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Eastman, Charles A., 1858-1939

"Old Indian Days"

The two bands had been great rivals in
courage and the art of war, so we did not ask
for help from our kinsfolk, but during the night
we dug trenches about the camp, the inner one
for the women and children, and the outer one
for the men to stay in and do battle.
"The next morning at daybreak the enemy
landed and approached our camp in great num-
bers. Some of their women and old men came
also, and sat upon the bluffs to watch the fight
and to carry off their dead and wounded. The
Blackfeet likewise were watching the battle
from the bluffs, and just before the fight began
one Blackfoot came in with his wife and joined
us. His name was Red Dog's Track, but from
that day he was called He-Came-Back. His
wife was a Yanktonnais, and he had said to
her: 'If I don't join your tribe to-day, my
brothers-in-law will call me a coward.'
"The Sioux were well entrenched and well
armed with guns and arrows, and their aim
was deadly, so that the Rees crawled up gradu-
ally and took every opportunity to pick off any
Sioux who ventured to show his head above the
trenches.


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