In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse Read Online Free Page B

back?” Jimmy wondered.
    â€œHorses,” replied Grandpa Nyles. “He led a raid. Crazy Horse and several other Lakota warriors swept through here like a sudden wind. They took the Long Knives’horses. The Long Knives chased them, but they couldn’t catch them.”
    Grandpa Nyles turned and pointed west, beyond a two-story building. “They came from that direction.” Then he pointed toward the other side of the large open space. “Most of the Long Knives’ horses were picketed there. Pawnee scout horses, too.”
    â€œPawnee?” Jimmy asked.
    â€œThe Long Knives used them a lot as scouts, against other Indians.”
    â€œDid they take
all
the horses from here?”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so. A lot of them, though.”
    Jimmy looked around, imagining Lakota warriors on horseback. He could see them racing across the open area. He could hear the drumlike pounding of hooves.
    â€œWhy did they do that?” he asked his grandfather.
    Grandpa Nyles smiled. “Well, because they could. And because Crazy Horse wanted to annoy the Long Knives.”
    Jimmy smiled broadly. “I think he did that.”
    Grandpa Nyles was smiling as well. “Yeah, he did, for sure. But there was an incident that happened near here,when he was still Light Hair—something that caused the Long Knives to attack Little Thunder’s village.”
    â€œYou mean when Light Hair helped Yellow Woman? What happened?”
    Grandpa Nyles took on his storytelling face again. “Yeah, that was it. Let me tell you what happened.”

    The way it was—1854
    Light Hair and his friend Slow were among the first to see the soldiers coming. The Long Knives were riding in wagons, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Behind the wagons a team of horses pulled a strange-looking object. It looked like a thick, short log, but it was black. A warrior who also saw the Long Knives shouted a warning
.
    Light Hair and Slow ran and hid in a chokecherry thicket. They knew the Long Knives were coming because of that skinny cow
.
    Several days earlier, a cow had wandered into the village. A cow from those whites called Mormons. The cow had knocked over meat racks and bumped into an old woman. AMniconju had killed it. He had been visiting in the Sicangu village. The cow had been butchered and the meat given away to old people
.
    Then the white man had come, and he wanted his cow back. He had gone to the one in charge of the Long Knives at Fort Laramie and complained. A messenger came from the Long Knives’ fort to the Sicangu village’s headman, Conquering Bear. The old man offered payment—several mules—for the cow. Foolishly, the Mormon wanted his cow, not the mules. One mule was worth more than that skinny cow
.
    Conquering Bear had done his best to avoid trouble. Next the Long Knife headman insisted that the man who had killed the cow be put in jail. Conquering Bear refused. So the Long Knives had now come to take the Mniconju
.
    The soldiers jumped down from the wagons and formed a line, pointing their rifles toward the village. Conquering Bear and two other men bravely walked toward them. The old man spoke with the soldier in charge. The soldier spoke loudly, angrily
.
    Meanwhile, Light Hair and Slow saw warriors gatheringin the village. Long Knives—the soldiers—were not to be trusted
.
    Conquering Bear offered more mules for the cow. The soldier leader’s name was Lieutenant John Grattan, and he was angry. He demanded that the man who had killed the cow be brought to him. Conquering Bear again refused. When the old man saw there was no use talking, he and his two men turned and walked away
.
    The soldier leader shouted, and the soldier guns fired. The big black thing that looked like a log turned out to be a big gun. It was fired at the village. It boomed like thunder. Conquering Bear was one of the first to fall, severely wounded
.
    The waiting warriors attacked, charging