270 INDIANS. 



a c humane ' commission was appointed to treat with 

 .them. The garrisons were withdrawn, the road aban- 

 doned, and in their own opinions the Indians are un- 

 conquerable, and Eed Cloud the greatest warrior in the 

 world. 



Spotted Tail, another Sioux chief (already mentioned), 

 also rose from the ranks. When a boy of nineteen or 

 twenty years, he incurred the implacable enmity of a sub- 

 chief, already noted for his daring and ferocity, by aspiring 

 to a girl on whom the chief had set his eye. One 

 day, meeting accidentally a short distance from the camp, 

 the chief peremptorily demanded of Spotted Tail a 

 renunciation of the girl under penalty of instant death. 

 Drawing his knife, Spotted Tail defied him to do his 

 worst. A long and bloody conflict ensued. Some hours 

 after a straggler from camp found the two bodies locked 

 in a death grip, and each gaping with innumerable wounds. 

 The chief was dead. Spotted Tail recovered, to step at 

 once into prominence ; and when, a few years after, the 

 hereditary chief died, he was almost unanimously selected 

 as principal chief, in spite of the most determined oppo- 

 sition of the sub-chief, who by regular succession should 

 have obtained the position. Spotted Tail has proved an 

 able and judicious ruler, and has well justified the choice 

 of his tribe. One instance of what may be termed a 

 political execution, and I have done with the subject of 

 Indian government. 



Big Mouth, another chief of the Brule Sioux, was 

 the peer of Spotted Tail in most manly and warlike 

 qualities. In the constant complications arising of late 

 years from the more direct contact of Indian and white, 

 Big Mouth steadily gained in power and influence. A 

 few years ago Spotted Tail made a visit to Washington, 

 New York, and other eastern cities, and was much feted. 

 On his return, with changed views and c new-fangled ' 

 notions as to the policy of the Indians, Big Mouth 

 eagerly seized the opportunity of increasing his power 



