devoted. The Sioux are as firm believers in their religion as we are in
ours; and they are far more particular in the discharge of what they
conceive to be the obligations required by the objects of their faith
and worship. There are many allusions to the belief and customs of the
Dahcotahs that require explanation. For this purpose I have obtained
from the Sioux themselves the information required. On matters of faith
there is difference of opinion among them--but they do not make more
points of difference on religion, or on any other subject, than white
people do.

The day of the Dahcotah is far spent; to quote the language of a
Chippeway chief, "The Indian's glory is passing away." They seem to be
almost a God-forgotten race. Some few have given the missionary reason
to hope that they have been made subjects of Christian faith--and the
light, that has as yet broken in faint rays upon their darkness, may
increase. He who takes account of the falling of a sparrow, will not
altogether cast away so large a portion of his creatures. All Christian
minds will wish success to the Indian missionary; and assuredly God will
be true to his mercy, where man is found true to his duty.

The first impression created by the Sioux was the common one--fear. In
their looks they were so different from the Indians I had occasionally
seen. There was nothing in their aspect to indicate the success of
efforts made to civilize them. Their tall, unbending forms, their savage
hauteur, the piercing black eye, the quiet indifference of manner, the
slow, stealthy step--how different were they from the eastern Indians,
whose associations with the white people seem to have deprived them of
all native dignity of bearing and of character. The yells heard outside
the high wall of the fort at first filled me with alarm; but I soon
became accustomed to them, and to all other occasional Indian
excitements, that served to vary the monotony of garrison life. Before I
felt much interest in the Sioux, they seemed to have great regard for
me. My husband, before his marriage, had been stationed at Fort Snelling
and at Prairie du Chien. He was fond of hunting and roaming about the
prairies; and left many friends among the Indians when he obeyed the
order to return to an eastern station. On going back to the Indian
country, he met with a warm welcome from his old acquaintances, who were
eager to shake hands with "Eastman's squaw."

The old men laid their bony h