For months before this uprising he had been going to and fro among the
Sioux and their allies urging a revolt against the encroaching white
man. It was easy at that time for the Indians to secure rifles. The
Canadian-French traders to the north were only too glad to trade them
these weapons for the splendid supplies of furs which the Indians had
gathered. Many of these rifles were of excellent construction, and on a
number of occasions we discovered to our cost that they outranged the
army carbines with which we were equipped.
After the Custer massacre the frontier became decidedly unsafe for
Sitting Bull and the chiefs who were associated with him, and he
quietly withdrew to Canada, where he was for the time being safe from
pursuit.
There he stayed till his followers began leaving him and returning to
their reservations in the United States. Soon he had only a remnant of
his followers and his immediate family to keep him company. Warily he
began negotiating for immunity, and when he was fully assured that if
he would use his influence to quiet his people and keep them from the
warpath his life would be spared, he consented to return.
He had been lonely and unhappy in Canada. An accomplished orator and a
man with a gift of leadership, he had pined for audiences to sway and
for men to do his bidding. He felt sure that these would be restored to
him once he came back among his people.
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