CHAPTER XI
Of all the Indians I encountered in my years on the Plains the most
resourceful and intelligent, as well as the most dangerous, were the
Sioux. They had the courage of dare-devils combined with real strategy.
They mastered the white man's tactics as soon as they had an
opportunity to observe them. Incidentally they supplied all thinking
and observing white commanders with a great deal that was well worth
learning in the art of warfare. The Sioux fought to win, and in a
desperate encounter were absolutely reckless of life.
But they also fought wisely, and up to the minute of closing in they
conserved their own lives with a vast amount of cleverness. The maxim
put into words by the old Confederate fox, Forrest: "Get there fastest
with the mostest," was always a fighting principle with the Sioux.
They were a strong race of men, the braves tall, with finely shaped
heads and handsome features. They had poise and dignity and a great
deal of pride, and they seldom forgot either a friend or an enemy.
The greatest of all the Sioux in my time, or in any time for that
matter, was that wonderful old fighting man, Sitting Bull, whose life
will some day be written by a historian who can really give him his
due.
Sitting Bull it was who stirred the Indians to the uprising whose
climax was the massacre of the Little Big Horn and the destruction of
Custer's command.
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