Our camp at this time was in the Cave Hills between the Grand River and the headwaters of the Moreau, and in a great procession we set forth to the west, moving steadily till we reached the Powder River Valley. There we met three hundred lodges of the Cheyennes under the command of Crazy Horse, American Horse, and Two Moon.
To us American Horse said: “We are ready to fight. General Crook is at war upon us, but we have beaten him once and we can do it again. Now we will go with you and camp with you and battle when the time comes. Our fortunes shall be yours. Whatever happens, we will share it with you.”
“There will be no need to war,” said my chieftain, solemnly. “We have given up our land, we are going far into the west beyond even the Crow country where the buffalo are. Our enemy will not follow us there.”
Crazy Horse shook his head. “He will come, this white man. He trails us wherever we go. He has no more pity than the wolf. He has made a vow to sweep us from the earth.”
Cheyenne Scouts Patrolling the Big Timber of the North Canadian, Oklahoma
Illustration from
CHEYENNE SCOUTS IN OKLAHOMA
Originally published in
Harper’s Weekly, April 6, 1889
Indians Reconnoitering from a Mountain-top
The keen eye of the Indian is able to distinguish objects even in such an extensive view as this appears to be. To the white man, however, the Western landscape—red, yellow, blue, in a prismatic way, shaded by cloud forms and ending among them—appears as something unreal.