Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/437

 as a brier, and extremely witty. He understood enough English to get along at table, and we picked up enough Dakota to know that when he asked for "ahúyape," he meant bread; "wosúnna" was butter; "wáka-maza," corn; that "bellô" was the name for potatoes, "tollô" for beef, "pazúta-sápa" for coffee, "witká" for eggs; that white sugar became in his vocabulary "chahúmpiska," salt was transformed into "minni-squia"; and that our mushrooms and black pepper resolved themselves into the jaw-breaking words: "yamanuminnigawpi" and "numcatchy-numcapa," respectively. He was addicted to one habit, not strictly according to our canons, of which we never succeeded in breaking him: if he didn't like a piece of meat, or if he had been served with a greater abundance than he needed of anything, he lifted what he didn't want back upon the platter. His conversational powers were of a high order, his views carefully formed, clearly expressed. My personal relations with him were extremely friendly, and I feel free to say that "Spotted Tail" was one of the great men of this country, bar none, red, white, black, or yellow. When "Crow Dog" murdered him, the Dakota nation had good reason to mourn the loss of a noble son.

"Spotted Tail" was several times accompanied by "White Thunder," a handsome chief, most favorably disposed towards the whites, and of good mental calibre, but in no sense "Spotted Tail's" equal. On other occasions we had both "Spotted Tail" and "Red Cloud" at dinner or lunch on the same day. This we tried to avoid as much as possible, as they were unfriendly to each other, and were not even on speaking terms. However, at our table, they always behaved in a gentlemanly manner, and no stranger would have suspected that anything was wrong. "Red Cloud" had shown a better disposition since the coming in of the Cheyennes, their avowed intentions having as much of an effect upon him as upon "Spotted Tail." The delegation of Ogallalla warriors had done such good work during the campaign that General Crook had allowed the members of the other bands to give to the more deserving some of the ponies taken away from them and distributed among the other divisions of the Sioux. This developed a much better feeling all around, and "Red Cloud " had asked to be enlisted as a soldier, to show that he meant well.

He had also said that "Crazy Horse" could not travel in as