 
ping his beautifully decorated red stone pipe from its beaded 



Coming of the Black Robes 7 

elkskin pouch, Big Elk would slowly fill it with kin-ni-kin-nik 
tobacco and, holding the lighted pipe by its long wooden stem, 
would take several puffs. Then, with great ceremony, he would 
present the stem end of the pipe to the four cardinal direc 
tions, and one to the mother earth and again to "Wa-kan 
Tan-ka," the great spirit, after which he would pass the still 
lighted pipe to the warrior at his right, and so on, until all 
his guests had repeated the same ceremony. Then, after a 
pause, Big Elk would tell of some experience of his boyhood 
days on the warpath or on the trail in quest of the buffalo 
and other wild game which roamed the prairie and timbered 
lands in great numbers many summers ago. 

Each in turn would tell of great feats of daring, and of wars 
against their enemies. Often someone would tell of long win 
ters and great blizzards when much cold and suffering would 
be experienced by entire bands and tribes. Many stories were 
humorous, and everyone would laugh and shout with pleasure 
and excitement, but again some narratives would be very sad 
and even the stoic old men would be seen to shed tears and 
cover their faces in their grief. Many were the evenings that 
Lone Eagle heard their stories and legends which have been 
handed down from early generations by the Dakota people; 
true tales of Indian tribal life, never to be forgotten. 

It was not until Lone Eagle was twelve years old that he 
knew that he was not a Sioux Indian or that Un-pan Tan-ka 
and Mah-pi Winna were not his real father and mother. One 
day some soldiers and missionaries visited their camp and 
asked the parents to send their children to a school which was 
located near Pine Ridge. As they entered the camp, the chil 
dren ran to the lodges and stood looking at the strangers 
through the tent openings and from behind the tepees. After 
many friendly gestures, some of the larger boys came out to 
them. They noticed one of the boys had a very fair complexion 
and, instead of black braids, his hair was a dark brown. They 
began talking to him, but he understood no English. Through 
their interpreter they asked him who his parents were. He 
told them he was the son of Big Elk and Cloud Woman. 



8 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

They believed Lone Eagle to be a white boy and not the 
son of the chief, and questioned Big Elk as to this white boy 
and where they got him. Fearing the white people might take 
him away Big Elk and Cloud Woman still claimed he was 
their own son. Others of the tribe were questioned and even 
tually they learned that he was the child of the missionaries 
who were buried in the Black Hills. 

Although Lone Eagle learned then that he was not the son 
of Big Elk and Cloud Woman, to him they were his parents, 
for he had never known any other. They finally consented to 
let him go to school, but insisted that he still be their son and 
return to them. So he and several other children were taken to 
the reservation school. 

He did not like this new life; it was not the free life of the 
noisy Indian camp. So one night he and several other boys 
stole out of the sleeping room through an open window and 
started for their homes. They walked and ran until the sun 
crept up over the hills. As it grew light they became fright 
ened, expecting all the time to see the white teachers follow 
them and take them back, so they hid in a thick clump of 
willows, but as no one was seen, they continued on their way. 
When, at last, the boys reached home Lone Eagle entered the 
chiefs lodge and greeted his parents; he told them that he did 
not like the white man s house and that he had run away. His 
mother then told him that he must return and would soon 
learn to like the white teachers and their school and would 
learn to understand and speak the white man s language. So 
once more Lone Eagle was taken to the agency school. He was 
very homesick for awhile, but as days passed he became more 
accustomed to this new life and soon made many friends in 
his new home. 

Lone Eagle was at this school six years, learning the English 
language and the white man s way of living. He always re 
turned to his Indian parents when school closed for a few 
months each year, with many wonderful tales about the inter 
esting things he had learned. The world now seemed larger 
than he had ever dreamed it to be. As he grew older he often 



Coming of the Black Robes 9 

thought of the seldom-told story of his white parents, who had 
died among the Indians when he was but a few months old 
and how he had been adopted as the son of Chief Big Elk and 
his wife. He recalled that the white people at the Indian 
school did not have Indian names. Did he once have another 
name the same as these white teachers? But his Indian parents 
did not know or remember his white name, if they had ever 
heard it. They knew his parents only as the Black Robe mis 
sionaries. As to where they came from, no one knew, except 
that it was from the country toward the rising sun, near where 
the great white father of the palefaces lived. 

In the fall of 1908, Lone Eagle took a trip to the Black Hills 
to visit the place of his birth and the graves of his parents. As 
he journeyed toward the west he saw, dotted over the broad 
prairies, many new farm houses where but a few years before 
was a vast expanse of rolling prairie land with perchance a 
ranch house here and there along the rivers and creeks. He 
had remembered these landmarks and camping places and, as 
he drew near the place where many graves lay on a long, flat, 
sunny slope, he noticed, a little to the south of the larger group 
of grass-covered graves, two small mounds, one on each side 
of a tall pine tree encircled by a ring of large stones. Thus they 
had been described to him by Mah-pi Winna but a short time 
before. He now remembered having camped with the Indians 
at the spring, but not until now did he know that his own 
mother and father had been buried there. 

The world had been vague and unexplained to him. From 
this sacred spot he resolved to go and see more of it. He visited 
small bands of "I-san-ya-ti" (Santee), Dwellers-at-Knife-Lake, 
who lived on the Missouri River near the Chalk Rock Wall. 
And he journeyed to the east as far as the place where, accord 
ing to Sioux legend, there was fought a great battle between 
the Sioux and the Ojibways, many many winters ago, long be 
fore our great grandfathers time. So many braves from both 
sides were slain that all the battleground was turned red with 
their blood. This made the Great Spirit so angry that he 
turned the battleground into red stone, and to this day it is 



10 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

the most sacred Indian ground in America. For countless gen 
erations many Indian tribes have made their pilgrimages here 
to obtain the unusual and sacred red pipestone from which 
they made their pipes of peace. 

Lone Eagle then journeyed north to Lake Traverse, which 
had been the early home of Antone Renville, where he met a 
band of Sisseton Sioux. This small band is known as the 
"Si-si-ton-wans" in the Dakota language, meaning Swamp Vil 
lagers. From here he visited the "Ti-ton-wan" (Teton), Dwell- 
ers-on-the-Prairie, on the Cheyenne River. After visiting the 
"I-hank-ton-wans" (Yanktons), Village-at-the-End, and the 
"Ma-wa-ta-dan," or Mandans, he traveled west to the home 
of "Ho-he" (Assiniboine) Sioux, on the Poplar River, in 
Montana. 

With a family of the Assiniboine he then went to the Crow 
Reservation to visit the Custer battlefield, on the Little Big 
Horn. Here he met a number of Sioux whom he had known 
while with Chief Big Elk s band. Several of the braves had 
married Crow girls and were now living on the Crow Reserva 
tion. Here he again met White Fawn, his childhood playmate, 
whom he had not seen for ten years. Her stepfather, Two 
Bears, was a Crow rancher and owned large herds of cattle 
and ponies. 

Lone Eagle was welcomed as one of the family and was em 
ployed as a cowboy with other Indians to look after the stock. 
Most of the cattle and ponies on the reservation belonged to 
the Crows as a tribe and bore the brand "I D" (Indian De 
partment). The few that were owned by individuals mostly 
belonged to squaw men and mixed bloods. 



Chapter BDE 




The Old Corral 



IN 1908, TWENTY YEARS AFTER MY PARENTS LEFT ME WITH MY 

aunt and uncle in New Jersey, I had grown to manhood and, 
having just received my diploma from college, was making 
plans to start in some kind o business for myself. 

My aunt and uncle had talked but little of my parents, and 
I remember of often asking them why my father and mother 
did not write. Tears would fill their eyes, but no explanation 
could be given. As the years passed no letters were received, 
innumerable inquiries had proven futile, and I was told that 
probably my parents had died somewhere in the West. 

My aunt and uncle had always expressed the wish that I 
enter a professional career of some kind near them in New 
Jersey. This I, of course, considered, but my chief thought 
and desire was to go west, so within a few weeks after my 
graduation I bade farewell to my relatives and friends and was 
on my way. I made the trip quite leisurely, spending several 
days visiting many of the large cities of the Middle West. 

I decided to see the Yukon Pacific Exposition and so went 
to Seattle, Washington. I spent several days viewing the inter 
esting sights and, having never seen an Indian in his native 
costume, I visited the Indian Village, where many families 
represented several Indian tribes. While watching one of the 
tribal dances, a tall, well-featured Indian boy, who had been 

11 



12 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

standing on the opposite side of the circle from me, came over 
and, in a friendly manner and with a broad smile, said in 
very good English, "How, Lone Eagle, when did you come 
here?" To say that I was surprised and puzzled was indeed 
putting it mildly. He, seeing my great surprise and wonder 
ment said, "Why, Lone Eagle, you sure no forget me, I am 
Walking Bear, at Pine Ridge School." I was positive now that 
he had mistaken me for someone else. I told him my name 
and that I had just come from the East. He seemed greatly 
surprised and vexed and after looking at me closely for a mo 
ment, turned and walked away. Occasionally he would glance 
at me from where he stood watching the dance. 

After spending two weeks at the fair, I went to Council 
Bluffs, Iowa, where I worked in the Great Western depart 
ment store for a little over a year. I had accumulated a little 
money and decided to visit the Dakota Black Hills. Many 
times, since my visit to the Exposition, I had amusingly 
thought of the Indian boy who had mistaken me for an Indian 
friend of his. 

While at Council Bluffs I made the acquaintance of a stock 
man named James LaForge, who owned the Diamond Bar W 
Ranch, in Washington County, South Dakota. He had often 
invited me to visit him, and I wrote that I would be happy 
to accept his invitation. He met me at Gordon, Nebraska, 
where we were to drive overland, some sixty-five miles north, 
to his ranch. 

Gordon was then a small frontier town built along the rail 
road, typical of the prairie cities whose chief industry was to 
supply the neighboring cattle ranches and Indian reservations. 
It consisted of one long street with the usual hitching racks 
on either side. Strung along this dusty street were a little one- 
room post office, a saddle and harness shop, a blacksmith shop, 
livery barn, barber shop, and three or four general stores, 
which furnished the neighboring ranches with anything from 
a ton of dried apples to rolls of barbed wire or blackstrap 
molasses by the jug or barrel. It was not unusual to have some 
rancher drive up in front of one of these general stores with 



The Old Corral 13 

three or four six-horse freight teams and spend an entire day 
loading up a year s supplies for his ranch, located perhaps fifty 
to seventy-five miles away. Such a trip would take him and 
his wagon drivers from three days to a week. He thought 
nothing of giving the store owner a two-to-three-thousand-dol 
lar check on a bank in Chicago or Sioux City, where he was 
in the habit of shipping a trainload of range beef each fall, 
and it also was not unusual to see the cowboy or rancher count 
out a thousand or two thousand dollars in gold or greenbacks 
from a belt around his waist or from a leather sack carried in 
the tool box under the front dash, locked only with a harness 
snap. 

The rest of the main street consisted of a couple of saloons, 
a Chinese laundry, eating places, and the customary wooden- 
front hotels. The price of the average hotel room, with no 
keys, was about a silver dollar. Keys were never heard of in 
the West in those days. The only thing that would be likely 
to interfere with your night s sleep would be the noisy bar 
room across the street or some over-indulging cowboy who 
might bang on your door with the butt of his Colt six-shooter 
inquiring if you knew what room he had paid for sometime 
earlier in the evening. 

At six yoiS arose with the guests and, in the hallway down 
stairs, you patiently awaited your turn for the tin wash basin, 
and dipping it in the rain barrel close by, you took one quick 
look for wiggle-tailed tadpoles, and then you washed up for 
the day. The eleven-foot roller towel behind the door also was 
serviceable for all guests, and when two yards of it would stand 
unsupported in the corner you hunted up the desk clerk, who 
was bartender next door also, and received a new circular 
piece of linen which reminded you of four teen-ounce canvas. 
The particular one I located that morning had about the same 
flexibility as a threshing-machine belt. 

It was a far cry from what I had been accustomed to in my 
New Jersey home but it was also to be the beginning of a most 
eventful and unusual chain of circumstances in my life, be 
yond my wildest dreams. 



14 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

My rancher friend arrived in town about noon with a six- 
horse freight outfit consisting of a triple-box Studebaker 
wagon and trailer. He drove up alongside the loading plat 
form of one of the general stores and, leaving the wagons, put 
his team in the livery stable down the street. 

I watched with much interest while he arranged the loading 
of his wagons. Two clerks trucked sacks of flour, case after case 
of canned goods, boxes, and barrels out to the platform, while 
Jim carefully packed them in his wagon. Not less than three 
tons were packed in the front wagon and at least two tons in 
the trailer. A few articles procured from the harness shop and 
depot warehouse completed the list and we were ready for our 
long drive to the ranch. 

We left Gordon early the next morning, the first rays of 
the sun finding us well on our way. The sunrise on the vast 
prairies is extremely colorful and beautiful. I was all excite 
ment. The early morning air was cool, crisp, and exhilarating 
as we sat high on our wagon seat. Jim drove the sturdy six- 
horse team with apparently no more effort than was his easy, 
pleasant conversation. The stillness was broken only by the 
creaking of our heavily laden wagons and the steady tattoo of 
the horses hoofs on the sun-dried road. 

The prairie road ahead seemed to extend as far as the eye 
could see and then fade out on the distant horizon. Only occa 
sionally did we come to a coulee or wide draw, when it was 
necessary for Jim to use the brakes. If the dip was not too 
steep or long he would take a running start down the incline 
and up the other side. But, when the road was winding or 
more abrupt, he would slow up the first wagon with the iron 
foot brake, which made a loud scraping noise as the wooden 
shoe was forced heavily against the two rear iron tires. The 
trailer brakes were controlled by a long rope attached to the 
end of a pole with the lower end fitted into the upright brake 
standard. 

We saw many small herds of pronghorns feeding in the 
early morning. They would raise their heads for a moment 
as we passed and then continue their feeding. An occasional 



The Old Corral 15 

long-eared jack rabbit would go limping along on three legs. 
I, at first, thought the rabbit was crippled and wanted Jim 
to stop and let me try to catch it. I was informed that this 
three-legged hop was only a habit of these animals and that 
all four of those long legs would be put into immediate action 
should the need for more speed arise. 

An occasional covey of grouse or sage hens would suddenly 
fly out from a bunch of sagebrush alongside the road, and our 
horses would make a sudden swerve clear out of the road, only 
to hear a word from the driver and all would be well again. 
Jim said that only a comparatively few years before, count 
less herds of buffalo roamed these same prairies. Even then, as 
we rode along, I saw many old whitened buffalo skulls, with 
their black stubby horns, lying over the prairies. 

All this was most interesting and romantic to me. The sun 
now was slowly beginning to drop toward the west, and Jim 
informed me that we would soon reach the Nebraska state 
line and would cross over into South Dakota, which also 
would be the south boundary of the Pine Ridge Indian 
Reservation. 

We traveled until late that evening and made our camp on 
a small branch of Wounded Knee Creek. We pulled up to a 
little clump of cottonwoods a few rods from the side of the 
road and proceeded to unhitch the horses. The harness was re 
moved and placed on the ground beside the wagon, after 
which the horses were led down to a water hole in the other 
wise dry creek bed. Apparently the creek was dry at this time 
of the year except for scattered water holes in the low places. 

Six nose bags were partly filled with oats and hung on the 
horses heads, and then each horse was hobbled by buckling 
a pair of leather hobbles on the front feet. When they were 
through eating they were relieved of their nose bags and per 
mitted to graze along the coulee. 

The Western freight and wagon teams are accustomed to 
being hobbled, and move about carefully by taking short 
hobble-chain-length steps with the front feet, or raising both 
feet together and crow-hopping along in a sort of leapfrog 



16 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

movement. However, they seldom stray far from camp during 
their grazing. 

Jim chopped some sagebrush and greasewood and started 
a small fire. When it burned down to a bed of coals he put 
on the coffee in a tin pail, a pan of baking powder biscuits, 
and a skillet of bacon and eggs. After opening up a can of 
tomatoes and of corn, we sat down on the wagon tongue and 
enjoyed a meal that would tempt any hungry traveler. A few 
uninvited ashes from the fire settling on my tin plate did not 
discourage me in the least. 

When our evening meal was finished and the tin dishes 
washed in the creek, Jim climbed up on the lead wagon and 
threw down the bedroll. Untying it, he showed me how to 
roll out a cowboy s sleeping equipment, which we arranged 
on the ground near the wagon. The cowboy s bedroll is as 
much a part of his everyday equipment as his boots and heavy 
stock saddle. The rancher, freighter, or mule skinner always 
carries his bedroll when he travels a day s journey from his 
ranch house. He knows that he is always welcome to a meal or 
night s lodging at any ranch house or cow camp, but just as 
often he finds himself miles from the nearest ranch when night 
overtakes him. 

This universal Western bedroll consists of a tarpaulin cover 
of waterproof, eighteen- or twenty-ounce canvas some four 
teen to fifteen feet long and half as wide. This is spread on the 
ground and on one half of it is spread a number of the old, 
well-known, four-point Hudson Bay blankets and a couple of 
good, wool-filled Western sougans. Over this is pulled the 
other half of the tarp, which is held in place by snaps and rings 
along the two sides. Using his saddle or war-bag for a pillow, 
the traveler spends the night warm, dry, and comfortable in 
any weather. 

When Jim had completed the arrangement of his bed we 
rolled in and I spent my first night out on the quiet prairie 
under the ever brilliant Western stars. The quietness really 
startled me. Only the steady munching of the horses eating 



The Old Corral 17 

grass and an occasional jingle of their hobble chains could 
be heard. 

Suddenly, a lone coyote broke the stillness by that never-to- 
be-forgotten wail. His quick, sharp bark gives you the feeling 
that at least half a dozen must be just over the knoll behind 
you, then another faint yap-yapping tells you that, far in the 
distance, his call was heard. I looked around but saw only a 
couple of our horses grazing peacefully on the low hill. I 
could hear Jim s slow, deep breathing so knew that all was 
well. I soon fell asleep, and, all too soon, I was awakened by 
a cheery "Hello" and the information that we would be roll 
ing at "early-sun-up." I was up and ready to help him bring 
in the horses. I also succeeded in harnessing two of the gentlest 
horses while Jim harnessed the other four. 

Our breakfast over, I watched as he carefully packed up our 
bedroll by folding both edges to the middle of the tarpaulin- 
covered bed and then rolling it tightly from head to foot, mak 
ing a neat roll about three feet long by eighteen inches in 
diameter. After tying it with a rope he boosted it upon top of 
the wagon. A bed thus rolled could remain in the wagon or on 
the ground in an all-day rain without even getting the blankets 
damp. 

A last look around and we were again headed north. We 
seemed to have the rolling prairies all to ourselves until about 
mid-morning, when we saw an object moving on the road 
ahead. We soon discovered it to be another freight outfit com 
ing toward us. While yet some distance away, Jim recognized 
the outfit as belonging to a neighbor, some thirty miles be 
yond his ranch. As the empty wagons drew up alongside, they 
stopped and we chatted with the occupants for at least half an 
hour. They also were on their way to the railroad at Gordon 
for supplies. 

These observing ranchers and cowboys knew everyone 
within a hundred miles by the brands on their stock and al 
ways referred to them as their neighbors. Their conversation 
concerned the various conditions on the range, weather, stock 



18 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

prices, and the general happenings among the ranchers fami 
lies since their last meeting. Again, a few miles farther on, we 
saw several riders to our left trailing a small bunch of cattle. 
Two of them were leading pack horses loaded with what I 
took to be their beds and grub supplies. They left the small 
herd and rode over to see us with a hearty "Hello Jim, howdy 
Stranger/ and after a few exchanges of local news, we were 
again on our way. We saw no one again until about noon. 

As we rounded a bend in the creek, we came into full view 
of a large group of Indian tepees. Jim immediately recognized 
it as Chief Big Elk s camp of Sioux. He told me he was per 
sonally acquainted with the friendly old chief and many of his 
band, and that we would camp with the Indians for the noon 
meal. 

I had never seen an Indian camp before, and was pleased 
at the thought of being in a real Indian village, in their native 
surroundings. Jim talked with several of the men while I stood 
close by observing the lodges and inhabitants. A score or more 
dogs kept up a continuous barking until quieted by half a 
dozen stones which were hurled at them by some of the men. 

We went to see Chief Big Elk, who lived in the large tepee 
near the center of the group. As we neared the tepee, several 
dogs announced our coming by their fierce barking. Jim 
stooped and walked in ahead of me. The old chief, who was 
sitting on the ground opposite the door, nodded with the 
words "How, Mita Kola" (Hello, My Friend) and motioned 
him to sit down. The chief evidently did not notice me until 
after he had shaken hands with Jim, then after extending the 
customary greeting to me, he motioned us both to a seat on a 
pile of blankets. 

Our host talked at some length with my friend, punctuating 
his conversation with many graceful gestures of the Indian 
sign language. From time to time during his conversation, the 
chief would turn and look intently at me; finally, pausing to 
address me directly, he said that I reminded him very much 
of someone by the name of Lone Eagle, who had lived among 



The Old Corral 19 

his people for many years as a boy. I explained my identity 
and told him of the Indian boy at the Exposition. I also told 
him of my parents and their supposed death somewhere in the 
Dakotas. I asked who this Indian boy, Lone Eagle, was and 
what of our resemblance. The old chief told me that Lone 
Eagle was not an Indian, but a white boy whom he had 
adopted and raised after the death of the boy s parents, the 
white missionaries. 

I became interested and asked more about Lone Eagle and 
his parents. After a somewhat prolonged pause he again began 
to tell, a few words at a time, the story of the coming of the 
Black Robe missionaries to his people, their work among 
them, the birth of the white papoose, and the winter camp in 
the Black Hills. I sat in silent wonder as I listened to his 
strange, romantic story. 

Could these white people have been my mother and father? 
Truly, my parents had come to the Dakota territory in 1888, 
the same year the chief described the first visit of the mission 
aries to the band of Oglalas when they were camped on White 
River. Although I could not distinctly remember my parents, 
I recalled their photographs, which I had seen many rimes in 
my aunt s family album. I knew that my father was tall and of 
slight build, and my mother was shorter and of stouter build 
the exact description given of these missionaries by the 
chief. 

I could scarcely believe this story of the two white people 
from the country toward the early sun and how near their de 
scription was to that of my own parents. Could this white boy, 
whom the Indians called Lone Eagle, be my own brother, a 
brother whom I had never seen or even known was in exist 
ence? If not, why then had I been mistaken for him? All my 
thoughts seemed to center on this story of the white boy. After 
some inquiries, I was told that Lone Eagle was living with a 
brother-in-law of Big Elk on the Little Big Horn River, in 
Montana. 

By this time I had full intentions of going to the Crow Res- 



20 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

ervation just as soon as I completed my visit to the Diamond 
Bar W Ranch. We continued our driving and during the rest 
of the trip I could think of nothing else. 

Along in the late afternoon we arrived at the ranch. It was 
certainly a most ideal and picturesque setting. The low-built 
and spacious ranch house was nestled in a grove of cotton- 
woods in the bend of the river, the rustic sun porch running 
the full length of the house. The cowboys bunkhouse ex 
tended some distance east of the main building connected by 
a long, flower-covered trellis. The wagon house, blacksmith 
shop, corrals, and large red barn were located some one hun 
dred yards away, down near the river. 

We drove up in front of the warehouse and unhitched our 
team, and a couple of the boys, who had been working around 
the corrals, came up and took the horses to the barn. 

Upon entering the house I was introduced to Mrs. LaForge 
and their daughter, Juanita, a charming and graceful girl of 
about nineteen. With her dark eyes and black hair she made a 
striking picture dressed in her white broadcloth shirt, blue 
jeans, and a pair of tan cowboy boots. Bob, a younger brother 
of fourteen, was nursing a sprained ankle from being thrown 
by a yearling calf a couple of days before. 

Although far removed from a railroad and the convention 
alities of a modern town, their home had all the appearances 
and conveniences of any city residence. Pictures and paintings 
on the walls, draperies, hanging kerosene lamps in glass 
beaded chandelier, and colorful rugs created a colorful atmos 
phere. The great stone fireplace, massive leather chairs, shelves 
of books, and the general air of hospitality all lent a feeling of 
restfulness and comfort in every part of the house. 

Supper, announced by a bell in the cupola over the kitchen, 
brought the six cowboys from the corral. Two of the boys 
proved to be younger brothers of Mrs. LaForge, from Minne 
sota. Curley Hickman, an old-time cowboy from Montana, 
who was known on the range as "Dad," always said that when 
he was six years old his father threw him up on the back of 
a half-wild mustang while on a drive from Texas to Montana 



The Old Corral 21 

and told him to stay there and ride, or walk the rest of the way 
to Montana. That was forty-four years ago and he had been 
riding ever since. Tom Smith was perhaps forty and a little 
on the heavy side, as most cowboys go, and answered to the 
name of "Arizona." When referring to his home state he 
always called it "Airy-zo-nee." "Tex" was at least six-feet four 
in his stocking feet, and with his boots on was a towering 
giant. He was born in the Big Bend country and claimed 
relationship to Sam Houston. He had ridden the range in 
most of the southwest states and trailed up from Texas with a 
herd of longhorns from the X I T outfit in the late eighties, 
and stayed to work on the northern ranges. When Tex opened 
up conversation concerning his Southern exploits and drives 
across the old cattle trails, "Arizona" always chimed in, good 
naturedly, by adding that Tex couldn t have returned to 
Texas if he d wanted to, as he had once forgotten to return 
an X I T horse when he suddenly left the outfit one dark and 
stormy night. Tex always claimed he got lost and couldn t find 
his way back to camp anyway. 

The one cowboy native to the Dakotas was Jack Red Owl, 
full-blood Sioux Indian and champion roper of the ranch. 
Jack always spent his spare time in the evenings drawing pen- 
and-ink sketches of cowboy and Indian life. All these cowboys 
were top hands and a finer and more loyal bunch of men could 
not be found in all the West. 

I had always heard that the Western cowboys had the age- 
old habit of treating the Eastern tenderfoot to a real introduc 
tion of ranch life by inducing him to mount some apparently 
sleepy-eyed plow horse, which generally turned out to be a 
cyclone on four feet. 

My knowledge of horsemanship consisted of a couple of 
summers spent on the dairy farm of one of my cousins in 
northern New Jersey, and when I was invited to go out with 
a couple of the boys to drive in a bunch of cattle one day I, 
naturally, was somewhat suspicious of the buckskin-colored 
broncho they had picked out for me. I wondered just what 
they had rigged up for me, or more likely, for their own enter- 



22 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

tainment, and whether I would come out second best at the 
finish. However, the boys were most considerate of my situa 
tion and showed me every assistance and respect. 

Tom was the Beau Brummell of the ranch. His riding 
equipment was a show exhibit of which any saddlery shop 
would be proud. His snow-white Stetson set him back at least 
$45 and was adorned with an inch-wide band of diamondback 
rattler s skin. His shirt and neckerchief were of turkey-red 
silk. The hand-carved, two-inch leather belt atop his Levis 
was a maze of silver-star conchas and a massive buckle of solid 
Mexican silver inlaid with a golden steer s head. 

A pair of heavy, silver-mounted spurs were buckled onto 
his well-polished, handmade, Justin high-heeled boots. His 45 
Colt six-shooter, belt, and holster also were heavily mounted 
in silver and ivory. His flower-carved, Miles City saddle was a 
single-rig, centerfire job mounted with silver can tie name- 
plate and several pounds of Mexican conchas. His horsehair 
bridle and roller-spade bit were adorned with the same ma 
terial. His outfit would loom up in a blaze of glory at half a 
mile on the prairie, but no one ever said Tom could not ride 
and rope with the best of them. 

Tex and "Dad" Hickman were from the old school and 
knew the trails and cattle business as experienced by but few 
of the still-active cowboys. Both men had ridden on the long 
spring drives from Texas to Montana and the Dakotas when 
the vast herds of longhorns were still being moved north. 

Jack had come to the ranch only a few years before, after 
his graduation from Carlisle. He was one of the best corral and 
all-around trick ropers I ever knew, either on or off a horse. 

Bob and Juanita were raised in the saddle and knew the 
ranch business as well as their father. Juanita and I took 
many rides together over the ranch, and I found her a most 
charming companion; she could converse on many subjects of 
travel and world events. 

Mrs. LaForge had come out to the Dakotas as a school 
teacher some thirty years before and had married the hand 
some cowboy who rode for the Diamond Bar W. Jim had the 



The Old Corral 23 

habit of stopping at the little country schoolhouse every time 
he had occasion to pass, just to get a cool drink from the well 
in the schoolyard. 

Mrs. LaForge confidentially told me that there was a much 
better spring of water not over half a mile down the road but 
she never let on she knew about it. Jim used to stop there 
years before the school was ever built but he never mentioned 
that to her either. Also, Jim was about the thirstiest cowboy in 
that part of the country after the pretty young schoolteacher 
arrived from Minnesota, but when school was out and she re 
turned to her home for the summer, Jim came only as far as 
the old spring when he was thirsty, and not nearly as often. 
However, she admitted she was glad when her school term 
began again, because the handsome cowboy had promised to 
bring along an extra saddle horse and take her to some of the 
neighborhood dances that were given when any of the ranch 
ers put up a new house or barn. 

Not too long after her return, Jim decided to build a new 
house of his own on his newly acquired ranch. She apparently 
liked the new house and its lone bachelor, because the next fall 
saw a new teacher in the little prairie schoolhouse and the 
neighboring cowboys for miles around got all dressed up for a 
grand wedding at the Diamond Bar W Ranch. 

James LaForge was a grandson of an early-day fur trader on 
the northern Minnesota frontier. Jim came to the Dakotas in 
his early twenties and his first job was riding for the famous 
"Scotty" Phillips buffalo ranch near old Fort Pierre, eventu 
ally coming to the Diamond Bar W Ranch, which he bought 
out some years later. He proved to be a successful stockman 
and, at the time of my visit, was branding some fourteen hun 
dred calves on the spring roundup. 

After my brief visit at the ranch I bade them adieu and 
started for the Crow Reservation in Montana in search of 
Lone Eagle, whom I now fully believed to be my brother. 

I reached the Crow Agency and inquired as to the where 
abouts of the Sioux chiefs brother-in-law, Two Bears, and 
learned that he lived on his ranch on the Little Big Horn a few 



24 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

miles from the agency. I borrowed an Indian s pony and sad 
dle, and in a few hours ride was within sight of the log ranch 
buildings. As I rode up to the small group of buildings, I saw, 
near a large corral, several men and boys branding some colts. 
I rode up and watched them at their work. Four of them were 
mounted and doing the roping; five were engaged in keeping 
up the fire and handling the hot branding irons. All four of 
the men on horses and two on the ground were Indians and 
wore their hair in long braids, otherwise, they wore boots, 
spurs, and black, broad-brimmed hats like the white cowboys. 
The other three were in similar dress, but wore their hair 
short. 

As they worked around the fire, heating and passing the hot 
branding irons to the stocky Indian who applied them to the 
helpless animals, I noticed that one of them was of fair com 
plexion and his hair was not black like the rest. As I sat watch 
ing him, he picked up a stick to stir the fire. The slender 
sapling was too long to handle easily so he pulled a knife from 
his pocket and began cutting the stick in two with his left 
hand. My mother also was left-handed. After stirring up the 
scattered bed of coals he came over to the side of the corral 
nearest me and stood watching some colts in an adjoining 
enclosure. 

I looked at him closely for some time. Surely, he did possess 
a marked resemblance to people I had seen before. Was this 
the white Indian boy for whom I had several times been mis 
taken? Yes, 1 could now plainly see, he really did have a notice 
able similarity to me. He seemed the very likeness of the 
photo I had often seen of my mother. Was my hope really to 
come true? Could he really be my brother, the son of my own 
parents, whom I had come so far to see? 

I dismounted from my saddle and walking up to him asked, 
"Are you Lone Eagle?" 

"Yes," he said in a somewhat surprised tone. 

"Are you the son of the white missionaries of the Sioux?" 
I continued. 

"Yes, I have been told so by the Sioux. Why do you ask?" 



The Old Corral 25 

"Then you are the son o my own father and mother. You 
are my brother." I shall never forget my joyous feeling and 
the expression on his face, as I told him the story of our 
parents. 

Here we were, brothers, sons of the same parents, one born 
and raised in the center of cultured New Jersey society; the 
other born in an Indian tepee and brought up an Indian, in 
the heart of the warlike Sioux Nation. 

We were, after that, an inseparable pair. I told him of the 
country toward the rising sun, and he, in his broken English, 
told me of his life among the Sioux. 

I stayed with my brother on Two Bears ranch until the fol 
lowing year, and we talked much of our plans of taking up a 
ranch of our own somewhere in Montana as soon as the com 
ing Sun Dance and tribal buffalo hunt were over. 



Chapter IV 




The Buffalo Hunt 



THE GROW INDIANS, KNOWN AS THE "KAN-GI-WI-CA-SA" AMONG 

the Sioux, own the largest private herd of buffalo in the state 
of Montana, numbering some twelve hundred head, which 
range between Pryor Creek and the foothills of the Pryor 
mountain range on the reservation. 

It is their custom to hold a buffalo hunt every fall about 
the last of August or the first part of September. This early 
date is selected because of the method of caring for the large 
quantities of meat in the ancient custom of all plains tribes. 

The tribal council is called together and, after taking into 
consideration the condition of the range grass and the fatness 
of the herd, they arrange the date for the hunt. Also, mounted 
scouts are sent out to find the exact location of the roving 
herds. A few days before the hunt, all the selected hunters set 
up their camp near the location of the main herd. 

The Crows are a friendly tribe and are among the wealthi 
est in the West, in land and native-raised food. Their 2,800,000 
acres of fertile rolling prairie and mountains give them ample 
feed for wild game and their thousands of fine whiteface cat 
tle. In recent years it has been the custom of the Crows to 
extend invitations to all of the dozen or more tribes in the 
neighboring states to come and be their guests at the Buffalo 
Dance and buffalo feast following the great hunt. 

26 



The Buffalo Hunt 27 

The venerable old war chief, Plenty Coups, and his council 
send Crow messengers to the chiefs of the various tribes to 
invite representatives to the dance and feast. It so happened 
that Two Bears was selected as messenger to invite Chief Two 
Moons, of the "Sha-hi-ye-na" (Northern Cheyennes), whose 
reservation is on the Tongue River, just east of the Crow 
country. Two Bears said that Lone Eagle and I could accom 
pany him to Lame Deer, a two-day journey on horseback. Two 
Bears was then over sixty years old and was one of the finest 
horsemen among the Crows. 

As we rode over the rolling prairies toward Lame Deer 
Agency, Two Bears related many interesting tales of the vari 
ous parts of the country we traversed, once a famous buffalo 
hunting ground of many of the western plains tribes. He 
pointed out a deep canyon at the lower end of a flat stretch 
of bench land where he, as a boy, saw his people drive large 
herds of buffalo down across the flats and over the cliff, after 
which the hunters had only to go down below the sixty-foot 
cliff and find tons of buffalo carcasses. 

After reaching the agency we rode on to Two Moons 
ranch and were welcomed by the old chief and his family. This 
was my first meeting with this old warrior chief of Custer Bat 
tle fame. It was he who led the Cheyennes against General 
Custer on that memorable day on the Little Big Horn, in 
1876. 

Our mission over, we returned to the Crow Reservation in 
time for the buffalo hunt. Lone Eagle and I had been invited 
to participate, and both were filled with excitement over the 
coming event. Lone Eagle already had accompanied them 
twice and had been successful in killing four of the buffalo 
with his Winchester carbine from the back of his fleet Indian 
pony. 

The hunters had selected their campsite at the foot of the 
Pryor Mountains, about four miles from the old buffalo salt 
lick. Counting Two Bears, Lone Eagle, and myself, there were 
thirty-four Crow hunters in the camp. Among the older men 
were Chief Plenty Coups, Old Curley (only survivor of Custer 



28 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

scout fame), Harry White Man, Sidney Black Hair, Pretty On 
Top, White Man Runs Him, Louis Lyon Shows, Max Big 
Man, and a very old squaw man by the name of Thomas 
LaFarge. However, most of the hunters were younger men, in 
their twenties and thirties. 

They were all typical of the Plains Crow Indians, tall, 
swarthy, their black hair in long braids, with many of the 
younger men wearing high-crown, black cowboy hats, with 
beaded bands and eagle feathers tied to the band. Some wore 
chaps, spurs, and high-heel boots, cowboy fashion. Others 
wore only moccasins on their feet. 

Every man was mounted on his best and fastest horse. All 
had heavy-calibre rifles except four or five old men, who car 
ried Indian bows with steel-pointed arrows. 

These old men with the bows and arrows were going to ride 
their ponies into the herd and shoot buffalo as they did years 
ago when buffalo roamed the same hills in vast thousands, and 
they depended on their skill for meat and clothing. 

Each year the young Crows honor a number of these old 
veteran buffalo hunters to ride first into the herd, mounted 
bareback or with Indian saddles, using a war bridle of raw 
hide rope tied around the pony s lower jaw, and armed only 
with bow and arrows. 

Four of these old men were to participate this early August 
morning and we all watched with eagerness to see them ride 
into the herd for the run. They rode along behind the long, 
low ridge until they came opposite the feeding herd. We fol 
lowed, at least three hundred yards behind the four riders. 
Then as they rode up to the brow of the ridge to where they 
came into view of the nearest of the herd, they quickened their 
pace in the direction of the herd and rode as close as possible 
until the buffalo scented danger and began to walk slowly 
away. One of the men rode almost into the herd before they 
became aware of him. He rode up alongside a big bull and 
shot an arrow into his shoulder at less than thirty yards. When 
the herd began to run, the riders each selected an animal and 
followed him as close as possible. When he saw he could over- 



The Buffalo Hunt 29 

take his buffalo, the rider would swerve out and ride up along 
side and shoot his arrow into the buffalo just back of the front 
shoulder, or any spot likely to down him. 

Each of the four hunters succeeded in killing his buffalo 
with arroWs. One old bull ran for at least two miles before he 
finally fell to his knees and tumbled over with nine arrows 
sticking from his side. Sidney Black Hair killed his buffalo 
with two arrows, the second one lodging in the buffalo s heart. 
Max Big Man accomplished a feat that day that I have never 
forgotten. One of his arrows hit a young buffalo cow just back 
of the third rib and came out between the fourth and fifth ribs 
oi/the opposite side, nearly half of the arrow showing on the 
opposite side. I was so amazed at this feat of strength that Big 
Man gave me the arrow and it is still one of my prized pos 
sessions. The arrow is twenty-eight inches long, grooved, has 
three guide feathers, and the steel arrowhead is made from a 
four-inch jackknife blade. 

Sidney Black Hair is still living on the Crow reservation as 
this story is being written, but Max Big Man died in 1951. 

When the old men had each killed a buffalo, the other 
hunters, with rifles, used about the same procedure, only scat 
tering out over the hillside for several miles in order not to 
be in line of fire of the other riflemen. The many riders strung 
out along the various small bunches and picking out their 
quarry, rode into the most advantageous position and downed 
their buffalo. 

Sometimes the hunt became quite exciting as some wounded 
buffalo turned on his pursuer and, with head lowered, made 
a rush that no horse or rider cared to meet. Many narrow es 
capes are experienced in these hunts, as an enraged bull can 
become a ton of untamed fury in a second s notice. 

One rider s horse stepped into a prairie-dog hole and turned 
a complete somersault, throwing his rider into a headlong 
heap right alongside of a wounded buffalo cow. Indian and 
buffalo saw each other at about the same time. The buffalo 
struggled to get up, just as the dazed Crow boy was trying to 
pick up his rifle. Horse, buffalo, rider, and carbine were all in 



30 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

a tangled heap. The buffalo half rose to its knees, staggered 
a few feet, and fell dead across the Indian s gun. When a 
couple of the boys saw the accident, they came to the rescue, 
only to find a dead buffalo, a horse with a broken front leg, one 
broken rifle, and a badly scared Indian, but this same boy got 
another horse and succeeded in killing seven buffalo before 
the hunt ended that eventful day. 

Lone Eagle had three buffalo to his credit and I had killed 
one. The total for the hunt that day was 176. These carcasses 
were loaded on wagons by means of teams and rope tackle. We 
also loaded several of the wagons by backing up to the buffalo 
and pulling them up a pole incline by means of our saddle 
horses and lariats. Some of the meat was distributed direct 
from the hunting grounds to Indian families living in the 
vicinity of Pryor. The rest of the meat was taken to the Crow 
Agency in some twenty to twenty-five wagons and distributed 
to each family who wished to come for it. 

August and September are warm and dry in Montana, and 
the sun shines clear and bright. Each Indian family prepares 
its buffalo meat by cutting it into half-inch slices. They then 
dip it into dry salt or brine and hang it up in the sun to dry. 
This process of sun drying takes about three to five weeks and 
the meat is known as jerked meat or "jerky," and will keep 
for months or years. Similar to cured or dried beef, it is hung 
up anywhere, away from prowling dogs or wild animals. The 
salt brine dipping prevents flies or insects from bothering it. 

After these buffalo hunts, this sliced meat can be seen hang 
ing from lines, trees, or specially built racks, in every camp or 
dooryard. It can be eaten months later, boiled, fried, stewed, 
or just plain raw. I have eaten hundreds of pounds of sun- 
dried buffalo jerky prepared in this way by the Indians and 
know of no better meat. 

As soon as the buffalo meat arrived at the agency camp, five 
entire carcasses were carefully cleaned and prepared for the 
feast. They were placed in pits and barbecued by several ex 
perienced members of the tribe. The process takes about twen 
ty-four hours. 



The Buffalo Hunt 31 

By the appointed day of the Crow buffalo feast, hundreds 
of wagons came, from every direction, bringing entire families 
from every part of the reservation. Teams were unhitched, 
camp equipment unloaded, the tepees were set up by the 
womenfolks, and soon the great circle of gaily painted tepees 
made a most impressive sight. 

Visitors from many neighboring tribes set up their tents and 
tepees among the various bands. There were Cheyennes from 
the Tongue River, Flatheads, Blackfeet, and Assiniboines 
from the north, Umatillas from Oregon, several Bannocks and 
Nez Perce from Idaho, Shoshones from Wyoming, and many 
Sioux from the Dakotas. Not many years ago these same tribes 
met only on the warpath. Now they smoke the pipe of peace 
and are welcome visitors. 

About noon, the camp crier announced that the buffalo 
feast was ready. The five barbecued buffalo were taken from 
the pits and six thousand pounds of steaming-hot, delicious 
meat was ready for the waiting hungry men, women, and chil 
dren. Five long tables were set up and Crow men at each table 
gave each visitor a paper plate containing two slices of bread, 
cold potato salad, pickles, cabbage slaw, and coffee. At the 
other end of each table, the five lines of Crows and their guests 
were given as much of the steaming hot meat as they desired. 

This serving of the buffalo feast presented a colorful affair. 
Some were in gaily beaded buckskin costumes, others in col 
ored shirts, neckerchiefs, store clothes, and plain ranch attire. 
Women wore bright blankets, and an occasional one had a 
dusky papoose strapped to her back. Laughing children ran 
in and out among the crowd, eagerly awaiting their share of 
the feast. 

The meat was completely consumed by seven thousand hun 
gry Indians and a sprinkling of white visitors from the neigh 
boring ranches and towns. 

The feast over, the ceremonial dancing began and lasted all 
night and long into the next day. The steady, rhythmic beat 
ing of the tom-toms and chanting of the dancers and singers 
during the night was something ever to be remembered. Our 



32 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

camp was near the dancing pavilion and when not watching 
the dancers, we lay awake and listened to the steady Indian 
music. 

The next day we spent most of our time going among the 
Indian lodges visiting the families from the various tribes. 
Several of the Sioux from the Dakotas were camped in a group 
among the visitors. Lone Eagle took me to their camp hoping 
-that perhaps there might be some one he knew from Pine 
Ridge. While he was busy going from lodge to lodge inquir 
ing for any of his boyhood friends, I noticed a very elderly 
Sioux sitting among some Blackfeet, conversing in the sign 
language. I leisurely walked over to where they were and, re 
ceiving a nod of welcome from one of the men, I sat down 
among them. 

I had often watched Lone Eagle and the Crow men talk in 
this language of the plains, was always fascinated by it, and 
wanted to see and learn something of this graceful silent lan 
guage as used by the Indians. Just as soon as I had seated 
myself, the elderly Sioux picked up a beautifully beaded elk- 
skin pouch and took from it a long red stone peace pipe. He 
filled it with kin-ni-kin-nik tobacco and, after lighting it, took 
a few puffs and passed it among the group as a sign of friend 
ship. When it came around to me, I took a few puffs in recog 
nition of their friendship and was amazed at the great beauty 
and fine workmanship of the pipe. I looked at it long and care 
fully before I passed it on to the old warrior next to me. Then 
and there I decided I should like to become its owner. After 
watching these venerable sign talkers for a while, I joined 
Lone Eagle in a tepee among some of his former friends. 

I mentioned the incident of the beautiful peace pipe and 
expressed my great desire to negotiate its purchase. Knowing 
that the elderly Sioux could not speak English, I wanted my 
brother to talk to him in his own language and arrange for the 
purchase of the pipe. We hunted him up and Lone Eagle told 
him of my desire to obtain the treasured pipe. Black Thunder, 
in his stoic manner, did not seem to be much interested in 
disposing of his pipe. 



The Buffalo Hunt 33 

"My brother will give you maza-ska wik-che-mna (ten silver 
dollars) for the pipe/ A silent shake of his head was the only 
answer. 

"Maza-ska wik-che-mna ake zap-tan (ten, again five silver 
dollars)," continued Lone Eagle. A longer silence but still a 
shake of the head was our only answer. 

Lone Eagle looked at me for my consent for a higher offer. 

"Maza-ska wik-che-mna, nom-pa ake zap-tan (ten, two times, 
and again five, silver dollars)/ was offered the old Indian, as 
I counted out twenty-five silver dollars in my hand. Black 
Thunder took one glance at the stack of silver dollars in my 
outstretched hand, and, replacing the pipe in his beaded 
pouch at his belt, turned on his moccasined heel and, in per 
fect English, grinned and said, "No soap, son." 



Chapter V 




Homesteading in 



THE BUFFALO HUNT AND BARBECUE BEING OVER;, THE GREAT 

circle of Indian lodges were taken down, as the Crows and 
their visitors returned to their various homes. The hundreds 
of tepee poles were carefully stacked upright against large 
trees to keep them until the next encampment. These long, 
slender lodge poles were brought down from the foothills for 
the use of visitors who lived at too great a distance to bring 
tepee poles of their own. Those living nearby dragged their 
sets of tepee poles behind the wagons, or used the old conven 
tional plains travois and carried their tepee covers, children, 
and equipment behind their saddle ponies. Only a few tepees 
remained standing when we left the village for Two Bears 
ranch. 

Lone Eagle and I were now going north in search of a ranch 
of our own. Two Bears had told us of some likely locations up 
on the Missouri and in the Musselshell River country, where 
he had hunted buffalo as a young man. He remembered the 
snow was never too deep in the sheltered brakes, and the buf 
falo grass was good the year round. My brother had two 
branded Crow horses, Grey Eagle and Gypsy, part Arabian 
and Morgan stock, which were equally good as saddle horses or 
pack animals. I also had two Crow ponies, a calico and a buck 
skin, named Lariat and Comanche, respectively. 

34 



Homesteading in Montana 35 

Lariat was about the best all-around cow and rope horse on 
the reservation. In the corral or on the roundup, he could just 
about turn on the proverbial dime, but he never quite got 
used to the idea of submitting humbly to a pack outfit. Several 
times, while on long trips, I had carefully arranged my pack 
and bedroll on him and no sooner had I started merrily on my 
way, when this calico-hued paint job would lower his head, let 
out a lusty bawl, and proceed to scatter my belongings all over 
the surrounding landscape. 

Comanche, however, was not quite so good on the rope, but 
under a pack would follow carefully along all day behind my 
saddle horse and never loosen a rope. 

It was now the third of September, and we were taking our 
leave of Two Bears. White Fawn, his niece, was to take the 
train from Billings the following Monday for her junior year 
at the Carlisle Indian School. She was very fond of Lone Eagle 
in her typical shy Indian manner, and it was not at all unno- 
ticeable that he was beginning to realize that she was now 
growing out of that "just a little girl member of the family" 
as he had always looked upon her in the past. 

September is a beautiful month in Montana. The brown 
ing prairie and brilliant hues of the high mountain ranges in 
the distant haze of the morning sunrise gave us the ever-awed 
feeling of its vastness. Mountain peaks a hundred miles away 
seemed only a little distance beyond the next hilL We were, 
seemingly, lost in the great expanse and magnitude. 

We headed our ponies north and, after hours of rolling and 
fenceless prairies, we could see in the distance the familiar 
landmark known as Pompey s Pillar. This natural rock forma 
tion rises some two hundred feet out of the surrounding valley 
and was used in former days as a signal tower for warring 
tribes. Lewis and Clark saw it a century and a half ago and 
Captain Clark carved his name and the date (1806) some one 
hundred feet up on its north wall. This inscription is plainly 
visible to this day. The formation was named after Sacagawea s 
young son, whom Captain Clark had given the nickname of 
"Little Pomp." Beautiful moss agates and native sapphires are 



36 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

found quite plentifully in this area. We also encountered sev 
eral rattlesnakes among the rocks at the base of the pillar. 

We crossed the beautiful Yellowstone River at this point 
and camped for the night. The next day we headed for the 
Bull Mountains, riding over mile after mile of rolling prairie, 
where thousands of range cattle were seen feeding on the 
grassy hills. We made our camp that night high up on the 
south slope of the Bull Mountains, where we found a good 
spring. Near by was a sheep wagon but we saw no one around. 
A coyote pelt was hanging from a pole in front of the wagon, 
and a set of harness was thrown across the wagon tongue, the 
front end of which was resting on top of the neck yoke. 

The next morning, we again continued over the mountains 
and soon found ourselves descending the north side into the 
Musselshell River country. The country here was rolling and 
covered with rich buffalo grass. The range stock looked sleek 
and fat. We met and talked with several cowboys who were 
riding for the "7 9" outfit, which had a large horse ranch near 
Sand Springs, in old Dawson County. 

In the distance we could see a long, thin fringe of cotton- 
woods and knew we were nearing the Musselshell River. Just 
before we rode into the little valley town of Roundup, we saw 
in front of us some strange looking windows and doors carved 
out of the seeming solid rock wall or cliff just ahead, and were 
more surprised as we rode nearer to see several persons look 
ing at us through these windows, and smoke issuing from sev 
eral chimneys. The ancient-appearing cliff dwellings actually 
were occupied by families who were working in the coal mines 
close by. These rooms are cut out of the solid rock cliff and, 
by building a few yards of wall in strategic places, the dwellers 
had succeeded in building several comfortable homes. So far 
as I know, they are the only real native cliff dwellers in 
Montana. 

We spent the night in the bustling little cow town of 
Roundup and then began a two days ride up the Musselshell 
River, toward the Crazy Mountains. About noon of the second 
day we ran into a small bunch of range cattle as we crossed a 



Homesteading in Montana 37 

shallow place in the river, and not far from the crossing, we 
saw one of the cows stuck, belly deep, in a inudhole. The code 
of the open range is to help any person or animal in distress. 
So Lone Eagle and I took down our lariats and threw loops 
over her horns, and, tying to our saddle horns, we picked good 
footing for our ponies and tightened the ropes. After a half 
hour of pulling, resting, and maneuvering around we finally 
succeeded in pulling the cow out on solid ground, but were 
careful to keep her down until we got our ropes off her horns. 

Exhausted for the moment, she refused to get up, so I tried 
to assist her by grabbing her horns and twisting her head in an 
upright position. After resting for a few minutes, she gave one 
big bellow and made a mad lunge at me, and kept right on 
coming, while I made a wild scramble over a couple of boul 
ders and climbed into my saddle just in time to save the slack 
in my Levis. That is what I call gratitude even from a cow 
but they will do it every time. 

We rode up the Musselshell River to Harlowton and de 
cided to camp for the night. After supper, we strolled up town 
and dropped into the Graves Hotel to inquire about some 
land locations. There, we were fortunate in meeting Cris 
Graves, owner of the new stone hostelry. We overheard him 
telling a couple of cowboys about a small herd of cattle that 
had strayed away from their usual feeding grounds somewhere 
along the river. I heard him say that his brand was a quarter 
circle over Yg. 

I remembered the unappreciative cow we had pulled out of 
the mudhole and recalled it bore a Yg brand and so informed 
the old gentleman. He did not seem to think this was the same 
bunch he was looking for, but from his description of the 
herd, we were quite certain they were the cattle he wanted. 
He said he would give a dollar a head if they were delivered 
at his corrals at the edge of town. 

Lone Eagle and I talked it over and decided to bring the 
bunch to the designated place. We retraced our ride of the day 
before and, about sundown, we drove through town with the 
fifty-two head of Yg beef. Fortunately, they were the bunch 



38 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Graves was looking for, and as soon as we had them safely 
inside the corrals he gave us a check for $52, as promised. 

The next morning, we went over to the bank to cash our 
check and when looking it over again we noted that the old 
gentleman had not signed the check, but had scrawled Yg in 
the place where his name should be. We called the teller s 
attention to the omission of a signature, but he only smiled 
and counted out $52 without any hesitation and casually 
remarked that Mr. Graves could neither read nor write, and 
that his signed brand was worth a king s ransom in more than 
one bank in the state. 

From Harlowton we decided to look over the Judith Basin 
country to the north. We passed between the Little Belt 
Mountains to the west and the Big Snowy Range to our right. 
Between these beautiful mountain ranges is a pass known as 
Judith Gap. After passing the Gap we came into the southern 
end of the Judith Basin. Here we began to see wheat fields, 
and, as we rode nearer Lewistown, the fields were more fre 
quent and larger until, finally, we rode along grain fields com 
prising hundreds and thousands of acres. Great stacks of grain 
could be seen all around us, waiting for the threshing crews, 
and several machines were threshing from the shocks in huge 
unfenced fields. Grain farming was being carried on here on 
a larger scale than I had ever seen. The Judith Basin country 
had been taken up by homestead settlers a few years before 
and was now being developed into one of the great wheat-pro 
ducing areas of the West. 

Approaching Lewistown from the west we came to the brow 
of a hill and, suddenly appearing below us, was this pictur 
esque little city, nestled in the valley along Spring Creek. 
Before us loomed the magnificent and azure-hued Judith 
Mountains, apparently just beyond Spring Creek, so clear is 
the atmosphere at this four-thousand-foot elevation, but it is a 
day s journey even to the nearest foothills. It is indeed a most 
picturesque and enchanting view. 

Lewistown was a bustling little city of some seven thousand 
population, supplying the large farms and ranches for more 



Homesteading in Montana 39 

than half a hundred miles around. Here, great ranches of cen 
tral Montana obtain their ranch supplies over distances 
greater than the total length and breadth of some New 
England states. 

We rode down the street and passed the Dark Horse livery 
stables. From the many saddle horses, teams, and freight wag 
ons around the old barn we concluded there must be a horse 
sale in progress but were informed that a meeting of the 
Montana Stockmen s Association was being held at the old 
Day House, a famous meeting place of local stockmen. 

Since my brother and I were interested in the possibilities 
of ranching in Montana, we thought it worth our while to 
attend some of the gatherings and meet some of the local 
citizens and ranchers. We received several invitations to at 
tend their meetings and found the ranchers very friendly and 
hospitable, as is universal with all cattle communities of the 
West. 

Among the men we met for the first time that day and whose 
friendship lasted throughout their lifetimes, were the vener 
able Thomas Cruse, owner of the famous N Bar Ranch, near 
Grass Range; Granville Stuart, discoverer of gold on Gold 
Creek, in 1868; "Teddy Blue" Abbott, of Giltedge, son-in-law 
of Stuart; David Hilger, state historian; Roy Ayers, who later 
became governor of Montana; and Walter Winnett, who 
owned the "05" Ranch, where the county seat of Petroleum 
County now stands. Old Chief Rocky Boy, of the Rocky Boy 
Cree Indian tribe, and Charlie Russell, Montana s famous 
cowboy artist, were also two of the popular Lewistown visitors. 

After several days in this picturesque county seat of Fergus 
County, we continued our journey east across the Judith 
Mountains. Just as we were passing the old mine tunnels, we 
saw a long string team slowly coming up the winding road 
ahead. As it drew nearer, we noted it was not the usual string 
of horse- or mule-teams of the freighter, but was seven yoke 
of oxen and six heavy wagons loaded with wheat. These oxen 
were owned and driven by an elderly man named McDonald, 
who had a ranch up in the Judith Mountains. Ox teams were 



40 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

getting to be somewhat of a rarity in Montana even then, and 
to see seven yoke and six wagons in one long string, driven 
only by a single jerk line was a rare sight indeed. Remember 
ing the long steep winding hill we had just come up before 
meeting the oxen, we were not a little curious as to how the 
driver would make this mile-long, steep, down-grade with his 
heavy wagons and long string of steers, so we rode back to the 
top of the hill to watch. 

To the driver, however, it was all in the day s drive. He 
pulled up to the top of the hill and, without even a word to 
his oxen, he set the heavy iron foot brake and, untying a rope 
and tackle began taking up the slack in a ninety-foot rope that 
reached to the long pole in the brake standard of the last 
wagon. Each wagon brake pole was attached to this main brake 
line and by the pulley attachment on his lead wagon he man 
aged the speed of the five rear wagons. Thus, perfectly con 
trolled, this 150-foot train descended the long winding hill 
with ease. No doubt many of the older residents of cen 
tral Fergus County will recall this last of the old Montana 
bullwhackers. 

After descending the Judith Mountains, we rode along the 
McDonald Creek bottom lands toward Grass Range. Looking 
north, Black Butte, one of the best known landmarks in cen 
tral Montana could be seen. This unusual mountain rises 
majestically several thousand feet out of the surrounding low 
plains, like a huge pinnacle of black rock, and is plainly visible 
for fifty miles. Even in winter, when snow covers all the sur 
rounding country, this lone butte rears its black head prac 
tically bare of snow. 

Stopping in Grass Range we met several cowboys from the 
N Bar Ranch, who told us of some good ranch land that was 
open for homesteading some forty or fifty miles east of there, 
between the Winnett Ranch and the Musselshell River, with 
plenty of open range for stock raising. 

Grass Range was then a village of some dozen or more 
houses, one general store, and post office. Mail service was 
twice a week by stage from Lewistown, some thirty-five miles 



Homesteading in Montana 41 

across the mountains. Wagon freight outfits supplied the one 
general store. The genial postmaster was notary public, jus 
tice of the peace, constable, real estate agent, insurance writer, 
and homestead locator on week days, and Sunday School super 
intendent on Sunday. He gave us considerable information 
about the country bordering the Musselshell River. 

While spending the night at the old Teigen Ranch, on 
McDonald Creek, we met a cowboy who was driving some 
cattle down to the Musselshell River. He was on his way home 
and said he would be glad to have us ride with him in that 
direction, and would tell us about the country in general, as 
he had ridden most of the range between here and the river. 
The cowboy had planned to drive a small bunch of cattle as far 
as the Winnett Ranch but, as the day had been warm, we 
traveled slowly and decided to camp for the night at a small 
ranch a few miles this side of the 05 corrals. Our friend said he 
knew the rancher and that it would be all right to put up for 
the night. I have conveniently forgotten the rancher s name, 
but he and his family gave us a most cordial welcome to make 
ourselves at home. We sat down to a hearty meal and truly 
enjoyed the evening with the rancher, his wife, and seven 
little tow-headed spalpeens. During the evening meal, there 
was never a dull moment and never more than four of these 
little demons crawling on or under the table at any one time. 
We could almost hear each other talking when an occasional 
lull occurred. The oldest boy, age eleven, swatted his sister 
in the eye with a meat platter following an argument over a 
piece of meat, and general bedlam ensued. All in all, it was a 
most lively evening meal. 

As the evening wore on, and conversation lagged, we were 
taken to the one large bedroom at the end of the sprawling log 
house, and, since our host insisted it was not necessary that we 
bring in our own bedrolls, we occupied the sleeping quarters 
in the house. The lamp had not been out more than thirty 
minutes, when someone let out a lusty "ouch," stating that 
a pin was somewhere in the blankets. In the dark we could 
not locate the cause of our annoyance, so it was forgotten and 



42 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

all turned to sleep again. However, more stickers were in evi 
dence, and we concluded that the blankets must be full of 
sand or prairie thistles. Again, we rolled over and tried to 
sleep. I m sure I had fallen asleep, when suddenly I was awak 
ened by a series of muffled shots somewhere in the room. Half 
awake, half asleep, I finally became aware of someone kneel 
ing on a blanket in the center of the floor, holding a lighted 
match, and while I was trying to awaken myself enough to 
realize what was going on, I heard a loud "wham! bang!" on 
the floor again, as I recognized our friend in scant attire softly 
counting "ig-fourteen-is," as he brought his boot down on 
the blanket with his other hand. Our blanket "sand" turned 
out to have legs and plenty of bite. Sleep there was impossible 
so we quietly gathered up our clothes and spent the rest of 
the night in our own beds out in the old corral. From that 
night, ever after, we always laughingly referred to this place 
as the "buggy shed." 

While at the Winnett Ranch, where the county seat of 
Petroleum County now stands, a group of French-and-Indian 
cowboys told us of several new homesteaders who were camped 
in the Cat Creek Basin, about fifteen miles northeast of the 
ranch. On further inquiry, we learned of a trail which would 
lead us to these basin settlers. 

During this four-hour ride over the rolling sagebrush land 
we never saw a sign of a house or man. Several herds of cattle 
and horses were passed and a number of pronghorns and 
coyotes were seen in the distance, but there was no mark of 
civilization nothing but the wild, lonesome prairie stretch 
ing as far as the eye could see. At last we rode up to a sage- 
covered hill and suddenly before us loomed a beautiful stretch 
of valley land the seeming paradise of the home seeker. 

Here, in the valley below, we saw our first signs of settlers 
since leaving the ranch. We counted three partly constructed 
log cabins and a tent. Heading for the nearest cabin we found 
three young fellows; two were industriously throwing mud 
into the crevices of the logs, while the other smoothed it down 
with a trowel. When noon came we were invited to sit down 



Homesteading in Montana 43 

on a log on the dirt floor and eat a much relished meal of 
beans, bacon, and soda biscuits. 

During the next few days, we rode over all this valley coun 
try for miles around, selecting a suitable site for our ranch. 
Before the setting of the sun on the fourth day, we had picked 
out a location with shelter for our buildings and stock, where 
good water and ample range for our stock would be available 
during all seasons of the year. Thus was the beginning of our 
new ranch home in central Montana. 

As this part of Uncle Sam s public domain was in its virgin 
state and still unsurveyed, it was necessary for us to run a sur 
vey from some known point to our new claims in order to get 
the exact number of the section for filing our squatters rights. 
From survey maps obtained in Lewistown we hunted up the 
nearest old township stakes, some twelve miles west. With the 
aid of a homemade compass and three hundred feet of baling 
wire, we ran lines to our claims, established our section, range, 
and township location on our map, and returned to Lewis- 
town, where we filed our declarations to locate a squatter s 
right on our respective g^o-acre ranch homesteads. These ap 
plications we filed on the tenth day of October, 1910, from 
which date our established residence began. 

After completing our crude survey and establishing our 
ranch boundaries we borrowed a team and wagon from the 
Winnett Ranch and began cutting and hauling pine logs from 
the Badlands, some six miles to the north, and started con 
struction of a log ranch house on our claims. Such materials 
as windows, flooring, roofing, and dimension lumber were 
necessarily hauled from Lewistown, seventy-five miles away, 
requiring from four to six days to cross the mountains. 

Wishing to put up livable quarters before the winter set in, 
we hired an experienced French-and-Indian wood cutter and 
completed one of the rooms to live in, while we worked on 
the remaining five as weather permitted. Since the size of the 
rooms depended only on the length of logs we cut, we made 
all our rooms of ample dimensions, eighteen feet wide by 
twenty-two feet in length. A large, stone, frontier-design fire- 



44 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

place in the living room and den was one of our chief 
attractions. 

Except for the three new homesteaders down the valley, our 
nearest neighbors were at the Winnett Ranch, some fifteen 
miles southwest, and the Ashley Ranch, about the same dis 
tance northwest. The beautiful valley surrounding our ranch 
was about eight miles long by five miles wide, containing ap 
proximately twenty-five thousand acres. On the north, it 
emerges into the Badlands, while on the east, south, and west 
are found the more broken or rolling prairies. Our free open 
range then extended north to the Missouri River, a good forty- 
five miles, and several miles to the south, east, and west, giving 
us a free open grazing range of over eight hundred square 
miles or some five hundred thousand acres. 

Our first winter was spent mostly in putting up our build 
ings, when the weather permitted, and although there were 
many below-zero days and nights that winter, we also had 
plenty of bright, sunny days when we could work on our 
ranch buildings. 

The following spring and summer saw several new home 
stead settlers in our midst, taking up land some four or five 
miles above us on Cat Creek. They spent the summer and fall 
building and putting up necessary improvements on their 
various claims. By late fall, most of our newcomers had com 
pleted their cabins and were secure to enjoy a few months of 
leisure, until spring would come with its seasonable ranch 
activities. 

During the summer, my uncle and aunt had shipped nu 
merous boxes and trunks of my personal belongings from the 
East. Our ranch house was now beginning to take on the ap 
pearance of a real home. I divided everything with my brother, 
Lone Eagle, who never had possessed or even seen any of the 
heirlooms of our own parents. We were very proud of our 
library of eight hundred handsome leather-bound books, once 
the private library of our parents. There were many early 
photographs of our parents and relatives, numerous old family 
heirlooms, and boxes of old personal effects and souvenirs. 



Homesteading in Montana 45 

Our maternal grandfather had once been postmaster at 
Morristown, New Jersey, before the Civil War and had accu 
mulated one of the largest collections of United States coins 
and postage stamps of his day. This collection was expressed 
to us in two ancient Wells-Fargo strong boxes and was quite 
the center of attention for our many visitors, when we dis 
played it in large glass picture frames on our den and living 
room walls, along with a large collection of Sioux and Crow 
Indian craft accumulated by Lone Eagle from the various res 
ervations he had visited. Our entire library was always at the 
disposal of any of our friends and neighbors who wished to 
make use of it. 

It would take too long to describe in detail the experiences 
of our first winters spent in this vast expanse of Montana 
plains. We visited each other much; often the entire group 
would gather at one place and spend the day. For pastime, we 
played games, told stories, read books, listened to "canned" 
music, and made many articles of cowboy equipment and 
ornaments from hammered silver, braided leather, and col 
ored horsehair. Several of our group wrote first-hand stories 
of Western adventure for magazines and the home papers back 
East. We worked on necessary buildings and ranch improve 
ments when weather permitted. We often furnished our tables 
with a variety of fresh venison, elk, and pronghorn, after a 
successful hunt in the Badlands. It was a welcome variation 
from our daily rations of beef, bacon, sage hens, and long- 
eared jack rabbits. 

We were neighborly by circumstance as well as from choice. 
If one person ran out of something his neighbors were always 
willing to share with him, and this was no rare occurrence, as 
our nearest store was forty-five miles away. I remember of one 
of our neighbors making a trip of ninety miles on horseback, 
in a snowstorm, after fifty pounds of groceries for himself and 
a neighbor. Our nearest post office was at Weede, fifteen miles 
east of us on the Musselshell River. The mail was brought to 
Weede by stage from Melstone, some forty-five miles south. 
It arrived twice a week during the summer and once a week, 



46 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

or as often as possible, during the winter. I remember, once, 
of being on a homeward trip from a ranch near the stage road, 
about halfway between Melstone and Weede, when a raging 
blizzard came up very suddenly about noon, and I decided to 
ride for the nearest shelter. 

I was not too familiar with that part of the country at the 
time and calculated the nearest place of refuge for myself and 
saddle horse would be along the river. As I rode down to the 
river, I saw an old abandoned log barn just ahead, and figured 
it wise to stop for shelter. When I swung open the door I was 
not a little surprised to see the mail stage driver and his team 
inside. His stage had got stuck in a snowdrift some distance 
down the river and both horses were down. His only chance 
was to unhitch the team and return to the old barn. He had 
tied one sack of the mail on one of the horses and two horse 
blankets on the other and then hurried to safety none too 
soon. The stage driver, my saddle pony, and I occupied one 
stall and his team of horses the other. We placed one horse 
blanket on the ground and the other one over us, using the 
mail sack for a pillow, and shivered through that long Febru 
ary night without even removing our boots. The next day, we 
returned to the buried stage and dug two more mail sacks out 
of the drifted snow. The mail did not go through that day, 
but it sure was no fault of the driver. 

The spring of the year was also a difficult time to get our 
mail through on schedule. The Musselshell is often a raging 
torrent for weeks after the first spring thaw. 

The old post office at Weede consisted of a few handmade 
boxes in one corner of Mrs. Weede s kitchen. When we made 
our thirty-mile round trip after our mail, it was not at all un 
usual for the kindly old lady to invite us to dinner with the 
family before she hunted out our mail for us. 

More than once in the spring, when the river was out of its 
banks, we would come to the bank on the opposite side from 
the office and cut loose a couple shots with our six-shooters 
in order to attract their attention, and they would come out 
and ask us whose mail we wanted, as it was customary to get 



Homesteading in Montana 47 

the mail for any rancher or homesteader living near our route 
of travel, or who would come to our ranch after it. If we 
thought the river too high or swift to ford or swim our saddle 
horses, they would put the mail in a flour or grain sack, tie a 
small stone in one end, for weight, and then throw it across 
some narrow place. So far as I know, not a single sack was ever 
lost. We always took turns carrying the Basin mail on horse 
back. In summer, we received our mail about once a week, in 
winter from one to two times a month. Once I remember we 
received no mail for over two months. 

On one occasion, we ran out of kerosene at our house 
and during our conversation with a neighbor, when we had 
stopped to deliver his mail, we mentioned being out of oil for 
our lamps. The kindly neighbor, although possessing but one 
gallon of oil himself, generously shared equally with us. When 
this supply was exhausted, Lone Eagle and I spent our eve 
nings in total darkness for five weeks, our only light being the 
radiance from our cookstove. The only calendar in the valley 




LONE EAGLE, EAGLE BAR RANCH, MONTANA (PHOTO TAKEN 1Q1 1) 



48 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

was possessed by a neighbor, but one day I marked out a cal 
endar for three months on a cracker box lid. I afterwards 
found out that even a calendar will not tell the day of the 
month. I nailed our homemade calendar on the door and each 
morning, for nearly three weeks, I marked off a day. One 
bright Sunday it came my turn to make the trip after the mail, 
and after reaching the ranch house I casually passed some re 
mark about this being a fine Sunday. The lady at the window 
informed me this was not Sunday but Friday, so I returned 
home from the office on Friday, two days before I started. I 
had kept my calendar correctly, but started it two days late. 

On another occasion, when we neglected to get a calendar 
on our fall trip to Lewistown, we devised a calendar of our 
own, from September to March, and nailed it to the kitchen 
door, which was the customary place for all household infor 
mation. However, Lone Eagle and I could not agree which 
months had thirty days and which had thirty-one, so we com 
promised by making them all thirty days and then added three 
extra days for March and it came out all right. 

More than once we were welcome guests at the several 
homes where womenfolks ruled the kitchen, instead of the 
bachelor biscuit dust mixers, as was the case at our house. This 
always was a treat we have never forgotten. Cooking at our 
cabin was much varied as to style, but the "makings" always 
remained about the same; beans, biscuits, and meat for break 
fast; biscuits, meat, and beans for dinner; and more meat, 
more beans, and some biscuits for supper. One day, however, 
I borrowed a package of mincemeat and, while my brother 
was away, I chopped it all up fine and enclosed it in a crust 
made of flour, lard, and boiling water. As I had no pie pan I 
baked it in the frying pan. When Lone Eagle came home for 
supper, I proudly showed him my skill in the culinary art. He 
worked on it with his knife for a while and finally pried open 
the crust and ate the contents. In the morning I found my pie 
crust nailed to the door and in bold letters he had written: 
"Sole leather for sale here." 

As the warm spring days came we again resumed our ranch 



Homesteading in Montana 49 

improvements. We took much pride in the ranch and had now 
completed most of our buildings, corrals, a large storage cave, 
and several miles of good fence. We were now eager to plow 
up a quarter section or so of prairie sod and sow some small 
grain and alfalfa for our stock. We had purchased a couple of 
heavy draft teams from the Winnett Ranch, and a wagon and 
some farm machinery. Lone Eagle and I had accepted a job on 
the N Bar Ranch for the annual spring and fall roundups in 
order to acquire some stock of our own. We had bargained 
with the ranch to take most of our pay in spring calves at $ 1 2 
per head and we were to receive $55 per month each. 

We occasionally saw families in covered wagons driving 
through our valley in search of homesteads on Uncle Sam s 
public domain. Those families who were living on surveyed 
lands were known as "homesteaders" or "honyonkers"; how 
ever, if they settled on land not yet surveyed, they were gener 
ally referred to as "nesters" or "squatters." Any newcomer was 
a "scissorbill" or more commonly known as a "tenderfoot." 

Along with our honest and industrious newcomers we also 
received a few of the lawless and so-called bad men. These out 
casts drifted in from all parts of the East and West. They soon 
came to know each other and, in a short time, began to take 
advantage of the distance from enforced law and proved a 
menace to the country in general. The situation became 
worse, until several secret meetings were held among early 
settlers, and word was sent to our nearest county seat, some 
seventy-five miles away. On receiving no reply, a delegation 
was sent to have the law enforced in our neighborhood. 

The county officials were unwilling to send officers so 
great a distance into an unknown country, so, on returning, 
we decided on a few laws of our own and organized a group of 
vigilantes, made up of some sixteen ranchers and homestead 
ers. Immediately after the next depredation by this outlaw 
gang, our entire troop visited their rendezvous and gave them 
just three days to leave the country or the "3-7-77"* fate 

* Vigilante term meaning "three feet wide, seven feet long, and seventy-seven inches 
deep. 



50 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

would be theirs. Before the dawn of the next day their cabins 
were empty. Only one of this group ever returned to our 
neighborhood and it was upon oath that he would live in 
peace with his neighbors. His promise never was broken. 

Several more of this class invaded our territory at various 
times and tried to operate their favorite game of fighting off 
peaceable claim squatters, stealing, and often rustling and 
driving off the homesteaders livestock. The selected vigilantes 
soon discouraged men of this brand from working in our ter 
ritory. The rustlers often quarreled among themselves and, 
on several occasions, after the smoke had cleared away we 
found one less to bother us. 

The last of our lawless customers was a man from the East 
ern states who had won a notable reputation as an all-around 
bad man and fighter. He arrived in our midst late one fall, in 
a rather quarrelsome mood, boasting at some length of his 
self-evaluated importance to our community. He appropri 
ated a choice claim in the heart of our valley which previously 
had been selected by a former settler, who, at the time, was 
away working for his winter s grubstake. As squatters rights 
then consisted of possession by the best man, he informed the 
entire settlement of his intention of doing as he pleased with 
this claim and any of the settlers who crossed his path. 

His case was discussed by our committee, but before we had 
come to any decision, he had visited the cabin of one of our 
first three pioneer settlers to demonstrate his skill as a pugilist. 
While he was explaining how many men he had already put 
out of business, our peace-loving neighbor produced a Colt 
six-shooter from his bunk and proceeded to show his skill as 
a ranger. Two bullets took effect, and by the help of a passing 
neighbor, he was taken to the home of the Basin missionary 
who administered flour-sack bandages and peroxide for four 
days until the nearest doctor arrived from some seventy-five 
miles away. By the time our desperado had partly recovered 
from his wounds, he thought it best to depart from our imme 
diate neighborhood. Peace and happiness reigned in our val 
ley from that time on. 



Homesteading in Montana 51 

As new settlers moved into the valley, it became apparent 
that we would have to establish a school for the half dozen or 
more children in our community. In the fall of 1 9 1 2, we called 
a meeting and petitioned for a school, as we were seventy-five 
miles from our county educational department and the near 
est school. School districts had, as yet, never been organized 
in unsurveyed territory, but our county educational office 
agreed to supply a teacher provided we supplied our own 
schoolhouse. The valley settlers agreed to this and soon erected 
a suitable log building. Each homesteader and rancher was 
assigned to furnish a certain part of the building. Some put in 
the rock foundation; others cut and hauled logs from the 
Badlands; still others purchased windows and doors or fur 
nished and laid the flooring. Our particular assignment was 
to supply the shingles, while a couple of our neighbors helped 
us put them on. The seats were handmade from pine lumber. 
The stove was an improvised steel barrel with one end chis 
eled out for a door. It stood on a foundation of rock slabs 
imbedded in adobe. The blackboard was made of flooring, 
painted black, and hung on the front log wall. This commu 
nity-built school building was soon completed, and in the fol 
lowing month instruction began. 

As most of the children came to school on horseback, the 
school yard was always filled with saddle horses staked out on 
long lariats. On snowy or rainy days, the saddles, saddle blan 
kets and bridles were piled on the floor in the back of the 
schoolroom. Wraps and books were placed on a long bench on 
one side of the room. 

It was not at all uncommon for some of the older boys to 
carry a Winchester on their saddles, as jack rabbits and prong- 
horns were often seen along the way to and from school. Dur 
ing one of our most severe winters, when the snow lay deep 
for many months, a twelve-year-old boy and his younger sister 
were followed by a pack of five timber wolves for over an 
hour and, when they came too close, the boy dismounted from 
his saddle pony and succeeded in shooting two of the pack, 
less than one hundred feet behind them. 



52 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Early in May of the following year, an aunt and uncle from 
southwestern Iowa came out to spend the summer at the 
ranch. My uncle, who was a retired minister, was a welcome 
addition to our valley community. He organized the first val 
ley Sunday School and held services every two weeks in our 
log school building. Cowboys, ranchers, and homesteaders 
came from miles around to attend these services. The cowboys 
always called him "The Sky Pilot," and the name stuck so well 
that many a family in central Montana knew the elderly min 
ister only as "The Sky Pilot of the Musselshell." Many an 
old-time cowboy, rancher and early day buffalo hunter who 
had not darkened the door of a church in forty years came to 
hear the venerable old minister. 

The winter of 1913 was one of the coldest we had witnessed. 
The thermometer often went to forty and forty-five degrees 
below zero and snow was so deep in places that the fences were 
completely buried for weeks at a time. 

One incident still will be remembered by many of the early 
valley settlers. In March of 1913, one of our first settlers died. 
Modern burial facilities were not available in our community, 
so we improvised as best we could. One of the neighboring 
homesteaders had a plank horse trough about twelve feet long 
and two feet wide, so we sawed this trough in two and 
boarded up one end, making a coffin six feet long and two 
feet wide. One of the settler s wives put some straw in the 
bottom and lined it with a bed sheet. We had no black paint, 
so I scraped a tin cup of soot from our fireplace and mixed it 
with kerosene. With a handful of turkey feathers, I painted 
the box black. 

We knew of no relatives at the time, so we decided to bury 
the remains on a hill not far from his cabin. As the winter had 
been long and cold, we dug through solid frozen ground for 
several feet. Our Sky Pilot was away for the winter, and none 
of us was sure what sort of services would be appropriate. We 
all wanted to do the best we knew how for our respected 
friend and neighbor, so we sang several songs and my brother 
concluded the service by reading some verses from the Bible. 



Homesteading in Montana 53 

It was not until several years later that a brother came into 
our part of the country making inquiry for our deceased 
neighbor. We accompanied the visitor to the hill above the 
cabin, in search of his brother s grave, but were never able to 
locate it again. 

Cowboys and settlers enjoy an occasional get-together and 
often ride long distances to a party or dance given in what they 
call their local neighborhood. When any rancher built a new 
barn or house, it was customary to give a house-warming 
dance. It was not at all unusual for the cowboys and ranchers 
families to ride twenty to thirty miles to attend one of these 
old-time square dances. About dusk, the half-a-hundred guests 
would begin to arrive on horseback and in straw-filled bob 
sleds. Everybody would be there from "grandmaw" to the 
smallest youngster, and everybody joined in the fun. 

I well recall one of these old time dances given at the Eagle 
Bar Ranch one Christmas just after we had completed another 
one-room addition to our log ranch house. By eight o clock 
"Big Ed" Fleury began to tune up his old violin. Harry Smith 
worked awhile on his battered guitar, while the Valley "school- 
marm" tuned them in on the (somewhat out of tune) piano. 
When they finally announced the first dance number, every 
rancher and cowboy who had "brung his own gal" were out 
on the floor. 

There were some good dancers, and some not so good, in 
cluding a few, like myself, who were even worse, but every 
body danced just the same. The boys outnumbered the girls 
several to one. The cowboys waited their turn along the wall, 
but a girl who sat out more than one dance in an evening 
was a rarity indeed, "grandmaw" included. The square dance 
was the most popular among young and old and the less you 
knew about its many calls the more fun for the rest. Big Ed 
could call square dance numbers all night and never do the 
same one twice over. 

About midnight, the host brought around well-filled, home 
made sandwiches and coffee. The very small and younger chil 
dren were put to bed in a room by themselves. They were 



54 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

bundled up and laid on the beds, cots, and floor during the 
dance. The babies were so numerous that it was no easy matter 
to wade in among the youngsters on the floor to reach the ones 
farthest from the door. It was quite a regular occurrence for 
some mother in the middle of a dance to recognize the lusty 
cry of her youngest, and excuse herself from her dancing part 
ner of the moment, rush into the bedroom, and proceed to 
nurse her hungry offspring. As soon as the little fellow was 
carefully tucked in on the floor and sleeping again, the mother 
would return to the scene of gaiety and resume her dance with 
her waiting partner. If the dance should end and another 
one begin while the mother was away, it was customary for 
the lady to have the next dance with the same partner. How 
the mothers could tell their own children from the two dozen 
or so bundles on the floor and beds was always a mystery to me. 

These gala events always lasted until the grey streaks of 
dawn began to creep over the eastern horizon, when the sleepy 
fiddler would announce that "Home Sweet Home" would be 
the next number. 

It was the custom for everyone to put on their full going- 
home clothes for the last dance. Girls put on their heavy 
wraps, cowboys buckled on their chaps and spurs, hunted up 
their heavy sheepskin mackinaws and ten-gallon Stetsons, and 
threw open all the doors and windows as they danced the old 
familiar number. It was an amusing sight to see a roomful of 
colorfully costumed men and women going through a fast 
square dance to the tune of the old fiddle and jangling spurs. 
Many a dashing cowhand landed unromantically on the corn- 
meal waxed floor as his spurs tangled with his own or someone 
else s boots. 

As soon as the last strains of music died away, the men went 
out to get the saddle ponies and teams ready, while the women 
proceeded to gather up their precious bundles of family pride 
in the crowded bedroom. Soon all were wending their way out 
across the prairies to their several homes, after an evening long 
to be remembered. 



Homesteading in Montana 55 

Travel was slow over the trackless and fenceless prairies, 
and driving had to be done with caution. Snow often filled 
the coulees and ravines level with the surrounding plain and 
what few roads there were between the ranches were often 
completely obliterated by the drifted snow. Therefore, it was 
necessary to pick out the ridges and most likely looking 
stretches of prairie. 

The rancher always had certain buttes, ridges, or landmarks 
as guides from one place to another when snow covered the 
roads. Hence, travelers going long distances found it necessary 
to make the trip during the daylight hours. 



Chapter VI 




Roundup Days 



IT IS THE CUSTOM IN THE WESTERN CATTLE COUNTRY FOR THE 

ranchers to hold a roundup every spring and fall. The spring 
roundup usually starts around the middle of May and lasts 
some six weeks or so, two or more ranch outfits working to 
gether on overlapping ranges. Where large ranches graze their 
stock over large areas, it is customary to send one or more cow 
boys as representatives to work with neighboring roundups. 
They are known as "Reps/ Each cowboy generally uses a 
string of from seven to fourteen horses during the roundup. 
The boys put in long hours in the saddle and, as it is not prac 
tical to carry grain for their horses, one or two horses are used 
each day in the week, in order to have a fresh horse for each 
day s strenuous work. These outfits consist of a ddzen or more 
cow punchers, a day horse wrangler, and a cook. The chuck 
wagon is always driven by the cook. 

Our chuck wagon was a regular ranch kitchen on wheels. 
A large pantry was built in the rear of the wagon and when 
the end door was let down, everything was there for the cook, 
from baking soda to imported spices, and the door formed a 
large table where he prepared his tempting meals. The fa 
miliar water barrel was always to be found strapped to the 
side of the great wagon, and an ample supply of the best 
canned goods was carried in the wagon. During the day, the 

56 



Roundup Days 57 

wagon also was piled high with the cowboys bedrolls and war- 
bags of personal effects. 

On these great roundups, we had the best the land afforded. 
The coffee would float a horseshoe, and we would butcher the 
fattest yearling steer on the range. In the daytime, we wrapped 
the meat up in a heavy canvas and laid it on the ground to 
keep it cool. At night, we hung it up on poles to keep the 
coyotes and wolves from getting it. At the first streak of dawn, 
the cook would do a Comanche war whoop and we would all 
roll out, roll up our bed and tarps, and hit for the mess tent. 

After breakfast some would help the cook with the dishes 
while others caught and harnessed the horses, four for each 
wagon. Tents were torn down, the bed ancf chuck wagons 
loaded, our saddle horses caught, and we were ready for work. 

After the roundup foreman or "wagon boss" laid out the 
range to be worked that day, the cowboys would scatter out in 
a systematic order so that the country would be thoroughly 
combed, driving all the cattle toward the wagon. Enroute to 
the wagon, the moving cattle were known as a drive, and all 
drives combined were called the roundup. At chuck time, two 
or more men were left to hold the roundup herd, while the 
rest would ride to the wagon. After dinner they changed 
horses and returned to work the roundup. 

The cows and unbranded calves were cut out, with the beef 
steers cut out separately. After the calves were branded, we 
returned to camp for a little rest. Each man had his turn at 
night herding, usually for two hours. The night guards usually 
were sent out in pairs, depending somewhat on the size of 
the herd to be held. As each two-hour period ended, one of 
the riders would come in quietly and wake the next two who 
were to stand guard, and so on until daylight, when all would 
be up and ready for the next day s drive. 

When working very rough land, like the Missouri River 
brakes and Badlands, it was impractical to take wagons, so we 
would make up a pack outfit on one of our extra horses and 
make trips into the canyon country in small groups. We would 
build small Indian fires of cottonwood and sagebrush and 



58 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

when they had burned down to embers we would roast our 
beef over the hot coals, on the end of a forked stick. Anyone 
who has never eaten beef roasted in real Indian fashion, has 
missed something. 

Our fall roundups often consisted of from one thousand to 
two thousand head of four-year-olds, which were the shippers 
favorite beeves of forty years ago. 




BRANDING IN THE OLD CORRAL 

The roundup had its fascination and dangers for all hands. 
Occasionally at night, when the cattle are bedded down, some 
sudden noise or movement among the herd will startle them, 
and in a matter of seconds they are on their feet and start a 
wild stampede. They may start in any direction, and anyone 
in the path of such a wild running herd is unfortunate indeed, 
as hundreds of clashing horns and thundering hoofs can easily 
spell doom. If a horse should stumble and leave its rider afoot, 
his chances of survival are slim. 

While trailing a beef herd to the railroad we made from ten 



Roundup Days 59 

to twelve miles a day. They usually trailed out in long strings, 
some steer always being the self-appointed leader. I recall one 
of these roundup drives when we were driving some sixteen 
hundred head from the brakes on Crooked Creek, in north 
eastern Fergus County, to Melstone, some sixty miles south. 
We had been on the drive for six days, slowly trailing south 
along the west side of the Musselshell; the weather had been 
hot and dry for October, and we could hardly see the herd for 
the thick alkali dust. The boys on the drag were wearing their 
silk neckerchiefs over their faces to keep out part of the dust, 
which burned their eyes and throats. 

We finally came insight of the stockyards and loading 
chutes, just out of town along the railroad, and were heading 
our lead steers into the corral wing, when along came the ex 
press flier and let out a couple blasts for a railroad crossing. 
Before the echo rebounded from the nearest hills, every ani 
mal in that herd had started on a mad stampede. When the 
dust finally cleared away, not one was in sight of the yards, 
and it took us half a day to coax that bunch of dogies up to 
those pens again, and we had to make the last mile drive be 
tween trains. 

Winter feeding in Montana was a rare occurrence. This 
Montana bunch grass or "buffalo grass" cures on the stalk and 
is equally as good in March as it was in August. 

An amusing incident on this particular drive may still be 
remembered by some of the H Cross boys from the lower 
Musselshell. One of our cowboys had met the Sand Coulee 
school teacher at a river dance, and decided it might be in his 
favor to stop in for a visit at the ranch home where she roomed 
and boarded. So he brought along an extra boiled shirt and 
got a shave and haircut for the occasion. When we made our 
camp at Sand Coulee on our return trip, without a word to 
any of us, he took off about dark to see the teacher, some two 
hours ride away. It was clouding over fast when he left, and 
looked as though it would be a dark night, so he left 
a lighted lantern in his tent to guide him on his return, as 
there were no trails between our camp and his evening s des- 



60 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

tination. Soon after his departure, it began to rain quite hard, 
and the night was as black as the proverbial stack of black cats. 
So, about the time our swain should be returning to camp, 
some of the boys slipped over to his tent and blew out the lan 
tern. We all stayed awake and waited for his return, and about 
5:30 A. M. a pretty mad and rain-soaked cowboy arrived. He 
had been riding up and down the river most of the long, dark 
night, looking for his guiding prairie light. 

At the ranch and on the roundup, many horses are ridden 
for the first time and often cause a great deal of sport. The 
Western broncho has the well-known habit of bucking when 
first being broken to saddle and some retain this habit always. 
Changing horses is often an exciting occasion, especially to 
the rider who picks a bad one for the first time. 

One day on our ranch, we rounded up a bunch of pretty 
snaky-looking bronchos, none of which had ever been ridden. 
Some of the riders proposed that each of the boys ride one of 
these green bronchos to break the monotony of the past week. 
All heartily agreed to this proposal although I should have 
preferred to be a looker-on. Of course, that would not have 
been good ranch etiquette under the circumstances, so I 
joined in with the rest. As luck would have it, I was first on 
deck. The boys helped me saddle my horse, and, getting a firm 
hold of the rope reins and hackamore cheek, I connected with 
the horn and swung into the saddle. He immediately bucked, 
in a small circle at first, and I had no particular trouble keep 
ing my seat without pulling leather. He finally made a break 
and ran a short distance, then suddenly stopped short, and 
again started to buck. This time I lost one of my stirrups and 
had the pleasure of leaving my seat a foot or more skyward, 
managing to come down just as the saddle came up. This soon 
got monotonous and I was pulling leather at a great rate. I 
succeeded in getting my balance about the time he stopped to 
get his breath. My ride would never have made entrance fees 
among the rest of the boys, but I was satisfied with being al 
lowed to get out of the saddle unassisted by my mount 
rather than being removed spread-eagle fashion. 



Roundup Days 61 

My brother was considered a good rider, even among good 
cowboys, and also had his chance to demonstrate his skill in 
the saddle. He had some trouble in getting in the middle of 
his bay mustang, but, once seated, the fun commenced, and 
the joke was on the broncho. We watched the waltzing pair 
while he fanned her over the head with his Stetson and busted 
a couple of holes in the air with his six-shooter. This was very 
entertaining, but the best stunt of the day was pulled off by 
Joe De Yong a Blackfeet Indian boy. Joe was a good buster, 
but his broncho was a little the better of the two. When the 
cayuse was roped out of the herd we sized him up as a bad one. 
We had some difficulty in getting the saddle on him and, even 
after this was accomplished, he tried to pitch it off. Joe was 
standing at the long end of the rope eyeing his pitching adver 
sary when the foreman yelled, "Say, Joe, the boys will make 
up ten dollars if you ride him without a hackamore." Joe was 
game, so the headpiece was removed. The horse was blind 
folded and Joe hopped into the saddle. Then the blindfold 
was taken off and the show was on. The bronc gave several 
snorts, ran a ways, stopped short, and began things in earnest. 
Joe grabbed all the saddle leather he could find and held 
on like a leach. True to his race, he wore a grim face and 
said nothing. The broncho, not accomplishing his purpose, 
stopped, snorted a few times, then started bucking in a small 
circle. After completing a few of these, he made a bolt in a 
straight line for perhaps a quarter of a mile, when suddenly 
he gave two or three parachute leaps. Then Joe gave one and 
landed on his head and shoulders in a patch of cactus and let 
out a yell that would have done credit to a dozen of his race. 
Joe was badly used up, but no bones were broken. He got his 
ten dollars and another ten besides, but the entire bunch 
could not throw in enough to induce Joe to do that stunt over 
again. The broncho remained on our ranch for many years 
but was never saddled again. We named the outlaw "Flying 
Joe." 

The cowboy, as a rule, is always willing to wager a few dol 
lars on any kind of a game of chance, especially so if there is a 



62 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

horse in it. I learned my lesson in gambling rather early in life, 
and I, long since, have lost all interest in anything pertaining 
to a game of chance. It was in 191 1, when my brother and I 
made our first trip to Miles City with a group of Indian cow 
boys driving a herd of some two hundred horses to the stock 
yards of the well-known Clark Brothers annual horse sales. We 
arrived in Miles City the latter part of September, after a hun 
dred-mile drive from the Wolf Mountains and Little Big 
Horn country. Many thousands of horses from all over the 
state were brought in and sold, later to be shipped to all parts 
of the East. 

The streets were lined with hundreds of stockmen, cowboys, 
and Indians from every range from Powder River to the 
Rockies. Buyers were there from every state as well as army 
representatives from several foreign countries. 

The Al. Furstnow and Cogshell saddlery stores were general 
meeting places. It was there that I first met Hackamore Jim 
if he ever had any other name I never knew it where he 
hailed from nobody ever knew, but he could ride any horse 
that wore four feet. I have been told that a few times in his 
life he came out second best, but no one ever said that 
Hackamore Jim couldn t ride. 

Hackamore Jim arrived in town one day riding a little 
buckskin broncho that was about the best rope and cut-out 
horse that had ever been worked in the stockyard pens* Jim 
kept his horse out on the Clark Ranch a couple of miles down 
the river. He had been in town a few days when he went to 
Pete Nelson and arranged for a horse race. Horse racing with 
Jim was a prime sport. 

It was agreed that the race would start two miles out of 
town on the Old Fort Keogh road and finish in front of the 
Milligan Hotel on Main Street. Any cow pony was eligible. 
There must have been at least twenty-five cow ponies lined 
up on the starting line, and crowds of cowboys, ranchers, sol 
diers, and Indians lined both sides of the road from the start 
ing place to the finish. Bets of all kinds were placed on the 



Roundup Days 63 

various ponies, and no less than a hatful of silver dollars was 
the purse for the winner. 

Hackamore Jim had chosen a young Crow Indian boy to 
ride his horse. The young Indian was riding bareback, and 
made a picture long to be remembered, as he sat on the buck 
skin, a couple of eagle feathers tied in his long black braids, 
and wearing a breech clout and a pair of beaded moccasins. 
His face was stern with excitement. 

The buckskin stood near the outside of the line with his 
head down; ears lopped foreward and sleepy-eyed, he looked 
about as interested in that race as a contented cow under a 
shade tree. I almost expected to see him fall asleep before they 
got the rest of the horses lined up for the start. Then the pistol 
roared and they were off. That piece of buckskin came to life 
and unwound like a ball of yarn. He started down the road 
like a scared jack rabbit. The young Indian lay down along 
the pony s back, scarcely visible, and never made a move until 
the buckskin sailed past the hotel a half dozen lengths ahead 
of the nearest second. There was no chance for argument in 
that race, the buckskin safely and easily took the honors and 
the hatful of silver dollars. 

Hackamore Jim took his horse back to the Clark Ranch and 
returned to town to celebrate. He and his friends made the 
rounds of every place in the town boasting a French mirror 
and a brass footrail, but a couple of days later he emerged from 
a faro game with his pockets turned wrong side out. He walked 
the two miles to the ranch to see his horse, and then returned 
to town. 

He again went to Pete Nelson, this time to arrange a raffle 
for his horse. One hundred chances were sold at one dollar 
each in about two hours time. Doc Willis won the horse and 
offered it to Nels Hansen without even seeing it. Nels offered 
Doc $75 for the horse, and Doc closed the deal. Next day, Nels 
went out to the Clark Ranch to see the horse. He came back 
to town, and arranged another raffle, this time selling sixty 
chances. Leo Holmes, a photographer, won this time, and he 



64 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

went to see his horse and returned to town rather annoyed. 
He raffled the horse again, and Otto Mosby, the town s leading 
tailor, won it. I knew Otto well and knew he had no place to 
keep a saddle horse, and no use for one, so I hunted him up 
and offered him $40 for the buckskin. Otto never bothered to 
look at his property, but gave me a bill of sale and took the 
$40. Several people asked me to put him up for raffle again, 
but I wanted the horse, so I declined. Had I put it up, the 
horse raffle might have gone on indefinitely. I told Pete Nel 
son I had bought the horse, and intended to keep it. I still have 
it beautifully tanned on the floor in front of my fireplace. 
When I arrived at the Clark Ranch to claim my horse, 
Chang Yoo, the Chinese cook, told me the buckskin had 
dropped dead from over-exertion in the long race shortly after 
Hackamore Jim had brought him back to the ranch! 



Chapter VII 




Western Hospitality 



THE CATTLE AND SHEEP RANCHERS OF THE WEST WERE KNOWN 

the world over for their generous hospitality. They were given 
to sharing the best they could offer to the wayfarer or the 
casual passerby. This was always cheerfully extended to all 
who passed their way, whether he be the wealthy cattle baron 
or the lonesome cowboy, who carried his sole earthly posses 
sions on his pony s back. The rancher might claim the brand 
seen only on half a hundred steers or he could be lord of every 
hoof on a thousand hills, yet neither his appearance nor the 
grandeur of his ranch home seldom would betray the differ 
ence, and in the branding corral you wouldn t know the 
owner from any one of his cowboys. 

The unwritten law of hospitality of the Western range 
country was also a law of necessity. With scattered ranches 
located where feed and water were abundant, It often was a 
day s journey to visit the domicile of a neighbor. The mounted 
traveler often carried his bedroll but seldom his bacon and 
coffee. He slept in his own blankets wherever night overtook 
him, but he knew that no rancher, miner, trapper, or cowboy 
would refuse to extend the hospitality of a meal, and should 
the owner of the camp or ranch be absent for a time, the door 
might be closed but the latchstring always hung on the out 
side, and he was expected to make himself comfortable for as 
long as he chose to stay. 

65 



66 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Many are the times I have been away from my ranch for 
days and weeks at a time and, upon my return, found that I 
had entertained numerous strangers and friends. Months aft 
erwards, while at some distant ranch or town, some cowboy or 
rancher would mention his stay at the ranch at some time dur 
ing my absence. Such instances were commonplace and I have 
yet to know of the code of hospitality ever being abused by 
any real Westerner. 

One fall I had gone to Lewistown to purchase a six-horse 
load of provisions for the coming winter and had been on the 
trip a week. Returning home one evening about dusk, I 
turned in at the gate and noticed a light in the window and 
smoke issuing from the chimney. I thought nothing of this, 
and proceeded to unharness my horses, leaving the load stand 
ing near the ranch house. I fed my string team and refilled 
the manger of the traveler s horse. I did not recognize the 
saddle that hung on the harness peg, neither did I know the 
brand on the horse, so I took my guest to be from some dis 
tance. As I neared the house, I met the newcomer carrying 
in wood from the woodpile, his sleeves rolled up and his over 
alls covered with flour telltale signs of some baking powder 
biscuits for supper. 

When he saw me approach he opened the screen door. 
"Hello, stranger," he said. "Come on in and make yourself at 
home. Had your chuck?" 

"No," I announced, "and I m as hungry as a coyote." "Just 
in time," added my guest. "I have the stove covered with 
chuck cookin spuds, bacon, some fresh venison, a half dozen 
scrambled eggs, and the oven full of sinkers, and I just located 
a few dozen cans of eats under the bed, so we ll dine like kings 
tonight, partner. Been travelin far?" 

"Thirty miles since sunup," says I. 

"Live near here?" he ventured. 

"Yes," says I. 

"It s getting late, better bunk up here tonight," invites my 
friend. 

"I guess I will/ I answered, and our friendship was made. 



Western Hospitality 67 

My stranger friend soon had the table covered with a heaping 
supply of good things to eat. 

"Here s your artillery and feed bag, pard, sit down, put your 
feet under and wade in," he called, as he procured a plate and 
equipment from my cupboard in the corner back of the stove. 
We ate and talked for fully an hour, my guest and host was 
really a very creditable cook and to mention his artistic culi 
nary skill with the biscuit dust is not to be omitted. 

During our conversation I learned that my guest was from 
the Dakotas and was on his first visit to an uncle who had a 
ranch in the Judith Basin. After doing justice to everything 
on the table, we washed up the dishes and soon found our 
selves chatting and joking as though we had been acquainted 
for years. My guest found a harmonica about the house and 
proved to be quite an artist. He was very interested in an array 
of Indian relics and curios covering the walls, and ventured 
many suppositions as to the owner of the display and ranch 
house in general he even ventured to say that the owner 
evidently was a bachelor, as there was no evidence of a femi 
nine touch either in the kitchen or the general appearance 
of the house. Although he did state that, for a bachelor, ap 
pearances were quite orderly. 

He had not asked me my final destination and so far I had 
not volunteered the information. He kept up a continual con 
versation until the fire had long since died out and conversa 
tion turned to retiring for the night, and casually stated that, 
on the second day following, he would reach his uncle s ranch 
on Spring Creek, a few miles above Lewistown. Knowing 
many stockmen in that vicinity, I ventured to ask the relative s 
name, and was not a little surprised to learn that he was a 
casual acquaintance of mine. Furthermore, while attending 
the Stockmen s Convention a few months earlier in the season, 
a group of fifty or so had had their picture taken in front of 
the old Day House, a familiar hostelry of cattle and mining 
days, and I recalled that both his uncle and I had been in the 
group. Not thinking of myself as now being the unknown 
guest of my guest, I announced that I had his uncle s picture 



68 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

in my trunk at this very minute, and, reaching in my pocket 
for a key, proceeded to unlock a trunk near where we were 
sitting. As I produced the picture in question, he gave one 
glance at it and, leaping to his feet, exclaimed, "My heavens, 
pard, are you the hombre what lives here?" 

Our friendship began that night, many years ago and lasted 
continuously until World War I, which saw us both in uni 
form. We trained together in Camp Lewis and a few months 
later I saw him for the last time as he sailed from Camp Mills, 
Mineola, Long Island, early on the morning of December 
i4th, 1917. During the war, we kept track of each other and 
wrote as often as occasion permitted, until a letter came from 
him stating that they were to go over the top next morning. 
My answer to this letter was returned to me months later, 
unopened, with the unfamiliar handwriting across its face 
"Killed in Action." The American Legion of Winnett, Mon 
tana, paid their last respects to a loyal comrade and a real hero 
by placing on their memorial hall the name of Carl Sandman, 
Post No. 95. 

Another incident which I will never forget was during the 
days when cattle rustling was second only to cattle raising in 
eastern Montana. Our ranch was located at a junction through 
which the running and relaying of stolen cattle and horses 
between points in Canada and states farther south generally 
were routed. 

Cattle rustlers were not an ordinary breed of men; their 
daring, courage, and strategy should have been put to a more 
honest and peaceful calling. To be caught stealing cattle on 
the Western range was likely to wind up at the end of a lariat, 
and no rustler intended to be a guest at a necktie party if he 
could help it. The rustler always was well mounted, and car 
ried a six-shooter and often a Winchester, and could use both 
with unerring accuracy. Many of these men found it a profit 
able sideline to hold up an occasional bank or mail train, and 
the Overland stage, carrying the payroll to some mining camp, 
was also favorably considered. 

One evening in late September, I was reading by the fire- 



Western Hospitality 69 

place when I heard a rider approaching the house. As he dis 
mounted and came up to the open door I could readily see that 
horse and rider were weary and dust covered from trailing 
long hours behind a herd. He wished to throw a small bunch 
of horses in a nearby pasture, and while he was driving his 
herd into the pasture I prepared supper for my guest. By the 
time the meal was on the table he was washed and waiting no 
second invitation. I could see he had had a long hard day 
in the saddle. After he had finished eating he helped with the 
few dishes and pans and our conversation drifted into the 
events of the day. 

By the traditional code of the West one never asked a per 
son s name, where he came from, or where he was bound; if he 
volunteered the information well and good, if not, no ques 
tions were asked. I have known many men, ridden with them, 
and lived with them for months, without learning their names 
or where they were from, and they asked as little concerning 
me. My guest chatted about every subject but himself, he 
was polite, well educated, and well mannered. There was only 
one slight flaw in his observance of Western etiquette in 
stead of removing his belt and gun upon entering the house 
he wore it the entire evening and I noticed also that he 
never sat with his back to the door or window. As the hour 
grew late and we prepared to retire, I took the tarpaulin off 
and arranged the bed, and my guest removed his belt and gun 
and placed them conveniently on a chair at the edge of the 
bed. 

I had contemplated sleeping on the front of the bed and 
my guest next to the wall, but the arrangement did not seem 
to suit my visitor. "Take the side next to the wall, tonight, i 
you don t mind/ he said politely. I looked up questioningly 
just as he took a second .45 Colt from a holster under his calf 
skin vest and placed it under his pillow. I saw no reason to 
deny his request. 

We had been sleeping for perhaps two or three hours when 
my guest, suddenly and quietly, sat bolt upright in bed with 
his six-shooter aimed directly at the door. His sudden move- 



70 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

ment awoke and startled me for the moment, but I did not 
move. I knew something was radically wrong, but what I did 
not know. My first thought was that if any fireworks began 
between my bed partner and someone outside, it would place 
me in rather a precarious situation. I wondered whether to 
stay frozen or melt and run down between the bed and the 
log wall. 

Presently, I heard steps on the ground in front of my open 
door. My guest kept his gun pointed in the direction of the 
noise, but remained motionless. In the stillness, I faintly heard 
the munching of grass near my porch and my heart beat again 
as I realized that my saddle horse was in the yard in front of 
the door and was peacefully eating grass. I said nothing, and 
my friend must have recognized the cause of the sound at the 
same time I did, as he quietly replaced his gun under his pil 
low and soon we were both sleeping peacefully again. 

After an early breakfast, my unknown guest was again on 
his way. He was driving a herd of some forty to forty-five very 
fine horses, representing at least a dozen different brands. He 
mentioned nothing of the disturbed quiet of the night and I 
doubt if he ever knew that I had been awakened. 

After I saw him disappear over the hill, still trailing in the 
dust of his horses, I returned to the ranch house to complete 
my morning s work, and while making up the bed I found 
under his pillow a black silk bandana, in the corner of which 
was neatly tied a twenty-dollar gold piece. My guest had 
wished to pay for his night s lodging and devised this way of 
doing so. Just two days after this episode I received another 
visitor in the person of a United States Marshal and two depu 
ties who were on the trail of a notorious highwayman wanted 
for a stage holdup and the recent shooting of two men in a 
cattle-rustling fight. 

I recognized from their description that it was none other 
than the amiable lone rider who had been my guest a few eve 
nings before. I had heard and read numerous accounts of his 
daring exploits of banditry, but this was my first opportunity 



Western Hospitality 71 

to meet this acknowledged king of cattle rustlers. Although I 
do not recall seeing any notches on the handle of his gun, I 
had long known that several could rightfully be cut there. He 
had done me no harm, and my long-kept motto of "See no 
evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil/ bade me say adieu to my 
trio of silver stars as I saw them trotting off in the opposite 
direction from that taken by my lone guest of a few days 
before. 

About a month following this incident, I picked up a 
Montana newspaper and saw where this same lone bandit had 
held up a bank in a small mining town. A posse was soon made 
up and followed in pursuit. They surprised the lone rider 
about sunrise in a blind canyon, and a running gunfight en 
sued, in which the bandit and two of the posse were badly 
wounded. The bandit was tried and sentenced to a life term 
in the state prison at Deer Lodge but due to failing health, 
after serving fifteen years, he was pardoned, in 1924. 

The same year, during a trip to Cuba, I was not a little 
surprised to meet this same knight of the range on the streets 
of Santa Clara and was pleased to accept an invitation to the 
plantation estate of an older brother. Again, some two years 
later, I was sitting in my car one afternoon in East San Diego, 
California, when the same man came smiling up to me, and 
introduced me to his bride of a year, inviting me to dine with 
them at their beautiful little orange ranch near La Mesa. 
Since he is now a most respected citizen, happily married, and 
living at peace with the world around him, I will not venture 
any names, but still claim him as a most genial and admirable 
friend. 

There are few pioneers of Montana who have not at some 
time seen the famous N Bar brand on some of the many thou 
sands of horses and cattle that roamed over the hills of central 
Montana. This ranch, located near the quiet little city of Grass 
Range, was owned by the late Thomas Cruse, and comprised 
some fifty thousand acres of land. Something over thirty thou 
sand sheep were sheared on this ranch and I have known of as 



72 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

many as forty cowboys, herders, and ranch hands to be quar 
tered at the N Bar bunkhouses during the roundup and 
branding season. 

The story of how the late Tommy Cruse drifted into Fort 
Benton seventy years ago, penniless and hungry, is well known 
to every pioneer of the state. The lure of gold had brought 
him to the West. A poor shoemaker shared his humble cabin 
and bread with the homeless and hungry boy and later grub 
staked him to a miner s pan, burro, and enough food to last 
him a month in the mountains. The agreement was fifty-fifty, 
and a farewell handshake was the bond. 

Thirty days later, Tom returned to report a strike, and file 
location notice for himself and cobbler partner. This partner 
ship sold out twelve months later for one hundred thousand 
dollars cash, half of which the shoemaker received, for faith 
in a burro and the word of an honest prospecter. With this first 
venture, Tom Cruse started on a successful career that, within 
forty years, gave him mines and ranches totaling in value more 
than three million dollars. 

One day in the fall of 1912, we were putting up hay at our 
ranch and my brother, Lone Eagle, suggested I go to town 
to pick up a couple of extra men to run the bull rakes. It was 
haying season on most of the large ranches and help was scarce. 
The one street in town seemed quite deserted as I walked 
leisurely up one side and down the other, looking for an idle 
man. The only persons I could see at the time who seemed 
not too busy were a white man and a half-breed Indian, talk 
ing at the edge of the sidewalk. The white man wore overalls 
tucked into a pair of dusty cowboy boots, a flannel shirt, and a 
battered Stetson hat. At any Eastern railroad yards he would 
probably have been told to move on. 

I walked leisurely up to the stranger and asked him if he 
would be interested in a few weeks work in our hayfield. He 
turned toward me with a friendly smile, stating that he was 
sorry but he would be busy the rest of the week. He added that 
he, also, was having difficulty in securing men for his own hay 
ing crews and asked me if I knew where he could hire twenty- 



Western Hospitality 73 

five or thirty more hands for the next six weeks to assist him 
in putting up three thousand acres of alfalfa on his own ranch. 
I looked him over, but made no reply. I was puzzled to know 
whether he was kidding me or whether he had been among 
the woolies a few years too long. I walked on into the post 
office, and asked the postmaster the status of the man outside, 
and was informed that he was Tom Cruse, millionaire owner 
of the N Bar Ranch. 

The story of how this same cattle baron returned a practical 
joke played on him by several close friends is well known. It 
was after the N Bar fall roundup that the usual trainload of 
fat beef steers was shipped to the stock yards at Chicago. It 
was always a gala event and lucky were the dozen or so cow 
boys who would be selected to accompany the shipment. After 
the cattle were unloaded and sold, the genial Mr. Cruse would 
pay the boys their fall wages with a liberal bonus and allow 
them a ten-day stay in the metropolis. In most cases, they 
would return to the ranch with many tall tales of their adven 
tures and generally down to their last buck. 

On the day of the N Bar s arrival, the beef market was tops 
and everyone was in a happy mood. While window shopping 
on one of the main thoroughfares, several of the boys spied 
Mr. Cruse leisurely walking down the street ahead of them, 
dressed in his usual not-too-well-kept ranch clothes. About 
the same time they also spied a uniformed policeman in the 
block, walking his beat. This could be a lot of fun for the boys 
and a good joke on the "old man/ so they approached the cop 
and, most sincerely, told him that the old man had accosted 
them several times panhandling for dimes and a few drinks. 
The well-meaning policeman, believing their story, immedi 
ately picked up the old gentleman and took him to the 
police station. The cattle baron was pretty much put out at 
this unprovoked treatment and upon reaching the station told 
them off in no uncertain words, but to picture him as being 
a multimillionaire was a bit beyond the imagination of the 
police. However, Mr. Cruse managed to talk the police chief 
into calling several of the officers in the exchange bank where 



74 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

he was in the habit of depositing his cattle checks in amounts 
that would stagger most of the bankers themselves, and soon 
proved that he was not a panhandling bum. In no time, he had 
received the apologies of all the police staff, but the incident 
did not end here. 

He soon found out why he was accused of begging dimes 
and it was just thirty minutes to train time when he was gra 
ciously escorted back to the railroad station. He made one or 
two calls to his Chicago banker, where the boys were to be 
paid off, instructing the teller to inform the boys that they 
would all be welcome back at the N Bar Ranch, if and when 
they arrived. It was a sorry looking bunch of waddies that met 
at the exchange bank the next morning; their little joke had 
really boomeranged that time and it was a long and tiresome 
ride back to Montana in that old cattle car. We didn t see 
much of Chicago that trip, but the baron was all smiles when 
he greeted us at the breakfast table the morning of our arrival 
at the old N Bar Ranch. 



Chapter VIII 




Early Cree Rustlers in Montana 



SOON AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN MONTANA AND THE 

Black Hills country of western Dakota, the long caravans of 
covered wagons began to trek westward from the cities and 
farms of the East. This steady stream of the Paleface wagons 
was of much concern to the Indians, for the treaty made with 
them by the United States government, in 1868, had given 
the Sioux all the Black Hills as their hunting ground. But 
when gold was discovered, treaties were forgotten and the buf 
falo were being driven from the prairies and slaughtered by 
the thousands. The Indians were not long in seeing that their 
source of meat supply was soon to vanish from the plains. 
They sent delegation after delegation of chiefs to Washington 
to protect their treaty rights, but each summer brought more 
of the white settlers. 

The Indians* appeal to the Great White Father had availed 
them nothing. Then they warned the long trains of white-cov 
ered wagons, but when the hordes kept moving steadily west, 
the council fires of the Sioux could be seen as great chiefs 
called their warriors together. The pipe of peace was passed 
from warrior to warrior, but they all shook their heads. 
"War!" "War!" was the answer. 

At sunrise, hundreds of yelling painted warriors rode their 
ponies into the midst of sleeping white caravans thus began 



76 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

the bloody Indian wars of the West. The Indian had taken his 
last stand to hold the land of his fathers and the home fires of 
his children. For years to come, no white man or no Indian 
knew whether the cloud of rising dust in the distance was 
friend or foe. 

For protection of the ever-increasing number of travelers, 
the United States government found it necessary to establish 
forts along the most important trails of the frontier. These 
isolated places of refuge were garrisoned by a company or so 
of mounted soldiers, scouts, and hardy plainsmen. Most of the 
Indians were hostile to these outpost forts, yet, there were 
always a few so-called friendly Indians and half-breeds in 
every community. In many instances, these Indians were em 
ployed as scouts and couriers. 

Perhaps no Indian fort in Montana was better known, in 
the early days, than old Fort Musselshell, which was built at 
the mouth of the Musselshell River. This famous fort and 
trading post was established in 1866, under the name of 
Kerchival City. It was used mainly as a protection for wood 
choppers who furnished the fuel for the "Far West" and other 
river steamboats, which brought supplies and passengers from 
St. Louis to Fort Benton and Great Falls. Kerchival City 
washed away in the spring of 1868 and was rebuilt the follow 
ing summer, under the name of Fort Musselshell. A company 
of soldiers was sent from Camp Cooke that same year and es 
tablished a barracks under the name of Camp Reeve. On May 
9, 1869, the fort was attacked by Indians, and thirty-six sol 
diers and Indians were killed in the ensuing battle. This fort 
was maintained until 1874, when it was finally abandoned. 

Soon after Fort Musselshell was built, it became necessary 
to purchase a number of horses. Several half-breed Cree 
Indians, who were camped within sight of the Fort, offered 
to sell the commanding officer the required number of horses. 
The average Indian pony owned by the Crees would not meet 
the requirements of the Army horse. However, this small band 
of Crees were riding some exceptionally fine animals, so a bar 
gain was struck to purchase the horses meeting the specifica- 



Early Cree Rustlers in Montana 77 

tions, which partly filled the requirements of the post. The 
Crees, desiring more of the Paleface golden eagles, offered to 
bring more horses if the commanding officer would just give 
them a few days time. This was agreed, and the next day 
found the Cree braves disappearing across the prairies toward 
the south. The sun had not risen and set more than could be 
counted on two hands, when a moving speck was seen one eve 
ning, on the horizon, an hour or so before sunset. As the mov 
ing speck drew nearer, it proved to be the Crees returning, 
driving a small band of fine horses. The horses were duly in 
spected by the commanding officer, and, almost without excep 
tion, were passed on and paid for. 

The soldiers were well pleased; the Crees were elated. 
Then, if the Crees could bring six more horses as good as the 
rest, more glittering golden eagles would gladly be exchanged. 
After a few days of resting and feasting, the red-skinned plains 
men headed their ponies over the rolling prairies a second 
time. Five suns passed, and still another five suns had risen 
and set, and yet no braves returned. Half a moon waned in the 
heavens before the sentinel announced the sight of horsemen 
in the distance riding directly toward the great stockade as 
fast as their ponies would carry them. They did not look like 
the party of friendly Crees, as now but three galloping riders 
could be counted, while seven had left the fort. 

Presently a volley of shots was heard in the distance, fol 
lowed by the appearance of half a hundred yelling warriors. 
Commands to be in readiness at the Fort were given. The fort 
was being attacked by the Indians. On and on the yelling 
warriors rode, shots were fired and feathered arrows dropped 
close behind the three lone riders, then one of them leaned 
far backward and, swerving from his horse, fell to the ground. 
Only two succeeded in reaching the great stockade gate, yell 
ing and begging to be let in. Recognized by the soldiers as 
the friendly Cree scouts, the great wooden gates swung out, 
and closed, just as the yelling band of Crows made a wide 
swing and circled clear of the range of the rifles behind the 
massive wooden walls. 



78 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

The Crow Indians were the most peaceable tribe in Mon 
tana, and owned the finest horses. Plenty Coups, their brave 
and respected chief, was always friendly to the whites and his 
word and friendship were never broken. The cause of the war 
party was now evident. The Crows had missed several of their 
finest horses and while getting on the trail left by the Cree 
rustlers, the Crows had caught up with the raiding party with 
their six stolen horses. A running fight had not only recovered 
the six horses, but had sent five Cree horse thieves to the 
Happy Hunting Grounds. 



Chapter IX 




The Scaffold Indian Burial 



IT WAS THE CUSTOM AMONG THE NORTHWEST PLAINS INDIANS 

to bury their departed tribesmen in cemeteries or burial 
grounds located on prominent hills in the vicinity of their 
camps. The graves, with no identification whatsoever, usually 
were three to five feet deep and covered over with stones to 
keep wild animals from burrowing into them. Even with no 
identification, each grave was known by the deceased s rela 
tives, and reverenced by all. 

Those individuals who, by deeds of valor, had become 
heroes and chiefs, were entitled to the more elaborate scaffold 
burial. This scaffold consisted of four poles some ten or twelve 
feet in length, set upright in the ground, at the top of which 
was woven a platform or cradle for holding the body of the 
Indian. This platform was constructed of wooden poles and 
rawhide. In the timbered areas, the platforms often were built 
right in the limbs and branches of large trees. There also have 
been a few Indian burials on natural shelves or layers of rock 
along high cliffs or mountain sides. 

Nearly always the deceased warrior s favorite dog or horse, 
or both, was slain and placed near the scaffold, and it was be 
lieved that their spirits, too, entered the Happy Hunting 
Grounds with their masters. Prepared food also was left near 
the warrior to be used until he should reach that Indian para- 

79 



80 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

disc where all game would be plentiful. The devoted wife of 
the departed warrior also has been known to have sacrificed 
her own life to go to the Happy Hunting Grounds with her 
husband. For some time after the weird rites and wailing 
cease, the body was closely guarded from wandering maraud 
ers. A sentinel was placed nearby in some concealed spot near 
the scaffold to watch it. Any traveler might view it from afar, 
or at the scaffold itself, but if any attempt was made to molest 
it, in any way, an unmistakable warning was given to the 
intruder. 

Once, Lone Eagle and I were riding through the old Fort 
Berthold Indian Reservation in Montana, when we noticed, 
in the distance, a scaffold burial. We rode over to the scaffold 
and, still seated in our saddles, surveyed the gruesome bundle 
of buffalo hides covering the remains, perhaps of a warrior. 
Riding around it several times, we concluded it must have 
been there many years, and being curious as to its history, we 
dismounted and climbed up to more closely examine its con 
tents. I was perched high on Lone Eagle s shoulder, when we 
heard a rifle shot in the distance. We paused; a few moments 
passed and then, thinking it must be some passing hunters, we 
resumed our investigation by trying to tear off some of the 
buffalo hides. Another shot was fired, this time the bullet sing 
ing close to our ears. A third warning was not necessary. It 
took us no time at all to get to the ground, mount our ponies, 
and leave our departed Indian brother to repose in peace and 
quiet on his wind-swept bier. 

Black Butte near Lewistown, Montana, is a famous land 
mark which can plainly be seen over an area of a hundred 
square miles in eastern Fergus County. This mountain, some 
five or six miles across, and rising perhaps five thousand feet 
above the surrounding benchland, is always black, even in 
winter, when the snows have covered every other part of the 
state. I have seen the snow many feet deep, and temperature 
forty degrees below zero over the entire state while old Black 
Butte rose a mile above the surrounding country without a 
sign of snow on its majestic crest. 



The Scaffold Indian Burial 81 

Perhaps the strangest Indian Burial places I ever chanced 
upon were the rimrock tombs on the south slope of Black 
Butte. These were a series of natural horizontal rock ledges 
or shelves formed by the erosion of the softer sandstone layers 
between. There were several shelves of this stone, about twelve 
or fourteen inches thick, with from twenty-four to thirty 
inches of space between them. In several places, the openings 
extended back six to eight feet and were from forty to fifty feet 
in length. Many years ago, some wandering tribe had buried 
several of their dead on the stone shelves. The bodies had 
been wrapped in buffalo skins and, due to the dryness of the 
air, they were in a very good state of preservation. How they 
were placed on the shelves was always a puzzle to me, as the 
shelves were cut in the sheer sandstone wall at least a hundred 
feet above any place a person could stand and it was at least 
forty feet from the uppermost shelf to the sloping bench 
above. 

My attention was first called to this strange burial place 
when I was riding along on the trail below and noticed a 
dozen or so travoix poles and an old, weather-beaten Indian 
pack saddle lying on a huge boulder a few yards off the trail. 
Upon further examination of the vicinity, I found the rem 
nants of what once was a wooden sled put together with raw 
hide thongs a sled such as was used by the Plains Indians on 
winter marches. On describing this conveyance to David 
Hilger, State historian of Montana, years afterward, while 
visiting him in Helena, he informed me that it was the type of 
winter sled used by Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce 
warriors on their march through Montana in that memorable 
winter of 1877. 

These implements of Indian journeying and the strategy 
of the surrounding country led me to believe that something 
of more than passing interest might be discovered in this 
strange array of tombs on the natural rock shelves. To scale 
the perpendicular wall was impossible, but I found that by 
covering a distance of perhaps four or five miles, I could circle 
the hill, and come back to them from above. This brought me 



82 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

to a point directly over, and about forty feet above, the shelves. 
I let my lariat down over the edge of the rimrock but, being 
alone, I had no safe way of securing the upper end of the rope, 
which was not more than forty-five feet in length. Deciding to 
explore farther, I slowly descended to the mesa below, pon 
dering over what I had seen. 

I returned a few days later, accompanied by Lone Eagle, 
and together we ascended to the rimrock directly above the 
shelves. We carefully surveyed our ground, and decided we 
could secure our ropes to the bench where we were and 
descend the forty feet to the rock shelf below. We used two 
ropes for safety. One was securely tied to a guide above, while 
a second rope, with body loops at both ends, was let down over 
the edge. I sat in one loop, and slid down the tied rope while 
my brother sat with feet braced against a rock, and slowly let 
me down, foot by foot. 

The long narrow shelf proved to be interesting enough. 
Against the back wall were four large bundles, apparently 
just wrapped skins or buffalo-skin cases containing Indian 
burials. The other ledges were much narrower, and contained 
nothing. As we did not deem it safe for both of us to leave the 
top of the rimrock at the same time, we took turns exploring 
the small, low room containing the Indian mummies. As the 
space on the ledge was small, we decided to take one of the 
buffalo-skin cases out where we could examine it more thor 
oughly. I selected the oldest-appearing one, and tied it to one 
of the ropes, but we were unable to get it up to the top, as we 
could not maneuver it out around the edge of the ledge of the 
upper shelf, therefore it was necessary to lower it to the trail, 
about one hundred feet below. We had the two forty-five foot 
lariats which Lone Eagle unfastened from their ground moor 
ings above and dropped down to me. 

I placed a slip noose around the mummy, tied the two ropes 
together, and, securely bracing myself, I carefully worked the 
bundle over the edge of the shelf, and lowered it. Looking 
over the edge of the rock when I reached the end of the rope, 
I found the bundle still ten or twelve feet from the bottom. 



The Scaffold Indian Burial 83 

It suddenly dawned on me that I was trapped on the rock 
ledge with my three mummy companions. I had no way to 
untie my mummy below, and to let go of the rope was worse 
still, so I was forced to sit on my narrow shelf and pull that 
150 pounds of bones and buffalo skins back up. 

I succeeded in getting it up to the shelf but could not pull 
it over the ledge. All the time my brother was no more than 
forty feet away, but helpless to assist me. 

I was nearly exhausted, and was wondering what to do next, 
when Lone Eagle suggested that I cut the rope. (He would sug 
gest that it was my rope!) This procedure seemed pretty 
tough on my helpless warrior, but it was the only way out for 
me, and the quickest way down for the Indian. I cut the rope; 
then, coiling one length of rope for a weight, I threw the coil 
up to my brother. We were fortunate in this procedure, as he 
succeeded in catching it on the third trial, and, after resting 
a few minutes, I climbed to the bench above. 

It took us some two hours to ride the five or more miles to 
where I had dropped the mummy. We carefully opened the 
outer case, and found it to contain three separate hides. The 
one on the outside was wrapped hair-side in, and the surface 
was still covered with dried pine pitch. It was difficult to take 
off even with the aid of our hunting knives. The next covering 
was greased, raw bull hide, while the inner skin was Indian 
tanned, and of a light yellow color, which probably was white 
when first tanned. It contained the remains of the Indian. The 
flesh had completely dried away, only a few patches of dried 
skin remaining on the skull. The clothing, made of deerskin, 
was in a fair state of preservation, but no personal possessions 
were found. 

The inner buffalo skin, the deerskin clothes, and the skull 
we carried away with us, leaving the rest there. I have often 
wondered if, after forty years, the other three warriors are still 
resting in their niche on that ledge up on the south slope of 
Black Butte. 

I recall a humorous incident connected with the relic we 
brought back from Black Butte. We were entertaining a guest 



84 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

at our ranch a returned missionary from China. This native 
Chinese lady had been a college classmate of my parents back 
in New Jersey. She had returned to her native land, became 
the head of a Chinese girl s college, and, after many years of 
service, was making a tour of Europe and America in behalf 
of her beloved school. I also had recently been graduated from 
college, and had not as yet decided definitely on my future 
career. Being by far the brightest and most saintly child in 
my uncle s immediate family (they had no children of their 
own), our good missionary guest emphatically decided, for me, 
that I would be a good representative and most shining exam 
ple of my illustrious family if I were to become a missionary 
among the Chinese I had this urgent request thrust upon 
me at breakfast, at dinner, and at supper, for two hours every 
evening before I could go to bed, and between meals. For two 
weeks I heard so much about the needs of the Chinese that I 
could think of little else. When I returned from our Indian 
expedition, I proudly exhibited part of our treasure, but the 
Indian skull I cached in a box in the woodshed. One day, I 
showed part of the collection to our guest, but it was anything 
but interesting to her. She even insisted that I take the "hor 
rid things" back and put them exactly where I found them, 
and that I "should leave the dead alone/ but I had had too 
much trouble getting them, so I put them out of sight. 

The continual chant of the well-meaning Chinese guest 
had begun to wear on my nerves, and one evening after an 
especially long-drawn-out talk, I retreated to the woodshed 
for solitude and quiet. While contemplating the lecture my 
eyes fell on the gruesome countenance of my Indian skull. It 
startled me just enough to give me an idea, and I thought I 
could detect a faint smile on that deep-eye-socketed, bony face, 
that spurred me on to plan out my scheme. 

Our distinguished guest had been given my room while 
visiting us, and I had taken another, but I knew even to the 
one squeaky board in the floor, the exact spot of the old 
wooden beadstead with its low foot, and high head, and, then, 
there were no locks on any door. I stood quietly outside my 



The Scaffold Indian Burial 85 

window until I heard the low, deep, breathing of our guest 
within. Returning to the woodshed, I picked up my precious 
Indian skull, now apparently grinning from ear to ear, and, 
slipping off my boots, I quietly made my way to the room. 
Slowly pushing open the door, I crept to the foot of the bed, 
and gently placed the skull thereon, just as the first beam of 
light was creeping over the horizon. I quietly dressed and 
went out and sat under my bedroom window, waiting and 
listening. I dared not look in and for two long hours I sat out 
side that window then, in the quietness of the early morn 
ing, I heard a scream that would have done credit to a dozen 
Comanche warriors it even shook the sleeping brave from 
his lowly pedestal on the foot of the bed. I hastened back to 
my room, and was in bed, and sleeping quite soundly when 
my aunt looked in a few minutes later in fact, I was much 
harder to waken that morning than usual. Later, I casually 
happened by the kitchen door just in time to see my Indian s 
mute skull being vehemently, but surely, tomahawked to bits 
with the family axe while our celestial guest stood close by, 
bravely encouraging my aunt as she massacred her first Indian 
from that day to this, I have never been urgently requested 
to become a Chinese missionary. 

Tree burials are rather interesting, and, since they are used 
only for heroes and chiefs, they are rare. While traveling near 
the junction of the Missouri and Musselshell rivers, I was 
spending the night at a ranch house. It happened that a couple 
of half-breed cowboys also were stopping in for the night. One 
of them casually mentioned seeing an Indian burial in a large 
cottonwood tree farther up the river. They gave me a descrip 
tion of its location and, a few days later, I located the tree. 
The mummy was securely lashed to a pole platform some 
twenty to thirty feet above the ground. It was wrapped in a 
buffalo hide and evidently had been placed there thirty to 
forty years before, as no buffalo had been killed in that vicin 
ity since the early eighties. 

I did not attempt to take it down at the time, but, upon 
reaching home, I wrote my friend, Granville Stuart, who was 



86 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

historian and custodian of Montana Historical Society Mu 
seum. The museum had a large and interesting collection of 
Indian relics, and I thought the Indian mummy might be a 
valuable addition. The custodian immediately wired funds to 
cover the expense of transporting the mummy to the museum. 
In a few days, with the help of a rancher with a team and 
wagon, I carefully took it down after photographing it and 
hauled it some sixty or more miles to the nearest railroad sta 
tion and shipped it to the museum. The custodian was highly 
pleased with the new and rare specimen, and placed it in an 
elaborate glass case on the main floor of the building, together 
with numerous enlarged photographs of its original location. 
Much ado was made over the mummy chief, as it was an excep 
tionally fine and well-preserved specimen. Thousands of curi 
ous sightseers viewed the historical collection during the next 
half year, until finally, one day, I received a letter from my 
friend, the curator, to come and see him at once transporta 
tion expenses available upon request. I was soon on my way to 
his office and found the staff in an uproar. It seemed that sev 
eral Blackfeet Indians had donned their gayest beads and 
feathers and, like their paleface brothers, had decided to take 
in the white man s village. They noticed the big white stone 
tepee on the hill and, inquiring of someone, they were in 
formed that the structure was the city museum, which they 
decided to see also. No sooner had they entered the great 
oaken doors than they saw the interesting glass case directly 
under the dome, surrounded by the usual crowd of curious 
visitors. They finally tiptoed their way up among the curious 
spectators and gazed into the glass case before them. It seemed 
strangely familiar they talked low among themselves and 
looked again yes, it was their departed tribesman, the hon 
ored and beloved chieftain of their tribe. They had left him 
with all the solemn rites and ceremonies due a chief of rank, 
forty years ago, on the banks of the great Missouri, in the land 
of their fathers how had he migrated here? What sacrilege 
had brought him here among the people who had been his 
enemies? They had but one request, but one unanimous de- 



The Scaffold Indian Burial 87 

mand their great and honored chief must be taken, at once, 
back to the land of his forefathers from whence his soul had 
departed to the Happy Hunting Grounds. My friend and his 
staff of museum officials tried to reason with them tried to 
persuade them to leave their chief where the paleface brothers 
could also do him honor. They even offered the Blackfeet 
large sums of money to let the warrior remain in his place of 
royal state, but all their pleadings and offers fell on deaf ears; 
the braves could not be bribed by the white man s gold. The 
chief must be taken back at once to the homeland and even to 
the same sturdy cottonwood by the riverside. 

And so, I was obliged to escort the Blackfeet warrior back to 
the land of his fathers, back to the great cottonwood sentinel 
on the bank of the old Missouri. Even today, I can safely vouch 
for the fact that the old chief of the Blackfeet still rests in 
peace in the land of the Missouri and the Musselshell. 



Chapter X 




The Cowboy 



THE WESTERN COWBOY, IN HIS NATIVE GARB, IS, PERHAPS, THE 

most picturesque figure in all America. He belongs to a class 
of men unequaled in courage, skill, daring, and horsemanship. 
Like the American Indian and frontiersman, he is entirely 
self-sufficient in any situation. Alone on the plains or in the 
mountains, he survives where others perish. 

Every part of the cowboy s clothing and equipment is neces 
sary and useful in his everyday work. The highly-prized broad- 
brimmed hat is the pride of his personal wardrobe, and the 
standard of distinction for the cow country of the West. A ten- 
gallon Stetson is the cowboy s passport in any Western society. 
These great hats, of finest beaver felt, are the best known pro 
tection when the hot summer sun beats down, and it is not 
unusual for one of these hats to be worn continuously in all 
weather for ten to twenty years. Where can forty-five to sixty 
dollars be spent more economically? Many are the times I 
have dipped a cool drink from some desert spring, in the outer 
rim of my hat, and then filled the inside to carry a drink to my 
thirsty saddle horse. 

The turkey red or black silk neckerchief also was an added 
protection from the sun, but its real use was to cover the face 
when trailing the herd over long miles of dusty alkali plains. 
By completely covering his face with his closely woven silk 

88 



The Cowboy 89 

bandana, practically all the fine, burning alkali dust was ex 
cluded from the eyes and nose of the cowboy, while breathing 
was unobstructed and visibility was always good. The bandit 
also noted that a person thus wearing his neckerchief over his 
face was difficult to identify, and made use of this means of 
disguise in his daring exploits. However, he usually brought 
the neckerchief mask down below his eyes, for better vision in 
case he was suddenly forced to resort to his own weapons in 
his unlawful exploits. 

The cowboy s shirt usually was of flannel, with, perchance, 
the addition of a leather vest in cooler weather. His Levis were 
likely to be supported by a belt of his own workmanship in 
braided leather or colored horsehair, often adorned with an 
assortment of silver spots and conchas. 

Next to his ten-gallon hat, his boots are perhaps the most 
costly and prized items of the cowboy s wearing apparel. 
Justin and Hyers were among the standards in cowboy foot 
wear, and no cowboy s equipment could be complete without 
a pair of these sturdy, high-heel riding boots. They were, and 
are, the most practical footwear a cowboy can have. Every dis 
tinctive design of the boot has its specific purpose for the safety 
and comfort of the rider. The narrow toe is a safety measure. 
Where a walking shoe might catch in the stirrup and drag the 
unfortunate wearer behind a wild mount the narrow-toed 
boot will slip easily from the stirrup. The high tops were a 
protection against weather, brush, and rattlesnakes, and pre 
sented a smooth surface to the saddle fenders. The high, slop 
ing, undershot heels had the dual purpose of giving one a 
secure position in the hickory ox-bow stirrup without the dan 
ger of letting the foot slip through. They serve also as an 
anchor in soft corral or prairie dirt when the cowboy has to 
brace or hold anything on the other end of a lariat. 

The heavy spurs, with their spoked rowels, are more than 
helpful when the cowboy s hands are full and quick action 
from his cut-out horse is needed. A whip or quirt is worse than 
useless in the corral. The horse is trained to have a lariat loop 
swung over his head without displaying the least fear from 



90 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

the whirring rope, and would detect no difference between a 
rope and a whip, were he accustomed to an occasional cut 
from a quirt. 

Most of the cowboys carried the old reliable Colt six- 
shooter, of heavy calibre, when I first rode over the ranges of 
Montana and the Dakotas in the early i goo s. It was carried in 
an open holster on a belt, hung low so that the handle was 
handy when the hand was lowered naturally. The holster usu 
ally was tied down by a rawhide string around the leg to keep 
it from coming up with the gun on a quick draw. And don t 
misjudge the cowboy who may be seen carrying his Colt 44 
every time he is riding the range. He is not the trigger-happy 
bad man you read about. He is not looking for trouble or 
expecting to meet a war party over the next hill. He is carry 
ing the proverbial "shootin* iron" for his own safety and the 
protection of his riding companions and livestock. 

Twice in my own experience I have been forced to shoot 
horses to save the lives of my friends or myself. My first experi 
ence of this kind was during a spring roundup in the Flatwil- 
low River country. Another cowboy, called Shorty, and myself 
were riding the morning circle, and he was breaking a new 
horse, which was being ridden for the first time. The day was 
quite cold and Shorty had worn a pair of heavy rubber over 
shoes over his boots to keep his feet warm. Without warning, 
his horse made a lunge, and proceeded to go into a long series 
of fancy gyrations that eventually unseated his rider. One foot 
hung in the stirrup and Shorty was being dragged by his wildly 
pitching horse. Then the horse gave several vicious kicks, one 
of which caught him squarely between the shoulders, his 
heavy, sheepskin-lined mackinaw being all that saved him 
from a broken back. A few seconds time, just then, could have 
meant life or death to the unfortunate rider. As he was being 
dragged on the side of the kicking horse nearest me, my only 
chance was to take a quick aim at the plunging horse s head 
and shoot him. Since both the horse and Shorty, now uncon 
scious, were in a moving, jumbled mixup, it was risky, but I 
had to take the risk, and quickly. So I fired twice in rapid sue- 



The Cowboy 91 

cession at the horse s head and he immediately took a nose 
dive and landed dead across the cowboy s legs. Shorty was 
badly bruised and still unconscious when I got to his side. I 
was obliged to use my horse and rope to ease the dead broncho 
off his legs. However, a couple of months around the bunk- 
house with a pair of homemade crutches and Shorty was back 
in the saddle again, as good as ever. 

My second experience includes the unusual medical knowl 
edge of an elderly Crow Indian grandmother. Lone Eagle and 
I were out one day in the late fall, looking for some stray 
horses. I was riding a green broncho which I had selected to 
break as a rope horse. After riding for some time, we sepa 
rated in order to cover two coulees some distance apart, agree 
ing to meet at a designated point on the river. 

After perhaps an hour I came to a narrow creek, spanned 
by a short log corduroy bridge, which had been built as a 
wagon-crossing. My horse had never crossed a bridge before 
and when his foot hit the logs the strange sound frightened 
him and he suddenly whirled around. I wanted to get him 
used to crossing bridges, so, stroking him gently, I tried again 
to get him on the bridge, but at the first step on the logs he 
reared and bolted. After a little more waiting I tried again 
to induce my green broncho to cross the bridge. As he again 
reared up suddenly, the large bridle buckle on top of his head 
struck me squarely on the chin and knocked me backward. I 
must have tightened up on the bit, and his hind feet slipped 
on the wet ground and he came over backwards so suddenly 
that I could not swing out of the saddle in time, and we both 
landed in a heap on the ground. 

I was somewhat dazed from the blow on my chin and when 
I realized what had happened I saw that my boot was still in 
the stirrup under the horse. My horse then made a lunge to 
get up and I knew that if he did, I would be unable to get 
up in the saddle, as my leg was numb and stinging. My first 
thought was that, should he get to his feet, he would start 
kicking and drag me, so I pulled on the one rein to hold his 
head down so he could not get to his feet. He was lying on 



92 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

my leg and hip, but I dared not try to move or let him move. I 
knew I could not hold on much longer, and my only chance 
was to shoot him where he was. My gun was still in the holster 
and luckily was on the upper side where I could reach it with 
out difficulty. So, still holding tightly to my horse s head by 
the one rein, I placed my .38 as close to the horse s temple as 
possible, and fired. After a few struggles, he stretched out, still 
on top of my leg. My entire leg was cold and numb, and I was 
quite shaken up. It was fully an hour before I succeeded in 
uncinching my saddle and, by pushing and pulling, I finally 
freed myself from under my dead horse. 

My leather chaps had protected my leg from scratches, but 
my foot had been caught in the wooden stirrup, which was 
twisted sideways and broken by the weight of my horse. It was 
swelling badly, when I stepped on my foot it was as numb as 
a piece of wood. It was at least two miles to the nearest ranch 
house on the river. Slowly I made for it along the creek road 
and had gone not more than a quarter of a mile, when I saw 
a lone rider on the ridge above me. I shot twice to attract his 
attention, and as soon as he saw me he came on a gallop to my 
assistance. He took me to the ranch house and then, borrow 
ing another horse from the rancher, he went back after my 
saddle. 

The ranch belonged to an old-country German and his 
Crow Indian wife. This elderly Crow grandmother cut my 
boot up the front and then cut up a deerskin in one long strip 
some four inches wide by cutting around and around the hide 
until she had one long band of buckskin. This she put into a 
pail of water for a few minutes and then, wringing it out with 
her hands, she wrapped it tightly around my foot and ankle 
until it was as large as a football. Then she arranged me in 
a chair so that my foot was on the oven door of the kitchen 
range. For two hours the oven heat shrunk this bandage of 
deer skin, then she removed it, soaked it again, and repeated 
the process all that evening and for several days following. 

In the meantime, the cowboy who had brought my saddle 



The Cowboy 93 

to me went down to the appointed spot to tell my brother of 
my mishap. 

I was at this old German s ranch for nearly six weeks, while 
his faithful Indian wife attended to my broken foot. Some 
years later, in Lewistown, when I was enlisted in the first 
world war, the examining physician noted a couple of scars 
on my foot and asked the cause. I told him of the incident and 
how the old Indian grandmother had set my broken foot in 
the primitive Indian way. After several X-rays, he told me that 
no modern medical method could have accomplished any bet 
ter results than did the elderly Crow woman. 

Perhaps the cowboy s chaparajos, or "chaps," are among the 
most picturesque items of his everyday attire. These leather 
breeches or leggings were first used in the brushy Southwest 
Big Bend cattle country as a protection to the cowboys legs 
and trousers. The plain leather chaps are generally of the 
fringe or batwing type. The wide batwings furnish a place for 
a little personal decorating initials, ranch brand, or some 
special design in inlaid colored leather. Angora chaps are fa 
vored in the northern country, as a protection against the cold 
winter weather. The natural black and white skins are some 
times varied by dying the white angora hair a golden sunset 
or red shade. When the cowboy is mounted, the chaps, like the 
high-heel boots, are the ultimate in perfection and comfort, 
but to get caught afoot a half day s journey from your home 
corral, in either one, or both, would be the cause of a lot of 
uncomplimentary and sarcastic remarks. 

The cowboy s saddle is a masterpiece in wood, steel, leather, 
and workmanship. It is personal property in every respect, and 
it generally is made to the owner s detailed specifications. 
Built to fit him like a pair of gloves, its strength and beauty of 
line are the pride and joy of any cowhand. Plain as a new shoe 
sole or beautifully hand stamped, it is perfect in design and 
workmanship. The plain leather job sets the cowboy back 
some forty to fifty dollars, but a full stamp job could cost sev 
eral hundred. How these rawhide-covered saddle trees could 



94 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

stand up under a rolling half-ton horse, or take the sudden 
jerk from a running thousand-pound steer at the end of a 
forty-foot rope was always a marvel to me. 

Up In our country could be seen any number of Meana and 
Ernst saddles, from Wyoming, and the Furstnow and Cogshell 
jobs were favorites from the Miles City shops. Saddles varied 
as to the swell of the fork and type of trees used. Rigging 
varied from three-quarters to center fire and double cinch, 
depending on the part of the country in which they were used. 
The boys from the level country liked the single-rigged saddle 
best, but in the hilly country the double rig was preferred. 
Some ropers liked a double rig, especially if they headed 
toward the rope, otherwise, they often had to ride the cantle 
in order to keep from tipping the saddle up in the back. 

The bridle often was handmade of plaited leather or horse 
hair. The bridle bit usually was of long shank type, with bar 
across the lower end to keep the rope from getting caught be 
tween the two shanks and jerking the horse s mouth. The 
crossbar was of the spade design with brass roller. 

The lariat, always an essential part of every cowboy s equip 
ment, was made of three- or four-strand, hard twist, seven-six 
teenths-inch fine manila or hemp rope and was from thirty to 
forty-five feet in length, the honda* generally was formed by 
splicing a small loop in one end and wrapping it with rawhide 
to take the wear. 

Roping varied in different parts of the West, as well as with 
the individual roper. There were what we called "dally men" 
and "tie-fast ropers." The dally man would make his throw 
first, and when the loop was securely over the horns or feet, 
he would take a couple dallies f around the saddle horn and 
slow down until the rope tightened and the horse held on. 
This method took fast work on the part of the roper, to tie on 
before the animal took up the slack, but it had the advantage 
of not tying the cowboy to something he did not want. 

* Small loop at the end, through which the other end of the lariat is passed to form 
a noose, 
fAct of winding the rope around the saddle horn. 



The Cowboy 95 

The tie-fast roper made his rope fast to the saddle horn be 
fore he made his throw. As soon as he had something in his 
loop he could stop his horse or jump off, as is done in rodeo 
calf roping, thus saving him the time of tying his dallies. This 
method had the disadvantage of occasionally tying the horse 
to some half-ton steer who had managed to get the rope around 
his shoulder or chest and could drag the horse instead of being 
stopped. 

I became a confirmed dally roper quite early in my cowboy 
career, after a very bad throw at a yearling calf who happened 
to be running alongside his fourteen-hundred-pound grand- 
sire. I missed the yearling just as grandpapa made a lunge 
right into my seven-foot loop, which tightened up over his 
shoulder and between his front legs a padded ox yoke would 
not have given him any better pulling power. My rope was 
tied fast with no chance to untie it. When my horse saw that 
I had made a catch, he slid into a sudden stop and, before I 
realized my situation, that three-quarter-ton hunk of bull 
meat came to the end of my rope, and stood my nine-hundred 
pound cayuse and me right on our sky pieces. I was piled 
up between my own bronc and the whiteface bull. I finally 
made it back into my saddle again just in time for Mr. Bull 
to make another lunge at about a right angle to our former 
position. He succeeded in jerking my horse down on his side, 
where I also landed astraddle the rope, with the saddle at 
about half mast on my horse s side. The bull kept the rope 
taut, and I could not get my horse on his feet until the bull 
made for our general direction, when I managed to get the 
grounded saddle horse between me and the bellowing bull. 
My only course to relieve the situation was to saw my new 
lariat in two with my pocket knife. The last I saw of our bull, 
he was running across the flats with about thirty feet of my 
new black jack rope. Since then I have always been in favor of 
the dally method. 

Occasionally, some of the boys carried a twisted horse-hair 
rope about twenty feet long, which they placed on the ground 
around their beds, hoping the bristly horsehair would keep 



96 Lone Eagle - the White Sioux 

any night-prowling rattlesnake from crossing over to their 

beds, 

I recall an old-time roundup cook who always laid his black 
and white braided horsehair rope very carefully around his 
tarpaulin before he rolled in for the night. One morning, how 
ever, when rolling up his bedroll, he discovered a large dia- 
mondback rattler coiled up under the edge of his tarp. He very 
carefully examined the rope which still formed a complete 
loop on the ground around his bed and his long belief that a 
rattlesnake would never cross over a horsehair rope was shat 
tered. However, he decided to give his ancient theory another 
test, so he carefully removed his bed without disturbing the 
coiled snake. We all stood back some distance from the snake 
and watched him with interest, when, a few minutes later, he 
slowly uncoiled and crawled over the braided rope as uncon 
cerned as if he had been traveling down a smooth sand road. 
From that day on our veteran chuck wagon cook never both 
ered to encircle his roundup bed with the gaily colored horse 
hair rope. 

The cowboy is so perfectly at home in the saddle that he 
can even sleep on his horse. Many are the times I have seen 
a cowboy companion, after a hard day s ride, coming in to the 
ranch soundly sleeping in his saddle, with only the occasional 
forward nodding and drooping of his head to indicate the 
rider was asleep. But let the horse shy, stop, or even change 
from his regular gait for a second, and the sleeping rider 
would instantly awaken with a quick tightening of his knees 
and alertness of his body. 

I once made a trip from a neighboring ranch after a long 
day s ride in the saddle. I had stopped at this ranch for supper 
and started for home, a distance of perhaps ten or twelve miles, 
immediately after the evening meal. I rode up out of the 
river flats and onto the bench land toward home on one of my 
favorite rope horses which I had left at my friend s ranch for 
a few days, while looking for some stock in the vicinity. A 
horse will return to his home ranch, even after years of ab 
sence, though the distance may be several days journey. 



The Cowboy 97 

My little broncho could follow a trail at night as good as 
any hound dog, so I was confident that three or four hours 
would find us at the familiar Eagle Bar Ranch corral gate. I 
was tired, but my wiry mount had been resting for several days 
and was in the best of spirits, so I knew we should soon be 
home. After an hour or so I became very sleepy and, looping 
my bridle reins over the saddle horn, I placed my hands on 
the pommel and soon found myself nodding in short cat naps. 
I guess I was dreaming a little too much of the old high gate 
and my own cozy bed, because the next thing I knew my faith 
ful little broncho stopped short and I awoke with a sudden 
start. I gathered up my reins, as before me loomed a high pole 
gate and corral bars, but somehow, they did not look familiar. 
It was not the corral gate of the Eagle Bar Ranch. In fact, I did 
not know where I was. I looked at my watch; it was 1:30 A. M. 
Four hours earlier I was well on my way along the Basin road, 
riding toward home. 

After a few minutes look around, I realized I was standing 
in front of the corral at the H Cross Ranch, where my faithful 
little mare was born and raised and where I had purchased her 
some eight months before. I was ten miles from the ranch I 
started from, and still twenty miles from home. Somewhere 
along the trail my horse had turned around and decided to 
return to her old home stamping ground, and I had been 
sleeping soundly in my saddle for over four hours. 

The poncho slicker and perhaps a heavy wool blanket tied 
on back of the cantle, completed the cowboy s everyday equip 
ment. He never carried less, and he needed no more. He often 
carried a Winchester carbine in a scabbard under the fender 
of his saddle, and many a coyote was eliminated from the land 
scape at the hands of these range riders. 

Many incidents in the daily life of a cowboy are amusing to 
the casual looker-on, even though they may be fraught with 
danger. Lone Eagle and I were out in the north country bad 
lands one day looking for some strayed cattle. We had divided 
on a ridge, to meet again in a coulee a couple miles down the 
creek, and Lone Eagle had located a small bunch of young 



98 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

dogies in a coulee near the place we had agreed to meet. In 
looking over the herd, he found one yearling that appeared 
to have a few feet of barbed wire tangled around one front 
leg, and wishing to remove the offending tangle of wire, he 
took down his rope and threw a loop over her head. He took 
a couples of dallies around the saddle horn, dismounted from 
his horse, and followed the forty-foot rope down to the animal 
at the other end. He decided he would have to throw the calf 
in order to remove the wire, but the calf proved to be a little 
too much for him to toss around easily. His broncho was hold 
ing the rope, as all good rope horses should, but the calf still 
refused to be downed in the somewhat vigorous wrestling 
match. Finally the calf decided to make a few fast circles 
around the horse, which Lone Eagle tried to halt by holding 
on to the rope some fifteen or twenty feet from the calf. How 
ever, the calf had made a couple of extra circles that were not 
taken into account by my brother the circles being made 
only around Lone Eagle, while the calf dodged under the rope 
just ahead of the horse s nose. Then the calf returned to its 
former position and began a real tug of war with the ever- 
watchful broncho. My brother finally discovered that one of 
the rope loops was around his leg. And trying to extricate him 
self from the loop, he had fallen down and was pretty well tied 
up, about halfway between the prancing calf and his own 
horse. Every time he coaxed his horse up a few feet, the calf 
took up the slack and also took Lone Eagle along with her. 
Just about this time, I rode up over the brow of the hill and, 
seeing the tussle being staged below me, I hurried up to 
the scene to see what the play was. When I saw Lone Eagle 
sprawled out on the ground between the prancing calf and 
the stiff-legged cowpony, I burst out laughing. Then Lone 
Eagle began laughing as loudly as I. It was fully ten minutes 
before we could stop our hilarity long enough for me to put 
another rope on the calf and take the slack out of Lone Eagle s 
rope. 



Chapter XI 




Lone Wolf-The Sioux Scout 

AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE 



THE AMERICAN INDIAN HAS THE UNDISPUTED REPUTATION OF 

being the best scout the world has ever known. On the West 
ern plains in the early days the scout was, next to the war chief 
and medicine man, the most honored and respected man in 
the tribe and, in war time, the most important. Every tribe 
and band had their scouts, whose duty it was to watch for 
enemy approach and to find the location of enemy camps and 
war parties. During raids on neighboring tribes or settle 
ments it was the scouts who made the perilous trip in advance 
to learn the strength of the party or to locate the ponies or 
other loot of war to be taken. 

The scout either traveled alone or in pairs; rarely ever more 
than two were sent out together. His work was perilous and 
his life was always in danger. It was his craftiness against all 
the enemy, which in many cases numbered hundreds of even 
thousands of Indians, that saved his life in many instances. 

His exploits and adventures were always far from his own 
people and many a narrow escape was made or daring fight 
won against great odds which had no witness except himself, 
and he seldom if ever spoke of it. On the other hand, many 
a lone scout was sent out by his chief on a reconnoitering 
expedition in enemy country who never returned to tell what 
happened. 

99 



100 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

On the frontiers of our Western states there were numerous 
Army posts where small detachments of soldiers were sta 
tioned for the protection of the pioneer settlers and ranchers 
against a possible attack from roving, hostile Indian bands. 
The majority of these forts consisted of a group of low log 
buildings and barracks built around a small court or drill 
grounds. Surrounding this group of clustered buildings was a 
stockade of ten- to twelve-inch logs set perpendicularly in 
the ground, forming a solid wall some fifteen to twenty feet 
high completely around the post quarters. At each of the four 
corners were the sentinel posts set slightly out over the stock 
ade fence, which gave the sentinel a full view of the entire 
wall. 

Every old-time officer who has commanded Army posts on 
our Western frontier knows of the valued services rendered by 
friendly Indians who were employed for scout duty. Among 
the many such Indians was Lone Wolf, a young man of the 
Oglala band of Sioux, who began his career as a scout for the 
government shortly after the close of the Civil War. Besides 
being a plainsman, he spoke half a dozen different Indian lan 
guages, which made him a valuable man as an interpreter 
when encountering Indians of other tribes. 

Lone Wolf served as scout with such men as Generals 
Custer, Miles, Reno, Pratt, and Hugh L. Scott during the cam 
paigns in the West, and always remained loyal to the govern 
ment until his death on the Pine Ridge Reservation, in 1915. 

Having known Lone Wolf since I was a small lad, I gained 
his most intimate friendship and thus heard many a true and 
interesting narrative of his life as an army scout. But perhaps 
one of the most remarkable feats of scouting he accomplished 
was the trailing of Antone La Pierre, a renegade Canadian 
half-breed. It was in the late fall of 1908 that the cowboys at 
the Horseshoe Bar Ranch had finished their horse roundup 
and were getting ready for the coming winter. They had 
rounded up some six hundred horses belonging to the oufit, 
which were to be kept on the range near the home ranch until 
spring. Among this bunch of range horses and Indian ponies 



Lone Wolf -The Sioux Scout 101 

were some fifty head of grade stock showing a marked strain 
of Morgan type. As these horses were in great demand for 
cavalry purposes, it was decided to run them on the range In 
a bunch by themselves where they could be broken during the 
winter and sold to the government the following spring. We 
herded them closely for awhile, but, as they did not seem in 
clined to graze far from the ranch, we became less watchful 
of their movements and only rode out to see them as we de 
sired new mounts to be broken. 

One day, however, several of the cowboys rode out to the 
herd for more horses but, on reaching the accustomed range, 
not a single one of the remaining twenty horses could be 
found. A general roundup was sent out a few days later, but 
not a trace of the Morgans could be found. They had been 
stolen and driven out of the country, leaving no clue to the 
direction they had been driven or to the thief. 

Lone Wolf, who had long since retired from active service 
as an Army scout, having no tepee of his own, was an interest 
ing and welcomed visitor among the ranch homes of the Da- 
kotas and Montana. It was his custom to spend the winters 
on the various ranches in the Indian country and, as the warm 
spring days drew near, he would bid adieu to his friends and 
return to the camps of his people. 

It was during the fall roundup on the reservation that we 
met up with the veteran scout and invited him over to the 
Horseshoe Bar to spend the winter. When we returned from 
hunting our stolen horses, Lone Wolf announced that, on the 
following morning, he would go in quest of the missing ani 
mals. He was then nearing seventy years of age, but insisted 
that he would find the stolen herd or capture for us, single- 
handed, twenty of the best wild horses that roamed the Black 
Hills country. 

True to his word, Lone Wolf saddled up one of our best 
horses and, taking another for a pack animal, started out the 
next day in quest of the stolen horses. We watched him as he 
rode out of sight in the distance. A week went by and we re 
ceived no word from our Indian friend. The Moon of Long 



102 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Nights (December) had come and gone, followed by the Snow 
Moon, with its usual blustery weather, and it turned steadily 
colder. The snow had piled in great drifts in the coulees and 
ravines on the bleak open prairies. We became uneasy about 
our friend, as we well knew the perils of being out on the 
prairies in the raging blizzards. But, as there were Sioux 
camped along most of the large rivers and many ranchers 
homes dotted the prairies, it was likely that Lone Wolf would 
find shelter if traveling became difficult. One evening we were 
very much overjoyed to see the ranch house door quietly open 
and the stalwart form of the veteran scout standing in the light 
of the open doorway. We heartily welcomed our lone friend 
and after a warm supper invited him to a seat near the roar 
ing fireplace, where he filled his red stone pipe and leisurely 
began to smoke. 

"The Great Snow Maker has covered all the prairies with a 
deep blanket," I ventured to Lone Wolf as an introduction 
to conversation. 

"Ugh; much snow and much cold are everywhere; Great 
Snow Maker makes hard travel for ponies," he ventured in 
return. 

"We are happy to see you return alive from the furies of the 
frozen prairies/ I said, in hope of drawing out the story of 
his quest for the stolen ponies. We sat in silence and eagerly 
watched his bronze face as he puffed away at his pipe of kin- 
ni-kin-nik. After many minutes o smoking and gazing into 
the crackling fireplace he began slowly to relate the story of 
his trip to the far north country. 

The first two days were spent in locating the right trail, as 
there were so many small herds coming and going over the 
range near the Horseshoe Bar corrals that all trace of an out 
going herd was covered up by the numerous horse tracks. He 
had finally succeeded in discovering the right trail, which led 
directly south for a distance of fifty miles, and crossing the 
White River, led west through the Badlands, until it reached 
the western side of the Black Hills. There the trail of the 
twenty stolen horses and the mounted rider circled several 



Lone Wolf -The Sioux Scout 103 

times, and after crossing and recrossing the Little Big Horn 
River the trail turned in a northerly direction. 

Lone Wolf carefully followed the trail through the rough 
Big Horn country and on into the alkali flats toward the north. 
The lone horse rustler seemed to know the country and was 
making good time driving the herd. Owing to the delay in 
starting and the difficulty in trailing over broken country, the 
rustler succeeded in keeping several days ahead of the lone 
Indian rider. 

Many days passed and Lone Wolf still followed the trail 
toward the north, while the weather grew quite cold and light 
flurries of snow made the trail more difficult to follow. He 
was slowly gaining on his quarry and often found where the 
renegade had built his campfire only a few nights before. 

He was nearing the Canadian border, just south of the Gros 
Ventre country, and was not more than two days behind the 
herd, when a cold northwest wind came up, bringing with it 
a blinding snow squall, which got worse as the hours passed 
until it became a raging blizzard which lasted three days. To 
go farther was impossible, besides the renegade was now in his 
own country and, not knowing that he was being followed, 
would hold the stolen horses in the Gros Ventre country until 
spring. Lone Wolf, confident that the herd and their driver 
could easily be found the coming spring, decided to return to 
the ranch with the information he had gained. 

After a long and perilous ride over rough, windswept coun 
try and many days of suffering in raging snowstorms the half- 
starved Indian made his way across the mountains and prairies 
to the log ranch buildings of the Horseshoe Bar. 

While Lone Wolf sat smoking his pipe in the glow of our 
blazing fireplace, he gave us a very vivid and exact description 
of the lone rider who had stolen our horses. Although the old 
scout had not once seen the horse thief, he knew his complete 
description, his habits, his home, his tribe, his age, and even 
knew the color of the horse he rode, and the kind of rifle he 
carried on his saddle. 

Early the following spring four of our riders started for the 



104 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Gros Ventre country to try if possible, to locate the renegade 
thief and our stolen herd. The renegade, Lone Wolf had said, 
was a half-breed Cree Indian, about forty years of age, very 
short, but medium stocky, was crippled in left leg, wore In 
dian moccasins with spurs, a beaded buckskin shirt, corduroy 
trousers, and felt cowboy hat. He carried a 45 caliber revolver 
and a .30.30 caliber short barreled carbine in a holster on 
the right side of the saddle. The rider also fired a rifle from 
the left shoulder and was generally left-handed. He was an 
excellent horseman and rider, used a heavy stock saddle, and 
rode a spirited gray horse when he drove the stolen herd to 
Canada. The renegade was experienced in horse rustling, be 
sides being well acquainted with all of the surrounding stock 
country. He had lived with various tribes of Indians as well 
as among white settlers and knew the customs of each. Thus 
the old scout had given to us in detail the description of the 
rustler and the part of the country where he most likely would 
be found. 

Our riders arrived at one of the Mounted Police posts and 
gained the assistance of a squad of Canada s scarlet horsemen. 
After several days of inquiry and search on the reservation, 
the renegade was located living with a family of half-breed 
Crees. He was arrested by the Mounted Police and an investi 
gation made as to his identity and character. He proved to be 
Antone La Pierre, a notorious outlaw who was wanted in sev 
eral states and provinces for horse stealing and other crimes. 
He was of French and Indian extraction and about forty years 
old, short of stature, and stocky. 

Strange though it may seem, the outlaw answered to every 
item of description given by our Indian friend, Lone Wolf, 
and without this description, the capture of La Pierre would 
have been a long and difficult task. After La Pierre s arrest he 
told where the horses were being herded by some of his 
friends, about fifty miles north of the reservation. The entire 
herd was found and driven back to the Horseshoe Bar Ranch. 

The vivid description of the renegade and his characteris 
tics given us by Lone Wolf was a feat of scout work which 



Lone WoljThe Sioux Scout 105 

demanded our highest admiration and it was not until he had 
explained his trip in detail that we could fully understand 
how he gained the detailed information about the wily half- 
breed. After much questioning and persistence he finally re 
lated the story, 

"Cree half-breed knows all the country well, made ride in 
many ways to throw scout off trail, many circles across river 
show Cree been hunted many times before. Paleface make big 
campfire and get far away; Indian make little fire and get up 
close. Paleface no savvy how to sleep warm; Indian scrape fire 
in new place and spread blankets on warm ground. White 
man use many pans and plates to eat from; Indian use none. 
Indian make fire in hole in ground; paleface waste much heat. 
When half-breed camped for night he cut evergreen branches 
to lay blankets on; marks on ground where he slept showed 
he was very short and stocky; footprints on the ground around 
fire were moccasins. Paleface walk with toes pointed little out; 
Indian walk with toes straight ahead, and touches ball of foot 
first; white man steps heel down first. Indian s feet very flat 
while paleface has arched foot; half-breed had medium. Dif 
ference in tracks of left and right foot showed left slightly 
crippled. A spur rowel mark showed behind each moccasin 
track. Young man take long steps; old man take short steps and 
less steady." 

Thus Lone Wolf in his broken English gave us his story of 
the unseen rustler. He went on further to explain how he 
found several bunches of white horsehair on the bark of trees 
where the rustler had tied his saddle horse and where it had 
rubbed Its neck on the tree. Several times his horse had rolled 
in the dust, which showed the imprint of a large saddle and 
short carbine rifle holster strapped on the right side. This 
showed the rider to be left-handed. Also, on several occasions, 
he found empty .go-.go rifle shells and judging from the posi 
tion in which he found them, as related to the moccasin prints 
of La Pierre when he fired, they showed his rifle was fired from 
the left shoulder. The finding of several empty .45 caliber 
shells showed he carried a revolver of that caliber. When 



106 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

kneeling down to build his campfire the imprints of his cordu 
roy trousers could easily be seen by the experienced eye. A 
number o small glass beads picked up once or twice where 

La Pierre had folded up his blankets showed the wearer s shirt 
to be of buckskin, as Indians rarely ever sew beads on cloth. 
That he rode a spirited horse was evident by the array of hoof 
prints on several occasions where his mount had reared and 
bucked with his rider. This also showed that he was an experi 
enced rider. After reaching a certain point near the Canadian 
border, the direction in which La Pierre shifted his course 
showed plainly that he was headed for the Gros Ventre coun 
try and, with the severe weather and the belief that he was not 
being trailed, it was evident that he would not attempt to 
travel farther than the reservation. It was on these facts that 
Lone Wolf based his information and description of the lone 
renegade who had successfully driven a herd of stolen horses 
from Dakota to Canada, a distance of some seven hundred 
miles. 

And to this day, if you should happen to meet any of the 
cowboys who have ridden the ranges of the Horseshoe Bar, 
they are certain to tell you of the trailing of Antone La Pierre 
by Lone Wolf. 



Chapter XII 




Lovers 1 Leap Rock 

AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE 



SOME YEARS BEFORE THE HOMESTEADERS* CABINS WERE BEGIN- 

ning to dot the cattle ranges of Montana, I was out scouting 
for some cattle along the upper brakes and Badlands border 
ing the Missouri River. The country here is truly bad lands, 
as its name implies rough and rugged, yet wonderfully pic 
turesque, and treacherous. From a narrow ridge looking down 
into grassy coulees and rocky canyons, hundreds of feet below, 
one finally works one s way down into a rock-walled canyon 
where one may ride for hours up a narrowing gorge with sheer 
rock walls towering high above. Miles farther the rider may 
still be trying to figure his way out and into the next canyon. 

Here and there is a hidden valley, widening out into a flat 
bench containing hundreds of acres of the choicest grazing 
land. If water is plentiful, nestled along the stream, or among 
the cottonwoods or pines, will be the low, rambling, log ranch 
house of some cattleman, truly in a little kingdom of his own, 
and lord of all he surveys. A country seemingly carved out 
of solid rock, yet vastly real and wonderful in its natural 
ruggedness. 

For days I scouted its ridges and picked my way up and 
down its canyons, each night finding me sleeping close to my 
campfire somewhere in the vastness of this majestic panorama 
of God s great outdoors. Leisurely riding for hours in and out 

107 



108 Lone Eagle -the White Sioux 

of these mammoth canyons, I was certain of only one thing, 
and that was the fact that, no matter how winding or how long, 
eventually they reached and emptied into the great Missouri 
River, to the north. 

At a particular point on the river, where I was emerging 
from a canyon and entering the widening valley in view of the 
river, there stands, on the western side of the canyon, a high 
rock cliff clearly seen from miles around. With a sheer perpen 
dicular wall of perhaps two hundred feet, and not more than 
a stone s throw from the river edge, this cliff was once the 
favorite camping site of many an Indian band. It is located 
about a day s journey westward from the site of old Fort 
Musselshell at the junction of the Musselshell and Missouri 
rivers. Here, as evening overtook me, I made my camp at the 
foot of a cliff known as Lovers Leap Rock. I remembered this 
place as I recalled the tragic story of the rock as told to me 
by my friend, Little Bear, veteran warrior of the Oglala Sioux, 
while we were camped here several years before. 

It was the moon of Falling-Leaves (October) that Chief 
Oglala Fire, with his small band of Sioux warriors and their 
women and children, had killed many "ta-tan-ka" (buffalo), 
along the banks of Muddy Waters. The buffalo grass had been 
plentiful and the great shaggy animals were round and fat. 
The braves had encountered no difficulty in locating large 
herds feeding not far from their watering places and the 
women and children had been busy skinning and cutting the 
choicest meat for the winter s supply. The meat was all 
"jerked" and properly cured and the great hides had been 
staked down on the ground where the more experienced 
women scraped them, ready for the process of tanning for 
robes and tepee covers. 

The buffalo which had been killed on the North Flats and 
bench lands of the river, had been prepared and brought 
across the river in buffalo-skin bull-boats tied to the tails of 
their ponies, which were led across by young Indian boys. 
Sometimes a swimmer would ride one pony and lead another, 



Lovers Leap Rock 109 

pulling the bull-boats, while others would hold on to their 
ponies and herd several at a time. It was all great fun, but 
required no little skill in crossing a quarter mile of treacher 
ous current. The Indian camp was the scene of much work 
and activity and all had a hand in the task of storing the win 
ter s meat, for did not Little Martin, the old gray-haired 
hunter, tell the children that the fur on the ermine was long 
and heavy and the beaver were working overtime on their 
houses which was a sure sign that the coming winter would 
be long with deep snow. 

Oglala Fire was preparing to make his winter camp in the 
sheltered valley of the Badlands, where the ponies would have 
plenty of buffalo grass on the southern slopes of the brakes. 
Not far from them, Yellow Dog and his band of over a hun 
dred tepees had made their camp on Lodge Pole Creek, where 
they claimed the hunting grounds along the Musselshell, from 
the Flatwillow, on the south, down to the junction of the 
Musselshell and Missouri, on the north. Oglala Fire and 
Yellow Dog had hunted over the same buffalo grounds ever 
since they joined forces and drove the Blackfeet toward the 
north several winters before. In fact, Oglala Fire had wished 
to join the two camps as one, but neither of the chiefs desired 
to give his leadership to the other. However, their loyalty to 
each other in time of need was firm, and their friendship was 
never broken. 

Yellow Dog had seen many winters come and go and he 
could no longer see to lead his young warriors on the warpath 
his only son had been but recently slain in the battle of the 
Dry Big Horn in the fight against Red Wolf, and his grandson 
was yet a young warrior of not more than twenty summers, 
although he, even then, had shown great skill and daring as a 
buffalo hunter. 

Oglala Fire was a great warrior, loved and respected by all 
his tribe. His tepee consisted of a devoted wife, and a beauti 
ful daughter by the name of Silver Moon, who had come to 
Oglala s tepee one cold winter evening during the Moon-of- 



110 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

the-Long-Nights, eighteen winters before. Silver Moon was 

beautiful, and skilled in all the craft of the Indian girls. Her 
father was justly proud of his daughter, who wore beautiful 
beads and richly embroidered robes of white deerskin. She 
was the daughter of a chief, and by birth should be the wife 
of a chief, but Oglala Fire was often sad because he had no 
son, who by inheritance would become a chief. 

Oglala Fire was ever desirous that some day the band of 
Yellow Dog and his band should be united as one. Soon 
Yellow Dog s place as chief would be taken by his grandson, 
Swift Arrow, and as the bands were on friendly terms, Oglala 
Fire wanted his beautiful daughter to become the wife of 
Swift Arrow, who had looked with favor on Silver Moon for 
some time. Yellow Dog also believed that the chiefs daughter 
was worthy of his brave grandson and, as time passed, the two 
chiefs arranged that Swift Arrow should take Silver Moon to 
his tepee as his wife. 

The wish of Silver Moon s father was law among his people, 
and she must abide by his decisions, but her reluctant promise 
that she become the bride of Swift Arrow was demanded. She 
gave her word, but she did not give her heart. In her own camp 
was a handsome young brave, with whom she had grown up 
and played since they were old enough to remember. True, 
he had not had the opportunity to boast of great deeds accom 
plished on the field of battle, and his father wore no chiefs 
headdress. Neither did he possess great herds of ponies, but this 
young brave had killed many buffalo, and his tepee was never 
without plenty of venison. Someday he, too, would be a great 
hunter and warrior, but now he had only seen twenty Green- 
Grass-Moons (April). He was brave, and he was handsome, and 
he had promised to build a white buffalo-skin tepee for Silver 
Moon when the first wild geese flew north in the spring, and 
Silver Moon was happy and waiting to share the new white 
tepee with her lover, Gray Dawn. 

But now Gray Dawn s heart was sad. He recently had heard 
rumors that Oglala Fire had announced that Silver Moon was 



Lovers Leap Rock III 

to be given In marriage to Swift Arrow. He could not under 
stand; he could not believe it true; he wished to see and talk 
to Silver Moon, but Silver Moon was kept closely watched in 
her father s tepee and Gray Dawn could get no chance to see 
her. Day after day he waited and watched, but not once did 
he see Silver Moon. 

Not long after, came the day when Oglala Fire sent the 
camp crier to announce that the great feast was ready when 
his daughter was to become the bride of Swift Arrow. The day 
was to be a day of feasting and dancing. Many of Yellow Dog s 
warriors came to attend the feast. Swift Arrow was to claim his 
bride at sunset, just at the time the last rays of sunlight shone 
on the great gray rock above the camp. 

Swift Arrow and his many friends were seen feasting and 
dancing in their beautiful deerskin costumes. Silver Moon 
appeared once or twice near the group of dancers, accompa 
nied by her mother and several elder women. She wore her 
hair tightly plaited in two long braids on either side of her 
head, and was beautifully robed in a white, tanned-deerskin 
dress. She did not join in the gaiety of the dance, but soon re 
turned to her father s tepee. 

The dancing and feasting continued until late afternoon, 
when the thoughts of the merrymakers were turning to the 
approaching event. Swift Arrow had gathered together his 
closest friends to assist him; all the people were anxiously 
waiting. At exactly the hour the sun cast its last ray of light 
on the top of the great gray rock, Swift Arrow and his friends 
would rush into the great white tepee and bring out the beau 
tiful Silver Moon and claim her as his bride. 

The waiting grew intense, as all eyes watched the sun s 
shadow creep higher and higher on the great stone sentinel, 
until the single last ray shone on the very top. Then Swift 
Arrow hastened into the white tepee to bring forth his beauti 
ful bride. All eyes watched the tepee. Soon he reappeared 
alone he called to Oglala Fire, but no one could be found 
in the tepee. No one understood. Where was Silver Moon? 



112 Lone Eagle -the White Sioux 

Then suddenly they heard voices shouting, and Swift Arrow 
cried, "Look, look, up on the great rock!" and far above them 
they saw Silver Moon and her lover Gray Dawn, holding each 
other by the hand while they slowly chanted the death song 
and, as the group breathlessly watched, the two lovers, with 
hands still tightly clasped, leaped to their death, at the last ray 
of the setting sun. 



Chapter XHI 




Indian Strategy 

AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE 



AS I LOOK BACK OVER THE YEARS OF MY BOYHOOD, I AM REMINDED 

of a narrative often told to me by Chief Big Elk, my foster 
father, who roamed the Western plains with old Sitting Bull 
until the latter s death, in Dakota, in 1890. Well do I remem 
ber at the close of the evening meal of cornbread and venison, 
while Cloud Woman, my foster mother, was arranging the 
bearskin robes on the earthern floor of our painted tepee, my 
foster father would take his seat on the ground at the side of 
the tepee opposite the door flap. Filling his red stone pipe with 
the cherished kin-ni-kin-nik, he would smoke and gaze out 
over the open prairie or into the low-burning embers of the 
evening fire, which told me that he was thinking of the days 
when the Sioux Indians were monarchs of the great Western 
plains. 

It was at these times that I would edge up close to his side 
and ask him to tell me of his warrior days when he was a lad 
like me, and the paleface soldiers had not yet come to build 
strong houses on the prairies. Many are the interesting and 
exciting stories he has related to me in the dialect of the 
Dakotas in that gaily-painted tepee. One incident in particu 
lar, which nearly cost his life and the lives of his entire party, 
was a narrative often related, and one which I well remember. 

113 



114 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

During the severe winter of 1870-71 the buffalo in the Sioux 
country had followed the storms toward the west. The Teton 
and Oglala bands of Sioux then roamed the prairies of the 
Dakotas west of the Missouri River as far as the Crow and 
Blackfeet country, in Montana. The following spring, it be 
came necessary to send out scouts toward the west to find out 
where the buffalo had drifted. To the west were the Crows 
and Cheyennes, and to the northwest were located the fierce 
tribe of Blackfeet, all enemies of the Sioux. It took the best 
Sioux scouts to go through the enemy s country without being 
seen or trailed. 

My foster father, then a young man of about thirty sum 
mers, was chosen to lead a party of some twenty Sioux hunters 
into the Blackfeet country of Montana and look for the buf 
falo herds. They were all well mounted on Indian ponies and 
most of them carried sawed-off, muzzle-loading rifles of large 
bore. They had traveled many days toward the northwest and 
had encountered several snow squalls, which caused great dif 
ficulty in traveling. Being in the early Green Grass Moon 
(April), the buffalo grass and bunch grass were not sufficiently 
strong to keep the leg-weary ponies in traveling condition; 
besides, they had seen no buffalo and their only food con 
sisted of several half-starved pronghorns and an occasional 
sage hen. 

They had traveled as far as the Little Snowy and Bear Paw 
Mountains, in central Montana, but had not found the main 
buffalo herds only a few straggling, half-starved calves and 
old cows. From a French and Cree half-breed trapper they 
learned that there were large herds of buffalo on the other side 
of the Little Snowy mountain range in the Snow Hole, which 
is now known as the Judith Basin, in Fergus County. As their 
ponies were nearly exhausted from their long journey through 
the Badlands and the lack of sufficient food, the party decided 
to leave their horses and three of their number on the south 
slope of Black Butte until they returned from their trip into 
the Judith Basin country. As Black Butte was the highest point 



Indian Strategy 115 

In this vicinity, the three hunters could station a scout on top 
of the pinnacle, who could see plainly all the country for many 
miles around. 

My father and his remaining sixteen hunters started on 
their perilous journey across the mountains to the Snowy Hole 
Basin on the western side. Every precaution had to be taken, 
as they were far into the enemy country of the warlike Black- 
feet. On the third day of their journey they reached the west 
ern slope and began to descend into the beautiful valley 
below. The foothills emerging into the basin are very rough, 
composed of high sandstone cliffs with almost perpendicular 
walls rising a hundred or more feet into the air. The lower 
rimrocks form a high, rough barrier some fifty to sixty feet 
high, and nearly as thick, running for many miles along the 
edge of the basin. 

It was this riinrock that obstructed their view of the basin 
below. And to the back of it, not more than a hundred yards 
away, were the gigantic cliffs they had been so long in descend 
ing, all in plain view of the seemingly imprisoned Sioux hunt 
ers in the narrow gorge below. They had heard that there was 
a narrow, ragged opening some one hundred feet wide, called 
by the French trappers, "Frenchman s Pass/ and known to 
the Sioux as "Bear Gap," somewhere along the rimrock, but 
the exact location they did not know. So it was decided to di 
vide the party and go in opposite directions until the gap was 
located, and the signal given to the remaining party. 

My father and his group took the trail toward the north and, 
after walking a short distance, they came in sight of the pass. 
They sent a courier to the rest of the party and stepped out 
on a gravel knoll in the great opening, which gave them a full 
view of the Judith Basin beyond. What was their great sur 
prise to see, directly in front of them, approaching the gap in 
single file, a war party of ninety to one hundred Blackfeet 
warriors all in full war paint, well mounted, and nearly every 
Indian carrying a rifle, only a few of them being armed with 
bows and arrows. 



116 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

The Blackfeet saw the Sioux hunters at practically the same 
Instant. The leader of the mounted war party signaled his men 
and immediately they spread out over the prairie in a fan 
shape facing the gap their chief in the center and slightly in 
advance of the semicircle. The small party of Sioux hunters 
was trapped. To escape afoot was impossible. For the mere 
handful of Sioux to fight the one hundred mounted Blackfeet 
facing them was certain death. They hastily scanned the nar 
row canyon and the steep cliffs back of them. They would 
easily be overtaken by the horsemen if they followed the can 
yon, and to attempt climbing the jagged cliffs would be very 
slow work, besides being in easy rifle range of the Blackfeet 
when they entered the gap, 

The knoll or ridge on which they stood was slightly higher 
than the space between them and the cliff in the rear, and by 
stepping back a few yards toward the cliff and stooping slightly 
they would be completely hidden from the view of the war 
party out on the flats. This small bit of natural formation and 
the strategic instinct of the Sioux leader were the means of 
saving the lives of the little party. While the Blackfeet chief 
and his mounted warriors waited to find, if possible, the exact 
strength of the Sioux party back of the rimrock walls, all of 
the Sioux in the gap walked boldly across to the opposite 
side of the opening, passing out of sight behind the other 
wall. Then, keeping out of sight of the watchful Blackfeet, 
they ran back to the slight depression near the cliff and 
returned in the opposite direction, hidden from view of the 
valley until they were back of the towering walls on the other 
side of the gap. Then they would again boldly walk in single 
file across the knoll in plain view of the amazed Blackfeet; 
always returning to the opposite side of the gap, hidden from 
the ever watchful eyes out in the flats. 

These seventeen bold Sioux hunters kept up this continu 
ous march past the open gap until the ninety or more mounted 
warriors out in the valley began to get nervous. After retreat 
ing a few paces, the Blackfeet held a hurried council. Still 



Indian Strategy 117 

the Sioux kept passing in open sight, occasionally firing a pass 
ing shot and giving a yell of defiance to the awe-stricken Black- 
feet. A dozen complete marches were made by the Sioux. The 
Blackfeet had already counted over two hundred Sioux war 
riors hidden behind the rock walls and still they kept passing 
down the canyon. One more hurried call of the frightened 
chief and the entire war party wheeled their mounts and rode 
away across the prairie out of sight, while the Sioux hunters 
made their way safely out of the Blackfeet country. 



Chapter XIV 




An 

AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE 



ON THE WALL OF MY LOO RANCH HO USE ON EAGLE BAR RANCH, 

there hangs a beautiful eagle feather Indian war bonnet. This 
gaily beaded headdress has attracted the attention and admira 
tion of many an Indian and white visitor at the ranch. Many 
an old Sioux chief has asked the privilege of a close inspection 
of its rare beauty and workmanship. 

This gorgeous and most coveted of all Indian wearing ap 
parel contains thirty-one long and most perfect feathers taken 
from the tails of the golden eagle, which is the sacred war eagle 
of the red men. The selected feathers are each about twenty 
inches long and pure white, with the exception of about six 
inches of the tip, which is a jet black. They are arranged on a 
heavily beaded buckskin band, which fits snugly over the fore 
head allowing the feathers to flow toward the back. This 
beaded band is fastened to a cap which fits on the head and 
holds the entire war bonnet in place. The headdress is 
trimmed with beautifully dyed ermine skins. The material for 
such a coveted ornament would mean the capture of three 
eagles and requires some thirty ermine skins. These pelts 
alone would mean several months of hunting and hardship for 
the Indian, not counting the difficult task of tanning and mak 
ing up the material. 

118 



An Indian s Dream 119 

Often while sitting near the open fireplace in my room, I 
have gazed at the array of Indian relics of bygone days which 
bedeck the walls of the interior. There are beaded moccasins 
of a dozen different tribes, red stone peace pipes once the 
sacred property of noted chiefs, tomahawks, bows and arrows, 
scalping knives, snowshoes, gaily colored blankets, bear-claw 
necklaces, various designs of beaded buckskin costumes, and 
even several of the ghastly trophies of the war path scalps of 
my foster father s warrior days. But most beautiful and inter 
esting of all is the eagle feather war bonnet. It has an interest 
ing tale to relate and, when I recall the incident, I smile and 
think of how I became its owner and the price it cost me. 

It was many summers ago, and in the Green Corn Moon 
(August), that my foster father and several of his councilmen 
received an invitation to visit the Mandan Indians, at their 
camp on the Cheyenne River, and to participate in the fall 
council and the four-day Green Corn Dance which was to fol 
low. At my mother s request, it was decided that I could 
accompany them on their six-day journey to the Mandan 
country. I was to ride my favorite pony a pretty black mus 
tang given to me by Moon Dog, one of my father s closest 
friends. According to Indian custom I had named the pony 
after the giver. The trip across the prairie was made on sched 
ule time, and we found the Mandans in full costume awaiting 
the coming events. 

A branch of the Sioux tribe, the Mandans speak nearly the 
same dialect as the Oglalas, so we had but little difficulty in 
conversing with our hosts. I became acquainted with several of 
the Indians of my own age and found them very interesting, 
but not differing much from the rest of the Dakota tribes. 
They seemed, however, to take much interest in the fact that 
I w r as a paleface with an Indian name, and the adopted son of 
Chief Big Elk. We became fast friends and talked much of the 
coming Green Com Dance. Also they greatly admired Moon 
Dog. 

The Mandans, like all of the western plains tribes, take 
much pride in their personal appearance and many a beauti- 



120 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

fully tanned and gaily beaded buckskin costume is worn dur 
ing their ceremonial dances and special tribal occasions. 
Among the younger dancers was a chief s son named 
"Ta-tan-ka Ska" (White Buffalo), and during his part in the 
dance he wore a most gorgeous war bonnet of golden eagle 
feathers. Of all the costumes of the various dancers, White 
Buffalo s war bonnet was the thing that attracted me most. 
Several times I mentioned the subject of trading or purchasing 
it from him, but each time my offer was far below his estima 
tion of its value. In fact he showed no desire to dispose of his 
treasure at all. I had set my mind on owning it if possible, and 
tried every inducement I could think of, but to no avail. 

Finally a new thought came to me. The Mandans are very 
superstitious, as are all of the pagan Indians. They believe in 
dreams, and signs of the season and sky. In fact, every Indian s 
life is strongly guided by his dreams. Even the old-time war 
parties would not go into battle unless their leader was in 
structed to do so by a message sent to him from the Great 
Spirit in a dream, and it was very bad medicine if anyone 
failed to heed the interpretation of his dream; or even if any 
of his friends had a dream about him, and he failed to com 
ply with its interpretations. I will admit that, three or four 
years before, I was a strong believer in all of the Indian super 
stitions, but during my four years at the reservation mission 
school I had given up many of the beliefs taught me from my 
childhood. But, knowing the superstitions of the Mandans, 
I was fully convinced that White Buffalo was no exception to 
the rest of his tribesmen. 

During that night, as I lay in the big painted tepee of our 
host, I thought of how proud I would be if I could only return 
home the possessor of that coveted war bonnet. The following 
morning, even before the Great Light Maker had peeped at 
us from over the eastern horizon, I arose and went to White 
Buffalo s lodge, where I found him preparing his breakfast 
over a newly kindled fire. 

"How, Kola," he greeted me. I returned the greeting in the 
usual manner. "White Buffalo, my friend," I said, as I mo- 



An Indian s Dream 121 

tioned him to sit down on a bundle beside me. "1 had a most 
beautiful dream last night, and in this dream I had come all 
the way from the Oglala country to be your guest; I dreamed 
we became fast friends, even like brothers, and after I had 
visited your lodge for many sleeps, it became time for me to 
return home to my people, but before I departed you gave me 
your beautiful eagle war bonnet as a token of our great friend 
ship, which pleased me greatly/ 

White Buffalo dug his moccasined toe into the dirt at his 
feet and looked troubled. He said nothing, but looked steadily 
into the fire for several minutes. Finally he arose and walked 
into the lodge, returning with the war bonnet on his head. 
Approaching, he bade me stand while he placed it on my head. 
I returned to our tepee, the proudest boy In all the Mandan 
village. 

We had now been with the Mandans nearly a half moon. 
The council and the Green Corn Dance were over and we 
were to return to the Pine Ridge country the following day. 
On the morning of our departure, all of our pack horses and 
saddle ponies were rounded up and run into a rope corral by 
several of the young Mandans. I had just saddled up my own 
horse and was arranging our bed packs on the herd ponies 
when White Buffalo approached me with "How Wam-bli 
Ish-na-la Mita Kola" (Hello, Lone Eagle, my friend). He 
paused for a few minutes and then continued. "Lone Eagle, I 
had a most beautiful dream last night, and in my dream you 
had come from the beautiful country of the Oglalas to visit the 
Mandan people. I dreamed we became good friends, even like 
brothers. You stayed with us many sleeps, and when it became 
time for you to return to your people you gave me a beautiful 
black pony as a token of our great friendship, which pleased 
me greatly/ 

I would rather have given up all my other possessions than 
to part with Moon Dog, my favorite saddle pony, but to refuse 
a friend under the prevailing circumstances was an unpardon 
able breach of Indian etiquette and tribal custom. There was 
but one thing for me to do. I slowly removed the saddle from 



122 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Moon Dog, the choicest of all my possessions, and reluctantly 
handed the bridle reins to White Buffalo, who led him away 
out of sight among the Mandan lodges, while, with tear- 
dimmed eyes, I placed my saddle on one of my father s extra 

pack horses and accompanied the party back to the Pine Ridge 

country, a lonesome lad with a much saddened heart. And 
even yet, when I gaze at the beautiful war bonnet, I often 
smile and wonder if White Buffalo really did have the vision, 
which cost me my faithful pony. 



Chapter XV 




Ouster s Last Battle 



AUTHENTIC VERSION OF THE OUSTER BATTLE AT THE LITTLE BIG 
HORN, AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE* 



IT HARDLY SEEMS POSSIBLE THAT OVER THREE-QUARTERS OF A 

century have passed since the famous battle of the Little Big 
Horn, which still lives so vividly in the minds of many Indians 
and whites in the Northwest. General Custer asked for it, but 
it was too bad he had to take so many good men with him. 
Custer went out to kill the Sioux, and they killed him instead. 

The history of the famous Custer battle, so commonly called 
"The Custer Massacre" has been written and rewritten by his 
torians until every American schoolboy has heard of the 
"Charge of the Gallant Three Hundred/ and yet none of the 
histories coincide in detail except as to the fact that not a 
man of Custer s troops escaped alive. Hence there was not 
one survivor left to tell the tale of that eventful twenty-fifth 
day of June, 1876. 

Because of the fact that there were no white survivors, it is 
evident that the only true story concerning this much mis 
understood event would have to be obtained from the Indians 
themselves. Since the American Indians are, as a race, very 
reticent on matters of this nature and, furthermore, were of 

* The particular interest in this story lies in the fact that it is probably the first pres 
entation of the famous Custer Battle from the viewpoint of the Indian rather than 
that of the white man, 

123 



124 Lone Eagle -the White Sioux 

the opinion that they were regarded as standing enemies of 
the United States government and would, no doubt, soon all 
be rounded up as military prisoners, it is no wonder that they 
hesitated to acknowledge any participation in this battle. I 
lived all my younger life among the Sioux of the Dakotas and 
Montana, and knew personally and intimately more than half 
a hundred Sioux who took part in the battle against Ouster s 
command. I have heard detailed descriptions of the battle 




SIOUX VETERANS OF THE CUSTER BATTLE, AT CROW AGENCY, MON 
TANA. PHOTO TAKEN BY LONE EAGLE, JUNE 25, 1926, JUST FIFTY 
YEARS AFTER THE BATTLE. 



from many different Indians who took the scalps from the 
Custer slain. 

Among the warriors who have given me the most detailed 
descriptions of every phase of this battle was my foster father, 
who last rehearsed for me the position of the various groups of 
men (both Indians and soldiers) on the very site of the battle 
field one afternoon in June, 1912. Here he also pointed out to 
me two markers on the east slope of the knoll where he 



Custefs Last Battle 125 

"counted coup." Another Indian who accompanied us was 
Curley, who was employed as scout by General Custer at the 
time of the battle. Curley was a fullblood Crow Indian. I 
knew Curley and his family well, having lived near him for 
several years and visited at his ranch many times. He has often 
told me that he was with Custer s command during the greater 
part of the battle, but took no actual part. Once or twice he 
begged Custer to get away or surrender to the Indians, but 
Custer refused, saying he would rather die fighting than sur 
render or be taken alive by the Indians. When Curley saw 
that the soldiers had no chance, he made for cover and 
wormed his way into a bunch of brush near the bottom of a 
coulee. He finally gained a position among the Sioux, back of 
the mounted Indians who were steadily closing in on the sol 
diers near the crest of the knolL Curley took no actual part 
on either side and was in no way molested by the Sioux, who, 
he stated, must have known he had been with the soldiers at 
the beginning of the fight. 

After the battle, Curley returned to his people and later 
became a stock raiser and small farmer near the Little Big 
Horn. He died of pneumonia at his log ranch home on the 
Crow Reservation only a few years ago at the age of about 
eighty. 

An error often seen, even in history, is that "Chief* Sitting 
Bull was the head war chief and leader of all the victorious 
Indians at the battle of the Little Big Horn. This is a gross 
mistake. Sitting Bull ("Ta-tan ka-eyo-tan-ke"), literally trans 
lated "Buffalo-he-sits-down" or "Sitting Buffalo/ was a mem 
ber of the Hun-ka-papa band of Sioux and was a medicine 
man or high priest and never was considered a war chief. Dur 
ing the Custer fight he was confined close to his tepee in the 
Hun-ka-papa main camp down on the river, some three miles 
from the scene of the battle, with a badly crippled leg which 
he had received the day previous by being kicked by a 
wounded pack animal. 

I never knew Sitting Bull personally, but I knew his widow 
and young daughter and several relatives who vouched for the 
above information. One of his nephews, Chauncy Yellow 



126 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Robe, was a professor In the government Indian School at 
Rapid City, South Dakota, until his death a few years ago. 
His mother was a sister of Sitting Bull. 

Sitting Bull was, perhaps, the most written about and the 
most misunderstood of all our Indians of the West. He was 
also the most misrepresented by the self-appointed historians 
and sensational feature writers of that era, whose knowledge 
of Sitting Bull and the West in general was drawn from hear 
say or from pure imagination. 

Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, chief of the Oglalas, were 
invariably heralded by these sensational feature writers as 
being the commanders-in-chief of all the Indian warriors at 
the Little Big Horn. The fact is that Indians in battle never 
had commanders-in-chief or sub-commanders as in our mili 
tary system of fighting. Each tribe had various warrior socie 
ties of voluntary organizations each with its own head chief 
and minor chiefs. These chiefs were instructors and advisors 
in quiet times and never were commanders in time of battle. 
In battle each individual warrior and each individual warrior 
chief fought in his own way and not according to orders from 
any superior. His method of fighting individually from be 
hind rocks, trees, brush, and natural geographic formations, 
as well as from the back of his swiftly running horse, made him 
the feared warrior of the plains. It was such warriors who not 
only outnumbered General Custer at the battle of the Little 
Big Horn but out-generaled him as well. 

Of the five Sioux tribes the Hun-ka-papas, Oglalas, 
Minneconjoux, San Arcs, Blackfoot Sioux, and the Cheyennes 
represented at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, each had 
its own chief. Although Sitting Bull, of the Hun-ka-papas, and 
Crazy Horse, of the Oglalas, were regarded as the two most 
able chiefs of the alliance, neither had any authority whatso 
ever outside of his own tribe. 

For years, Two Moons also has been heralded as the great 
war chief of the allied Cheyennes against Custer. Old 
Cheyenne Indians say that, in 1876, Two Moons was a minor 
warrior chief, one of twenty-seven minor chiefs then in the 



Ouster s Last Battle 127 

tribe. In the fall of 1877, one year after the Glister battle, Two 
Moons and a small band of Cheyennes surrendered to General 
Nelson A. Miles at Fort Keogh, Montana, near where Miles 
City now stands. For Two Moons quiet and peaceable submis 
sion to the general s request, the general "appointed" him a 
chief, a position never recognized by the Indians themselves. 
Hence, Two Moons was only a "white-man-made chief/ 
which meant absolutely nothing to the Cheyennes. 

Sitting Bull, according to his tribe and all the Indians who 
knew him, was considered one of the ablest, bravest, and most 
respected medicine chiefs * of his day. He won disfavor of the 
local Indian agent and the government only because he would 
never submit to white man s rule. He steadfastly refused to 
sign away the tribal lands of his people to the greedy federal 
land grabbers and was a true and loyal guardian to his trust. 
Among his people, he was known as a man desiring war only 
against whiskey traders and the encroaching white man on his 
hunting grounds. His way of maintaining peace and keeping 
out of trouble was to remain entirely out of touch with whites 
and their demoralizing firewater. Sitting Bull never went out 
of his way looking for trouble, but only wished to be left 
alone. Nevertheless he was relentlessly hunted and pursued 
until finally he was shot down under the pretense that he was 
resisting an arrest by order of white men who were unable to 
conquer his indomitable spirit. 

There are several other facts not generally known concern 
ing this battle: General Custer had no previous meeting with 
the Indians, and the Indians were not on the move, but had 
been camped along the Little Big Horn for some time. The 
camp then comprised the largest body of red warriors ever 
assembled, and the greatest mobilization of Indian might this 
continent ever saw not less than 1,800 tepees and over 5,500 
people, of which at least 3,500 were fighting warriors. 

Most of the warriors were mounted and had about an equal 
number of bows and guns. The guns comprised a mixture of 

, * A "medicine chief" or peace-time chief was not considered a war chief. Ed. 



128 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

shell and percussion-cap rifles, the best of which were the mod 
ern 1873 Winchester .44 calibre repeating rifles. Many of the 
older guns were discarded or turned over to the younger 
braves after the Indians gained possession of Ouster s Spring 
field carbines and Colt revolvers. Most of these captured guns 
were retaken from the Indians by the United States Govern 
ment at the time of the so-called Battle of Wounded Knee. A 
few of these old Custer carbines and revolvers are still owned 
by the Sioux. 

On my ranch in central Montana I still have a Colt revolver, 
a Springfield carbine, several brass uniform buttons, a pair of 
saddle bags, and a scalp lock which was taken from the battle 
field by my foster father. 

There was at least one woman warrior among the Indians 
who took an active part in the battle against Custer and his 
men. She was One-Who-Walks-With-the-Stars, a young woman 
of the Oglala tribe and the wife of Crow Dog. Crow Dog rode 
out with others of his band to meet Custer while his wife went 
up the river to locate several of their horses which had strayed 
away from their bunch on the Greasy Grass flats above. Not 
being able to locate them right away, she followed the west 
side of the stream for some distance, when suddenly she saw a 
hatless trooper running down a ravine toward the river on the 
opposite side. She ran behind some trees nearby and watched 
him plunge into the swift current and make for the shore, near 
where she was hiding. He was having considerable trouble 
against the whirling current and was slowly being carried 
downstream to a bend in the river, where the ascending bank 
was steep and the water deep. He managed, however, to get a 
foothold at the base of the slippery bank, and was momen 
tarily compelled to hold on there, shoulder deep in the swift 
water. 

One-Who-Walks-With-the-Stars picked up a club nearby 
and with the aid of a knife in her belt, she slashed and 
beat him over the head until he was forced to let go and she 
never saw him above water again. While still scanning the 
waters below for the soldier she had just encountered, she 



Cutter s Last Battle 129 

heard yelling across the stream and looked up to see another 
trooper running down the ravine closely followed by a 
mounted warrior brandishing a war club and gaining rapidly 
on the man afoot. The trooper had a long gun in his hand and 
ran into the river up to his waist, when, she said, he threw it 
far out into the current and started floundering and swim 
ming for the opposite shore. The current was fairly swift at 
this place and the swimmer was being carried downstream at 
a rapid rate. The mounted warrior did not ride into the water 
but stayed on the opposite bank and slowly followed the 
trooper down the stream. When One-Who-Walks-With-the- 
Stars saw him endeavoring to make for the shore nearest her, 
she ran down to the edge of the water and, still wielding her 
club and knife, she waded out to about waist deep and began 
beating and slashing at the floundering swimmer. He turned 
completely around several times in the water and then started 
back again for mid-stream, but apparently never made it 
across, as she followed downstream for some distance but 
never saw him again. Therefore at least two of Ouster s troop 
ers succeeded in escaping from the ranks of the Seventh on 
the fated hill only to be caught later and slain by a woman 
warrior. 

Crow Dog, husband of One-Who-Walks-With-the-Stars, also 
relates his personal experience that day on the battlefield. 
When he left his camp to ride out with the others, he heard 
guns firing in the distance across the river. At first he did not 
see any soldiers, nor did he know where they were, who they 
were, or how many there might be. He saw many warriors 
afoot and on horseback yelling and running up the hill across 
the river from his camp. He followed for some distance in a 
wide circle up several ravines and when he got to the top of a 
small hill he saw many soldiers, and the Indians gradually 
encircling them from all sides. "Everybody was fighting and 
yelling, and soon the noise and dust and smoke was so heavy 
you could not see or hear anything that anyone was yelling. 
I rode around the soldiers in a circle and saw many loose 
horses. I caught three soldier horses and hurried with them to 



130 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

my lodge across the river, but when I got back I did not see 

any more horses and every soldier man was killed." 

One statement that may be of interest is that not all of 
duster s troops and civilian attaches were scalped as is often 
stated in historical writings. Old warriors state that probably 
one-half of Ouster s men were left on the battlefield with their 
scalps on. Some near the river, where they had tried to make 
their escape through the Sioux lines, were found afterwards by 
the women of the camp and were mutilated in revenge for 
their unprovoked attack on a camp containing old men, 
women, and children. This was, in no sense of the word, a war 
party and had no intention of participating in any attack, as 
Sioux w r ar parties were never accompanied by their women 
and children. 

Ouster s body was stripped of its clothing, but he was not 
scalped. His sorrel horse was captured by a young Sioux and 
ridden by him on many a buffalo hunt in after years. 
Coinanche, Captain Keogh s mount, was found wounded near 
the battlefield two days later by the soldiers who came to bury 
the soldier dead. He recovered from his wounds and was taken 
to old Fort Lincoln, where he was retired and never ridden 
again, but was always led with an empty saddle in all parade 
formations at the old fort, until he died at the advanced age 
of twenty-eight. 

General Ouster did not have long, curly red hair as he is 
so often pictured in paintings and sketches. It is true that dur 
ing his career as a Civil War officer, he did dress somewhat as 
a dandy, with long, flowing locks, in Buffalo Bill frontier style. 
But, just previous to his Indian campaign, a general War De 
partment order was issued which caused him to cut his hair 
quite short, in which style it remained up to the day of his 
death. 

During the commencement exercise of 1924, at West Point 
Military Academy, I had the pleasure of personally meeting 
Mrs. George A. Custer, who, at that time, made her home in 
New York City. With her I visited the monumental tomb of 
her husband at West Point, where he is now buried. She re- 



Custer s Last Battle 131 

lated to me the above facts concerning his personal appear 
ance at the time she bade him farewell for the last time at 
Fort A. Lincoln, Dakota territory, a few days before the battle. 

Here we also correct another error which so often misguides 
the reader concerning the military rank of Coster during his 
campaign against the Sioux. True, George A. Custer ("The 
Boy General") did hold the rank of brigadier general during 
some of his Civil War days but, owing to his repeated habit 
of disobeying orders from his superiors, he had placed himself 
in a bad light with the War Department in Washington and 
had been demoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, which 
title he held at the time of his Indian campaign in the West. 

On the Custer battlefield in Montana, there are small white 
granite markers placed, presumably, at the exact spot where 
every soldier fell, bearing the name of the fallen fighter, but 
the slain troopers were buried in the Custer Battlefield Ceme 
tery, farther down the slope and below the large monumental 
shaft which is inscribed with the names of the 230 or more 
dead. All the troopers except Custer and a few of his commis 
sioned officers lie buried In this cemetery. 

Another question often asked in connection with this battle 
is: How many Indians were killed and what became of the 
dead warriors? None was ever found on the hill among 
Custer s men when Reno * came to bury the soldier dead two 
days after the battle. There were about thirty Sioux warriors 
killed during the battle on that day, and the Sioux dead were 
all left in abandoned tepees along the river. 

Some years ago, while on a visit to my old home on the Pine 
Ridge Reservation, I spent some time at the ranch home of an 
old warrior friend, Spotted Rabbit, veteran of the Little Big 
Horn. Living in his home at the time was his uncle, Ta-tan-ka 
Ska (White Buffalo), then about eighty years old, also a vet 
eran of the Custer battle. White Buffalo was a sort of historian 
of his tribe, and it was from him that I learned the names of 
the Sioux warriors killed by Custer s troops. The names on 
the original deerskin are sketched in Sioux picture writing 

* Reno was a major under Custer but he did not participate in the battle. 



132 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

and are the Oglala Dakota (Sioux) names, I have given a literal 
English translation to these twenty-nine names and, as far as 
I know, this complete list has never been known outside the 
Sioux nation and has never before been published: Deeds, 
Black Fox, Bear-With-Horn, Bad-Light-Hair, Chased-By- 
Owls, Cloud Man, Dog-With-Horns, DogVBack-Bone, Elk 
Bear, Flying By, Guts (or Open Belly), Hawk Man, Kills Him, 
Lone Dog, Long Robe, Left-Handed-Ice, Mustache, Owns- 
Red-Horse, Plenty Lice, Red Face, Swift Bear, Standing Elk, 
Swift Cloud, Three Bears, White Eagle, White-Buffalo-Bull, 
Young Bear, Young Skunk, and Young-Black-Moon. Several 
others were, of course, wounded and crippled. One died of his 
wounds a few days later, while on their hurried move to 
Canada, which would bring the total number of Sioux dead 
up to thirty. 

Lone Bear, a Cheyenne from the Northern Cheyenne Res 
ervation, in Montana, gave the number of Cheyenne warriors 
killed as six, namely: Black Bear, Hump Nose, Lame-White- 
Man, Limber Bones, Noisy Walking, and Whirl Wind. They 
were all buried in the hills west of their camp on the Little 
Big Horn, in the crevices along the rimrocks. Remnants of 
these burials could be seen as late as 1916. 1 believe they have 
all been destroyed by now. 

One Cheyenne warrior also died from his wounds some days 
later, making a total of seven dead among the Cheyennes, or 
a grand total of thirty-seven lost by the combined Indian 
forces against Custer. 

Another interesting incident in connection with Custer s 
last march, was related to me by Mato-Sapa-Najene (Standing- 
Black-Bear), who, with two other young Dakotas named Deeds 
and Brown Back, were sent out on an early morning scouting 
trip to the hills toward the east of the upper Sioux camp. They 
had ridden for some time when they crossed Custer s pack trail 
and, following it for some distance, they found a box of hard 
tack which had been lost from the pack train. They broke 
open the box and began eating, while Standing-Black-Bear 
stood near filling his warbag with the bread. It is supposed 



Custefs Last Battle 133 

that one of the troopers missed the lost pack and was returning 
over the trail looking for it when he saw one of the Indians. 
The trooper shot and killed Deeds instantly. 

Standing-Black-Bear and Brown Back, seeing that Deeds 
was dead, and not knowing how many more soldiers might be 
in the party, hastily mounted their ponies and made a dash for 
the nearest coulee. Following the low ravines, they returned 
to their camp with the news. Deeds was, no doubt, the first 
casualty of the day, even though he was killed miles away from 
the scene of the battle, and some hours before Custer s troops 
met their end. 

Many students of American history have been told that the 
battle lasted all day on that hot and dusty Sunday. The truth 
is that the fight lasted less than two hours from the time 
Custer s bugler sounded "dismount" at about 1 1 130 A. M. The 
Indians were camped along the Little Big Horn River, their 
villages extending along the valley, or bottom lands, for some 
three miles. The Indian scouts had known of the presence of 
soldiers since they first crossed the Yellowstone, but evidently 
did not think that they were coming to the Little Big Horn. 
If so, they did not count on their arrival so soon, as no prepara 
tions were being made for any kind of encounter. Men, 
women, and children were completing their routine morning 
camp work casually. Some of the women were washing along 
the river banks. Their ponies were still peacefully grazing up 
on the benchlands, a mile or more from the villages. Only a 
few of the younger men had gone out and driven in small 
bunches of the horses, which were leisurely drinking along 
the stream. As soon as the warning was given that soldiers 
were in the vicinity, the warriors and young men hurried out 
on the benchlands, rounded up all their ponies, and went out 
to meet the soldiers about two miles above the village. 

Custer was, unknowingly, advancing toward the main camp 
when met by the Indians. As soon as he saw the mass of 
mounted warriors advancing toward him from three sides, and 
saw, after a few minutes, that his retreat was cut off, he gave 
o rders to dismount, at which call one man from each squad 



134 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

was assigned to care for the troop horses. Here it was that 
Ouster made his worst blunder, an unwise decision in his posi 
tion and circumstances, that surprised even the Indians. No 
sooner had the soldiers dismounted than the Indians stam 
peded all the horses and pack animals and soon were in pos 
session of hundreds of cases of government ammunition, 
which they much needed and which left the troopers with but 
a few rounds of ammunition before the first half hour of fight 
ing was over. 

The mounted warriors completely encircled duster s troops 
and began firing as soon as they came in range. The shooting 
was heavy at first but grew steadily less as many of Ouster s 
men fell out of the fighting. Hundreds of Indians were riding 
around the soldiers as they hastily formed little groups on the 
side of the hill. Both mounted warriors and Indians afoot 
steadily closed in, as Ouster s men became fewer and fewer. 

General Ouster and his brother, Captain Tom Ouster, were 
among the last score or so of men to be seen assembled in a 
small group near the top of the hill. They were still fighting, 
and endeavoring to make each bullet count, as it was evident 
that they were nearing their last round. As the firing on both 
sides became more and more interrupted^soine of the Indians 
called out to the soldier chief to surrender. 

Here it might be stated that, up to this point, very few, if 
any, of the Indians knew what troops they were fighting or 
who the white soldier chief was. Very few of the Sioux had 
ever seen Ouster and not many knew him by sight. To those 
few who had seen or knew him, he was known as White Sol 
dier Chief "Long Hair," because of his custom of wearing his 
auburn hair very long and since he did not have long hair at 
this time, he was not readily recognized as "Long Hair" even 
after he was dead. Rain-in-the-Face was one of the first to 
recognize him definitely after the battle, because Ouster and 
his brother Tom had once had him under military arrest for 
several months, up in the Dakotas, some years earlier. 

The true facts concerning the last few minutes of fighting 



Ouster s Last Battle 135 

were told to me on several different occasions by not less than 
a half-dozen Sioux who saw It in detail and at close range* 
Custer, so far as is known, was never hit by any of the Indian 
bullets or arrows until all but eighteen or twenty of the sol 
diers were out of the fighting. Then he was seen to grab at his 
side or hip and fall in a kneeling position, and within a few 
minutes he fell or stretched out on the ground with his face 
on his forearm. Many Indians were now yelling to their braves 
to cease firing. No one knew who fired the shot that struck him 
In the side. Rain-in-the-Face often made the claim that he shot 
both the general and his brother, for whom he had a personal 
grudge, but the Indians say that because of the noise, dust, 
smoke, and confusion, no one knew. I knew Raln-In-the-Face 
very well and have seen him and talked with him many times 
at his home in the Dakotas and again only a short time before 
his death, in 1908. He always declared that he recognized and 
shot both the Custers, but I never found anyone who could 
verify the statement. 

The Indians continued firing on the soldiers at intervals 
and, in many instances as the troopers ammunition gave out, 
the warriors rode up and hit them over the head with their 
war clubs or guns to finish them. Also, many were seen to use 
their last bullets on themselves a lost soldier s "coup de 
grace." Spotted Rabbit, one of the half-dozen Sioux who gave 
me the details of the battle, and Big Elk, my foster father, 
were two of a small group who were nearest Custer. While 
they were advancing with caution, a young warrior who had 
lost his brother in the fight, became so enraged at the soldiers 
that he rushed in among the small group and, before anyone 
realized what he Intended to do, he fired point-blank at the 
fallen general as he lay wounded on the ground, sending an 
other bullet into his left side a few inches above the first one. 
At this deed of cowardice even the Indians were enraged at 
the young warrior and eventually disowned him as a mem 
ber of their tribe. He was forced to live apart from his people 
in dugouts and old castaway tents, never being allowed to par- 



136 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

ticipate In any tribal festivities. Some years later he died, a 
hermit, on the Dakota Reservation, 

Whether either of the two wounds received by General 
Custer would have proved fatal no one can say. However, it is 
known among the Sioux that he rallied and fainted by spells 
as the Indians cautiously proceeded toward him. The general, 
gaining a sitting or reclining position, waved them back. 
While the warriors were grouped not far away watching him, 
and before any of them caught the significance of the moment, 
the %vounded general took his revolver from its holster and, 
placing the gun to his head, fired the shot that ended the life 
of the soldier chief who, possibly, might have survived the 
most famous battle in all our western American history. It is 
my belief and also the belief of many of the Indians that 
Custer feared a final torture at the hands of his enemies, but 
I am convinced that they would have spared his life, as they 
held the greatest respect for a brave man, although he may 
have been their enemy. Also, many officers and even the tribal 
chiefs believed that Custer had a chance of becoming the next 
President, and it was their sincere belief that he would treat 
them well. 

In June, 1926, during the fiftieth anniversary of the battle 
at the Little Big Horn, I revisited the scene of the fight in com 
pany with such nationally known men as General E. S. 
Godfrey, William S. Hart, D. F. Barry, Chiefs Standing Bear 
and Joe Red Cloud, of the Sioux; White-Man-Runs-Him; 
Chief Plenty Coups, of the Crows; Chief Two Moons, of the 
Cheyennes; Red Tomahawk, the Indian mounted policeman 
who killed Sitting Bull during the Ghost Dance in Dakota in 
1890; a few veterans of both the Reno and Bentine troops; 
and several Sioux and Cheyenne veterans as guides. We re 
viewed the Custer battle and heard for the last time, no doubt, 
a brief outline of the famous fight of just fifty years before. 
The same evening all the chiefs and aged veterans of the Sioux 
held their last council fire together and, during this very im 
pressive ceremony, they proclaimed their great warrior, Chief 



Ouster s Last Battle 137 

Crazy Horse, as being the greatest Indian that ever lived. They 
then bestowed upon William S. Hart, renowned western 
screen actor and friend of the Sioux, the honored name of 
"Ta-sunka Witko" (Crazy Horse), In whose honor they made 
him an adopted member of the Sioux nation. It was my great 
pleasure to sit in witness of this grand council and welcome 
the last white man ever to be adopted by the veteran warriors 
and red monarchs of the Western plains. 

In closing this story of Custer s last stand, I wish to state in 
behalf of my Sioux brothers that practically all of the past 
hatred and hostility on our Western frontier was due to a gross 
misunderstanding of the American Indian, who was defend 
ing his hunting grounds and his home fires from a stronger 
and superior Invading race. 




HENRY STANDING BEAR (AGE 13) UPON HIS ARRIVAL AT THE 
CARLISLE INDIAN SCHOOL, OCTOBER 6, l88o. 



Chapter XVI 




Last Chief of the Oglalas 

AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE 



WHEN WORD WAS BROUGHT BACK TO THE FINE RIDGE RESERVA- 

tion that the Sioux had completely wiped out the command 
of Long Hair on the Little Big Horn, Totola was but nine 
years old. He had never seen a white man. Buffalo still roamed 
the Black Hills and Dakota prairies in vast herds. 

The Sioux were great hunters and warriors; they ruled all 
the vast country between the Big Sioux River and the Yellow 
stone. Crazy Horse, Hollow-Horn-Bear, Spotted Tail, and 
Standing Bear, his father, had often told their people that this 
vast domain of the Dakotas would always remain the hunting 
grounds of the Sioux. So this young warrior grew up in the 
belief that his people would always be sole rulers of the great 
est buffalo herds in the West, but he did not understand the 
white man s greed for gold and the rich prairie lands of the 
Sioux. He had always had dreams of someday being a great 
hunter and brave warrior like all his ancestors before him, 
but his hopes and dreams were never to be realized. 

When the warriors of his tribe returned from the hunt and 
the warpath, he would sit around the campfire and listen to 
his elders tell of their great deeds of valor, and he dreamed and 
waited for the day when he, too, would be able to relate his 
adventures to many eager listeners. With his bow and arrows 
he became the best hunter among the younger boys. His elders 



140 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

taught him to follow trails through the mountains and over 

wide prairies, where, to the casual observer, there was not a 
visible sign of wild animal or foe. He learned to put on his 
war paint and dance and sing the rhythmic chants of the 
Sioux. He learned all the things that a successful hunter and 
warrior should know. 

By the time he was thirteen, he was ready to go with his 
elders on buffalo-hunting trips and on the war trails. He had 
now outgrown his childhood and had won the right to a new 
and more honorable name. The elder wise men of his tribe 
proclaimed he would, from this time on, be called "Hato 
Najin" (Young Standing Bear), in honor of his father, Stand 
ing Bear, the elder, a great warrior and wise councilman of 
his tribe. 

But here again, unusual events and circumstances were to 
play a part in his life which would change his entire future 
into a path of which he never dreamed. The buffalo were, by 
this time, being swiftly driven off the prairies and wantonly 
slaughtered by the growing numbers of white hunters, just for 
the hides and for sport. Treaties were being broken by the 
greedy white men for the gold in the fabulously rich Black 
Hills, which had been given to the Sioux many years before. 
Also rich prairie lands of the Oglalas were being thrown open 
to the white settlers lands that were promised to the Indians 
of the Dakotas. They could now plainly see that to fight a far 
more numerous and superior force would spell only doom to 
the Indian, although he be the rightful owner of his ancestral 
home. Old warriors and council tribesmen could see that their 
only chance of survival would be to understand the ways of 
the white man and meet him on legal grounds instead of on 
the warpath. Young people of the tribe must go to school and 
learn the white man s ways and then some day be able to have 
an understanding of their problems. 

And thus it was that Young Standing Bear was chosen, 
among others of his tribe, to leave his tepee home and the 
carefree life of the Dakota Indian camps and attend a school 
hundreds of miles away from his people and friends. He ar- 



Last Chief of the Oglalas 141 

rived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, still garbed in blanket, beaded 
buckskins, waist-length braided hair, and face paints, in the 
second year of the Carlisle Indian School, in 1880, when he 
was thirteen years old. Eight years later he was graduated with 
honors never having been permitted to visit his boyhood 
home during the entire time. 

Soon after his return to his people, Henry Standing Bear 
was chosen chief of the numerous Oglala Sioux. He became 
active in tribal affairs and later was acclaimed chief of all 
chiefs of the Plains Indians. He was, without question, one of 
the greatest orators of his race, and was regarded as the fore 
most leader in the annals of the chiefs council and the greatest 
chief of his people in our modern times. 



BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME 

Many suns had kissed the morning, 
Many moons adorned the night, 
Come and gone full many winters 
And as many summers bright. 
The while across the broad prairies, 
Through the forests deep and still, 
O er the plains and up the mountains 
Roamed the red man at his will. 
Warrior, chieftains, men of fame, 
Long before the white man came. 

Neath the pine tree s friendly shadows, 
On the shore of lake or stream, 
Here he pitched his humble wigwam, 
Near the water s crystal gleam; 
And swan-like glide across the water, 
In his light birch-bark canoe, 
Lived in harmony with nature 
And his great god, Manitou, 
Catching fish and trapping game, 
Long before the white man came. 



142 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Reared he here his sons and daughters, 

Nature s children plain and free, 
Temperate, moral, true, and honest, 
He knew no law but liberty, 
Bound by no confederation, 

Scarcely knowing of its worth, 
Yet the Indians were the sovereigns 

Of the greatest land on earth. 
Possession being their sovereign claim, 
Long before the white man came. 

He heard the voice of the "Great Spirit" 

In the thunder s rumbling sound, 

While whispering winds brought him a message 

From the Happy Hunting Ground. 

By suns and moons and winters 

Counted he the days and months and years, 

And in the mystic sky-blue waters 

Read he all his hopes and fears. 

Read destiny in drops of rain, 

Long before the white man came. 

Thus they dwelt for generations 
In their own dear native land, 
From sea to sea an earthly Eden, 
With fish and game at every hand; 
Countless birds sang in the forest, 
Anthems rang from all the trees, 
And the wild flowers in profusion 
Scented every wind and breeze. 
Paradise, or much the same, 
Long before the white man came. 



Chapter XVII 




My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 



AS RELATED BY LONE EAGLE 



IN LOOKING BACK OVER THE YEARS THAT I LIVEJ> AMONG THE 

Oglala Sioux, I recall many Incidents and happenings of the 
carefree life in the noisy Indian camps that contrast, in many 
ways, with my later life with my brother in this modern civili 
zation. The education and training of the Indian boy or girl 
is just as important to his future way of living as our school or 
college is to the paleface young man or woman. The young 
Indian was taught the things that meant his livelihood and 
success in his tepee home and on the warpath. In the old days, 
the training of the boy began at the age of five or six. His 
father fashioned out a bow and arrows for his young son, and 
often the grandfather was his teacher, gray hairs and long ex 
perience being more important and revered than youth. The 
grandfather tells him many stories of the hunt and the war 
path. He hears the thrilling tales of the braves of his tribe. He 
shoots his first bird or small animal, and is praised for it. It 
becomes the topic of many evening talks around the family 
fireside. He feels that he has become important to his family. 
Then there are foot racing and horse racing, ball playing, 
bird hunting, deer hunting, and, in the olden days, the whole 
village went on the buffalo chase. All this was education for 
him. These were the schools in which the Sioux boy was edu 
cated. What the father or grandfather does he will do; what 



144 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

his father knows he will know; the Indian boy is a good imi 
tator; he needs only the example and praise of a brave warrior 
or a good hunter and he strives to be like him or excel if 
possible. 

Sioux children are whipped rarely, they are petted and in 
dulged a good deal, but not more than children in paleface 
families. With few exceptions, they grow up affectionate and 
kind, the pride of father and mother. The love and under 
standing of parents have accomplished this, and the children 
revere and respect their elders more than do many of their 
more civilized paleface neighbors. 

In the long winter evenings, while the fire is burning bright 
in the center of the lodge and the men are gathered to smoke, 
he hears the folklore and legends of his people from the lips 
of the older men. He learns to sing the love songs and war 
songs of generations gone by. He learns to hold up the sacred 
red stone pipe to the Great Spirit of his people. As he grows 
older, he becomes a successful hunter and a great warrior, and 
what he does not know is not worth knowing for a Dakota. 
His education is finished and, if he has not already done so, 
he can now demand the hand of one of the beautiful maidens 
of the village. 

The early-day custom of marriage among the plains tribes 
was picturesque and most romantic. The Dakota boy sees a 
young maiden he would like for his own. If she is out carrying 
water or gathering wood or buffalo chips for the tepee fire, he 
will meet her and assist her in her work. He may walk along 
home with her and, if their friendship should prove mutual, 
he might call on her at her mother s tepee during the evening, 
and serenade her with a "co-tan-ka" (flute) made from an 
eagle s wing bone. When the time comes that he decides to 
claim her hand, he and his parents or friends make up a pres 
ent to the girl s father. This could be large or small, according 
to the wealth of the suitor or his family, and may be anything 
from a gaily colored blanket to many horses. 

This present, or "wo-hapa-pi" which, literally, means 
bundle of purchase is taken to the tepee door of the girl s 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 145 

father. If he moves or takes possession of the present within 
four days, he gives his approval of the young man* However, 
if this is not satisfactory, either because of the small amount 
or the character of the young man, the wo-hapa-pi is left undis 
turbed and the young man is rejected by the father. Some 
times, however, the young couple decides to elope and in 
most cases, this action is forgiven as the moons roll by. If the 
young man s offer is accepted by the girl s father, the suitor 
may claim his sweetheart personally or may send some close 
friend or relative to bring her to his tepee. This constitutes 
the full tribal marriage ceremony and thus begins a new 
family in the Sioux village. Very rarely is such a marriage vow 
broken. 

In the olden days, it was customary for the new son-in-law 
never to speak to his wife s mother. If they saw each other at 
a distance, one of them veered from the path until the other 
passed by. However, they were considered good friends at 
all times and, should either one wish to convey any word to 
the other, someone other than the immediate families would 
gladly carry the message. They never entered the same tepee at 
the same time although the mother could visit her daughter 
at any time she chose, when her son-in-law was absent. 

There is no exact equivalent in the Sioux language for the 
word "home" as we know it. The word "tepee" means house 
or living place. The buffalo-hide tepee was sole property of 
the Dakota wife. She dressed and tanned the skins; she put 
up the tepee and took it down and tied it on her pony s back 
when she was on the trail. But when the gaily painted tepee 
was pitched and the dry grass, bearskins, and robes were in 
place, her warrior took the place of honor, which was the back 
part opposite the door. The wife s place was on his right or 
on the left side as one entered the door. The children came 
in between the mother and the father. The grandmother or 
aunt had the corner by the door, opposite the woman of the 
house. If the man had more than one wife, they had separate 
tepees or arranged to occupy different sides of one. The back 
part of the tepee, the most honorable place and the one usu- 



146 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

ally occupied by the father, was extended to an honored guest 

while visiting the family. 

The picturesque tepee of the plains tribes was practical and 
comfortable in any weather. The making of the tepee was 
done solely by the women. When enough skins were procured 
by her husband, she sewed them together in a size and pattern 
to meet the needs of her family. A twenty-foot tepee required 
a total area of skins some twenty by forty feet square. By means 
of a twenty-foot rope or leather string, she marked out a half 
circle and cut the circular side. This gave her a cone-shaped 
covering some twenty feet high and twenty feet in diameter. 
The best-designed tepee was always a couple of feet more in 
diameter than its height. The smoke flaps at the top were 
arranged in such a way as to draw out the smoke by proper 
arrangement with the prevailing wind. It could also be ar 
ranged to keep out the rains in stormy weather. 

The customary way for the wife to set up her tepee was to 
erect a tripod of three poles of proper length which had been 
tied together near the smaller ends before being raised. The 
larger ends were placed in a previously marked circle on the 
ground. She then set up eleven or twelve more poles evenly 
distributed around the tripod in a circle. These poles were 
then securely tied together by simply walking around the en 
tire circle of poles wrapping them with rope. The tepee cover 
was then lifted up to the top of the conical pole frame by 
means of another pole tied to the proper place on the cover. 
Then it was necessary only to bring each side of the cover 
around to the front, where it was pinned or skewered together 
by small wooden sticks, some six to eight inches long. Stakes 
were driven in the ground to hold the cover firmly down in 
place. 

The door opening always faced the east. The inside often 
was lined part way up by a second piece of hide to keep the 
draft off persons sitting inside. Many skins and robes were 
placed on the floor. A hole some two feet square was dug in 
the center of the tepee for the fire, which was used for warmth 
and cooking. By proper manipulation of the sides and smoke 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 147 

flaps, the smoke could be held In the top of the tepee above 
the family and serve as a mosquito protection in the spring, 
The family all slept in a circle with their heads away from 
the fire. Mats were made of reeds tied with long rawhide 
strings. These mats were some six to seven feet long by three 
feet wide, making a sort of hammock bed and day seat, which 
was fastened at the back or upper end by long sticks driven in 
the ground and adjusted to suit. I lived for many years in these 
Indian tepees and found them very spacious and comfortable 
in all seasons of the year. Colds or sickness among tepee dwell 
ers were very rare. 

I once had an experience which well illustrated the fact that 
the family tepee belonged to the woman of the home and that 
she was the undisputed owner and guardian of its safety. The 
day of the Sun Dance ceremony had arrived and hundreds of 
Indians were coming into the encampment from every part of 
the reservation, by wagons, and horseback and travois. My fos 
ter mother, Cloud Woman, had put up our tepee early that 
morning and we were settled for the gala occasion. Next to 
our camp, several families had stopped and were putting up 
their lodges. The menfolks were caring for the teams, and a 
very elderly grandmother was unwrapping a large tepee cover 
in preparation to putting it up on the tepee frame. She finally 
succeeded in getting the cover up to its proper place and was 
trying to bring the sides around in front when a strong gust 
of wind came up and jerked her off her feet. The wind was 
whipping the old Indian granny and the loose cover in circles 
all around the tepee poles. I could see that the little eighty- 
year-old lady was slowly getting the worst of the deal, so I 
rushed over and grabbed the wildly flapping cover just as she 
was lifted completely off her feet and waved roughly in the 
now husky breeze. When she saw I was helping her, her pride 
was hurt because I believed she would need my help then, or 
any other time. She chased me a dozen yards and gave me a 
sound scolding for belittling her prowess. To show her hurt 
pride further, she pulled the canvas cover completely off and 
then proceeded to tear down the fourteen-pole tepee frame, 



148 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

tied it behind her saddle pony and dragged it all over to a new 
location, fully a half block away, where she began putting it 
up all over again. When I strolled by her camp a half hour 
later, her tepee was completely set up and she was sitting in 
the doorway. As I passed, she turned her back on me to show 
her contempt of one who did not think her capable of putting 
up her own castle, alone and unassisted. 

The old buffalo-skin tepees are seen no more. The Indian 
women have had to replace the buffalo covering with canvas, 
purchased at the white man s store, but the picturesque and 
age-old style still remains the same. The woman of the house 
still insists on designing and owning her own shelter, and sets 
it up and takes it down alone as did her great-grandmother a 
hundred years ago. 

The wanton destruction of the vast herds of buffalo by the 
white man spelled the doom of the free life of our plains 
Indian. The buffalo furnished him with all that he needed for 
a happy and plentiful existence; with his wild herds on the 
great plains his was a completely self-sustaining nation. I have 
known many hunters who have seen great herds cross the 
Missouri and Yellowstone rivers; herds that took two and 
three days to pass a given point, and some of which were more 
than a mile wide. Conservative white men and Indians alike 
have estimated these vast herds at from two million to three 
million each. A conservative estimate would place our West- 
em buffalo at from fifty to sixty million when Lewis and Clark 
crossed the plains in 1804. 

The American bison is the only living animal that faces a 
storm instead of turning face away from it. His shaggy head 
and shoulders furnish the greatest protection against a bliz 
zard of any native American animal known. In the olden days, 
the Dakota people did not have horses. Big Elk often told me 
that his people once traveled on foot when on the march or 
hunting game. He told me of how the grandfather of his 
grandfather hunted buffalo with only his bows and arrows, 
and used the old-time natural buffalo traps to get much of 
the winter s supply of meat for the tribe. The Indians would 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 149 

locate a natural high cliff somewhere near a large herd o 
feeding buffalo, and pitch their tepees in two rows in a fan 
shape or V shape extending out on the prairie with the apex 
or small end of the two rows leading up to the edge of the 
cliff, forming a funnel. All the old men, and the women and 
children would be lined up near the rows of tepees. Then the 
hunters and dogs would drive a herd of the grazing buffalo 
into the open or wide end of the funnel, with the old men, 
women, and children yelling to keep the animals between the 
two lines, which narrowed and led up to the cliff. The fright 
ened and madly running buffalo would plunge or be pushed 
off the steep cliff by the hundreds, and the Indians would have 
only to go down in the canyon below and club or shoot the 
fallen animals. A successful drive would supply meat enough 
for many an Indian family. This method of trapping buffalo 
often was used in more recent years by many of the plains 
tribes long after the horse came into common use. 

My foster father told me that, when his father was a young 
man, his tribe went on such a buffalo hunt in the Black Hills. 
A large camp was moving into the Hills country for the fall 
buffalo hunt. The scouts had reported a large herd of buffalo 
some distance ahead of the moving tribe, so the mounted 
hunters rode on to overtake the herd before the rest of the 
band came up to prepare the meat. Not all of the Indians had 
horses in those days, so the ones that were mounted did the 
hunting, while the ones afoot cared for the meat. The families 
who did not own horses used dogs to carry their small chil 
dren and tepee equipment. The younger children were 
strapped to a dog s back or sides in a sort of harness. It so hap 
pened that his aunt had placed her small baby on the dog s 
back while on the long march across the plains. When the 
hunters rode out ahead to the buffalo herd, several of the 
dogs became unmanageable and ran after the mounted horses. 
Among the barking dogs wildly chasing the galloping hunters 
was his aunt s dog with the small Indian baby strapped on 
his back. Their calls were of no avail and the riders did not 
know the dogs were following. It was some hours before the 



150 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

dog was found, and when, at last, he was located, the baby 
was missing from the tired dog s back. Many searchers scoured 
the tall grass and canyons for miles around, but the baby was 
never seen again. 

I made a trip over nearly the same old hunting grounds 
when I was living with Big Elk s family in the White River 
country. Some fifty or sixty families were enroute to attend the 
annual Sun Dance on Wounded Knee Creek. I was perhaps 
fourteen or fifteen years old and was the proud possessor of 
a little black pony of my own, which was a recent gift of my 
father and had been ridden but a short time. We would be 
on the trail some two sleeps. In our family group was "An-pe 
Win" (Day Woman), young wife of "Wanmdi Okiye" (One- 
who-talks-with-the-Eagle). She had her small baby neatly 
wrapped in the "I-yo-ko-pa" (cradle), in which they carried 
their small children and which allowed them to sleep or be 
carried anywhere. An-pe Win had only one pony for her tra- 
vois and all her tepee and household equipment, so as I 
wanted to be helpful to one of our family group on the trail, 
I offered to carry the baby cradle. I hung the beautifully 
beaded cradle on the horn of my saddle while the little fellow 
slept on, but his peaceful slumber was not to last for long. My 
pony was quite gentle under the saddle but the cradle board 
was new to him. Wishing to keep up with some of my com 
panions, I put the pony into a slow gallop. The cradle slapped 
him on the shoulder a couple of times, which apparently was 
not to his liking, as he immediately bogged his head and be 
gan trying to rid himself of his annoyance. He got rid of me 
in the first half dozen pitches, but the baby, in his rawhide 
cradle was quite securely tied on to the saddle. I landed on my 
skypiece somewhat ahead of my bucking pony, who kept right 
on pitching and swinging the baby and his cradle all over the 
saddle like a ham on a hook. The little pony was almost at 
the point of exhaustion when the cradle strap finally broke 
and let loose the now yelling young warrior. Young War 
Eagle, cradle and all, landed in a heap yards ahead of the near 
est group of mounted Indians, who had given chase to my 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 151 

frightened pony soon after I was thrown from my saddle. The 
young Indian was but little worse off for his experience, and 
outside of a few scratches and a bumped nose, he came out 
of the affray much better than I did. Day Woman did not hesi 
tate to express her opinion of me and my pony as a touring 
perambulator, and carried her own young War Eagle during 
the rest of the trip. 

After our arrival at the camp on Wounded Knee Creek, 
many of the Indian women went down below the camp to 
do their washing. Several of them had taken their small babies 
with them and placed the cradles near the water so that they 
could be watched while the mother did her washing. Several 
of us boys were playing in the vicinity of the creek and, while 
engaged in our game of hunter and deer, I noticed one of 
the babies crying, so stopped to amuse him for a moment. His 
cradle board was hanging on a cottonwood tree near the bank 
overlooking the Indian women below. The mother had moved 
up the creek a short way and was temporarily out of sight of 
her young son. 

Thinking this was the cause of his loneliness, I took the 
cradle down from the tree and carried it up on the edge of 
the bank some thirty or forty feet above where his mother was, 
and as soon as he caught sight of her the tears turned to smiles. 
I propped the cradle board up against some greasewood brush 
on the edge of the forty-foot sloping gravel bank and went on 
with my play with the rest of the boys. However, something 
must have slipped or a gentle breeze blew the bush and tipped 
the cradle board too far forward, as the first thing I knew that 
beautiful beaded cradle and contents came tumbling and slid 
ing down the gravel bank, carrying a cloud of dust and gravel 
along with it. When the dust had cleared away the young war 
rior was located at the bottom with a big smile on his dusky 
face, and not even a scratch. He evidently thought the grand 
slide was arranged especially for his delight and benefit. How 
ever, the Indian women did not think too well of this rough 
way of amusing their young warriors and I had completely lost 
all my prestige as the camp s champion baby sitter. 



152 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

The horse was perhaps the most useful of all the Indians 
possessions. The oldest Indians say that the plains Sioux came 
into first possession of horses about 1750, when they pro 
cured them by trade or raids on tribes in the Southwest. The 
Comanche and Apache tribes acquired them from the early 
Spaniards. The records of Lewis and Clark, during their west 
ward journey through the Sioux country, in 1804, state that 
the Indians told them that the plains Indians of the Northwest 
had been using horses only about fifty years. Many horses es 
caped from their owners in the early days on the plains and, 
consequently, many bands of wild horses roamed over the 
sparsely settled areas of the West. The Indians acquired many 
good horses from these wild herds. 

There were several ways of capturing these wild horses. One 
often used was to locate a small bunch of ten or fifteen horses 
and, using about the same number of riders, we would en 
deavor to ride in between the herd and their accustomed 
watering place and keep them moving slowly anywhere on the 
prairie away from water. It was useless to try to run them 
down, as a wild riderless horse could easily keep out of reach 
of a horse carrying a rider. So we first learned where all the 
watering places were and kept our quarry away from all water, 
while we grazed and watered our own mounts as often as de 
sired. We then forced our wild band to travel as far as possible 
while we covered as little country as possible in our continu 
ous chase. To keep them from getting to a watering place dur 
ing the night, we would keep them up in a blind canyon or 
some strategic place where we could close them in and hold 
them as quietly as possible until daylight. Then we would 
again keep them on the move and away from water. We always 
worked in relays to save our own horses, and if we were suc 
cessful in keeping our wild horses on dry grass and moving 
for four or five days we could ride them down, one at a time, 
and get close enough to rope them with our lariats. 

Another way often used by the Sioux was to pick out a blind 
canyon with no easy way out and then drive a bunch of wild 
horses into this natural corral and rope them one at a time. 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 153 

Either of these methods Is somewhat hazardous for the captors, 
as I have seen wild horses, and especially the stallions, literally 
run over horse and rider In their attempt to escape, I know of 
no fiercer fighter on the range than a wild, striking, and bit- 
Ing stallion. 

The most frightening moment of my life which also came 
very near being my last, was looking up into the wide-open 
jaws and bared teeth of a big, black, wild stallion which had 
broken from his cornered band. He made a mad rush at the 
horse I was riding and struck him on the side of the head with 
his front hoofs, at the same time tearing a great hole In my 
horse s shoulder with his teeth. We were piled up in a heap, 
after which the big stallion leaped clear of us and escaped 
down the canyon. My horse was hit and bitten so badly that 
he had to be destroyed immediately. 

Another method of capturing wild horses, occasionally used 
by Indians and cowboys alike, is that of creasing, or tempo 
rarily stunning them by a well-placed steel-jacket rifle bullet 
in the fleshy part of the neck between the top of the neck and 
the spinal cord. This stuns them for a few minutes, in which 
time the hunter can ride up and tie down his horse. This takes 
some pretty accurate shooting at long distances, as It Is difficult 
to get very close to a bunch of wild horses on the open prairie. 

While out on the prairie, it often was necessary to picket 
or secure our horses for one reason or another. Wild horses 
will fight hard to escape, but the Indian learned how to tie 
his ponies securely, where there Is no snubbing post, tree, 
rock, or even a bush to tie to. He simply tied them to a hole 
in the ground. If a prairie dog or gopher hole can be found, 
well and good; he pushes a couple feet of his rope down the 
hole and with his hunting knife, he digs a small hole large 
enough to put his arm in, cutting the hole at an angle to meet 
the hole where his rope is a couple feet down. When the new 
hole meets the end of the rope he pulls it up through with his 
hand and ties it above the ground. This V-shaped hole In the 
ground, a couple feet deep, will hold an ox team. If no gopher 
hole is handy, he digs the complete V-shaped anchor himself. 



154 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

A horse on a lariat thus securely tied to a hole in the ground 
will be within rope length of that anchor when you come look 
ing for him again. You may well rest assured of that. 

Many travelers in the Badlands and in the alkalied country 
of the West, and more especially the Southwest, have suffered 
because of water, not necessarily because of the lack of water 
entirely, but because of mineral or poisonous properties in 
some waterholes found on the desert. Sometimes the clearest 
water is bad and muddy water may be good to drink. The 
Indian and cowboy long ago learned that certain desert 
springs are so saturated with alkalies, arsenic, or other mineral 
deposits that the water can be quite disagreeable or even 
harmful. But the Indian has only to pick up a handful of com 
mon soil and throw it in the suspected spring or waterhole. 
If the water remains muddy looking, from the handful of soil, 
the water is safe to drink, but should it all settle and clear im 
mediately or turn yellowish, the alkali or chemical is strong 
enough to cause harm. 

Next to the horse, the eagle is perhaps the most cherished 
possession of an Indian brave. The feathers of this bird are in 
the mink-coat class of personal adornment. There is no more 
prized or beautiful part of an Indian s costume than his eagle- 
feather war bonnet or headdress. This headdress is made from 
the long tail feathers only, and as one eagle possesses but 
twelve tail feathers, it requires from three to four eagles to 
make one bonnet. 

Eagles are not common, even in the Western Indian coun 
try, and their habit of soaring to great heights and of building 
nests in remote high mountain crags and in the tallest trees, 
makes their capture no easy matter. When I was a small lad, 
Big Elk taught me how to shoot eagles in flight. We used a 
strong hickory bow, which usually was about as long as we 
were tall. The steel-pointed arrows were about half as long as 
was the bow. These bows required considerable strength for 
the customary standing shot or shooting from the backs of 
ponies, but for hunting eagles in flight we would lie on our 
backs on the ground and hold the bow with our moccasined 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 155 

feet and pull back the string with both hands. By so doing our 
aim was fairly accurate and we could send an arrow completely 
out of sight. However, even eagles look very small at so great 
a height. I have shot hundreds of arrows at high-soaring eagles, 
but was successful only once in bringing down the bird. 

The most successful way of capturing eagles is with the 
Indian eagle trap, arranged near where they are fairly plenti 
ful. This is made by digging a hole in the ground five to six 
feet deep and about the same size in diameter. This is covered 
over with slender poles and brush, after which a live grouse 
or sage hen or the carcass of some small animal is placed on 
the top. In all cases, the bait is securely tied so that it cannot 
be carried away readily. One or more persons conceal them 
selves in this pit, with blankets and food for a prolonged stay. 
Quietly they wait and watch for some soaring or nearby eagle. 
When the great bird begins soaring in a circle overhead, 
slowly descending, the hidden hunters watch breathlessly for 
the eagle to light on or near their bait. When finally he does 
light on the brush over the trap, one of the hunters carefully, 
but quickly, reaches up through the brush covering, grabs the 
eagle by one or both legs, and suddenly jerks the unsuspecting 
bird down into the pit. The other hunter throws a blanket 
over and around the powerful captive and smothers or stran 
gles it as soon as possible, as the powerful claws or beak can 
spell sudden disaster to its captors. 

Young Walking Buffalo Bull and I were not more than 
twelve or thirteen years old when we decided to do ourselves 
the honor of capturing an eagle in our own trap, single- 
handed. We had heard the older Indians tell about capturing 
eagles for their war bonnets, and had seen several traps being 
prepared, so we knew the secret. 

We arose very early and brought a blanket and some food 
for our all-day watch in the pit; we also shot a jack rabbit to 
use as bait. We tied it securely on the brush cover and waited 
for our prospective captive. Along in the middle of the fore 
noon, Walking Buffalo Bull saw an eagle soaring high over 
our heads. We watched breathlessly and after some time he 



156 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

circled and landed near our trap. After a long pause, he fi 
nally hopped over and began tearing at our anchored rabbit. 
Walking Bull was to reach up and grab his legs and I was to 
throw the blanket over the eagle and jump on it and break its 
back. 

When the proper moment arrived, Walking Bull quickly 
grabbed the eagle s legs and pulled him down through the 
cover, bringing most of the slender sticks and brush down on 
top of us with the eagle. Somehow, Bull slipped or stumbled 
on the floor of our trap, and instead of throwing the blanket 
over the fiercely flopping captive, I wrapped it around my own 
neck and we wound up with all three of us under the blanket 
in a heap in one corner. Our faces and eyes were full of falling 
dirt, and we found we had trapped one eagle we wished we 
didn t have. That thirty pounds of bird claws and feathers put 
up a fight such as I never want to see again. We were two 
pretty badly mussed-up and frightened eagle hunters before 
that Prince of the Clouds found his way out of the den and we 
were really most happy to be rid of our fighting captive. The 
eagle clawed Bull up pretty badly and to this day he still car 
ries many deep scars across his back and shoulders to remind 
him of our first eagle trap. 

One of the favorite pastimes of the plains Indians is danc 
ing. These dances have a three-fold purpose amusement, 
worship, and an appeal for superhuman help. Among the 
many ceremonial dances of the Sioux is the Sun Dance, called 
by the Dakotas "An-pa-wi Wa-che-pi." I have attended many 
of these tribal dances, given by my adopted people, and took 
part in several when I was a young man. The Sun Dance is, 
perhaps, one of the least known and least understood by the 
white man. The Dakota nation and the Kan-gi-wi-ca-sa, or 
Crow Tribe, of Montana, still hold the Sun Dance ceremony, 
each midsummer, on their reservations. These are attended by 
all members of their respective tribes and, occasionally, by 
ranchers and white people of the neighboring vicinity. The 
last ceremonial Sun Dance, to which I was the invited guest 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 157 

of Chief Max Big Man, was held on Pryor Creek, in southern 
Montana, late in August, 1947. 

The encampment was composed of some three hundred 
lodges, arranged in a circle of about half a mile in diameter* 
on a flat mesa near the creek. In the center of this circle was 
marked out a place for erecting the pavilion. About noon of 
the first day, several hundred mounted men rode back and 
forth over the ground where the pavilion was to be set up, for 
about an hour, yelling and singing to scare the evil spirits 
away, as was the custom of their ancestors. After this, a num 
ber of the older men rode down to the creek and, with consid 
erable ceremony, chopped down a cottonwood tree to be used 
as the sacred pole. When the tree went down a charge was 
made on it by several men, after which the tree, branches and 
all, was taken up and carried by the men to the Sun Dance 
grounds, a distance of about a mile. The branches were then 
all stripped off and the pole set up in the ground. Around this 
pole they erected the dance pavilion in a circle of about sixty 
feet in diameter. The pavilion was constructed by setting posts 
in the ground around the extreme outer edge about ten feet 
high. Using the center pole for a brace, small poles were laid 
on top, slanting slightly toward the outer edge. This pole 
frame was then covered with boughs. The sacred pole was 
decorated with red, white, and blue colored banners, gifts to 
the Great Spirit. 

Some two or three hundred dancers marched around the 
enclosure, dancing, singing, and drawing bows, pretending to 
be shooting up at the pole. That evening, at sundown, the 
Sun Dancers proper, thirty-six in number, entered the enclo 
sure, followed by the medicine man, who painted four rings 
around the sacred pole with red paint, to signify that the Sun 
Dance ceremony was to last four days and nights. The thirty- 
six Sun Dancers would not be allowed to partake of any food 
or water during the ceremonial dance. Each of these dancers 
was given a whistle, made of the wing bone of an eagle, with a 
small white feather tied on the end. They stood in a circle next 



158 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

to the outer edge of the enclosure facing the sacred pole. Near 
the entrance was placed a large drum, surrounded by six or 
eight old men, who beat the torn torn and chanted for the 
dancers. They danced to the rhythmic beat of the drummers 
and blew the small whistles in time to their steps, all the time 
gazing steadily at the sun. During the sunless hours, they kept 
their eyes* steadily on a buffalo skull and a stuffed eagle sus 
pended at the top of the sacred pole. The Sun Dancers were 
barefooted and wore blankets belted around their waists, their 
upper bodies being bare except for beaded necklaces and arm 
bands and narrow bead bandeaus around their heads. Several 
dancers wearing their hair in long braids decorated the braids 
with beads or colored yarn. The drummers changed at any 
time they desired, but the Sun Dancers kept up their dance 
for four days and four nights without food or water. They 
slowly dance up to the sacred pole and then back again to the 
edge of the circle in the same path but always facing the sacred 
pole In the center. 

Occasionally a dancer would pass out from exhaustion, 
especially after the third or fourth day. When they fell in the 
pavilion no one was allowed to assist them in any way or even 
come near them. Sometimes some of the dancers had to dance 
around the fallen one, but only the ceremonial medicine man 
was allowed to come near him. He danced around the uncon 
scious dancer, chanting and covering him with an eagle wing 
fan. I have seen Sun Dancers remain unconscious for several 
hours and on two occasions participants have died from 
over-exertion. 

In the early days, both the Crows and the Sioux finished 
the dance by tying a willing dancer to the sacred pole. A raw 
hide thong was fastened to the breast or back of the dancer 
by running the thong under the skin. This operation was per 
formed by raising the skin of the breast or back, and cutting 
two slits about an inch long through the uplifted skin. Then 
a wooden skewer was inserted through the slits, fastened by 
sinews, and the sinews were tied to a rope or thong. The rope 
was tied to the upper end of the pole, and the dancer ran for- 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 159 

ward or backward from the pole endeavoring to break loose. 
This displayed the bravery and courage of the dancer. I have 
seen many of the older Indians with Sun Dance scars on their 
breasts and backs. These self-torture dances are seldom seen 
nowadays, but the Sun Dance is still very popular among many 
of the plains tribes. 

Another dance that still remains a mystery to the paleface, 
and the medical world, is the age-old Snake Dance ceremony 
of the Hopi Indians, of Arizona. Some people who have wit 
nessed this dance believe that the rattlesnakes used in the 
ceremony have had the poison removed before being handled 
by the dancers. This is an error. None of these snakes has 
ever been relieved of its natural poison, or drugged in any 
way. Prior to the time of the dance, the Hopis go out on the 
desert and procure dozens of rattlesnakes by means of a forked 
stick which they place over the snake s body just back of the 
head. This holds the snake fast and safe while the captor 
catches the snake with his hand just back of the jaws and places 
him in a box or rawhide container. In this way the snakes are 
brought in to the pueblo and placed in the snake pit for the 
coming ceremony. 

Meanwhile the persons who are to participate in the snake 
dance go into a kiva or sweat lodge where they remain for 
about twenty days. These lodges are prepared by heating 
many stones on an outside fire after which they are placed 
on sticks and brought into the sweat lodge, where water is 
sprinkled over them by the medicine man. This produces a 
steam bath for the naked men inside. These men, who are to 
be the snake dancers in the ceremony, are also regularly given 
a brew of a sacred drink, along with light food. It is this sacred 
brew that keeps them from harm when bitten by the poison 
ous snakes, and is the real secret of this mysterious dance. The 
brew, which resembles a very black coffee or dark heavy medi 
cine, contains the properties which act as an antitoxin against 
the poison of the rattler. I have seen this brew several times, 
also the many ingredients that are combined to make it, but I 
was never told what it was composed of. It contains certain 



160 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

barks, leaves, berries, roots, and other natural medicated 
items, but what they are or the proportions used is known 
only to the tribal medicine man and his protg. Even the 
other members of the tribe claim not to know the secrets. 

When the dancer has gone through the proper period of 
sweat bath and consumed enough of the mysterious brew, 
he is ready for the ceremonial Snake Dance. He then enters 
the snake pit with the other dancers and dozens of very lively 
desert rattlesnakes. They are not in the slightest danger from 
the many snakes, and I assure you the snakes are fully 
equipped with all their savagery and natural poison. I have 
watched these Hopi dancers go through their ceremonial 
dances, holding a wildly striking rattler in each hand and one 
between his teeth, and have sat in awe while two of these 
snakes struck the dancer on the breast and full in the face, 
with no harmful results. These same dancers told me that 
their immunity wears off in a few days after the completion 
of these herb sweat baths. They say also that if any normal, 
healthy person, white or Indian, should go through this same 
herb and sweat bath process, their bodies would be made 
immune in a like manner. After the ceremonial Snake Dance 
is over, all the snakes are taken back to the desert again and 
released, as it is bad medicine for any Hopi to kill a snake. 

The Dakotas have no family or surnames, but the children 
of a family have particular pet names which belong to them in 
the order of their birth, up to and including the fifth child. 
The names are: Chaske, Hepan, Hepi, Chatan, and Hake. 
For the girls they are: Winona, Hapan, Hapistinna, Wanske, 
and Wihake. Thus the first child, if a boy, is called, Chaske, 
if a girl, Winona. The second, if a boy, is called Hepan, and 
if a girl, Hapan, etc. If there are more than five children in 
the family, the others have no names of this kind. These child 
hood names usually are retained by the children only for a 
short time, and more often than not they are given an addi 
tional name at birth. 

These names are selected in several ways and one young 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 161 

warrior may have several names during his lifetime. His first 
name is received through some circumstance surrounding his 
birth. For instance, if, as the baby is being born, or soon after, 
a wolf should be heard to howl near the tepee, the baby would 
likely be called "Howling Wolf/ Should the mother see an 
eagle soaring over her lodge soon after his birth, she might 
name him Swift Eagle, Flying Eagle, Soaring Eagle, or High 
Eagle, as the incident might appeal to her. Sometimes the 
child is given a name by his father or grandfather, or by some 
other member of the tribe, A great feast often accompanies the 
ceremony of the giving of such names. Often too, when they 
are older, they may receive the imposing and honorable names 
of some of their famous ancestors, such as Black Bear, Running 
Buffalo, Brave Bull, or Standing Bear. If he goes on the war 
path and distinguishes himself among his tribesmen, he may 
receive the warlike name of Kills-the-Enemy, Plenty Coups, 
or Young~Man-Afraid~of-His~Horse, which, literally, means 
They (the foe) fear even his horse. A great warrior might have 
as many as eight or ten names during his lifetime. 

The tribal council is, perhaps, the most important of all 
tribal gatherings. Here all the important laws and decisions of 
tribal interest are discussed and settled. The chief calls the 
council and selects those who shall participate, but these tribal 
affairs usually are composed of the oldest and most important 
members of the tribe. The council members are invited to 
the lodge of the chief, or, occasionally, to the spacious tepee 
of some prominent member of the tribe. The meetings are 
most solemn occasions. When all have arrived and arranged 
themselves in a circle on the ground, the chief gets ready the 
ceremonial red stone pipe and, lighting it, he offers it first to 
the east, then to the south, the west, and the north, to the Great 
Spirit and to Mother Earth and, after much deliberation, he 
rises and speaks. He may call on certain ones to speak or wait 
for anyone who volunteers his counsel. In any case, each one 
waits long and silently before beginning his answer or speech. 
The Indian is a natural orator and his reasoning is far more 
elaborate than might be supposed. Many a red man s eulogy 



162 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

would well be worthy of record. What more eloquent speech 
of few words could be made in any language than that of 
Chief Joseph, the great war chief of the Nez Perce. He sur 
rendered to the far superior United States forces on a bleak 
winter s day in 1 877, when he and his starving tribesmen were 
surrounded on the snow-covered plains of northern Montana. 
As he handed his war club to his captors these were his im 
mortal words: "Our warriors are all dead. Our women and 
children are cold. We have no blankets. I am tired of fighting. 
And I am getting old. From where the sun now stands I will 
fight no more forever." 

It was an old friend of mine, Chief Plenty Coups, of the 
Crow Nation, who was orice asked, in my presence, what he 
thought of the treatment of his people by the white man. He 
thought long, but his answer was short. He said: "Nothing the 
white man has given us can make up for the happy, carefree 
life we knew when the vast prairies were still unf enced. Then 
we never worried; we had plenty to eat and plenty to keep us 
warm. Now the white man has killed all our buffalo; he has 
taken all our land. Now he wants to tell us how to live while 
starving us." The white man has often promised his red 
brothers some wonderful things in bold print, but when the 
fine print was finally interpreted, the Indian found himself 
holding the proverbial sack. 

It was some years ago that I had the rare privilege of being 
invited to a very important Sioux council, which several high 
officials from Washington were to attend. It appears that some 
misunderstanding had occurred between the department rep 
resented by them and the tribesmen. During the discussion, 
an elderly gentleman from the department was standing in 
the center of half a hundred silent and attentive Dakotas. For 
the third time the visitor was loudly appealing to his listeners. 
"My red brothers," he continued, "sixty long years have whit 
ened this old gray head of mine and I never have been known 
to cheat one of my red brothers." With this he closed his long 
speech and smilingly sat down. 

A long silence ensued, and then a little old man arose from 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 163 

his seat on the ground and, wrapping his red blanket more 
closely around him, quietly but abruptly spoke thus. "Paleface 
brother, I have listened long and thoughtfully to your big 
talk, and I respect your old gray head. But please look at me. 
Seventy long winters have blown over my old white head, but 
they haven t blown away my brains/* And with that the coun 
cil came to a close. 

Some years ago, several tourists from a little New England 
village were fishing and sightseeing along the Yellowstone 
River, which is known to the Sioux as "Un-pan Wa-kpa" or 
Elk River. It so happened that the Cheyennes were having 
one of their annual ceremonial dances and feasts. The tourists 
were enjoying the dances and taking numerous pictures of 
each other with various groups of the gaily costumed dancers. 
As the day wore on, several of the Indian families began get 
ting ready for their noonday meal. The boiled stew in the big 
kettle over the campfire looked inviting enough and our New 
Englanders thought it would be a novel idea to dine with one 
of the Indian families, and a picture o their group thus eat 
ing with the prairie people, would also be something to show 
the neighbors back home. So one of the gentlemen of the party 
made himself useful around one of the campfires, by carrying 
several armloads of wood and placing it on the fire under one 
of the large kettles, at the same time striking up a sort of 
pidgin-English conversation with the members of the family 
around the fire. This had the desired results of being asked to 
join them and partake of the coming meal. He and his group 
readily accepted with pleasure and much anticipation. 

They soon sat around the steaming kettle amongst the In 
dian families and gladly handed their plates to the elderly 
woman who was dishing out the contents in large dippers full. 
The stew was delicious. Several of the tourists debated among 
themselves just what the meat might be: buffalo, beef, veni 
son, or sage hen. The spokesman of the group however, was 
certain that the savory stew was duck, his favorite meat. And 
besides, he desired to show his extreme fondness and apprecia 
tion to his hosts, and to display a little of his worldly knowl- 



164 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

edge and Western experience and his learning in the language 
of the Indians. He again handed his plate to the elderly 
woman. "Heap good, very much heap good cook, please me 
have more quack-quack meat?" he asked with a broad friendly 
smile. The old Indian woman smiled aprovingly, and gladly 
refilled his plate, adding "Yes thanks, very much glad you like, 
heap good bow-wow/ 

The Dakota folklore is full of legends of their tribe, and of 
the origin of the various animals, birds, and inhabitants of the 
waters. (A legend of the great flood can be found in many 
Indian languages, as accurate as we read it in the Bible, and 
no doubt it predates the Bible itself by many centures.) 

One of the many Interesting Dakota legends I heard around 
our lodge campfire as a youth, parallels one I heard in my 
school days about the Arab s tent and the camel. Once upon 
a time, long, long ago, there was a Badger named Hoka, who 
was very rich and had many children. He was possessed of a 
bow and one mysterious arrow. There was no other arrow 
like it in all the land, but he could shoot this mysterious arrow 
only once each day. In the bend of a river he had a buffalo 
corral to which buffalo came every morning, led by a phantom 
buffalo bull. From this corral, Badger made a very straight 
path down the river, for the buffalo to follow as they were 
driven from the corral. Each morning as they started out on 
the one straight path, he ran swiftly around the herd and con 
cealed himself at the far end of the trail. Then when they were 
all in a straight line, he shot his mysterious arrow into the first 
buffalo, which passed through the whole herd. So Badger be 
came very rich in dried buffalo meat. 

Then one day there came Mato Hota, a Gray Bear, to his 
lodge. And Gray Bear said, "Wonderful, my brother, that you 
should live here in such abundance, while I and my children 
are starving. Could you give me some meat?" 

The Badger said, "Yes, you are my brother, so I will give 
you some meat for you and your starving children." So when 
the Gray Bear was starting home, Badger gave him a bundle 
of dried buffalo meat to carry home. 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 165 

The next morning, Gray Bear again came to the lodge of 
Badger and said, "The buffalo meat you gave me was very 
large and it tired me to carry it home. Can I bring my family 
and live in your lodge, that I do not have to carry the meat?" 
The Badger was a very kind-hearted person, so gave Gray 
Bear permission to bring his family to live with him. So the 
next morning, Gray Bear came with his household, and as 
soon as he moved in, Badger was turned out, and Gray Bear 
took possession of all his meat. The Badger then lived out 
doors and starved. 

The next morning after he took possession, Gray Bear 
awoke very early in the morning and, standing outside, said, 
"You Badger, come get up, your corral is full of Buffalo." So 
the Badger took his bow and mysterious arrow and, as he was 
accustomed to do, shot it through the whole line of buffalo. 
But the Gray Bear took them all and did not let the Badger 
have even one. 

This he did, morning after morning, but never did he give 
the Badger one for his own use, and so Badger and his children 
were about to die of hunger. But every morning the youngest 
of Gray Bear s children was given a large buffalo shoulder to 
eat, and when he saw r the Badger was dying of hunger he ate 
but little himself, giving Badger most of his meat. Thus 
Badger and his family maintained an existence. 

Again, one morning very early, the Gray Bear ordered the 
Badger to take his bow and arrow and kill more buffalo, but 
he was so weak with hunger that he refused, and Gray Bear 
said, "I will crush you if you don t kill for me the buffalo." 
But Badger was so weak with hunger that he could not rise, 
so Gray Bear was about to crush him. Then Gray Bear s young 
est son took many buffalo shoulders to Badger s cave and hid 
them for Badger to eat. However, when Gray Bear found out 
his son was giving Badger meat he was very angry and ran 
after his son to crush him, but as he was running away, Badger 
saw him in danger and hid him in his cave with his own 
children. 

The next night, Gray Bear s son returned to his father s 



166 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

lodge and took all the meat and brought it to his friend 
Badger. Then the family of Gray Bear had to leave the lodge 
of Badger and move far away, and soon Badger and his family 
and Gray Bear s son were all happy again. And that is why 
the Gray Bear has to sleep all winter so that Badger can hunt 
for food as much as he likes. 

Another legend often related to me by Cloud Woman was 
the Dakota story of Ptan Sapa, or the Black Otter. In the days 
of long, long ago there were six children of a very poor otter 
family five brothers and one sister. All the brothers were of 
different color one was red, one was blue, one yellow, one 
white, and one black and the little sister also was black. 
Their parents were very, very old and very poor. So the five 
brothers had to work very hard to take care of their parents, 
and the sister stayed always home to keep the lodge fire burn 
ing. The four sons who had the beautiful red, blue, yellow, 
and white fur skins were very proud and never liked to get 
their beautiful furs wet or dirty, so they did nothing all day 
long but look at themselves in the clear water, while their 
brother, the black otter, hunted and gathered food for the 
lazy brothers and the very old and poor parents. 

Every day they would eat all that the black otter could fetch 
home so that the old parents, the sister, and the black otter 
were always very hungry. After a time the old people became 
so starved that they died. The sister and the black otter carried 
them away and buried them in a mound by a beautiful stream, 
but the brothers with the pretty furs would not even help 
them dig the graves. Then the otters with the beautiful furs 
moved into the lodge of their aged parents and forced the 
black otter and the sister to live outdoors. 

When the black otter came near their lodge, his four broth 
ers would take his food and chase him away, saying that they 
did not want other animal people to know that they were of 
the same family. This made the black otter and his sister very 
angry, so they waited until all four of the other otters went 
down to the stream to look at their beautiful furs in the clear 
water. Then they hid themselves in the lodge and, as the 



My Boyhood Days Among the Sioux 167 

brothers came In one by one, the black otter and his sister 
beat them over the head with their war clubs until they were 
unconscious and then threw them into the fire where they 
became black all over. That is why, they say, that now there 
are only black otters. 

Big Elk told me this story many times, as handed down by 
his people centuries ago. Once upon a time, many, many years 
ago, there were many peoples who lived In a far-away land. 
They were very wicked and they fought much among them 
selves and with all the people who were near them. This made 
the Great Spirit very angry, as he wanted his people to live In 
peace with each other. However, some listened to his voice 
and some did not. When he found that the people did not 
obey him, he created a great turtle and commanded all the 
good people to come and get on the turtle s back, as he would 
destroy all the people who did not. Many people believed the 
Great Spirit and got on the turtle s back, but most of the bad 
people did not believe the thunder voice and would not do as 
he commanded. 

Then the great turtle walked down to the water, which rose 
and covered all the land. Then the turtle swam for many, 
many suns and, finally, came to a place where he found a small 
piece of land showing out of the water. The land rose higher 
and higher and became larger and larger and the thunder 
voice of the Great Spirit commanded these people to leave the 
back of the great turtle and live on the land forever after. 
This, the Dakota legend says, Is how the Indian people came 
to live here. 

Many are the suns and moons and winters that have passed 
since that time. So ends my story. 



Chapter XVIII 




The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 



SANDY MGLARAN WAS BORN ON A LITTLE FARM IN MONROE 

County, Pennsylvania, just across the river from the Delaware 
Water Gap. When the Civil War broke out, Sandy was a 
young man of eighteen. He enlisted in the Pennsylvania 
volunteers. 

About this time another young man, also eighteen, enlisted 
in the service; his name was Jacob Wagner. However, Jacob 
was not from a small farm, neither was he from the Delaware. 
He was born on a plantation along the Cumberland Moun 
tains, in Tennessee. The uniform he wore was not blue; it 
was gray. 

The close friendship of Jacob and Sandy began under 
strange and unusual circumstances. They did not meet on any 
field of battle. Jacob and Sandy met in famed Libby Prison. 
Not many months after Sandy left his little farm home along 
the Delaware he was taken prisoner, and remained a captive 
until peace was declared. The prisoners were not treated well 
in these camps. Food and clothing were scarce even for the 
best equipped of the troops, and prison fare was even worse. 

Jacob, although a young man, had received a good educa 
tion and training for his time, and had been appointed a clerk 
and food dispenser at the prison. Sandy was a jolly and like 
able young fellow and Jacob assigned him to assist in several 

168 



The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 169 

of his duties. They soon took a liking to each other and Jacob 
saw to it that Sandy often received an extra supply of food. 
Both boys had read and heard much of the opportunities of 
the West and each expressed a desire to go out into the new 
gold country of Montana, as soon as the war ended. When the 
war did end, each of the boys returned to his home. However, 
Sandy never forgot the boy in gray who treated him with so 
much kindness during his long months in Libby Prison. After 
a while Sandy wrote to his Southern friend and arranged to 
meet him in St. Louis in the spring of i860. From here the 
two boys took passage on the Missouri River steamer, "Far 
West." 

One sunny day in May they steamed into the frontier town 
of Fort Benton, Montana, the nearest navigable point to the 
new gold fields. From here they took a stage to Bannack, where 
rich strikes were being worked. Bannack, the first capital of 
Montana territory, was already a thriving, bustling camp of 
several thousand prospectors and miners. Thousands of dol 
lars were being taken out of rich gravel claims every day. All 
the good claims had been taken by the time Sandy and Jacob 
arrived, and many miners had already moved on over the 
Ruby Range to where a prospector named Fairweather had 
made a rich strike on Alder Gulch, some two hundred miles 
east. This new camp had acquired the name of Virginia City, 
and the original capital at Bannack had been moved to the 
new camp on Alder Creek. 

Virginia City was a typical frontier mining town. Claims 
were staked for miles up and down the gulch. Saloons and 
hurdy-gurdy houses were wide open twenty-four hours a day. 
Gold dust filled every miner s poke and was the medium of 
exchange in all mining camps in the West. The grass had not 
yet grown over the graves of Club Foot George Ives and his 
notorious band of road agents, and Bummer Dan was still 
washing a hundred dollars a pan from his claim on the west 
side of the gulch. 

Sandy and Jacob found a claim a couple of miles north of 
the Virginia City camp and began their first venture in min- 



170 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

ing gold. Their take averaged some five or six dollars to the 
pan. Nothing compared to some of the claims farther up the 
gulch, but the two young soldiers were very well satisfied. 
They worked on their claims until 1874. They never gambled 
their gold and during the eight years had accumulated a fair 
amount of money. As their claims had been pretty well 
worked out, Sandy and Jacob decided to move farther north 
and go into the stock-raising business together. Texas cattle 
were now being brought north to Montana in large drives, 
and the Montana buffalo grass was found to be an excellent 
all-y ear-around feed. 

They stayed around Fort Benton, western boat terminal on 
the Missouri River, for a while and did some freighting over 
the Mullan road from Fort Benton to the new mines in Idaho. 
They were engaged in the overland freight business but, not 
liking the monotony of the slow-moving freight teams, they 
went up to the Milk River country, on the Canadian Border. 
There they took up a ranch and began raising cattle and 
horses. Their new venture proved successful and they found 
a ready market for all the cattle and horses they wished to 
dispose of. Freighters needed good horses, and mining camps 
were willing buyers of fat beeves. 

In 1878, while on a freight trip to a Canadian trading post, 
Jacob was attacked by a party of highwaymen and killed. 
However, he sold his life dearly, as two of the four masked 
road agents also were killed in the fierce gun fight. Sandy, 
grieved over the loss of his boyhood army friend and loyal 
partner of fourteen years, wrote to the family in the Ten 
nessee mountains and related the story of Jacob s death. 
Later he sent them the money which was Jacob s share of the 
partnership. 

Sandy continued on his ranch alone for a couple of years 
and one day when a party of Blackfeet Indians was camped 
near his ranch on the Milk River, Sandy saw an unusually 
pretty young maiden of the tribe, and soon she became the 
center of his attentions. This interesting maiden was the 
daughter of a Blackfeet chief, and her name was Morning 



The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 171 

Star. Many a young brave of the band had looked upon this 
slender, dark-eyed maiden with lovelorn eyes, but the wily old 
chief, knowing of the charms and value of his beautiful daugh 
ter, had scorned all offers for her hand. Sandy was smitten at 
first sight, and the next day he procured several gaily colored 
Hudson Bay blankets and four of his best saddle ponies and 
offered them at the chief s tepee door for the object of his 
heart. After some time and consideration the chief gave his 
consent, and it appears that the dark-eyed maiden was a very 
willing party in the transaction. She also had liked the hand 
some rancher and was happy to go with him to his humble log 
cabin down the river. 

Sandy had been in the Blackfeet country since taking up the 
ranch on Milk River, so could speak his bride s native lan 
guage with little difficulty. They were very happy together. 
He gave her many ponies of her own and she proved to be 
an excellent rider. Soon she could care for the stock as well as 
Sandy himself. They worked hard and prospered, supplying 
horses to many freight outfits and meat to the many mining 
camps in the mountains to the west of them. A couple of 
years after Morning Star had come to the home of her sandy- 
haired lover, she presented him with a bright-eyed, dark- 
haired baby daughter. 

The Blackfeet occasionally camped near Sandy s ranch, and 
often Morning Star would go and stay several days with her 
people. Although she never said much about her trips, Sandy 
could see she still had a longing for the carefree camp life of 
her people. 

In 1882, Sandy received word from his old home in Penn 
sylvania that his parents had died and had left the family 
homestead to him and a younger sister, whom he had not seen 
since he left home in 1866. He longed to return to the place 
of his childhood and see his sister and the old home he left 
eighteen years before, but his chief concern was for Morning 
Star and the baby. She had been loyal and a faithful and help 
ful companion. To take her with him on a trip to the East 
would be a difficult undertaking, and she would never be 



172 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

contented or happy among a people so strange and different. 
She did not wish to leave her people and he was very unhappy 
at the thought of leaving her and their baby alone so long, as 
a trip to the East would take many months. The winter was 
coming on and the last river boat from Fort Benton would not 
return until the following spring. 

Some of the Blackfeet along the border had also made sev 
eral raids on neighboring ranches and settlements because of 
some misunderstanding between the settlers on boundary 
lines. Also Louis Riel and his half-breed renegade followers 
were stirring up an Indian rebellion along the border. A few 
of the white settlers of the Milk River country had doubted 
Morning Star s loyalty to her husband and white friends, in 
case of trouble with the Blackfeet. And her frequent visits 
among the Blackfeet were naturally looked upon with suspi 
cion by some of her own people. She and Sandy alike were 
torn between their love for each other and the blood ties of 
their own people. 

With a great deal of reluctance and a much saddened heart 
Sandy started out for Fort Benton, some three hundred miles 
away. He took his best saddle horse and a pack outfit. The 
horses he could leave at a friend s ranch near Benton, picking 
them up again on his return the following spring. He would 
pass through Blackfeet country and he would have to be cau 
tious. Sandy traveled until dusk on the first day and camped in 
a little cottonwood grove. The second day brought him into 
the Blackfeet buffalo-hunting country, so he was a little more 
watchful of his course; however, the day was uneventful. Late 
in the afternoon, he located a good place to camp in a willow- 
covered creek bottom. Here he built a fire and cooked his 
supper among the trees, after which he took his horses and 
bedroll across the creek and made his camp in a small coulee 
about half a mile above the grove of willows. He arranged his 
bed in a location overlooking his campfire, but quite out of 
sight of anyone traveling along the creek. With his horses 
picketed in another coulee just over a low hill, Sandy felt he 
was well protected from anyone who might be in the vicinity 



The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 173 

and find his recently made campfire. He made up his bedroll 
and lay down for the night, his six-shooter under his buckskin 
coat pillow and his Winchester alongside him in the bed. 
About midnight, he got up to change the picket rope on his 
horses and see that they were feeding quietly, and noticed 
that both horses seemed unusually alert and uneasy. They 
would graze for a brief time and then quickly turn their ears 
forward and look intently in the direction of the creek. Sandy 
understood the habits of range animals and knew that their 
actions were not to go unheeded. He had only his Colt tucked 
in his belt around his waist and, speaking a reassuring word 
to his horses, he cautiously walked back to his bed. The moon 
was shining brightly, and he could see for a considerable dis 
tance. Taking his Winchester, he walked back and saddled up 
one of his horses, leaving him still picketed on the long rope. 

Indians ordinarily do not travel at night, but Sandy was 
taking no chances of being taken by surprise. His horses still 
were uneasy, so he crept up on the hill between, and over 
looking, the horses and his bed. This also gave him a view of 
the camp where he had built his fire in the willows. He lay 
quietly on the brow of the hill and scanned the country all 
around him. Soon the eastern sky began to gray and he could 
see farther into the distant hills and ravines. Some distance 
down the valley he thought he could faintly make out a mov 
ing object. It was moving in his direction, and soon he could 
see someone leading a horse up the same trail he had come 
over the evening before. He knew by the way the person was 
stopping occasionally and bending down close to the trail that 
it was an Indian following a trail. This would indicate that 
Indians were camped somewhere in the vicinity and, knowing 
of the hostile attitude of some of the Blackfeet, Sandy knew 
that such a party could mean trouble. Also, if this lone scout 
believed that anyone was still in the vicinity he would give 
word to his party, who would search the entire country to 
locate him, and Sandy s chances of escape would be difficult, 
if not impossible. 

The lone Indian and his led horse were coming closer to 



174 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

where he was watching. The gray streak in the East was be 
ginning to give Sandy a clearer outline of the approaching 
Indian. He could now see clearly enough to draw sight along 
his Winchester and could now be fairly sure of hitting the 
Indian before he himself would be seen. He maneuvered 
slowly into position for a long shot and took careful aim. To 
miss would mean that the scout would escape with the in 
formation that Sandy was still in the vicinity. He steadied him 
self holding his breath for an instant before pressing the trig 
ger. Just the second before the shot would have echoed down 
the valley, Sandy s horse whinnied, answered by a familiar 
sound down the valley. Then a voice called out, "Sandy, 
Sandy." Sandy lowered his rifle. He could not believe his ears; 
the voice was that of his wife, Morning Star. He stood up and 
waved his arms in the semi-darkness, and then ran down the 
hill to meet her. She told him her story. 

Soon after Sandy started out, Morning Star had received 
word from some of her people that several of the young braves 
had left the village and had gone south across the Marias, and 
she was afraid they might run into Sandy before he reached 
Fort Benton. She went on further to explain how she had left 
their home immediately, and followed the trail of his two 
horses. She had started out with four horses, riding one and 
driving the rest, always changing her mount for a fresh one 
and leaving the ridden horse on the trail to be picked up on 
her return home. At this time she had been riding and leading 
her remaining horse, depending on the clearness of the trail 
she was following. She knew that Sandy would travel slowly 
on his long journey, and figured to overtake him in two or 
three days. She had seen his old campfire site and knew about 
when she could expect to overtake him. 

She accompanied Sandy on to Fort Benton and brought his 
horses back to Milk River, where they would be reunited 
when the first river boat came up from St. Louis in the spring. 

As the winter months waned into the warm days of spring, 
the melting snows and breaking ice again foretold it was time 



The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 175 

for the familiar old rear-wheeler river boats to start their slow 
navigation once more up the winding Missouri. Morning Star 
was waiting when the first boat slowly pointed its bow along 
side the old wooden wharf at Benton. As usual, the old flat- 
bottomed boat was piled high with miners equipment and 
merchandise for the ranchers and supply posts of the upper 
river country. Sandy was among the hundred or so passengers 
who had made the long slow journey from the States. Morning 
Star s baby had died during the long winter and many of their 
horses had been driven off and stolen by the Blackfeet and 
roving bands of Crees along the border. 

Due to the approaching rebellion of Louis Kiel and his 
Cree followers in the vicinity, Sandy decided to leave the Milk 
River country and locate farther south along the Missouri 
River in Montana territory. He had liked the picturesque 
country along the Missouri between the Judith and the 
Musselshell Rivers. Here could be found good hunting, trap 
ping, some mining, and abundant feed and natural shelter 
for his stock. 

They crossed the Bear Paw Mountains and followed Cow 
Creek to where it emptied into the Missouri. There they fol 
lowed the north bank down the river in the direction of the 
Musselshell to where the high rock bluffs begin on the south 
side of the Missouri channel. Here, Sandy found a long, nar 
row canyon leading south from the river and widening into 
a small grassy valley some distance from the river. The little 
valley gave him ample, well-protected room for his log cabin 
and corrals. From the river it would scarcely be noticed as a 
canyon leading back into the rugged hills. He called it the 
Hidden Canyon. 

They built their low, two-room log-cabin ranch house and 
corrals that first summer and were secure for the coming win 
ter. Their stock, unfamiliar with the newly located range, had 
to be watched closely until such time as they would cease drift 
ing away. Sandy hunted and trapped during the winter and 
their food supply was always plentiful. Morning Star was well 



176 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

learned in the ways of her people, so that Sandy always had 
plenty of beautifully beaded leggings and jackets to wear on 
his traplines. 

One early spring morning Sandy missed a small band of his 
best horses. Upon further search over their accustomed range, 
he discovered where they had been driven across the river and 
headed north, probably by wandering Crees or horse rustlers. 
Sandy was busy with some other work on the ranch, so 
Morning Star went in search of the missing horses. She rode 
her favorite Indian pony and followed the tracks of the miss 
ing band. The day wore on and the sun was setting in the 
west. Sandy was wondering why Morning Star had not re 
turned. From a high point back of his cabin he could see across 
the river and for miles in every direction. As the sun disap 
peared, Sandy climbed up to this promontory to see if he 
could see anything of the Indian girl and his horses. Gaining 
a high point he saw her in the distance driving the horses 
before her. 

As it was now getting late, Sandy signalled her to leave the 
horses on their accustomed range and cross the river before 
it became too dark. The spring rains were not yet over and the 
Missouri was still above flood stage and very swift in many 
places. Sandy, anticipating where she would approach the op 
posite bank, went down to the stream and awaited the arrival 
of his courageous wife. The south bank of the river at this 
point is high allowing him to overlook the whole scene. The 
north side being low ground, was covered entirely with water 
for nearly half a mile. 

Morning Star left her band of horses on the foothills as 
instructed and, having great faith in her pony, who had car 
ried her through many a turbulent mountain stream, rode 
into the water on the flat. The faithful little horse breasted 
the surging water with all his usual vigor, plunging into the 
sink holes to scramble out again on the opposite side with his 
fearless rider clinging to his mane and shouting encourage 
ment. Sandy watched the whole proceeding from the high 
bank on the opposite shore, with straining nerves and beating 



The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 177 

heart, powerless to render any assistance. Yet he had perfect 
confidence in the endurance of the little pony and the skill 
of his daring rider. But when they reached the current of the 
main stream, which rolled and surged like a mighty cataract 
he saw the little horse rise far out of the water, plunge for 
ward, and disappear, to arise many many yards down the 
stream, but now riderless. Relieved of his burden, he swam 
straight for shore and scrambled up the steep bank and shook 
his wet hide. 

Sandy s agony knew no bounds. He ran here and there, 
straining his eyes in vain for a glimpse of Morning Star. All 
night long he walked along the bank of the stream, but no call 
reached his ears. The sun rose bright and clear. The rains 
having ceased, the water began to recede. For several days, 
Sandy searched the banks and willows in vain. Finally, far 
below on the opposite side, among a raft of driftwood, he 
found the object of his search. He carefully carried her to a 
rocky point which extended out almost to the water s edge. 
High up on the side of this ledge, Sandy dug a cavity some 
distance into the loose rock and placed the remains of 
Morning Star, closing the opening with tightly wedged rocks. 

Taking his horses and other belongings, he disappeared for 
several years from all human contact. In the spring of 1908, a 
couple of cowboys were riding In the vicinity and happened 
to notice a niche in the stone wall up on the bank and began 
taking out the loose rocks. When they had dug back a few 
feet they discovered a human skeleton, which they believed 
to be that of an Indian woman. They replaced the bones in 
the rock and threw back most of the stones. They mentioned 
it to several of their acquaintances and finally the incident 
came to the attention of several local papers as a news item. 

One day, not long after, an old man with long, snowy-white 
hair appeared in the vicinity and looked over the location of 
the buried bones; he then took out the bones again, wrapped 
them in a blanket and departed. Soon stories began to circulate 
of an old, white-haired hermit living in an old deserted cabin 
up in Hidden Canyon. Several persons in the vicinity reported 



178 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

seeing the old man. He was always non-communicative and 
evaded them whenever possible. He had been seen once or 
twice in Malta, Zortman, and Lewistown with mink skins, 
martin, and muskrat, which he exchanged for provisions. 

I had heard of the old man on numerous occasions, but 
never saw him but once. It was in 1911 when Lone Eagle and 
I were riding in the Missouri River brakes, and while camp 
ing along the river we saw an old man down by the river 
scaling some fish. His description corresponded with the 
stories we had heard of the Hermit of Hidden Canyon, so we 
tried to strike up a conversation with him, but without much 
success. Finally my brother addressed him in the Indian lan 
guage accompanied by the corresponding Indian sign lan 
guage. The old hermit looked with interest at my brother, and 
said, "You Injun?" My brother explained how he acquired 
his knowledge of the Indian dialect, and the old man became 
interested. My brother had met a few old members of the tribe 
to which his wife had belonged, and upon mentioning them, 
the old fellow began to talk of his younger days in the north 
Blackfeet country. We invited him to eat with us and were 
much surprised and pleased when he agreed to do so. During 
our conversation he told us of his old home along the 
Delaware, his experiences during the Civil War, and his trip to 
the Montana gold camps, and among the Blackfeet. He seemed 
glad to talk to someone of his life and experiences. We talked 
with him until late that night. His story was like a fantastic 
fairy tale, but we found it was all too true. His had been the 
venturous and romantic experiences of but few pioneer white 
men in our early West. He was truly the Hermit of Hidden 
Canyon. As the moon sank low in the western hills and the 
night became chilly, our venerable hermit bid us adieu and 
slowly walked up the trail to his humble log cabin. 

We never saw him again. Two years later, in the early spring 
of 1913, my brother and I again had occasion to be in the 
Missouri River brakes country near Hidden Canyon, and, 
wondering how the old hermit had weathered the past severe 
winter, decided to pay him a visit. We finally found the nar- 



The Hermit of Hidden Canyon 179 

row mouth of the canyon and slowly made our way up Its 
rough, narrow trail. The brush was grown thick over the path 
and it didn t look as though anyone had traveled it for a long 
time. There had been a heavy snowfall during the winter and 
snow still covered the shaded portion of the canyon trail. We 
finally came to the old log cabin, but there were no tracks or 
signs of life anywhere visible. We pushed open the squeaky 
door and carefully walked in. There, lying on a low wooden 
bunk, made of deerskins and heavy sougans, were the remains 
of the old hermit. A few crude cooking utensils were near a 
rude fireplace. Farther back in the two-room cabin hung strips 
of jerked venison and dried fish. On a shelf in the back room 
was a crude chest made from roughly hewn cedar slabs, with 
a lid fastened on with elkskin hinges. In the chest were a pair 
of elkskin moccasins ornamented with porcupine quills, a few 
strings of beads, a lock of long black hair, and the bones of a 
human skeleton. On the inside of the lid was carved in rough 
letters, the name, Morning Star. 




FLOYD SHUSTER MAINE (THE AUTHOR), BROTHER OF LONE EAGLE 



Chapter XIX 




Trip through the Enchanted Badlands 



ACROSS THE HEART OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA STRETCHES A 

lonely scenic land, little changed since Lewis and Clark tra 
versed it nearly a century and a half ago. This is perhaps the 
wildest, least-known, and least-accessible portion of the United 
States east of the Continental Divide. Here the Missouri River 
winds its way through glacial gorges and canyons o fantastic 
form, and from Fort Benton to Fort Peck, a distance of over 
two hundred miles, there is not one bridge, nor a single town. 
Few people realize that this mighty river, which has its source 
in southwestern Montana, is the longest river in North Amer 
ica, exceeding the Mississippi by over four hundred miles, 

Since the only way to cross this mighty river is by fording 
or by a few small, fair-weather ferries, few Montanans and 
fewer outsiders have ever laid eyes on some of this most primi 
tive and marvelous scenery in the United States. Up until the 
early 8o s the Missouri River was the principal route of travel 
from St. Louis to the great gold fields and cattle country of the 
Northwest. Hundreds of fur traders, trappers, buffalo hunters, 
and gold seekers came up the river on the 4 *Far West" and 
other famous boats. However, these early pioneers were 
merely passing through, on their way to Fort Benton, and but 
a small handful ever set foot on these wild, awe-inspiring bad 
lands of the Missouri. There were only a few temporary trad- 

181 



182 Lone Eagle -the White Sioux 
ing posts and forts. Trappers, buffalo hunters, and prospectors 
occasionally camped within the area and a few wood cutters 
had established themselves along the river to supply the steam 
packets with fuel. Large bands of Indians also made their 
camps here while on their annual buffalo hunts. To be found 
in this vicinity are many high cliffs where the Indians drove 
great herds of buffalo over hundred-foot precipices. 




NATURE AT HER BEST BORDERS THE QUEEN OF RIVERS 



In more recent years, only a few hunters and cattle and 
sheep men, rounding up their animals, have seen this vast 
unsurveyed and unknown expanse of mystic wonderland. In 
fact, there are fewer inhabitants along this stretch of river 
today than there were in the early steamboat days. Lewis and 
Clark recorded this area as the most awe-inspiring and scenic 
part of America they had ever seen. I had often heard, from 
old Indian buffalo hunters, about the wonders and natural 
beauty of this part of the country, but it was not until the fall 
of 1913 that Lone Eagle and I saw this scenic wonderland. We 



Trip Through the Enchanted Badlands 183 

left the Eagle Bar Ranch with our saddle ponies and a pack 
horse, and hit the Musselshell River at the mouth of Cat 
Creek. While riding down Cat Creek we noticed an unfinished 
sod house being built by a homesteader. Wondering just how 
a sod house was constructed, we turned off our course to look 
it over. 

Several hundred wild longhorn cattle, recently brought into 
the basin from Texas and Old Mexico, were in the vicinity. 
These wild cattle would feed in our valley and get mixed up 
with our own more domesticated herds of white-faced short 
horns and Herefords. We found out the quickest way to sepa 
rate these longhorns from our own cattle was to ride into the 
entire mixed herd at a gallop, let out a couple good old 
Comanche yells and empty our six-guns over the heads of the 
herd. In less time than it takes to tell it, those longhorns would 
throw their heads and tails into the air and light out across 
the flats, leaving the slower-footed shorthorns far in the rear. 
All we had to do was to cut in between the two herds and turn 
back "our own animals, while the longhorns soon faded out in 
the dust ahead. 

A small herd of our own cattle was grazing in among this 
herd of Texans, so we decided to separate them by the usual 
method. We rode casually up until we got within a hundred 
yards of the bunch around the sod house and, making a run 
for the herd, we let out a couple of war whoops and fired a few 
rounds from our six-shooters over their heads. It had the de 
sired results, and then some. Just as we came around the cor 
ner of the cabin, the four walls began to disintegrate all 
around us practically falling on our heads. It seems that a 
dozen or so of the longhorns had gone into the partly com 
pleted sod house through an open doorway and, becoming 
frightened at our shots and the stampeding cattle outside, had 
come out of that pile of sod in all directions. Wild cattle 
poured out the one door and every window opening. Since 
their spread of horns was wider than the window openings, 
and two or three were trying to get through the same opening 
at the same time, they leveled the sod shanty to the ground, 



184 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

many pairs of horns being decorated with sod squares as they 
fled down the valley. The next time I saw the homesteader he 
and some friends were constructing a new cabin on his claim, 
but this time it was built of newly cut pine logs. 

We continued our journey on down to the river, arriving at 
a friend s ranch about dusk. As the next day was Sunday, we 
were invited to stop over for the day and attend a new 
Mormon Sunday School being held in a nearby log school- 
house. The Sunday School class was well attended by all ages. 
The teacher was recently from a little Utah mining town and 
reminded me of pictures I had seen of Poker Alice and 
Calamity Jane; however, she had a most kindly heart and 
knew her Bible perfectly. During the service she had the habit 
of going to the window every few minutes and leaning far out 
over the sill for a moment, after which she would return and 
continue her class. After many trips to the window I became 
curious to know what she was looking at so often. So, I tiptoed 
out of the door in the rear of the schoolhouse and stood out 
side for a moment. I saw nothing unusual to attract attention, 
but soon the lady again stuck her head out of the window and 
ejected a quid of chewing tobacco out of her mouth that 
would have choked a cow. 

The next day, we proceeded north down the river toward 
the Missouri. We had ridden perhaps a couple of hours, cross 
ing and recrossing the Musselshell at shallow fords, when we 
heard a rifle shot up ahead of us. We thought nothing of the 
incident, as there was lots of big game in the vicinity and a 
rancher could shoot a deer in his own dooryard almost any 
morning. However, as we rode on a little way, another shot 
rang out in the morning stillness and a couple of twigs fell 
from the cottonwood tree above us. We saw no one, so cau 
tiously rode on. A few minutes later, around a bend in the 
river we came into sight of a ranch house and buildings. As 
we neared the corrals another shot rang out and a bullet 
whined just over our heads. We stopped short just as a woman 
came out from behind a nearby tree with a Winchester in her 
hands. She looked at us for a moment and then said, "Excuse 



Trip Through the Enchanted Badlands 185 

me boys, I thought you were the gang who keep leaving my 
gates down." 

"That s perfectly O. K. lady/ Lone Eagle chimed In, 
"Think nothing of it." 

She explained that the neighbor boys had the habit of rid 
ing through her ranch, letting down the gates, and never clos 
ing them again after passing through. This is truly a breach 
of range etiquette, as all ranchers know, and we didn t blame 
her too much for her attitude. We recognized her as Hattie 
Bell, the tobacco-chewing Sunday-school teacher, better 
known as the Cattle Queen of the Musselshell. 

During the forty-five to fifty miles from Cat Creek to the 
mouth of the Musselshell we forded the river not less than 
twenty times. This scenic road follows the river bottom land 
and changes in many places every spring after the ice goes out. 
Many ranch buildings may be seen nestled in cozy cottonwood 
groves along the river. In one place we counted scores of 
tepee poles, still up, where, not many years before, stood the 
camp of some roving band of Indian trappers or buffalo 
hunters. 

When we reached the wide, flat bottom lands, where the 
Musselshell empties into the Missouri we could see a few old 
foundation rocks where once stood old Fort Musselshell, fa 
mous in early frontier steamboat days. As it was now dusk, we 
decided to camp for the night. After supper we picked out a 
level, grassy place for our bedroll and tramped over the ground 
to locate any sticks or small rocks that might be under our 
blankets. As we did so we picked a slight rise in the ground for 
the head of our bed. When I opened my eyes the next morn 
ing I was staring at a weather-beaten wooden slab. I took a 
closer look. It was a grave marker. Our slightly raised natural 
pillow was an old grave mound. We found another grave and 
marker nearby, also the remains of a wooden picket fence, 
which one day had enclosed the two lonely graves. Livestock 
had, no doubt, rubbed the fence and markers down many 
years before. The markers were flat on the ground, broken, 
and partly covered with sand and grass. We carefully fitted 



186 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

the old broken pieces together and copied the two hand-carved 
headboards. After nearly forty years I still have the piece of 
birch bark on which I copied the inscriptions. They tell their 
own tragic story. 

Here lies 

Constant Quenell, Pvt. Co. B. Inf. 

Montreal, Canada. Killed by Indians. 
May 24, 1863. 



Here lies 

William Lehr. Killed by Indians. 
Oct. 1871. 

From here we followed the Missouri toward the west. The 
left or southern bank of the river begins to get rugged west 
of the Musselshell. The north bank gradually slopes out into 
a wide plain, forming many large stretches of low bottom 
lands. The main channel here changes with almost every 
spring thaw. Many old channels, once plied by the great river 
boats of seventy-five years ago, are now two miles from the 
present river bed. Not many years ago, Lone Eagle and I dis 
covered the rusty smokestack and cables of one of these old 
packet boats protruding from the grassy prairie flats fully one- 
half mile from the present river channel. Several old river 
boat hulls have been located far from the present channel. 

An almost unbelievable incident took place some years ago 
in connection with the cargo of one of these old river boats. 
Records show that one of the old packets was on its way from 
St. Louis to Fort Benton, loaded with merchandise for the 
gold camps of Montana. Due to the ever-changing channel, 
this boat ran aground on a bar of sharp rocks in the middle of 
the stream, and sank in water up to the pilot house. The crew 
and passengers were all taken ashore but most of the cargo 
was submerged and never recovered. 



Trip Through the Enchanted Badlands 187 

Years later, when the river was very low in the late fall, some 
woodchoppers located the old boat, which had become partly 
imbedded in dry sand near the edge of the, then, main stream. 
Being curious, they spent several days digging about the old 
decks. Finally they broke into one of the storage rooms where 
flour had been stored in hundred-pound cotton sacks. This 
flour had been under water for many years, but was more or 
less protected from the ravages of the river and, strange to say, 
most of it was still in usable condition. The water had pene 
trated the tightly packed sacks to a depth of only three or four 
inches, thereby forming an air- and water-tight cover of thick 
dough around each sack, which sealed in the remainder of 
the flour, preserving it in its original condition. Several tons 
of perfectly good flour was recovered from this submerged 
boat. One of these sacks of flour later was sent to the museum 
at Helena, Montana, and is still on exhibit there. 

For many miles along the river the bluffs rise to a height 
of from two to three hundred feet and in most places they 




SCENIC WONDERS IN THE BADLANDS 



188 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

are nearly perpendicular. They are formed of white sand 
stone, which is sufficiently soft to wash away easily. Two 
or three narrow, horizontal strata of white stone of harder 
quality, on which the rains make no noticeable impression, 
are imbedded in these cliffs of soft stone near the upper part, 
and above this the earth is dark surface gravel. The surface 
water, in descending from these hills and plains, has trickled 
down the soft sand cliffs and worn them into a thousand gro 
tesque figures, which, with a little imagination, make them 
look very much like elegant rows of twenty-story buildings, 
having their parapets faced with white marble statuary. Col 
umns, both grooved and plain, appear to be supporting long 
carved galleries in front of these richly decorated buildings. 
Some of these columns rise from the water s edge to a height 
of two to three hundred feet with their pedestals and capitals 
complete, while some lie prostrate and broken. They seem 
as if built by the hand of man and are so numerous that they 
appear like the ruins of some great city. Their grandeur is 
far beyond description of my humble pen. 

Some thirty miles west of the mouth of the Musselshell is 
located the site of one of the^ early-day boat landings that 
served much of the Judith Basin country and even a large 
part of the mining camps along Alder Gulch. This landing 
was known as Carroll City and consisted of a dozen or so log 
cabins and a large warehouse. Leading from the landing into 
the Judith Basin and upper Musselshell River country was 
the Carroll Trail, over which the Diamond R Freight Com 
pany sent its heavily laden wagons. 

Lone Eagle and I spent several weeks in this little known 
badlands country, scouting and locating landmarks of early- 
day Montana history. During hundreds of miles of riding 
along the river and following small streams and deep canyons 
on either side, we saw less than a dozen human habitations, 
mostly along the river banks. There was wild game of every 
description. 

In one cabin I was shown a most unusual legal document. 
An old, tan, battered cowboy hat the signed will of a dying 



Trip Through the Enchanted Badlands 189 

cowboy. It seems that a local cowboy rancher had been up In 
the hills looking after his stock when along a narrow trail his 
horse had shied or slipped off the ledge and came tumbling 
down a long, steep embankment, rider and all A shotgun, 
which he was carrying on his horse, had discharged into the 
side of the rider. The wound was serious and the cowboy was 
alone and far from home or other habitation. His chances of 
reaching aid were slim and he evidently realized his situation. 
His horse was found a few days later standing outside his cor 
ral gate, lame and badly cut up. The saddle also showed signs 
of deep rock scratches and clay dirt. His neighbors immedi 
ately got up a searching party and, with the assistance of an 
old half-breed Cree scout, they finally found the object of their 
search. Not far away was the discharged shotgun, and, lying 
within arm s length, was his hat, on the wide brim of which 
he had scrawled: "I am dying accident please give all I own 

to my sister Kansas City, Mo. Albert. * The old Stetson 

hat is still owned by his sister in Kansas City, and a photo 
graph of it is somewhere in the Fergus County records. 

Another, less tragic, occurrence took place at a lonely ranch 
house farther up the river, a couple of days before we arrived. 
Just back of the house was a smoldering heap of ruins, and 
during the evening meal we were told of the burning incident. 
It seems that Junior, then about six years old, had been sent 
out to the barn by his mother to gather some eggs. He found a 
few, but evidently not the required number. In an empty stall 
he saw some more eggs under a hen. However, the hen was in 
no mood to give up her nest to Junior, no matter how much 
he shooed her. The hen got a little rough and nipped a couple 
of fingers. About that time, Junior remembered how he and 
his father had smoked a bobcat out of a hollow log a few days 
before, and this gave him an idea. So he lit a match under the 
unsuspecting hen and her nest. Junior s little smoke-out cost 
one dozen nearly hatched eggs, forty tons of new-mown hay, 
four new sets of harness, one thousand bushels of grain, two 
wagons, and a sixty-foot log bam and Junior needed a new 
seat in his old Levis. 



190 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

One evening we were camping with two cowboys who were 
out looking for their stock which was ranging in the neighbor 
ing hills. It may or may not have been Monday, but they de 
cided it was wash day, and their idea of doing the family 
wash was unique. They simply took an empty gunny sack, 
placed a small rock in the bottom, and placed their clothes in 
the sack with a couple of slices of laundry soap. Tying their 
lariat around the top, they went down to a bend in the river 
and suspended the sack in the swift current, completely sub 
merged. The next morning one of the boys hauled the sack 
out of the river, wrung out the clothes and draped them over 
the rocks to dry in the sun. Those clothes were perfectly 
washed and rinsed as neatly as any motor-driven washer could 
do it. The rock in the bottom of the sack kept it submerged 
in the rapid current; the clothes and soap whirled around 
until the soap was dissolved, after which the contents were 
thoroughly rinsed and ready to be hung up to dry. No buttons 
missing and no dishpan hands. 

Some days later we stopped in at their ranch to spend the 
night. Several of the boys had discussed whether the prover 
bial saying, "tough as a boiled owl" was really true. A couple 
of days before our arrival, one of the boys had shot a large 
hoot owl out of the top of a tall tree with his six-shooter. Some 
one suggested they decide for themselves, once and for all, 
whether owl meat was of the palatable variety. The owl was 
properly prepared and put in the pot. It was to be kept boil 
ing from 6:00 A. M. to 6:00 P. M., exactly twelve hours. We 
were invited to decide as to the truth of the saying. And for 
public information, I do not hesitate to be quoted as saying 
that no other meat, wearing fur or feathers, could ever be as 
tough as that boiled owl. 

As the fall days shortened and the nights became colder, 
we began our return journey to Eagle Bar Ranch by way of 
the old Carroll Trail, which can yet be followed in many 
places by the deep ruts made by the heavy freight wagons of 
three quarters of a century ago. We followed this old trail 
until we came to the foothills of the Judith Mountains, from 



Trip Through the Enchanted Badlands 191 

where we followed Box Elder Creek down toward the Mussel- 
shell. While riding down along the north bank of Box Elder 
we found the remains of an old Red River cart, a relic of the 
Cree half-breed migration into the Judith Basin country in 
the early i88o s. Hundreds of these old hand-made, two- wheel, 
wooden carts creaked and groaned behind their slowly mov 
ing cattle as the first half-breeds crossed the divide to the new 
found grazing lands of central Montana. Very few of these 
old relics of early transportation are to be seen anywhere 
today. Although they never quite enjoyed the romantic and 
picturesque part played by the early freighter teams, the Pony 
Express, and the famous old Concord stagecoaches, they never 
theless took a most dramatic and important part in the settle 
ment of our great northwestern empire. 



Chapter XX 




Red Man s Supreme Mystery 



THE LAST BATTLE EVER ENGAGED IN BY THE SIOUX WAS BECAUSE 

of a gross misunderstanding and misinterpretation of a reli 
gious tribal dance miscalled the Ghost Dance or the Messiah 
Craze which took place on Wounded Knee Creek on the 
Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, and has become 
known as the Battle of Wounded Knee. 

So to explanation. Consult history and there comes the story 
of a strange and unknown being who, in 1890, incited the 
Indians to rebellion; who, in personification of Jesus Christ, 
gave the promise that once again the prairies should be the 
Happy Hunting Grounds of the red man, where again would 
roam the elk, the antelope, and the buffalo, and that the white 
man would vanish into the eastern seas. Consult history and it 
tells the story of how the representatives of the many Indian 
tribes from Canada to Oklahoma journeyed to Pyramid Lake, 
Nevada, that they might hear a message of war and hatred; of 
how the ghost shirt, supposedly impervious to bullets, was 
fashioned, and particularly of how it was Short Bull, of the 
Sioux, who spread the news and brought about the war which 
followed. 

Therefore, it was because of this history and the added fact 
that I had been told by my brother, Lone Eagle, and several 

192 



Red Man s Supreme Mystery 193 

of the old warriors who had participated in this new religious 
dance and the Battle o Wounded Knee, that I sought out a 
quiet little man then living far out upon the Sioux reservation 
of Pine Ridge. The man whom we visited that day was Short 
Bull, blamed for a quarter of a century for an Indian war 
which called forth half the troops of the United States, and 
cost the lives of hundreds this war of the Messiah. And this 
little man of the Sioux that we found was blamed for it all, 
yet he had always denied that he caused a war. And so it was, 
on that autumn afternoon in 1915, that Lone Eagle and I 
heard from the lips of Short Bull himself of how it was peace 
he preached and sought, and not the war for which he was 
blamed. 

"There was starvation in 1888 and 1889," he said slowly. 
"The tepees were cold for want of fires. Up on the Rosebud 
agency where I lived we cried for food, as they did down here 
at Pine Ridge. The white man had forgotten us. We were 
going toward the sunset. Then, one day it seemed we all 
heard it at once there came a message that the Messiah was 
soon to come to us. The white man had turned him out, long 
ago. Now he was coming to the Indian. We danced for joy 
the dance of the Messiah. This Messiah perhaps would bring 
us food and warmth and clothing. There was a message, too, 
from Red Cloud on Pine Ridge. Red Cloud said, too, that 
the Messiah was corning and to choose a brave-hearted man 
of the tribe to meet him. I was that man. 

"There were several of us, each from a different tribe. One 
by one we traveled to the head of Wind River and met. The 
Messiah was in Nevada at Pyramid Lake. Some of us had 
horses. Others walked. We did not care for fatigue or for hun 
ger. One must suffer to see God. We traveled on. We finally 
reached Pyramid Lake. And then some way we all knew 
where he would come and when he would come, at sunset 
by the great rocks. So we waited. I had not believed. They had 
taught me in the parish churches not to believe too much. So 
I stood there and watched and looked here and there to see 



194 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

where he would come from. I looked hard and I rubbed my 
eyes. He had not come at all. He was there. Just as if he had 
floated through the air. 

"He was the Holy Man. His gown was like fire. It caught the 
sun rays and sent them back to the west. It glowed like the 
fire of a feast. It changed colors. All over the robe there were 
crosses, from his head to his feet. Some of them were in white 
some were in red. We could not see much, for when he 
looked at us we were afraid and closed our eyes. He raised his 
arms and there seemed to be fire all about him. We fell down 
and worshipped. And when we raised our heads he was gone. 

"We did not talk much. We were afraid. The next morning 
a little white boy came to us and told us his father was ready 
to see us and talk to us down in the willow grove by the lake. 
You see the Messiah had a little boy/ declared Short Bull. 
"The little boy said the Messiah was his father. So we went to 
the willow patch, and he was there, just as we had seen him 
the night before. He talked to all of us, but he talked to me 
the most. He came close to me. He laid his hand on my fore 
head and I thought that fire had gone through me. He held 
my hands and they turned numb. His hands were hot when 
they touched me. When they left me they were cold cold 
like the wind outside. Then he talked. 

" *A long time ago/ he said, and he talked as if it hurt to 
remember, 1 came among the white people. But they did not 
like me. They sent me away. They crucified me/ " 

Short Bull then raised his hands and pointed to his palms. 
He raised his beaded-moccasined feet and pointed there. He 
bared his breast and patted it above his heart. 

"He was the Holy Man, I saw. He showed me. Here, and 
here, and here where they had nailed him on the crucifix! 
He was the Holy Man! 

"But after the Holy Man said that, he smiled and shook his 
head. That was a long time ago that the white people did that 
and now he didn t care. Now he had come back to bring peace. 
1 have come back/ he said, to bring you news. You have 
fought with the white man. That is wrong. I want you to go 



Red Man s Supreme Mystery 195 

back to your tribe and tell them what I have said. You must 
say that the white man and the Indian shall live in peace. 
There may be trouble. Stamp it out like a prairie fire. They 
may try to kill you, Short Bull, and even if they should, do 
not fight back. You must live in peace. Your children must 
go to the white man s school and your children s children must 
grow to become the husbands and wives of the white man and 
the white woman. 

" And some day there will be no Indian. There will be no 
white man. You will all be one, and then will be peace. Listen 
to me/ he said, and listen to each other. I am the Holy Man. 
I am the Messiah. Listen to the white man and the white man 
shall listen to you. Do as I say and on earth you will be to 
gether and in heaven you will be together. And then there 
shall be no nights, no sleeps, no hunger, no cold. You shall be 
with me! You have come unto me, the Holy Man said, to 
learn the news. I have told it to you and now you must journey 
forth to tell it to the others who wait by the tepees. Tell them 
to be merciful unto each other. Tell them the Father says to 
do no harm, but to live in peace. And he told this to each one 
of us. To me he told it in Sioux. He told it to the others in 
their own language. Could any man but God have done it? 
There is no man who can talk all the languages. He taught 
us to dance and he says this is the dance we must perform. He 
showed us his robe and told us that we should worship him 
by wearing robes like this. He told us that we must throw away 
the rifle and the war club. 

" Live in peace/ he said, and let the white man live in 
peace with you/ 

"And that was all he said. Pretty soon he was gone and we 
turned and came home. Yes, that was all. I went home and 
all before me there was singing and happiness. They had 
heard of the Messiah. All down through Pine Ridge they sang 
and danced, and pretty soon Red Cloud, Fast Thunder, 
American Horse, and Sitting Bull sent for me to come home. 
I knew what they wanted. They wanted war. They did not 
want to do as the Holy Man said. And so I went. I talked to 



196 Lone Eagle -the White Sioux 

them and they laughed at me. Then they brought me the ghost 
shirts to bless. I blessed them and then they went back to 
their people and told them I had said that bullets would not 
pierce the ghost shirts. They went back and told their people 
I had brought a new message from the Messiah, but that I 
could not give it directly. They told their people I had said 
the white man was to be driven out and that there must be 
war. But I did not know then. When I heard it was too late. 
All through the reservations they were dancing now and 
dancing for war because American Horse, Fast Thunder, 
Rain-in-the-Face, Red Cloud, and Sitting Bull wanted war. 
They had blamed it all on me and yet I only told what the 
Messiah had ordered me to tell. I begged them to listen to the 
Holy Man to hear the news he had sent and live in peace 
with the white man. I did not want war; I did not want it! The 
Messiah had told me what to do and I was trying to do it. 

"I had told my people we should dance for the Messiah 
when the grass turned brown, but the police from the agency 
came out and told me to stop. Then they told me the soldiers 
were coming. And then Fast Thunder, American Horse, Red 
Cloud, and Sitting Bull called for me to come to Pine Ridge 
and fight the white man. But I said No! No! The Messiah 
has said there must be no war.* Old Two Strikes moved his 
camp from the Little White River toward Pine Ridge, but I 
stayed. The Brules moved from the Rosebud toward Pine 
Ridge, but still I stayed. I had seen the Holy Man and he had 
told me to live in peace. Then the young men of the Rosebud 
came to me and ordered me to follow Two Strikes. I followed. 
They talked to me about guns and ammunition, but I would 
not help them get them. I did not want war; I wanted to do 
what the Messiah had told me. We went to the Badlands. 
They told me that now I must fight against the white men. 
No! No! I cried out to them: No! I kept calling; You do 
do not hear me. I do not want to fight against the white man! 
The Messiah says, " There shall be no more war; but you will 
not listen/ " 

" Once I was a warrior, once I wore the shield and the war 



Red Man s Supreme Mystery 197 

club and the war bonnet; but I have seen the Holy Man. Now 
is peace; now there shall stay peace. You chose me as the brave- 
hearted one to journey to the sunset to see the Messiah. I saw 
him, and I brought you his message. You would not hear it. 
You changed it. " Now " he said, 1 am silent/ " 

"The next day I saddled my horse. I rode away. I came to 
the pine hills and looked out in the distance. They were fight 
ing the Battle of Wounded Knee. I kept on. They fought the 
battle of the Missions, and they blame me for it me, who 
saw the Holy Man. They were jealous; I was a brave-hearted 
man, and I was a chief. They did not like me; so they blame 
me for a war my own people, my people who had sent me to 
the sunset that I might talk to Him, the Holy Man!" 

So there is the story of Short Bull, whatever history may say. 
This is the story told me by that wrinkled little heart-broken 
old Indian who, that day, was reliving the past, standing there 
in the sunset along the shores of Pyramid Lake, listening to 
the message of the Messiah. 

Not many years after my visit to Short Bull s lodge on the 
Pine Ridge, I spent a summer on the placid shores of the pic 
turesque Pyramid Lake in Nevada, where I had heard of an 
old man of the Piute tribe who claimed to have also witnessed 
the coming of this so-called Messiah, on the rocky shore of this 
Lake of the Pyramid. His story was almost identical to that 
which was related to me by Short Bull, but he saw material 
things there that day in the rocks that were apparently missed 
by the little man of the Sioux, from whose explanation came 
the first glimpse of the truth about the so-called Messiah. 

This man of the Messiah had come to the land of the Piute 
on the shores of the lake in a wagon sometime before and 
made a camp behind the big rocks. It had been seen by this 
tribesman of the Piutes. This person who desired to portray 
the part of a Messiah, was perhaps some small-town, street- 
corner orator, whose knowledge of the superstition of the 
Indian, and who was inspired by a will and desire to be a 
prophet and a messenger of peace to the Indian people, had 
proposed a great scheme, with the spirit of the faker to carry 



198 Lone Eagle - the White Sioux 

it through. With the brilliant rays of the setting sun shining 
on his changeable silken robe and by his spectacular act o 
leaping out from behind a small shelf in the rocks, he ap 
peared to float through the air to the place viewed by the 
waiting assembly of Indians. Thus they had seen with their 
own eyes and believed. Believed and worshipped with all the 
superstition and all the faith of the Indian race, worshipped 
a man in a changeable silken robe, who had mysteriously come 
to them along the shores of the Lake of the Pyramid in the 
brilliant sunset of the West. 



THE PROPHECY OF AN AMERICAN INDIAN 

I stand in the dying sunset, 
And mine is a vanishing race; 
Now hearken to me, you white man, 
As I meet you, again, face to face. 

My fathers were they who first met you, 
Where the tides of the Great Waters flow; 
Far, far to the east as the arrow flies, 
Ten thousand moons ago. 

My fathers who ranged through the forests, 
My fathers by river and sea; 
Who roamed through their vast dominions 
Like the winds of the heavens, as free. 

They were brothers to storm, and the sunshine, 
They were brothers to oak and the pine; 
They were shadows that stole with moccasined feet, 
Through the glades where the wild grapes twine. 

And they hunted the deer and the turkey, 
The wolf and the fox and the bear; 
They fished in the brooks and the rivers 
And they speared the great salmon there. 



Red Man s Supreme Mystery 199 

No fear of the lightning s terrors, 
No fear of the wolf s hunger cry; 
Where the smoke of their many wigwams 
Wheeled calmly against the sky. 

So lived my fathers, Oh, pale face! 
They were children of vast and of wild, 
They were happy within their borders 
In a land that was undefiled. 

Then, one day, from over the waters 
A speck loomed dark gainst the sky; 
And shadows ran swift through the forest, 
Where the night owl hooted its cry. 

And my fathers went down to your fathers, 
While the keel grated harsh on the sand; 
And they welcomed your fathers, Oh, pale face, 
With the pipe of peace in their hand. 

So the moons went by in succession, 
And greater your people grew; 
And far was the smoke of their wigwams, 
While back in the forests we drew. 

Then we saw that our lands were taken, 
And the greed where your footsteps led, 
And our faith in your fathers was shaken, 
And we fought and together we bled. 

But vain was the terror of war-whoop, 
And your scalps held high in our hand; 
For ever the smoke of your wigwams 
Spread farther throughout the land. 

And ever we fled before it, 
While the forests were lined with our dead, 
And we turned our face towards the westward 
To the land where the sun burns red. 



200 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

Then you fought with the sons of your mother, 
Her sons who came over the sea; 
Who would crush the hopes of your future 
And strangle your liberty. 

But you threw them across the far waters 
To the land of the rising sun; 
And again you builded your empire 
With the fruits of your victory won. 

Then peace and then wars in succession, 
And the moons they were bloody with strife, 
While out of the throes of rebellion 
You welded your national life. 

And so you waxed strong in your power. 
While your muscles were knitted of steel, 
And the world bowed low in her homage, 
As she came to your footstools to kneel. 

Then you threw back your wide, golden portals, 
High lifted your liberty s torch; 
And over the sea came a tidal wave 
Of millions that crowded your porch. 

And you set them to dig in your ditches, 
This brood of an alien race. 
While you lifted your cup to pleasure 
And toasted her painted face. 

Then wealth poured into your coffers, 
And it flowed in a golden tide; 
While you drank the wine of your madness, 
Drank deep of your power and pride. 

And your daughters cared not to be mothers, 
For papooses, cared not, on their knee. 
And trained in your schools of learning 
From such shackles they fain would be free. 



Red Man s Supreme Mystery 201 

So they grew to be independent, 

For who would be tied to a home, 

When the jazz and the dance were calling, 

And the white lights where they might roam. 

Now they go about in their motors, 
Or with a Pekinese tied to a string; 
Far better a tour with Baedecker 
Than a child in the world to bring. 

While lone on New England hillsides, 
Stand your homes of Colonial pride, 
Whose children have gone to the cities, 
Whose fathers and mothers have died. 

And ever the tide grew larger, 

The tide with the alien cry; 

While deeper you drank to your madness, 

And higher the cup lifted high. 

So you bartered away your birthright, 
For the pottage of pleasure and lust, 
The birthright your fathers had died for, 
Your heritage held in their trust. 

Then one day you woke from your stupor, 
And rose from your orgy and feast; 
And saw on the west coast the brown man, 
And a dark skinned one on your east. 

And you saw the tide of their children, 
As it broke on your own barren shore! 
Then you lifted your voice in terror, 
And you slammed in their faces your door. 

And you read on your wall the handwriting, 
And the letters were large and plain; 
In one body you next tried to fuse them, 
But your melting pot melted in vain. 



202 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

And some there be that are vipers, 
While with hatred their eyes now burn, 
You have taken them into your bosom, 
And deep they shall strike in return. 

For hearken you Anglo-Saxon, 
Though your belching guns may boom, 
You shall fellow our father s footsteps 
And your remnant shall march to its doom. 

You shall stand with us in the sunset, 
You shall follow our dying race; 
In the house that your fathers builded, 
An alien shall stand in your place. 

Ah, well for your closed eastern portals, 
For your well guarded Golden Gate. 
But I from the shores of the spirit land 
Shall mock you and cry Too late! 



Chapter XXI 




Looking Back Over the Years 



DURING THE SUMMER OF 1915, LONE EAGLE AND I TOOK A LONG- 

planned trip back to the home of our parents in Sussex 
County, New Jersey. Many times I had told my brother the 
story of our parents and their journey to the West and of how 
he was left, an orphan, among the Sioux. 

The family of Jacob Maine had been numerous in the 
peaceful little village of Stillwater, along the Paulins Kill, and 
many descendants were still to be found living in the same 
stately old homes of their ancestors. Many of them still remem 
bered the young missionary and his wife who ventured into 
the little known land of the Dakotas more than twenty-five 
years before. We met many with our family name. All were 
greatly interested in the romantic story of Lone Eagle and his 
adventurous boyhood days, and of our eventful meeting in the 
Indian country along the Little Big Horn. Our broad- 
brimmed hats, high-heeled boots and general Western attire 
were quite a curiosity among our Eastern relatives. 

Lone Eagle never quite got used to the maze of tall build 
ings in the big cities and he was always a little frightened at 
the multitude of ever-rushing people and the noisy traffic of 
the busy streets. Even I, after so many years away from the 
noise and bustle of the metropolitan areas of my birthplace, 
was not a little uneasy when among the now unfamiliar 

203 



204 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

crowds. We stayed for several weeks and, in September, bade 
our many friends and relatives adieu, and began our home 
ward journey. We stopped a few days to see White Fawn, who 
had just returned for her last year at Carlisle. She had now 
grown into a most charming and talented young lady. She and 
Lone Eagle planned to get married following a year of teach 
ing at the Agency school in Montana. We also visited the home 
of Big Elk and Cloud Woman in whose lodge Lone Eagle had 
lived as a boy. Many winters had silvered their hair noticeably 
and they were overjoyed at our coming to see them. They 
truly loved Lone Eagle as their own son. 

We had heartily enjoyed our visit among our friends and 
relatives but were happy to be back among familiar surround 
ings and the quiet of the great outdoors. However, soon after 
we had settled down to our daily ranching routine, war clouds 
began to appear in the land along the Rhine. Soon we and 
many of our friends were laying away our spurs and saddles 
for the olive-drab tunics and campaign hats. It was not until 
mid-summer of 1 9 1 9 that we once more resumed our ranching. 

White Fawn had continued her teaching during the years 
that Lone Eagle was in uniform and they were married at our 
ranch home on December 1 1, 1919, just forty years to a day 
after the wedding of our own parents in the old Bonnie 
Brook family mansion in Sussex County. Many moons have 
come and gone since those early homesteading days on Eagle 
Bar Ranch but they will never be forgotten. 

Not long ago while on a visit in Lewistown, I chanced to 
meet a couple of my old Army buddies. Usually, when old 
friends meet, they recall some incident of bygone days. It so 
happened that this chap and I were tentmates for several 
months before the old One Hundred Sixty-third Montana 
sailed for the European war zone. In December, 1917, our 
outfit was camped in Mineola, Long Island, waiting for orders 
to sail overseas. In our tent squad, besides this fellow and my 
self, were Lone Eagle and five cowboys from the Powder River 
country. A more congenial lot of boys were never housed 
together under one Sibley squad tent. The One Hundred 



Looking Back Over the Years 205 

Sixty-third was made up of boys from Montana, with a few re 
placements from Wyoming and a couple of other Western 
states. 

The Montana cow country and several Indian reservations 
were well represented in our outfit. We were the first Western 
troops to arrive in Mineola, and since some of our boys had 
not yet been issued regulation uniforms, there were plenty of 
high-heeled cowboy boots, ten-gallon hats, beaded moccasins, 
and long black braids seen on our company streets. Most of 
the cowboys and Indians were quite crestfallen when issued 
their first pair of army shoes. 

The squad tent was standard housing equipment, and was 
rather cramped for the boys from the wide-open spaces. Lone 
Eagle, having lived most of his life among the plains Indians, 
was quite used to tepee life and the old Sibley was about the 
only camp equipment that reminded him of his early home. 
However, one thing was missing. The Indians were in the 
habit of painting their tents with colorful designs, including 
their personal and family histories, in Indian picture writing 
above and around the tepee door. 

Some one in our tent procured a box of wax lumber crayons 
in deep red, blue, and black, and the rest of the squad proudly 
looked on while Lone Eagle spent the better part of a fore 
noon painting the family crest and Indian totems all over our 
new canvas abode. The sketches consisted of buffalo, horses, 
Indians, cowboys, and Sioux hieroglyphic picture writing. 
The carefully sketched subjects were really a commendable 
piece of Indian and cowboy art a colorful paint job worthy 
of a Russell s approval. To add to the array on our gaily 
painted domicile, the rest of the occupants decided they 
should make known their residence in the tepee by adding 
their own trademarks and signatures to the already well-cov 
ered canvas. So it was not long until the rest of the exterior of 
our Army home was a maze of monograms and cattle brands of 
our family squad of eight. 

Our popularity soon exceeded our fondest expectations; 
everyone on our company street came by to admire our artis- 



206 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

tic display. We had painted ourselves into the limelight, which 
lasted until that afternoon, when the regimental colonel and 
his staff held a company inspection in all company streets, and 
we were viewed in front of our respective tents. We slicked up 
the interior in double time and were soon ready and waiting 
for the worthy mass of braid and silverware. At 3:45 he and 
his staff walked leisurely up the long street to our squad and 
suddenly stopped and looked, long and hard, but not at us. 
It was our gaily painted tent that attracted his attention. He 
took a couple of steps in our direction and yelled out, "Who 
did that?" For a moment we were so startled that no one an 
swered. Again, pointing to our tent, he yelled: "I say, did you 
hear me, Who did that?" so loudly we nearly bounced off our 
feet. Lone Eagle, not sure whether he was to be fired or pro 
moted to company commander, grinned and answered, "Me 
Sir, from Powder River, let er buck!" The colonel looked 
stern for a moment and then broke into a long grin, as he con 
tinued: "You will be excused at once to remove the art paint 
ings from your canvas if you have to drain Powder River to do 
so." However, the entire squad procured soap and brushes 
from the company kitchen and put on a scrubbing bee, soon 
removing our display of Western art from Uncle Sam s war 
tepee. 

Life has not always been easy on the Western plains, but 
we who knew and lived it offer no complaints. I have seen 
thousands of acres of golden grain waiting only for another 
day of ripening sunshine before the harvest, when suddenly 
the sky above was clouded over by myriads of locusts so thick 
they blotted out the sun. Forty-eight hours later the fields 
were a blanket of crawling grasshoppers and not a blade of 
grass or grain could be seen for miles around. Again, I have 
waited only for the morrow to begin the harvest of a field of 
waving grain, so heavy it would easily sustain a hat as though 
floating on a surfcfte of water. In an hour, a threatening black 
cloud appeared, and before I could reach cover, hailstones 
beat the waving grain into the earth until it was as clean and 
bare as a baseball field. 



Looking Back Over the "Years 207 

I have seen the roaring, raging winter blizzard blow the 
biting icy snow into our faces until it cut like flakes of steel. 
I have struggled and floundered against stinging blasts of 
swirling snow in midday so dark and dense we held hands so 
as not to lose sight of each other at less than three paces, and 
our voices carried no farther. Even to breathe was frozen 
torture. 

But the winter does not hold all the danger and horrors of 
the great unfenced prairies. I shall never forget a roaring, 
racing prairie fire that nearly cost the lives of my brother and 
me and a cowboy friend. Caught on the flaming front of a 
three-mile-wide prairie grass fire, we were forced to race ahead 
of a forty-mile wind, and at no time were we ever more than 
two hundred yards ahead of the leaping flames. To turn to 
the right or left would serve only to lessen our distance from 
the ten-foot wall of flame. For nearly seven miles we raced 
for our very lives, hoping and trusting only to God and the 
fleetness and surefootedness of our wiry mustangs. Nearing an 
old buffalo wallow, we made for it, and taking advantage of its 
bare, dry mud bed, we hastily set a backfire along the nearest 
edge and rushed for the opposite side, where we lay down with 
our faces to the ground, until the fire swept around us not a 
hundred feet away. But these were the exceptions. More com 
mon were the years of plenty, when our ranges were filled 
with thousands of fat cattle, and golden grain waved in the 
gentle breeze as far as the eye could see. 

In looking back over the years, the succession of unusual 
events has made the story of our lives seem like a dream 
a page out of a book of fantastic fairy tales. Two brothers, sons 
of the same parents, one born and raised in the center of 
Eastern culture; the other born in a tepee and brought up as 
an Indian on the great Western plains, after years of living in 
different worlds and environments, at last met under circum 
stances almost unbelievable. We continued oar lives together 
in perfect harmony and understanding, each always admiring 
the association and experiences of the other. 

Inheritance and environment have silently and surely 



208 Lone Eagle the White Sioux 

played a strange and interesting part in our lives. My brother 
never quite outgrew or forgot his early training among the 
Sioux. His adopted people were always closest to his heart. His 
early environment and the love of his kindly adopted family 
played a part which was never erased from his nature. He 
realized his birthright but by nature he always was an Indian 
at heart. His love, admiration, and consideration for his 
adopted people were reflected in the numerous friends of his 
youth. To them, he was as much an Indian as though never 
a drop of white blood ran through his veins. They taught him 
all that they would have taught their own sons. They sought 
his counsel as though he were a member of their highest 
tribunal. They bestowed upon him the love, affection, and 
trust that is accorded only to their closest blood brothers. In 
turn, he was ever loyal to their trust and sincerest friendship. 
Each year as the maple leaves fell in the autumn, he made 
a pilgrimage to the land of his birth to see, once more, his 
adopted people. Many of the white man s houses now dot the 
prairies where once he knew only the low-lying lodges and big 
white tepees of his people. He went from lodge to lodge look 
ing for the friends he once knew, but the Indians of his boy 
hood came to greet him no more. Their campfires are burning 
for him among the sand hills in the Happy Hunting Grounds. 
So ends iny story. 



DQ 



101 103