Fig. 812.—The Oglalas at the Red Cloud agency, near Fort Robinson, Nebraska, cut to pieces the flagstaff which had been cut and hauled by order of their agent, but which they would not allow him to erect, as they did not wish to have a flag flying over their agency. American-Horse’s Winter Count, 1874-’75.
This was in 1874. The flag which the agent intended to hoist was lately at the Pine ridge agency, Dakota.
Fig. 813.—Horses taken.
Fig. 813.—Horses taken by United States government. The Flame’s Winter Count, 1876-’77.
This figure refers to the action of the military authorities of the United States toward the Indian tribes which had been connected with or suspected of favoring the outbreak which resulted in the defeat of the force under Gen. Custer. A body of troops swept the reservations on the Missouri river and took away all the ponies of the tribes, thereby depriving them of their means of transportation for hostile purposes. The hatted man with a star above his head is the brigadier-general in command of the United States forces. The hoof prints without marks of horseshoes indicate the Indian ponies as usual. The black blurs among them probably refer to the considerable number of the ponies that fell and died before they reached Bismark and other points of sale to which they were driven. It was promised that the amount realized from the sale of the drove should be returned to the owners, but the latter received little.
CHAPTER XVII.
BIOGRAPHY.
Pictographs under this head may be grouped as: 1st. Continuous record of events in life. 2d. Particular exploits or events. Pictographs of both of these descriptions are very common. An excellent collection is published in the George Catlin Indian Gallery in the U. S. National Museum, with memoir and statistics by Thomas Donaldson, a part of the Smithsonian Report for 1885, Pls. 100 to 110.