TRIBAL GOVERNMENT RED CLOUD. 269 



stones. It marked the final resting place of the greatest 

 Indian warrior of his time. Such was the fate of an 

 hereditary chief who dared to go against the prejudices 

 of his tribe. 



The history of Eed Cloud, the head chief of the 

 Ogallalla Sioux now living, almost reverses the picture. 

 Not an hereditary chief, he owes his prominence to his 

 persistent hostility to the whites. The United States 

 Government determined to open a road to Montana by 

 way of Powder Eiver. It must necessarily pass through 

 a favourite hunting ground of the Sioux. Treaties were 

 made with prominent hereditary chiefs of the Sioux bands, 

 by whom the right of way was granted. So great was the 

 dissatisfaction among the Indians that Eed Cloud saw his 

 opportunity and denounced the treaties and their makers ; 

 he declared war to the knife against every white man 

 w r ho came .over that road, or ventured into that country. 

 Clouds of warriors, the ambitious and the disaffected of 

 all the tribes and bands of that country, flocked to 

 his standard. The hereditary chiefs found themselves 

 deserted and powerless, and in some instances were only 

 too glad to preserve their control over their bands by 

 acknowledging Eed Cloud as master. A long and 

 tedious war ensued, in which Eed Cloud made a great 

 reputation, and constantly received accessions to his 

 power, at the expense of the hereditary chiefs. 



Avoiding any general or even serious engagement, he 

 so harassed all trains and expeditions that the few troops 

 then in his country could scarcely be said to hold even 

 the ground they actually stood upon. Several forts were 

 established, but they protected only what was inside the 

 palisades. A load of wood for fuel could not be cut 

 outside without a conflict. This at last culminated in the 

 terrible massacre of Fort Phil Kearney, in which half the 

 garrison (gallantly, though unwisely, meeting the enemy 

 outside) perished to a man. Instead of sending more 

 troops, and promptly and terribly punishing the Indians, 



