Page:A Brief History of South Dakota.djvu/57

Rh The chief of the upper village now came on Pryor's boat and demanded that Big White go on shore with him. With great insolence he demanded a surrender of all arms and ammunition. The chief, to whom a medal had been given, threw it on the ground, and one of Chouteau's men was struck down with a gun. Raising a general war whoop, the Rees fired on the boats and on Chouteau and a few of his men who were on shore, and then withdrew to a fringe of willows along the bank, some fifty yards back. The willows were more of a concealment than a protection, and Pryor replied with the fire of his entire force. The contest was maintained for fifteen minutes, but the number of Indians was so great that Pryor ordered a retreat.

To retreat was a very hard thing to do, for Chouteau's barge had stuck fast on a bar and the men were compelled to wade in the water and drag it for some distance, all the while under the fire of the Indians. At length the boats were gotten off and floated down the current, the Indians following along the bank. It was not until sunset that the pursuit was abandoned by the Indians, and then only on account of the serious wounding of Black Buffalo, the Teton Sioux who had entertained and quarreled with Lewis and Clark at the site of Fort Pierre three years before.

This was the first engagement between troops of the United States and Indians upon Dakota soil. Three of Chouteau's men were killed, and seven wounded, one mortally. Three of Pryor's men were wounded, among them the boy, George Shannon, who was lost for a time