POeTRY
the quarterly journal of contemporary narrative verse
Volume I Number 2 Summer 1997
LITTLE BIG HORN
A SAGA OF SITTING BULL
Ronald Gordon Ziegler, PhD.
c 1986
by Ronald Gordon Ziegler
I. The Great American Desert
Out beyond where once was forest,
passed the mighty river's bank,
stretched the broad expanse of plainsland,
reaching out until it flanked
on the west the great mountains,
on the north the arctic white,
reaching out to the horizon,
broad and endless in its flight. 8
An ambiance of open spaces --
wide open spaces of the west;
here it was they sought their refuge,
so that they, unlike the rest,
need not bow beneath the white man,
feel the crushing of his weight,
break against his endless hunger --
thus, could they escape such fate. 16
Here was land no white man wanted,
called it desert in his books,
dry and yellow, useless to him,
escaping all his envious looks.
When they came, they kept on going,
as a Great Desert it was known,
teeming with great and wild bison
who by the millions made this home. 24
Where were those would live as brothers,
Pilgrims Squanto lent his hand,
those who joined hands to crush
the Pequot and their murderous band,
they who like Franklin sought
to forge one nation of us all?
Now the plan was but Renewal,
'savage' was their fork-tongued call. 32
To this land fled the Dakota,
the mighty Sioux, where they might
pay their homage to the Great Spirit
and live their noble beauty bright,
hunt the buffalo they found there
for their lodging and their food,
their clothing, weapons, and utensils --
ample for their noble brood. 40
The earth, their sister and their mother,
offered this to the Sioux,
and their hopeful spirits took it --
they entered to begin anew
the ancient traditions of the people
in this clear and open air,
as human beings they might dwell here,
open skies and land to share 48
with their brothers of the prairie,
the buffalo, their gentler friends,
all the seasons, using what they might
of the white man for their ends
-- guns and horses -- to their favor.
This way both could live in peace.
This land was big enough to share
out here beyond the white man's reach. 56
But the night sky glistening clearly
with the bright skies and the moon,
the wide reaches below the blue sky
where they sang their ancient tunes,
the great expanse where the clouds
of storm were seen forming to come,
the endless prairie filled with bison
echoing with their beating drums 64
was to soon see other storm clouds
gathering threatening in the east
when the pale face learned the value
of the land and quickly ceased
to ignore its great potential --
then the Sioux stood in the way --
they once again would seek Removal
to eclipse their bright new day. 72
But the night sky glistening clearly
with the bright skies and the moon,
the wide reaches below the blue sky
where they sang their ancient tunes,
the great expanse where the clouds
of storm were seen forming to come,
the endless prairie filled with bison
echoing with their beating drums 64
was to soon see other storm clouds
gathering threatening in the east
when the pale face learned the value
of the land and quickly ceased
to ignore its great potential --
then the Sioux stood in the way --
they once again would seek Removal
to eclipse their bright new day. 72
Then they came as conquerors
seeking the land, not to share,
but to take from the savage
who had no claim to be there;
seeking yet the yellow metal,
forgetting man's yearn to breath free;
and warriors who'd protect the refuge
could not stand against this sea. 80
Warriors tall, with their weapons,
would fight to hold where they'd fled,
but against the onslaught, red men
must flee in terror or fall dead;
so now these brothers become foes
came with new and vengeful might
-- against their thirst unquenchable,
these red men now would stand and fight. 88
"Let us fall upon our mother,
upon the firm and solid ground,
let our blood flow as the water
if it must, we are bound
by sacred duty," were words spoken
by their grave and solemn breath,
as the clouds rolled in upon them,
echoing liberty or death. 96
But the great white father Lincoln,
who understood Franklin's quest
that we all might be one nation,
was felled, and thus soon the west,
that great plains beyond the river,
dry and yellow as it lay,
saw the fork-tongued pale face come,
and the Sioux stood in the way. 104
Once the great war for the nation
drew at last to its end,
now brothers would fight other brothers
-- the Republic would now bend
beneath the weight of another
civil war -- this one in the west,
dividing the America of our fathers
in this last great wilderness. 112
And these red men knew too well
how the Trail of Tears forsook
even the order of the high court --
the action Jackson finally took.
These blue coat soldiers were not come
to preserve peace in the land
-- the savages were in the way --
now they had to make their stand. 120
The buffalo were being mowed down --
the Sioux would have to persevere
on rations from cheating agents
or steal beef from the settlers near,
and they struck in desperation;
so the soldiers would then move in
-- the script was being written for them
as a fight they could not win. 128
II. The Birth of Jumping Badger
Poised across the spreading grasslands
was one of the most powerful
confederations of all the Indians
-- in numbers perhaps unequaled
-- the Dakota people whom the Chippewa
gave the name snake or Sioux
because they were a warlike enemy
-- sure a name that would prove true. 8
They would not bow to the usurper
-- when in council fire, scouts
began to tell of the aggressions
of the pale face, little doubt
filled the minds of medicine men there
who would grunt 'savagely'
as the threat loomed ever larger,
increasing in intensity. 16
Among the great Sioux medicine men
was a chief widely known
for his prowess as a warrior
-- one who had in hunting shown
greatest skill and medicine
in the chase for buffalo,
so much so that he was given
a new name by which to go 24
--'Sitting Buffalo Bull' they called him,
or just simply Sitting Bull,
his chief hunting lodge was near
where the Grand River's waters flow
in what is now called South Dakota
-- there it was that his wife bore
a son to him named Jumping Badger
in the year eighteen and thirty four. 32
Fleet of foot, this young brave brought
in small game he had run to earth.
This brought him notice from the tribe.
And just fourteen years from his birth,
he rode beside his prideful father
on the warpath against the Crow,
and good medicine rode with him,
for into manhood he would grow. 40
In the battle, a Crow warrior
took an arrow in the chest
-- the Sioux whooped and each one raced
to get to him before the rest
to claim the scalp of this foesman
fallen from his pony there,
but one among them dashed on foot
with speed greater than the hare. 48
When the older braves exultant
reached the fallen enemy,
Jumping Badger stood before them
holding out his first trophy.
Although he had not slain this man,
his scalp had been secured,
without which no young Sioux
could become a warrior. And this stirred 56
his father whose eye gleamed in pride,
so that at evening he made
a great feast in the camp
at which to all the braves he bade
that they should take from his corral
their pick of ponies as their own
in celebration of the honor
that his son's spirit had shown. 64
He laid his hand upon the shoulder
of his son and spoke to say:
"Jumping Badger is no longer a boy,
for he has on this day
come of age and is a warrior.
From now on, he shall not be
known as Jumping Badger, hunting
small game, but from now on he 72
shall bear my own name, Sitting Bull.
He shall henceforth hunt big game,
even men. I have spoken."
The other warriors all proclaimed
this great honor given to
the young brave with their shouts of pride.
Thus it was that Sitting Bull
came into the councils of the tribe -- 80
Tatanka Yotanka it was they called him,
man of vision and stout heart,
full of guile winning through craft
what others sought, for their part,
to take with bare hands. Some would call
him coward, foolish in their way,
for he knew that he would who fights and runs
may live to fight another day. 88
But at council fires no tongue
held more sway than Sitting Bull.
More respected for his medicine
than as a warrior, he would pull
his people to contest each inch of ground
that the intruders were to claim,
so by the time he was thirty,
he was known far across the Plains. 96
For two decades he made war
against the settlers, Shonshonie, Crow,
and they came to know and fear him.
And Sitting Bull grew to know
that as the buffalo went, so too,
the Sioux would follow before long,
and within a decade of the Civil War,
the buffalo were all but gone. 104
Slain for their pelts, their carcasses
rotted away in the burning sun,
and their bones whitened where they fell
-- soon there was not even one
to be seen where buffalo herds
once had reached out beyond sight
horizon to horizon --
all killed off by the whites. 112
The settlers and their iron horse,
their wires and blue coats came,
as an advancing horde,
and the buffalo disappeared from the plains.
But Sitting Bull was not deceived,
for he knew all too well
that the tide would mean his people
would live in a pale face hell. 120
This was how Sitting Bull grew up
-- he understood what it meant --
it was the reason that his men
in 1866 were sent
on the memorable raid on Fort Buford
-- the haunting sceptre loomed
across the whole Sioux nation
and Sitting Bull knew that it spelled doom. 128
III. RED CLOUD
Foremost of all the Sioux nation
was Red Cloud who sought to stem
the growing tide of white invasion
through diplomatic ends
to the disgust to Sitting Bull
and others of the younger chiefs
to whom such paper shuffling
was but a ploy. Red Cloud's belief 8
led to the signing of a treaty
at Fort Laramie in sixty eight
guaranteeing to his people,
or so they thought, a great
expanse of land as reservation
in the sacred grand Black Hills,
bounded by the Yellowstone River
on the north, and east until 16
the banks of the Missouri River,
down to the Platte in the south,
and up to the Big Horn Mountains
to the west -- beyond a doubt
one of the finest hunting preserves
anywhere on the continent,
rich in roaming buffalo,
elk and deer magnificent, 24
full of antelope and big horn,
grizzly bear and a myriad
of fur-bearing smaller beasts
-- indeed, they should be glad.
There the rivers teemed with fish,
birds filled the skies and trees.
And to hunt here no white man
was to be allowed entry. 32
Thus it was that for a time,
there seemed to have come a peace,
and white and red man hoped together
that the western wars had ceased;
but, indeed, they hoped too soon
that such was in the past.
Like Sitting Bull, there were those
who knew it could not last. 40
Now Red Cloud was making ready
to ride the Iron Horse east
to visit the Great White Father's house
to celebrate the peace.
He saw the white man's wonders
and for the first time he knew
how many of him that there were,
and his great weapons -- Sioux 48
could not hope to stand against him --
he saw his cavalry --
by thousands were the Pony Soldiers,
besides the Infantry
of Walkaheaps -- and his heart
was heavy for he now heard
exactly what the treaty said,
translated to him word by word. 56
This paper they had understood
had promised the red man
that "so long as grass shall grow,"
no whites could enter on their lands,
nor travel through them, camp nor hunt,
nor settle there at all,
yet all of this was being done,
even, worst of all 64
in the Pa Sapa sacred lands
of the Black Hills. Red Cloud
knew what he has signed away
when it was read aloud.
For he had set his hand to sign
that his people had agreed
to leave their freedom on the land
hunting wildlife to be 72
settled behind fences in small places
where they'd have to farm
plowing up the buffalo grasslands;
agreed not to harm
in any way the Iron Horse,
tearing up its rail or down
the wires of the telegraph.
In fact, they were bound 80
to allow them to be built anywhere
across the buffalo grass
that they pale face wanted to
without even having to ask.
And Red Cloud's breaking heart shattered
as he came to understand
that he had promised that his people
would leave forever the land 88
they held so dear, for reservation
set aside for them
in the empty lands far to the east
where there was not even
game or grass, but barren rock.
They had agreed not to stray
from those hard banks of the Mini Sosi,
the Missouri's winding way. 96
From the lips of this brave Dakota,
there went out a great cry,
as a wild horse roped he sprung up,
before the startled eyes
of the white leaders and other chiefs
and from his blanket he drew
a pistol he had hidden there
-- a thing Red Cloud only knew. 104
The other chiefs quickly seized
the weapon from his hand,
as he held it to his temple,
before he could fire, and
instead, he roared that he would
tell the Sioux of the shame
that had been betrayed upon them,
and then he exclaimed 112
that he would tell his people
that though they numbered few
compared to the white man,
that they should fight onto
the last breath until no pony
was left to bear their fire:
"He has made a fool of me,
and there can be no peace with liars." 120
"Stay away from my people
from this day forward!," he yelled.
Those with him quickly sought
somehow his anger to be quelled.
Response to Red Cloud's outburst
was not altogether kind,
but the Sioux had been betrayed
and undying anger filled his mind. 128
IV. THE CAMP OF BLACK KETTLE
There was the cold and the calm
of the quiet full autumn night
and the smoke from the campfires rose up
in narrow streams out of sight
into the full and deep darkness,
set against the forested pine.
The Sioux teepees were squatting there
at random, haphazardly lined, 8
not far from the whispering brook,
in the broad clearing nearby,
and ten thousand stars were flashing,
lighting up the cloudless sky.
Encamped with the Sioux were the Cheyenne,
Arapaho and Kiowa, too,
gathered to spend the Deep Snow Time,
and now that peace was due, 16
they could rest here, safe and warm,
for Red Cloud had set his hand
to the treaty with the White Man
-- word of it had fanned
out across the prairies.
Black Kettle and the other chiefs
gave thanks and assurance to the people,
for it was their belief 24
that so long as the grass should grow
this land would be their home
and unencumbered by the white man,
they would be free to roam.
There would be peace with settlers gone.
The pony soldiers no more
would be out for blood.
Black Kettle sat, and he remembered the wars. 32
He had escaped at Sand Creek --
the white man had been wrong,
but so, too, had the red man --
to both, guilt had belonged:
he knew about Solomon River,
and the raid at Saline River, too,
the Republican River, Cimarron Crossing,
Fort Wallace, and Spanish Fork, true, 40
but all that evil would end now.
Outside, the November night
showed itself in the breath of the horses,
frosty silver in the light
of the moon and stars in the biting cold
-- the Indian horses were weak
from lack of grass in the winter snows,
but not far from the creek 48
silvery puffs rose in columns
from other horses and men.
Beyond the low hills across the snow,
not far off from them,
quietly moved the Seventh Cavalry,
with Colonel Custer in command,
and he had orders other than peace
as he searched out Black Kettle's band. 56
And now his scouts has spotted
the lodges of the four tribes here.
First, a barking dog had told them,
and now as they drew near,
the snow crunched beneath the lightened loads
for they had laid aside
all but what they needed for battle,
as in a slow trot they did ride. 64
Major Elliot would swing wide
and then attack from the east;
Colonel Meyers would go to the right
and from the south would unleash
his assault, while Colonel Custer
and Captain Thompson with the rest
would attack from the center,
hitting them from the west. 72
The men of Thompson and Custer
split apart into two lines
to snake around the hill ahead
as toward the camp they'd wind.
Thompson had his orders
to hold his command to a walk
until they were seen by the natives.
None of the troops would talk, 80
so there was only the crunching snow
and the saddle leather squeak.
The gray light of early morning shown
and the sun had begun to peak
above the horizon hill tops.
From the village there came no sound
as the Pony Soldiers sat the trap
about the encampment they had found. 88
Their orders had not been peace,
but to seek out and attack
the Indians and scatter them
so they could be driven back
onto the reservations --
none were to escape or go free.
On the far side of a hill ahead,
there stood a lone teepee. 96
From it ran a narrow path
to a hill top on which each dawn
a lone sentry, Double Wolf,
would make his way along,
for they knew the soldiers were nearby.
If the soldiers came,
he was to raise a white flag
that to them peace would proclaim. 104
In the first rays of sunlight,
the cavalry came into view,
and Double Wolf saw at their head,
in the sunlight, one he knew
-- the long gold hair cascading
from beneath the wide black hat,
the red neckerchief and high polished boots
of the one who sat 112
erect upon his horse, and he cried out
in Cheyenne tongue "Heovae!"
"Yellow Hair, Yellow Hair is coming,"
And his cry did convey
his sense of fear to the camp,
which quickly was astir,
aroused by the sentry's warning
-- he knew well this officer. 120
Perhaps he thought it useless,
but Double Wolf gave no thought
to Black Kettle's orders of peace, instead,
he turned and quickly brought
his rifle to his shoulder and fired
directly at Yellow Hair astride
the lead horse -- he missed.
The soldiers answered and Double Wolf died. 128
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