men deserved
punishment, and if false, they should be tried and cleared by process
of law. The Indians never quite knew what evidence was produced at the
court-martial, but at all events the two men were hanged, and as they
had many influential connections, their relatives lost no time in
fomenting trouble. The Sioux were then camping close by the fort and it
was midwinter, which facts held them in check for a month or two; but as
soon as spring came, they removed their camp across the river and rose
in rebellion. A pitched battle was fought, in which the soldiers got the
worst of it. Even the associate chief, Big Mouth, was against Spotted
Tail, who was practically forced against his will and judgment to take
up arms once more.

At this juncture came the sudden and bloody uprising in the east among
the Minnesota Sioux, and Sitting Bull's campaign in the north had begun
in earnest; while to the south the Southern Cheyennes, Comanches, and
Kiowas were all upon the warpath. Spotted Tail at about this time seems
to have conceived the idea of uniting all the Rocky Mountain Indians in
a great confederacy. He once said: "Our cause is as a child's cause,
in comparison with the power of the white man, unless we can stop
quarreling among ourselves and unite our energies for the common good."
But old-time antagonisms were too strong; and he was probably held back
also by his consciousness of the fact that the Indians called him "the
white man's friend", while the military still had some faith in him
which he did not care to lose. He was undoubtedly one of the brainiest
and most brilliant Sioux who ever lived; and while he could not help
being to a large extent in sympathy with the feeling of his race against
the invader, yet he alone foresaw the inevitable outcome, and the
problem as it presented itself to him was simply this: "What is the best
policy to pursue in the existing situation?"

Here is his speech as it has been given to me, delivered at the great
council on the Powder River, just before the attack on Fort Phil
Kearny. We can imagine that he threw all his wonderful tact and personal
magnetism into this last effort at conciliation.

"'Hay, hay, hay! Alas, alas!' Thus speaks the old man, when he knows
that his former vigor and freedom is gone from him forever. So we may
exclaim to-day, Alas! There is a time appointed to all things. Think
for a moment how many multitudes of the animal tribes we ourselves
have destroye