CHAPTER XI. LOUIS SHANGRAUX AND THE TROOPS
About December 8th Louis Shangraux and some prominent Indians were sent out by the military to persuade the dancers to come in. December 15th we heard singing, and running out of our quarters, beheld thirty horsemen advancing upon the agency. Following them were large numbers of the “hostiles”. Every man was superbly mounted and well armed. Six-shooters were hung at their sides, while the gun-cases, neatly beaded and ornamented, were strapped and hung along the saddles. The warriors drew up in front of the general’s (Brooke) headquarters, and as the last notes of the song died away leaped from the animals’ backs. As they crowded into the commanding officer’s presence, we who stood near had the honor of shaking hands with these men. The general himself welcomed them with words of commendation, for he thoroughly appreciated the efforts of the “friendlies” in the desire to prevent bloodshed.
That night, accompanied by my interpreter Bartlett, I visited the lodge of Scout Shangraux, and secured the following narrative regarding the expedition and the intentions of the hostiles.
“One week ago (the 8th) the general called me (Shangraux) into his office, and told me he was very desirous of bringing in the hostiles without bloodshed. He said that the mission of Father Jutz had resulted in great good, that the Government scouts sent out had failed to reach the campsite of Short Bull and Kicking Bear, and that all information regarding the strength of the hostiles was entirely unreliable.”
Louis was given the power to select his party, and accordingly chose some good, true men whom he knew could be depended upon in case of trouble. No white man went with him, for it was believed the hostiles would kill anyone not an Indian who should venture near the camp. From subsequent events this was found to be true.
The camp is located on a plateau, 130 feet above the valley. But one approach is observed—a narrow path. Louis claimed the Indians had piled stones, or made breastworks. They possessed much ammunition and food; two springs afforded plenty of water, and their situation appears to have been secure. Some little way off, in the valley, was a large village. “When we entered there were about 262 lodges present. One hundred and seventeen of these remained and 145 returned with us to the agency. The squaws and men came forward to greet us, and all seemed very friendly. They supposed at first that we had come to join them, but when they learned our true mission they seemed very suspicious, and refused for some time to have anything to do with us. Just before we began the council, which lasted the greater part of four days, the high-priest and his helpers came forward and announced that there would be a Ghost-dance. They formed a circle about the sacred tree and began their chant.
“Of all the wild dancing I saw on Wounded Knee, this beat the record. People went into trances by the dozen, and the priests were kept busy relating the experiences of the fainters. Several remained in trances as long as twelve hours, and gave evidences of utter exhaustion when the directors aroused them.
“Short Bull said: ‘I see the Messiah coming from the West. He is riding in a plain-wagon drawn by two mules and looks very much like a black man. If he is our Messiah we are greatly fooled. Now I see him again, and he is an Indian. Ah! wait; I see him the third time, and he is a white man. He tells me to send my children to school, to make large farms, and not to fight any more. Do not fight, my children, unless the soldiers first fire upon you.’
“People were so excited they trembled all over, their eyes rolled, and the muscles of their faces twitched. They were the most crazy Indians I ever beheld.”
The dancing continued for nearly thirty hours; then there was an intermission of several hours, during which a council was held in order to give audience to the friendlies. Short Bull and Two Strike (his real name is Nompagahpa, and a literal translation is, “Knocks down Two”), aided by Crow Dog, championed the cause of the hostiles, while No Neck and Louis Shangraux spoke on behalf of the friendlies. Louis does not remember what he said in the first council, but the substance of his remarks could be put into one sentence:
“The Agent will forgive you if you will return now, give you more rations, but not permit you to dance.”
Short Bull’s (Tatankaptecelan) reply was so forcible as to remain in Louis’s memory in the exact words of the speaker, and ran as follows:
“I have risen today to tell you something of importance. You have heard the words of the brothers from the agency camps, and if you have done as myself, you have weighed them carefully. If the Great Father would permit us to continue the dance, would give more rations, and quit taking away portions of the reservation, I would be in favor of returning. But even if you (turning to Louis) say that he will, how can we know whether you are telling the truth? We have been lied to so many times that we will not believe any words that your Agent sends to us. If we return he will take away our guns and ponies, put some of us in jail for stealing cattle and plundering houses. We prefer to stay here and die, if necessary, to loss of liberty. We are free now and have plenty of beef, can dance all the time in obedience to the command of the Great Wakantanka. We tell you to return to your Agent and say to him that the Dakotas in the Bad Lands are not going to come in.”
No Neck rejoined:
“Think, my people, how foolish is this action! Do come in, and all will be well; remain out here and you will be killed.”
Short Bull added:
“It is better to die here as brave men, and in obedience to the commands of the Good Spirit, than to live like cowards at the agency on scanty rations, disarmed, without horses or guns. No, we will not return. If we dance, our Good Spirit will protect us, and if all dancers are sincere, the bullets of the soldiers will fall harmlessly to the ground without power to hurt. There is no army so powerful that it can contend with Wakantanka; therefore we are not afraid to remain here.”
The gathering broke up, and nearly every one continued in the Ghost-dance. For two days the hostiles would not have further words with the friendly scouts. Friday and Saturday, the 12th and 13th, the last council was held. The scenes accompanying the closing of this gathering, Saturday afternoon, were very thrilling, and for a period of two hours it seemed as if a general battle would ensue between those who desired to return to the agency and the hostiles.
About noon, Saturday, Two Strike—who had been one of the leaders in the dance—arose and announced his intention to return to the agency with the scouts, accompanied by about 145 lodges. Crow Dog (Kangisunka, the Indian who killed Spotted Tail about ten years ago) also announced his intention of returning. At this declaration from two such prominent men, Short Bull sprang to his feet and cried out, angrily:
“At such a time as this we should all stick together like brothers. Do not leave; remain with us. These men from the agency are not telling us the truth; they will conduct you back to the agency and they will place you in jail there. Louis is at the bottom of this affair.”
And, running to the place where the guns were stacked, Short Bull grasped his gun and, followed by many of his young men, surrounded Shangraux. Louis’s situation was desperate. He knew these furious men might kill him at the slightest resistance, so he laughed as good-naturedly as possible under the circumstances and told them to put up their guns, as he was their friend instead of their enemy.
“No, do not let the friendlies return,” cried the young men; “kill them, or compel them to remain with us. They will tell the Agent all they have seen and the soldiers will know how to enter our camp.”
With clubbed guns many of the desperate youths rushed upon the friendlies and scouts, others cocked their Winchesters, and for a few moments it looked as if poor Louis and No Neck, Two Strike and Crow Dog, would lose their lives. Crow Dog sat upon the ground and drew his blanket over his head.
The wiser counsel prevailed, however, and after a great hubbub, in which several young men were knocked down, order was restored. One of the horses and several of the dogs of the friendlies were shot during the melee. When the 145 lodges started from the camp another difficulty arose. It was during this trouble that Crow Dog made his famous, though brief speech:
“I am going back to White Clay (the location of the agency); you can kill me if you want to, now, and prevent my starting. The Agent’s words are true, and it is better to return than to stay here. I am not afraid to die.”
So, they started for home.
Imagine the surprise of the friendlies when, upon looking back from the top of a ridge two miles distant, they saw the 117 lodges of hostiles coming after them. They halted to wait for Short Bull to catch up, and then the entire outfit moved toward the agency, all happy in the prospect of peace and forgiveness.
But the hopes of the friendlies were short-lived, for Short Bull became scared after having proceeded four miles farther, and together with his band, left the rear of the column and returned to the Bad Lands. Sunday and Monday morning the Indians moved along the trail, reaching Red Cloud’s camp, in sight of the agency headquarters just before noon, Monday. Louis and the scouts had ridden ahead and reached the general’s presence as narrated in the forepart of this chapter.
These friendlies, added to the large number already in camp near the agency buildings, led all of us to hope the trouble was over. But during all the Pine Ridge excitement, up on the Missouri river, at Standing Rock, Sitting Bull was in evidence, with some 150 followers.
In the midst of the excitement, when Superintendent McLaughlin went to see Sitting Bull at his camp on Grand River, and argued with him, contending that the Messiah doctrine was false, Sitting Bull suggested that both McLaughlin and himself together with attendants should visit the Messiah in the far West. The truth or falsity of his doctrine would then be apparent. If McLaughlin had agreed to this sensible proposition, much evil might have been avoided, but the Major refused to go, and thereby missed an opportunity of doing the Indians a service and preventing the subsequent massacre.
In November, the President ordered the Secretary of War to prepare for action, and Major John R. Brooke (now General) went to Pine Ridge. These troops (of which we have seen there were a large number) were scattered about through the Indian country.
The troops until the end of December, were either in camp near Pine Ridge, or were scouting about in the country pursuing scattered bands of Indians. In the meantime, Sitting Bull was preparing to leave his reservation (Standing Rock) and flee into the Bad Lands to join the Ghost dancers who had fled there from Pine Ridge. Both Mooney and Major McLaughlin give accounts of what occurred at Sitting Bull’s. As McLaughlin’s is the lengthier of the two, I shall reproduce that portion of it relating immediately to the death of Sitting Bull.
THE “INDIAN GATE,” PINE RIDGE, 1890
Down a ravine, to the right, the interpreter and myself used to creep at night. Thus we reached the “hostiles’ camp” and obtained news.