Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1901-01-24

"It was the dark of the moon. The
snow lay only in patches in the coul,
tees and the valley was black as q
hat by nine at night. Ray and tent
ed together, and as we lay with feet
to the sibley, with our breath going
up in steam, he made me 60 over
Alouette's every word and gesture. He
asked me if her baby were with her.
She married Pierre BoisblGne three
years back, and he was employed as
teamster on the Sidney route and had
to be away much of the time. The
kid got pneumonia the previous spring
and Ray and his wife-with the doc
tor, Of course-just did everything for
them and really saved the little fell
lows life, and Alouette's gratitude
was something doglike. Next to that
little brown pappoose, and Pierre, she
worshiped Mrs. Ray and Billy.
"Next day we had pow-wow that
was hummer. Two Moons, with 200
braves, all paint, feathers and fire.
arms, rode into the agency and de-
manded speech with Baker. Baker
barred his doors and signaled for help
and Billy galloped over and asked
Two Moons what 44e meant by all this
dress parade business, with the mer-
curry below zero. Two Moons said he
wanted his brothers, whom the agent
had boxed up behind the bars, and
you could see their savage faces
scowling out at the sunshine at the
moment. OF course I had galloped
after Billy as soon as I had got the
men in saddle, and Dana out of bed
and at their head. Ray asked for
Alouette to interpret, and that old
polyglot villain, Red Wolf, answered
in Cheyenne English: She gone Lar
annie Two Moons presented Ray with
a feather pipe-swore they were
brothers - his soldiers and their
braves were brothers-'no fight ever
and wound up by shaking hands.
Then he made loud speech, echoed
by grunts from his band and howls
from the agency prison. Said their
hearts were sore, asked if their great
fathers agent wouldn't release their
brothers, wouldn't he permit them to
go to Chadron to salute their other
brothers-the Ogalallas, and his great
chief brother, Red Cloud?
''This was nat against orders of the
Indian bureau, and Baker poked his
head out of an upper window and said
so-then ducked in again for fear of
a shot.
"'Then our great fathers heart is
flint said Two Moons, and his chill
dren will go to the Great Spirits
throne and dance all night to him.
That so-called throne was over on the
Niobrara opposite the mouth of Old
Woman's ford, and Baker had orders
to let the Indians 60 there to howl
and dance and pray, as they called it.
But whoever heard of their going in
midwinter before? Yet our scouts
came in at sunset and swore the
whole village-tepees, lodge. poles,
ponies, pappooses, pots, kettles and
dogs-had moved off at noon and were
out of sight toward the Rawhide.
Good radiance to bad rubbish said
1, but Ray was thoughtful. That
night just at taps an Indian pony
dropped exhausted in front of our tent
and Ray picked Alouette up in his
arms and toted her in by the stove.
The sibley was red-hot, but it couldn't
warm her. Her teeth chartered and
her slender little body shook from
head to foot as she told Billy her
story. That move was all bluff.
They had sent her to Laramie to get
her out of the way, but she suspected
and stole away from her party, leav-
ing her baby boy with her twin sis
ter. Two Moons had camped the old
men, the women and children in the
sand hills and was even now on the
way back with his braves. He would
attack and burn the agency before
dawn. She wept and urged Billy to
mount his men at once and flee. What
hope had he with 70 men against Two
Moons and the braves of dozen vii
lagos of the fiercest warriors of the
plains?
There wasn't a second to spare.
We routed out the camp on the in
slant. We ran the horses, the .up-
plies and ammunition over to the
agency; stirred up. Baker and his oan-
ditti-for once we had to fight with
them for allies. We stacked up sacks
of grain and sides of bacon for shell
ter-the ground was too hard for pick
and shovel. We ironed the prisoners.
We worked with the mercury at ten
below zero till the sweat ran down
our backs. We left the tents stand
down by the stream and the wagons
with few God-forsaken old mules
corralled alongside-heaped fresh fuel
on the fire and then lay low and wait
ed for Two Moons.
"Just at dawn they burst in from
every ridge around us with a perfect
pandemonium of yells, and we let 'em
charge till they'd Numbered down
within hundred yards, then let 'em
have it as fast as we could work our
levers. How they were piled up on
the level-bucks and ponies by the
dozen-before Two Moons could draw
them off, Our tents and wagons were
all they got for their pains, and of
course they saw some one had given
them away, and weren't long finding
who did it. We had Alouette where
she was safe-but the devils dashed
the brains out of her baby boy the
very next day, killed Mazuska, the
twin sister, and ten days later poor
Pierre was found down at Platte
crossing, riddled with arrows and aw-
fully mutilated.
"What became of the Cheyennes?