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'WE BELONG TO THE NORTH': THE FLIGHTS OF THE NORTHERN INDIANS FROM THE WHITE RIVER AGENCIES, 1877-1878
Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Summer 2005 by Bray, Kingsley M
On November 15 the Red Cloud column encamped near the site of modern-day Interior, South Dakota. It laid over on the sixteenth while Ben Tibbitts made another beef issue. According to Billy Garnett, Tibbitts was placed in charge of the camp when Agent Irwin and lieutenant Clark left the camp to reconnoiter with the escort down the valley. Immediately, Red Bear's faction declared they were ready to break away, demanding that the Oglalas join them in flight. Cedar Pass offered a good trail into the badlands, where pursuit would be at a disadvantage and troops from the Missouri River garrisons and White River could not be mobilized in time to intercept the flight.37
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Religious sanction was accorded to the flight by an eighteen-year-old girl who had sought a vision on one of the low hills near camp. After a day and a night she returned to warn relatives and holy men that a voice had told her of impending trouble, but that a spirit coyote would guide them safely away. The involvement of the holy men indicates a widening of Red Bear's appeal for support. Most significantly, the militants won over the Sans Arc Elk Head, keeper of the Calf Pipe, holiest of Lakota holies. Elk Head's revered position convinced many waverers to reject the appeals of moderates such as Touch the Clouds.38
As the cold daylight of November 17 dawned, tipis were struck and heralds shouted orders. Women rolled lodge skins, secured packs, and hitched travois. Confusion seized the Northern village as warriors shouted the orders of Red Bear and his blotahunka, contending with the appeals for calm of Touch the Clouds and the orders of the Company E scouts. The chaos spilled into the Oglala village, where the chiefs turned out to harangue the Northern warriors, making "every effort. . . that under the circumstances could have been [made] to prevent these people from leaving us." The Oglala chiefs chose not to deploy the scouts, however, fearing any attempt to "soldier" the breakaways would result in bloodshed, for "these people were crazy and would get them all in trouble."39
Red Bear's people broke for Cedar Pass. Billy Garnett dispatched a rider to alert Agent Irwin. Still close enough to respond quickly, lieutenant Clark hurried back and ordered Touch the Clouds with a detachment of scouts to overtake the flight. Overtaking the fleeing Indians in the badlands, Touch the Clouds was unable to persuade any to return. All he could present to Clark were three army-issue guns and overcoats given up by enlisted scouts.40
Historians have been as puzzled as contemporaries by the exact number and composition of the November 17 flight. Captain Lawson reported only that "quite a large number" fled. In the days that followed, a flurry of contradictory telegrams pitched the figure as high as 1,700 people. lieutenant Clark supplied the best estimate when he stated that of the 250 lodges of Northern Indians that had joined the Red Cloud column, 100 lodges (approximately 600 people) fled. Intelligence received by Colonel Miles helps to identify individual leaders. The largest contingent was the Sans Arcs, approximately 45 lodges led by Red Bear. Elk Head, and Buffalo Rump. Some 30 lodges of Miniconjous followed Black Shield and Crazy Heart. Low Dog and Black Fox led the 25 Oglala lodges, all drawn from the Oyuhpe band stampeders who fled Red Cloud Agency immediately after Crazy Horse's death. The 70 lodges of Northern Oglalas remaining with the Red Cloud column, however, refused to join the flight. Agent Irwin claimed with some satisfaction that the breakaways "could not break up the [Red Cloud Agency] Ogallallahs."41
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