sunset in the wilds—our first camp—outlooks—the solitary sioux—losses—the sioux again—a new departure—the cache at the souri—the story of red cloud—the red man’s offer.
a year passed away.
it was summer again—summer hurrying towards autumn—and the day drawing near the evening.
the scene had changed.
far away into the west stretched a vast green plain. no hills rose on either side; sky and earth met at the horizon in a line almost as level as though land had been water. upon one side some scattered clumps of aspens and poplars were visible; save these nothing broke the even surface of the immense circle to the farthest verge of vision.
i stood with donogh in the centre of this great circle, realizing for the first time the grandeur of space of land. we had travelled all day, and now the evening found us far advanced upon our way into the great plains. it was our first day’s real journey. early on that morning we had left behind us the last sign of civilized settlement, and now, as evening was approaching, it was time to make our first camp[29] in the silent wilds. the trail which we followed towards the west approached some of those aspen thickets already mentioned. the ground, which at a little distance appeared to be a uniform level, was in reality broken into gentle undulations, and as we gained the summit of a slight ascent we saw that a small sheet of blue water lay between the thickets, offering on its margin a good camping-place for the night.
the sun had now touched the western edge of the prairie; for a moment the straight line of the distant horizon seemed to hold the great ball of crimson fire poised upon its rim; then the black line was drawn across the flaming disc; and then, as though melting into the earth, the last fragment of fire disappeared from sight, leaving the great plain to sink into a blue grey twilight, rapidly darkening into night.
we stood on the ridge watching this glorious going down of day until the last spark of sun had vanished beneath the horizon; then we turned our horses’ heads towards the lake, still shining bright in the after-glow, and made our first camp in the wilds. it was easy work. we unloaded the pack-horse, unsaddled the riding-horses, hobbled the fore-legs, and turned them adrift into the sedgy grass that bordered the lakelet. donogh had a fire soon going from the aspen branches, the lake gave water for the kettle, and ere darkness had wholly wrapt the scene we were seated before the fire, whose light, circled by the mighty solitude,[30] grew ever brighter in the deepening gloom.
while here we sit before our first camp fire, it will be well that i should say something about our plans and prospects for the future.
without adventure of any kind, and with only those difficulties to overcome that lie in all undertakings of life where real effort has to be made, we had reached the confines of civilization; a kind of frontier settlement, half wigwam half village, had sprung up to meet the wants of those traders in furs and peltries who form the connecting link between the red man of the wilds and his white brothers in civilization. this settlement marked, as it were, the limits of the two regions—on one side of it lay judge and jury, sheriff, policemen, court-house, and fenced divisions; on the other, the wild justice of revenge held empire, and the earth was all man’s heritage.
i had only delayed long enough in this frontier settlement to procure the necessary means of travel in the wilds. i had purchased four good ponies, two for saddle use and two to act as pack animals for our baggage—arms we already possessed—ammunition, blankets, knives, a couple of copper kettles, a supply of tea, sugar, salt, pepper, flour, and matches, a few awls, and axes. these i had obtained at one of the indian trading stores, and, keeping all our plans as much as possible to ourselves, we had on this very morning set our faces for the solitude, intent upon[31] holding on steadily into the west during the months of summer that yet remained. by winter time i counted upon having reached the vicinity of those great herds of buffaloes which kept far out from the range of man, in the most remote recesses of the wilderness, and there we would build a winter hut in some sheltered valley, or dwell with any indian tribe whose chief would bid us a welcome to his lodges.
of the country that lay before us, or of the people who roved over it, i knew only what i had pictured from books in the old glen at home, or from the chance acquaintances i had made during our stay in the frontier settlement; but when one has a simple plan of life to follow, it usually matters little whether the knowledge of a new land which can be derived from books or men has been obtained or not; time is the truest teacher, and we had time before us and to spare.
we ate our supper that night with but few words spoken. the scene was too strange—the outlook too mysterious, to allow thoughts to find spoken expression.
had i been asked that night by donogh to define for him the precise objects i had in view in thus going out into the wilds, i do not think that i could have given a tangible reason. i did not go as a gold-seeker, or a trapper of furs, or a hunter of wild animals. we would follow the chase, trap the wild animals of the streams or marshes, look[32] for gold too; but it was not to do all or any of these things that i had left civilization behind me. this great untamed wilderness, this home of distance and solitude, this vast unbroken dominion of nature—where no fence crossed the surface of the earth, where plough had never turned, where lakes lay lapped amid shores tenanted only by the moose and the rein-deer—all this endless realm of prairie, forest, rock, and rapid, which yet remains the grandest domain of savage nature in the world, had had for me a charm, not the less seductive because it could not then find expression in words, or give explanation for its fancy. enough that we went forth with no sinister object in view against man or beast, tree or plain; we went not to annex, to conquer, nor to destroy; we went to roam and rove the world, and to pitch our camps wheresoever the evening sun might find us.
before turning in for the night i left the light of the fire, and wandered out into the surrounding darkness. it was a wonderful sight. the prairie lay wrapt in darkness, but above, in the sky, countless stars looked down upon the vast plain; far away to the south, the red glow of a distant fire was visible; our own camp fire flamed and flickered, shedding a circle of light around it, and lighting up the nearer half of the lakelet and the aspen clumps on the shore. at times there passed over the vast plain the low sound of wind among grasses—a sound that seemed to bring to the ear a sense of immense distance and of great loneliness.[33] for a moment i felt oppressed by this vague lonely waste; but i thought of the old priest’s words, and looking up again from the dark earth to the starlit heavens, i saw all the old stars shining that i used to know so well in the far-away glen at home. then i knelt down on the prairie, and prayed for help and guidance in the life that lay before me.
daylight had broken some time when i awoke, and rose from my blanket bed for a survey of the morning. how vast seemed the plain! far away it spread on all sides; all its loneliness had vanished; it lay before me fresh, fair, and dew-sparkled—our trail leading off over distant ridges, until it lay like a faint thread vanishing into the western space.
as my eye followed this western path, i noticed a mounted figure moving along it about a mile distant, approaching our camping-place at an easy pace. i called to donogh to get the fire going and make ready our breakfast, and we had barely got the kettle on the flames when the stranger had reached our camp.
the solitary sioux.
he rode right up to the spot where we stood, alighted from his horse, and throwing the reins loose on the animal’s neck, came forward to meet me. i advanced towards him and held out my hand in welcome. a large shaggy hound, half deer half wolf-dog, followed closely at his heels. we shook hands; the stranger seated himself near the fire, and[34] silence reigned for a few minutes. my experience in the settlement had taught me the few rules of indian etiquette, and i busied myself in helping donogh to complete the arrangement for breakfast before questioning the new comer upon his journey or intentions.
our breakfast was soon ready. i handed a cup of tea and a plate of pemmican to the indian, and sat down myself to the same fare. when we had eaten a little, i addressed our guest, asking him his length of journey and its destination.
he had come many days from the west, he said in reply. his destination was the west again, when he had visited the settlement.
then it was my turn to tell our movements. i said exactly what they were. i told him that we had come from a land across the sea, and that we were going as far as the land would take us into the north-west, that we were strangers on the prairie, but hoped soon to learn its secrets and its people.
while the meal proceeded i had opportunity of studying the appearance, dress, and accoutrements of our guest. they were remarkable, and quite unlike anything i had before seen.
he was a man in the very prime of life; his dress of deer-skin had been made with unusual neatness; the sleeves fully interwoven with locks of long black hair, were covered[35] with embroidered porcupine-quill work, which was also plentifully scattered over the breast and back; the tight-fitting leggings and sharp-pointed moccasins were also embroidered.
he carried across his saddle-bow a double-barrelled english rifle; but the ancient weapons of his race had not been abandoned by him, for a quiverful of beautifully shaped indian arrows, and a short stout bow, along the back of which the sinews of the buffalo had been stretched to give it strength and elasticity, showed that he was perfectly independent, for war or the chase, of modern weapons and ammunition.
as head covering he wore nothing, save what nature had given him—long jet-black hair, drawn back from the forehead and flowing thickly over the shoulders. a single feather from an eagle’s tail formed its sole ornament. the end of the feather, turned slightly back, was tied with the mystic “totem” of chieftainship. his horse, a stout mustang of fourteen hands high, carried the simple trappings of the plains—the saddle of indian workmanship, the bridle, a single rein and small snaffle with a long larêt attached, and from the neck was suspended the leather band by means of which the rider could lay his length along the horse’s flank farthest from his enemy while he launched his arrows beneath the animal’s neck, as he galloped furiously in lessening circles around his foe.
he spoke english with an accent that showed he had been taught in western schools; but though the language was english the manner of its utterance was wholly indian; it was indian thought put into english words, and accompanied by the slow and dignified action of indian gesture. he took the tobacco pouch which i offered him when our meal was finished, filled his greenstone pipe, drew a lighted stick from the fire, and began to smoke quietly, while his dark eye seemed to rest upon the ashes and embers of the fire before him. but the keen sharp eye was not idle; and one by one the articles of our little kit, and the horses which donogh had now driven in preparatory to saddling for the day’s journey, had been conned over in his mind.
after smoking for some time he spoke. “does my brother know what he will meet on the path he is following?” he asked. i told him that i had only a very shadowy idea of what was before us; that i intended going on from day to day, and that when the winter season came i hoped to build a tent, and live in it until the snow went, and i could wander on again. i told him, too, that i was not going to seek for gold, or to trade for furs and peltries, but only to live on the prairies—to meet the red men, to breathe the open air of the wilderness, and roam the world. then i asked some more questions about his own intentions. i asked him how it was that he was all alone on this long journey; for i knew that the indians were in the habit of moving in parties, and that it was most unusual for[37] them to be seen travelling alone. he replied that he travelled by himself partly from choice and partly from necessity.
“i am the last of my people,” he said, “the last of the mandan branch of the sioux race. it is true that i might find companions among the ogahalla or minatarree branches of my nation, but then i would have to dwell with them and live their lives. the work i have to do can only be done by myself; until it is finished i must follow a single trail. i have for companion this dog, an old and oft-tried friend.”
i then asked him if he had seen much of the prairie.
he replied that he knew it all; that from the stony mountains to the waters of the lake winnipeg, from the pine forest of the north to the sage-bush deserts of the platte, he had travelled all the land. shortly after this he rose to depart. we shook hands again; he sprang lightly into his saddle and rode off towards the east. when he was gone we rolled up our blankets and traps and departed on our western way. it was the morning after the second night from this time that we found ourselves camped at break of day in the valley of a small stream which flowed south toward the souri river. so far, all had gone well with us. we had met with no difficulty, and had begun to think that our western course would continue to be marked by unchanging success. on this morning, however, we awoke[38] to other thoughts.
two of our horses had disappeared. at first we thought that they had strayed farther away than the others, but after searching far and near over the prairie we came to the conclusion that they had been stolen. it was a cruel blow. at first i felt stunned, but bit by bit i thought the matter out and determined to face the difficulty. after all it might have been worse, we had still two horses left; we would put all our supplies on one animal, and ride by turns on the other. we would camp early, let the horses feed while it was yet daylight, and keep them picketted by our camp at night. so, putting a good face upon the matter, we got our things together, and set out about mid-day on our western road. donogh was on foot leading the pack-horse; i rode slowly on in front. it still wanted two full hours of sunset when we halted for the evening. we turned out the horses to graze. i took my gun and sat down on a ridge to watch them as they fed. it was then that the loss we had suffered seemed to come heaviest to me. as i sat there i thought over the length of time we must now take to reach the distant prairies of the west, and my heart sank at the prospect of slow and weary travel, with the chances of further losses that would leave us helpless upon the vast plains.
as i sat thus brooding upon our misfortunes i noticed one of the horses raise his head from feeding and gaze steadily back upon our trail. looking in that direction i saw a solitary figure approaching upon horseback. a glance sufficed to tell me that it was the same man who had visited our camp two mornings earlier. for a moment i involuntarily connected his presence with our loss; but then it occurred to me that he would not seek our camp again if he had stolen our horses, and i remembered too that he had told me he was going west when he had visited the frontier settlement.
he came up to where i was, and shook hands with me without dismounting, his dog keeping close by his horse’s flank. i told him of our loss, and spoke freely of its serious nature to us. i said we were now reduced to only two horses, and asked him frankly if he could do anything to help me. he listened quietly, and when i had done speaking he said,—
“the prairie without horses is like a bird without wings. when i left you two days ago, i thought you would soon learn that life in the wilderness was not all so easy. your horses have been taken by some salteaux indians. i saw their trail at mid-day to-day as i came hither. they are far away from here by this time. i am sorry for you,” he went on, “for you are the first white man i have ever met who came out to this land of ours with the right spirit. you do not come to make money out of us indians: you do not come to sell or to buy, to cheat and to lie to us. white men think there is but one work in life, to get money. when you told me your story a couple of mornings since i thought it was my own life you were telling me of. now you ask me if i can help you to get back the horses which have been taken from you. i could get them back, but it would take time and long travel. i can do better for you, my brother; i can get you new horses in place of the old ones.”
i scarcely believed the words i listened to, so good was the news they told me.
“if you like,” he went on, “to learn the life of the prairie, i will teach it to you. do not sorrow any more for your loss; we will camp here to-night, and to-morrow we will see what can be done.”
so saying he unsaddled his horse, and throwing saddle, bridle, and blanket on the ground, sat down by the fire and began to smoke. when supper was ready i gave him a share of our meal, and he camped with us that night.
we were astir very early on the next morning. in order to travel with greater speed the indian divided our baggage into three portions, which he placed equally on the three horses, adjusting the loads in front and behind the saddles. this enabled donogh to ride; and although it put a heavy load on all the horses, it would only be for one day. what plan the indian had formed i had at this time no idea of, but i already looked upon him in the light of a true benefactor, and i was prepared to follow implicitly his guidance. the sun had just risen when we quitted our camping-place[41] and took the old trail to the west; but an hour or so after starting, the indian, who led the way, quitted the trail and bent his course across the plain in a south-westerly direction. during some hours he held his way in this direction; there was no trail, but every hill and hollow seemed to be familiar to our guide, and he kept his course in a line which might have appeared to me to be accidental, had i not observed that when we struck streams and water-courses the banks afforded easy means of crossing. about mid-day we quitted the open prairie, and entered upon a country broken into clumps of wood and small copses of aspen; many lakelets were visible amid the thickets; and the prairie grouse frequently rose from the grass before our horses’ feet, and went whirring away amid the green and golden thickets of cotton-wood and poplars.
it was drawing towards evening when our little party emerged upon the edge of a deep depression which suddenly opened before us. the bottom of this deep valley was some two or three miles wide; it was filled with patches of bright green meadow, and dotted with groups of trees placed as though they had been planted by the hand of man. amidst the meadows and the trees ran a many-curved stream of clear silvery water, now glancing over pebble-lined shallows, now flowing still and soft in glassy unrippled lengths.
drawing rein at the edge of this beautiful valley, the indian pointed his hand down towards a small meadow[42] lying at the farther side of the river. “there is the souri river,” he said, “and those specks in the meadow at the far side are my horses. our halting-place is in the wood where you see the pine-tops rise above the cotton-trees.” so saying he led the way down the ridge. we soon became lost in the maze of thickets in the lower valley; but half an hour’s ride brought us to the meadows bordering upon the river, and soon we gained the souri itself. the indian led the way into the stream, and heading for a shelving bank on the other side ascended the opposite shore. on the very edge of the stream at the farther side stood the grove of pines which we had seen from the upper level half an hour before.
into this grove we rode, pushing through some poplar brushwood that fringed its outer edges. once inside this brushwood, the ground beneath the pine-trees was clear. almost in the centre of the “bluff” an indian lodge was pitched. it stood quite hidden from view until we were close upon it. i soon saw that the pine bluff occupied a “point” on the river; that is to say, the stream formed almost a complete curve around it, encircling the bluff upon three sides. from the doorway of the lodge a view could be obtained of the ground within and beyond the narrow neck formed by the river’s bend as they approached each other.
immediately on arrival the indian had dismounted.
“here,” he said, “is my home for the present, and whenever i wander into these regions. to-night we will rest here, and to-morrow continue our way towards the west. this morning you gave me food from your small store; to-night you will eat with me.”
so saying he set about his preparations for evening.
from a branch overhead he let down a bag of dry meat and flour; from a pile of wood close by he got fuel for a fire in the centre of the lodge; from a cache in the hollow trunk of one of the trees he took a kettle and other articles of camp use; and before many minutes had passed our evening meal was ready in the lodge, while the horses were adrift in the meadow beyond the “neck,” with the others already grazing there.
before our meal was finished evening had closed over the scene, and in the shadow of the spruce pines it was quite dark. an ample supply of dry fuel was piled near the tent door, and the fire in the centre of the lodge was kept well supplied. it burned bright and clear, lighting up the features of the indian as he sat before it cross-legged upon the ground. he seemed to be buried in deep thought for some time. looking across the clear flame i observed his face with greater attention than i had before bestowed upon it. it was a handsome countenance, but the lines of care and travail showed deeply upon it, and the expression was one of great and lasting sadness. in the moments of action in the work of the prairie this sad look had been less observable;[44] but now, as he sat in repose, looking intently into the fire, the features had relapsed into their set expression of gloom.
at last he raised his head and spoke.
at last the sioux raised his head and spoke.
“you must know my story. when you have heard it, you can decide for yourself and your friend what course you will follow. i will tell you how it has happened that i am here, and why i am going west so soon. listen to me well.”
then, as we sat around the fire in the centre of the lodge, he thus began:—
“among men i am called ‘red cloud.’ it is now more than ten years since i joined my people, the mandan sioux, on the shores of minnie wakan. they had just been driven back by the soldiers of the united states. my tribe had dwelt on the coteau by the edge of the great pipe stone quarry. the buffalo were numerous over all the surrounding prairies. we were then at peace with the americans. they had purchased from our chiefs the valley of the bois des sioux, the red river, and the land of the otter tail. we had given up all that fair region of lake and meadow, hill and copse, which still carries the name we gave it, “minnesota,” or the land of sky-coloured water. the white waves were coming on faster and faster from the east, and we, the red waves, were drifting before them farther and farther into the west. i dwelt with my[45] people at the minnie wakan, or the lake of the evil spirit. it is a salt and bitter water which lies far out in the great prairie; but it was a favourite haunt of the buffalo, and the wapiti were many in the clumps of aspen and poplar along its deep-indented shores.
“for a time after the surrender of minnesota peace reigned between our people and the white man; but it was a hollow peace; we soon saw it could not last. many of our old chiefs had said, ‘take what the white man offers you. let us fix the boundaries of our lands far out towards the setting sun, and then we will be safe from the white man, who ever comes from the rising sun. we will then live at peace with him.’
“well, we went far out into the prairie; but the white man soon followed us. the buffalo began to leave us; the wapiti became scarce around the shores of minnie wakan. we were very poor. at the time when i joined my people an army had taken the field with the avowed intention of driving the remnants of our once strong race across the great missouri river. i could not remain an idle spectator of a struggle in which my people were fighting for home and for existence.
“it is true i had been brought up a christian, educated in a school far away in canada with white people, and taught the uselessness of contending with civilization; but what of that?
“blood is stronger than what you call civilization; and when i got back again into the prairie, and to the sky-bound plain—when i felt beneath me the horse bound lightly over the measureless meadow—and when i knew that my people were about to make a last fight for the right to live on the land that had been theirs since a time the longest memory could not reach—then i cast aside every other thought, and turned my face for ever towards the wilderness and my home.
“the mandans received me with joy. as a boy i had left them; as a man i returned. my father was still a chief in the tribe, and from his horses i had soon the best and fastest for my own.
“i had forgotten but few of the exercises which an indian learns from earliest childhood. i could ride and run with the best of them, and in addition to the craft and skill of the wilderness, i had learned the use of the weapons of civilization, and the rifle had become as familiar to hand and eye as the bow had been in the days of my boyhood.
“soon we heard that the americans were advancing towards the coteau. we struck our lodges by the minnie wakan, fired the prairie, and set out for the south. by the edge of the coteau our scouts first fell in with the white men. we did not fire, for the chief had decided that we would not be the first to fight, but would seek a parley when we met. it was my work to meet the white people and hear what[47] they had to say. i was able to speak to them.
“i approached their scouts with a few of my men, and made signs that we wished to talk. some of the white people rode forward in answer, and we met them midway. i began by asking what they wanted in our land; that they were now in our country, and that our chief had sent me to know the meaning of their visit.
“one of them replied that they had come by order of the great father at washington; that the land belonged to him from sea to sea; and that they could ride through it where they willed.
“while we spoke, one of my braves had approached a large, strongly-built man who rode a fine black horse. all at once i heard the click of a gun-lock. in token of peace we had left our guns in the camp; we carried only our bows. the gun thus cocked was in the hands of the white man riding the black horse. it has been said since that he did the act fearing that the indian who stood near meant harm; if so, his belief was wrong, and it cost him his life. the indian heard the noise of the hammer. with a single bound he was at the horse’s shoulders, had seized the barrel of the gun and twisted it from the white man’s hands. as he did so, one barrel exploded in the air. an instant later the other was discharged full into the white man’s breast, and before a word could be uttered, the brave was in his saddle, driving the black horse furiously over the plain[48]. there was nothing for it but to gallop too; we were well mounted, and the shots they sent after us only made our horses fly the faster. we reached our people. the war had begun.
“i will not tell you of that war now. in the end we were beaten, as we always must be. two men will beat one man, twenty will do it faster.
“many of us were killed; many more fled north into english territory. my father was among the latter number. i remained with a few others in the fastnesses of the black hills.
“now listen to me.
“my father, the old chief, went, i have said, north into british land. i never saw him again. a year later i also sought refuge in this region, and this is the story i gathered from the few scattered people of our tribe.
“my father, ‘the black eagle,’ had been invited to a trader’s house on the banks of the red river, not fifty miles from where we now are. this trader had given him spirit to drink. in the spirit he had put laudanum. my father drank unsuspectingly, and was soon plunged into deep unconscious sleep. from that sleep he woke to find himself in the hands of the americans.
“it was the depth of winter. his betrayers had bound him while asleep upon a sledge drawn by a fast horse. in the dead of night they had carried him to the american lines at pembina, and there sold him to the yankee officer, bound and helpless.
“the price paid was 500 dollars. a week later the old chief, my father, was hanged as a traitor in sight of the very river by whose banks he had been born.
“you wonder what has brought me to these northern lands? my father’s spirit has brought me. five times since that day i have sought my father’s murderer, and each time my search has been fruitless. yes, through all these years, through many changes, and from far distant places, i have come here to seek revenge. again i have been baffled. the man for whom i look has gone far out on the plains, trading with the crees and blackfeet. i learned this two days ago, in the settlement, and at once turned my horse’s head towards the west, determined to seek this spot, get my horses, pack up, and follow the trail of my father’s murderer into the great prairie.
“by chance i saw you again this morning. you are different from all the white men i have ever met. you seem to love the wilderness for its wildness, as a bird loves the air for its freedom. well, it is for that that i love it too. in our old times, when the sioux were strong and powerful, the young men of the tribe, the best and bravest, used to swear an oath of brotherhood and lasting friendship to the young braves of other tribes. that oath meant, that if they met in battle, or in danger, the life of one[50] was sacred to the other.
“to you i will give that promise and that oath. i have no friends but my horse and dog. my people are scattered far and wide over the wilderness. most of those who were with me ten years ago are now dead. i am an outcast on the earth; but i am free, and fear no man. we will together roam the wilderness; at any time if you desire it, you are free to part. i do not ask your assistance to revenge the wrongs i have suffered. that shall be my own work. for the rest i have quarrel with no man. ever since that war with the americans i have fired no hostile shot at a red man of any race or tribe. when attacked i have defended myself; but i have joined no tribe to fight another tribe. if i fall into the hands of my enemies i know that my father’s death will be my death—that as his bones were left to bleach in sight of the land in which he was born, so mine would be also gibbeted, as a warning to the wretched remnants of my race who yet live, spectral shadows, on the land that once had owned the dominion of the sioux.”
the indian ceased speaking. the fire still burned bright and clear.
as the light of the evening grew fainter, and darkness closed over the scene, the sounds of the wilderness fell distinctly upon our ears—the ripple of the river, the lonely cry of grey owls, the far-off echo of some prowling[51] wolf.
for some minutes the silence of the lodge remained unbroken. i was too much affected by the story i had listened to to speak, but i held out my hand to the sioux and shook his, in silent token that henceforth we were brothers.
