Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1884-12-12
4 Red Napoleon
"REMINISCENCES OF THE CAMPAIGNS
AGAINST SITTING BULL.

AGAINST SlIIlNb BULL
In a letter dated Boise, Idaho,
General James S. Brlsbin writes as
follows to the New York Sun: All
the land bordering on the Missouri
river, from Fort Benton to BufOrd,
at the mouth Of the Yellowstone,
and up that stream for 800 miles,
was Sitting Bulls country. twas
here, only eight years ago, that
the Sioux chief roamed at will, Of
ten penetrating as far East as the
Black Hills in Dakota. The out
side belt Of his hunting lands
measured over 1000 miles in cir
cumferencc; and it was fully 200
miles across them as the bird flies.
The great chief had his principal
village at the mouth Of Tongue
river, on the Yellowstone, where
Fort Keogh now stands. There
he dwelt in winter with 1900
Sioux, including assimilatcd tribes
who acknowledged him as their
leader.
The change in this section Of
country since 1876 is incredible.
Then not white man could ven
ture down the Yellowstone with
out incurring almost certain des-
truction. Even larger bodies Of
men were unable to penetrate far
from the Missouri river. / remem-
Der very well, in the winter Of 1876,
of learning that Sitting Bull had
surrounded forty-seven adyentur-
ous white men at Fort Pease, near
the mouth Of the Big Horn. was
sent by General Terry with a
column of troops to their relief. l.
required q force Of 800 men to res.
cue them. Even this force would
have been insufficient had Sitting
Rull chosen to resist the invasion
of his country.
This march began at Fort Ellis
in the dead of winter. The be-
seigcd men were not reached until
March 6, 1876. found them in a
desperate condition, six having
been killed outright, eight wound.
ed, and the whole company on the
point of starvation. Sitting Ball
then had a camp Of eighty lodges
at the mouth Of Little Horn, near
where Fort Custer is now located;
but his great camp was on the
Tongue river, aud | was assured it
contained over ll,000 souls. The
camp ut Little Horn did not move,
although we passed within twenty
miles oft, nor did Sitting Ball
bring any force from Tongue river
10 oppose us. He seemed TO know
as well as we did why we had in
vadcd his country, and desired the
success of our cxpcdition-the TAX
ing away OF the white men from the
Indian country.
The Fort Pcase aiVcnturcrs had
been closely bcsciged for over two
months, and, at the time OF our
arrival, not man could venture
\ safely outside the gates Of the fort.
Every ten days Sitting Bull woald
detail fee hundred warriors to
fight The whites. When these
/ were tired out ho would send five
hundred fresh warriors to relieve
them II was reported that me had
eight hundred warriors at The
mouth Of the Little Horn and lif
teen hundred at Tongue river, all
under his command aud ready to
obey his orders at moments no.
ticc. From this it will be seen
how easily he could have defeated
our small force had hc been so
minded; but he did not then wish
to fight any more than he does
now. When we got near Pease's
bottom, on lhe Yellowstone, he
came over with a small body Of
warriors and quietly looked on
while we took the adventurous
white men out of their rude fort and
sent them up the valley to their
homes in Montana. He followed
close behind to see that we were
going OF his lands, and seemed
perfectly satisfied to have us 90
away in peace. That Sitting Bull
fought the whites and made much
trouble afterwprd was perfectly
natural. In doing so he only dis
charged his duty to his peoplc,and
did what any brave man would have
done in his place.
1t was in the winter of 1876 that
the government determined to
drive Sitting Bull ont of the Vel
lowstone valley, and to appropriate
it to the use ofour own people. |
bad rot yet arrived at my post,
when | heard that an expedition
was 10 be made against Sitting
Bull and war waged all along the
. Yellowstone river. did not be-
licve it, but on approaching Ellis,
learned that General GibbOn was
already there with a column OF in
iantry, and had orders for me to
tuln bacl, with the cavalry and 20
at once to attack Sitting Ball and
his people. Alter the magnani'
nous conduct Of the old chief, |
did not, orcoursc, relish these or
drrs, but had ~ alternative but
to obey them. Joined my column