adopted me as a brother. " Running Antelope " is chief of a large tribe of Hunkpapas, renowned for his bravery and his deeds of arms against his enemies, more especially against the whites. For the last year he has accepted all propositions of peace with frankness and ardor, and to-day he is maintaining them devotedly. Besides these I have Bear's Rib, The Log [le Soliveau], All Over Black [le Not r dans tout son entour], Returning Ghost, Red Cloud, Little Dog and Sitting Crow. These are all remarkable and famous chiefs; they are at the head of my escort, with eighty of their principal braves and warriors. They belong to various bands of the Sioux, as follows: the Yank tonnais, Yanktons, Blackfeet Sioux, Hunkpapas, Minneconjous, Ogallalas, Sissetons and Santees. All of them offered themselves generously and freely in my service, with the sole object of persuading their hostile brethren to lend me an attentive and favorable ear, and if need were to protect me.
We were all assembled; a large circle was formed, in which several officers from the fort and some of the soldiers joined, besides a great number of Indians from all these different tribes. I then offered a solemn prayer to the Great Spirit to put us in his keeping, and made a short address to the numerous friends who surrounded us, recommending us to their pious recollection. Our march began at seven in the morning. We started westward, following the direct
course of the sun. We made this day twenty-two miles and encamped on the north bank of Cannonball river.
The country in all the region which we traversed is very rolling and covered with a rich carpet of verdure and, at this season of the year, with a great variety of flowers, always so agreeable to the sight. The starlike blossoms of the cactus, yellow, white and red, were especially prevalent. We had a heavy rain during the day, accompanied by a strong wind, which greatly delayed the progress of our two wagons, carrying our little provisions and the baggage of all my escort. When we reached our camping-place, it did