East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1921-09-24
Brings Cloudburst.


Meanwhile d mass Of black thun-
defclouds gathering on the horizon
! threatened one of those cloudbursts Of
extreme severity and suddenness SO
characteristic of the plains country
While still trying to make arrange.
ments for parley, a horseman start
| ed out of the Grow ranks and galloped
headlong down toward the troops. 1t
was the medicine chief, Sword Bearer.
He was painted and in his battle-dress,
wearing his war bonnet of floating,
trailing eagle feathers. while the
plnmessof the. same bird were braided
| in the name and tail of his fiery little
horse. Once he came to gallop al
most up to the troops and then be-
gan to circle around them, calling and
singing and throwing his crimson
sword into the air, catching it by the
hilt as it fell. Twice he rode COM
pletely Around the soldiers who stood
in uncertainty. not knowing what to
make of this performance, and ex-
lpressly forbidden to shoot at him.
Then paying no further heed to them
he rode back toward the Crows. It
appears that he had told them that he
would ride twice around the hostile
force. and by his incantations would
call down rain from heaven. which
would rage the hearts of the white
man like water, so that they should
go back to their homes. Sure enough,
while the arrangements for the par
Hey were going forward, down came
the cloudburst, drenching the COM
mand and making the ground on the
hills in front nearly impossible: and
before it had dried a. courier arrived
with orders to the troops to go back
to camp.
This fulfillment OF SwordBearer's
prophecy Of course raised his reputa-
tion to the zenith and the young men
of the tribe prepared for war, while
the older chiefs, who more fully real
lied the power of the whites. still
hung back. When the troops next ap-
peared they came upon the entire
Crow force, the women and children
with their tepees being off to one
side beyond little stream while al
most all the warriors of the tribe were
gathered in front.
A Second Performance.
Sword Bearer then started to re-
peat his former ride, to the intense
Irritation of the soldiers. Luckily,
however, this time some of his young
men could not be restrained. They,
too began to ride near the troops, and
one of them was unable to refrain
from firing on Captain Edwards
troop, which was in the van. This gave
the soldiers their chance. They in
stantly responded with volley, and
Captain Edwards troop charged. The
fight lasted but minute or two, for
Sword Bearer was struck by a bullet
and fell. and as he had boasted him
self invulnerable, and promised that
his warriors should be invulnerable
lalso If they should follow him, the
hearts of the latter became as water
and they broke in every direction.
One of the amusing, though irritating,
incidents of the affair was TO see the
Iplumed and painted warriors race
headiong for the camp, plunge into
the stream, wash off their paint, and
remove their feathers: in another mo-
ment they would be stolidly sitting on
the ground, with their blankets over
their shoulders, rising to greet the
pursuing cavalry with unmoved COM
posure and calm assurances that they
had always been friendly and had
much disapproved the conduct of the
young bucks who had just been scat
tered on the field outside. 1t was
much to the credit of the discipline
of the army that no bloodshed follow
ed the fight proper. The loss to the
whites was small
Murder Hcrder.
The other incident, related by Lieu
tenant Pitcher, took place, in 1890
near Tongue River, in Northern Wyo'
ming. The command with which he
was serving was camped near the
cheyenne reservation. One day two
young Cheyenne bucks. met one OF
the government herders, and prompt
~ killed HMM sudden fit, half OF
ungoverned blood lust, half of mere
ferocious ightheartedness. They ther
dragged his body into the brush and
left it. The disappearance of the
lherder Of course attracted attention
and a search was organized by the
cavalry, At first the Indians stoutlS
denied all knowledge of the missing