Among the Sioux chiefs of the "transition period"only one was shrewd enough to read coming events in their true light.It is said of Spotted Tail that he was rather a slow-moving boy,preferring in their various games and mimic battles to play the role of councilor,to plan and assign to the others their parts in the fray.This he did so cleverly that he soon became a leader among his youthful contemporaries;and withal he was apt at mimicry and impersonation,so that the other boys were accustomed to say of him,"He has his grandfather's wit and the wisdom of his grandmother!"Spotted Tail was an orphan,reared by his grandparents,and at an early age compelled to shift for himself.Thus he was somewhat at a disadvantage among the other boys;yet even this fact may have helped to develop in him courage and ingenuity.One little incident of his boy life,occurring at about his tenth year,is characteristic of the man.In the midst of a game,two boys became involved in a dispute which promised to be a serious one,as both drew knives.The young Spotted Tail instantly began to cry,"The Shoshones are upon us!To arms!to arms!"and the other boys joined in the war whoop.This distracted the attention of the combatants and ended the affair.
Upon the whole,his boyhood is not so well remembered as is that of most of his leading contemporaries,probably because he had no parents to bring him frequently before the people,as was the custom with the wellborn,whose every step in their progress toward manhood was publicly announced at a feast given in their honor.It is known,however,that he began at an early age to carve out a position for himself.It is personal qualities alone that tell among our people,and the youthful Spotted Tail gained at every turn.At the age of seventeen,he had become a sure shot and a clever hunter;but,above all,he had already shown that he possessed a superior mind.He had come into contact with white people at the various trading posts,and according to his own story had made a careful study of the white man's habits and modes of thought,especially of his peculiar trait of economy and intense desire to accumulate property.He was accustomed to watch closely and listen attentively whenever any of this strange race had dealings with his people.When a council was held,and the other young men stood at a distance with their robes over their faces so as to avoid recognition,Spotted Tail always put himself in a 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 than once he remarked in council that these white men were not like the French and the Spanish,with whom our old chiefs had been used to deal.He was not fully satisfied with the agreement with General Harney;but as a young warrior who had only just gained his position in the council,he could not force his views upon the older men.
No sooner had the Oregon Trail been secured from the Sioux than Fort Laramie and other frontier posts were strengthened,and the soldiers became more insolent and overbearing than ever.It was soon discovered that the whites were prepared to violate most of the articles of their treaty as the Indians understood it.At this time,the presence of many Mormon emigrants on their way to the settlements in Utah and Wyoming added to the perils of the situation,as they constantly maneuvered for purposes of their own to bring about a clash between the soldiers and the Indians.Every summer there were storm-clouds blowing between these two --clouds usually taking their rise in some affair of the travelers along the trail.
In 1854an event occurred which has already been described and which snapped the last link of friendship between the races.
By this time Spotted Tail had proved his courage both abroad and at home.He had fought a duel with one of the lesser chiefs,by whom he was attacked.He killed his opponent with an arrow,but himself received upon his head a blow from a battle-axe which brought him senseless to the ground.He was left for dead,but fortunately revived just as the men were preparing his body for burial.
