SOCIAL LIFE. 817 



At a council held at North Platte, in 1867, between 

 the Indians and some representatives of the Government, 

 one of the chiefs spoke earnestly and feelingly on this 

 subject. He said that his tribe was poor and could not 

 support the widows and orphans abandoned by white 

 men, and he begged that some special provision might be 

 made by the United States for this class of people. 



Our dealings with the Indians have habitually been so 

 stupid that it is not at all remarkable that they consider 

 us very nearly idiots, to be hoodwinked and bamboozled 

 at any time or on any subject by a specious speech or 

 promise. Their belief in our credulity was undoubtedly 

 the cause of their making of that council one of the most 

 remarkable demands ever made in earnest by any people. 

 The spring and summer of 1867 had been a succession of 

 raids, plunderings, and murders. All the plains tribes 

 were loose. Ouster, with a considerable force, was scout- 

 ing between the Kansas Pacific Eailroad and the Platte 

 Eiver. It was necessary to communicate with him. A 

 lieutenant and thirteen men of the 2nd Cavalry, with 

 Eed Bead, a Sioux chief, as guide, were sent from Fort 

 Sedgwick to intercept him. The lieutenant was very 

 wary and used every precaution against surprise, making 

 no camps, but halting at uncertain intervals to rest and 

 refresh his men and graze his animals. He had, however, 

 to deal with Pawnee Killer, the most redoubtable of all 

 the hostile chiefs (and from whom this account comes). 

 One night the lieutenant marched until nearly morning, 

 then halted, and, without making fires or unsaddling, 

 allowed his exhausted men to lie down and sleep. 

 Pawnee Killer, who was attending him like a fate, 

 crawled with a large force on the sleeping men, and, just 

 at dawn, one volley sent every sleeper, save two, to his 

 long account. Those two men were a corporal arid Eed 

 Bead. The corporal, at the fire, sprung to his feet, pistol 

 in hand, and, as the enemy rushed upon him, fired two 

 shots, killing two Indians. Before he could do more he 



