Massacre of Eagles

“I see McLaughlin has you working in the field. That is not right for a chief like you.”

“If it is right for my people to work in the field, then it is right for me as well,” Sitting Bull said.

“But can you keep their respect?”

Sitting Bull was quiet for a moment. “It does not matter,” he said. “They will kill me anyway.”

“Who will kill you?” Falcon asked.

“My people will kill me,” Sitting Bull said. “In a vision, I saw a meadowlark land beside me. I approached him, and I was surprised when he did not fly away. ‘Why do you not fly away?’ I asked the bird. ‘Do you not fear me?’ The bird answered me. ‘Your own people, the Lakota, will kill you.’ And because I heard this with my own ears, this I believe.”

“Your people love you,” Cody said. “They will not kill you.”

“Was there not a great chief of the whites, loved by all, who was killed by a white man?”

“You are talking about Abraham Lincoln,” Falcon said.

“Yes. Was he killed by an Indian?”

“No. He was killed by John Wilkes Booth, a white man,” Falcon said.

“One of his people.”

“Not exactly,” Cody said. “Booth was a Southern sympathizer.”

“One of his people,” Sitting Bull repeated.

“If you put it that way, yes.”

“I, too, will be killed by my own people.”

“Sitting Bull, what do you know of the Wagi Wanagi?” Falcon asked.

“Wagi Wanagi? You wish to know of Wagi Wanagi? You have come to the wrong person. Wagi Wanagi is a religion, started by Mean to His Horses,” Sitting Bull said.

“Do you follow this religion of Spirit Talking?” Cody asked.

“Many have heard and some believe,” Sitting Bull replied. “Many do not believe.”

“That is not what I asked, Sitting Bull,” Cody said. “Do you follow this religion?”

“I do not follow this religion, but I have honor for this religion. I do not follow the Jesus religion of the white man, but also, I have honor for that religion.”

“Do you think it will be a danger to the white man? Do you think it will start a war?”

“I think it will be a danger only to the Indian,” Sitting Bull said. “For it is a religion that says the white man will leave and all the land will be returned to the people.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Cody asked.

“I do not believe that,” Sitting Bull said. “But my people do not understand. They think the only white people are those that they see—the soldiers, the Indian agents, the ranchers, farmers, and those in the towns. They have not seen what I have seen; they do not know what I know. I know how large is the village of the white man, I know that on the train, going much faster than the swiftest horse, it takes many days to cross the white man’s land. I have seen, gathered to see one show, more white people than there are in all the nations of the Sioux. Another war can only mean the end of my people.”

“Will you do all that you can to prevent another war?” Cody asked.

Sitting Bull raised his hand to point to the garden. “I can tell the women who work in the garden with me that there should not be another war. But the women do not want war anyway. I can tell the old men who come to gather their rations that there should not be another war, but they are old and they have seen war and do not want to see another. I can tell the young men that there should not be another war, but in many, their blood is hot with anger and distrust for the white man, so I do not think they will listen to me.”

After his meeting with Sitting Bull, Cody went to the Army Signal Center where he composed a telegram to be sent to General Miles.

AS PER YOUR INSTRUCTIONS, I HAVE INTERVIEWED SITTING BULL. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT HE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE SPIRIT TALKING MOVEMENT. THE ONE BEHIND THE MOVEMENT IS MEAN TO HIS HORSES A CHEYENNE. I BELIEVE THAT IF THERE IS TO BE ANY INDIAN TROUBLE IT WILL COME FROM A MIXED BAG OF RENEGADES AND NOT A COORDINATED WAR LAUNCHED BY ANY PARTICULAR TRIBE. WILLIAM CODY.

After sending the telegram, Cody, Falcon, and Ingraham took their lunch at the Officers’ Open Mess at Fort Yates.

“I thank you for coming with me, Falcon,” Cody said.

“I didn’t mind. As I said, I was coming back home, anyway.”

“Before you return to Colorado, I wonder if you would like to stay with me a little longer,” Cody invited. “You may find the next part of my trip interesting.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“First, I’m going to DeMaris Springs, Wyoming Territory,” Cody said. “The site where my town is to be is very close to there. I thought I might look it over and show it to you and Ingraham. From there, we will take a turn through Yellowstone Park. Have you ever been there?”

“Yes, I have.”

“There are some fascinating things to see there,” Cody said. “Then, from Yellowstone, I am going up to