reatly
amused and picked up one of the young pigs, but as soon as it squealed
the mother ran furiously after them. He kept the pig and fled with
it, still laughing; but his friend was soon compelled to run up the
conveniently inclined trunk of a fallen tree, while our hero reached the
shore of a lake near by, and plunged into the water. He swam and dived
as long as he could, but the beast continued to threaten him with her
sharp teeth, till, almost exhausted, he swam again to shore, where his
friend came up and dispatched the vicious animal with a club. On account
of this watery adventure he was at once called Tamahay, meaning Pike. He
earned many other names, but preferred this one, because it was the name
borne by a great friend of his, Lieutenant Pike, the first officer
of the United States Army who came to Minnesota for the purpose of
exploring the sources of the Mississippi River and of making peace with
the natives. Tamahay assisted this officer in obtaining land from the
Sioux upon which to build Fort Snelling. He appears in history under the
name of "Tahamie" or the "One-Eyed Sioux."

Always ready to brave danger and unpopularity, Tamahay was the only
Sioux who sided with the United States in her struggle with Great
Britain in 1819. For having espoused the cause of the Americans, he was
ill-treated by the British officers and free traders, who for a long
time controlled the northwest, even after peace had been effected
between the two nations. At one time he was confined in a fort called
McKay, where now stands the town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He had
just returned from St. Louis, and was suspected of exciting his people
to rebel against British subjects. His life was even threatened, but
to this Tamahay merely replied that he was ready to die. A few months
later, this fort was restored to the United States, and upon leaving
it the British set the buildings on fire, though the United States flag
floated above them. Some Indians who were present shouted to Tamahay,
"Your friends', the Americans', fort is on fire!" He responded with a
war whoop, rushed into the blazing fort, and brought out the flag. For
this brave act he was rewarded with a present of a flag and medal. He
was never tired of displaying this medal and his recommendation papers,
and even preserved to the end of his life an old colonial stovepipe hat,
which he wore upon state occasions.

The Sioux long referred to the president of the United