present, as about forty years old, tall and athletic; six feet
high in his moccasons, with a large, well-developed head, aquiline nose,
thin, compressed lips, and physiognomy beaming with intelligence and
resolution. He was clad in the half military, half Indian costume of the
Dacotah chiefs, as he sat in the council room; and no one greeted or
noticed him. A very poor piece of revenge! In a few minutes the
Governor, turning to the chief in the midst of a breathless silence, by
the aid of an interpreter, opened council. The Governor asked the chief
what excuse he had for not coming to the council when he sent for him.

Whereupon Red Iron rose to his feet, 'with native grace and dignity,'
says Mr. Heard, his blanket falling from his shoulders, and, purposely
dropping the pipe of peace, he stood erect before the Governor, with his
arms folded and his right hand pressed upon the sheath of his scalping
knife. With the utmost coolness and self-possession, a defiant smile
playing upon his thin lips, and his eyes sternly fixed upon his
excellency, the Indian, with a firm voice, replied:

'I started to come, but your braves drove me back.'

GOVERNOR. 'What excuse have you for not coming the second time
when I sent for you?'

RED IRON. 'No other excuse than I have given you.'

GOVERNOR. 'At the treaty, I thought you a good man; but since,
you have acted badly, and I am disposed to break you. I _do_ break you.'

Red Iron looked at the Governor for a moment with a look of withering
contempt and scorn, and then burst out in a voice full of derisive
mockery.

RED IRON. '_You break me!_ My people made me a chief. My people
love me. I will still be their chief. I have done nothing wrong.'

GOVERNOR. 'Red Iron, why did you get your braves together, and
march around here for the purpose of intimidating other chiefs, and
prevent their coming to council?'

RED IRON. 'I did not get my braves together; they got
themselves together, to prevent _boys_ going to council to be made
_chiefs_ to sign papers, and to prevent single chiefs going to council
at night, to be _bribed_ to sign papers for _money_ we have never got.'
And then the inexorable fellow continued, without any regard to his
excellency's nerves or conscience: 'We have heard how the M'Dewakantons
were served at Mendota; that by secret councils you got their names on
paper, and took away their money. We don't want to be served so. My
braves wanted to come to council in the