University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER X.

As soon as we were safe, and General Sully pursued
us no longer, the warriors returned home, and a scene
of terrible mourning over the killed ensued among the
women. Their cries are terribly wild and distressing,
on such occasions; and the near relations of the deceased
indulge in frantic expressions of grief that can
not be described. Sometimes the practice of cutting
the flesh is carried to a horrible and barbarous extent.
They inflict gashes on their bodies and limbs an inch
in length. Some cut off their hair, blacken their faces,
and march through the village in procession, torturing
their bodies to add vigor to their lamentations.

Hunger followed on the track of grief; all their food
was gone, and there was no game in that portion of
the country.

In our flight they scattered every thing, and the
country through which we passed for the following two
weeks did not yield enough to arrest starvation. The

Indians were terribly enraged, and threatened me with
death almost hourly, and in every form.

I had so hoped for liberty when my friends were
near; but alas! all my fond hopes were blasted. The
Indians told me that the army was going in another
direction.

They seemed to have sustained a greater loss than I
had been made aware of, which made them feel very
revengeful toward me.

The next morning I could see that something unusual
was about to happen. Notwithstanding the early
hour, the sun scarcely appearing above the horizon,
the principal chiefs and warriors were assembled in
council, where, judging from the grave and reflective
expression of their countenances, they were about to
discuss some serious question.

I had reason for apprehension, from their unfriendly
manner toward me, and feared for the penalty I might
soon have to pay.

Soon they sent an Indian to me, who asked me if I
was ready to die—to be burned at the stake. I told
him whenever Wakon-Tonka (the Great Spirit) was
ready, he would call for me, and then I would be ready
and willing to go. He said that he had been sent
from the council to warn me, that it had become
necessary to put me to death, on account of my white
brothers killing so many of their young men recently.
He repeated that they were not cruel for the pleasure

of being so; necessity is their first law, and he and the
wise chiefs, faithful to their hatred for the white race,
were in haste to satisfy their thirst for vengeance; and,
further, that the interest of their nation required it.

As soon as the chiefs were assembled around the
council fire, the pipe-carrier entered the circle, holding
in his hand the pipe ready lighted. Bowing to the
four cardinal points, he uttered a short prayer, or invocation,
and then presented the pipe to the old chief,
Ottawa, but retained the bowl in his hand. When all
the chiefs and men had smoked, one after the other,
the pipe-bearer emptied the ashes into the fire, saying,
"Chiefs of the great Dakota nation, Wakon-Tonka
give you wisdom, so that whatever be your determination,
it may be conformable to justice." Then, after
bowing respectfully, he retired.

A moment of silence followed, in which every one
seemed to be meditating seriously upon the words that
had just been spoken. At length one of the most
aged of the chiefs, whose body was furrowed with the
scars of innumerable wounds, and who enjoyed among
his people a reputation for great wisdom, arose.

Said he, "The pale faces, our eternal persecutors,
pursue and harass us without intermission, forcing us to
abandon to them, one by one, our best hunting grounds,
and we are compelled to seek a refuge in the depths
of these Bad Lands, like timid deer. Many of them
even dare to come into prairies which belong to us,

to trap beaver, and hunt elk and buffalo, which are
our property. These faithless creatures, the outcasts
of their own people, rob and kill us when they can.
Is it just that we should suffer these wrongs without
complaining? Shall we allow ourselves to be slaughtered
like timid Assinneboines, without seking to avenge
ourselves? Does not the law of the Dakotas say,
Justice to our own nation, and death to all pale faces?
Let my brothers say if that is just," pointing to the
stake that was being prepared for me.

"Vengeance is allowable," sententiously remarked
Mahpeah (The Sky).

Another old chief, Ottawa, arose and said, "It is
the undoubted right of the weak and oppressed; and
yet it ought to be proportioned to the injury received.
Then why should we put this young, innocent
woman to death? Has she not always been kind to
us, smiled upon us, and sang for us? Do not all our
children love her as a tender sister? Why, then,
should we put her to so cruel a death for the crimes
of others, if they are of her nation? Why should we
punish the innocent for the guilty?"

I looked to Heaven for mercy and protection, offering
up those earnest prayers that are never offered in
vain; and oh! how thankful I was when I knew their
decision was to spare my life. Though terrible were
my surroundings, life always became sweet to me,
when I felt that I was about to part with it.

A terrible time ensued, and many dogs, and horses,
even, died of starvation. Their bodies were eaten immediately;
and the slow but constant march was daily
kept up, in hope of game and better facilities for fish
and fruit.

Many days in succession I tasted no food, save what
I could gather on my way; a few rose leaves and
blossoms was all I could find, except the grass I would
gather and chew, for nourishment. Fear, fatigue, and
long-continued abstinence were wearing heavily on my
already shattered frame. Women and children were
crying for food; it was a painful sight to witness their
sufferings, with no means of alleviating them, and no
hope of relief save by traveling and hunting. We
had no shelter save the canopy of heaven, and no
alternative but to travel on, and at night lie down on
the cold, damp ground, for a resting place.

If I could but present to my readers a truthful picture
of that Indian home at that time, with all its
sorrowful accompaniments! They are certainly engraved
upon faithful memory, to last forever; but no
touch of pen could give any semblance of the realities
to another.

What exhibitions of their pride and passion I have
seen; what ideas of their intelligence and humanity I
have been compelled to form; what manifestations of
their power and ability to govern had been thrust
upon me. The treatment received was not such as

to enhance in any wise a woman's admiration for the
so-called noble red man, but rather to make one pray
to be delivered from their power.

Compelled to travel many days in succession, and
to experience the gnawings of hunger without mitigation,
every day had its share of toil and fear. Yet
while my temporal wants were thus poorly supplied, I
was not wholly denied spiritual food. It was a blessed
consolation that no earthly foe could interrupt my
communion with the heavenly world. In my midnight,
wakeful hours, I was visited with many bright
visions.