position to hear all that was said on either side, and weighed all
the arguments in his mind.

When he first went upon the warpath, it appears that he was,
if anything, overzealous to establish himself in the eye of his
people; and as a matter of fact, it was especially hard for him to
gain an assured position among the Brules, with whom he lived, both
because he was an orphan, and because his father had been of
another band. Yet it was not long before he had achieved his
ambition, though in doing so he received several ugly wounds. It
was in a battle with the Utes that he first notably served his
people and their cause.

The Utes were the attacking party and far outnumbered the
Sioux on this occasion. Many of their bravest young men had
fallen, and the Brules were face to face with utter annihilation,
when Spotted Tail, with a handful of daring horsemen, dodged around
the enemy's flank and fell upon them from the rear with so much
spirit that they supposed that strong reinforcements had arrived,
and retreated in confusion. The Sioux pursued on horseback; and it
was in this pursuit that the noted chief Two Strike gained his
historical name. But the chief honors of the fight belonged to
Spotted Tail. The old chiefs, Conquering Bear and the rest,
thanked him and at once made him a war chief.

It had been the firm belief of Spotted Tail that it was unwise
to allow the white man so much freedom in our country, long before
the older chiefs saw any harm in it. After the opening of the
Oregon Trail he, above all the others, was watchful of the conduct
of the Americans as they journeyed toward the setting sun, and more