Sitting Bull by Robert M. Utley

Author:Robert M. Utley
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466871397
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

17 FORT BUFORD

IN CLOSENESS TO Sitting Bull, no man surpassed One Bull, his nephew and adopted son. Following the parley and skirmish with Bear Coat in October 1876, his brother White Bull had surrendered with his people and finally settled at Cheyenne River Agency. Of Sitting Bull’s inner circle, that left only One Bull and Jumping Bull as completely trustworthy lieutenants.

A stalwart akicita leader, One Bull played an especially important role in soldiering would-be defectors. Until March 1879, when Sitting Bull promised Major Walsh not to interfere with any people who wanted to surrender, the Sioux camps had been governed by a strict compact: No family belonged without consent of the council; no family withdrew without consent of the council. Any who tried suffered akicita soldiering.1

Soldiering incidents sometimes created lasting animosities, as when Gray Eagle, Sitting Bull’s brother-in-law, joined with three other men to steal 150 Slota horses. Assembling One Bull and his akicita, Sitting Bull summoned the culprits and castigated them for breaking the Grandmother’s law and bringing on trouble with the redcoats. He then ordered them to run over a nearby hill while the akicita fired over their heads, obtain the stolen animals, and return them to Sitting Bull’s lodge. The men did as ordered, suffering public dishonor as the akicita fired above them.

After the stolen horses had been retrieved, the akicita hauled the thieves before Sitting Bull for sentencing. His two wives, however, cried so loudly for mercy that he relented and exempted their brother from punishment. The other three paid the penalty: Stripped naked and tied to the ground, they endured the assaults of swarms of mosquitoes for a full week before a big feast of reconciliation ended the affair. Although spared this ordeal, Gray Eagle did not forget the shame his brother-in-law had cast on him.2

As akicita chief and most intimate of all family members, One Bull served throughout the stressful Canadian years as Sitting Bull’s closest confidant. Thus there can be no question that the mission he undertook in May 1880 drew sanction from Sitting Bull himself.

Fort Buford had never been a place of welcome for Lakotas, and for one to ride boldly into its precincts called for unusual courage. Yet on May 23, 1880, One Bull presented himself to the commanding officer as an envoy from Sitting Bull. In a council with Colonel William B. Hazen, One Bull recited the usual grievances against the Americans, but said that he had been sent to learn on what terms his uncle might be received. “I want to know what you will do with us if we will surrender,” he quoted Sitting Bull as stating. “If it is good, I will come, if not, I won’t. I will wait till the young man gets back. He represents my people.”

The colonel replied that the terms now were the same as they always had been. Sitting Bull and all his people must come in and give up their ponies and arms. He would be kindly treated, given plenty to eat, and sent to one of the agencies.

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