A War Expedition. Crows Heart

 This is a sample of the type of story told evenings in the Eagle Trapping Lodge by those with a good war record; such stories were always a source of great pleasure to the listeners. 

The party was to leave from Fishhook Village. The leaders were Old Bear (Tamisik) and a party of Mandans, Crows Breast, (Tamisi Porcupine Head (Speckled Eagle Clan. I joined the party by a suggestion Afraid to Be Chief (mopro-head of lodge) made that he had no horses. If we got horses we would be pretty well fixed. When a party of this kind is made up, they do not announce it but act quietly in preparation for the trip. A night was set to leave. Those planning to join the got together a supply of moccasins and food. A lodge was designated as meeting place. The party met in Two Chief’s lodge. Others came to look on and wish us luck so that the lodge was packed full of people. 

In addition to the leaders, mentioned already, there these warriors in the party: 

Ma-nux-dE (Big Steal) Tamisik clan 

Long Tail. Chicken clan. 

Afraid to be Chief. Chicken clan. 

Raven Turns (ke-ka-i-pap’-te-ku) Waxikena clan 

Bear Chief, Chicken clan 

Short Bears Teeth, Tamisik clan.. 

Crows Heart, Chicken clan 

Tree Bark, Tamisik clan 

Crow, chicken clan. 

We met at Two Chief’s lodge since he was a brother-in-law of Crows Breast, one of the Old Wolves. We had enough bullboats in village in readiness to carry the party down the river. It was planned that the the party should sing the songs belonging to the whole group before leaving. All of us wore a white piece of cloth for a headgear and a white cloak reaching to the knees. While singing the songs, we made a noise by ‘hitting on the mouth’; this brought a great crowd of onlookers. While we were singing, a heavy shower of rain fell and water ran everywhere in small torrents. The leaders decided not to go that night; that they would wait until the next evening just at sunset 

When the schedule was changed, each of us took up his medicine bundle and equipment and left the lodge. Upon reaching our earthlodge, I lay aside my medicine bag and moccasins and went out of the village to attend to my horses. While there I met a Gros Ventre named Puts Away his Hair who said he was organizing a war party of his own and wanted me to go along as a Young Wolf. 

He said, “When I was making medicine, my gods ‘gave me one tipi’ at a place called Cedars Facing each other (Sw. of present town of Fickinson). When he told me that, I was undecided what to do. I thought it over for a long time and finally decided to go with him as Young Wolf. I had already left a bullboat with the other party. I prepared to leave immediately with the newly-organized party. It did not take me long to get ready for I had only to fet my horse for my medicine bundle and moccasins were already packed for the other expeditions I had planned accompanying. In a short time I plunged my horse into the muddy waters of the Missouri at a point just below the village and swam him to the opposite shore where we were to meet. It was late spring and the river was quite big Big Steal also changed over to this party. 

We went to a sandbar to wait for the party. We were told that we would wait there for him, that we would wait for him there but we did not know who he meant. We later learned that they meant Four Bears who you are named after. 

The Leaders or Old Wolves were:A War Expedition. Crows Heart 2 

H Puts Away his Hair—Waterbuster clan 

H Four Bears—Chicken clan 

H Sitting Elk—Waterbuster 

H Shaved Forehead—Waterbuster 

The others of the party were: 

H Yellow Robe—Chicken clan 

M. Foolish Man Tamisik Clan (Louie Baker’s bro.) 

M. Rattle snake—Tamisik clan 

M No Arm—Tamisik clan. 

M. Crows Heart—Chicken clan 19 yrs old. 

The route we took was a little east of the present post office of Defiance by Lake Gap (Mandan term). There were plenty of antelope and we had plenty of meat. Our Route took us by Red Bank where we made our first camp. From there we went directly toward present site of town of Dickinson and on the second night stopped on the river bottoms there. Next day we went on to Rose Bud Ground to the southwest. From our camp there, we climbed the buttes which were grass covered from which we saw the hill called the Home of the Buffalo, the place where the animals were believed to come out. Some of the party decided to go there to look at the place. On reaching the Home of Buffalo Hill some of us looked around for the blue clay used for painting our face and known to be plentiful there. On top of the hill there was a deep crack in the ground and we could see the buffaloes’ tracks in there for it was well packed down. On the west side we came to a great cavity half full of bones. There were so many bones there I think the animals must have been killed by lightning. 

This was the same summer that Custer’s party went through the country. (1876). Their army went just a little to the west of the hill and made a regular road. We went there to see their trail; when we came to where it went down we found skeletons of mulsees, wrecked and abandoned wagons, and much other material discarded by the army. Their trail was plain so we followed it all the way to the Little Missouri. Just before crossing the Little Missouri, we went through rough country. There we found oats, clothing, and harness; it looked as though the men had spent a long time there making the road. We found good bridles, reins, and tents and took them. All of us were well supplied. From there we rode to Like a Chicken Tail Butte. This was one of the places we usually got red paint. All in the party said they would need it when they captured the one lodge. From there we followed the west bank a ways, then crossed and camped on the bank, all the time going up the river. The whole country was full of elk, antelope, and blacktail deer. We were never short of meat. 

Soon we could see Cedar Facing Themselves Buttes. There we killed two elk for we were afraid we might not find the tipi at once and need meat while we were scouting around for it. There we built a sweatlodge and dried our meat in it with heated stones for we did not dare shoot game when in the vicinity of the enemy. The scouts travelled ahead of us constantly, headed by Yellow Rode who was assisted by Foolish Man and Rattlesnake. On the third day after drying the elk meat, they came back running to inform us that they had found where a tipi had been and that the coals were still hot. They said they could still see the place where the horses had been picketed. 

When Puts Away his Hair reached the site of the tipi, he went to the west side of the tipi ring to fast and cry. He cried until next mid-noon. Then he pointed to the Sun and said, “Old Man, what you have given me, you have also taken away,” then to the Young Wolves he said, “Now, Young Wolves, this is the place designated by my medicine and it would not be good A War Expedition. Crows Heart 3 

policy to follow this enemy. We could catch him at his next stop but that would be beyond the authority given me by my medicine and I might be harmed and some of you young wolves killed. Young Wolves, I am going to turn back but you may go on if you wish. The Old Man gave me the lodge but now he has taken it back again.” 

When he made that decision, Sitting Elk decided to go on as leader and took with him Yellow Robe, Foolish Man, and No Arm. they went on for one day when they found the camp fire still in flames. Sitting Elk was leader but he decided that in view of the fact that another had been given the lodge, it would be dangerous to them. He said, “By the looks of things, the enemy is wise to us. I don’t want to lose any young wolves. It would be a blur to my record to ‘kick the stone’ so I am going back.” The others returned with him. 

When he came back, there was nothing of importance until we reached the Killdeer Mountains where a Sioux warparty saw us. We took the middle of the flat east of Killdeer Mts, and one of the party killed and antelope. We wasted no time pulling the hide off, and went right on to Red Paint Creek. I laid the hide out to dry to use on my horse that had a sore back. while we were roasting the meat, a whirlwind took the hide up unto the air and whirled it, all the time with the flat side down. When it happened, we said as a joke, “The enemy is upon us” but each of us jumped onto his horse and followed the creek down to the Little Missouri. We did not stop until we reached Cedar Butte, four miles above Hans Creek when we went into an elm thicket to rest the horses. While there, an owl came and hooted. The enemy had outnumbered us 10 to 1 and had been watching us from the Killdeer Mountains. They thought they had us but it was the whirlwind that saved us. It was almost a miracle that we escaped the enemy. (The enemy was never seen, merely suspected by the signs.) From our camp in Hans Creek we left at dawn without food and rode until we reached Manure Creek where we grazed our horses in a clearing in the woods and cooked meat and reached Fishhook village at sunset. 

Puts Away His Hair got no credit for the lodge even though he found it just where his medicine said it would be. His medicine came from giving the Nax-pi-kE so he could pray to the Sun. 

Sun Dance givers in order form recent are: 

Good Bear. 

Rabbit Head 

Crows Breast 

Sitting Elk 

Puts Away His Hair. 

Knife (Looks For Enemy gave it 8 times) 

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