358 



KED BIRD RED CLOUD 



[ B. A. E. 



Ked Bird ( Wdnig-suchkd) . A Winne- 

 bago war chief, so named, according to 

 one authority, because he haVjitually 

 wore a red coat and called himself Eng- 

 lish, and by another because he wore on 

 each shoulder, "to supply the place of 

 an epaulette, a preserved red-bird." He 

 was born about 1788 and was the leading 

 spirit in the Winnebago outbreak of 1827. 

 He was friendly with the settlers of 

 Prairie du Chien, Wis., who regarded 

 him as a protector until two Winnebago, 

 who had been arrested for the murder of 

 a family of maple-sugar makers, were 

 erroneously reported to have been turned 

 over to the Chippewa by the mihtary 

 authorities at Ft Snelling and clubbed 

 to death while running the gauntlet. 

 The AVinnebago chiefs, on the receipt of 

 this news, met in council and determined 

 upon retaliation, selecting Red Bird to 

 carry out their decree. With this pur- 

 pose in view he, with two companions, 

 after visiting the house of Lockwood, a 

 trader at Prairie du Chien, proceeded to 

 the house of Registre Gagnier, who with 

 his hired man they shot down after be- 

 ing hospitably entertained by them. An 

 infant was torn from the mother (who 

 made her escape), and was stalibed and 

 left for dead, though subsequently re- 

 stored. Red Bird and his companions 

 proceeded the same day, June 26, 1827, 

 to the rendezvous of his Ijand, consisting 

 of 37 warriors with their wives and chil- 

 dren, at the mouth of Bad Axe r., Minn. 

 A day or two later they attacked a boat on 

 the Mississippi, killing 4 and wounding 

 2 of the crew, and losing a third of their 

 own number. When the troops arrived 

 and prepared to attack the Winnebago, 

 Red Bird and hisaccomi)lices gave them- 

 selves up and were tried and convicted, 

 but sentence was deferred until the last 

 day of the general court, and then, for 

 some unknown cause, was not pro- 

 nounced. With his companions Red 

 Bird was remanded to prison to await 

 sentence, where he died, Feb. 16, 1828. 

 The others were condemned to death, but 

 were pardoned by President John Quincy 

 Adams, in Nov. 1828, at the instance of 

 Nawkaw, who, with a deputation of his 

 tribesmen, visited Washington in their 

 behalf. 



Kedbones. See Croatan Indians. 



Red Cedar Lake. A Chippewa village on 

 Red Cedar lake, Barron co. , Wis. — Warren 

 (1852) in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll.,v, 191, 

 1885. 



Red Clay (free translation of Eldivd^di, 

 abbreviated form of Eldivd'diift, 'red 

 earth place'), A Cherokee settlement, 

 popularly known as Yellow-hill settle- 

 ment, and now officially called Cherokee. 

 It is the post-office and agency head- 

 quarters for the East Cherokee, and is 



situated on Oconaluftee r., in Swain co., 

 N. C— Mooney in 19th Rep. B. A. E., 

 517, 1900. 



Red ClifiF. A Chippewa band formerly 

 attached to La Pointe agency, near the w. 

 end of L. Superior, in Wisconsin or Minne- 

 sota.— Ind. Aff. Rep. 1873, 332, 1874. 



Red Cloud {Makhphja-luta, 'Scarlet 

 Cloud,' frequently known among his peo- 

 ple as Makhpia-sha, 'Red Cloud'). A 

 principal chief of the Oglala Teton Sioux 

 of Pine Ridge res. , the largest band of the 

 Sioux nation, and probably the most 

 famous and i)owerful chief in the history 

 of the tri))e. The origin of the name is 

 disputed, but is said by ex-agent McGilly- 

 cuddy (inf'n, 1906) to refer to the way 

 in which his scarlet-blanketed warriors 



RED CLOUD 



formerly covered the hillsides like a red 

 cloud. If this be true, the name was be- 

 stowed after he had obtained recognition 

 as a leader. 



Red Cloud was born at -the forks of 

 Platte r., Nebr., in 1822, and died at Pine 

 Ridge, S. Dak., Dec. 10, 1909. He was a 

 member of the Snake family, the most dis- 

 tinguished and forceful of his tribe, and 

 rose to prominence by his own force of 

 character, having no claim to hereditary 

 chiefship, which in the Oglala band 

 rested with the family represented by 

 They-fear-even-his-horse ( " Young-man- 

 afraid-of- his -horses"), the latter being 

 more conservative and more friendly 

 toward civilization. Red Cloud's father 

 died of drunkenness brought about by 

 the introduction of liquor into the tribe 



