" His surrender to fate did
not lack its dignity. Indeed, a mournful interest attached to the
inevitable destiny of all these savage leaders, who, no doubt,
according to their standards, were doing what men should do and
all that men could do.
The main difficulty in administering full punishment to such
bands was that after a defeat they scattered, so that they could
not be overtaken in any detailed fashion. After the Custer fight
many of the tribe went north of the Canadian line and remained
there for some time. The writer himself has seen along the
Qu'Appelle River in Saskatchewan some of the wheels taken out of
the watches of Custer's men. The savages broke them up and used
the wheels for jewelry. They even offered the Canadians for trade
boots, hats, and clothing taken from the bodies of Custer's men.
The Modoc war against the warriors of Captain Jack in 1873 was
waged in the lava beds of Oregon, and it had the distinction of
being one of the first Indian wars to be well reported in the
newspapers. We heard a great deal of the long and trying
campaigns waged by the Army in revenge for the murder of General
Canby in his council tent.
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