An article from 1919 states, "With all the eloquence of his race ... [he] pleaded ... for the freedom of his people and advocated the right of citizenship for them ... Strongheart flayed the white race for its treatment of the red man, advocated allowing his people to leave the reservations and told with pardonable pride, of their fine war record". Possibly alluding to the Mountain Meadows Massacre, he blamed some of the history of Indian violence on Mormons who dressed as Indians and set off a chain of events leading to military conflict culminating in Custer's last stand. After that the Indians just protested being restricted to reservations, all of which was made even more troublesome when gold was found in the Black Hills.