I was sure that if I could reach Sitting Bull he would at least listen
to me. But in the present inflamed state of the Indian mind it would be
next to impossible to get to his camp alive.
Nevertheless I was quite ready to take the risk. I knew what fearful
damage could be done by a sudden uprising of fanatical and infuriated
Indians, and any danger to me personally was as nothing to the
importance of preventing such, a thing, if possible.
Having no standing as an army officer or as a Government agent, it was
necessary for me to be supplied with some sort of credentials, in order
to secure the assistance I should need on my mission. When I informed
General Miles of this he took one of his visiting-cards from a case and
wrote the following on the back of it:
To COMMANDING OFFICERS OF UNITED STATES TROOPS:
Furnish Colonel William F. Cody with any assistance or escort that
he may ask for.
NELSON A. MILES.
I took the next train for Mandan, N.D., which was the station nearest
the Standing Rock Agency. There I hired a livery team and driver for
the ride of sixty-five miles to the Agency. I had considerable
difficulty in securing a driver, as the report had gone abroad that all
the Indians were on the warpath, and few of the settlers cared to risk
their scalps on such a venture. But I went higher and higher in my
offers, till at last a liveryman figured that a hundred dollars was
sufficient reward for the risk, and, hitching up his team, told me to
come along.
Pages:
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308