and
smoking several hundred painted sticks were produced and were offered
for the acceptance of each grown warrior. It was understood that
whoever voluntarily accepted one of these sticks was solemnly bound to
be of the hunting party under penalty of punishment by the soldiers if
he failed. About one hundred and fifty men accepted. These men then
detached themselves from the main body and after consultation selected
ten of the bravest and most influential of the young men to act as
members of the hunting court. These justices were called soldiers.
Every member bound himself to obey all rules made by the court. A time
was then fixed for the start. At the appointed time and place every one
appeared but one man who lived twelve miles distant. Five of the court
at once started out to round him up. In a few hours they returned with
the recalcitrant and his family, and with his belongings packed upon
his horses. He was duly penitent and not subjected to punishment,
though he was severely threatened in case he again failed. General
Sibley thus tells the story.[8] "We," Sibley and his white friends,
"became subject to the control of the soldiers. At the close of each
day the limits of the following day's hunt were announced by the
soldiers, designated by a stream, grove, or other natural object. This
limit was ordinarily about ten miles ahead of the proposed camping
place and the soldiers each morning went forward and stationed
themselves along the line to detect and punish any who attempted to
pass it. The penalty attached to any violation of the rules of the camp
was discretionary with the soldiers. In aggravated cases they would
thresh the offender unmercifully. Sometimes they would cut the clothing
of the man or woman entirely to pieces, slit down the lodge with their
knives, break kettles and do other damage. I was made the victim on one
occasion by venturing near the prohibited boundary. A soldier hid
himself in the long grass until I approached sufficiently near when he
sprang from his concealment and giving the soldiers' whoop rushed upon
me. He seized my fine double barreled gun and raised it in the air as
if with the intention of dashing it to the ground. I reminded him that
guns were not to be broken, because they could be neither repaired or
replaced. He handed me back the gun and then snatched my fur cap from
my head, ordering me back to camp, where he said he would cut up my
lodge in the evening. I had to ride ten