The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-03-04
SPOTTED TAIL.
y Word of Gossip About the Good Injun
In His Late Mission of Peace,

\ correspondent of the New York
Herald sends 4 rather gossipy commune
cation to his paper from Camp Robin
son, Red Cloud Agency. He tells sew
eral anecdotes of the Indians. Speak
ing of the self-imposed mission of
peace to Crazy Horse, he says that Old
Spot is the uncle of Crazy Horse, and
this is given as n reason for the hope
that he may induce his belligerent rel
alive to come to terms before the spring
opens.
The romantic story connected with
Spotted Tails devoted adherence to the
whites has been, he says, dwelt upon
considerably since he undertook his
mission of peace. The tale, which is
by no means new, runs thus: A fav-
orite daughter of the old chief became
enamored of an officer stationed at
Camp Sheridan, lear the Agency. Her
passion was not appreciated by the pale
face. Love u%nrequited was her por-
ton, but still she loved on, though her
passion was left to feed upon itself.
But it only grew the more, until she
sickened and died of a broken heart.
Before dying, the Indian maiden called
her father to her side, and, with her
last breath, besought him to promise
her never to fight with the white man
again. Such a promise he must long
have hesitated about making, for he
felt ali the wrongs of his people keenly,
and all his glory was in war. But at
last he promised, and faithfully has he
kept his pledge. He may be called
crafty and ~polite-for, though an untu-
tored savage, he has brains-but he is
never hostile. He is dignified beyond
all comparison with the other chiefs,
and he has ruled his own people with
an iron hand.
Spotted Tail is said to have killed
more of his OWL people than any other
chief o living, and for this reason
he is feared by many and hated by some,
too. He has another daughter named
Shonkoo, which means the red road,
who has recently been married to Mr..
Lone Elk, a dashing young buck. There
is also a little bit OF romance about
Shonkoo. Not long ago two Sisters of
Charity visited their Agency, and were
presented to Spotted Tail during their
stay. He was well pleased to meet them
and had q friendly ''talk'' with them
at Colonel Mills house. In the course
of the conversation they asked him if
he would like to give them Shonkoo to
go and live with them in the convent.
He said yes, he would like it very much.
Then they sent for Shonkoo and asked
her if she would like to go, but she re-
manned silent, vouchsafng no answer
to their question. Her father urged her
to speak, to say yes, but still she was
silent andthe rviewthusterminated.
That night Shonkoo eloped with Lone
Elk, to whom she managed to convey
the intelligence that her father was
about to send her away. Shonkoo is
considered quite pretty. She has good
taste in dress for an Indian woman,
and understands English, but dislikes
to speak it. She is proud enough to be
a princess.
So much has been said and written
during the past year Of the Indian loss
es in battle and so little is really known
of the actual loss that it has been con-
sidered worth while to undertake to
investigate into this business. The
story usually has gone that ''there were
heavy Indian losses, but the hostiles
had carried off their dead" Frank
Gruard, the scout, is now moving among
the Indians at Spotted Tail and trying
to ascertain from them, who have heard
the exact truth from the hostiles, what
the real amount of their losses was. At
Red Cloud Lieutenant Clark has also
set some men to inquire into this mat
ter, and in a little while something like
an accurate idea of the Indian losses
NAV be formed.