Note 16 — Part I Protecting the Frontier

Mahapiya-luta, Red Cloud, was one of the most famous of the great Sioux Nation. He was a fierce and ruthless warrior, but withal a man of his word. After the abandonment of Fort Phil Kearney he participated in no important actions with the soldiers, although he was elected head chief of the Sioux. In the war of 1876 his camp was surprised by General Mackenzie before he had an opportunity to go on the war-path. His men were disarmed, and with him were detained in the reservation. It was a fortunate thing for the army.

Recently the old chief was asked to tell the story of his most thrilling adventure. It was a tale of one man against seven, and the old man’s dim eyes grew bright and his wrinkled face lighted up with a strange light as he told it. A well-known warrior was jealous of Red Cloud, and, together with six of his followers, waylaid the young brave in a lonely spot.

Two of them were armed with rifles, the rest carried only bows and arrows, while Red Cloud had a Winchester. At the first fire Red Cloud fell with a bullet in his thigh, but from where he lay he contrived to kill every one of his assailants.

The skill and courage he displayed on that occasion won for him many admiring followers, and as war after war with the whites broke out and he won fresh laurels his followers increased in numbers. He joined the various secret societies, passed through the terrible agony of the sun dance, and when, in 1866, the chiefs of the tribe signed a “peace paper,” he stood out for and declared war. The fighting men flocked to his standard, and when the awful massacre in which he played so conspicuous a part occurred, he was proclaimed Chief of all the Sioux.

All the prestige he lost at Piney Island he regained upon the abandonment of the forts by the government, a most impolitic and unfortunate move.