The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-07-28
THE=FAGE, wH0MHDST0RY CALLS GREAT WARRIOR, REALLY
LITTLE FIGHTING, BUT WAS CHAMPION RUNNER OF ALL TIME

C~heyennes in that fight were Gall,
Crow King and Crazy Horse.
Where Rain-in-the-Face did shine
was as a runner, and as such he had
few equals, If my, among either
white men or Indians. His greatest
feat-and one hat entities him to a
niche in the hall of fame of the from
tier, was that of running 800 miles In
three days on snow-shoes to save his
own skin and living to tell the tale.
Colonel G. O. Shields, who was in
Montana in the 7O's, knew Rain-in-
the-Face before the Custer fight, and
gives the following account of his
extraordinary feat as a unner
When only four or five years old
his father put him at very vigorous
exercises and at manual labor. He
sent the boy on short runs; in fact,
did everything that could be dore to
develop his strength, his muscular
force, his quickness of action, his I'M
tuition, his keenness of sight, his
ability to think rapidly, to meet
emergencies, to adapt himself in ev-
cry way possible to his circumstances,
whatever they might be.
WHICH Lie 10Y Was clSu OF ten
years old his father would send him
away on a run of ten miles across
country. Sometimes the trip would
take him through dense forests; at
other times over ranges of hills; in
another instance across a river that
he would have to swim in going and
coming land the boy was required to
blaze a tree, or to break down some
bushes, or lean a pole against a tree,
or do something to prove to the in
vestigating committee who might go
the next day, that he had been there.
Kills Two White Men.
Sometimes the boy would be start
ed on one of these runs at shutdown
and required to go to the top of a
certain hill, ten or twelve or fifteen
miles away, and there light a fire, SO
that everybody in the camp might
know he was there and when he ar
rived. AS the boy grew in years and
size the severity OF the training was
increased until by the time he was
twenty years old he was required to
do, and often did, things that would
have been impossible for any human
being that had not been trained to
that kind Of work as severely as this
boy had.
In December, 1873 or 1874, while
quartered with a portion of his tribe
at the Standing Rock agency, about
70 miles south of Bismarck, Rain-in-
the-Face got into an alteration with
four white men, and killed two of
them.
AS soon as his anger cooled and he
realized what he had done he knew
he would be hunted by the cavalry,l
and if caught would be shot or hung;
so he fled into the desert near night.
This was, of course, in the dead of
winter. There were two feet of snow
the ground; the temperature was
ranging at 20 to 40 below zero, and
the wind was blowing a gale, sweep
ing the snow up from the ground and
driving it hither and thither. No pur-
suit vas made that night, but early
the next morning several squads of
Indian police and two detachments
of cavalry were sent after him. They
secured the country nearly all day
without finding a trace of the fugitive
until neal nightfaM. Then it became
for him to make a run
one hiding-place to another, in
order to warm his blood and avoid
freezing to death.
Earlier in the day the flying snow
had obliterated his tracks as fast as
he made them; but this time a party
Of Indian scouts crossed his trail al Il
most Immediately after he had pass
cd, and SO could easily follow it. They
for-I hsvo nononn1nd on hAof hol
could be, in a shallow cleft of rock
On the bank of a creek. He was
,rouched on the ground with his
blanket drawn e him and a bunch
If s%age-brush pulled in front of him.
The sergeant in charge of the hunt |
ng party called to him to throw up
lis hands. Rain-in-the-Face realized
hat resistance there would be futile, s
obeyed the order, knowing that I
there's life there's hope. {
He was bound, taken to the agency, ]
thrown into jail. This was a s
temporary, unfinished log structure (
without a floor, and the cracks be- /
the logs had not been plas- '
cred. There was no fireplace or [
,tove, and of course no fuel. There |
vas six or eight inches of snow on /
he ground that had blown in though '
he openings in the walls, and the 2
prisoner was confined in this house, T
lear night, without food and with
'n1y one blanket; SO that his only q
means of keeping from freezing was i
O walk almost constantly around the
DOM. :
Released by Friends.
AS Don as the prisoner was incar- j