RAIN-IN-THE-FACE.
The writer knows whereof he speaks, because he was well and truly advised, as well as other western men, when the southern warriors crossed the Black Hills trail about one hundred miles north and east of Deadwood, and he also held communication, in private business matters, with Crook City and Deadwood every few days during that entire season; hence we claim to have' had the best of facilities for obtaining facts concerning the movements of war-parties in that particular section of the country. Bain-in-the-Face remained with Sitting Bull most of the time after the Custer battle, and a greater portion of the time across the northern boundary line, but not as a distinguished chief or leader, further than the credit allowed him for rallying the Indian forces to meet Custer in such a short space of time, knowing very well that Custer was being kept back at Washington on the Belknap impeachment case, and he shrewdly seized this only opportunity to rally such a tremendous strong force, all of whom he knew to be veterans, anxious and blood-thirsty warriors. The Indians report him as not caring to go on the war-path since his retenge on Custer. During the fall of 1880, while he was out on a buffalo hunt and mounting his horse, his gun was accidentally discharged, the ball taking effect in one of his knees, taking the cap of his knee entirely off, thus disabling him from active field service, and it is supposed that he surrendered much sooner on this account than he otherwise would have done had he not been crippled for life. During the winter of 1880-'81, the tribes he was
with became disheartened, as others had before and since,, and finally came in to " Fort Keogh," and made a final surrender. Some mischief-maker succeeded in making him believe that the United States Court was about to have him arrested and tried for murder, and that he would no doubt be hung. This proved to be a source of great annoyance to him for many months, but the officers in charge of him soon set aside his fears by informing him that he would be treated as a prisoner of war. Early in the spring of '81 he was taken to the Standing Bock, where he remains quiet and harmless. He is 32 years of age, and has a round and strong healthy look, as will be seen by his portrait. It is quite probable he will not give the white people any more trouble farther than the issuing of the ten days' ration and his annuity goods twice each year, as is the custom. He is compelled to use a crutch when he walks, and no danger need be apprehended from him further than his secret counsel and influence might go among discontented warriors about to take the war-path, which will amount to but very little, as he cannot take an active part himself.
A brief, fragmentary sketch of the history and personnel of the principal tribes who have been introduced to the Teader in the foregoing pages, may well serve as an appendix to this volume.
The country on the Washita River and in and about the Wichita Mountains, as well as along the Canadian Eiver, is highly fertile and capable of sustaining a large population. The scenery is beautiful and the climate delightful The winters are mild and short; grass is plentiful for the sustenance of stock; timber is abundant; and the surrounding country at Wichita Mountains is well watered and unsurpassed for salubrity.
The Wichitas were once a very numerous and warlike people, inhabiting the Wichita Mountains from time immemorial Remains of their ancient villages and fortifications are yet plainly to be traced in this locality. They claim to have once held dominion over a very large extent of country, from the junction of the Wichita (now Washita), with Red River, and extending westward to a line running due south from the headwaters of the Canadian to Red River. Their principal village was situated near the head of Rush Creek, a tributary of the Wichita, or Washita, where they lived for many years in peace and comparative comfort, raising abundant corn and vegetables, plentifully supplied with buffalo meat, and deriving a profitable income from trade with the Comanches of bows and arrows, for mules, horses and buffalo robes. In 1834 their village was removed to Cache Creek, in the Wichita Mountains, where for many years they remained undisturbed. These mountains are more properly peaks, surrounded by rich valleys, covered with luxuriant grasses and abounding in mineral wealth; buffalo, deer, antelope, bear, turkeys, grouse, quails and small game are plentiful Altogether a country better adapted to supply the physical wants of men and animals could not be found anywhere; and here dwelt for many years these untaught children of nature, at peace with the world and with each other.
In the year 1858 they became involved in difficulties with the Comanches, a wild, roving tribe of the plains, and through fear of them abandoned their pleasant village, never to return, and sought refuge and protection near Fort Ar-buckle, leading an unsettled life, until a few years previous to the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, when they were located near Fort Cobb. At the opening of the civil war they were again compelled to abandon their homes and remove to Kansas, remaining loyal to the government during the four years' conflict. After the close of the war they were returned to Fort Cobb, decimated by disease and hardships, and destitute of everything save the scanty supplies furnished them by the government. Dispirited, and despairing of ever again regaining their beautiful homes in the Wichita Mountains, where the bones of their ancestry had slumbered for ages, or of obtaining compensation for the loss of their lands or reward for their loyalty, they were unwilling to again improve their homes, until assured that they should remain in peaceable possession of them.
Gen. W. B. Hazen, then Colonel of the 6th U. S. Infantry, was. in charge of the wild tribes by appointment of General Sherman, who had great confidence in his ability as an executive and administrative officer, and it may well be said that CoL Hazen justified the confidence of his superior officer by proving himself efficient in every position that he held in the Indian Department. To him the discouraged Wichitas appealed for the justice that was the meed of their industry, thrift, and devotion to the government. To the Cheyennes, Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches, wild tribes of the plains, had been given land, and large sums of money were annually expended upon them.
The Wichitas, of whom Gen. Hazen speaks as a peaceable and deserving band of Indians, had been given no land at all, and were there merely by sufferance, while the beautiful country to whose river and mountain they had given their own name, was in the possession of alien tribes.
Previous to this time the aimless policy of the government toward the wild Indians had begun to assume definite shape, and a marked change for the better became apparent in the management of Indian affairs.
During the summer of 1866, before the Union Pacific Railroad was built, Gen. Hazen was crossing the plains in an ambulance, and while riding along, giving some thought to the unsettled condition of Indian affairs, a plan suggested itself to him which was afterward approved by General Sherman. It was to allot a given amount of land to each tribe and compel them to live upon it; to feed them and build houses for them; to provide school-houses and teachers ; to furnish agricultural implements; to teach them husbandry, and otherwise care for them until they should become self-sustaining. It was at Gen. Hazen 7 s suggestion that the wild tribes were sent south of the Arkansas River to locate on reservations. The Kiowas, Comanches, Chey-ennes and Arrapahoes then resided on the Arkansas and Smokey Rivers, ranging as far north as the Platte.