ber of
recognized warriors as leaders, with 'Gall' of the Hunkpapas and 'Crazy
Horse' of the Cheyennes the more prominent.

"The Indians with whom I have talked deny having mutilated any of the
killed, but admit that many dead bodies were mutilated by women of the
camp. They also claim that the fight with Custer was of short duration.
They have no knowledge as to hours and minutes, but have explained by
the distance that could be walked while the fight lasted. They vary from
twenty minutes to three-quarters of an hour, none placing it longer than
forty-five minutes. This does not include the fight with Reno before his
retreat, but from the time that Custer's command advanced and the fight
with his command commenced. The opinion of the Indians regarding Reno's
first attack and short stand is, that it was his retreat that gave them
the victory over Custer's command. The helter skelter retreat of Reno's
men enthused the Indians to such an extent that, flushed with excitement
and this early success, they were reckless in their charge upon Custer's
command, and with the slight number of Indians thus fully enthused, that
small command was but a slight check to their sweeping impetuosity. The
Indians also state that the separated detachments made their victory
over the troops more certain."

Thus Custer fell. The mystery surrounding his death will probably never
be solved in a satisfactory manner, owing to the impossibility of
placing any reliance on statements made by the Indians. The way in which
the command was annihilated and the soldiers' bodies mutilated, should
go a long way towards disproving many of the theories now in existence
concerning the alleged ill treatment of Indians, and their natural
peacefulness and good disposition. Custer had so frequently befriended
the very men who surrounded his command and annihilated it, that the
baseness of their ingratitude should be apparent even to those who are
inclined to sympathize with the red men, and to denounce the alleged
severity with which they have been treated. Travelers through the Dakota
region find few spots of more melancholy, though marked, interest than
the one illustrated in connection with this chapter.

CHAPTER XII.

AMONG THE CREOLES.

Meaning of the Word "Creole"--An Old Aristocratic Relic--The Venice of
America--Origin of the Creole Carnivals--Rex and His Annual
Disguises--Creole Balls--The St. Louis Veiled Prophets--The French
Market and