A few
of the younger men were delighted with the
prospect of witnessing an Indian fight.
On swept the armed band, in numbers in-
creasing at every village.
It was true that there had been a growing
feeling of distrust among the Indians, because
their annuities had been withheld for a long
time, and the money payments had been delayed
again and again. There were many in great
need. The traders had given them credit to
some extent (charging them four times the
value of the article purchased), and had like-
wise induced Little Crow to sign over to them
ninety-eight thousand dollars, the purchase-price
of that part of their reservation lying north
of the Minnesota, and already occupied by the
whites.
This act had made the chief very unpop-
ular, and he was ready for a desperate ven-
ture to regain his influence. Certain warriors
among the upper bands of Sioux had even
threatened his life, but no one spoke openly of
a break with the whites.
When, therefore, the news came to Little
Crow that some roving hunters of the Rice
Creek band had killed in a brawl two families
of white settlers, he saw his opportunity to show
once for all to the disaffected that he had no
love for the white man.
Pages:
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129