The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-08-20
CROOKS REL ALLIES.
Why They Hate the sioux-Their War
and Scalp Dances

Gen. Crooks Indian allies have shown
a very eommendable spirit in remaining
with him during so long a period Of in
activity as elapsed while he was await
ing r-einforeements. A few nights
before he began his forward movement,
al immense Gre was kindled near
Crooks tents, and there all the chiefs
of both tribes, together with the COM
manding officers, held "a big talk"
Louis Richard acted as interpreter, and
had a hard time of it, having to trans
late in three OF four languages. A
quarter of an hour interviewed between
each sentence. The chiefs squatted on
their heels, according to their ancient
custom, and passed the long pipe from
man to mar. Crook stood in the circle,
withlhis hands in his pockets, looking
half bored, half happy. Maj. Randall,
chief of scouts, and other members of
the staff were with him. The Indians
were quite jolly, and laughed heartily
whenever the interpreter made any kind
of blunder. The Snakes retired from
the council first. They said very little.
sold Crow" the greatest chief of the
Grow nation, made the only consecu-
tive speech of the night, and it was a
short one. q Translated, it was as fol-
lows:
1.-THE great white chief will hear his
Indian brother. These are our lands
by inheritance. The great Spirit gave
them to our fathers, but the Sioux
stole them from us. They hunt upon
our mountains. They fish in our
streams. They have stolen our horses.
They have murdered our squaws-our
children. What white man has done
these things to us? The face of the
Sioux is red but his heart is black. But
the heart of the pale face has ever been
red to the Crow. (sUgh!' 'Ughi'. 'Hey!')
The scalp of no white man hangs in
our lodges. They are thick as grass to
the wigwams of the Sioux. [sUghi'l
The great white chief will lead us
against no other tribe of red men. Our
war is with the Sioux and only them.
We want back our lands. We want
their women for our slaves-to work
for us as our women had to work for
them. We want their horses for our
young men, and their mules for our
squaws. The Sioux have trampled
upon II hearts-we shall spit upon
their scalps. ['Ugh!' 'Heyl' and ter
rible yelling.] The great white chief
sees that my young men have come to
fight. No Sioux shall see their backs.
Where the white warrior goes there
shall we be also. 1t is good. Is my
brother c~ontent?-
The chief and Crook shook hands
amid a storm of "Ughs'' and yells. All
the red men then left the council fire
and went to their villages, where they
put on their war-paint and made night
hideous by a war-dance and barbarous
music. They initiated in succession
every beast and bird of the North
American forest. Now they roared
like a bison bull. Then they mimicked a
wildcat. All at once they broke out
with the near, fierce bowling of a pack
of wolves; gradually the sound would
die away until you would imagine that
the animals were off, when of a sudden,
the bowling would rise within a few
yards, and in the darkness you would
try to discern the foul ~sscoyotes, y next
to the Indians the terror of the plains.
All night long the sayages continued
their internal orgies. Their music is
filter for hell than for earth. And yet
these are not the worst red men exist
ing. These are s'the truly good" Indians.
The young soldiers appeared to relish
the yelling business immensely, and
made abortive attempts to initiate the
Indians. greatly to the amusement OF
those grotesque savages.
THE sHosHoNE SCALP DANCE.
The following night the Shoshones
INDUCED in a scalp dance, which is thus
described by a correspondent:
In the centre Of their camp the war
riors had formed a large circle, about
fifty feet in circumference, in many
places in two ranks, and so close as to
lap shoulder over shoulder. In the
centre were five squaws in line, the
even numbers holding the scalps sus.
pended from the tops of long, slender
poles, which, bending beneath their