“You’re always whining at Washington about its fellows out here. We do the dirty work and take all the kicks, and you fellows gobble all the proceeds.”
“You know better than that, Price. As near as I can find out you are salting away more plunder than any other along the line. We give you credit for organizing county officials and courts, but you ought to manage to let the reds have enough to keep them fairly contented or do something to pacify them. The devil is to pay now. Sitting Bull has declined to sign a treaty giving up any more lands, and he refuses to agree to remain upon a reservation.”
“Let the government teach him a lesson, then.”
“That is a good sight easier said than done, Price; and, then, again, what is to become of your occupation and mine if we have a war with the Sioux? The Bad Lands are swarming with Sioux warriors now. Sitting Bull is the most powerful Indian in America, and in case of a government movement against them there will be a good deal of blood shed, and the country will demand an investigation of the cause.”
“How do you know so much about Sitting Bull and his warriors in the Bad Lands? We haven’t heard anything about it here.”
“That is just the trouble, Price. You fellows out here don’t attempt to keep track of things. Small bands of reds are making their way down the Gallatin Valley every day, and because they don’t come yelling and shooting into town you think they are a thousand miles away.
“For months the department has been attempting to soothe the feelings of the Sioux, while Cody, Custer, Crook, Gibbon, and Terry have been making a study of the situation. Their reports are filed in Washington, and matters are looking serious. Cody is in this territory, somewhere, now.”
“He won’t be long.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I have my trap all set, and Mr. Buffalo Bill will soon come up among the missing.”