In the summer of 1846 there was a pall of sorrow and disaster hovering
over all of the bands of the western Dakotas; the year previous they
had met with great reverses. Many large war-parties had been sent out
from the various villages, the majority of which were either badly
whipped or entirely cut off. The few warriors who returned to their
homes were heartbroken and discouraged; so that the whole nation was
in mourning.
Among these war-parties, ten of the Sioux warriors made a raid into
the Snake country. They were led by the son of a prominent Ogallalla
chief, called the Whirlwind. When they reached the Laramie Plains
they were met by a superior number of their enemies, and every warrior
killed to a man. The Snakes having accomplished this, they became
greatly alarmed at what they had done, dreading the revenge of the
Dakotas, which they knew would be inevitable; so, desiring to signify
their wish for peace, they sent the scalp of one of their victims,
with a small piece of tobacco attached, to his relations. The Snakes
induced one of the Indian traders to act as their messenger on this
mission of peace, and the scalp was hung up in a room at Fort Laramie,
but Whirlwind, the father of the dead warrior who had led the
unfortunate band, was inexorable. He hated the Snakes with his whole
soul, and long before the scalp had arrived he had consummated his
preparations for revenge.
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