intention was to impress upon them the power of the government, and at the same time its purpose to treat them justly and humanely. At the close of my remarks the entire body of Indians, more than a hundred in number, remained in absolute silence for several minutes, which reminded me of a statement I had read, written by Benjamin Franklin more than a hundred years before; and if this silence was a mark of civility it was the cause of the most painful anxiety on my part as the moments went slowly by. At last a stalwart Indian by the name of Little Chief rose. Throwing back his buffalo robe from his shoulders, and letting all the covering he had on down to his waist fall gracefully about his loins to his feet, he looked an ideal chief, standing over six feet in height, and being slender, sinewy and muscular. His features were prominent, sharp and regular; his cheekbones were high, and his lips thin and severe; and he looked, as we afterward learned that he was, the orator of the Northern Cheyennes. The scars of the sun-dance were very prominent on his upper arms and breast, and dignity and grace marked his every movement and gesture. He commenced by proclaiming that he was a chief as his fathers had been before him for many generations; that they had lived in that country from time immemorial and regarded it as their own, and that they looked upon us as invaders. In the course of his remarks he gave the Indian side of the great question, proclaiming that they had been wronged, and that the whites were the aggressors. He finally came to the point in which I was most interested. He said: "We are weak, compared with you and your forces; we are out of ammunition; we cannot make a rifle, a round of ammunition, or a knife; in fact we are at the mercy of those who are taking possession of our country; your terms are harsh and cruel, but we are going to accept them and place ourselves at your mercy." Of all the eloquent words I have ever listened to, these were the most delightful to me, and they sent a thrill of joy through my heart as I realized that our work had been accomplished, and our toils and sacrifices were at an end. Little Chief concluded by saying that some of their number would go down and surrender at the agencies where their relatives were, while others desired to surrender to the military and remain on the Yellowstone. They were told that if they so desired a few of their number could be sent to Washington. This offer was declined, one prominent chief saying that he had been to Washington once, and had been shown a map and been told that a large part of the country must be occupied by white men and that the Indians must keep off from it; but over in one little corner of the map a place was reserved as Indian land, where the Indians were to live and the white people were to keep off from it; but the men that told him that lied, for the white men did not keep off of it. "You have not lied yet," he continued, “and I am going to try you and am coming in here. I am going to surrender to you. Little Hawk, the uncle of Crazy Horse, and others, guaranteed to take him and the entire camp to the lower agencies and surrender there, or else bring them in and make them surrender at our cantonment. As a pledge of their good faith they agreed to leave prominent men as hostages in the hands of the military, and to this end, White Bull, or The Ice, as he was sometimes called, the head chief of the Northern Cheyennes, rose in his place and said he would remain as hostage for the good faith of the Northern Cheyennes. Hump, head warrior of the Ogalallas, to which band Crazy Horse belonged, rose and said he would remain as hostage for the tribe of Ogalallas. These were followed by seven prominent men and warriors, until they were checked by my saying that we required no more; that I believed they were acting in good faith and intended to do as they promised. These prominent hostages remained in camp under close military surveillance, and the large delegation left immediately for their camp, then between the Tongue and Powder Rivers. The result was that more than three hundred followers of Two Moons, White Bull, Hump, Horse Road and others, surrendered on April 22, and the larger part of the remaining camp, numbering more than two thousand persons, led by Crazy Horse, WHITE BULL AND HORSE ROAD. Little Big Man, The Rock and others, moved south and surrendered at Red Cloud, Spotted Tail and other agencies. In the meantime Sitting Bull had gathered his camp south of the Yellowstone and when Crazy Horse's following decided to place themselves under subjection to the government, he, in order to avoid surrendering and to escape further pursuit, retreated to the northern boundary and sought refuge on Canadian soil. His following was then in a very destitute condition, almost entirely out of ammunition, having lost nearly everything except their guns and ponies. They remained on British territory for two years, when they finally all returned and surrendered. There was one camp, however, with nearly sixty lodges, chiefly Minneconjoux under Lame Deer, who declared that they would never surrender, and would roam where they pleased, and that they were going over to the Rosebud to hunt buffaloes, and they actually did start westward for that purpose. Lame Deer had been told through an interpreter that unless he surrendered, the troops would come out after him and bring him in. He declared that he had good scouts and that no white man could get near his camp or capture his people. When the Indians came in they were required to give up their war ponies and arms, and these ponies were sold and the proceeds used in purchasing a herd of cattle which was divided and given to the different |