this trouble about the
schools in our minds, there was an emigrant train going through the Black
Hills. They had with them a cow which was lame, and and they left it.
The Indians thought they had thrown it away, and killed it. We killed
this cow not for subsistence but because it was lame and we felt sorry for
it. It was not until a year later that the people who owned this cow made
application to the Government for reimbursement for the loss, and the
Government sent United States soldiers there to find out who had killed
the cow. The two men who had killed the cow were Face Powder and Pointed
Forehead. They asked us to give up these men that they might take them to
Fort Laramie, and we refused to give them up. They then asked our head
chief, Axe-the-Bear, to give them up, and when he would not do so he was
taken to Fort Laramie. Part of the Sioux Nation was at Fort Laramie, and
they wanted to know why the soldiers had taken this head chief there. It
was a mistake of the interpreter, for he told the officers in command that
the Sioux Indians were there to kill the soldiers if they did not give up
this head chief. One of the soldiers rather than let the chief go ran him
through with a bayonet and killed him in cold blood. As soon as they
killed this chief, the Indians began to fight right there. There was a
running fight after that until they finally captured Spotted-Tail with his
band and squaws and children. A lot of Spotted-Tail's men were killed.
They afterward gave up the women and children. That did not satisfy the
Indians; they wanted revenge on the soldiers and had a battle west of the
Black Hills. After that big battle the Indians were chased right into the
territory where the present camp of the great chiefs is located.
Following that there was another big battle on the east side of the
Missouri River. The women and children were all captured. Following this
there was a treaty with the United States not to fight. The treaty was
signed up near Fort Laramie. The trouble still kept up, the treaty was
broken, and we had another big battle near the Rocky Mountains, where a
hundred soldiers were killed. After that there were several battles,
including the Custer fight, and then the bands all split up, some of them
going to Canada and some of them back to the reservations where they are
now located. Then there was a delegation sent to Washington, and when
they came back to the people from the Indian D