Not until that morning did the Sitting Bull people know that the soldiers were near. There was much excitement. The ponies were saddled, and the women began to pack their household stuff; but the warriors did not intend to run away.
Sitting Bull was certain that the white men would be defeated. The night before, his medicine had been very strong. An eagle had promised a great victory. Now he said that during the fight he would stay in the village and make more medicine. So Chief Gall it was who commanded.
But Sitting Bull did not stay in the village. When the bullets of the soldiers pelted into the lodges he lost faith in his own prophecy.
Taking his two wives and whatever else he might gather, he bolted for a safer place. He missed one of his twin boys, but he did not stop to look for him.
He was ten miles out, when he received news of the victory. And a terrible victory that had been: of the five companies of General Custer, the Long Hair, only one man had escaped--although the Sioux did not know of that escape. He was Curly, a Crow scout. At any rate, the Long Hair"s warriors, to the number of two hundred and twelve, had been killed in an hour.
The other soldiers were penned up, and could be killed, too.
So Sitting Bull rode back again, with his family. He said that he had not intended to run away. He had been out in the hills, making his medicine; and the bodies of the soldiers would prove it.
That certainly seemed true. The Indians had lost only twenty, and had killed more than two hundred.
Sitting Bull was greater than ever. Never before had such a victory been won at such little cost. This night the village danced and sang, and Sitting Bull kept by himself, and accepted the presents given to him.
Chief Gall had thought to starve out the soldiers who were penned up, and were being watched by warriors. These were the two other columns, of the Seventh Cavalry. But the next day, General Terry and Colonel Gibbon approached, in order (they had planned) to meet the Custer detachment. When Chief Gall heard that the "walking soldiers" were nearing, he decided that there had been fighting enough.
So he ordered the village to be broken, and the warriors to come in; they all left before dark, depending upon the medicine of Sitting Bull to lead them to new hunting grounds.
Soon Crazy Horse took his band and branched off for himself. He was a nephew of Chief Spotted Tail, but fierce against the whites. The rest followed Chief Sitting Bull and Chief Gall.
For a while they saw no more soldiers. Now and then other Indians from the reservation joined them, bringing supplies; and now and then parties left, to scout by themselves. Sitting Bull and Gall and all knew this country very well; it was Sioux country. They knew it far better than the soldiers did. There were many hiding places.
When the weather began to grow cold, in the fall, the Sitting Bull people commenced to think of winter. They received word that the soldiers were stopping everybody from leaving the reservation. This cut down the supplies.
The Gray Fox, who was General Crook, struck several bands in the midst of the hunting grounds. He had wiped out American Horse and had pressed Crazy Horse very hard. More soldiers were pouring in.
The Sitting Bull band numbered three thousand. They used lots of meat.
The buffalo were being frightened by so much travel of soldiers, and for the band to stay long in one spot was dangerous. Some of the women and men got faint-hearted, and deserted. They carried word to the soldiers, and asked to be sent to the reservation. Sitting Bull"s medicine did not prevent them from running away.
He and Gall planned to march farther northward, across the Yellowstone River, to a better buffalo country, and make camp for a big hunt. A store of meat ought to be laid in, before winter.
A new fort was being located on the Yellowstone at the mouth of the Tongue River, southeastern Montana. They marched to cross the Yellowstone below; this fort; and while near the Yellowstone they drove back a soldiers" wagon-train that was trying to reach the fort.
The wagons tried again, five days later, and there was another fight.
Sitting Bull sent a note to the white chief.
_Yellowstone_.
I want to know what you are doing traveling by this road. You scare all the buffalo away. I want to hunt in this place. I want you to turn back from here. If you don"t, I will fight you again. I want you to leave what you have got here and turn back from here.
I am your friend.
SITTING BULL.
I mean all the rations you have got and some powder. Wish you would write as soon as you can.
This was a "feeler," to see what kind of a man the white chief was.
The white chief, whose name was Lieutenant-Colonel E. S. Otis, of the Twenty-second Infantry, answered at once.
To Sitting Bull:
I intend to take this train through to Tongue River, and will be pleased to accommodate you with a fight at any time.
Sitting Bull and his chiefs held council. If they might make a peace, they could stay out all winter with their families, and when the gra.s.s greened in the spring they could travel as they pleased. The white soldiers had the advantage, in the winter.
So two Indians were sent forward with a flag of truce, to say that the Sitting Bull people were hungry and tired, and to propose a peace talk.
The white chief said that there was a higher chief at the mouth of the Tongue River, with whom they must talk, but he sent them some bread and bacon.
Sitting Bull and Chief Gall, Low Neck, Pretty Bull and the others did not go to find the white commanding chief; they continued on, and in a few days the American commander caught up with them, himself, north of the Yellowstone.
He agreed to meet Sitting Bull between the lines, for a talk. They each took six men. The white chief was Colonel Nelson A. Miles. He had only about four hundred soldiers, and one cannon. Sitting Bull had one thousand warriors, and was not afraid.
"What are all these soldiers doing in this country?" he demanded. "Why don"t they stay in their forts, where they belong? It is time they went there, for the winter."
"The soldiers are in this country to bring you and your men out and put them on the reservation," replied Colonel Miles. "We do not wish war.
But if you insist on war, then you will be shut up. You cannot roam about over the country, and cause trouble."
"This country belongs to the Indian and not to the white man," retorted Sitting Bull. "We want nothing to do with the white man. We want the white man to go away, and leave us alone. No white man ever lived who loved an Indian, and no true Indian ever lived that did not hate the white man. G.o.d Almighty made me an Indian. He did not make me an agency Indian, and I"ll fight and die fighting before any white man can make me an agency Indian. How did you know where I was to be found?"
"I not only knew where you were, but I know where you came from and where you"re going," a.s.serted Colonel Miles.
"Where am I going?"
"You intend to remain here three days, and then move to the Big Dry and hunt buffalo."
This showed Sitting Bull that he had been betrayed by spies. He flared into a rage, and his words were hot. He hated the whites; he had a thousand warriors at his back, and his power was great.
He would make peace, but only if all the white men got out of the country. There must be no forts or roads or towns. He wanted no presents of food or clothing from the United States. If the United States would leave a few trading posts, he would trade for powder and flour, but he would live free, to do as he chose.
So this talk and other talks amounted to nothing new. The white chief told him to prepare for war, and there was a battle. At one moment, the Sitting Bull warriors had the soldiers surrounded; but the cannon sh.e.l.ls were too much to face, the walking soldiers stood stanch, and finally the Sioux had to retreat with their families.
The white chief, Miles, proved to be a stubborn fighter. He pursued and captured almost all the camp supplies. This broke the hearts of the Sitting Bull band. His medicine had grown weak. Five chiefs, with two thousand of the warriors and women and children, surrendered, so as to be kept warm and to be sure of food. But Sitting Bull and Gall went on, leading four hundred northward.
The weather got very cold and snowy. They stayed for a time near the Missouri River in northern Montana. Sitting Bull"s medicine failed entirely. The soldiers marched upon them right through the blizzards, and no place seemed safe.
The other bands were being captured. The walking soldiers and the big-guns-that-shot-twice were everywhere, to south, east and west. The Crazy Horse Cheyennes and Oglalas were taken. They agreed to go upon the reservation.
When Sitting Bull heard of this, he resolved to get out of reach of the Americans altogether. He and Gall headed north again, and crossed into Canada.
This was Sioux country, too. The Sioux never had had any dispute with the Great White Mother; she seemed better than the Great White Father.
Accordingly Sitting Bull plumped himself and his band down upon Canada ground, and defied the United States to meddle with him.
Other runaways joined him. It was now spring. Some of the runaways were from the reservation. They reported that they had almost starved, there, during the winter.