breathing on the top the day had grown and spread, and the prairie
’rose steep from beneath us to the end of the world. We stood and
looked until the sun leaped up and blazed against our eyes. Then
Kicking Bear gave me the pipe and I held it high to the place whence
comes the light of seeing; and on my left side Charging Cat was
standing and on my right stood High Horse, both with their hands
upraised palms forward; and behind us Kicking Bear was sending forth a
voice. He was asking the Great Mysterious One to behold us and the pipe
we offered and to hear the sacred vow we made. We were four young men
with strong hearts who wanted to do great deeds that our people might
praise us, and by ourselves we could do nothing. So we were dedicating
this pipe and asking that we might return as victors to our people. And
if this should be, then we four would dance the sun dance, piercing our
flesh with thongs; and this we would do for thanks. And when Kicking
Bear had finished, we all cried, ‘_hetchetu aloh!_’ Then we left the
pipe on the hilltop with the mouthpiece pointing towards the sunrise,
and went down to the place with rocks around it and a clear stream
flowing through, with grass beside the cool water. And there, with
hearts made stronger by the prayer upon the hill, we ate what was left
of the papa, and lay down in the grass to rest.
“And all at once the sun was on the other side and getting low, for
we had walked far and fast and our sleep was deep. The first thing we
saw when we looked around us was a deer drinking from the creek not
far away; and because I had the best gun, the others waited for me to
shoot while we were still lying down. I hit it just behind the front
leg, and it fell down and did not get up. By this we knew that Wakon
Tonka had beheld us on the hill and heard us, and that our offering was
received. So we made a little fire and feasted there beside the running
water; but the first piece of meat and the tenderest we each gave to
the Spirit that helped us; and our hearts were stronger than before.
“When we had eaten, we took some of the best meat and followed the last
light of day. All night we walked; and the moon traveled with us and
all the star nations, going yonder to the country of the Crows. Then
we ate and slept; and two more nights we traveled in the same way, and
Wakon Tonka sent us meat. And then when the moon was shining in our
faces and the morning star stood up behind us we lay down in some brush
to rest, for we thought by now we must be in the country of the enemy.
We slept, and when the sun found us there and blazed in upon us, we
awoke.
“There was a high hill that was almost a mountain, and on it scattered
pine trees grew to the top. And I said, ‘From the top of that high hill
yonder we can see everything. Let us go up there to look. Maybe there
will be a Crow village.’ And Kicking Bear said, ‘Cousins, that is what
we are going to do.’ And High Horse said, ‘There may be a valley full
of horses.’ And Charging Cat said, ‘We can eat what is left of the meat
up there while we are looking.’ So we went.
“When we stood breathing hard on the very top, there was a wide empty
land to the end of the world--valleys without smoke and hills with
pines upon them; and then beyond the hills of pine, the mountains. So
we made a little fire where it could not be seen and roasted what we
had left of the meat. When we were eating and talking about what we
could do next, High Horse said, ‘Look, cousins! Something is coming
down that valley. See? It is coming this way.’ We looked hard where he
pointed, and Kicking Bear said, ‘Maybe it is some deer or maybe elk
coming.’ After we had looked awhile longer, I said, ‘It is neither elk
nor deer. I think it is an _iglaka_ coming.’ And Kicking Bear said, ‘I
think it does look like an _iglaka_.’ And Charging Cat said, ‘It is
an _iglaka_, cousins; and there are some loose horses following.’ And
High Horse said, ‘Now we shall have horses to ride, and then it will be
easier to get all we want.’
“So we made a plan for attacking the _iglaka_. I would go with Charging
Cat down the left side of the hill, Kicking Bear with High Horse down
the right side. We did this because High Horse and I had guns that
loaded from behind. The _iglaka_ was coming from the right side. I
would shoot when the man in front came close to me. The others would
hear. High Horse and Kicking Bear would shoot then, and all of us would
charge, coming from in front and behind the _iglaka_.
“Then we started down the hill. When we were at the bottom, Charging
Cat and I hid behind some rocks where we could see the valley in front
of us, and afterwhile we could see the _iglaka_ coming. There was a man
in front, not young but not very old; and when I saw the horse he was
riding, I whispered to Charging Cat, ‘There is the horse I have been
looking for.’ And he said, ‘I have been looking for the same horse.’
It was gray-spotted and taller than Whirlwind, and it held its head
high and kept looking all around as it came. Back of the man on the
fine horse was an old woman riding on a pony-drag, and she was driving
the pony with a long stick. She made me think of my grandmother, and I
whispered to Charging Cat, ‘Be careful and do not shoot the old woman.’
And he said of course he would not shoot her. I thought more about this
when I was older. When the man was in front of us, he was close enough
for a good bow-shot. I put my gun on top of the rock and took a good
aim. I must have hit him in the spine, for he fell back screaming;
and while he was falling Charging Cat’s arrow stuck in his shoulder.
All at once there was shooting over there where Kicking Bear and High
Horse were--one shot, and yelling; another shot, and more yelling, and
horses squealing and the sound of hoofs. The old woman’s pony started
running away with her as we came out of the rocks yelling, ‘_hoka-hey!
hoka-hey!_’ She was bouncing and holding on tight and screaming. When
we came to the man on the ground he was not through dying yet. I let
Charging Cat count the first coup, because I had killed. When I leaned
down to take the man’s scalp he looked at me once and then died. I
think I did not see that look until I was older. There was more yelling
over to the right, and there were horses milling around in the valley,
maybe eight or ten. The old woman’s pony was running in a big circle
off yonder to our left. She was fat and she looked funny bouncing that
way, but we did not laugh. Then the drag hit something, maybe a rock,
and she rolled over and over on the ground. When she got up, she just
stood screaming and shaking her long stick at us. Then there was a
horseback coming fast from over on the right. It was a young Crow,
and we shot at him as he passed, and he shot back, but we all missed,
and he did not stop to fight. He was going over there to help the old
woman. Then High Horse and Kicking Bear came running, and High Horse
had a scalp, for there were two driving the Crow horses, and one of
them died.
“By now the Crow that rode past us was waiting over there with the old
woman behind him. He just sat on his horse and waited. And Charging
Cat said, ‘When we have caught some horses, we can go over there and
kill him.’ And I said, ‘Maybe that is his grandmother.’ And High Horse
said, ‘Maybe it is; and he is a brave man to wait for four of us.’ And
Kicking Bear said: ‘We will let him go if he does not charge us while
we are catching some horses. That is what we are going to do. If he
wants to die, he can charge us.’
“So we spread out and began trying to round up the horses. It was not
easy, because they were still frightened. They would sniff and snort
at us and then start running. But afterwhile we got three of them in
some brush up against a steep place, and Kicking Bear caught one. Most
of them had thin rawhide lariats looped around their necks for staking
out. Kicking Bear tied the lariat around the horse’s jaw and rode after
some more. When he caught one, I rode and helped him; and in a little
while we were all riding. The fine horse the older man was riding got
away. I chased him, but he ran like a high wind blowing. I think he was
the best horse I never had.
“By that time we could see the old woman was on her drag again and we
could hear her mourning. The young Crow was riding beside her pony and
leading it. We watched them going and listened until they were out of
sight around a bend in the valley. Then Kicking Bear said, ‘I think
there is a Crow village up yonder and they were going visiting with
some horses to give away.’ And I said, ‘They will have a story to tell,
and the village will be looking for us.’ And High Horse said, ‘If they
were going to visit, maybe they came from another village and that is
the one we can attack, for they will not hear the story.’ And Kicking
Bear said, ‘That is what we are going to do, cousins.’
“So we started up the back trail of the _iglaka_, and Charging Cat
said, ‘We ought to take the other horses with us.’ And High Horse said,
‘There are only four and I have so many cousins that one more horse
would not be much.’ And I said, ‘If there is a village, there will be a
herd of horses, and these here will only bother us.’ And Kicking Bear
said, ‘You are right, cousin; we will find the village and drive off
the whole herd. The Crow can have his four horses when he comes back
for the old man and the other young man yonder.’
“So we rode on up the back trail of the _iglaka_, and we were careful
when we came to a bend, for there might be a village. But there was
no village, and we rode on; and still there was no village, and the
sun was getting low. So Kicking Bear said, ‘Cousins, we must find
that village before it is dark. Eagle Voice can climb up that hill
yonder and High Horse can climb up this one here. Maybe they will see
something and they can hurry back and tell us. Charging Cat and I will
keep the horses here in the brush.’ So we did this, and when I was on
the top of my hill, there were smokes yonder below me. There were many
smokes in a circle, for the night is not warm in that country and it
was getting time to eat. On the other side of the smokes there was a
valley sloping up to a big gulch through the hills towards where the
sun comes up; and in the valley and up along the slope there were
horses, horses. My heart was drumming, and I looked all around to see
how we could get in there; and I saw another deep gulch through the
hills that stood between the valley of the village and the valley where
Kicking Bear and Charging Cat had our horses. When I saw this, I knew
again that Wakon Tonka had heard us when we made our vow and dedicated
the pipe. We could go in through that gulch and come out right between
the village and the herd. Then we could scare the horses and drive them
through the other gulch towards our home.
“I ran down the hill and told the others; for High Horse was there by
now and he had not seen anything. So we rode on up the valley until
we came to the gulch I saw, and there we waited in some brush. The
sun was under a hill and there were shadows. We waited, and it was
getting dark. We waited, and moonlight was beginning to show over the
hill ahead of us. When the moon looked over into our valley, High Horse
said, ‘Let us go in now.’ And Kicking Bear said, ‘Cousins, we must wait
until the village is asleep and the horse-guards are nodding. That
is what we are going to do.’ And I said, ‘Yes, we will do that.’ And
Charging Cat said, ‘I could eat the hump of a fat bison cow.’ And I
said, ‘The four of us could eat the cow.’ And High Horse said, ‘We can
eat tomorrow when we are far away with all those horses.’ And Kicking
Bear said, ‘We are men, and that is what we can do.’
“The moon was high, and we waited. Sometimes one would fall asleep
and the others would wake him. The moon was above us, and we waited.
It was starting down, and we waited. It was halfway down, and Kicking
Bear said, ‘Cousins, they are sleeping hard and the horse-guards will
be nodding. Eagle Voice has seen, and he will lead the way. Remember
the vow and have strong hearts. Nothing lasts but the hills.’ Then High
Horse said to me, ‘Brother, if you die in there tonight, look back as
you are going to the spirit land, for I will be coming.’ And I said, ‘I
will remember to look back, and if you die, look back and wait for me,
for I will be coming too.’
“So we rode into the gulch. It was steep at the top and there were some
rocks. When one rolled and bounced it made a big noise, for the night
was still and cold. Then we would wait and listen awhile. We came to
the mouth of the gulch. There were tepees to our left, all asleep in
their shadows. To the right there were shadows scattered on the slope
and we knew that was the herd. We lay down close to our horses and rode
in slowly. If someone saw, we would look like strays from the herd. A
dog raised a long howl. And for a while there was barking. We just lay
flat on our horses, and let them graze until the dogs were still again.
Then we moved ahead slowly, one behind the other, and I was ahead. We
would move a little and then stop to let our horses graze. Then we
would move ahead a little more and stop to graze, like strays eating
their way back to the herd. I looked ahead, and looked, and I saw my
horse’s shadow. I could hear horses blowing in the grass, and I could
see they were grazing towards the gulch that opened to where the sun
comes from. That was good.
“I moved slowly and stopped; moved and stopped. There was something
ahead a little way. It was like a shadow, with nothing to make a
shadow. All at once it stood up, and it was a man. He said something
like a question, but I could not understand. I touched my horse’s flank
with my heel, and he moved ahead quickly. The man yelled. My gun was
ready; and I was so close, I could almost touch him with it. When he
yelled, I shot. He went down, but my horse reared and leaped and I did
not stop to count coup. There were two shots behind me, and I could
hear the other three yelling where they were strung out behind the
herd. Dogs were barking among the tepees and there was shouting yonder.
I heard this, and then I heard only myself yelling. Then my own yelling
was not loud, for there was thunder in the moonlight, thunder roaring
from the ground and a thin cloud rising with the thunder.
“They were running, the herd was running away. I could see their heads
and backs tossing, but they were shadows in the thin, rising cloud that
thundered in the moonlight.
“The hills that were yonder came closer and all at once they were
standing dark above the thundering cloud with moonlight on their heads.
The herd was slowing. Horses were crowding and screaming, crowding and
rearing and screaming. By now I was waving my blanket above my head,
and I was still yelling. When I looked off to my right I could see
blankets waving in the moonlight like great wings flapping, and I knew
the others were working as hard as I was. The cloud ahead was thinning
a little, and I could see a dark river of horses flowing up the break
in the hills that was narrow at the bottom. They flowed and tossed and
roared the way a sudden flood in a coulee does. I rode at a run up and
down the flank of the crowding herd, waving my blanket and yelling to
keep horses from breaking away and heading back towards the village. If
they had no horses to ride back there, they could not catch us. When I
looked back I could see only dusty moonlight; and if there was yelling
yonder, the river of horses was louder.
“Then I knew the herd had narrowed ahead and the rear was crowding into
the mouth of the gulch--horses on top of horses, rearing and fighting
and screaming. And all at once, the four of us were together again, and
Kicking Bear was yelling, ‘We have got them, cousins! Drive them hard!
We have got them!’ So we kept on yelling and waving our blankets. And
when we rode into the mouth of the gulch behind the last of the herd,
we rode over horses that were down, kicking and squealing, and trying
to get up.
“In a little while we were at the top of the gulch, and the herd was
a river of shadows roaring in the moonlight ahead of us. They were
flowing fast into a wide valley that we could not see across. The gulch
widened and we spread out. Charging Cat and High Horse stayed behind
the herd to keep them going. Kicking Bear rode up the right side and I
up the left, so that they would keep bunched and not stray off.
“When the morning star was up and there was a streak of day on the
range of hills ahead of us, the herd was getting harder to keep going,
and they would not gallop any more. They would only trot. Sometimes my
horse would stop all at once with his four legs spread out, and wobble
and pant. I caught a bigger horse, and it was not hard to catch him.
Then I turned mine loose with the others.
“We pushed the herd on over the next range of hills, and when the sun
came up we let them stop to rest and graze awhile. There was a creek,
and they made for it, crazy with thirst. Many of them piled up in a
bend of the creek where it was easy to reach the water. Some died there
and some died later, from drinking too much I think. Also, we had lost
some in the night, but there were many left. We had not slept or eaten
and we had been riding hard. Charging Cat said, ‘We can kill a yearling
and eat the best of it while they are grazing.’ And High Horse said,
‘Maybe they will be catching strays and following us.’ And I said, ‘If
there were some strays near the village they could catch others fast,
and maybe a big party is on our trail now.’ And Kicking Bear said, ‘We
can kill a yearling beyond that next range of hills there. Maybe there
will be a deer or a fat cow. We can eat over there. We are men, and
that is what we are going to do.’ And Charging Cat said, yes, we were
men, and we could do that.
“So we filled ourselves with water, and when we had changed horses we
began driving the herd again. They were so tired that they did not try
to run away, and we had to ride up and down and wave our blankets and
yell to make them trot. When the sun was high we were over the next
range. Even then we did not stop. Sometimes a horse would just lie down
and stay there. If we kicked him, he would not get up. And we said,
when we got home there would be only good ones. All the time we kept
looking back at the ridge behind us. Maybe there would be a party of
Crows coming yonder. But the ridge got lower and the sun blazed there.
High hills were ahead of us, and there was a place in the edge of them
like the one beyond Mini Shoshay where we kept our horses that time.
It was open towards where the sun goes down, and we could rest. So we
drove the herd in there and made a little fire where we could see back
and watch the horses too. No game was in sight, and we were too tired
to hunt. So we cut a yearling’s throat. The backbone meat was good when
it was roasted, and we ate the liver too.
“When we had eaten, Charging Cat rolled over like dead, and it was
hard to hold my head up; but I thought of Crazy Horse and I wanted to
be like him. So I said, ‘Cousins, go to sleep and I will watch. Then I
can ’waken you and sleep too.’ And they rolled over and were like dead
men.
“The sun was gone. There were stars, and the tops of the hills saw the
moon coming far away, but it was dark around me yet, and the herd was
only shadow. I kept staggering around to stay awake. It was not easy to
be like Crazy Horse. I thought hard about the victory dance they would
have for us. So I made myself dance the way I would be doing then, and
sang to myself. All at once I would be down on my hands and knees, and
it would be hard to get on my feet again. The moon looked over a hill
at me, and it was trying to dance. The stars danced too. I tried to
’waken somebody.
“All at once it was not the moon looking over the hill. It was the sun
blazing on us and I was lying on the grass. I looked around, and when
I did not see any horses, I yelled. The others jumped up, excited and
ready to fight. But there was nothing to see. The place in the hills
was empty.
“When we had looked awhile, Kicking Bear said, ‘We are not dead, so it
was not enemies that did this.’ And I said, ‘Maybe they went looking
for water.’ And Charging Cat said, ‘That is what they did, and we can
find them.’ And High Horse said, ‘If we do not find them, we can go
back _maka mani_ the way we started and find another village.’ And we
all said, yes, we could do that.
“But it was easy to track the horses, for they were all going one way
down along the edge of the hills. And after a while we saw them. They
were scattered out in a valley below us. The hills opened up there and
a creek was running through towards where the sun comes up, and the
grass along the creek was deep. It was not hard to catch the horses we
had been riding, because their lariats were looped around their necks,
and they were tired; but this time we tied them to bushes. It was a
good place to rest the horses and get them full of grass; and it was a
good place for us to eat and sleep.
“There were deer in the valley, and some of them were grazing with the
horses at the edge of the herd. I think they had not learned to be
afraid of men. So I got on my horse with my gun ready and rode slowly
among the grazing herd towards where the deer were. I was lying close
to the horse’s neck, and a little wind was blowing towards me. I got a
fat one. When I shot, the horses nearby started milling and crowding,
but they were so tired they stopped soon and began grazing again.
“We ate plenty. Then before we slept, High Horse and I prepared the
two scalps we had taken. There were four of us, so we cut the scalps in
two; and when we had soaked them in water awhile, we scraped them thin
and stretched them on hooped sticks to dry. Also, we had to have drums
for the victory; so we scraped enough of the deer-hide to make four and
stretched it on hoops. When we had done this, sitting by a little fire,
we slept; but this time two slept while two watched.
“When the morning star looked over the edge of the world, we ate again.
And when we had bunched the horses and started driving down the valley
of the creek, a streak of day was growing away off yonder towards our
home. We drove all that day, but sometimes we stopped a little while to
let the herd rest and drink and graze. There were many lame ones, and
it was hard to keep them going with the others, for we were in a hurry
yet. Maybe the enemy had caught enough strays by now to follow with
a large party. Maybe they thought there were many of us, and so they
waited until they could find enough horses. We talked about this, and
we said if they came we would fight them; it was not good to grow old;
nothing remained but the hills; we were men and we could die. But all
day, whenever we came to a ridge and looked behind us, the back trail
was empty. I think the pipe helped us, the pipe and the vow we made on
the high hill.”
The old man fell silent, and for some time he sat with closed eyes,
head bowed, his hands on his knees.
“It was many snows ago,” he said at length, emerging slowly from his
reverie. “That was my first victory. Before it was dark that day,
we began to know our own country again, and we sang to see all the
good horses we had, for we began to feel safer. There were about
seventy-five of them, and they were the good ones. We had done great
deeds; the people would praise us; and we would not be boys any more,
but men.
“There was a ridge that looked down on our village, and there next
day, when the sun was high above us, the people saw us coming with
the horses. They were getting ready for the sun dance, and the other
bands had come to camp with the Oglalas in one big circle, because it
was a good place for the dance. Some rode out to meet us, singing as
they came. These took care of the horses and went back with them to
the village, telling the people to prepare for a kill-come-back and a
victory.
“We had to get ready; so we made a fire back under the ridge; and when
there was charred wood, we blackened our faces with it. If any of our
party had been killed, we could not have blackened our faces, and the
people seeing would have known, and there would have been mourning
with the rejoicing. If I had been killed, maybe, and was feeding the
coyotes, then the people would sing to my spirit as the others rode in
the victory, ‘_Aah hey! Aah hey!_ Eagle Voice, it is so! We have heard
about you, and it is good to hear! _Aah hey, aah hey, aah hey! Aah
hey!_’ They would sing that song because any old man would tell you it
was an honor to die on the prairie when you were young, and it was not
good to grow old. But we were all alive, and so we blackened our faces.
Then we tied the scalps to coup-sticks, and each had one. The deer-hide
drums we made had dried tight in the hot sun, and we were ready. While
we were waiting, we danced around the fire and sang the way we would do
before all the people. And afterwhile two came to tell us the people
were waiting for us; and when they had gone away, we got on our horses,
and we had chosen the best and strongest ones for this. Then we charged
over the ridge single file. I was first because I had killed first, and
after me was High Horse, for he had killed after me. Then came Charging
Cat who had counted the first coup, and last rode Kicking Bear, who had
counted coup also. We went galloping down the hill, crying, ‘_hown,
hown, hown_,’ all together, as though we were going into battle; and
when we were near the village we all yelled, ‘_hoka-hey_’ and shot
the guns in the air. With our horses on the run, we swung low on the
off-side and charged around the circle of tepees, left to right. And as
we rode, the people raised one great voice, ‘_hiyay, hiyay_’; and we
could hear the women all making the tremolo high above the voices of
the men.