"Warriors and friends:I am informed that the great white war chief who of his generosity and comradeship has given us this feast,has expressed the wish that we may follow to-night the usages and customs of my people.In other words,this is a warriors'feast,a braves'meal.I call upon the Ojibway chief,the Hole-in-the-Day,to give the lone wolf's hunger call,after which we will join him in our usual manner."The tall and handsome Ojibway now rose and straightened his superb form to utter one of the clearest and longest wolf howls that was ever heard in Washington,and at its close came a tremendous burst of war whoops that fairly rent the air,and no doubt electrified the officials there present.
On one occasion Little Crow was invited by the commander of Fort Ridgeley,Minnesota,to call at the fort.On his way back,in company with a half-breed named Ross and the interpreter Mitchell,he was ambushed by a party of Ojibways,and again wounded in the same arm that had been broken in his attempted assassination.His companion Ross was killed,but he managed to hold the war party at bay until help came and thus saved his life.
More and more as time passed,this naturally brave and ambitious man became a prey to the selfish interests of the traders and politicians.The immediate causes of the Sioux outbreak of 1862came in quick succession to inflame to desperate action an outraged people.The two bands on the so-called "lower reservations"in Minnesota were Indians for whom nature had provided most abundantly in their free existence.After one hundred and fifty years of friendly intercourse first with the French,then the English,and finally the Americans,they found themselves cut off from every natural resource,on a tract of land twenty miles by thirty,which to them was virtual imprisonment.By treaty stipulation with the government,they were to be fed and clothed,houses were to be built for them,the men taught agriculture,and schools provided for the children.In addition to this,a trust fund of a million and a half was to be set aside for them,at five per cent interest,the interest to be paid annually per capita.They had signed the treaty under pressure,believing in these promises on the faith of a great nation.
However,on entering the new life,the resources so rosily described to them failed to materialize.Many families faced starvation every winter,their only support the store of the Indian trader,who was baiting his trap for their destruction.Very gradually they awoke to the facts.At last it was planned to secure from them the north half of their reservation for ninety-eight thousand dollars,but it was not explained to the Indians that the traders were to receive all the money.Little Crow made the greatest mistake of his life when he signed this agreement.
Meanwhile,to make matters worse,the cash annuities were not paid for nearly two years.Civil War had begun.When it was learned that the traders had taken all of the ninety-eight thousand dollars "on account",there was very bitter feeling.In fact,the heads of the leading stores were afraid to go about as usual,and most of them stayed in St.Paul.Little Crow was justly held in part responsible for the deceit,and his life was not safe.
The murder of a white family near Acton,Minnesota,by a party of Indian duck hunters in August,1862,precipitated the break.
