Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/386

 that he had outwitted the enemy on that occasion. The Sioux and Cheyennes had encamped in seven circles, covering four miles in length of the valley. The trail was from ten to twelve days old, and, in the opinion of Frank and the other guides, had been made by from ten to twenty thousand ponies.

The hills bordering the Rosebud were vertical bluffs presenting beautiful alternations of color in their stratification; there were bands of red, pink, cream, black, and purple; the different tints blending by easy gradations into a general effect pleasing to the eye. There were quantities of lignite which would be of incalculable benefit to the white settlers who might in the future flock into this region. In riding along with our Indian scouts we learned much of the secret societies among the aboriginal tribes: the "Brave Night Hearts," the "Owl Feathers," and the "Wolves and Foxes." These control the tribe, fight its battles, and determine its policy. Initiation into some one of them is essential to the young warrior's advancement. The cañon of the Rosebud would seem to have been the burying-ground of the Western Dakotas; there were dozens of graves affixed to the branches of the trees, some of them of great age, and all raided by our ruthless Shoshones and Utes, who with their lances tumbled the bones to the ground and ransacked the coverings for mementos of value, sometimes getting fine bows, at others, nickel-plated revolvers. There was one which the Shoshones were afraid to touch, and which they said was full of bad "medicine;" but "Ute John," fortified, no doubt, by the grace of his numerous Mormon baptisms, was not restrained by vain fears, and tumbled it to the ground, letting loose sixteen field mice which in some way had made their home in those sepulchral cerements.

Captain "Jack Crawford, the Poet Scout," rode into camp on the 8th of August attended by a few companions. The weather became rainy, and the trail muddy and heavy. August 11th our scouts sent in the information that a line of Indians was coming up the valley, and our men advanced as skirmishers. Soon word was received that behind the supposed enemy could be seen the white canvas coders of a long column of wagons, and we then knew that we were about to meet Terry's command. Our cavalry were ordered to halt and unsaddle to await the approach of the infantry. The Indian scouts were directed to proceed to the