Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-06-27

presence. This was not the case as when
one of these ardent youths arrived opposite
tbe girl of his fancy be would take the
! rigbt upper corner of his blanket in his
| right hand, and, wheeling around ike a
! flash. throw his arm around her, thereby
enveloping both of them in the blanket.
| Then he tells his story Of love and admira-
ton in low voice, oftentimes in singing
tone. as though he had resorted to q rude
verse to convey his tender passion. The
| Girl scolds him for his impudence and i'm
! pertinence, orders him to release her. and
struggles to free herself. He seems to ex-
pect this perverse coyness, and continues
| his story in torrent of words. II she is
| emphatic III her utteranCes, and struggles
violently, the other girls come to her res
cue, and, pulling the blanket off, pelt him
well with sticks, stones, or anything at
hand In this event the young suitor
walks away with a smile, probably in
search of more willing ears for his avOwal.
Every evening, Cor the week they were en-
camped there near this trading post ct the
same hour, this strange but rather en-
phatic wooing went on. At other times
The Young people by no word or act showed
their preferences.
During my stay | was frequent guest ut
the tepee, or wigwam, Of Spotted Tail, the
head chief He was the son OF chief, but
had won his way to the first position in the
great Indian nation by bravery in the field
and wisdom in the council. On these VS.
! its he told me the history Of the Sioux, or
Dakotas, from the time they were E small
| handful of dog-prackers in the SHOWS of
the Red river OF the north, through their
rnigrations after the buffalo to the south,
their settlement at the mouth of the Chey-
enne river. in Dakota, and their unequal
but successful wars with the great Crow,
| Ute, Pawnee, Ki0wa, Arapahoe and Chey-
enne tribes. He went over his many
marches, his long HASTINGS, his fierce bat
! ties and great victories with cleaning eyes,
and with as much pride as q Napoleon, q
| Grant or Sheridan could have shown.
| His oldest daughter had died at Fort Lar
annie, and he spoke of her in terms OF deep
est sorrow. His pride at that time was
! Mahreta, daughter l6 OF II years old
| She was by far the prettiest girl of her tribe,
| or any other, SO far as ! ever saw. She had
! regular features, large eyes, AN aquiline nose,
! beautiful teeth, and she was Il picture OF
rustic health. Her outdoor life and train
ing had given her grace and ease of
| movement unapprOached in civilization.
| She was an artist in their rude way. She
| eXcelled in decorating robes with the col
Ored beads and p0rcuplne quilts. She made
! beautiful beaded moccasins, and she did
| their picture writing on pipes and toIua-
| hawk handles very skilltully. She made
out the annual "totems" or records Of the
| braves, which her father, as head chief,
| issued as q certificate Of bravery. She was
| the favorite OF the great chief and his look,
usually proud and naughty, sottened and
| became as tender us q girls when it rested
upon her. Often as she nimbly piled the
needle or deity painted the " totems, v
| chanting some song of great deeds and
| matchless bravery. or OF romantic love and
undYing devotion, he would turn 10 me and
ask if any pale-iacc girls were as beautiful
as his Red Bird, - the English of her In
| dian name.
Little Thunder was often brought to the
| tepee Of Spotted Tail. The regard and adj
miration which these two men had for
each other was remarkable. They would
| talk long and anxiously of the future of
| the great Sioux nation. On these visits
| Little Thunder was often attended by his
! son, Mapaluta He was one Of the young
| est chiefs Of the tribe. He had won his
| promotion by bravery, while a mere boy,
| in expeditions against the Crows. He eX-
| celled in ali athletic sports, was q daring
| horseman, an unerring marksman and so
! swift Of foot as to be called Redwing.
! had seen him met Mahreta III her fathers
/ tepee a score Of times as coolly and indiffer-
| emily as possible. One evening, however,
! when Mahreta was returning from the
! spring he met her, ana, throwing his arm
around her and his blanket over both, he
! detained her, and IN chanting tone told
! his story. She, as in custom bound, scolded
| him and pleaded TO be released, but, as
| thought, 50 mildly that her no must surely
mean yes. lie evidently thought the same,
| as he repeated the wooing each evening"
! only to be met with quiet seedlings and
/ struggles for escape. / had hoped TO have
! seen wedding, hut it was not my fortune
! at that time / was more fortunate after
wards.
One day rs I WIS on the bluff above the
camp, watching the busy scenes OF wild
! life before me, saw q woman come up on to
high point, and turn her face TO the cast
and utter the most plaintiye calls She
continued at this for hours. ! inquired Of
young Beauva.s. my mentor in Sioux
affairs, what ii meant. After inquTiug he
told me that her husband had gone out
some weeks before on an expedition against
| the Pawnees, and that he had become sep
arated from the rest Of the party,
and that it had returned without
him. There had been hope that he
would eventually come back, but that
| hope was noW nearly gone. Another party
had been sent out after him, and It's return
was daily expected at camp. In day or
two il came in and brought the word that
he had been killed by the Pawnees. went
to see how she bore the news, and when |
found her she was frightful object. She
had cut OFF her long hair, and with a knife
had slashcd her arms and face SO that she
was covered with blood. She was sitting
on the ground, with ashes thrown over her
head, and was Tending the air with her
cries, in which she was accompanied by
all the lost husbands relatives. The
mourning for the lost warrior continued day
and night so long as I was with them.
The body had been brought in, and was
prepared TO be laid at rest. The Sioux do
not bury their dead. There was a rude at
tempt at embalming, and then, with pipe
and tobacco, his weapons and ornaments,
some provisions and beads used az money,
he was securely wrapped in q large buffalo
robe. Then he was carried away by party
to be placed in some tree Of . grove. ]
have seen some OF these groves used for
sepulture loaded with bodies. ! recall to
mind one at Mud Springs, near the North
Platte. On q scout we had camped there,
and out Of mere wantonness some soldiers
climbed up and shook the bodies down,
until stopped by the officer of the day.
My wounded teamsters recovered so as
to be able 10 be moved, and my stay among
the SIouA came 10 an end lOr that unle.
In the following autumn the Cheyennes
went to war, and raided the overland route,
stealing stock and numbering people. A
force was sent out from our fort, and ac-
cOmpanied it as medical officer. We went
south to the Republican, where we came
across theSioux camp. Spotted Tail was de-
lighted to see US, and gave Us q warm
welcome We camped near by and they
gave US plenty fgame for our whole party.
With them was Billy Beauvais, who had
several wagon loads of goods. He was
doing good business trading for furs.
was the guest Of the chief, and given a
pile of robes and skins for bed in his
tepce. Mahreta was there as beautiful
and as much the pride of her father as ever.
At dusk that night was talking with
Billy Beauyais, near the tepee, when | saw
an Indian lying fiat on the ground near by,
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