The West (1996): Season 1, Episode 6 - Fight No More Forever - full transcript
By the 1870s, only a few groups resisted the nation's push to conquer the West.
THE FIRST WHITE MEN
OF YOUR PEOPLE
WHO CAME TO OUR COUNTRY
WERE NAMED LEWIS AND CLARK.
ALL THE NEZ PERCE MADE FRIENDS
WITH LEWIS AND CLARK
AND AGREED TO LET THEM
PASS THROUGH THEIR COUNTRY
AND NEVER TO MAKE WAR
ON WHITE MEN.
THIS PROMISE THE NEZ PERCE
HAVE NEVER BROKEN.
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN
THE PRIDE OF THE NEZ PERCE
THAT THEY WERE THE FRIENDS
OF THE WHITE MEN.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
IN 1871,
AN AGING NEZ PERCE CHIEF
SUMMONED ONE OF HIS SONS,
HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT,
ALSO CALLED JOSEPH,
TO HIS DEATHBED.
THEIR HOMELAND
IN THE WALLOWA COUNTRY
OF NORTHEASTERN OREGON
WAS BEING OVERWHELMED
BY WHITE SETTLERS.
AFTER 3/4 OF A CENTURY
OF UNBROKEN PEACE
WITH THE UNITED STATES,
THE NEZ PERCE FELT BETRAYED.
ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMED
A TREATY PERMITTED
THE NEW SETTLEMENTS,
JOSEPH'S BAND
HAD NEVER SIGNED THAT TREATY
AND INSISTED THE LAND
STILL BELONGED TO THEM.
MY FATHER WAS THE FIRST
TO SEE THROUGH THE SCHEMES
OF THE WHITE MEN.
HE SAID, "MY SON,
WHEN I AM GONE,
"YOU ARE THE CHIEF
OF THESE PEOPLE.
"ALWAYS REMEMBER
THAT YOUR FATHER
"NEVER SOLD HIS COUNTRY.
"YOU MUST STOP YOUR EARS
WHENEVER YOU ARE ASKED
"TO SIGN A TREATY
SELLING YOUR HOME.
MY SON, NEVER FORGET
MY DYING WORDS."
"THIS COUNTRY HOLDS
YOUR FATHER'S BODY.
NEVER SELL THE BONES
OF YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER."
I PRESSED MY FATHER'S HAND
AND TOLD HIM I WOULD
PROTECT HIS GRAVE WITH MY LIFE.
A MAN WHO WOULD NOT
LOVE HIS FATHER'S GRAVE
IS WORSE THAN
A WILD ANIMAL.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
BY 1874, RAILROADS HAD BROUGHT
MILLIONS OF SETTLERS
TO THE WEST,
OPENING UP NEW LANDS
FOR HOMESTEADERS,
ELIMINATING
THE GREAT BUFFALO HERDS
FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
CHANGING FOREVER
THE LIVES OF THOSE
WHO CALLED THE WEST
THEIR HOME.
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
BEGAN CONSOLIDATING ITS CONTROL
OVER THE ENTIRE REGION
AS IT NEVER HAD BEFORE.
BY 1874, WASHINGTON HAD MOUNTED
STILL ANOTHER ASSAULT
ON THE MORMONS WHO HAD
SOUGHT SANCTUARY IN UTAH...
AND THE PROPHET
WHO HAD BROUGHT THEM THERE
WOULD BE FORCED TO CHOOSE
BETWEEN SAVING HIS CHURCH
OR SACRIFICING
HIS SPIRITUAL SON.
BY 1874, THE GOVERNMENT
HAD FORCED
THE CAYUSE, MIWOK, AND YOKUT,
THE UTE AND COEUR D'ALENE,
THE MODOC, THE PAIUTE, SHOSHONE,
AND NAVAJO TO SURRENDER.
MOST TRIBES WERE OFFICIALLY
CONFINED TO RESERVATIONS NOW,
DEPENDENT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL
ON GOVERNMENT RATIONS
THAT OFTEN DID NOT ARRIVE
AND ON THE WHIMS
OF GOVERNMENT AGENTS
WHO OFTEN DID NOT CARE.
BUT A FEW BANDS HELD OUT,
CONVINCED THEY COULD STILL
LIVE AS THEY WISHED SOMEHOW,
IN A WEST THAT HAD ALREADY
BEEN TRANSFORMED.
BETWEEN 1874 AND 1877,
THEY WOULD MAKE THEIR LAST STAND
TO REMAIN FREE.
A LAKOTA MEDICINE MAN
WHO SAW THE AMERICANS
AS HIS MORTAL ENEMIES
BECAME A SYMBOL
OF ARMED RESISTANCE
AND WOULD WIN THE GREATEST
VICTORY OF THE INDIAN WARS,
ONLY TO BRING DOWN
UPON HIS PEOPLE
THE WRATH
OF AN AVENGING NATION...
WHILE A NEZ PERCE CHIEF
WHO HAD STRUGGLED ALL HIS LIFE
TO MAINTAIN PEACE WITH WHITES
WOULD FIND HIMSELF
HELPING TO LEAD
ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY
MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
TO DEFEAT THEM, THE GOVERNMENT
WOULD CALL ON AN UNLIKELY ARMY
MADE UP OF IMMIGRANTS,
FUGITIVES, SOCIAL OUTCASTS,
AND A DASHING YOUNG HERO
OF THE CIVIL WAR
WHO CAME WEST PURSUING A VISION
OF HIS OWN INVINCIBILITY,
ONLY TO CONFRONT AN ENEMY
WHOSE VISIONS WOULD PROVE
EVEN STRONGER.
I NEVER TAUGHT MY PEOPLE
TO TRUST AMERICANS.
I HAVE TOLD THEM THE TRUTH--
THAT THE AMERICANS
ARE GREAT LIARS.
I HAVE NEVER
DEALT WITH THE AMERICANS.
WHY SHOULD I?
THE LAND
BELONGED TO MY PEOPLE.
SITTING BULL.
IT IS SUCH AN UNLIKELY
PLACE IN THE LANDSCAPE.
IT IS AN ISLAND,
AND IT'S THERE IN THIS VASTNESS
OF THE GREAT PLAINS,
BUT IT IS RICH.
IT IS FULL OF TIMBER,
FULL OF GAME.
IT'S A PLACE
WHERE THUNDER RESOUNDS
MORE THAN IN OTHER PLACES,
AND SO IT'S THOUGHT TO BE
THE PLACE OF THE DEITIES.
WHEN YOU SEE
THE BLACK HILLS,
YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT
THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF IT.
YOU ENJOYED, UH...
THE WEALTH
OF THE LAND THERE,
AND AT THE SAME TIME,
YOU RESTORED YOURSELF,
NOT ONLY PHYSICALLY,
BUT SPIRITUALLY.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1874,
MORE THAN 1,000 SOLDIERS,
100 WAGONS, 61 ARIKARA SCOUTS,
AND 3 NEWSPAPERMEN
MARCHED OUT OF
FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IN THE DAKOTA TERRITORY
AND STARTED SOUTHWEST,
STRAIGHT INTO
THE BLACK HILLS--
AN AREA THE LAKOTA CONSIDERED
SACRED GROUND.
OFFICIALLY, THE SOLDIERS
WERE LOOKING FOR A SITE
ON WHICH TO BUILD A FORT
SO THAT THEY COULD
KEEP AN EYE ON THE LAKOTA.
UNOFFICIALLY,
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR GOLD.
I SAY THAT OUR OBJECT
IS A PEACEFUL ONE,
BUT I HAVE NO IDEA
THAT OUR TRIP WILL BE.
THE INDIANS HAVE LONG OPPOSED
ALL EFFORTS OF WHITE MEN
TO ENTER THE BLACK HILLS,
BUT I HAVE
A WELL-EQUIPPED FORCE,
STRONG ENOUGH
TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.
AT THE HEAD OF THE EXPEDITION
RODE THE ARMY'S MOST CELEBRATED
INDIAN FIGHTER,
THE COMMANDER
OF THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.
AN OHIO BLACKSMITH'S SON
WHO WAS GRADUATED AT THE BOTTOM
OF HIS CLASS AT WEST POINT,
AT 23 HE HAD BECOME
THE YOUNGEST GENERAL
IN THE UNION ARMY.
IMPULSIVE AND HIGH-SPIRITED,
HE HAD LED THE CHARGE
AGAINST THE CONFEDERATES
AT GETTYSBURG,
WINCHESTER, FIVE FORKS.
11 HORSES HAD BEEN
SHOT OUT FROM UNDER HIM.
OH, COULD YOU HAVE BUT SEEN
SOME OF THE CHARGES WE MADE.
I GAVE THE COMMAND
"FORWARD,"
AND I NEVER EXPECT
TO SEE A PRETTIER SIGHT.
WHILE THINKING OF THEM,
I CANNOT BUT EXCLAIM,
"GLORIOUS WAR!"
HIS JUDGMENT WOULD OFTEN
BE CALLED INTO QUESTION,
BUT NO ONE EVER QUESTIONED
HIS HEADLONG COURAGE.
HE WAS A SELF-PROMOTER.
HE WAS A MAN
WHO RODE TO THE TOP
OVER THE BACKS
OF FALLEN COMRADES--
NOT THAT HE DIDN'T
TAKE THE RISKS THAT THEY DID,
BUT HE WAS TAKING THOSE RISKS
SO THAT HE COULD
GET PROMOTION FOR HIMSELF,
AND A LOT OF MEN FELL
BECAUSE CUSTER
WAS LEADING THEM INTO SITUATIONS
THAT HE SHOULDN'T HAVE
BEEN LEADING THEM INTO.
ONCE HE'D COME WEST,
CUSTER DESIGNED FOR HIMSELF
A DISTINCTIVE COSTUME
MEANT TO CATCH THE EYE
OF VISITING NEWSPAPERMEN.
THE CHEYENNE ESPECIALLY ADMIRED
THE WAY HE LOOKED
AND BEGAN TO CALL HIM
"YELLOW HAIR."
BUT DURING HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THEM IN 1867,
HIS CAREER HAD VERY NEARLY
COME TO AN END.
OUT HUNTING ONE DAY
WITH HIS HOUNDS,
FAR FROM HIS COLUMN
AND IN THE HEART
OF INDIAN COUNTRY,
HE GALLOPED AFTER A BUFFALO,
AIMED HIS REVOLVER--
AND SOMEHOW SHOT HIS OWN HORSE
THROUGH THE HEAD.
THE HORSE DID A FLIP,
AND HE DID A FLIP
AND HE CAME UP ON HIS FEET.
NOW HERE HE WAS ALL ALONE
OUT IN THE PRAIRIE
IN THE MIDDLE OF
HOSTILE TERRITORY,
SUPPOSEDLY ON AN EXPEDITION
AGAINST HOSTILE INDIANS,
HAVING SHOT HIS HORSE
IN THE HEAD
ON A FOOL CHASE
AFTER A BUFFALO.
ON FOOT, BRUISED,
AND TOTALLY LOST,
HE HAD TO BE RESCUED
BY HIS OWN MEN.
THEN, IN 1868,
HE MOUNTED A SURPRISE ATTACK
ON BLACK KETTLE'S CHEYENNE
ON THE OUACHITA
THAT ESTABLISHED HIS REPUTATION
AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER
AND MADE HIM A HERO
IN THE NEWSPAPERS.
NOW CUSTER AND HIS SOLDIERS
HAD RIDDEN RIGHT INTO THE HEART
OF THE BLACK HILLS,
THE LAKOTA'S
MOST PRIZED HUNTING GROUND.
AUGUST 15, 1874.
WE HAVE DISCOVERED A RICH
AND BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.
WE HAVE BEEN IN AND THROUGH
THE BLACK HILLS,
AND I HAVE THE PROUD
SATISFACTION OF KNOWING
THAT OUR EXPLORATIONS
HAVE EXCEEDED THE MOST
SANGUINE EXPECTATIONS...
AND I HAVE REACHED THE HUNTER'S
HIGHEST ROUND OF FAME--
I HAVE KILLED MY GRIZZLY.
CUSTER'S MEN FISHED,
HUNTED, PLAYED BASEBALL,
AND THEY FOUND GOLD--
NOT A REAL BONANZA,
BUT ENOUGH TO PERSUADE THEM
TO LINE UP SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER
ALONG THE CREEK
TO TRY THEIR LUCK AT PANNING--
MORE THAN ENOUGH TO INSPIRE
WILD-EYED STORIES IN THE PRESS
OF PAY DIRT
FROM THE GRASS ROOTS DOWN.
FROM EVERY CORNER
OF THE COUNTRY,
GOLD-HUNGRY WHITES
POURED IN.
THEY WOULD SOON BANG TOGETHER
A DOZEN MINING CAMPS--
DEADWOOD, BLACKTAIL,
GOLDEN GATE,
AND CUSTER CITY.
BUT THE MINERS' INVASION
VIOLATED THE FORT LARAMIE
TREATY OF 1868,
SIGNED BY THE LAKOTA
AND THE UNITED STATES
AFTER YEARS OF COSTLY WARFARE
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.
IN THE TREATY,
THE LAKOTA AGREED
TO STOP HARASSING TRAVELERS,
RAIDING SETTLERS,
ATTACKING ARMY UNITS.
IN EXCHANGE, THE UNITED STATES
PROMISED THE LAKOTA
THAT THE BLACK HILLS
WOULD BE THEIRS FOREVER.
SO MANY TIMES,
THE INDIANS WERE PROMISED
THAT THEY COULD KEEP THE LAND,
AND SO MANY TIMES,
THOSE PROMISES WERE BROKEN.
I DON'T THINK THEY WERE NAIVE.
I THINK THAT
THE INDIANS UNDERSTOOD
THE MEANING
OF THE TREATIES
AND WANTED VERY MUCH
TO--TO LIVE BY THEM,
BUT MANY OF THE TREATIES
CAME TO NOTHING,
AND SO, THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT
WAS ONE OF DISTRUST, BETRAYAL.
THE WHITES
WHO FOLLOWED CUSTER'S
PATH INTO THE BLACK HILLS
CALLED IT THE "FREEDOM TRAIL."
THE LAKOTA CALLED IT
THE "THIEVES ROAD."
EITHER WAY,
IT WOULD LEAD TO DISASTER.
I WILL REMAIN WHAT I AM
UNTIL I DIE--A HUNTER--
AND WHEN THERE ARE NO BUFFALO
OR OTHER GAME,
I WILL SEND MY CHILDREN TO HUNT
AND LIVE ON PRAIRIE MICE,
FOR WHERE AN INDIAN
IS SHUT UP IN ONE PLACE,
HIS BODY BECOMES WEAK.
SITTING BULL.
THE LAKOTA HAD MANY LEADERS--
BLACK MOON, FOUR HORNS,
GALL, CRAZY HORSE.
BUT THE MAN TO WHOM
EVEN THESE VETERAN FIGHTERS
NOW LOOKED FOR GUIDANCE
WAS SITTING BULL,
A CHIEF AND HOLY MAN
WHO WAS DETERMINED NEVER
TO RELINQUISH THE BLACK HILLS.
THEIR BANDS STILL HUNTED
THE REMAINING BUFFALO HERDS
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,
AND SITTING BULL
SCORNED THOSE INDIANS--
FROM OTHER TRIBES
AND HIS OWN--
WHO HAD MOVED
CLOSE TO AGENCIES
AND DEPENDED ON THE GOVERNMENT
TO FEED THEM.
LOOK AT ME!
SEE IF I AM POOR,
OR MY PEOPLE, EITHER.
THE WHITES MAY GET ME AT LAST,
AS YOU SAY,
BUT I WILL HAVE GOOD TIMES
TILL THEN.
YOU ARE FOOLS TO MAKE YOURSELVES
SLAVES TO A PIECE OF FAT BACON,
SOME HARDTACK,
AND A LITTLE SUGAR AND COFFEE.
SITTING BULL WAS BORN ABOUT 1831
AT A PLACE THE LAKOTA CALLED
MANY CACHES
BECAUSE OF THE PITS
FOR STORING FOOD
THEY HAD DUG THERE,
AND HE WOULD DEVOTE
MUCH OF HIS LIFE
SIMPLY TO ENSURING THAT
HIS PEOPLE HAD ENOUGH TO EAT.
NO ONE HAD EARNED A GREATER
REPUTATION FOR BRAVERY.
HE COUNTED HIS FIRST COUP AT 14
DURING A RAID ON THE CROW
AND LED THE STRONG HEART
WARRIOR SOCIETY,
WHOSE MEMBERS CAME TO ASCRIBE
THEIR TRIUMPHS IN BATTLE
TO THE EXTRAORDINARY POWER
OF HIS VISIONS.
IN THE MIDST OF A BATTLE
WITH SOLDIERS
GUARDING A RAILROAD CREW
ON THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER
IN 1872,
HE AND FOUR OTHER WARRIORS
STROLLED OUT BETWEEN THE LINES.
SITTING BULL CALMLY SAT DOWN.
WITH THE BULLETS
PATTERING ALL AROUND HIM,
HE FILLED HIS PIPE, SMOKED IT,
AND PASSED IT BACK AND FORTH
TO HIS COMPANIONS
UNTIL THE BOWL WAS EMPTY.
THEN, HE REAMED IT OUT
AND WALKED AWAY.
HIS LAKOTA NAME,
TATANKA IYOTANKA,
DESCRIBED AN INTRACTABLE
BUFFALO BULL
SITTING ON ITS HAUNCHES,
RESOLUTE IN THE FACE OF DANGER.
SITTING BULL WAS
ONE OF THOSE MEN
WHO, DURING HIS LIFE,
WAS AN EPITOME OF EVERYTHING
A LAKOTA MAN WOULD WANT TO BE.
YOUNG MEN WOULD FOLLOW HIM,
HOPING THAT IT WOULD
STILL BE POSSIBLE SOMEHOW
TO REMAIN IN SOME HOMELAND,
SOME LAKOTA HOMELAND,
IN WHICH THEY REALLY
WOULD BE FREE.
BY THE WINTER OF 1875,
SOME 15,000 MINERS HAD
CROWDED INTO THE BLACK HILLS.
UNDER THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY,
IT WAS THE ARMY'S TASK
TO DRIVE THE PROSPECTORS OUT.
BUT THEIR GROWING NUMBERS
MADE IT POLITICALLY IMPOSSIBLE.
ANOTHER SOLUTION
HAD TO BE FOUND.
A SENATE COMMISSION
WAS SENT WEST
TO RENEGOTIATE THE TREATY,
AND SOME 20,000 LAKOTA
CAME TO MEET WITH THEM.
THE COMMISSION WAS PREPARED
TO OFFER $6 MILLION
FOR THE BLACK HILLS,
BUT THE LAKOTA WANTED A SUM
LARGE ENOUGH
SO THAT THEIR PEOPLE
COULD LIVE OFF IT FOREVER.
SITTING BULL, CRAZY HORSE,
AND OTHER DEFIANT WARRIORS
STAYED AWAY
FROM THE COUNCIL ENTIRELY,
UNWILLING EVEN TO DISCUSS A SALE
OF THEIR MOST SACRED PLACE.
I WANT TO HUNT IN THIS PLACE.
I WANT YOU
TO TURN BACK FROM HERE.
I WANT YOU TO LEAVE
WHAT YOU HAVE GOT HERE
AND TURN BACK.
IF YOU DON'T,
I'LL FIGHT YOU.
SITTING BULL.
WASHINGTON DECIDED TO CLAMP DOWN
AND ORDERED ALL THE CHIEFS
TO COME IN
TO THE RESERVATION HEADQUARTERS
BY JANUARY 31, 1876.
WHEN SITTING BULL
AND THE OTHERS REFUSED,
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER
AND A LARGE PART
OF THE U.S. ARMY IN THE WEST
WERE ORDERED
TO BRING THEM IN.
RIGHT SHOULDER, PULL!
I AM NOW WEARING TWO
FLANNEL AND A BUCKSKIN SHIRT,
ONE PAIR OF DRAWERS,
TROUSERS OF BUCKSKIN
AND A PAIR OF ARMY TROUSERS,
TWO PAIRS WOOLEN SOCKS,
A PAIR OF BUFFALO OVERSHOES
AND BIG BOOTS,
A HEAVY PAIR
OF BLANKET LEGGINS,
A THICK BLOUSE
AND HEAVY OVERCOAT,
A HEAVY WOOLEN CAP
THAT COMPLETELY COVERS
MY HEAD, FACE, AND NECK
EXCEPT NOSE AND EYES,
AND STILL I AM NOT HAPPY.
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
HAD AN IMPOSSIBLE JOB--
POLICING SOME 2.5 MILLION
SQUARE MILES OF LAND
BETWEEN THE MISSOURI
AND THE EASTERN SLOPE
OF THE SIERRAS.
THERE WERE NEVER
MORE THAN 15,000 MEN
SCATTERED AMONG 100 FORTS
AND OUTPOSTS,
YET THEY WERE SOMEHOW EXPECTED
TO DEFEND SETTLERS, RANCHERS,
MINERS, AND RAILROAD CREWS;
KEEP THOUSANDS OF INDIANS
CONFINED TO THEIR RESERVATIONS;
AND KEEP TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF WHITES
OUT OF INDIAN LANDS.
EVEN THOUGH ARMY PAY WAS LOW--
JUST $13 A MONTH--
STEADY JOBS WERE SCARCE
DURING THE ECONOMIC SLUMP
THAT FOLLOWED
THE CIVIL WAR.
ARMY RANKS
WERE FILLED WITH IMMIGRANTS,
SOME OF WHOM COULD SPEAK
ALMOST NO ENGLISH.
THERE WERE DRIFTERS, TOO--
MEN WITH ASSUMED NAMES,
MEN ESCAPING BAD MARRIAGES...
OR THE LAW.
SOME OF THE RECRUITS
I JOINED WITH
HAD NO DOUBT SERVED
IN SOME PENITENTIARY
BEFORE ENLISTING,
AND I SHOULDN'T WONDER THAT SOME
WENT BACK TO THEIR OLD PRISONS
AS A HAVEN OF REST
AND DECENT TREATMENT.
PRIVATE C.C. CHRISMAN,
13th INFANTRY.
BOREDOM WAS ALL THE MEN
COULD DEPEND UPON--
THREE TO FIVE YEARS OF IT.
THEY QUARRELED, DRANK,
PITTED RED ANTS
AGAINST BLACK ANTS
JUST TO STIR THINGS UP...
AND THEY LIVED
FOR NEWS FROM HOME.
WHAT WOULD OUR LIVES
BE WITHOUT MAIL?
A NULLITY, A VOID,
A HATED, WEARY BURDEN
OF NOTHINGNESS.
IT IS THE ONLY CONNECTING LINK
BETWEEN US AND CIVILIZATION--
BETWEEN THE DREARY MONOTONY
OF THE PRESENT
AND THE EXCITING PLEASURES
OF THE PAST--
THE ONE SOLE OASIS
IN THE DESERT OF OUR LIVES.
ARMY FOOD
WAS ALMOST ALWAYS UNPALATABLE,
SOMETIMES INEDIBLE.
HARDTACK--
FLOUR-AND-WATER BISCUITS--
DELIVERED TO THE SEVENTH CAVALRY
WAS SIX YEARS OLD
AND HAD TO BE SHATTERED
WITH A HAMMER.
WHISKEY WAS
THE SOLDIER'S CURSE.
40 MEN OUT OF EVERY 1,000
WERE HOSPITALIZED
FOR ALCOHOLISM.
TWICE AS MANY
KILLED THEMSELVES.
BUT DISEASE
WAS THE WORST KILLER.
IN JUST TWO YEARS,
THE SEVENTH CAVALRY
LOST 51 MEN TO CHOLERA.
MOST SOLDIERS NEVER
MET AN INDIAN IN BATTLE.
SOME NEVER
SAW AN INDIAN AT ALL.
DAKOTA TERRITORY, MARCH 5, 1876.
DEAR SISTER,
I THINK WE WILL HAVE
SOME HARD TIMES
THIS SUMMER.
THE OLD CHIEF SITTING BULL
SAYS THAT HE WILL NOT MAKE PEACE
WITH THE WHITES
AS LONG AS HE
HAS A MAN TO FIGHT.
AS SOON AS I GET BACK
FROM THE CAMPAIGN,
I WILL WRITE YOU--
THAT IS, IF I DO NOT GET
MY HAIR LIFTED BY SOME INDIAN.
FROM YOUR LOVING BROTHER,
T.P. EAGAN, SEVENTH CAVALRY.
SOMETIME
IN THE EARLY SPRING OF 1876,
SITTING BULL
CLIMBED TO A HILLTOP,
SEEKING A VISION.
IN HIS DREAM,
A GREAT DUST STORM SWIRLED DOWN
UPON A SMALL, WHITE CLOUD
THAT RESEMBLED
A LAKOTA VILLAGE.
THROUGH THE WHIRLWIND,
SITTING BULL COULD SEE
SOLDIERS MARCHING.
THE LITTLE CLOUD
WAS SWALLOWED UP FOR A TIME...
BUT THE STORM
EVENTUALLY DISSIPATED,
AND THE VILLAGE
EMERGED UNHARMED.
IT WAS AN ENCOURAGING DREAM,
AND IN THE SPRING OF 1876,
THE LAKOTA
NEEDED ENCOURAGEMENT.
HUMANITARIANS MAY WEEP
FOR THE POOR INDIAN
AND TELL THE WRONGS
HE HAS SUFFERED,
BUT HE IS PASSING AWAY.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
NEED THE COUNTRY
THE INDIANS NOW OCCUPY.
MANY OF OUR PEOPLE
ARE OUT OF EMPLOYMENT.
THE MASSES
NEED SOME NEW EXCITEMENT.
AN INDIAN WAR
WOULD DO NO HARM,
FOR IT MUST COME,
SOONER OR LATER.
MARK KELLOGG,
"BISMARCK TRIBUNE."
IN HIS OFFICE IN CHICAGO,
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN
HAD ALREADY DRAWN UP A PLAN
THAT WOULD SEND
THREE COLUMNS OF SOLDIERS
TO DRIVE SITTING BULL
AND THE OTHER DEFIANT CHIEFS
ONTO THE RESERVATIONS.
ONE COLUMN, LED BY
BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE CROOK,
WAS TO MOVE NORTH
FROM FORT FETTERMAN.
ANOTHER, UNDER
COLONEL JOHN GIBBON,
WAS TO MARCH EAST
FROM WESTERN MONTANA.
THE THIRD, COMMANDED
BY GENERAL ALFRED TERRY,
MARCHED WEST FROM
FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WITH HIM WENT THE 566
ENLISTED MEN AND 31 OFFICERS
OF THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
LED BY GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.
THEY MOVED OUT TO THE TUNE OF
"THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME."
GENERAL GEORGE A. CUSTER,
DRESSED IN A DASHING SUIT
OF BUCKSKIN,
IS PROMINENT EVERYWHERE.
THE GENERAL IS FULL OF
PERFECT READINESS
FOR A FRAY WITH THE HOSTILE
RED DEVILS,
AND WOE TO THE BODY
OF SCALP-LIFTERS
THAT COMES WITHIN REACH
OF HIMSELF
AND BRAVE
COMPANIONS-IN-ARMS.
"BISMARCK TRIBUNE."
NONE OF THE COMMANDERS KNEW
PRECISELY WHERE SITTING BULL
AND HIS FOLLOWERS WERE,
BUT THEY WERE CONFIDENT
THAT ONE COLUMN OR ANOTHER
WOULD FIND AND DESTROY THEM.
ON JUNE 6, SOME 3,000
LAKOTA AND CHEYENNE
WERE CAMPED ALONG ROSEBUD CREEK
IN MONTANA.
THERE, THEY HELD THEIR MOST
SACRED RITUAL--A SUN DANCE--
IN WHICH PRAYERS WERE OFFERED
AND VOWS MADE TO WAKAN TANKA,
THEIR GREAT SPIRIT.
SITTING BULL
SLASHED HIS ARMS 100 TIMES
AS A SIGN OF SACRIFICE.
THEN HE HAD ANOTHER VISION.
THE SOLDIERS CAME AGAIN
TO ATTACK HIS PEOPLE--
"AS MANY AS GRASSHOPPERS,"
HE SAID--
BUT THIS TIME,
THEY WERE UPSIDE DOWN,
THEIR HORSES' HOOVES
IN THE AIR,
THEIR HATS
TUMBLING TO THE GROUND
AS THEY RODE INTO
THE LAKOTA CAMP.
HE HAS THIS TREMENDOUS
VISION THAT HE TELLS THE PEOPLE
ABOUT THAT THE SOLDIERS ARE
GOING TO FALL INTO THE CAMP
AND THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE
THIS GREAT VICTORY.
AND ARMED WITH THIS VISION,
THE WARRIORS GO OUT LOOKING
FOR SOMEBODY TO FIGHT.
ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 17,
GENERAL CROOK'S COLUMN
HAD STOPPED TO BREW COFFEE
ON THE BANK OF THE ROSEBUD,
SURE THAT NO INDIANS
WOULD DARE ATTACK
SO LARGE A FORCE AS THEIRS.
SUDDENLY, CRAZY HORSE
AND MORE THAN 500 SIOUX
AND CHEYENNE WARRIORS
RODE DOWN UPON THEM.
SITTING BULL'S ARMS
WERE TOO SWOLLEN
FROM THE SUN DANCE
TO FIGHT,
BUT HE URGED
THE YOUNG MEN INTO BATTLE.
CROOK'S COMMAND INCLUDED CROW
AND SHOSHONE SCOUTS
EAGER TO FIGHT THEIR ENEMIES,
THE CHEYENNE AND LAKOTA,
WHO HAD ONCE TAKEN THEIR LANDS.
IN THE FIERCE, DESPERATE FIGHT
THAT FOLLOWED,
THE INDIAN SCOUTS
TWICE RESCUED THE SOLDIERS
BY RIDING THROUGH THE LAKOTA
AND CHEYENNE RANKS.
UNNERVED BY THE ENEMY
SHOW OF FORCE,
CROOK WITHDREW
THE NEXT MORNING.
THE LAKOTA AND CHEYENNE
MOVED NORTH
AND FORMED A NEW CAMP,
WHERE FOR SIX DAYS
THEY CELEBRATED THEIR VICTORY
ALONG A WINDING STREAM
THEY CALLED THE GREASY GRASS.
WHITES CALLED IT
THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
ON JUNE 21, CUSTER MET
ON THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER
WITH COLONEL GIBBON
AND THEIR SUPERIOR,
BRIGADIER GENERAL ALFRED TERRY.
THEY KNEW NOTHING
OF CROOK'S RETREAT.
TERRY ORDERED GIBBON TO MARCH
TO THE MOUTH
OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN
WHILE CUSTER
AND THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
IF THEY COULD LOCATE
THE INDIANS,
WOULD DRIVE THEM DOWN THE VALLEY
TOWARD GIBBON AND ANNIHILATION.
AS CUSTER RODE OFF,
GIBBON CALLED OUT TO HIM,
"NOW, CUSTER,
DON'T BE GREEDY.
WAIT FOR US."
"NO," HE SAID.
"I WILL NOT."
I NOW HAVE SOME
CROW SCOUTS WITH ME.
THEY ARE
MAGNIFICENT-LOOKING MEN,
SO MUCH HANDSOMER
AND MORE INDIAN-LIKE
THAN ANY WE HAVE EVER SEEN,
AND JOLLY AND SPORTIVE.
NOTHING OF THE GLOOMY,
SILENT RED MAN ABOUT THEM.
THEY SAID THEY HAD HEARD
THAT I NEVER ABANDON A TRAIL--
THAT WHEN MY FOOD GAVE OUT,
I ATE MULE.
THAT WAS THE KIND OF MAN
THEY WANTED TO FIGHT UNDER.
THEY WERE WILLING
TO EAT MULE, TOO.
I KNOW FIVE OF THOSE SCOUTS.
THEY WERE OLD MEN
WHEN I WAS A YOUNG FELLOW,
INCLUDING MY GRANDFATHER,
WHITE MAN RUNS HIM.
WHY WOULD A TRIBE OF INDIANS
DECIDE TO FIGHT OTHER TRIBES
IN BEHALF OF THE WHITE MAN?
SIOUX WON'T LET US FORGET THAT.
THEY ALWAYS SAY,
"YOU CROWS ARE NO GOOD.
"YOU WERE WHITE LOVERS.
YOU HELPED THEM
FIGHT AGAINST US."
BUT THEY FORGOT THE FACT
THAT THEY CAME OUT HERE
TO ANNIHILATE US,
TAKE OUR LAND AWAY FROM US,
SO THERE WAS A MATTER
OF PROTECTION.
FEARFUL THAT
SITTING BULL WOULD ELUDE HIM,
CUSTER PUSHED HIS COLUMN HARD
UNDER A MERCILESS PRAIRIE SUN--
12 MILES THE FIRST DAY,
33 THE SECOND,
28 THE THIRD.
THE EXHAUSTED TROOPERS
BEGAN TO GRUMBLE
ABOUT THE MAN THEY
PRIVATELY CALLED "HARD ASS."
THEY FOUND THE INDIANS' TRAIL
BUT DID NOT GRASP
THE FULL MEANING
OF THE FRESH LAYERS
OF PONY TRACKS
THAT SEEMED TO CROSS
AND RECROSS IT.
IN THE LAST FEW DAYS,
3,000 MORE INDIANS--
LAKOTA, ARAPAHO, AND CHEYENNE--
HAD LEFT THE RESERVATIONS
TO JOIN SITTING BULL.
THEIR ENCAMPMENT
NOW STRETCHED FOR 3 MILES
ALONG THE GREASY GRASS.
IN IT WERE MORE
THAN 6,000 INDIANS.
1,800 OF THEM WERE WARRIORS.
ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 24,
SITTING BULL MADE HIS WAY
TO A RIDGE
THAT OVERLOOKED THE ENCAMPMENT.
THERE HE MADE OFFERINGS
TO THE GREAT SPIRIT
AND PRAYED FOR THE PROTECTION
OF HIS PEOPLE.
WAKAN TANKA, PITY ME.
IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE,
I OFFER YOU THIS SACRED PIPE.
WHEREVER THE SUN,
THE MOON, THE EARTH,
THE FOUR POINTS
OF THE WIND,
THERE YOU ARE ALWAYS.
SAVE THE PEOPLE, I BEG YOU.
WE WANT TO LIVE.
GUARD US AGAINST
ALL MISFORTUNE.
PITY ME.
TATANKA IYOTANKA.
THE NEXT DAY WAS JUNE 25,
A SUNDAY--
CLOUDLESS AND HOT.
CUSTER'S CROW SCOUTS
SPOTTED THE VILLAGE
FROM A DISTANT HILLTOP.
THEY CALLED CUSTER UP
TO HAVE A LOOK.
EVEN WITH A TELESCOPE,
HE WAS UNABLE
TO SEE MUCH MORE
THAN A WHITE BLUR
ON THE VALLEY FLOOR.
HIS ONLY CONCERN WAS THAT
HE HAD ALREADY BEEN SPOTTED,
THAT UNLESS
HE ATTACKED RIGHT AWAY,
THE INDIANS
WOULD SPLIT UP AND FLEE
IN SO MANY DIFFERENT BANDS
THAT HE COULD NEVER STOP THEM.
CUSTER HAD NEVER YET
ENCOUNTERED AN INDIAN BAND
THAT WOULDN'T RUN
WHEN THE CAVALRY ATTACKED,
SO HE PUSHED
TO AN ATTACK
AS QUICKLY AS IT
COULD BE MOUNTED.
DREADFUL MISTAKE ON HIS PART
BECAUSE HIS MEN WERE EXHAUSTED.
HE SHOULD HAVE BIVOUACKED,
GIVEN THEM A NIGHT'S SLEEP,
SENT OUT SOME SCOUTS
TO FIND OUT HOW FAR
THAT VILLAGE EXTENDS
IN THIS DIRECTION AND THAT
BECAUSE MUCH OF IT
WAS HIDDEN BY WOODS
ALONG THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
HE KNEW NOTHING
OF THE TERRAIN,
COULD NOT TELL
HOW MANY INDIANS AWAITED HIM,
BUT IT HAD BEEN
A SURPRISE ATTACK
THAT HAD ALLOWED HIM TO DESTROY
BLACK KETTLE'S CHEYENNE
ON THE OUACHITA
EIGHT YEARS EARLIER.
A VICTORY HERE
SEEMED JUST AS LIKELY.
CUSTER HURRIED
TOWARD THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
HE SAW DUST RISING
OVER A RIDGE
JUST AHEAD OF HIM.
THE INDIANS, HE THOUGHT,
WERE ALREADY ON THE MOVE
TO ESCAPE.
IT WAS NOW OR NEVER.
SOME 40 WARRIORS APPEARED,
THEN BEGAN RACING BACK
TOWARD THEIR CAMP.
CUSTER SENT MAJOR MARCUS RENO
AND THREE COMPANIES--
140 MEN--IN PURSUIT,
PROMISING TO SUPPORT THEM.
THE BATTLE OF
THE LITTLE BIGHORN
WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN.
IT WAS SOMEWHERE PAST
THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON,
AND ALL OF US WERE HAVING
A GOOD TIME.
WE FOUND OUR WOMEN FRIENDS
BATHING IN THE RIVER,
AND WE JOINED THEM.
OTHER GROUPS
WERE PLAYING IN THE WATER.
TWO SIOUX BOYS CAME RUNNING
TOWARD US.
THEY WERE SHOUTING,
"SOLDIERS ARE COMING!"
WE HEARD SHOOTING.
WE HID IN THE BRUSH.
KATE BIGHEAD.
RENO'S MEN CROSSED THE RIVER,
FORMED A THIN SKIRMISH LINE,
AND BEGIN FIRING INTO ONE EDGE
OF THE VILLAGE,
ASSUMING THAT CUSTER
WOULD REINFORCE THEM.
THEY WERE SOON OUTNUMBERED.
RENO ORDERED A RETREAT.
THE SOLDIERS WERE FALLING
INTO THE VILLAGE,
JUST AS SITTING BULL'S VISION
HAD SUGGESTED THEY WOULD.
MORE INDIAN WARRIORS
SWARMED OUT OF THE VILLAGE.
AND STILL,
CUSTER DID NOT COME.
INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING RENO
INTO THE VALLEY,
HE HAD LED HIS 5 COMPANIES
OF 210 MEN TOWARD A RIDGE,
CONVINCED THE INDIANS
WERE FLEEING
AND THAT BY CHARGING DOWN
INTO THE VILLAGE FROM THERE,
HE COULD CUT THEM OFF.
HE SENT SOME OF HIS SCOUTS
TO GO LOOK OVER THE HILL.
THEY CAME BACK, TOLD HIM,
"WELL, THEY'RE STILL THERE,"
SO HE DECIDED
TO GO LOOK HIMSELF.
HE WENT UP OVER THERE,
AND PRETTY SOON HE BEAT IT BACK.
HE WAS ALL SHOOK UP,
AS THEY SAY, YOU KNOW.
MY GRANDFATHER
USED TO SAY, UH,
"CUSTER LOOKED
WHITER THAN EVER."
CUSTER WAS OUTNUMBERED
MORE THAN FOUR TO ONE,
BUT HE LED HIS TROOPS
DOWN TOWARD THE VILLAGE,
FIRING AS THEY CAME.
CHEYENNE WARRIORS
LED BY LAME WHITE MAN,
HUNKPAPA LAKOTA UNDER GALL,
AND OGLALA UNDER CRAZY HORSE
RODE OUT TO TURN CUSTER BACK.
CUSTER'S MEN STOPPED SHORT,
STUNNED AT THE SIGHT
OF HUNDREDS OF WARRIORS
HEADED RIGHT AT THEM.
IT APPEARED
THERE WOULD BE NO END
TO THE RUSHING PROCESSION
OF WARRIORS.
THEY KEPT GOING,
GOING, GOING.
I WANTED TO GO, TOO.
I HAD SEEN OTHER BATTLES
IN PAST TIMES.
I ALWAYS LIKED TO WATCH
THE MEN FIGHTING.
THE SOLDIERS BEGAN
A HEADLONG RETREAT
TOWARD THE SUMMIT
OF A LONG, HIGH RIDGE.
SOME OF THE INDIANS
REMEMBERED LATER
THAT THE LEGS OF THE MEN
AND THE HORSES TREMBLED
AS THEY SCRAMBLED
UP THE SLOPE.
I CALLED TO MY MEN,
"THIS IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE.
FOLLOW ME."
AS WE RUSHED UPON THEM,
THE SOLDIERS
DISMOUNTED TO FIRE,
BUT THEY DID
VERY POOR SHOOTING.
THEY HELD THEIR HORSES' REINS
ON ONE ARM
WHILE THEY WERE SHOOTING,
BUT THE HORSES
WERE SO FRIGHTENED
THAT THEY PULLED THE MEN
ALL AROUND,
AND A GREAT MANY OF THEIR SHOTS
WENT UP INTO THE AIR
AND DID US NO HARM.
LOW DOG.
I CHARGED IN.
A TALL, WELL-BUILT SOLDIER
SAW ME COMING.
WHEN I RUSHED HIM,
HE THREW HIS RIFLE AT ME
WITHOUT SHOOTING.
WE GRABBED EACH OTHER
AND WRESTLED
THERE IN THE DUST
AND THE SMOKE.
HE HIT ME WITH HIS FISTS
ON THE JAW AND SHOULDERS,
THEN GRABBED MY LONG BRAIDS
WITH BOTH HANDS,
PULLED MY FACE CLOSE,
AND TRIED TO BITE MY NOSE OFF.
I YELLED AS LOUD AS I COULD
TO SCARE MY ENEMY,
BUT HE WOULD NOT LET GO.
FINALLY, I BROKE FREE.
HE DREW HIS PISTOL.
I WRENCHED IT OUT OF HIS HAND
AND STRUCK HIM WITH IT
THREE OR FOUR TIMES ON THE HEAD,
KNOCKED HIM OVER,
SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD,
THEN FIRED AT HIS HEART.
HO HECHETU!
THAT WAS A FIGHT,
A HARD FIGHT,
BUT IT WAS A GLORIOUS BATTLE.
I ENJOYED IT.
WHITE BULL.
THE SHOTS QUIT COMING
FROM THE SOLDIERS.
WARRIORS WHO HAD CREPT
CLOSE TO THEM
BEGAN TO CALL OUT THAT
ALL THE WHITE MEN WERE DEAD.
ALL OF THE INDIANS WERE SAYING
THESE SOLDIERS WENT CRAZY
AND KILLED THEMSELVES.
I DO NOT KNOW.
I COULD NOT SEE THEM.
BUT I BELIEVE THEY DID SO.
WOODEN LEG.
I SAW SEVERAL
DIFFERENT ONES OF THE SOLDIERS
NOT YET QUITE DEAD.
THE INDIANS CUT OFF ARMS
OR LEGS OR FEET OF THESE--
THE SAME AS WAS DONE
FOR THE ENTIRELY DEAD.
SOME OF THE WOMEN
MOURNING FOR THEIR OWN DEAD
BEAT AND CUT THE DEAD BODIES
OF THE WHITE MEN.
THE SOLDIERS,
ONE LAKOTA REMEMBERED,
"WERE AS GOOD MEN
AS EVER FOUGHT,"
BUT THE FIGHTING,
RECALLED ANOTHER,
HAD LASTED NO LONGER
THAN A HUNGRY MAN NEEDED
TO EAT HIS LUNCH.
IN THE END,
ALL OF THE MEN
IN CUSTER'S COMMAND--
210 OF THEM--LAY DEAD.
IT WAS THE GREATEST
INDIAN VICTORY
OF THE PLAINS WARS.
TWO CHEYENNE WOMEN WERE SAID
TO HAVE FOUND CUSTER'S BODY.
THE WOMEN PUSHED
THE POINT OF A SEWING AWL
INTO EACH OF HIS EARS,
INTO HIS HEAD.
THIS WAS DONE
TO IMPROVE HIS HEARING
AS IT SEEMED HE HAD NOT HEARD
WHAT OUR CHIEFS
IN THE SOUTH HAD SAID
WHEN HE SMOKED THE PIPE
WITH THEM.
THEY TOLD HIM THEN
THAT IF EVER AFTERWARD
HE SHOULD BREAK
THAT PEACE PROMISE
AND SHOULD FIGHT
THE CHEYENNES,
THE EVERYWHERE SPIRIT SURELY
WOULD CAUSE HIM TO BE KILLED.
I OFTEN HAVE WONDERED IF,
WHEN I WAS RIDING
AMONG THE DEAD
WHERE HE WAS LYING,
MY PONY MAY HAVE KICKED DIRT
UPON HIS BODY.
KATE BIGHEAD.
WITH OUR HUSBANDS AWAY
CAMPAIGNING AGAINST
THE INDIANS,
OUR ONLY PLEASURE
AFTER THE TORRID DAY
WAS TO GATHER
ON SOMEONE'S PORCH
IN THE LONG TWILIGHT,
ENJOY WHAT LITTLE MUSIC
WE COULD MUSTER,
AND TRY TO FORGET
OUR WORRIES
AND THE DEVILISH MOSQUITOES.
MANY AMONG US
HAD SWEET VOICES,
AND WHILE I PLAYED THE GUITAR,
EVERYONE SANG.
THEN, GLANCING ACROSS
THE PARADE GROUND,
WE NOTICED SMALL GROUPS
OF SOLDIERS
TALKING EXCITEDLY TOGETHER,
AND SEVERAL PEOPLE
CAME RUNNING TOWARD US,
FACES SET AND WILD-EYED.
ONE WAS HORN TOAD,
THE INDIAN SCOUT,
WHO GASPED IN SHORT,
SHARP SENTENCES,
"CUSTER KILLED.
WHOLE COMMAND KILLED."
THE GUITAR SLIPPED
FROM MY KNEES TO THE FLOOR.
THE PINK BALL OF KNITTING
FELL OUT OF
CHARLOTTE MOYLAN'S HANDS.
THE LETTER LYING IDLY
IN MRS. BENTEEN'S LAP
FLUTTERED OVER THE RAIL
AND ONTO THE LAWN.
KATHERINE GIBSON.
AMERICANS WERE CELEBRATING
THEIR CENTENNIAL THAT SUMMER,
PROUD OF 100 YEARS
OF INDEPENDENCE.
THE NEWS THAT CUSTER AND ALL
THE MEN IN HIS COMMAND
HAD BEEN KILLED BY INDIANS WAS
GREETED WITH SIMPLE DISBELIEF.
HOW COULD SUCH A THING
POSSIBLY HAVE HAPPENED?
HOW COULD MERE INDIANS
WITH NAMES THAT SOUNDED ABSURD
TO EASTERN EARS--
LOW DOG, CRAZY HORSE,
SITTING BULL--
HAVE DEFEATED SO CELEBRATED
A SOLDIER?
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN,
ARCHITECT OF THE PLAN
THAT HAD ENDED IN DISASTER,
PROMISED CUSTER
WOULD BE AVENGED.
WASHINGTON HURRIED 2,500
ADDITIONAL CAVALRYMEN WEST.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE BATTLE
OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN,
IT WAS CUSTER'S LAST STAND,
BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS,
IT WAS THE LAST STAND
FOR INDIAN PEOPLE
AS A FREE PEOPLE,
AS A PEOPLE THAT WERE LIVING
ON THE PLAINS
AND IN A LIFESTYLE
THAT WAS GOING TO CHANGE
BECAUSE OF THAT VICTORY.
FRESH BLUE COLUMNS
COMMANDED BY CROOK, TERRY,
AND COLONEL NELSON MILES
CRISSCROSSED
THE POWDER RIVER COUNTRY,
HUNTING DOWN THE BANDS
THAT HAD SPLIT UP
AFTER THE CUSTER FIGHT.
ONE BY ONE,
THEY WERE FORCED TO SURRENDER.
INDIANS WHO HAD HAD NOTHING
TO DO WITH THE FIGHTING
WERE DISARMED
AND HAD THEIR PONIES
SEIZED AND SOLD.
WHATEVER WE DO,
WHEREVER WE GO,
WE ARE EXPECTED
TO SAY YES, YES, YES, YES,
AND WHEN WE DON'T
AGREE AT ONCE
TO WHAT YOU ASK OF US
IN COUNCIL,
YOU ALWAYS SAY,
"YOU WON'T GET ANYTHING TO EAT."
STANDING ELK.
DESPITE THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY,
CONGRESS TOOK AWAY
THE BLACK HILLS
AND ANOTHER 40 MILLION ACRES
OF LAKOTA LAND.
THE RESERVATION CHIEFS WERE
MADE TO AGREE TO ALL OF IT.
BUT SITTING BULL
STILL HELD OUT.
HE AND HIS FOLLOWERS
WERE BEYOND THE REACH
OF AMERICAN TROOPS,
ACROSS THE BORDER IN CANADA,
WHICH HE CALLED
THE LAND OF THE GRANDMOTHER
IN HONOR OF QUEEN VICTORIA.
WHEN GENERAL ALFRED TERRY
TRAVELED NORTH
TO OFFER HIM A FULL PARDON
ON THE CONDITION THAT HE SETTLE
ON A RESERVATION,
SITTING BULL
ANGRILY SENT HIM AWAY.
THIS COUNTRY IS MY COUNTRY NOW,
AND I INTEND TO STAY HERE
AND RAISE MY PEOPLE TO FILL IT.
WE DID NOT
GIVE OUR COUNTRY TO YOU.
YOU STOLE IT.
YOU COME HERE TO TELL LIES.
WHEN YOU GO HOME,
TAKE THEM WITH YOU.
I FEEL LIKE A FATHER
WITH A GREAT FAMILY OF CHILDREN
AROUND ME IN A WINTER STORM,
AND I AM LOOKING WITH CALMNESS,
CONFIDENCE, AND PATIENCE
FOR THE CLOUDS TO BREAK
AND THE SUN TO SHINE
SO THAT I CAN RUN OUT AND SAY,
"CHILDREN, COME HOME."
I AM READY TO KILL
THE FATTED CALF
AND MAKE A JOYFUL FEAST TO ALL
WHO WILL COME AND PARTAKE.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
FOR 30 HARD YEARS,
BRIGHAM YOUNG HAD ATTENDED
TO EVERY DETAIL OF LIFE
IN MORMON UTAH,
WHERE UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP,
150,000 LATTER DAY SAINTS
HAD SETTLED
IN HIS DESERT SANCTUARY.
YOUNG HAD TRIED TO FASHION
A DISTINCT SOCIETY
BASED ON COMMUNAL ECONOMICS,
POLYGAMY,
AND ONE-PARTY POLITICS--
ALL RUN BY THE CHURCH--
BUT NOW HE FELT BESIEGED.
CONGRESS WAS ONCE AGAIN TRYING
TO ASSERT CONTROL OVER UTAH.
A NEW LAW GAVE FEDERAL COURTS,
NOT MORMONS,
JURISDICTION
OVER CRIMINAL CASES.
THE FEDERAL OFFICIALS IN UTAH
THEN REALLY WANTED
TO NAIL BRIGHAM YOUNG.
THEY WERE TRYING TO REDUCE
HIS POWER OVER THE PEOPLE.
ONE OF THE FIRST ACTIONS
OF THE FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
WAS TO ARREST YOUNG'S
DEVOTED FOLLOWER, JOHN D. LEE,
AND PUT HIM ON TRIAL
FOR MURDER.
20 YEARS EARLIER, A GROUP
OF UNSUSPECTING EMIGRANTS
FROM MISSOURI AND ARKANSAS
HAD BEEN ATTACKED
BY A COMBINED FORCE
OF PAIUTE INDIANS
AND MORMON SETTLERS
AT A PLACE
CALLED MOUNTAIN MEADOWS.
JOHN D. LEE HAD OPPOSED
THE ATTACK AT FIRST,
BUT IN THE END,
HE WENT ALONG WITH IT,
AND MORE THAN 100 MEN,
WOMEN, AND CHILDREN
HAD BEEN SLAUGHTERED
WITHOUT MERCY.
IT HAD BEEN THE DARKEST EVENT
IN MORMON HISTORY.
JOHN D. LEE WAS
ONE OF MY GREAT-GRANDFATHERS,
AND HE, UNTIL RECENT TIMES,
WAS CONSIDERED THE LEADER
WHO CARRIED OUT
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE.
ACTUALLY, HE WAS
ABOUT THIRD IN LINE
IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND
OF A MILITIA
THAT CARRIED THIS OUT.
HE LATER THEN WAS SENT
TO SOUTHERN UTAH
AND KIND OF
OUT OF THE IMMEDIATE ORBIT
OF BRIGHAM YOUNG,
BUT THERE WAS A FATHER/SON
TYPE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THOSE TWO MEN.
FOR YEARS, YOUNG TRIED
TO PROTECT HIS PROTEGE
FROM CAPTURE AND PROSECUTION
FOR HIS ROLE IN THE MASSACRE,
SENDING HIM TO EXILE
IN THE ARIZONA WILDERNESS
NEAR THE GRAND CANYON.
IT WAS A ROUGH,
SOLITARY EXISTENCE.
LEE NAMED HIS NEW HOME
LONELY DELL.
PROSECUTORS OFFERED HIM
MONEY AND LENIENCY
IF HE WOULD IMPLICATE OTHERS
IN THE KILLINGS.
IT IS TOLD AROUND FOR A FACT
THAT I COULD TELL
GREAT CONFESSIONS
AND BRING IN BRIGHAM YOUNG
AND THE HEADS OF THE CHURCH,
BUT I WILL NOT BE THE MEANS
OF BRINGING TROUBLES
ON MY PEOPLE...
FOR THIS PEOPLE
IS A MISREPRESENTED
AND CRIED-DOWN COMMUNITY--
YES, A PEOPLE SCATTERED
AND PEELED.
AND IF AT LAST
THEY DID RISE UP
AND SHED THE BLOOD
OF THEIR ENEMIES,
I WON'T CONSENT
TO GIVE THEM UP.
JOHN D. LEE.
WHEN LEE'S TRIAL BEGAN,
ORDERS WENT OUT
THAT NO MORMON SHOULD TESTIFY.
THE FOUR GENTILES ON THE JURY
FOUND LEE GUILTY,
BUT ALL EIGHT MORMONS
HELD OUT FOR ACQUITTAL.
ACROSS THE NATION,
THE CASE BECAME A SYMBOL
FOR EVERYTHING AMERICANS
DESPISED ABOUT MORMONISM.
PRESSURES MOUNTED
FOR THE GOVERNMENT
TO STRIP BRIGHAM YOUNG
AND THE CHURCH
OF THEIR AUTHORITY IN UTAH.
A SECOND TRIAL WAS SCHEDULED.
AND I THINK
A DECISION WAS MADE--
"WELL, IF WE SACRIFICE LEE,
MAYBE THE PRESSURES
WILL GO AWAY,"
BECAUSE AT THE SECOND TRIAL,
THE WORD WAS SENT DOWN
TO THE MORMONS
THAT THIS HAD TO BE COMPLETED
AND THEY SHOULD VOTE
FOR CONVICTION.
HE WAS SINGLED OUT
AS THE PERPETRATOR,
AND MORMONS EVEN PUT IT
IN THEIR SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS,
WHICH BOTHERED MY FAMILY
FOR A LONG TIME.
AND HE WAS, IN EFFECT,
THE SCAPEGOAT.
THIS TIME, ALL THE MEMBERS
OF THE JURY WERE MORMONS.
ALL VOTED TO CONVICT.
NO ONE ELSE WHO TOOK PART
IN THE MASSACRE
WAS EVER BROUGHT TO TRIAL.
UNDER UTAH LAW,
LEE WAS ALLOWED TO CHOOSE
WHETHER HE WISHED TO BE SHOT,
HANGED, OR BEHEADED.
HE CHOSE TO FACE
A FIRING SQUAD.
ON MARCH 23, 1877,
JOHN D. LEE WAS ESCORTED
TO THE SITE OF
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE,
SEATED ON A COFFIN,
AND PHOTOGRAPHED.
HE MADE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR EACH OF THE TWO WIVES
WHO REMAINED TRUE TO HIM
TO GET A COPY OF THE PICTURE.
THEN HE SPOKE
TO THE LITTLE CROWD
THAT HAD COME TO SEE HIM DIE.
I HAVE BUT LITTLE
TO SAY THIS MORNING.
OF COURSE, I FEEL THAT I AM
UPON THE BRINK OF ETERNITY.
I FEEL AS CALM
AS A SUMMER MORN.
I AM READY
TO MEET MY REDEEMER.
I DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING
THAT IS NOW BEING TAUGHT
AND PRACTICED
BY BRIGHAM YOUNG.
I DO NOT CARE WHO HEARS IT.
I STUDIED TO MAKE
THIS MAN'S WILL MY PLEASURE
FOR 30 YEARS.
SEE NOW WHAT I HAVE COME TO
THIS DAY.
I HAVE BEEN SACRIFICED
IN A COWARDLY,
DASTARDLY MANNER.
WHAT CONFIDENCE CAN I HAVE
IN SUCH A MAN?
I HAVE NONE,
AND I DON'T THINK
MY FATHER IN HEAVEN HAS ANY.
THEN LEE SHOOK HANDS
WITH HIS EXECUTIONERS,
HANDED HIS HAT AND OVERCOAT
TO A FRIEND.
HIS LAST WORDS
WERE TO THE FIRING SQUAD.
"CENTER MY HEART, BOYS,"
HE SAID.
"DON'T MANGLE MY BODY."
FIVE MONTHS LATER,
BRIGHAM YOUNG WAS SEIZED
BY TERRIBLE STOMACH PAINS.
FOR DAYS, SURROUNDED
BY HIS HUGE FAMILY,
THE PATRIARCH FLOATED
IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
ON AUGUST 29, HE CALLED OUT
THE NAME OF JOSEPH SMITH,
FOUNDER OF THE MORMON FAITH.
THEN BRIGHAM YOUNG,
THE MAN WHO HAD LED
HIS PEOPLE TO THE WEST
AND HAD SHIELDED THEM
FROM THEIR ENEMIES
FOR THREE DECADES, DIED.
EVEN IN DEATH,
HE REMAINED IN CHARGE.
FOLLOWING PRECISE INSTRUCTIONS
LEFT IN HIS WILL,
HIS REMAINS WERE PLACED
IN A STONE VAULT
OVERLOOKING
THE MAGNIFICENT CITY
HE HAD BUILT IN THE DESERT.
NOW HIS FOLLOWERS
WOULD HAVE TO FACE THE WORLD
WITHOUT HIM.
I CAN'T UNDERTAKE
TO EXPLAIN BRIGHAM YOUNG
TO YOUR ATLANTIC CITIZENS
OR EXPECT YOU TO PUT HIM
AT HIS VALUE.
YOUR GREAT MEN EASTWARD
ARE TO ME
LIKE YOUR IVORY-
AND PEARL-HANDLED TABLE KNIVES--
MORE SHINY THAN THE INSIDE
OF MY WATCH CASE
BUT WITH ONLY EDGE ENOUGH
TO SLICE BREAD AND CHEESE
AND ALL ALIKE BY THE DOZEN,
ONE WITH ANOTHER.
BRIGHAM IS THE ARTICLE
THAT SELLS OUT WEST WITH US--
BETWEEN A ROMAN CUTLASS
AND A BEEF BUTCHER KNIFE--
THE THING TO CUT UP A DEER
OR CUT DOWN AN ENEMY
EVERY BIT AS WELL.
YOU THAT JUDGE MEN
BY THE HANDLE AND THE SHEATH,
HOW CAN I MAKE YOU KNOW
A GOOD BLADE?
JEDEDIAH M. GRANT.
OUR FATHERS GAVE US MANY LAWS,
WHICH THEY HAD LEARNED
FROM THEIR FATHERS.
THEY TOLD US TO TREAT ALL MEN
AS THEY TREATED US,
THAT WE SHOULD NEVER BE
THE FIRST TO BREAK A BARGAIN,
THAT IT WAS A DISGRACE
TO TELL A LIE,
THAT WE SHOULD SPEAK
ONLY THE TRUTH.
WE WERE TAUGHT TO BELIEVE
THAT THE GREAT SPIRIT
SEES AND HEARS EVERYTHING
AND THAT HE NEVER FORGETS.
THIS I BELIEVE,
AND ALL MY PEOPLE
BELIEVE THE SAME.
HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT.
BY 1877, MOST NEZ PERCE
WERE LIVING ON A RESERVATION
ALONG THE CLEARWATER RIVER
IN WESTERN IDAHO.
MANY HAD CONVERTED
TO CHRISTIANITY,
WORE WHITE MEN'S CLOTHES,
AND HAD TAKEN UP FARMING.
BUT SOME REFUSED TO MOVE
ONTO THE RESERVATION.
AMONG THEM WAS A BAND THAT LIVED
IN THE BEAUTIFUL WALLOWA VALLEY
OF EASTERN OREGON.
THEIR VILLAGE CHIEF--
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OVERALL
WELFARE OF HIS PEOPLE--
WAS A TALL, RESERVED MAN
WHOSE NEZ PERCE NAME--
HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT--
MEANT "THUNDER ROLLING
FROM THE MOUNTAINS."
WHITES CALLED HIM
CHIEF JOSEPH.
HE WAS STILL A YOUNG MAN
WHEN HE PROMISED
HIS DYING FATHER
THAT HE WOULD NEVER
SELL THEIR HOMELAND,
AND FOR SIX YEARS,
HE HAD REFUSED
TO MOVE ONTO THE RESERVATION
TO COMPLY WITH A TREATY
HIS BAND OF NEZ PERCE
HAD NEVER SIGNED.
DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME
AND MY AFFECTION FOR THE LAND.
I NEVER SAID THE LAND WAS MINE
TO DO WITH AS I CHOSE.
THE ONE WHO HAS THE RIGHT
TO DISPOSE OF IT
IS THE ONE
WHO HAS CREATED IT.
I CLAIM A RIGHT
TO LIVE ON MY LAND
AND ACCORD YOU THE PRIVILEGE
TO LIVE ON YOURS.
THE EARTH IS THE MOTHER
OF ALL PEOPLE,
AND ALL PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE
EQUAL RIGHTS UPON IT.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
WE DO NOT WISH TO
INTERFERE WITH YOUR RELIGION
BUT MUST TALK ABOUT
PRACTICABLE THINGS.
20 TIMES OVER, YOU REPEAT
THAT THE EARTH IS YOUR MOTHER.
LET US HEAR NO MORE
BUT COME TO BUSINESS AT ONCE.
GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD.
GENERAL OLIVER OTIS HOWARD
WAS A ONE-ARMED
CIVIL WAR HERO
WHO HAD RUN
THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU
AND FOUNDED HOWARD UNIVERSITY
FOR EMANCIPATED BLACKS
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
NOW HE WAS DISPATCHED
TO DEAL WITH THE NEZ PERCE.
HOWARD BECAME CONVINCED
THAT THE INDIANS WERE RIGHT
ABOUT THE TREATY
AND WROTE THE WAR DEPARTMENT
TO SAY SO.
I THINK IT IS
A GREAT MISTAKE
TO TAKE THE VALLEY
FROM JOSEPH AND HIS BAND.
POSSIBLY CONGRESS
CAN BE INDUCED
TO LET THESE PEACEABLE INDIANS
HAVE THIS VALLEY FOR THEIR OWN.
HOWARD OFFERED TO BUY
THE WALLOWA VALLEY,
BUT JOSEPH REFUSED TO SELL IT.
NOW WASHINGTON ORDERED HOWARD
TO MOVE THE NEZ PERCE,
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
HE TOLD JOSEPH AND THE OTHERS
THAT IF THEY WEREN'T
ON THE RESERVATION
IN LAPWAI, IDAHO,
WITHIN A MONTH,
HIS SOLDIERS
WOULD FORCE THEM TO GO THERE.
I KNEW I HAD NEVER
SOLD MY COUNTRY
AND THAT I HAD NO LAND
IN LAPWAI,
BUT I DID NOT WANT BLOODSHED.
I DID NOT WANT
MY PEOPLE KILLED.
I DID NOT
WANT ANYBODY KILLED.
I SAID IN MY HEART THAT,
RATHER THAN HAVE WAR,
I WOULD GIVE UP EVERYTHING
RATHER THAN HAVE
THE BLOOD OF WHITE MEN
UPON THE HANDS OF MY PEOPLE.
JOSEPH AND THE OTHER CHIEFS
BEGAN MOVING THEIR PEOPLE.
BUT A HANDFUL
OF YOUNG WARRIORS,
SEEKING REVENGE FOR THE WAY
THEIR PEOPLE HAD BEEN TREATED,
SLIPPED AWAY
AND KILLED 18 WHITE SETTLERS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THEIR HISTORY,
JOSEPH'S PEOPLE FOUND THEMSELVES
AT WAR WITH THE AMERICANS.
I KNEW WE WERE TOO WEAK
TO FIGHT THE UNITED STATES.
WE HAD MANY GRIEVANCES,
BUT I KNEW THAT WAR
WOULD BRING MORE.
HOWARD SENT
CAPTAIN DAVID PERRY
AND TWO TROOPS OF CAVALRY
TO BRING THE YOUNG WARRIORS
AND THE REST
OF THE NEZ PERCE IN
AND CONFIDENTLY
WIRED HIS SUPERIORS,
"THINK WE WILL MAKE
SHORT WORK OF IT."
AT WHITE BIRD CANYON
ON THE SALMON RIVER,
PERRY ATTACKED.
THE NEZ PERCE HURLED THEM BACK.
THOSE SOLDIERS DID NOT
HOLD THEIR POSITION 10 MINUTES.
SOME SOLDIERS
WERE QUICKLY ON THE RUN.
THEN THE ENTIRE ENEMY FORCE
GAVE WAY.
WE COUNTED
33 DEAD SOLDIERS.
WE DID NO SCALPING.
WE DID NOT STRIP THEM NAKED.
WE DID NOT HURT THE DEAD--
ONLY LET THEM LIE.
ONLY THREE NEZ PERCE WARRIORS
HAD BEEN WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE,
BUT PERRY HAD LOST
1/3 OF HIS COMMAND
AND BEEN DRIVEN FROM THE FIELD.
"I HAVE BEEN
IN LOTS OF SCRAPES,"
ONE ARMY SCOUT REMEMBERED,
"BUT I NEVER WENT UP AGAINST
ANYTHING LIKE THE NEZ PERCE
IN ALL MY LIFE."
NEWS OF THE STUNNING DEFEAT
AT WHITE BIRD CANYON,
ALMOST ONE YEAR AFTER CUSTER'S
DEATH AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN,
SHOCKED THE COUNTRY.
HOWARD CALLED
FOR MORE TROOPS.
FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS,
SEEKING SOME PLACE
WHERE THE SOLDIERS
WOULD NOT FOLLOW,
THE NEZ PERCE WOULD LEAD
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
ON ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE
PURSUITS IN MILITARY HISTORY.
ON JULY 3, THE NEZ PERCE
WIPED OUT AN ARMY SCOUTING PARTY
OF 13 MEN
THAT GOT TOO CLOSE.
ON INDEPENDENCE DAY,
THEY FOUGHT OFF AN ATTACK
AT AN OLD STAGE STOP
CALLED COTTONWOOD.
A WEEK LATER
ON THE CLEARWATER RIVER,
THEY KILLED 13 MORE
OF HOWARD'S MEN
WHO SOUGHT
TO STOP THEM.
THEN THEY BEGAN CLIMBING
THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS
LED BY A WAR CHIEF
NAMED LOOKING GLASS,
FOLLOWING THE SAME TRAIL
THAT HAD BROUGHT
LEWIS AND CLARK TO THEM
3/4 OF A CENTURY EARLIER.
THERE WERE ABOUT 700 OF THEM,
ONLY 200 WARRIORS--
THE REST WOMEN, CHILDREN,
AND OLD PEOPLE,
ALL IN JOSEPH'S CARE.
STILL, THEY MOVED QUICKLY,
BELIEVING THAT IF THEY
COULD MAKE IT TO MONTANA
AND JOIN THEIR ALLIES THE CROW,
THEY WOULD BE SAFE.
WHEN THEY REACHED MONTANA,
THE NEZ PERCE TURNED SOUTH
ALONG THE BITTERROOT RIVER,
PAYING FOR FOOD AND SUPPLIES
FROM WHITE SETTLERS.
BUT THE FRIGHTENED
TOWNSPEOPLE
OF MISSOULA, BUTTE, BANNOCK,
AND VIRGINIA CITY
DEMANDED ARMY PROTECTION.
ON AN ELEVATED PLATEAU
SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS
CALLED THE BIG HOLE,
LOOKING GLASS
CONVINCED THE WEARY INDIANS
THEY COULD REST
FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
HOWARD, HE SAID,
WAS TOO FAR BEHIND THEM
TO WORRY ABOUT.
BUT COLONEL JOHN GIBBON
HAD ASSEMBLED ALL THE AVAILABLE
SOLDIERS IN WESTERN MONTANA
AND, WITH THE HELP
OF BANNOCK SCOUTS,
TRACKED THE UNSUSPECTING
NEZ PERCE TO THE BIG HOLE.
THE TRAIL LED US
ALONG THE BLUFFS
OVERLOOKING
THE BRUSH-COVERED VALLEY,
AND AS WE MOVED
STEALTHILY FORWARD,
I COULD HEAR
A CAUTIOUS WHISPER--
"THERE THEY ARE. LOOK!"
AND THE MAIN CAMP
OF OUR ENEMIES
WAS AS PLAINLY IN SIGHT
AS THE DIM STARLIGHT PERMITTED.
COLONEL JOHN GIBBON.
THE TROOPS ATTACKED AT DAWN.
IN THE FIRST MOMENTS,
BETWEEN 60 AND 90 NEZ PERCE
WERE CUT DOWN--
MANY OF THEM DEAD
BEFORE THEY COULD KICK FREE
OF THEIR BLANKETS.
BUT THE SURVIVORS REGROUPED,
WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND OLD MEN
FIGHTING ALONGSIDE THE WARRIORS
WITH SUCH FURY THAT THEY DROVE
THE SOLDIERS FROM THE CAMP.
FEW OF US WILL SOON FORGET
THE WAIL OF MINGLED
GRIEF, RAGE, AND HORROR
WHICH CAME FROM THE CAMP
400 OR 500 YARDS FROM US
WHEN THE INDIANS
RETURNED TO IT
AND RECOGNIZED THEIR SLAUGHTERED
WARRIORS, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN.
ABOVE THIS WAIL OF HORROR,
WE COULD HEAR THE PASSIONATE
APPEAL OF THE LEADERS
URGING THEIR FOLLOWERS
TO FIGHT
AND THE WAR WHOOPS IN ANSWER
WHICH BODED US NO GOOD.
THE ENRAGED WARRIORS
PINNED GIBBON'S MEN DOWN
WITH THEIR FIRE
WHILE JOSEPH LED THE OTHERS
AWAY FROM THE FIGHTING.
THE NEZ PERCE SLIPPED
BACK INTO IDAHO,
THEN TURNED EAST AGAIN
TOWARD THE YELLOWSTONE PLATEAU,
WHICH HAD RECENTLY BEEN
SET ASIDE AS A NATIONAL PARK.
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN HIMSELF
HAD ASSURED VISITORS
THERE WAS NO DANGER.
INDIANS, HE SAID,
WERE TOO SUPERSTITIOUS
TO VENTURE NEAR THE GEYSERS.
BUT THE NEZ PERCE SWEPT
RIGHT INTO THE PARK.
THEY CAPTURED MORE THAN A DOZEN
HORRIFIED TOURISTS
AND KILLED TWO OF THEM
BEFORE THE CHIEFS
TOLD THE WARRIORS
TO LET THE OTHERS GO.
THE INDIANS MOVED ON,
STILL HOPING TO JOIN FORCES
WITH THEIR LONGTIME FRIENDS
THE CROW
AND TO FIND A COUNTRY SOMEWHERE
FREE OF WHITES.
BUT THE CROW
WERE NOW PURSUING THEM
ON BEHALF OF THE ARMY,
STEALING HORSES,
KILLING STRAGGLERS.
MANY SNOWS THE CROWS
HAVE BEEN OUR FRIENDS,
BUT NOW TURNED ENEMIES.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND
HOW THE CROWS COULD THINK
TO HELP THE SOLDIERS.
MY HEART WAS JUST LIKE FIRE.
THE NEZ PERCE WERE ALONE.
THE WEST THEY HAD ONCE KNOWN
HAD VANISHED.
NOW THEY FASTENED ON
ONE LAST CHANCE FOR ESCAPE.
THE LAKOTA CHIEF SITTING BULL
HAD FOUND SAFETY IN CANADA.
THEY WOULD HEAD NORTH
ACROSS MONTANA TO JOIN HIM.
THEY CROSSED
THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER,
THEN THE MUSSELSHELL,
AND FINALLY, IN LATE SEPTEMBER,
THE MISSOURI.
THEY HAD COME
MORE THAN 1,500 MILES,
FOUGHT IN 17 ENGAGEMENTS
AGAINST MORE THAN 2,000 SOLDIERS
AND INDIAN SCOUTS,
SUFFERED HARDSHIPS,
DISAPPOINTMENTS,
AND THE LOSS OF LOVED ONES.
BUT THEY HAD BEATEN OR ELUDED
EVERY ARMY SENT AGAINST THEM.
"THE WHOLE NEZ PERCE MOVEMENT,"
ONE U.S. ARMY OFFICER MARVELED,
"IS UNEQUALED IN THE HISTORY
OF INDIAN WARFARE."
NOW CANADA--AND FREEDOM--
WERE ONLY 40 MILES AWAY.
BEFORE CROSSING THE BORDER,
THE NEZ PERCE STOPPED
TO CAMP ON SNAKE CREEK,
NEAR THE BEAR PAW MOUNTAINS.
GENERAL HOWARD, THEY KNEW,
WAS MORE THAN TWO DAYS'
MARCH BEHIND THEM.
BUT UNKNOWN TO THEM,
COLONEL NELSON A. MILES
HAD MERCILESSLY PUSHED
HIS OWN FIFTH INFANTRY
AND CUSTER'S OLD COMMAND,
THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
ALL THE WAY FROM EASTERN MONTANA
TO INTERCEPT THE NEZ PERCE.
WITH HIM RODE LAKOTA
AND CHEYENNE WARRIORS,
WHO JUST A YEAR BEFORE
HAD DEFEATED THE SEVENTH
AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN.
THE NEZ PERCE WERE QUIETLY
SLUMBERING IN THEIR TENTS.
WHEN THE CHARGE WAS MADE,
THE TRAMP OF AT LEAST 600 HORSES
OVER THE PRAIRIE
FAIRLY SHOOK THE GROUND,
AND ALTHOUGH A COMPLETE SURPRISE
TO THE INDIANS IN THE MAIN,
IT MUST HAVE GIVEN THEM
A FEW MINUTES' NOTICE,
FOR AS THE TROOPS
CHARGED AGAINST THE VILLAGE,
THE INDIANS OPENED
A HOT FIRE UPON THEM.
COLONEL NELSON A. MILES.
NEZ PERCE WARRIORS
DROVE OFF ONE ATTACK,
THEN A SECOND AND A THIRD.
THEY KILLED OR WOUNDED
53 OF THE SOLDIERS...
BUT ALL THEIR HORSES
HAD BEEN DRIVEN OFF.
THEY COULD NOT ESCAPE.
MILES DUG IN FOR A SIEGE.
THE WEATHER TURNED COLDER.
MOST OF OUR FEW WARRIORS
LEFT FROM THE BIG HOLE
HAD BEEN SWEPT AS LEAVES
BEFORE THE STORM.
A YOUNG WARRIOR, WOUNDED,
LAY ON A BUFFALO ROBE,
DYING WITHOUT COMPLAINT.
CHILDREN CRYING WITH COLD.
NO FIRE.
THERE COULD BE NO LIGHT.
EVERYWHERE THE CRYING,
THE DEATH WAIL.
I FELT THE COMING END.
ALL FOR WHICH
WE HAD SUFFERED--LOST!
THOUGHTS CAME OF THE WALLOWA
WHERE I GREW UP,
OF MY OWN COUNTRY
WHEN ONLY INDIANS WERE THERE,
OF TEEPEES ALONG
THE BENDING RIVER,
OF THE BLUE, CLEAR LAKE,
WIDE MEADOWS WITH HORSE
AND CATTLE HERDS.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN FOREST,
VOICES SEEMED CALLING.
I FELT AS DREAMING--
NOT MY LIVING SELF.
FOR FIVE MORE DAYS,
THE SIEGE WENT ON.
A FEW NEZ PERCE
SLIPPED BEHIND THE LINES
AND STRAGGLED INTO CANADA.
SITTING BULL WELCOMED THEM
BUT WOULD SEND NO FORCE
TO RESCUE THE OTHERS.
UNDER A WHITE FLAG,
MILES OPENED NEGOTIATIONS.
JOSEPH WAS SELECTED
TO TALK WITH HIM.
TURN OVER YOUR RIFLES,
MILES SAID,
AND IN THE SPRING, YOU WILL BE
ALLOWED TO RETURN HOME.
MY PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED
ABOUT SURRENDERING,
BUT I COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE
MY WOUNDED MEN AND WOMEN
SUFFER ANY LONGER.
WE HAD LOST ENOUGH ALREADY.
COLONEL MILES PROMISED
THAT WE MIGHT RETURN
TO OUR OWN COUNTRY
WITH WHAT STOCK
WE HAD LEFT.
I THOUGHT WE COULD
START AGAIN.
I BELIEVED COLONEL MILES,
OR I NEVER
WOULD HAVE SURRENDERED.
ON THE AFTERNOON
OF OCTOBER 5, 1877,
JOSEPH RODE OUT TO THE FOOT
OF A BLUFF ON THE PRAIRIE.
COLONEL MILES AND GENERAL HOWARD
WERE WAITING FOR HIM.
JOSEPH THREW HIMSELF
OFF HIS HORSE,
DRAPED HIS BLANKET ABOUT HIM,
AND WITH A QUIET PRIDE,
NOT EXACTLY DEFIANCE,
ADVANCED TOWARD GENERAL HOWARD
AND HELD OUT HIS RIFLE
IN TOKEN OF SUBMISSION.
LIEUTENANT CHARLES
ERSKINE WOOD.
I AM TIRED OF FIGHTING.
OUR CHIEFS ARE ALL KILLED.
LOOKING GLASS IS DEAD.
THE OLD MEN ARE ALL DEAD.
IT IS COLD,
AND WE HAVE NO BLANKETS.
THE LITTLE CHILDREN
ARE FREEZING TO DEATH.
MY PEOPLE, SOME OF THEM,
HAVE RUN AWAY TO THE HILLS
AND HAVE NO FOOD.
NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THEY ARE.
I WANT TO HAVE TIME
TO LOOK FOR MY CHILDREN
AND SEE HOW MANY OF THEM
I CAN FIND.
MAYBE I SHALL FIND THEM
AMONG THE DEAD.
HEAR ME, MY CHIEFS.
I AM TIRED.
MY HEART IS SICK AND SAD.
FROM WHERE THE SUN NOW STANDS,
I WILL FIGHT NO MORE FOREVER.
JOSEPH AND HIS PEOPLE
WERE LOADED ONTO A RIVERBOAT
AND SENT DOWN
THE MISSOURI RIVER
TOWARD FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IN DAKOTA TERRITORY,
WHERE THEY EXPECTED
TO SPEND THE WINTER.
BUT WHILE THEY WERE ON THE WAY,
MILES' AND HOWARD'S PROMISE
THAT THEY WOULD BE ALLOWED
TO RETURN HOME
HAD BEEN OVERRULED
BY GENERAL SHERMAN.
THE INDIANS THROUGHOUT
DISPLAYED A COURAGE AND SKILL
THAT ELICITED
UNIVERSAL PRAISE.
THEY ABSTAINED FROM SCALPING,
LET CAPTIVE WOMEN GO FREE,
DID NOT COMMIT INDISCRIMINATE
MURDER OF PEACEFUL FAMILIES,
WHICH IS USUAL,
AND FOUGHT WITH ALMOST
SCIENTIFIC SKILL.
NEVERTHELESS,
THEY WOULD NOT SETTLE DOWN
ON LANDS SET APART
FOR THEM,
AND WHEN COMMANDED
BY PROPER AUTHORITY,
THEY BEGAN RESISTANCE
BY MURDERING PERSONS
IN NO MANNER CONNECTED
WITH THEIR ALLEGED GRIEVANCES.
THEY SHOULD NEVER AGAIN
BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO OREGON.
GENERAL WILLIAM
TECUMSEH SHERMAN.
MILES AND HOWARD COULD NOT
CHANGE SHERMAN'S DECISION.
THE NEZ PERCE HAD BEEN
BETRAYED AGAIN.
WHEN THE INDIANS
ARRIVED AT THE FORT,
ITS CANNON GREETED THEM,
AND THE STEAM ENGINE
OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC TRAIN
BLASTED ITS WHISTLE
THREE TIMES.
THEY HAD NEVER
SEEN A TRAIN BEFORE,
AND THE NEZ PERCE
BEGAN A MOURNFUL SONG.
IT SOUNDED, ONE ONLOOKER SAID,
LIKE A DEATH CHANT.
THEN, JOSEPH AND HIS PEOPLE
WERE LOADED ONTO THE TRAIN.
THEY WERE NOT GOING HOME,
THEY WERE NOW TOLD,
BUT FAR AWAY,
INTO EXILE IN THE NORTHEASTERN
CORNER OF INDIAN TERRITORY
IN WHAT IS NOW OKLAHOMA--
NEARLY 2,000 MILES FROM THEIR
BELOVED WALLOWA VALLEY.
ONCE THERE, THEY FOUND
CONDITIONS UNSANITARY,
MEDICINE SCARCE.
68 OF THEM PERISHED
IN THE FIRST YEAR ALONE.
SOON, THEY HAD A CEMETERY
SET ASIDE SOLELY FOR BABIES
WITH 100 GRAVES.
AMONG THE NEZ PERCE WHO DIED
WAS AN OLD MAN NAMED
HALAHTOOKIT, OR DAYTIME SMOKE.
ACCORDING
TO JOSEPH'S PEOPLE,
HE WAS THE HALF-INDIAN SON
OF WILLIAM CLARK,
THE AMERICAN EXPLORER
THE NEZ PERCE HAD SHELTERED
MORE THAN 70 YEARS EARLIER,
THE MAN WHO HAD
FIRST PROMISED
THAT THE UNITED STATES
WOULD ALWAYS BE THEIR FRIEND.
GOOD WORDS DO NOT LAST LONG.
GOOD WORDS DO NOT PAY
FOR MY DEAD PEOPLE.
THEY DO NOT PAY FOR MY COUNTRY,
NOW OVERRUN BY WHITE MEN.
GOOD WORDS WILL NOT
GET MY PEOPLE A HOME
WHERE THEY CAN LIVE IN PEACE
AND TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.
I AM TIRED OF TALK
THAT COMES TO NOTHING.
IT MAKES MY HEART SICK
WHEN I REMEMBER
ALL THE GOOD WORDS
AND BROKEN PROMISES.
YOU MIGHT AS WELL EXPECT
THE RIVERS TO RUN BACKWARD
AS THAT ANY MAN
WHO WAS BORN A FREE MAN
SHOULD BE CONTENTED
WHEN PENNED UP
AND DENIED LIBERTY
TO GO WHERE HE PLEASES.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
OF YOUR PEOPLE
WHO CAME TO OUR COUNTRY
WERE NAMED LEWIS AND CLARK.
ALL THE NEZ PERCE MADE FRIENDS
WITH LEWIS AND CLARK
AND AGREED TO LET THEM
PASS THROUGH THEIR COUNTRY
AND NEVER TO MAKE WAR
ON WHITE MEN.
THIS PROMISE THE NEZ PERCE
HAVE NEVER BROKEN.
IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN
THE PRIDE OF THE NEZ PERCE
THAT THEY WERE THE FRIENDS
OF THE WHITE MEN.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
IN 1871,
AN AGING NEZ PERCE CHIEF
SUMMONED ONE OF HIS SONS,
HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT,
ALSO CALLED JOSEPH,
TO HIS DEATHBED.
THEIR HOMELAND
IN THE WALLOWA COUNTRY
OF NORTHEASTERN OREGON
WAS BEING OVERWHELMED
BY WHITE SETTLERS.
AFTER 3/4 OF A CENTURY
OF UNBROKEN PEACE
WITH THE UNITED STATES,
THE NEZ PERCE FELT BETRAYED.
ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT CLAIMED
A TREATY PERMITTED
THE NEW SETTLEMENTS,
JOSEPH'S BAND
HAD NEVER SIGNED THAT TREATY
AND INSISTED THE LAND
STILL BELONGED TO THEM.
MY FATHER WAS THE FIRST
TO SEE THROUGH THE SCHEMES
OF THE WHITE MEN.
HE SAID, "MY SON,
WHEN I AM GONE,
"YOU ARE THE CHIEF
OF THESE PEOPLE.
"ALWAYS REMEMBER
THAT YOUR FATHER
"NEVER SOLD HIS COUNTRY.
"YOU MUST STOP YOUR EARS
WHENEVER YOU ARE ASKED
"TO SIGN A TREATY
SELLING YOUR HOME.
MY SON, NEVER FORGET
MY DYING WORDS."
"THIS COUNTRY HOLDS
YOUR FATHER'S BODY.
NEVER SELL THE BONES
OF YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER."
I PRESSED MY FATHER'S HAND
AND TOLD HIM I WOULD
PROTECT HIS GRAVE WITH MY LIFE.
A MAN WHO WOULD NOT
LOVE HIS FATHER'S GRAVE
IS WORSE THAN
A WILD ANIMAL.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
BY 1874, RAILROADS HAD BROUGHT
MILLIONS OF SETTLERS
TO THE WEST,
OPENING UP NEW LANDS
FOR HOMESTEADERS,
ELIMINATING
THE GREAT BUFFALO HERDS
FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS,
CHANGING FOREVER
THE LIVES OF THOSE
WHO CALLED THE WEST
THEIR HOME.
AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
BEGAN CONSOLIDATING ITS CONTROL
OVER THE ENTIRE REGION
AS IT NEVER HAD BEFORE.
BY 1874, WASHINGTON HAD MOUNTED
STILL ANOTHER ASSAULT
ON THE MORMONS WHO HAD
SOUGHT SANCTUARY IN UTAH...
AND THE PROPHET
WHO HAD BROUGHT THEM THERE
WOULD BE FORCED TO CHOOSE
BETWEEN SAVING HIS CHURCH
OR SACRIFICING
HIS SPIRITUAL SON.
BY 1874, THE GOVERNMENT
HAD FORCED
THE CAYUSE, MIWOK, AND YOKUT,
THE UTE AND COEUR D'ALENE,
THE MODOC, THE PAIUTE, SHOSHONE,
AND NAVAJO TO SURRENDER.
MOST TRIBES WERE OFFICIALLY
CONFINED TO RESERVATIONS NOW,
DEPENDENT FOR THEIR SURVIVAL
ON GOVERNMENT RATIONS
THAT OFTEN DID NOT ARRIVE
AND ON THE WHIMS
OF GOVERNMENT AGENTS
WHO OFTEN DID NOT CARE.
BUT A FEW BANDS HELD OUT,
CONVINCED THEY COULD STILL
LIVE AS THEY WISHED SOMEHOW,
IN A WEST THAT HAD ALREADY
BEEN TRANSFORMED.
BETWEEN 1874 AND 1877,
THEY WOULD MAKE THEIR LAST STAND
TO REMAIN FREE.
A LAKOTA MEDICINE MAN
WHO SAW THE AMERICANS
AS HIS MORTAL ENEMIES
BECAME A SYMBOL
OF ARMED RESISTANCE
AND WOULD WIN THE GREATEST
VICTORY OF THE INDIAN WARS,
ONLY TO BRING DOWN
UPON HIS PEOPLE
THE WRATH
OF AN AVENGING NATION...
WHILE A NEZ PERCE CHIEF
WHO HAD STRUGGLED ALL HIS LIFE
TO MAINTAIN PEACE WITH WHITES
WOULD FIND HIMSELF
HELPING TO LEAD
ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY
MILITARY CAMPAIGNS
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
TO DEFEAT THEM, THE GOVERNMENT
WOULD CALL ON AN UNLIKELY ARMY
MADE UP OF IMMIGRANTS,
FUGITIVES, SOCIAL OUTCASTS,
AND A DASHING YOUNG HERO
OF THE CIVIL WAR
WHO CAME WEST PURSUING A VISION
OF HIS OWN INVINCIBILITY,
ONLY TO CONFRONT AN ENEMY
WHOSE VISIONS WOULD PROVE
EVEN STRONGER.
I NEVER TAUGHT MY PEOPLE
TO TRUST AMERICANS.
I HAVE TOLD THEM THE TRUTH--
THAT THE AMERICANS
ARE GREAT LIARS.
I HAVE NEVER
DEALT WITH THE AMERICANS.
WHY SHOULD I?
THE LAND
BELONGED TO MY PEOPLE.
SITTING BULL.
IT IS SUCH AN UNLIKELY
PLACE IN THE LANDSCAPE.
IT IS AN ISLAND,
AND IT'S THERE IN THIS VASTNESS
OF THE GREAT PLAINS,
BUT IT IS RICH.
IT IS FULL OF TIMBER,
FULL OF GAME.
IT'S A PLACE
WHERE THUNDER RESOUNDS
MORE THAN IN OTHER PLACES,
AND SO IT'S THOUGHT TO BE
THE PLACE OF THE DEITIES.
WHEN YOU SEE
THE BLACK HILLS,
YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT
THE SPIRITUAL ASPECT OF IT.
YOU ENJOYED, UH...
THE WEALTH
OF THE LAND THERE,
AND AT THE SAME TIME,
YOU RESTORED YOURSELF,
NOT ONLY PHYSICALLY,
BUT SPIRITUALLY.
IN THE SUMMER OF 1874,
MORE THAN 1,000 SOLDIERS,
100 WAGONS, 61 ARIKARA SCOUTS,
AND 3 NEWSPAPERMEN
MARCHED OUT OF
FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IN THE DAKOTA TERRITORY
AND STARTED SOUTHWEST,
STRAIGHT INTO
THE BLACK HILLS--
AN AREA THE LAKOTA CONSIDERED
SACRED GROUND.
OFFICIALLY, THE SOLDIERS
WERE LOOKING FOR A SITE
ON WHICH TO BUILD A FORT
SO THAT THEY COULD
KEEP AN EYE ON THE LAKOTA.
UNOFFICIALLY,
THEY WERE LOOKING FOR GOLD.
I SAY THAT OUR OBJECT
IS A PEACEFUL ONE,
BUT I HAVE NO IDEA
THAT OUR TRIP WILL BE.
THE INDIANS HAVE LONG OPPOSED
ALL EFFORTS OF WHITE MEN
TO ENTER THE BLACK HILLS,
BUT I HAVE
A WELL-EQUIPPED FORCE,
STRONG ENOUGH
TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF.
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.
AT THE HEAD OF THE EXPEDITION
RODE THE ARMY'S MOST CELEBRATED
INDIAN FIGHTER,
THE COMMANDER
OF THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.
AN OHIO BLACKSMITH'S SON
WHO WAS GRADUATED AT THE BOTTOM
OF HIS CLASS AT WEST POINT,
AT 23 HE HAD BECOME
THE YOUNGEST GENERAL
IN THE UNION ARMY.
IMPULSIVE AND HIGH-SPIRITED,
HE HAD LED THE CHARGE
AGAINST THE CONFEDERATES
AT GETTYSBURG,
WINCHESTER, FIVE FORKS.
11 HORSES HAD BEEN
SHOT OUT FROM UNDER HIM.
OH, COULD YOU HAVE BUT SEEN
SOME OF THE CHARGES WE MADE.
I GAVE THE COMMAND
"FORWARD,"
AND I NEVER EXPECT
TO SEE A PRETTIER SIGHT.
WHILE THINKING OF THEM,
I CANNOT BUT EXCLAIM,
"GLORIOUS WAR!"
HIS JUDGMENT WOULD OFTEN
BE CALLED INTO QUESTION,
BUT NO ONE EVER QUESTIONED
HIS HEADLONG COURAGE.
HE WAS A SELF-PROMOTER.
HE WAS A MAN
WHO RODE TO THE TOP
OVER THE BACKS
OF FALLEN COMRADES--
NOT THAT HE DIDN'T
TAKE THE RISKS THAT THEY DID,
BUT HE WAS TAKING THOSE RISKS
SO THAT HE COULD
GET PROMOTION FOR HIMSELF,
AND A LOT OF MEN FELL
BECAUSE CUSTER
WAS LEADING THEM INTO SITUATIONS
THAT HE SHOULDN'T HAVE
BEEN LEADING THEM INTO.
ONCE HE'D COME WEST,
CUSTER DESIGNED FOR HIMSELF
A DISTINCTIVE COSTUME
MEANT TO CATCH THE EYE
OF VISITING NEWSPAPERMEN.
THE CHEYENNE ESPECIALLY ADMIRED
THE WAY HE LOOKED
AND BEGAN TO CALL HIM
"YELLOW HAIR."
BUT DURING HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN
AGAINST THEM IN 1867,
HIS CAREER HAD VERY NEARLY
COME TO AN END.
OUT HUNTING ONE DAY
WITH HIS HOUNDS,
FAR FROM HIS COLUMN
AND IN THE HEART
OF INDIAN COUNTRY,
HE GALLOPED AFTER A BUFFALO,
AIMED HIS REVOLVER--
AND SOMEHOW SHOT HIS OWN HORSE
THROUGH THE HEAD.
THE HORSE DID A FLIP,
AND HE DID A FLIP
AND HE CAME UP ON HIS FEET.
NOW HERE HE WAS ALL ALONE
OUT IN THE PRAIRIE
IN THE MIDDLE OF
HOSTILE TERRITORY,
SUPPOSEDLY ON AN EXPEDITION
AGAINST HOSTILE INDIANS,
HAVING SHOT HIS HORSE
IN THE HEAD
ON A FOOL CHASE
AFTER A BUFFALO.
ON FOOT, BRUISED,
AND TOTALLY LOST,
HE HAD TO BE RESCUED
BY HIS OWN MEN.
THEN, IN 1868,
HE MOUNTED A SURPRISE ATTACK
ON BLACK KETTLE'S CHEYENNE
ON THE OUACHITA
THAT ESTABLISHED HIS REPUTATION
AS AN INDIAN FIGHTER
AND MADE HIM A HERO
IN THE NEWSPAPERS.
NOW CUSTER AND HIS SOLDIERS
HAD RIDDEN RIGHT INTO THE HEART
OF THE BLACK HILLS,
THE LAKOTA'S
MOST PRIZED HUNTING GROUND.
AUGUST 15, 1874.
WE HAVE DISCOVERED A RICH
AND BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY.
WE HAVE BEEN IN AND THROUGH
THE BLACK HILLS,
AND I HAVE THE PROUD
SATISFACTION OF KNOWING
THAT OUR EXPLORATIONS
HAVE EXCEEDED THE MOST
SANGUINE EXPECTATIONS...
AND I HAVE REACHED THE HUNTER'S
HIGHEST ROUND OF FAME--
I HAVE KILLED MY GRIZZLY.
CUSTER'S MEN FISHED,
HUNTED, PLAYED BASEBALL,
AND THEY FOUND GOLD--
NOT A REAL BONANZA,
BUT ENOUGH TO PERSUADE THEM
TO LINE UP SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER
ALONG THE CREEK
TO TRY THEIR LUCK AT PANNING--
MORE THAN ENOUGH TO INSPIRE
WILD-EYED STORIES IN THE PRESS
OF PAY DIRT
FROM THE GRASS ROOTS DOWN.
FROM EVERY CORNER
OF THE COUNTRY,
GOLD-HUNGRY WHITES
POURED IN.
THEY WOULD SOON BANG TOGETHER
A DOZEN MINING CAMPS--
DEADWOOD, BLACKTAIL,
GOLDEN GATE,
AND CUSTER CITY.
BUT THE MINERS' INVASION
VIOLATED THE FORT LARAMIE
TREATY OF 1868,
SIGNED BY THE LAKOTA
AND THE UNITED STATES
AFTER YEARS OF COSTLY WARFARE
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS.
IN THE TREATY,
THE LAKOTA AGREED
TO STOP HARASSING TRAVELERS,
RAIDING SETTLERS,
ATTACKING ARMY UNITS.
IN EXCHANGE, THE UNITED STATES
PROMISED THE LAKOTA
THAT THE BLACK HILLS
WOULD BE THEIRS FOREVER.
SO MANY TIMES,
THE INDIANS WERE PROMISED
THAT THEY COULD KEEP THE LAND,
AND SO MANY TIMES,
THOSE PROMISES WERE BROKEN.
I DON'T THINK THEY WERE NAIVE.
I THINK THAT
THE INDIANS UNDERSTOOD
THE MEANING
OF THE TREATIES
AND WANTED VERY MUCH
TO--TO LIVE BY THEM,
BUT MANY OF THE TREATIES
CAME TO NOTHING,
AND SO, THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT
WAS ONE OF DISTRUST, BETRAYAL.
THE WHITES
WHO FOLLOWED CUSTER'S
PATH INTO THE BLACK HILLS
CALLED IT THE "FREEDOM TRAIL."
THE LAKOTA CALLED IT
THE "THIEVES ROAD."
EITHER WAY,
IT WOULD LEAD TO DISASTER.
I WILL REMAIN WHAT I AM
UNTIL I DIE--A HUNTER--
AND WHEN THERE ARE NO BUFFALO
OR OTHER GAME,
I WILL SEND MY CHILDREN TO HUNT
AND LIVE ON PRAIRIE MICE,
FOR WHERE AN INDIAN
IS SHUT UP IN ONE PLACE,
HIS BODY BECOMES WEAK.
SITTING BULL.
THE LAKOTA HAD MANY LEADERS--
BLACK MOON, FOUR HORNS,
GALL, CRAZY HORSE.
BUT THE MAN TO WHOM
EVEN THESE VETERAN FIGHTERS
NOW LOOKED FOR GUIDANCE
WAS SITTING BULL,
A CHIEF AND HOLY MAN
WHO WAS DETERMINED NEVER
TO RELINQUISH THE BLACK HILLS.
THEIR BANDS STILL HUNTED
THE REMAINING BUFFALO HERDS
ON THE NORTHERN PLAINS,
AND SITTING BULL
SCORNED THOSE INDIANS--
FROM OTHER TRIBES
AND HIS OWN--
WHO HAD MOVED
CLOSE TO AGENCIES
AND DEPENDED ON THE GOVERNMENT
TO FEED THEM.
LOOK AT ME!
SEE IF I AM POOR,
OR MY PEOPLE, EITHER.
THE WHITES MAY GET ME AT LAST,
AS YOU SAY,
BUT I WILL HAVE GOOD TIMES
TILL THEN.
YOU ARE FOOLS TO MAKE YOURSELVES
SLAVES TO A PIECE OF FAT BACON,
SOME HARDTACK,
AND A LITTLE SUGAR AND COFFEE.
SITTING BULL WAS BORN ABOUT 1831
AT A PLACE THE LAKOTA CALLED
MANY CACHES
BECAUSE OF THE PITS
FOR STORING FOOD
THEY HAD DUG THERE,
AND HE WOULD DEVOTE
MUCH OF HIS LIFE
SIMPLY TO ENSURING THAT
HIS PEOPLE HAD ENOUGH TO EAT.
NO ONE HAD EARNED A GREATER
REPUTATION FOR BRAVERY.
HE COUNTED HIS FIRST COUP AT 14
DURING A RAID ON THE CROW
AND LED THE STRONG HEART
WARRIOR SOCIETY,
WHOSE MEMBERS CAME TO ASCRIBE
THEIR TRIUMPHS IN BATTLE
TO THE EXTRAORDINARY POWER
OF HIS VISIONS.
IN THE MIDST OF A BATTLE
WITH SOLDIERS
GUARDING A RAILROAD CREW
ON THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER
IN 1872,
HE AND FOUR OTHER WARRIORS
STROLLED OUT BETWEEN THE LINES.
SITTING BULL CALMLY SAT DOWN.
WITH THE BULLETS
PATTERING ALL AROUND HIM,
HE FILLED HIS PIPE, SMOKED IT,
AND PASSED IT BACK AND FORTH
TO HIS COMPANIONS
UNTIL THE BOWL WAS EMPTY.
THEN, HE REAMED IT OUT
AND WALKED AWAY.
HIS LAKOTA NAME,
TATANKA IYOTANKA,
DESCRIBED AN INTRACTABLE
BUFFALO BULL
SITTING ON ITS HAUNCHES,
RESOLUTE IN THE FACE OF DANGER.
SITTING BULL WAS
ONE OF THOSE MEN
WHO, DURING HIS LIFE,
WAS AN EPITOME OF EVERYTHING
A LAKOTA MAN WOULD WANT TO BE.
YOUNG MEN WOULD FOLLOW HIM,
HOPING THAT IT WOULD
STILL BE POSSIBLE SOMEHOW
TO REMAIN IN SOME HOMELAND,
SOME LAKOTA HOMELAND,
IN WHICH THEY REALLY
WOULD BE FREE.
BY THE WINTER OF 1875,
SOME 15,000 MINERS HAD
CROWDED INTO THE BLACK HILLS.
UNDER THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY,
IT WAS THE ARMY'S TASK
TO DRIVE THE PROSPECTORS OUT.
BUT THEIR GROWING NUMBERS
MADE IT POLITICALLY IMPOSSIBLE.
ANOTHER SOLUTION
HAD TO BE FOUND.
A SENATE COMMISSION
WAS SENT WEST
TO RENEGOTIATE THE TREATY,
AND SOME 20,000 LAKOTA
CAME TO MEET WITH THEM.
THE COMMISSION WAS PREPARED
TO OFFER $6 MILLION
FOR THE BLACK HILLS,
BUT THE LAKOTA WANTED A SUM
LARGE ENOUGH
SO THAT THEIR PEOPLE
COULD LIVE OFF IT FOREVER.
SITTING BULL, CRAZY HORSE,
AND OTHER DEFIANT WARRIORS
STAYED AWAY
FROM THE COUNCIL ENTIRELY,
UNWILLING EVEN TO DISCUSS A SALE
OF THEIR MOST SACRED PLACE.
I WANT TO HUNT IN THIS PLACE.
I WANT YOU
TO TURN BACK FROM HERE.
I WANT YOU TO LEAVE
WHAT YOU HAVE GOT HERE
AND TURN BACK.
IF YOU DON'T,
I'LL FIGHT YOU.
SITTING BULL.
WASHINGTON DECIDED TO CLAMP DOWN
AND ORDERED ALL THE CHIEFS
TO COME IN
TO THE RESERVATION HEADQUARTERS
BY JANUARY 31, 1876.
WHEN SITTING BULL
AND THE OTHERS REFUSED,
GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER
AND A LARGE PART
OF THE U.S. ARMY IN THE WEST
WERE ORDERED
TO BRING THEM IN.
RIGHT SHOULDER, PULL!
I AM NOW WEARING TWO
FLANNEL AND A BUCKSKIN SHIRT,
ONE PAIR OF DRAWERS,
TROUSERS OF BUCKSKIN
AND A PAIR OF ARMY TROUSERS,
TWO PAIRS WOOLEN SOCKS,
A PAIR OF BUFFALO OVERSHOES
AND BIG BOOTS,
A HEAVY PAIR
OF BLANKET LEGGINS,
A THICK BLOUSE
AND HEAVY OVERCOAT,
A HEAVY WOOLEN CAP
THAT COMPLETELY COVERS
MY HEAD, FACE, AND NECK
EXCEPT NOSE AND EYES,
AND STILL I AM NOT HAPPY.
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
HAD AN IMPOSSIBLE JOB--
POLICING SOME 2.5 MILLION
SQUARE MILES OF LAND
BETWEEN THE MISSOURI
AND THE EASTERN SLOPE
OF THE SIERRAS.
THERE WERE NEVER
MORE THAN 15,000 MEN
SCATTERED AMONG 100 FORTS
AND OUTPOSTS,
YET THEY WERE SOMEHOW EXPECTED
TO DEFEND SETTLERS, RANCHERS,
MINERS, AND RAILROAD CREWS;
KEEP THOUSANDS OF INDIANS
CONFINED TO THEIR RESERVATIONS;
AND KEEP TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF WHITES
OUT OF INDIAN LANDS.
EVEN THOUGH ARMY PAY WAS LOW--
JUST $13 A MONTH--
STEADY JOBS WERE SCARCE
DURING THE ECONOMIC SLUMP
THAT FOLLOWED
THE CIVIL WAR.
ARMY RANKS
WERE FILLED WITH IMMIGRANTS,
SOME OF WHOM COULD SPEAK
ALMOST NO ENGLISH.
THERE WERE DRIFTERS, TOO--
MEN WITH ASSUMED NAMES,
MEN ESCAPING BAD MARRIAGES...
OR THE LAW.
SOME OF THE RECRUITS
I JOINED WITH
HAD NO DOUBT SERVED
IN SOME PENITENTIARY
BEFORE ENLISTING,
AND I SHOULDN'T WONDER THAT SOME
WENT BACK TO THEIR OLD PRISONS
AS A HAVEN OF REST
AND DECENT TREATMENT.
PRIVATE C.C. CHRISMAN,
13th INFANTRY.
BOREDOM WAS ALL THE MEN
COULD DEPEND UPON--
THREE TO FIVE YEARS OF IT.
THEY QUARRELED, DRANK,
PITTED RED ANTS
AGAINST BLACK ANTS
JUST TO STIR THINGS UP...
AND THEY LIVED
FOR NEWS FROM HOME.
WHAT WOULD OUR LIVES
BE WITHOUT MAIL?
A NULLITY, A VOID,
A HATED, WEARY BURDEN
OF NOTHINGNESS.
IT IS THE ONLY CONNECTING LINK
BETWEEN US AND CIVILIZATION--
BETWEEN THE DREARY MONOTONY
OF THE PRESENT
AND THE EXCITING PLEASURES
OF THE PAST--
THE ONE SOLE OASIS
IN THE DESERT OF OUR LIVES.
ARMY FOOD
WAS ALMOST ALWAYS UNPALATABLE,
SOMETIMES INEDIBLE.
HARDTACK--
FLOUR-AND-WATER BISCUITS--
DELIVERED TO THE SEVENTH CAVALRY
WAS SIX YEARS OLD
AND HAD TO BE SHATTERED
WITH A HAMMER.
WHISKEY WAS
THE SOLDIER'S CURSE.
40 MEN OUT OF EVERY 1,000
WERE HOSPITALIZED
FOR ALCOHOLISM.
TWICE AS MANY
KILLED THEMSELVES.
BUT DISEASE
WAS THE WORST KILLER.
IN JUST TWO YEARS,
THE SEVENTH CAVALRY
LOST 51 MEN TO CHOLERA.
MOST SOLDIERS NEVER
MET AN INDIAN IN BATTLE.
SOME NEVER
SAW AN INDIAN AT ALL.
DAKOTA TERRITORY, MARCH 5, 1876.
DEAR SISTER,
I THINK WE WILL HAVE
SOME HARD TIMES
THIS SUMMER.
THE OLD CHIEF SITTING BULL
SAYS THAT HE WILL NOT MAKE PEACE
WITH THE WHITES
AS LONG AS HE
HAS A MAN TO FIGHT.
AS SOON AS I GET BACK
FROM THE CAMPAIGN,
I WILL WRITE YOU--
THAT IS, IF I DO NOT GET
MY HAIR LIFTED BY SOME INDIAN.
FROM YOUR LOVING BROTHER,
T.P. EAGAN, SEVENTH CAVALRY.
SOMETIME
IN THE EARLY SPRING OF 1876,
SITTING BULL
CLIMBED TO A HILLTOP,
SEEKING A VISION.
IN HIS DREAM,
A GREAT DUST STORM SWIRLED DOWN
UPON A SMALL, WHITE CLOUD
THAT RESEMBLED
A LAKOTA VILLAGE.
THROUGH THE WHIRLWIND,
SITTING BULL COULD SEE
SOLDIERS MARCHING.
THE LITTLE CLOUD
WAS SWALLOWED UP FOR A TIME...
BUT THE STORM
EVENTUALLY DISSIPATED,
AND THE VILLAGE
EMERGED UNHARMED.
IT WAS AN ENCOURAGING DREAM,
AND IN THE SPRING OF 1876,
THE LAKOTA
NEEDED ENCOURAGEMENT.
HUMANITARIANS MAY WEEP
FOR THE POOR INDIAN
AND TELL THE WRONGS
HE HAS SUFFERED,
BUT HE IS PASSING AWAY.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
NEED THE COUNTRY
THE INDIANS NOW OCCUPY.
MANY OF OUR PEOPLE
ARE OUT OF EMPLOYMENT.
THE MASSES
NEED SOME NEW EXCITEMENT.
AN INDIAN WAR
WOULD DO NO HARM,
FOR IT MUST COME,
SOONER OR LATER.
MARK KELLOGG,
"BISMARCK TRIBUNE."
IN HIS OFFICE IN CHICAGO,
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN
HAD ALREADY DRAWN UP A PLAN
THAT WOULD SEND
THREE COLUMNS OF SOLDIERS
TO DRIVE SITTING BULL
AND THE OTHER DEFIANT CHIEFS
ONTO THE RESERVATIONS.
ONE COLUMN, LED BY
BRIGADIER GENERAL GEORGE CROOK,
WAS TO MOVE NORTH
FROM FORT FETTERMAN.
ANOTHER, UNDER
COLONEL JOHN GIBBON,
WAS TO MARCH EAST
FROM WESTERN MONTANA.
THE THIRD, COMMANDED
BY GENERAL ALFRED TERRY,
MARCHED WEST FROM
FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WITH HIM WENT THE 566
ENLISTED MEN AND 31 OFFICERS
OF THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
LED BY GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER.
THEY MOVED OUT TO THE TUNE OF
"THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME."
GENERAL GEORGE A. CUSTER,
DRESSED IN A DASHING SUIT
OF BUCKSKIN,
IS PROMINENT EVERYWHERE.
THE GENERAL IS FULL OF
PERFECT READINESS
FOR A FRAY WITH THE HOSTILE
RED DEVILS,
AND WOE TO THE BODY
OF SCALP-LIFTERS
THAT COMES WITHIN REACH
OF HIMSELF
AND BRAVE
COMPANIONS-IN-ARMS.
"BISMARCK TRIBUNE."
NONE OF THE COMMANDERS KNEW
PRECISELY WHERE SITTING BULL
AND HIS FOLLOWERS WERE,
BUT THEY WERE CONFIDENT
THAT ONE COLUMN OR ANOTHER
WOULD FIND AND DESTROY THEM.
ON JUNE 6, SOME 3,000
LAKOTA AND CHEYENNE
WERE CAMPED ALONG ROSEBUD CREEK
IN MONTANA.
THERE, THEY HELD THEIR MOST
SACRED RITUAL--A SUN DANCE--
IN WHICH PRAYERS WERE OFFERED
AND VOWS MADE TO WAKAN TANKA,
THEIR GREAT SPIRIT.
SITTING BULL
SLASHED HIS ARMS 100 TIMES
AS A SIGN OF SACRIFICE.
THEN HE HAD ANOTHER VISION.
THE SOLDIERS CAME AGAIN
TO ATTACK HIS PEOPLE--
"AS MANY AS GRASSHOPPERS,"
HE SAID--
BUT THIS TIME,
THEY WERE UPSIDE DOWN,
THEIR HORSES' HOOVES
IN THE AIR,
THEIR HATS
TUMBLING TO THE GROUND
AS THEY RODE INTO
THE LAKOTA CAMP.
HE HAS THIS TREMENDOUS
VISION THAT HE TELLS THE PEOPLE
ABOUT THAT THE SOLDIERS ARE
GOING TO FALL INTO THE CAMP
AND THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE
THIS GREAT VICTORY.
AND ARMED WITH THIS VISION,
THE WARRIORS GO OUT LOOKING
FOR SOMEBODY TO FIGHT.
ON THE MORNING OF JUNE 17,
GENERAL CROOK'S COLUMN
HAD STOPPED TO BREW COFFEE
ON THE BANK OF THE ROSEBUD,
SURE THAT NO INDIANS
WOULD DARE ATTACK
SO LARGE A FORCE AS THEIRS.
SUDDENLY, CRAZY HORSE
AND MORE THAN 500 SIOUX
AND CHEYENNE WARRIORS
RODE DOWN UPON THEM.
SITTING BULL'S ARMS
WERE TOO SWOLLEN
FROM THE SUN DANCE
TO FIGHT,
BUT HE URGED
THE YOUNG MEN INTO BATTLE.
CROOK'S COMMAND INCLUDED CROW
AND SHOSHONE SCOUTS
EAGER TO FIGHT THEIR ENEMIES,
THE CHEYENNE AND LAKOTA,
WHO HAD ONCE TAKEN THEIR LANDS.
IN THE FIERCE, DESPERATE FIGHT
THAT FOLLOWED,
THE INDIAN SCOUTS
TWICE RESCUED THE SOLDIERS
BY RIDING THROUGH THE LAKOTA
AND CHEYENNE RANKS.
UNNERVED BY THE ENEMY
SHOW OF FORCE,
CROOK WITHDREW
THE NEXT MORNING.
THE LAKOTA AND CHEYENNE
MOVED NORTH
AND FORMED A NEW CAMP,
WHERE FOR SIX DAYS
THEY CELEBRATED THEIR VICTORY
ALONG A WINDING STREAM
THEY CALLED THE GREASY GRASS.
WHITES CALLED IT
THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
ON JUNE 21, CUSTER MET
ON THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER
WITH COLONEL GIBBON
AND THEIR SUPERIOR,
BRIGADIER GENERAL ALFRED TERRY.
THEY KNEW NOTHING
OF CROOK'S RETREAT.
TERRY ORDERED GIBBON TO MARCH
TO THE MOUTH
OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN
WHILE CUSTER
AND THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
IF THEY COULD LOCATE
THE INDIANS,
WOULD DRIVE THEM DOWN THE VALLEY
TOWARD GIBBON AND ANNIHILATION.
AS CUSTER RODE OFF,
GIBBON CALLED OUT TO HIM,
"NOW, CUSTER,
DON'T BE GREEDY.
WAIT FOR US."
"NO," HE SAID.
"I WILL NOT."
I NOW HAVE SOME
CROW SCOUTS WITH ME.
THEY ARE
MAGNIFICENT-LOOKING MEN,
SO MUCH HANDSOMER
AND MORE INDIAN-LIKE
THAN ANY WE HAVE EVER SEEN,
AND JOLLY AND SPORTIVE.
NOTHING OF THE GLOOMY,
SILENT RED MAN ABOUT THEM.
THEY SAID THEY HAD HEARD
THAT I NEVER ABANDON A TRAIL--
THAT WHEN MY FOOD GAVE OUT,
I ATE MULE.
THAT WAS THE KIND OF MAN
THEY WANTED TO FIGHT UNDER.
THEY WERE WILLING
TO EAT MULE, TOO.
I KNOW FIVE OF THOSE SCOUTS.
THEY WERE OLD MEN
WHEN I WAS A YOUNG FELLOW,
INCLUDING MY GRANDFATHER,
WHITE MAN RUNS HIM.
WHY WOULD A TRIBE OF INDIANS
DECIDE TO FIGHT OTHER TRIBES
IN BEHALF OF THE WHITE MAN?
SIOUX WON'T LET US FORGET THAT.
THEY ALWAYS SAY,
"YOU CROWS ARE NO GOOD.
"YOU WERE WHITE LOVERS.
YOU HELPED THEM
FIGHT AGAINST US."
BUT THEY FORGOT THE FACT
THAT THEY CAME OUT HERE
TO ANNIHILATE US,
TAKE OUR LAND AWAY FROM US,
SO THERE WAS A MATTER
OF PROTECTION.
FEARFUL THAT
SITTING BULL WOULD ELUDE HIM,
CUSTER PUSHED HIS COLUMN HARD
UNDER A MERCILESS PRAIRIE SUN--
12 MILES THE FIRST DAY,
33 THE SECOND,
28 THE THIRD.
THE EXHAUSTED TROOPERS
BEGAN TO GRUMBLE
ABOUT THE MAN THEY
PRIVATELY CALLED "HARD ASS."
THEY FOUND THE INDIANS' TRAIL
BUT DID NOT GRASP
THE FULL MEANING
OF THE FRESH LAYERS
OF PONY TRACKS
THAT SEEMED TO CROSS
AND RECROSS IT.
IN THE LAST FEW DAYS,
3,000 MORE INDIANS--
LAKOTA, ARAPAHO, AND CHEYENNE--
HAD LEFT THE RESERVATIONS
TO JOIN SITTING BULL.
THEIR ENCAMPMENT
NOW STRETCHED FOR 3 MILES
ALONG THE GREASY GRASS.
IN IT WERE MORE
THAN 6,000 INDIANS.
1,800 OF THEM WERE WARRIORS.
ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 24,
SITTING BULL MADE HIS WAY
TO A RIDGE
THAT OVERLOOKED THE ENCAMPMENT.
THERE HE MADE OFFERINGS
TO THE GREAT SPIRIT
AND PRAYED FOR THE PROTECTION
OF HIS PEOPLE.
WAKAN TANKA, PITY ME.
IN THE NAME OF THE PEOPLE,
I OFFER YOU THIS SACRED PIPE.
WHEREVER THE SUN,
THE MOON, THE EARTH,
THE FOUR POINTS
OF THE WIND,
THERE YOU ARE ALWAYS.
SAVE THE PEOPLE, I BEG YOU.
WE WANT TO LIVE.
GUARD US AGAINST
ALL MISFORTUNE.
PITY ME.
TATANKA IYOTANKA.
THE NEXT DAY WAS JUNE 25,
A SUNDAY--
CLOUDLESS AND HOT.
CUSTER'S CROW SCOUTS
SPOTTED THE VILLAGE
FROM A DISTANT HILLTOP.
THEY CALLED CUSTER UP
TO HAVE A LOOK.
EVEN WITH A TELESCOPE,
HE WAS UNABLE
TO SEE MUCH MORE
THAN A WHITE BLUR
ON THE VALLEY FLOOR.
HIS ONLY CONCERN WAS THAT
HE HAD ALREADY BEEN SPOTTED,
THAT UNLESS
HE ATTACKED RIGHT AWAY,
THE INDIANS
WOULD SPLIT UP AND FLEE
IN SO MANY DIFFERENT BANDS
THAT HE COULD NEVER STOP THEM.
CUSTER HAD NEVER YET
ENCOUNTERED AN INDIAN BAND
THAT WOULDN'T RUN
WHEN THE CAVALRY ATTACKED,
SO HE PUSHED
TO AN ATTACK
AS QUICKLY AS IT
COULD BE MOUNTED.
DREADFUL MISTAKE ON HIS PART
BECAUSE HIS MEN WERE EXHAUSTED.
HE SHOULD HAVE BIVOUACKED,
GIVEN THEM A NIGHT'S SLEEP,
SENT OUT SOME SCOUTS
TO FIND OUT HOW FAR
THAT VILLAGE EXTENDS
IN THIS DIRECTION AND THAT
BECAUSE MUCH OF IT
WAS HIDDEN BY WOODS
ALONG THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
HE KNEW NOTHING
OF THE TERRAIN,
COULD NOT TELL
HOW MANY INDIANS AWAITED HIM,
BUT IT HAD BEEN
A SURPRISE ATTACK
THAT HAD ALLOWED HIM TO DESTROY
BLACK KETTLE'S CHEYENNE
ON THE OUACHITA
EIGHT YEARS EARLIER.
A VICTORY HERE
SEEMED JUST AS LIKELY.
CUSTER HURRIED
TOWARD THE LITTLE BIGHORN.
HE SAW DUST RISING
OVER A RIDGE
JUST AHEAD OF HIM.
THE INDIANS, HE THOUGHT,
WERE ALREADY ON THE MOVE
TO ESCAPE.
IT WAS NOW OR NEVER.
SOME 40 WARRIORS APPEARED,
THEN BEGAN RACING BACK
TOWARD THEIR CAMP.
CUSTER SENT MAJOR MARCUS RENO
AND THREE COMPANIES--
140 MEN--IN PURSUIT,
PROMISING TO SUPPORT THEM.
THE BATTLE OF
THE LITTLE BIGHORN
WAS ABOUT TO BEGIN.
IT WAS SOMEWHERE PAST
THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON,
AND ALL OF US WERE HAVING
A GOOD TIME.
WE FOUND OUR WOMEN FRIENDS
BATHING IN THE RIVER,
AND WE JOINED THEM.
OTHER GROUPS
WERE PLAYING IN THE WATER.
TWO SIOUX BOYS CAME RUNNING
TOWARD US.
THEY WERE SHOUTING,
"SOLDIERS ARE COMING!"
WE HEARD SHOOTING.
WE HID IN THE BRUSH.
KATE BIGHEAD.
RENO'S MEN CROSSED THE RIVER,
FORMED A THIN SKIRMISH LINE,
AND BEGIN FIRING INTO ONE EDGE
OF THE VILLAGE,
ASSUMING THAT CUSTER
WOULD REINFORCE THEM.
THEY WERE SOON OUTNUMBERED.
RENO ORDERED A RETREAT.
THE SOLDIERS WERE FALLING
INTO THE VILLAGE,
JUST AS SITTING BULL'S VISION
HAD SUGGESTED THEY WOULD.
MORE INDIAN WARRIORS
SWARMED OUT OF THE VILLAGE.
AND STILL,
CUSTER DID NOT COME.
INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING RENO
INTO THE VALLEY,
HE HAD LED HIS 5 COMPANIES
OF 210 MEN TOWARD A RIDGE,
CONVINCED THE INDIANS
WERE FLEEING
AND THAT BY CHARGING DOWN
INTO THE VILLAGE FROM THERE,
HE COULD CUT THEM OFF.
HE SENT SOME OF HIS SCOUTS
TO GO LOOK OVER THE HILL.
THEY CAME BACK, TOLD HIM,
"WELL, THEY'RE STILL THERE,"
SO HE DECIDED
TO GO LOOK HIMSELF.
HE WENT UP OVER THERE,
AND PRETTY SOON HE BEAT IT BACK.
HE WAS ALL SHOOK UP,
AS THEY SAY, YOU KNOW.
MY GRANDFATHER
USED TO SAY, UH,
"CUSTER LOOKED
WHITER THAN EVER."
CUSTER WAS OUTNUMBERED
MORE THAN FOUR TO ONE,
BUT HE LED HIS TROOPS
DOWN TOWARD THE VILLAGE,
FIRING AS THEY CAME.
CHEYENNE WARRIORS
LED BY LAME WHITE MAN,
HUNKPAPA LAKOTA UNDER GALL,
AND OGLALA UNDER CRAZY HORSE
RODE OUT TO TURN CUSTER BACK.
CUSTER'S MEN STOPPED SHORT,
STUNNED AT THE SIGHT
OF HUNDREDS OF WARRIORS
HEADED RIGHT AT THEM.
IT APPEARED
THERE WOULD BE NO END
TO THE RUSHING PROCESSION
OF WARRIORS.
THEY KEPT GOING,
GOING, GOING.
I WANTED TO GO, TOO.
I HAD SEEN OTHER BATTLES
IN PAST TIMES.
I ALWAYS LIKED TO WATCH
THE MEN FIGHTING.
THE SOLDIERS BEGAN
A HEADLONG RETREAT
TOWARD THE SUMMIT
OF A LONG, HIGH RIDGE.
SOME OF THE INDIANS
REMEMBERED LATER
THAT THE LEGS OF THE MEN
AND THE HORSES TREMBLED
AS THEY SCRAMBLED
UP THE SLOPE.
I CALLED TO MY MEN,
"THIS IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE.
FOLLOW ME."
AS WE RUSHED UPON THEM,
THE SOLDIERS
DISMOUNTED TO FIRE,
BUT THEY DID
VERY POOR SHOOTING.
THEY HELD THEIR HORSES' REINS
ON ONE ARM
WHILE THEY WERE SHOOTING,
BUT THE HORSES
WERE SO FRIGHTENED
THAT THEY PULLED THE MEN
ALL AROUND,
AND A GREAT MANY OF THEIR SHOTS
WENT UP INTO THE AIR
AND DID US NO HARM.
LOW DOG.
I CHARGED IN.
A TALL, WELL-BUILT SOLDIER
SAW ME COMING.
WHEN I RUSHED HIM,
HE THREW HIS RIFLE AT ME
WITHOUT SHOOTING.
WE GRABBED EACH OTHER
AND WRESTLED
THERE IN THE DUST
AND THE SMOKE.
HE HIT ME WITH HIS FISTS
ON THE JAW AND SHOULDERS,
THEN GRABBED MY LONG BRAIDS
WITH BOTH HANDS,
PULLED MY FACE CLOSE,
AND TRIED TO BITE MY NOSE OFF.
I YELLED AS LOUD AS I COULD
TO SCARE MY ENEMY,
BUT HE WOULD NOT LET GO.
FINALLY, I BROKE FREE.
HE DREW HIS PISTOL.
I WRENCHED IT OUT OF HIS HAND
AND STRUCK HIM WITH IT
THREE OR FOUR TIMES ON THE HEAD,
KNOCKED HIM OVER,
SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD,
THEN FIRED AT HIS HEART.
HO HECHETU!
THAT WAS A FIGHT,
A HARD FIGHT,
BUT IT WAS A GLORIOUS BATTLE.
I ENJOYED IT.
WHITE BULL.
THE SHOTS QUIT COMING
FROM THE SOLDIERS.
WARRIORS WHO HAD CREPT
CLOSE TO THEM
BEGAN TO CALL OUT THAT
ALL THE WHITE MEN WERE DEAD.
ALL OF THE INDIANS WERE SAYING
THESE SOLDIERS WENT CRAZY
AND KILLED THEMSELVES.
I DO NOT KNOW.
I COULD NOT SEE THEM.
BUT I BELIEVE THEY DID SO.
WOODEN LEG.
I SAW SEVERAL
DIFFERENT ONES OF THE SOLDIERS
NOT YET QUITE DEAD.
THE INDIANS CUT OFF ARMS
OR LEGS OR FEET OF THESE--
THE SAME AS WAS DONE
FOR THE ENTIRELY DEAD.
SOME OF THE WOMEN
MOURNING FOR THEIR OWN DEAD
BEAT AND CUT THE DEAD BODIES
OF THE WHITE MEN.
THE SOLDIERS,
ONE LAKOTA REMEMBERED,
"WERE AS GOOD MEN
AS EVER FOUGHT,"
BUT THE FIGHTING,
RECALLED ANOTHER,
HAD LASTED NO LONGER
THAN A HUNGRY MAN NEEDED
TO EAT HIS LUNCH.
IN THE END,
ALL OF THE MEN
IN CUSTER'S COMMAND--
210 OF THEM--LAY DEAD.
IT WAS THE GREATEST
INDIAN VICTORY
OF THE PLAINS WARS.
TWO CHEYENNE WOMEN WERE SAID
TO HAVE FOUND CUSTER'S BODY.
THE WOMEN PUSHED
THE POINT OF A SEWING AWL
INTO EACH OF HIS EARS,
INTO HIS HEAD.
THIS WAS DONE
TO IMPROVE HIS HEARING
AS IT SEEMED HE HAD NOT HEARD
WHAT OUR CHIEFS
IN THE SOUTH HAD SAID
WHEN HE SMOKED THE PIPE
WITH THEM.
THEY TOLD HIM THEN
THAT IF EVER AFTERWARD
HE SHOULD BREAK
THAT PEACE PROMISE
AND SHOULD FIGHT
THE CHEYENNES,
THE EVERYWHERE SPIRIT SURELY
WOULD CAUSE HIM TO BE KILLED.
I OFTEN HAVE WONDERED IF,
WHEN I WAS RIDING
AMONG THE DEAD
WHERE HE WAS LYING,
MY PONY MAY HAVE KICKED DIRT
UPON HIS BODY.
KATE BIGHEAD.
WITH OUR HUSBANDS AWAY
CAMPAIGNING AGAINST
THE INDIANS,
OUR ONLY PLEASURE
AFTER THE TORRID DAY
WAS TO GATHER
ON SOMEONE'S PORCH
IN THE LONG TWILIGHT,
ENJOY WHAT LITTLE MUSIC
WE COULD MUSTER,
AND TRY TO FORGET
OUR WORRIES
AND THE DEVILISH MOSQUITOES.
MANY AMONG US
HAD SWEET VOICES,
AND WHILE I PLAYED THE GUITAR,
EVERYONE SANG.
THEN, GLANCING ACROSS
THE PARADE GROUND,
WE NOTICED SMALL GROUPS
OF SOLDIERS
TALKING EXCITEDLY TOGETHER,
AND SEVERAL PEOPLE
CAME RUNNING TOWARD US,
FACES SET AND WILD-EYED.
ONE WAS HORN TOAD,
THE INDIAN SCOUT,
WHO GASPED IN SHORT,
SHARP SENTENCES,
"CUSTER KILLED.
WHOLE COMMAND KILLED."
THE GUITAR SLIPPED
FROM MY KNEES TO THE FLOOR.
THE PINK BALL OF KNITTING
FELL OUT OF
CHARLOTTE MOYLAN'S HANDS.
THE LETTER LYING IDLY
IN MRS. BENTEEN'S LAP
FLUTTERED OVER THE RAIL
AND ONTO THE LAWN.
KATHERINE GIBSON.
AMERICANS WERE CELEBRATING
THEIR CENTENNIAL THAT SUMMER,
PROUD OF 100 YEARS
OF INDEPENDENCE.
THE NEWS THAT CUSTER AND ALL
THE MEN IN HIS COMMAND
HAD BEEN KILLED BY INDIANS WAS
GREETED WITH SIMPLE DISBELIEF.
HOW COULD SUCH A THING
POSSIBLY HAVE HAPPENED?
HOW COULD MERE INDIANS
WITH NAMES THAT SOUNDED ABSURD
TO EASTERN EARS--
LOW DOG, CRAZY HORSE,
SITTING BULL--
HAVE DEFEATED SO CELEBRATED
A SOLDIER?
GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN,
ARCHITECT OF THE PLAN
THAT HAD ENDED IN DISASTER,
PROMISED CUSTER
WOULD BE AVENGED.
WASHINGTON HURRIED 2,500
ADDITIONAL CAVALRYMEN WEST.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE BATTLE
OF THE LITTLE BIGHORN,
IT WAS CUSTER'S LAST STAND,
BUT IN A LOT OF WAYS,
IT WAS THE LAST STAND
FOR INDIAN PEOPLE
AS A FREE PEOPLE,
AS A PEOPLE THAT WERE LIVING
ON THE PLAINS
AND IN A LIFESTYLE
THAT WAS GOING TO CHANGE
BECAUSE OF THAT VICTORY.
FRESH BLUE COLUMNS
COMMANDED BY CROOK, TERRY,
AND COLONEL NELSON MILES
CRISSCROSSED
THE POWDER RIVER COUNTRY,
HUNTING DOWN THE BANDS
THAT HAD SPLIT UP
AFTER THE CUSTER FIGHT.
ONE BY ONE,
THEY WERE FORCED TO SURRENDER.
INDIANS WHO HAD HAD NOTHING
TO DO WITH THE FIGHTING
WERE DISARMED
AND HAD THEIR PONIES
SEIZED AND SOLD.
WHATEVER WE DO,
WHEREVER WE GO,
WE ARE EXPECTED
TO SAY YES, YES, YES, YES,
AND WHEN WE DON'T
AGREE AT ONCE
TO WHAT YOU ASK OF US
IN COUNCIL,
YOU ALWAYS SAY,
"YOU WON'T GET ANYTHING TO EAT."
STANDING ELK.
DESPITE THE FORT LARAMIE TREATY,
CONGRESS TOOK AWAY
THE BLACK HILLS
AND ANOTHER 40 MILLION ACRES
OF LAKOTA LAND.
THE RESERVATION CHIEFS WERE
MADE TO AGREE TO ALL OF IT.
BUT SITTING BULL
STILL HELD OUT.
HE AND HIS FOLLOWERS
WERE BEYOND THE REACH
OF AMERICAN TROOPS,
ACROSS THE BORDER IN CANADA,
WHICH HE CALLED
THE LAND OF THE GRANDMOTHER
IN HONOR OF QUEEN VICTORIA.
WHEN GENERAL ALFRED TERRY
TRAVELED NORTH
TO OFFER HIM A FULL PARDON
ON THE CONDITION THAT HE SETTLE
ON A RESERVATION,
SITTING BULL
ANGRILY SENT HIM AWAY.
THIS COUNTRY IS MY COUNTRY NOW,
AND I INTEND TO STAY HERE
AND RAISE MY PEOPLE TO FILL IT.
WE DID NOT
GIVE OUR COUNTRY TO YOU.
YOU STOLE IT.
YOU COME HERE TO TELL LIES.
WHEN YOU GO HOME,
TAKE THEM WITH YOU.
I FEEL LIKE A FATHER
WITH A GREAT FAMILY OF CHILDREN
AROUND ME IN A WINTER STORM,
AND I AM LOOKING WITH CALMNESS,
CONFIDENCE, AND PATIENCE
FOR THE CLOUDS TO BREAK
AND THE SUN TO SHINE
SO THAT I CAN RUN OUT AND SAY,
"CHILDREN, COME HOME."
I AM READY TO KILL
THE FATTED CALF
AND MAKE A JOYFUL FEAST TO ALL
WHO WILL COME AND PARTAKE.
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
FOR 30 HARD YEARS,
BRIGHAM YOUNG HAD ATTENDED
TO EVERY DETAIL OF LIFE
IN MORMON UTAH,
WHERE UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP,
150,000 LATTER DAY SAINTS
HAD SETTLED
IN HIS DESERT SANCTUARY.
YOUNG HAD TRIED TO FASHION
A DISTINCT SOCIETY
BASED ON COMMUNAL ECONOMICS,
POLYGAMY,
AND ONE-PARTY POLITICS--
ALL RUN BY THE CHURCH--
BUT NOW HE FELT BESIEGED.
CONGRESS WAS ONCE AGAIN TRYING
TO ASSERT CONTROL OVER UTAH.
A NEW LAW GAVE FEDERAL COURTS,
NOT MORMONS,
JURISDICTION
OVER CRIMINAL CASES.
THE FEDERAL OFFICIALS IN UTAH
THEN REALLY WANTED
TO NAIL BRIGHAM YOUNG.
THEY WERE TRYING TO REDUCE
HIS POWER OVER THE PEOPLE.
ONE OF THE FIRST ACTIONS
OF THE FEDERAL PROSECUTORS
WAS TO ARREST YOUNG'S
DEVOTED FOLLOWER, JOHN D. LEE,
AND PUT HIM ON TRIAL
FOR MURDER.
20 YEARS EARLIER, A GROUP
OF UNSUSPECTING EMIGRANTS
FROM MISSOURI AND ARKANSAS
HAD BEEN ATTACKED
BY A COMBINED FORCE
OF PAIUTE INDIANS
AND MORMON SETTLERS
AT A PLACE
CALLED MOUNTAIN MEADOWS.
JOHN D. LEE HAD OPPOSED
THE ATTACK AT FIRST,
BUT IN THE END,
HE WENT ALONG WITH IT,
AND MORE THAN 100 MEN,
WOMEN, AND CHILDREN
HAD BEEN SLAUGHTERED
WITHOUT MERCY.
IT HAD BEEN THE DARKEST EVENT
IN MORMON HISTORY.
JOHN D. LEE WAS
ONE OF MY GREAT-GRANDFATHERS,
AND HE, UNTIL RECENT TIMES,
WAS CONSIDERED THE LEADER
WHO CARRIED OUT
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE.
ACTUALLY, HE WAS
ABOUT THIRD IN LINE
IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND
OF A MILITIA
THAT CARRIED THIS OUT.
HE LATER THEN WAS SENT
TO SOUTHERN UTAH
AND KIND OF
OUT OF THE IMMEDIATE ORBIT
OF BRIGHAM YOUNG,
BUT THERE WAS A FATHER/SON
TYPE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THOSE TWO MEN.
FOR YEARS, YOUNG TRIED
TO PROTECT HIS PROTEGE
FROM CAPTURE AND PROSECUTION
FOR HIS ROLE IN THE MASSACRE,
SENDING HIM TO EXILE
IN THE ARIZONA WILDERNESS
NEAR THE GRAND CANYON.
IT WAS A ROUGH,
SOLITARY EXISTENCE.
LEE NAMED HIS NEW HOME
LONELY DELL.
PROSECUTORS OFFERED HIM
MONEY AND LENIENCY
IF HE WOULD IMPLICATE OTHERS
IN THE KILLINGS.
IT IS TOLD AROUND FOR A FACT
THAT I COULD TELL
GREAT CONFESSIONS
AND BRING IN BRIGHAM YOUNG
AND THE HEADS OF THE CHURCH,
BUT I WILL NOT BE THE MEANS
OF BRINGING TROUBLES
ON MY PEOPLE...
FOR THIS PEOPLE
IS A MISREPRESENTED
AND CRIED-DOWN COMMUNITY--
YES, A PEOPLE SCATTERED
AND PEELED.
AND IF AT LAST
THEY DID RISE UP
AND SHED THE BLOOD
OF THEIR ENEMIES,
I WON'T CONSENT
TO GIVE THEM UP.
JOHN D. LEE.
WHEN LEE'S TRIAL BEGAN,
ORDERS WENT OUT
THAT NO MORMON SHOULD TESTIFY.
THE FOUR GENTILES ON THE JURY
FOUND LEE GUILTY,
BUT ALL EIGHT MORMONS
HELD OUT FOR ACQUITTAL.
ACROSS THE NATION,
THE CASE BECAME A SYMBOL
FOR EVERYTHING AMERICANS
DESPISED ABOUT MORMONISM.
PRESSURES MOUNTED
FOR THE GOVERNMENT
TO STRIP BRIGHAM YOUNG
AND THE CHURCH
OF THEIR AUTHORITY IN UTAH.
A SECOND TRIAL WAS SCHEDULED.
AND I THINK
A DECISION WAS MADE--
"WELL, IF WE SACRIFICE LEE,
MAYBE THE PRESSURES
WILL GO AWAY,"
BECAUSE AT THE SECOND TRIAL,
THE WORD WAS SENT DOWN
TO THE MORMONS
THAT THIS HAD TO BE COMPLETED
AND THEY SHOULD VOTE
FOR CONVICTION.
HE WAS SINGLED OUT
AS THE PERPETRATOR,
AND MORMONS EVEN PUT IT
IN THEIR SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS,
WHICH BOTHERED MY FAMILY
FOR A LONG TIME.
AND HE WAS, IN EFFECT,
THE SCAPEGOAT.
THIS TIME, ALL THE MEMBERS
OF THE JURY WERE MORMONS.
ALL VOTED TO CONVICT.
NO ONE ELSE WHO TOOK PART
IN THE MASSACRE
WAS EVER BROUGHT TO TRIAL.
UNDER UTAH LAW,
LEE WAS ALLOWED TO CHOOSE
WHETHER HE WISHED TO BE SHOT,
HANGED, OR BEHEADED.
HE CHOSE TO FACE
A FIRING SQUAD.
ON MARCH 23, 1877,
JOHN D. LEE WAS ESCORTED
TO THE SITE OF
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE,
SEATED ON A COFFIN,
AND PHOTOGRAPHED.
HE MADE ARRANGEMENTS
FOR EACH OF THE TWO WIVES
WHO REMAINED TRUE TO HIM
TO GET A COPY OF THE PICTURE.
THEN HE SPOKE
TO THE LITTLE CROWD
THAT HAD COME TO SEE HIM DIE.
I HAVE BUT LITTLE
TO SAY THIS MORNING.
OF COURSE, I FEEL THAT I AM
UPON THE BRINK OF ETERNITY.
I FEEL AS CALM
AS A SUMMER MORN.
I AM READY
TO MEET MY REDEEMER.
I DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING
THAT IS NOW BEING TAUGHT
AND PRACTICED
BY BRIGHAM YOUNG.
I DO NOT CARE WHO HEARS IT.
I STUDIED TO MAKE
THIS MAN'S WILL MY PLEASURE
FOR 30 YEARS.
SEE NOW WHAT I HAVE COME TO
THIS DAY.
I HAVE BEEN SACRIFICED
IN A COWARDLY,
DASTARDLY MANNER.
WHAT CONFIDENCE CAN I HAVE
IN SUCH A MAN?
I HAVE NONE,
AND I DON'T THINK
MY FATHER IN HEAVEN HAS ANY.
THEN LEE SHOOK HANDS
WITH HIS EXECUTIONERS,
HANDED HIS HAT AND OVERCOAT
TO A FRIEND.
HIS LAST WORDS
WERE TO THE FIRING SQUAD.
"CENTER MY HEART, BOYS,"
HE SAID.
"DON'T MANGLE MY BODY."
FIVE MONTHS LATER,
BRIGHAM YOUNG WAS SEIZED
BY TERRIBLE STOMACH PAINS.
FOR DAYS, SURROUNDED
BY HIS HUGE FAMILY,
THE PATRIARCH FLOATED
IN AND OUT OF CONSCIOUSNESS.
ON AUGUST 29, HE CALLED OUT
THE NAME OF JOSEPH SMITH,
FOUNDER OF THE MORMON FAITH.
THEN BRIGHAM YOUNG,
THE MAN WHO HAD LED
HIS PEOPLE TO THE WEST
AND HAD SHIELDED THEM
FROM THEIR ENEMIES
FOR THREE DECADES, DIED.
EVEN IN DEATH,
HE REMAINED IN CHARGE.
FOLLOWING PRECISE INSTRUCTIONS
LEFT IN HIS WILL,
HIS REMAINS WERE PLACED
IN A STONE VAULT
OVERLOOKING
THE MAGNIFICENT CITY
HE HAD BUILT IN THE DESERT.
NOW HIS FOLLOWERS
WOULD HAVE TO FACE THE WORLD
WITHOUT HIM.
I CAN'T UNDERTAKE
TO EXPLAIN BRIGHAM YOUNG
TO YOUR ATLANTIC CITIZENS
OR EXPECT YOU TO PUT HIM
AT HIS VALUE.
YOUR GREAT MEN EASTWARD
ARE TO ME
LIKE YOUR IVORY-
AND PEARL-HANDLED TABLE KNIVES--
MORE SHINY THAN THE INSIDE
OF MY WATCH CASE
BUT WITH ONLY EDGE ENOUGH
TO SLICE BREAD AND CHEESE
AND ALL ALIKE BY THE DOZEN,
ONE WITH ANOTHER.
BRIGHAM IS THE ARTICLE
THAT SELLS OUT WEST WITH US--
BETWEEN A ROMAN CUTLASS
AND A BEEF BUTCHER KNIFE--
THE THING TO CUT UP A DEER
OR CUT DOWN AN ENEMY
EVERY BIT AS WELL.
YOU THAT JUDGE MEN
BY THE HANDLE AND THE SHEATH,
HOW CAN I MAKE YOU KNOW
A GOOD BLADE?
JEDEDIAH M. GRANT.
OUR FATHERS GAVE US MANY LAWS,
WHICH THEY HAD LEARNED
FROM THEIR FATHERS.
THEY TOLD US TO TREAT ALL MEN
AS THEY TREATED US,
THAT WE SHOULD NEVER BE
THE FIRST TO BREAK A BARGAIN,
THAT IT WAS A DISGRACE
TO TELL A LIE,
THAT WE SHOULD SPEAK
ONLY THE TRUTH.
WE WERE TAUGHT TO BELIEVE
THAT THE GREAT SPIRIT
SEES AND HEARS EVERYTHING
AND THAT HE NEVER FORGETS.
THIS I BELIEVE,
AND ALL MY PEOPLE
BELIEVE THE SAME.
HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT.
BY 1877, MOST NEZ PERCE
WERE LIVING ON A RESERVATION
ALONG THE CLEARWATER RIVER
IN WESTERN IDAHO.
MANY HAD CONVERTED
TO CHRISTIANITY,
WORE WHITE MEN'S CLOTHES,
AND HAD TAKEN UP FARMING.
BUT SOME REFUSED TO MOVE
ONTO THE RESERVATION.
AMONG THEM WAS A BAND THAT LIVED
IN THE BEAUTIFUL WALLOWA VALLEY
OF EASTERN OREGON.
THEIR VILLAGE CHIEF--
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OVERALL
WELFARE OF HIS PEOPLE--
WAS A TALL, RESERVED MAN
WHOSE NEZ PERCE NAME--
HIN-MAH-TOO-YAH-LAT-KEKHT--
MEANT "THUNDER ROLLING
FROM THE MOUNTAINS."
WHITES CALLED HIM
CHIEF JOSEPH.
HE WAS STILL A YOUNG MAN
WHEN HE PROMISED
HIS DYING FATHER
THAT HE WOULD NEVER
SELL THEIR HOMELAND,
AND FOR SIX YEARS,
HE HAD REFUSED
TO MOVE ONTO THE RESERVATION
TO COMPLY WITH A TREATY
HIS BAND OF NEZ PERCE
HAD NEVER SIGNED.
DO NOT MISUNDERSTAND ME
AND MY AFFECTION FOR THE LAND.
I NEVER SAID THE LAND WAS MINE
TO DO WITH AS I CHOSE.
THE ONE WHO HAS THE RIGHT
TO DISPOSE OF IT
IS THE ONE
WHO HAS CREATED IT.
I CLAIM A RIGHT
TO LIVE ON MY LAND
AND ACCORD YOU THE PRIVILEGE
TO LIVE ON YOURS.
THE EARTH IS THE MOTHER
OF ALL PEOPLE,
AND ALL PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE
EQUAL RIGHTS UPON IT.
CHIEF JOSEPH.
WE DO NOT WISH TO
INTERFERE WITH YOUR RELIGION
BUT MUST TALK ABOUT
PRACTICABLE THINGS.
20 TIMES OVER, YOU REPEAT
THAT THE EARTH IS YOUR MOTHER.
LET US HEAR NO MORE
BUT COME TO BUSINESS AT ONCE.
GENERAL OLIVER O. HOWARD.
GENERAL OLIVER OTIS HOWARD
WAS A ONE-ARMED
CIVIL WAR HERO
WHO HAD RUN
THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU
AND FOUNDED HOWARD UNIVERSITY
FOR EMANCIPATED BLACKS
IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
NOW HE WAS DISPATCHED
TO DEAL WITH THE NEZ PERCE.
HOWARD BECAME CONVINCED
THAT THE INDIANS WERE RIGHT
ABOUT THE TREATY
AND WROTE THE WAR DEPARTMENT
TO SAY SO.
I THINK IT IS
A GREAT MISTAKE
TO TAKE THE VALLEY
FROM JOSEPH AND HIS BAND.
POSSIBLY CONGRESS
CAN BE INDUCED
TO LET THESE PEACEABLE INDIANS
HAVE THIS VALLEY FOR THEIR OWN.
HOWARD OFFERED TO BUY
THE WALLOWA VALLEY,
BUT JOSEPH REFUSED TO SELL IT.
NOW WASHINGTON ORDERED HOWARD
TO MOVE THE NEZ PERCE,
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.
HE TOLD JOSEPH AND THE OTHERS
THAT IF THEY WEREN'T
ON THE RESERVATION
IN LAPWAI, IDAHO,
WITHIN A MONTH,
HIS SOLDIERS
WOULD FORCE THEM TO GO THERE.
I KNEW I HAD NEVER
SOLD MY COUNTRY
AND THAT I HAD NO LAND
IN LAPWAI,
BUT I DID NOT WANT BLOODSHED.
I DID NOT WANT
MY PEOPLE KILLED.
I DID NOT
WANT ANYBODY KILLED.
I SAID IN MY HEART THAT,
RATHER THAN HAVE WAR,
I WOULD GIVE UP EVERYTHING
RATHER THAN HAVE
THE BLOOD OF WHITE MEN
UPON THE HANDS OF MY PEOPLE.
JOSEPH AND THE OTHER CHIEFS
BEGAN MOVING THEIR PEOPLE.
BUT A HANDFUL
OF YOUNG WARRIORS,
SEEKING REVENGE FOR THE WAY
THEIR PEOPLE HAD BEEN TREATED,
SLIPPED AWAY
AND KILLED 18 WHITE SETTLERS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN THEIR HISTORY,
JOSEPH'S PEOPLE FOUND THEMSELVES
AT WAR WITH THE AMERICANS.
I KNEW WE WERE TOO WEAK
TO FIGHT THE UNITED STATES.
WE HAD MANY GRIEVANCES,
BUT I KNEW THAT WAR
WOULD BRING MORE.
HOWARD SENT
CAPTAIN DAVID PERRY
AND TWO TROOPS OF CAVALRY
TO BRING THE YOUNG WARRIORS
AND THE REST
OF THE NEZ PERCE IN
AND CONFIDENTLY
WIRED HIS SUPERIORS,
"THINK WE WILL MAKE
SHORT WORK OF IT."
AT WHITE BIRD CANYON
ON THE SALMON RIVER,
PERRY ATTACKED.
THE NEZ PERCE HURLED THEM BACK.
THOSE SOLDIERS DID NOT
HOLD THEIR POSITION 10 MINUTES.
SOME SOLDIERS
WERE QUICKLY ON THE RUN.
THEN THE ENTIRE ENEMY FORCE
GAVE WAY.
WE COUNTED
33 DEAD SOLDIERS.
WE DID NO SCALPING.
WE DID NOT STRIP THEM NAKED.
WE DID NOT HURT THE DEAD--
ONLY LET THEM LIE.
ONLY THREE NEZ PERCE WARRIORS
HAD BEEN WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE,
BUT PERRY HAD LOST
1/3 OF HIS COMMAND
AND BEEN DRIVEN FROM THE FIELD.
"I HAVE BEEN
IN LOTS OF SCRAPES,"
ONE ARMY SCOUT REMEMBERED,
"BUT I NEVER WENT UP AGAINST
ANYTHING LIKE THE NEZ PERCE
IN ALL MY LIFE."
NEWS OF THE STUNNING DEFEAT
AT WHITE BIRD CANYON,
ALMOST ONE YEAR AFTER CUSTER'S
DEATH AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN,
SHOCKED THE COUNTRY.
HOWARD CALLED
FOR MORE TROOPS.
FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS,
SEEKING SOME PLACE
WHERE THE SOLDIERS
WOULD NOT FOLLOW,
THE NEZ PERCE WOULD LEAD
THE UNITED STATES ARMY
ON ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE
PURSUITS IN MILITARY HISTORY.
ON JULY 3, THE NEZ PERCE
WIPED OUT AN ARMY SCOUTING PARTY
OF 13 MEN
THAT GOT TOO CLOSE.
ON INDEPENDENCE DAY,
THEY FOUGHT OFF AN ATTACK
AT AN OLD STAGE STOP
CALLED COTTONWOOD.
A WEEK LATER
ON THE CLEARWATER RIVER,
THEY KILLED 13 MORE
OF HOWARD'S MEN
WHO SOUGHT
TO STOP THEM.
THEN THEY BEGAN CLIMBING
THE BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS
LED BY A WAR CHIEF
NAMED LOOKING GLASS,
FOLLOWING THE SAME TRAIL
THAT HAD BROUGHT
LEWIS AND CLARK TO THEM
3/4 OF A CENTURY EARLIER.
THERE WERE ABOUT 700 OF THEM,
ONLY 200 WARRIORS--
THE REST WOMEN, CHILDREN,
AND OLD PEOPLE,
ALL IN JOSEPH'S CARE.
STILL, THEY MOVED QUICKLY,
BELIEVING THAT IF THEY
COULD MAKE IT TO MONTANA
AND JOIN THEIR ALLIES THE CROW,
THEY WOULD BE SAFE.
WHEN THEY REACHED MONTANA,
THE NEZ PERCE TURNED SOUTH
ALONG THE BITTERROOT RIVER,
PAYING FOR FOOD AND SUPPLIES
FROM WHITE SETTLERS.
BUT THE FRIGHTENED
TOWNSPEOPLE
OF MISSOULA, BUTTE, BANNOCK,
AND VIRGINIA CITY
DEMANDED ARMY PROTECTION.
ON AN ELEVATED PLATEAU
SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS
CALLED THE BIG HOLE,
LOOKING GLASS
CONVINCED THE WEARY INDIANS
THEY COULD REST
FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
HOWARD, HE SAID,
WAS TOO FAR BEHIND THEM
TO WORRY ABOUT.
BUT COLONEL JOHN GIBBON
HAD ASSEMBLED ALL THE AVAILABLE
SOLDIERS IN WESTERN MONTANA
AND, WITH THE HELP
OF BANNOCK SCOUTS,
TRACKED THE UNSUSPECTING
NEZ PERCE TO THE BIG HOLE.
THE TRAIL LED US
ALONG THE BLUFFS
OVERLOOKING
THE BRUSH-COVERED VALLEY,
AND AS WE MOVED
STEALTHILY FORWARD,
I COULD HEAR
A CAUTIOUS WHISPER--
"THERE THEY ARE. LOOK!"
AND THE MAIN CAMP
OF OUR ENEMIES
WAS AS PLAINLY IN SIGHT
AS THE DIM STARLIGHT PERMITTED.
COLONEL JOHN GIBBON.
THE TROOPS ATTACKED AT DAWN.
IN THE FIRST MOMENTS,
BETWEEN 60 AND 90 NEZ PERCE
WERE CUT DOWN--
MANY OF THEM DEAD
BEFORE THEY COULD KICK FREE
OF THEIR BLANKETS.
BUT THE SURVIVORS REGROUPED,
WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND OLD MEN
FIGHTING ALONGSIDE THE WARRIORS
WITH SUCH FURY THAT THEY DROVE
THE SOLDIERS FROM THE CAMP.
FEW OF US WILL SOON FORGET
THE WAIL OF MINGLED
GRIEF, RAGE, AND HORROR
WHICH CAME FROM THE CAMP
400 OR 500 YARDS FROM US
WHEN THE INDIANS
RETURNED TO IT
AND RECOGNIZED THEIR SLAUGHTERED
WARRIORS, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN.
ABOVE THIS WAIL OF HORROR,
WE COULD HEAR THE PASSIONATE
APPEAL OF THE LEADERS
URGING THEIR FOLLOWERS
TO FIGHT
AND THE WAR WHOOPS IN ANSWER
WHICH BODED US NO GOOD.
THE ENRAGED WARRIORS
PINNED GIBBON'S MEN DOWN
WITH THEIR FIRE
WHILE JOSEPH LED THE OTHERS
AWAY FROM THE FIGHTING.
THE NEZ PERCE SLIPPED
BACK INTO IDAHO,
THEN TURNED EAST AGAIN
TOWARD THE YELLOWSTONE PLATEAU,
WHICH HAD RECENTLY BEEN
SET ASIDE AS A NATIONAL PARK.
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN HIMSELF
HAD ASSURED VISITORS
THERE WAS NO DANGER.
INDIANS, HE SAID,
WERE TOO SUPERSTITIOUS
TO VENTURE NEAR THE GEYSERS.
BUT THE NEZ PERCE SWEPT
RIGHT INTO THE PARK.
THEY CAPTURED MORE THAN A DOZEN
HORRIFIED TOURISTS
AND KILLED TWO OF THEM
BEFORE THE CHIEFS
TOLD THE WARRIORS
TO LET THE OTHERS GO.
THE INDIANS MOVED ON,
STILL HOPING TO JOIN FORCES
WITH THEIR LONGTIME FRIENDS
THE CROW
AND TO FIND A COUNTRY SOMEWHERE
FREE OF WHITES.
BUT THE CROW
WERE NOW PURSUING THEM
ON BEHALF OF THE ARMY,
STEALING HORSES,
KILLING STRAGGLERS.
MANY SNOWS THE CROWS
HAVE BEEN OUR FRIENDS,
BUT NOW TURNED ENEMIES.
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND
HOW THE CROWS COULD THINK
TO HELP THE SOLDIERS.
MY HEART WAS JUST LIKE FIRE.
THE NEZ PERCE WERE ALONE.
THE WEST THEY HAD ONCE KNOWN
HAD VANISHED.
NOW THEY FASTENED ON
ONE LAST CHANCE FOR ESCAPE.
THE LAKOTA CHIEF SITTING BULL
HAD FOUND SAFETY IN CANADA.
THEY WOULD HEAD NORTH
ACROSS MONTANA TO JOIN HIM.
THEY CROSSED
THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER,
THEN THE MUSSELSHELL,
AND FINALLY, IN LATE SEPTEMBER,
THE MISSOURI.
THEY HAD COME
MORE THAN 1,500 MILES,
FOUGHT IN 17 ENGAGEMENTS
AGAINST MORE THAN 2,000 SOLDIERS
AND INDIAN SCOUTS,
SUFFERED HARDSHIPS,
DISAPPOINTMENTS,
AND THE LOSS OF LOVED ONES.
BUT THEY HAD BEATEN OR ELUDED
EVERY ARMY SENT AGAINST THEM.
"THE WHOLE NEZ PERCE MOVEMENT,"
ONE U.S. ARMY OFFICER MARVELED,
"IS UNEQUALED IN THE HISTORY
OF INDIAN WARFARE."
NOW CANADA--AND FREEDOM--
WERE ONLY 40 MILES AWAY.
BEFORE CROSSING THE BORDER,
THE NEZ PERCE STOPPED
TO CAMP ON SNAKE CREEK,
NEAR THE BEAR PAW MOUNTAINS.
GENERAL HOWARD, THEY KNEW,
WAS MORE THAN TWO DAYS'
MARCH BEHIND THEM.
BUT UNKNOWN TO THEM,
COLONEL NELSON A. MILES
HAD MERCILESSLY PUSHED
HIS OWN FIFTH INFANTRY
AND CUSTER'S OLD COMMAND,
THE SEVENTH CAVALRY,
ALL THE WAY FROM EASTERN MONTANA
TO INTERCEPT THE NEZ PERCE.
WITH HIM RODE LAKOTA
AND CHEYENNE WARRIORS,
WHO JUST A YEAR BEFORE
HAD DEFEATED THE SEVENTH
AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN.
THE NEZ PERCE WERE QUIETLY
SLUMBERING IN THEIR TENTS.
WHEN THE CHARGE WAS MADE,
THE TRAMP OF AT LEAST 600 HORSES
OVER THE PRAIRIE
FAIRLY SHOOK THE GROUND,
AND ALTHOUGH A COMPLETE SURPRISE
TO THE INDIANS IN THE MAIN,
IT MUST HAVE GIVEN THEM
A FEW MINUTES' NOTICE,
FOR AS THE TROOPS
CHARGED AGAINST THE VILLAGE,
THE INDIANS OPENED
A HOT FIRE UPON THEM.
COLONEL NELSON A. MILES.
NEZ PERCE WARRIORS
DROVE OFF ONE ATTACK,
THEN A SECOND AND A THIRD.
THEY KILLED OR WOUNDED
53 OF THE SOLDIERS...
BUT ALL THEIR HORSES
HAD BEEN DRIVEN OFF.
THEY COULD NOT ESCAPE.
MILES DUG IN FOR A SIEGE.
THE WEATHER TURNED COLDER.
MOST OF OUR FEW WARRIORS
LEFT FROM THE BIG HOLE
HAD BEEN SWEPT AS LEAVES
BEFORE THE STORM.
A YOUNG WARRIOR, WOUNDED,
LAY ON A BUFFALO ROBE,
DYING WITHOUT COMPLAINT.
CHILDREN CRYING WITH COLD.
NO FIRE.
THERE COULD BE NO LIGHT.
EVERYWHERE THE CRYING,
THE DEATH WAIL.
I FELT THE COMING END.
ALL FOR WHICH
WE HAD SUFFERED--LOST!
THOUGHTS CAME OF THE WALLOWA
WHERE I GREW UP,
OF MY OWN COUNTRY
WHEN ONLY INDIANS WERE THERE,
OF TEEPEES ALONG
THE BENDING RIVER,
OF THE BLUE, CLEAR LAKE,
WIDE MEADOWS WITH HORSE
AND CATTLE HERDS.
FROM THE MOUNTAIN FOREST,
VOICES SEEMED CALLING.
I FELT AS DREAMING--
NOT MY LIVING SELF.
FOR FIVE MORE DAYS,
THE SIEGE WENT ON.
A FEW NEZ PERCE
SLIPPED BEHIND THE LINES
AND STRAGGLED INTO CANADA.
SITTING BULL WELCOMED THEM
BUT WOULD SEND NO FORCE
TO RESCUE THE OTHERS.
UNDER A WHITE FLAG,
MILES OPENED NEGOTIATIONS.
JOSEPH WAS SELECTED
TO TALK WITH HIM.
TURN OVER YOUR RIFLES,
MILES SAID,
AND IN THE SPRING, YOU WILL BE
ALLOWED TO RETURN HOME.
MY PEOPLE WERE DIVIDED
ABOUT SURRENDERING,
BUT I COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE
MY WOUNDED MEN AND WOMEN
SUFFER ANY LONGER.
WE HAD LOST ENOUGH ALREADY.
COLONEL MILES PROMISED
THAT WE MIGHT RETURN
TO OUR OWN COUNTRY
WITH WHAT STOCK
WE HAD LEFT.
I THOUGHT WE COULD
START AGAIN.
I BELIEVED COLONEL MILES,
OR I NEVER
WOULD HAVE SURRENDERED.
ON THE AFTERNOON
OF OCTOBER 5, 1877,
JOSEPH RODE OUT TO THE FOOT
OF A BLUFF ON THE PRAIRIE.
COLONEL MILES AND GENERAL HOWARD
WERE WAITING FOR HIM.
JOSEPH THREW HIMSELF
OFF HIS HORSE,
DRAPED HIS BLANKET ABOUT HIM,
AND WITH A QUIET PRIDE,
NOT EXACTLY DEFIANCE,
ADVANCED TOWARD GENERAL HOWARD
AND HELD OUT HIS RIFLE
IN TOKEN OF SUBMISSION.
LIEUTENANT CHARLES
ERSKINE WOOD.
I AM TIRED OF FIGHTING.
OUR CHIEFS ARE ALL KILLED.
LOOKING GLASS IS DEAD.
THE OLD MEN ARE ALL DEAD.
IT IS COLD,
AND WE HAVE NO BLANKETS.
THE LITTLE CHILDREN
ARE FREEZING TO DEATH.
MY PEOPLE, SOME OF THEM,
HAVE RUN AWAY TO THE HILLS
AND HAVE NO FOOD.
NO ONE KNOWS WHERE THEY ARE.
I WANT TO HAVE TIME
TO LOOK FOR MY CHILDREN
AND SEE HOW MANY OF THEM
I CAN FIND.
MAYBE I SHALL FIND THEM
AMONG THE DEAD.
HEAR ME, MY CHIEFS.
I AM TIRED.
MY HEART IS SICK AND SAD.
FROM WHERE THE SUN NOW STANDS,
I WILL FIGHT NO MORE FOREVER.
JOSEPH AND HIS PEOPLE
WERE LOADED ONTO A RIVERBOAT
AND SENT DOWN
THE MISSOURI RIVER
TOWARD FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
IN DAKOTA TERRITORY,
WHERE THEY EXPECTED
TO SPEND THE WINTER.
BUT WHILE THEY WERE ON THE WAY,
MILES' AND HOWARD'S PROMISE
THAT THEY WOULD BE ALLOWED
TO RETURN HOME
HAD BEEN OVERRULED
BY GENERAL SHERMAN.
THE INDIANS THROUGHOUT
DISPLAYED A COURAGE AND SKILL
THAT ELICITED
UNIVERSAL PRAISE.
THEY ABSTAINED FROM SCALPING,
LET CAPTIVE WOMEN GO FREE,
DID NOT COMMIT INDISCRIMINATE
MURDER OF PEACEFUL FAMILIES,
WHICH IS USUAL,
AND FOUGHT WITH ALMOST
SCIENTIFIC SKILL.
NEVERTHELESS,
THEY WOULD NOT SETTLE DOWN
ON LANDS SET APART
FOR THEM,
AND WHEN COMMANDED
BY PROPER AUTHORITY,
THEY BEGAN RESISTANCE
BY MURDERING PERSONS
IN NO MANNER CONNECTED
WITH THEIR ALLEGED GRIEVANCES.
THEY SHOULD NEVER AGAIN
BE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO OREGON.
GENERAL WILLIAM
TECUMSEH SHERMAN.
MILES AND HOWARD COULD NOT
CHANGE SHERMAN'S DECISION.
THE NEZ PERCE HAD BEEN
BETRAYED AGAIN.
WHEN THE INDIANS
ARRIVED AT THE FORT,
ITS CANNON GREETED THEM,
AND THE STEAM ENGINE
OF THE NORTHERN PACIFIC TRAIN
BLASTED ITS WHISTLE
THREE TIMES.
THEY HAD NEVER
SEEN A TRAIN BEFORE,
AND THE NEZ PERCE
BEGAN A MOURNFUL SONG.
IT SOUNDED, ONE ONLOOKER SAID,
LIKE A DEATH CHANT.
THEN, JOSEPH AND HIS PEOPLE
WERE LOADED ONTO THE TRAIN.
THEY WERE NOT GOING HOME,
THEY WERE NOW TOLD,
BUT FAR AWAY,
INTO EXILE IN THE NORTHEASTERN
CORNER OF INDIAN TERRITORY
IN WHAT IS NOW OKLAHOMA--
NEARLY 2,000 MILES FROM THEIR
BELOVED WALLOWA VALLEY.
ONCE THERE, THEY FOUND
CONDITIONS UNSANITARY,
MEDICINE SCARCE.
68 OF THEM PERISHED
IN THE FIRST YEAR ALONE.
SOON, THEY HAD A CEMETERY
SET ASIDE SOLELY FOR BABIES
WITH 100 GRAVES.
AMONG THE NEZ PERCE WHO DIED
WAS AN OLD MAN NAMED
HALAHTOOKIT, OR DAYTIME SMOKE.
ACCORDING
TO JOSEPH'S PEOPLE,
HE WAS THE HALF-INDIAN SON
OF WILLIAM CLARK,
THE AMERICAN EXPLORER
THE NEZ PERCE HAD SHELTERED
MORE THAN 70 YEARS EARLIER,
THE MAN WHO HAD
FIRST PROMISED
THAT THE UNITED STATES
WOULD ALWAYS BE THEIR FRIEND.
GOOD WORDS DO NOT LAST LONG.
GOOD WORDS DO NOT PAY
FOR MY DEAD PEOPLE.
THEY DO NOT PAY FOR MY COUNTRY,
NOW OVERRUN BY WHITE MEN.
GOOD WORDS WILL NOT
GET MY PEOPLE A HOME
WHERE THEY CAN LIVE IN PEACE
AND TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.
I AM TIRED OF TALK
THAT COMES TO NOTHING.
IT MAKES MY HEART SICK
WHEN I REMEMBER
ALL THE GOOD WORDS
AND BROKEN PROMISES.
YOU MIGHT AS WELL EXPECT
THE RIVERS TO RUN BACKWARD
AS THAT ANY MAN
WHO WAS BORN A FREE MAN
SHOULD BE CONTENTED
WHEN PENNED UP
AND DENIED LIBERTY
TO GO WHERE HE PLEASES.
CHIEF JOSEPH.