When I Again Entered The Still Agitated Camp It
Was Nearly Dark, And Mournful Cries, Howls And Wailings Resounded
From Many Female Voices.
Whether these had any connection with the
late disturbance, or were merely lamentations for relatives slain in
some former war expeditions, I could not distinctly ascertain.
To inquire too closely into the cause of the quarrel was by no means
prudent, and it was not until some time after that I discovered what
had given rise to it. Among the Dakota there are many associations,
or fraternities, connected with the purposes of their superstitions,
their warfare, or their social life. There was one called "The
Arrow-Breakers," now in a great measure disbanded and dispersed. In
the village there were, however, four men belonging to it,
distinguished by the peculiar arrangement of their hair, which rose
in a high bristling mass above their foreheads, adding greatly to
their apparent height, and giving them a most ferocious appearance.
The principal among them was the Mad Wolf, a warrior of remarkable
size and strength, great courage, and the fierceness of a demon. I
had always looked upon him as the most dangerous man in the village;
and though he often invited me to feasts, I never entered his lodge
unarmed. The Mad Wolf had taken a fancy to a fine horse belonging to
another Indian, who was called the Tall Bear; and anxious to get the
animal into his possession, he made the owner a present of another
horse nearly equal in value.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 311 of 486
Words from 82768 to 83021
of 129303
