“A great shadow has fallen on the valley of the Big Horn. The youngest of our guard, the beau sabreur of the Army of the Potomac, the golden-haired chief whom the Sioux had learned to love, has fought his last fight. Surrounded by over two hundred and fifty brothers in arms, Custer lies buried in the field wherehe fought, and fought until he could fight no longer.”
But this serious situation of the Indian uprisings did not end with this calamity which is referred to commonly as the Custer Massacre, and Brother Van had a full share of the dangers. Later the wars came into his territory.
CHAPTER VIII
SCOUTING FOR UNCLE SAM
GREAT excitement prevailed throughout the West over the rebellion of the Indians. The effect of the disturbances was felt increasingly severely in the district between Bannack and Sheridan. The Nez Percés Indians had long dwelt in the beautiful and fertile Wallowa Valley in Oregon. They resented the new treaty and fled into Montana from the soldiers sent to force them into the reservations. They were accustomed to the trails through Idaho and over the mountains as they had often come to Montana to camp and to hunt buffalo. This tribe had become known as the Nez Percés (nose pinched) Indians because they wore rings in their noses when Lewis and Clark found them during their western explorations. It is claimed by some members of the tribe that thiswas a mistake and that wearing nose rings had never been a custom of theirs.
The Nez Percés were a peaceful people and it was this tribe that had sent the delegation to find the “White Man’s Book of Heaven.” They had remembered the white man’s religion during the twenty-five years after the visit of those early explorers and the time of the pilgrimage of their leaders to St. Louis. They were eager to know the true religion and had often disputed about it among themselves. Some members of the tribe held that the white man worshiped the sun, as he had pointed to the sky when he spoke to them of God. They knew that the book would tell them the truth.
One of the religious ceremonies of the Nez Percés was the sun-dance. A pole was set up in the center and the people circled about it. The priest stood in the center of the circle and held up a fish, berries, or some other food and said, “Oh! Father bless the fish. Oh! Father bless us.” The phrase varied, of course, with the food thus held to the sun. Every one would chant the words after him with their heads bowed to the ground.
The resentment of these peaceful and worshipful, but now rebellious Indians showed itself in their acts of defiance. The settlements were greatly disturbed. Stories of wanton raids on the settlers were borne back and forth as the swift riders galloped over the prairies. Stockades were made for the protection of the women and children. Miners, ranchmen, and settlers were all engrossed in the one big object of protecting the lives of the scattered whites, and of saving the property so dearly bought by their daring and toil.
Thus Brother Van found a new job. He gave his services to his country, and, still preaching, singing, and cheering sad hearts, he became war scout for General O. O. Howard, who had been put in command of the troops sent to quell the Indian uprising. Only indecisive battles were fought. The Indians were not quieted, but were fired to further violence. Still resenting the presence of the whites on the plains, and still failing to appreciate the protection of the Great White Father at Washington, they were moved to many acts of violence under such indomitable leaders as ChiefJoseph, Looking Glass, and White Bird to command their movements.
The town of Bannack was built on Grasshopper Creek where gold was discovered in 1862. It was the first capital after the region became a territory and it was there in December, 1864, that the first legislature met and divided the new territory into counties.