Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1930-05-08

Indians looked up and saw the white
man. Discerning what he felt was a
possible intention TO do him bodily
harm, Hoover began TO retreat toward
the band of sheep. His dog followed
at his heels.
Nov he has seen Us and knows who
we are" said Spotted Hawk to his
companions. I'VE have no show; we
had better go after him and kill him"
he continued.
With one accord the Indians mount
ed their horses and rode toward the
place where the white man stood.
Reaching the top of the hill they saw
the herder driving his band away as
fast as he could. One of the Indians
fired a shot, it was brought out in the
subsequent testimony i n the court trial,
and Hoover fell with his arm broken.
Spotted Hawk, according to the con-
fession of Whirlwind, then rode up
and shot the herder again and killed
him. 1t occurred to Little WhirlWlnd
that the dog ought also to be shot,
which was done and the body OF the
animal was laid beside the body of
his master. The Indians then rode off,
leaving the partially skinned beef be-
hind.
DO not say anything about this and
no one will every find out who did
it," Spotted Hawk admonished his COM
panions. In the meantime, as it was
shown later, the youth, Shoulder Blade,
son of Calf, rode away from the tragic
scene and had no part in 1T. The
deed having been committed in Gus
ter county, the peace officers went
from Miles City and made the arrests.
In the trials that followed each of the
defendants demanded and were grant,
ed separate trials.
Bitter Against Whites
i The circumstances leading to the
tragedy tend to shed some light upon
the death Of the sheepherder. The
Indians claimed the right, just and
preferable they maintained, to the pro-
ceeds of the land set apart by the gov
eminent for their occupancy and use.
The white settlers held that they had
a right to Craze their herds upon the
unfenced domain. A feeling of bitter
ness arose as herds Of cattle and sheep
grazed in the vicinity Of the boundar-
les of the reservation. The Indians
turned their ponies in among the sheep
to Illustrate further trespassing when
the sheepherders, particularly, threw
rocks at the ponies, acts that served
to .enrage the Indians. Stockmen
claimed that cattle happening to stray
on the reservation we're killed by the
occupants. The feelings created de-
veloped such hostile relationships that
only the swapping of a cap was needed
to start a fight that would have re-
neWed the ancient grudge and ended
in bloodshed. The %Cheyennes at that
time had 300 warriors who could have
been brought into action on short no.
tice. Three times their number I'M
doubtedly would have been required to
overcome them, for they would have
employed Indian tactics which would
have been largely on the defense, TAX
ing advantage of cover behind rocks
and buttes and the adoption of am
bush methods to trap their enemies.
Some question arose as to which OF
the five Cheyennes fired the shot that
killed the sheepherder. Whirlwind
alias Stanley, in his confession of July
"a, said it vas Spotted Hawk. Little
Whirlwind was concerned about the
dog and killed it. WhirlWind (Stanley)
was among the first to give himself
up. He waS the son of one of the
best Indian policemen on the reserva-
ton. Standing on a high hill neal
the agency he acknowledged his part
in the affair and expressed a desire
to go to the happy hunting grounds
by the same route two Indians did who