THREE YEARS ON THE PLAINS

The Death of Johnson in Colorado.
Frontispiece.

THREE YEARS ON THE PLAINS

OBSERVATIONS OF INDIANS,
1867-1870

EDMUND B. TUTTLE

"Like an old pine-tree, I am dead at the top."

—Speech of an old chief

Dedication

TO
GEN. W. T. SHERMAN,
WHOSE SPLENDID TRIUMPHS IN TIMES OF WAR SHED LUSTRE UPON
THE NATION'S HISTORY,
AND
WHOSE WISE COUNSELS IN TIMES OF PEACE WILL
INCREASE THE NATION'S STRENGTH AND
PRESERVE ITS HONOR, THIS
LITTLE BOOK IS, BY
PERMISSION,

Respectfully Dedicated.

LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN

Headquarters, Army of the United States, Washington, D. C.,

June 13th, 1870.

Rev. E. B. Tuttle, Fort D. A. Russell, W. T.

Dear Sir,—I have your letter of June 8th, and do not, of course, object to your dedicating your volume on Indians to me. But please don't take your facts from the newspapers, that make me out as favoring extermination.

I go as far as the farthest in favor of lavishing the kindness of our people and the bounty of the general government on those Indians who settle down to reservations and make the least effort to acquire new habits; but to those who will not settle down, who cling to their traditions and habits of hunting, of prowling along our long, thinly-settled frontiers, killing, scalping, mutilating, robbing, etc., the sooner they are made to feel the inevitable result the better for them and for us.

To those I would give what they ask, war, till they are satisfied.

Yours truly,

W. T. Sherman, General.

CONTENTS

• List of Illustrationsxi
• Introduction11
• Where did the Indians come from?13
• Despoiling the Grave of an old Onondaga Chief16
• The Fidelity of an Indian Chief22
• Big Thunder—a Winnebago Chief26
• Indian Tradition—the Deluge27
• Tribes on the Plains32
• The Author a "Medicine-man"47
• The Sioux Sun Dance—Scene on the Plains of Young Warriors exhibiting
        Fortitude and Bravery in Torturing Pains—a Horrible Scene48
• Julesburg52
• A Brave Boy and some Indians55
• An Indian Meal56
• Shall the Indians be exterminated?59
• Indians don't believe half they hear65
• Army Officers66
• What shall be done?68
• A Good Joke by Little Raven71
• How the Indian is cheated72
• Burial of a Chief's Daughter72
• An Indian Raid on Sidney Station, Union Pacific Railroad75
• Why do Indians scalp their Enemies?77
• Indian Boy's Education79
• Making Presents81
• Indians making Signals81
• Merciful Indians82
• A Scene at North Platte