The band of the Sioux to which he belonged is known as Iteshicha. As no comprehensive account of his life has ever been published, I intend to devote this entire chapter to him and his activities. He first comes into prominence in 1865, when the Government undertook to build a road from Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to the gold regions of Montana. Red Cloud captured a detachment of troops and held same prisoners for two weeks and then released them without injury. Commissioners were sent out from Washington that fall to treat with him, and he refused to meet with them.[[27]]

Of the individuals who exerted an influence upon the various bands of Sioux something can be learned by a search of the records. Perhaps Sitting Bull and Red Cloud are more popularly known than others. Every plainsman worthy of the name has had an encounter at some time during the past with Red Cloud’s warriors. Army officers stationed on the frontier in the ’60’s or ’70’s testify to the courage and dash of these sons of the Plains. The War Department records contain more frequent mention of Red Cloud than of any other American Indian; and the pictographic accounts made by the Sioux themselves upon tanned buffalo hides, many years ago, are filled with evidences of the prowess of this chief.

Makh-ṕiya-lúta, or Red Cloud, has said in his pictographic history of his life, that he was born in the year 1822.[[28]] His parents were not prominent among the tribe. He calls this year “Star-passed-by-with-a-loud-noise-winter.” The Sioux, in their winter-counts, designate each year by some particular or striking occurrence. For instance, in Red Cloud’s winter-counts, or census, one winter is called “Winter-in-which-many-died-of-smallpox”; another, “Winter-we-killed-one-hundred-white-men.” There are several of these winter-counts made by different chiefs in possession of the Government, which agree as to the naming of each year, and only vary in minor details. Two of them cover a surprisingly long period of time, from 1800 to 1877. Both have been carefully studied by ethnologists and interpreters, and accurate translations prove them of special value to history students.

Of the extreme youth of Red Cloud we know nothing. An old Indian, when asked at Pine Ridge, shrugged his shoulders and said, “All great men were once boys.” He was trained as became a young Lakota. All Indian children learn to ride when extremely young. General Dodge says that, whether men or boys, the Plains tribes, or, as most officers call them, “Horse Indians,” produced the finest horsemen in the world. Red Cloud was not a hereditary chief, but arose to distinction through merit.

Red Cloud was about sixteen when he became a leader among the other boys, signalizing himself in skirmishes and battles with the Crows, Pawnees, and other hereditary enemies of the Sioux. The various winter-counts tell us that many severe engagements occurred between the Crows and the Sioux, and it is doubtless true that he charged and yelled, scalped and tortured just as energetically as his companions.

Mr. C. W. Allen, who is well acquainted with Red Cloud, prepared a manuscript some years ago, before the chief’s memory failed. Because the chief presents his version of Plains history, the work is unique and merits publication. Heretofore we have had only the white man’s narratives.

Between 1840 and 1849 there were but few attacks against Whites on the Plains, and most of these occurred to the south, in Texas, or along the old Santa Fe trail. It was not until and during 1849 that extensive emigration set in towards California. As the wagon-trains increased, the hunting of the Indians was seriously interfered with. Expeditions, not only of United States troops but of adventurers, buffalo hunters, and miners, penetrated to various parts of the great West. Among these travelers were men who regarded an Indian no higher than a dog, and fired upon peaceful parties of hunting Indians without the slightest provocation. Wagon-trains were often in charge of men from the East who knew nothing whatever of Indians or their habits, and becoming insanely frightened at the approach of either friendly or hostile red men, opened fire without the slightest thought of consequences. It is therefore not surprising that all the Plains Indians soon assumed a hostile attitude toward any being with a white skin.

I have talked with many old Indians of Pine Ridge, Red Cloud’s home, and they have agreed that the destruction of the buffalo was the greatest calamity ever brought upon their race. They could forgive the Whites for attacking their villages, and for the disregard of treaty promises, and overlook the seizure of their lands, but they could not forget that the Americans made useless and unnecessary slaughter of that grand, majestic native animal, typical of the “spirit of the Plains.” But few men appreciate what the buffalo was to the Indian. Thousands of men flocked west to hunt buffalo solely for their hides. Most of them were inexperienced and destroyed many animals before they learned how to properly prepare a robe for sale. The great Platte valley, the Arkansas, the Niobrara and other Plains rivers, were in a few years lined with millions of skeletons a pitiful spectacle—wretched relics of a once noble creature. Complaints were made by the Indians, who depended solely upon the buffalo for existence, to the Government at Washington, but without avail. More butchers, attracted by the alluring and exciting life of the hunter, flocked to the West. They strained every nerve to make a “record” in destroying these animals. To be a buffalo-hunter became popular, and a number of persons have since carried through life names distinguishing them from their fellows because of the exceeding slaughter which they made. Col. Dodge, who spent from 1819 to 1884 on the frontier, blames the hunters, miners, and cowboys for the Indian wars. This class of people regarded the rights of no persons, save themselves. While our Government was supposed to protect, it did little save send out Peace Commissions and armies in rotation. The lawless white men were never controlled. But the day of retribution was at hand. The Sioux held a great council, which was attended by the dissatisfied element of other bands, and decided to drive out all the whites found in their hunting territory. They split up into small bands, attacked emigrant trains, killed hunters, and at the time of the Civil War were carrying on a general warfare from the Black Hills to the frontiers of Texas.

RED CLOUD AND PROFESSOR MARSH
The illustration is reproduced from a photograph in the possession of Miss Fannie Brown, of Andover. The date is uncertain, but supposed to be 1874 or ’75