hat makes Auguste a U.S. citizen, and his
participating in acts of war by the Sauk nation against the United
States is treason. Auguste made war on his own flag.

"Whether Raoul de Marion did right or wrong in running his nephew off
Victoire, gentlemen, one thing is sure. Auguste went back to the British
Band carrying a powerful grudge against this place and these people.
So, I put it to you, he decided that if he could not be a white
landowner, he would destroy the white landowners.

"And he had the power to do it, because the Indians would listen to him.
They knew him as a witch doctor, and they also knew that he had been
educated among whites. And so he used his power to push Black Hawk
toward war. He is an accomplice to the murder of every white man, woman
and child killed by his fellow tribesmen.

"Auguste de Marion or White Bear or whatever he chooses to call
himself"--Bennett pointed an accusing finger at Auguste--"should be
hanged as a traitor and a butcher of his own people."

Auguste heard mutterings of approval from around the courtroom and a
loud "Damned right!" from Raoul. His feeling that this trial was
hopeless grew deeper. Bennett had told the jury what they wanted to
hear--the version of the truth that would let them do what they wanted
to him.

Ford stood up, wiping his brow. The room was hot for late September. He
crossed the front of the courtroom to stand before the two rows of
jurymen in their borrowed church pews.

"Gentlemen of the jury, I took up arms against the Sauk and Fox Indians
under General Edmund Gaines in 1831. I am not prejudiced in favor of
Indians. I only ask that you try to understand _this_ man whose life is
in your hands.

"You have to decide two questions: One, by traveling and living with the
British Band of the Sauk and Fox from September 1831 to August 1832, did
Auguste de Marion commit treason against the United States? Two, is
Auguste de Marion guilty of the murder of any citizens of the United
States or the state of Illinois?

"Is Auguste a traitor to his country? Well, it seems to me that if
anything, Auguste holds dual citizenship in the United States and in the
Sauk and Fox nation. And, far from being a traitor to either, he tried
to make peace between them. The only thing he ever carried against the
United States was a white flag.

"Has Auguste committed murder? All we know for a fact is that no one has
seen him raise a violent hand against another human bein