ioux were now entering upon the most stormy period of their
history. The old things were fast giving place to new. The young men,
for the first time engaging in serious and destructive warfare with the
neighboring tribes, armed with the deadly weapons furnished by the
white man, began to realize that they must soon enter upon a desperate
struggle for their ancestral hunting grounds. The old men had been
innocently cultivating the friendship of the stranger, saying among
themselves, "Surely there is land enough for all!"

Red Cloud was a modest and little known man of about twenty-eight years,
when General Harney called all the western bands of Sioux together at
Fort Laramie, Wyoming, for the purpose of securing an agreement and
right of way through their territory. The Ogallalas held aloof from this
proposal, but Bear Bull, an Ogallala chief, after having been plied with
whisky, undertook to dictate submission to the rest of the clan. Enraged
by failure, he fired upon a group of his own tribesmen, and Red Cloud's
father and brother fell dead. According to Indian custom, it fell to him
to avenge the deed. Calmly, without uttering a word, he faced old Bear
Bull and his son, who attempted to defend his father, and shot them
both. He did what he believed to be his duty, and the whole band
sustained him. Indeed, the tragedy gave the young man at once a certain
standing, as one who not only defended his people against enemies from
without, but against injustice and aggression within the tribe. From
this time on he was a recognized leader.

Man-Afraid-of-His-Horse, then head chief of the Ogallalas, took council
with Red Cloud in all important matters, and the young warrior rapidly
advanced in authority and influence. In 1854, when he was barely
thirty-five years old, the various bands were again encamped near Fort
Laramie. A Mormon emigrant train, moving westward, left a footsore cow
behind, and the young men killed her for food. The next day, to their
astonishment, an officer with thirty men appeared at the Indian camp and
demanded of old Conquering Bear that they be given up. The chief in vain
protested that it was all a mistake and offered to make reparation. It
would seem that either the officer was under the influence of liquor,
or else had a mind to bully the Indians, for he would accept neither
explanation nor payment, but demanded point-blank that the young men who
had killed the cow be delivered up to summary punishme