of opposition. He was accordingly in constant communication with
the military; but the other chiefs did not understand his views and
seem to have been suspicious of his motives.

In 1860-1864 the Southern Cheyennes and Comanches were at war
with the whites, and some of the Brules and Ogallalas, who were
their neighbors and intimates, were suspected of complicity with
the hostiles. Doubtless a few of their young men may have been
involved; at any rate, Thunder Bear and Two Face, together with a
few others who were roving with the warring tribes, purchased two
captive white women and brought them to Fort Laramie. It was,
however, reported at the post that these two men had maltreated the
women while under their care.

Of course, the commander demanded of Spotted Tail, then head
chief, that he give up the guilty ones, and accordingly he had the
two men arrested and delivered at the fort. At this there was an
outcry among his own people; but he argued that if the charges were
true, the men deserved punishment, and if false, they should be
tried and cleared by process of law. The Indians never quite knew
what evidence was produced at the court-martial, but at all events
the two men were hanged, and as they had many influential
connections, their relatives lost no time in fomenting trouble.
The Sioux were then camping close by the fort and it was midwinter,
which facts held them in check for a month or two; but as soon as
spring came, they removed their camp across the river and rose in
rebellion. A pitched battle was fought, in which the soldiers got
the worst of it. Even the associate chief, Big Mouth, was against
Spotted Tail, who was practically forced against his will and
judgment to take up arms once more.