daylight, Satank called for some of his braves and
with them rode out to Peacock's ranch. Arriving there, he called out
to Peacock, who had not yet risen: "Peacock, get up, the soldiers are
coming!" It was a warning which the illicit trader quickly obeyed, and
running out of the building with his field-glass in his hand, he started
for his lookout, but while he was ascending the ladder with his back to
Satank the latter shot him full of holes, saying, as he did so: "There,
Peacock, I guess you won't write any more letters."

His warriors then entered the building and killed every man in it, save
one who had been gored by a buffalo bull the day before, and who was
lying in a room all by himself. He was saved by the fact that the Indian
has a holy dread of small-pox, and will never enter an apartment where
sick men lie, fearing they may have the awful disease.

Satanta (White Bear) was the most efficient and dreaded chief of all who
have ever been at the head of the Kiowa nation. Ever restlessly active
in ordering or conducting merciless forays against an exposed frontier,
he was the very incarnation of deviltry in his determined hatred of the
whites, and his constant warfare against civilization.

He also possessed wonderful oratorical powers; he could hurl the most
violent invectives at those whom he argued with, or he could be equally
pathetic when necessary. He was justly called "The Orator of the
Plains," rivalling the historical renown of Tecumseh or Pontiac.

He was a short, bullet-headed Indian, full of courage and well versed in
strategy. Ordinarily, when on his visits to the various military posts
he wore a major-general's full uniform, a suit of that rank having been
given to him in the summer of 1866 by General Hancock. He also owned
an ambulance, a team of mules, and a set of harness, the last stolen,
maybe, from some caravan he had raided on the Trail. In that ambulance,
with a trained Indian driver, the wily chief travelled, wrapped in a
savage dignity that was truly laughable. In his village, too, he assumed
a great deal of style. He was very courteous to his white guests, if at
the time his tribe were at all friendly with the government; nothing
was too good for them. He always laid down a carpet on the floor of his
lodge in the post of honour, on which they were to sit. He had large
boards, twenty inches wide and three feet long, ornamented with brass
tacks driven all around the edges, which he used fo