Chapter 32
Friendship doubles our joy and divides our grief
He saw a lone Indian approaching which was very unusual.
It wasn’t long before he recognized him as his friend, Little Elk. Yellow Hair turned to Lt. Steckel and said, “I know this man. He is a friend. Let me ride out to meet him and see what he wants.”
“Alright, but we will be watching him closely, Esben.” Lt. Steckel had started calling him Esben. He said he felt funny calling him Yellow Hair, as that is General George Custer, his commander’s nick name, given to him by the Sioux.
Esben didn’t mind being called by his Christian name.
He rode out to meet Little Elk and they grasped forearms in the Brule and Lakota’s way of greeting close friends. “How have you been, Little Elk?”
“I have been well. I see you have healed well.”
“Small Dove has strong medicine.”
“Ai. How do you like working for the mila hanska Yellow Hair?”
He didn’t answer Little Elk’s question. “I know the land they are traveling through as well as most white men. The Crow Scouts don’t care much for me.”
“The Crow are ishta, girls. They have no backbone. They attack our women and children in our village whenever they know our warriors are away. They are weak.”
“What are you doing out here? I see your warriors up on that hill. Is that Walking Bird and Spirit Talker with you?”
“Yes. We have been hunting buffalo. The buffalo are hard to find since the Wasichus has come to our land. They kill all they can and leave the meat rotting in the sun. Soon my people will starve to death. The Wasichus will come and drive the remainder of the buffalo up into the mountains and then they will drive us there as well.
“I know, Little Elk, we will never see the prairie like it was. I remember the land being black with buffalo and wild ponies. Now there are few. Ranchers are putting up fences keeping them from getting to the water and free grass. Our ponies, the proud drinkers of freedom are soon to be gone. The only way they can survive is to leave and find a new home.”
“The same for my people,” Little Elk said. “The Washichus has taken our best land and pushed us further away as well. The land they give us cannot sustain the life of the deer, elk or buffalo. We have to travel far to find our food and it is getting harder and harder every year.”
Yellow Hair just nodded his head in agreement.
They sat quietly on their mounts for a moment, watching the activity down by the wagons as people prepared to camp for the night.
“When the anpetu wi, sun, drops behind the horizon, I will break away from the wagon train and we can camp here for the night. We have much to discuss.”
“Alright, meet me by that mesa. I will tell Walking Bird and the others that I will join them after one sleep.”
With that, Little Elk turned and kicked his pony into a lope heading back to where he came.
Yellow Hair looked forward to talking to Little Elk again. They used to spend hours playing as kids and telling tales to each other over the campfires at night. Their fathers were close friends and their families spent much time together.
He pulled Kodah up next to Lt. Steckel.”That is Little Elk, a Brule. He and a hunting party are heading back to the reservation and I asked him to join me for the night and he agreed. I will camp with him over by that mesa and catch up with you in the morning. I will ask him to make sure the Sioux let us pass. They usually ask for horses or some cows from the people passing through. I’ll negotiate a fair price so we won’t encounter any trouble later. I have known Little Elk a long time and he is a good man.”
“Okay, but what about the others with him? Will they be in agreement, the Lieutenant asked?
“They will be. Little Elk is their leader and he is telling them to go back and that he will join them tomorrow.”
“Good, we’ll see you tomorrow then.”
The Lieutenant turned his horse and waved the column of Calvary toward the circled wagons.
Yellow Hair waited until they were a good quarter of a mile away before he headed to the mesa to meet with Little Elk.