Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1910-03-26
DOING THINGS TOO WELL
Advice of Sitting Bull to Young
Braves With Too Much En-
thusiasm-
TRAP WAS SET FOR CROOK.
b-dians Gave the General Such q
Battle That He Was Forced to
Stop His Advance.

When you start In on anything, go
through with 1t. Don't stop in the
middle and get cold feet. and don't
make a slip-shod finish. Make a thor
ough job of anything you undertake.
Isn't that right. Charging Bear?"
Mr.. Hapstock paused in' his lecture
to a minor employee and glanced at the
eminently respectable old Indian, the
chief red man of the prairie show. the
New York Telegraph says. The minor
employee, who had been intrusted with
some small mission in the city and
had fallen down most woefully,
grinned. fdgeted uneasily and waited
for Charging Bear to speak. But the
old Cheyenne fount of wisdom and
uncle to half the people of the show,
only fiicked the ashes off huge CT
gar. Mr.. Hapstock resumed the at
tack.
Il send you uptown with an impor-
tant message, and because you don't
find him first crack you fall down. You
don't even hunt for him. l ought to
can you right here. Still, I'll let it go
this time, but you try to let that lesson
soak into your system. If you start
to do thing. do It up to the handle.
Am l right, Charging Bear?"
Charging Bear Strengthened bent
plume in his shadowing war bonnet
and then smiled a smile of width and
wiseness.
"As a rule" said he, in perfect Eng
fish, you are right. There are times,
though, when things can be too well
| done"
Way back in 1876. was with Sit
ting Bull, Rain in the Face Crazy
Horse and a lot of other good fellows.
We were strolling through the Yellow
stone country, lodging the troops or
| fighting them One afternoon we
spotted General Crooks command adj
vancing upon us. A quick council was
held. Crazy Horse proposed to bury
the main body of our warriors among
the bluffs and hills, forming sort of
horseshoe around little valley, and
to send about 500 young warriors
against Crooks cavalry. The scheme
was for these youngsters to make a
nice, warm fight for an hour or so,
and then break back into confusion.
Crooks men would follow into the
trap, and there would be some fine
scalp collecting.
THE history books tell of the fight
we made. After the fight had been on
perhaps half an hour, we found that
we were ahead If the game. Crook s
men were giving way, his whole force
was coming up to aid the advance
guard, and we were whipping them as
fast as they came.
"'Say' l yelled to Crazy Horse
who was leading the charge. This is
the best ever. Let's go ahead and
make good job Of it,
""Too good to be true Crazy Horse
howled back through the smoke ant
dust. You do what you were told t
| do
But all OF us young warriors fig
uring that we we're only doing wha
was asked Of us-putting up a fin,
{ little fight-kept on charging. TIL
5 histories say that Crook was so har,
d pressed by the Indian attack that h
ceased his advance and camped upol
t the field Quite correct. 1t was lat
1 in the afternoon before a cross o
e fianking charge of cavalry finally bea
] us off, and If the charge had been te
: minutes late we would have had ST
I companies of troopers under foot.
4 After that last mix-up, which wa
hand to hand, lance against saber, W
drew off to the ambush and waited TO
t the troops to advance. Nothing de-
: ing. They were so badly cut up tina
IS they wanted no more fighting and p,
ID litely refused to associate with us an
Is longer. In short, we had made to
h. good a fight, spoiled our elders plan
d and ruined our whole scheme OF battl
a. by doing things too we'll"