e a living upon
such lands. The Sioux were supposed to help themselves by farming and
cattle raising, but they found themselves starving.

Sitting Bull had been placed upon the Standing Rock reservation in May,
1883. His home was a log cabin with a stable and corral, on the Grand
River in the southern part of the reservation. He still kept a peace
pipe, as sign that he would not go to war.

He had been among those who opposed the selling of the lands. After
the last sale, this year, he was asked what the Indians thought about
it.

"Indians!" he angrily blurted. "There are no Indians left now but me."

He viewed the Sioux police sullenly. These were a fine company of
fifty young Sioux under First Lieutenant Bull Head and Second
Lieutenant Chatka. They were drilled as United States soldiers, wore
the army uniform of blue, and were well armed. Their duty was that of
keeping order for the Indian agent. They were proud of their trust,
and faithful to it.

Now in the fall of 1889 the restless Sioux heard a voice. Their young
people were being educated at the Indian schools of the East, and at
the agency schools, and were learning to read and write.

The eastern school Indians exchanged letters with Indian friends whom
they had met or of whom they knew; the agency school Indians in
different parts of the country also wrote letters. Word came by
letters from the west, to Sioux at the Pine Ridge agency, that beyond
the Rocky Mountains a man who claimed to be Christ, the Son of God, had
appeared upon earth.

The white people once had tried to kill him by nailing him to a cross.
He was back again, to punish them for their treatment of him, and for
their treatment of the Indians. The Indians were to be his people, and
possess the land. This sounded reasonable.

It aroused curiosity and hope. It was only the same old story, as
spread by other prophets, and here put in a little different form; but
the red people of America had never yet ceased to look forward to a
miracle that would restore to them their game and their liberty and
their loved country.

Old Chief Red Cloud, Young-man-whose-horses-are-feared and other head
men of the Pine Ridge reservation called a council, to choose delegates
who should travel into the west and find out if the Arapahos and
Shoshonis of Wyoming were telling the truth.

Kicking Bear from the Cheyenne River reservation and Short Bull from
the Rosebud reservation, were the leade