第2章 RED CLOUD(2)

Suddenly,almost over his head,as it seemed,he heard a tremendous war whoop,and glancing sidewise,thought he beheld the charge of an overwhelming number of warriors.He tried desperately to give the usual undaunted war whoop in reply,but instead a yell of terror burst from his lips,his legs gave way under him,and he fell in a heap.When he realized,the next instant,that the war whoop was merely the sudden loud whinnying of his own horse,and the charging army a band of fleeing elk,he was so ashamed of himself that he never forgot the incident,although up to that time he had never mentioned it.His subsequent career would indicate that the lesson was well learned.

The future leader was still a very young man when he joined a war party against the Utes.Having pushed eagerly forward on the trail,he found himself far in advance of his companions as night came on,and at the same time rain began to fall heavily.Among the scattered scrub pines,the lone warrior found a natural cave,and after a hasty examination,he decided to shelter there for the night.

Scarcely had he rolled himself in his blanket when he heard a slight rustling at the entrance,as if some creature were preparing to share his retreat.It was pitch dark.He could see nothing,but judged that it must be either a man or a grizzly.There was not room to draw a bow.It must be between knife and knife,or between knife and claws,he said to himself.

The intruder made no search but quietly lay down in the opposite corner of the cave.Red Cloud remained perfectly still,scarcely breathing,his hand upon his knife.Hour after hour he lay broad awake,while many thoughts passed through his brain.

Suddenly,without warning,he sneezed,and instantly a strong man sprang to a sitting posture opposite.The first gray of morning was creeping into their rocky den,and behold!a Ute hunter sat before him.

Desperate as the situation appeared,it was not without a grim humor.Neither could afford to take his eyes from the other's;the tension was great,till at last a smile wavered over the expressionless face of the Ute.Red Cloud answered the smile,and in that instant a treaty of peace was born between them.

"Put your knife in its sheath.I shall do so also,and we will smoke together,"signed Red Cloud.The other assented gladly,and they ratified thus the truce which assured to each a safe return to his friends.Having finished their smoke,they shook hands and separated.Neither had given the other any information.

Red Cloud returned to his party and told his story,adding that he had divulged nothing and had nothing to report.Some were inclined to censure him for not fighting,but he was sustained by a majority of the warriors,who commended his self-restraint.In a day or two they discovered the main camp of the enemy and fought a remarkable battle,in which Red Cloud especially distinguished himself The Sioux were now entering upon the most stormy period of their history.The old things were fast giving place to new.The young men,for the first time engaging in serious and destructive warfare with the neighboring tribes,armed with the deadly weapons furnished by the white man,began to realize that they must soon enter upon a desperate struggle for their ancestral hunting grounds.The old men had been innocently cultivating the friendship of the stranger,saying among themselves,"Surely there is land enough for all!"Red Cloud was a modest and little known man of about twenty-eight years,when General Harney called all the western bands of Sioux together at Fort Laramie,Wyoming,for the purpose of securing an agreement and right of way through their territory.

The Ogallalas held aloof from this proposal,but Bear Bull,an Ogallala chief,after having been plied with whisky,undertook to dictate submission to the rest of the clan.Enraged by failure,he fired upon a group of his own tribesmen,and Red Cloud's father and brother fell dead.According to Indian custom,it fell to him to avenge the deed.Calmly,without uttering a word,he faced old Bear Bull and his son,who attempted to defend his father,and shot them both.He did what he believed to be his duty,and the whole band sustained him.Indeed,the tragedy gave the young man at once a certain standing,as one who not only defended his people against enemies from without,but against injustice and aggression within the tribe.From this time on he was a recognized leader.

Man-Afraid-of-His-Horse,then head chief of the Ogallalas,took council with Red Cloud in all important matters,and the young warrior rapidly advanced in authority and influence.In 1854,when he was barely thirty-five years old,the various bands were again encamped near Fort Laramie.A Mormon emigrant train,moving westward,left a footsore cow behind,and the young men killed her for food.The next day,to their astonishment,an officer with thirty men appeared at the Indian camp and demanded of old Conquering Bear that they be given up.The chief in vain protested that it was all a mistake and offered to make reparation.It would seem that either the officer was under the influence of liquor,or else had a mind to bully the Indians,for he would accept neither explanation nor payment,but demanded point-blank that the young men who had killed the cow be delivered up to summary punishment.

The old chief refused to be intimidated and was shot dead on the spot.Not one soldier ever reached the gate of Fort Laramie!Here Red Cloud led the young Ogallalas,and so intense was the feeling that they even killed the half-breed interpreter.