At this juncture came the sudden and bloody uprising in the
east among the Minnesota Sioux, and Sitting Bull's campaign in the
north had begun in earnest; while to the south the Southern
Cheyennes, Comanches, and Kiowas were all upon the warpath.
Spotted Tail at about this time seems to have conceived the idea of
uniting all the Rocky Mountain Indians in a great confederacy. He
once said: "Our cause is as a child's cause, in comparison with the
power of the white man, unless we can stop quarreling among
ourselves and unite our energies for the common good." But old-
time antagonisms were too strong; and he was probably held back
also by his consciousness of the fact that the Indians called him
"the white man's friend", while the military still had some faith
in him which he did not care to lose. He was undoubtedly one of
the brainiest and most brilliant Sioux who ever lived; and while he
could not help being to a large extent in sympathy with the feeling
of his race against the invader, yet he alone foresaw the
inevitable outcome, and the problem as it presented itself to him
was simply this: "What is the best policy to pursue in the existing
situation?"

Here is his speech as it has been given to me, delivered at
the great council on the Powder River, just before the attack on
Fort Phil Kearny. We can imagine that he threw all his wonderful
tact and personal magnetism into this last effort at conciliation.

"'Hay, hay, hay! Alas, alas!' Thus speaks the old man, when
he knows that his former vigor and freedom is gone from him
forever. So we may exclaim to-day, Alas! There is a time
appointed to all things. Think for a moment how many multitudes of