Evening star., 1924-01-06
BY Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance,
Chief Of the Blood Band of
the BlackfoOt Tribe.


people in the great northwest, re-
mains today carved in a tree trunk
near Duck lake, Saskatchewan. 1t
was carved there In Cree syllabics by
the notorious Indian outlaw. Almighty
Voice. Americas last Indian to die
fighting the white man. And 1t marks
the spot on which he slew his final
three victims from the Canadian
mounted police.
Almighty Voices bloody career be-
gan on October 1S. 1895, when he
escaped from the police after having
been arrested for killing steer This
animal belonged to the government,
but Almighty Voice is said by his
kinsmen to have mistaken it for one
of his fathers herd At all events.
having unlocked his chains with
key taken from a sleeping guard,
Almighty Voice. marvellous runner.
sped home. He declared to his
mother:
THE mounted police told me today
that they We're going to hang me for
killing a steer. But they will never
put a rope around my neck. I will
die fighting them
One of the police afterward admitted
a joke. The actual penalty was a
months Imprisonment. This Almighty
Voice never knew.
In carrying out his vow Almighty
Voice set record unparalleled in the
annals of the Royal Northwest Mounted
Police. He brought down seven
nrounties and scouts during the follow
ing two years. and eliminated his
career by making the greatest single
handed stand in the history of the
North American west.
Early next morning after his escape
the mounted police called at his
fathers camp and searched every inch
Of the place--but one-for the vanished
prisoner. In a corner of the main liv-
ing quarters was pile of provisions
covered over with blankets. 1t is a
strange fact that they never once ap-
preached this spot nearer than three
or four feet, although they very dill
gently searched every other part of the
tnclosure. 1t is generally believed at
Duck lake today that the police knew
what was under those blankets. besides
provisions; but they also knew what
It would mean to approach it
After the mounties had gone that
morning Almighty Voice left the camp
with one Of his wives for the Kenis-
tino reserve in the north, taking along
with him his muzzle-loader and a
couple of horses. The mounted police
world-famous for their unrelenting eff
cheney as man-hunters, Immediately dis
patched Sergt. c. c. Colebrook and
halfbreed scout to retake their pris-
oner, cost what it might.
One morning they came upon AL
mighty Voice in the act of picking up
a prairie chicken which he had just
shot. When he saw the policemen ap-
preaching he reloaded his gun and
stood waiting. At twenty yards he
ordered a halt.
Sergt. Colebrook continued his ad-
vance. His gun was pointed at AL
mighty Voice. Stop, or I'll shoot -
came the Cree command. This was
interpreted to the sergenat by the half
breed scout NO." said Sergt. Cole
brook, 81 am going to do my duty"
He rode on. Crack "a bullet came
tearing into his neck he fell forward
In his saddle, dead man.
y x
THE killing of Colebrook marked the
real commencement of the great
manhunt. Almighty Voice was now
outlawed with a substantial price on his
head, dead or alive. From this time
on until May "a, 1s97-nearly two
years later-he is dropped into mys-
terious oblivion by all books dealing
with his career. The mounted police
force secured the country for him in
vain. Not once were they able to pick
up as much as a sign of his trail.
1.-THE Riders OF the Plains" the Of
ficial history of the Royal Northwest
Mounted Police, says: During this
period Almight Voice never showed
himself among his people, nor did he
apparently hold any communication with
them"
AS a matter OF truth, Almighty Voice
had constantly visited his people. He
had spent much of his time with his
parents. His presence was discovered
on that date in 1897. however, and re-
suited in the shooting of Napoleon
venne, a halfbreed scout who was
guiding party of mounted police on
his trail. Venne still carries the bullet
in his chest The reason why this had
missed the scouts heart by an inch
was that Almighty Voice had granted
the request of his young cousin, Going
Up-To-Sky, to try his prowess.
Almighty Voice himself never pulled
q trigger that he did not bring down
his victim.
The shooting of Venne aroused
genuine alarm in the surrounding
countryside; for every one knew that
Almighty Voice was in the neighbor-
hood again and they knew that he
was now on the warpath in deadly
sernegt. In addition to Going -Up-To-
Sky, he now was also accompanied by
his brother-in-law, Topean. He had
assumed the offensive and become
killer. With an Indian, this means
that he intends to get as many as he
can before he Is gotten. Twenty-six
years of healthy growth had given
him a great, wiry frame of body
which stood well over six feet in moe
casins.
Reared in the primitive, adventur-
Gus environment of the Indians of
those days. he had become famed as a
runner, q hunter and a man of in,
domitable courage and independence.