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Chief Gall was one of the most aggressive leaders of the Sioux nation in their
last stand for freedom.
The westward pressure of civilization during the past three centuries has been
tremendous. When our hemisphere was "discovered", it had been inhabited by the
natives for untold ages, but it was held undiscovered because the original
owners did not chart or advertise it. Yet some of them at least had developed
ideals of life which included real liberty and equality to all men, and they did
not recognize individual ownership in land or other property beyond actual
necessity. It was a soul development leading to essential manhood. Under this
system they brought forth some striking characters.
Gall was considered by both Indians and whites to be a most impressive type of
physical manhood. From his picture you can judge of this for yourself. |
Let us follow his trail. He was no tenderfoot. He never asked a soft place for
himself. He always played the game according to the rules and to a finish. To be
sure, like every other man, he made some mistakes, but he was an Indian and
never acted the coward.
The earliest stories told of his life and doings indicate the spirit of the man
in that of the boy.
When he was only about three years old, the Blackfoot band of Sioux were on
their usual roving hunt, following the buffalo while living their natural happy
life upon the wonderful wide prairies of the Dakotas.
It was the way of every Sioux mother to adjust her household effects on such
dogs and pack ponies as she could muster from day to day, often lending one or
two to accommodate some other woman whose horse or dog had died, or perhaps had
been among those stampeded and carried away by a raiding band of Crow warriors.
On this particular occasion, the mother of our young Sioux brave, Matohinshda,
or Bear-Shedding-His-Hair (Gall's childhood name), entrusted her boy to an old
Eskimo pack dog, experienced and reliable, except perhaps when unduly excited or
very thirsty.
On the day of removing camp the caravan made its morning march up the Powder
River. Upon the wide table-land the women were busily digging teepsinna (an
edible sweetish root, much used by them) as the moving village slowly
progressed. As usual at such times, the trail was wide. An old jack rabbit had
waited too long in hiding. Now, finding himself almost surrounded by the mighty
plains people, he sprang up suddenly, his feathery ears conspicuously erect, a
dangerous challenge to the dogs and the people.
A whoop went up. Every dog accepted the challenge. Forgotten were the bundles,
the kits, even the babies they were drawing or carrying. The chase was on, and
the screams of the women reechoed from the opposite cliffs of the Powder,
mingled with the yelps of dogs and the neighing of horses. The hand of every man
was against the daring warrior, the lone Jack, and the confusion was great.
When the fleeing one cleared the mass of his enemies, he emerged with a
swiftness that commanded respect and gave promise of a determined chase. Behind
him, his pursuers stretched out in a thin line, first the speedy, unburdened
dogs and then the travois dogs headed by the old Eskimo with his precious
freight. The youthful Gall was in a travois, a basket mounted on trailing poles
and harnessed to the sides of the animal.
"Hey! hey! they are gaining on him!" a warrior shouted. At this juncture two of
the canines had almost nabbed their furry prey by the back. But he was too
cunning for them. He dropped instantly and sent both dogs over his head, rolling
and spinning, then made another flight at right angles to the first. This gave
the Eskimo a chance to cut the triangle. He gained fifty yards, but being
heavily handicapped, two unladen dogs passed him. The same trick was repeated by
the Jack, and this time he saved himself from instant death by a double loop and
was now running directly toward the crowd, followed by a dozen or more dogs. He
was losing speed, but likewise his pursuers were dropping off steadily. Only the
sturdy Eskimo dog held to his even gait, and behind him in the frail travois
leaned forward the little Matohinshda, nude save a breech clout, his left hand
holding fast the convenient tail of his dog, the right grasping firmly one of
the poles of the travois. His black eyes were bulging almost out of their
sockets; his long hair flowed out behind like a stream of dark water.
The Jack now ran directly toward the howling spectators, but his marvelous speed
and alertness were on the wane; while on the other hand his foremost pursuer,
who had taken part in hundreds of similar events, had every confidence in his
own endurance. Each leap brought him nearer, fiercer and more determined. The
last effort of the Jack was to lose himself in the crowd, like a fish in muddy
water; but the big dog made the one needed leap with unerring aim and his teeth
flashed as he caught the rabbit in viselike jaws and held him limp in air, a
victor!
The people rushed up to him as he laid the victim down, and foremost among them
was the frantic mother of Matohinshda, or Gall. "Michinkshe! michinkshe!" (My
son! my son!) she screamed as she drew near. The boy seemed to be none the worse
for his experience. "Mother!" he cried, "my dog is brave: he got the rabbit!"
She snatched him off the travois, but he struggled out of her arms to look upon
his dog lovingly and admiringly. Old men and boys crowded about the hero of the
day, the dog, and the thoughtful grandmother of Matohinshda unharnessed him and
poured some water from a parfleche water bag into a basin. "Here, my grandson,
give your friend something to drink."
"How, hechetu," pronounced an old warrior no longer in active service. "This may
be only an accident, an ordinary affair; but such things sometimes indicate a
career. The boy has had a wonderful ride. I prophesy that he will one day hold
the attention of all the people with his doings."
This is the first remembered story of the famous chief, but other boyish
exploits foretold the man he was destined to be. He fought many sham battles,
some successful and others not; but he was always a fierce fighter and a good
loser.
Once he was engaged in a battle with snowballs. There were probably nearly a
hundred boys on each side, and the rule was that every fair hit made the
receiver officially dead. He must not participate further, but must remain just
where he was struck.
Gall's side was fast losing, and the battle was growing hotter every minute when
the youthful warrior worked toward an old water hole and took up his position
there. His side was soon annihilated and there were eleven men left to fight
him. He was pressed close in the wash-out, and as he dodged under cover before a
volley of snowballs, there suddenly emerged in his stead a huge gray wolf. His
opponents fled in every direction in superstitious terror, for they thought he
had been transformed into the animal. To their astonishment he came out on the
farther side and ran to the line of safety, a winner!
It happened that the wolf's den had been partly covered with snow so that no one
had noticed it until the yells of the boys aroused the inmate, and he beat a
hasty retreat. The boys always looked upon this incident as an omen.
Gall had an amiable disposition but was quick to resent insult or injustice.
This sometimes involved him in difficulties, but he seldom fought without good
cause and was popular with his associates. One of his characteristics was his
ability to organize, and this was a large factor in his leadership when he
became a man. He was tried in many ways, and never was known to hesitate when it
was a question of physical courage and endurance. He entered the public service
early in life, but not until he had proved himself competent and passed all
tests.
When a mere boy, he was once scouting for game in midwinter, far from camp, and
was overtaken by a three days' blizzard. He was forced to abandon his horse and
lie under the snow for that length of time. He afterward said he was not
particularly hungry; it was thirst and stiffness from which he suffered most.
One reason the Indian so loved his horse or dog was that at such times the
animal would stay by him like a brother. On this occasion Gall's pony was not
more than a stone's throw away when the storm subsided and the sun shone. There
was a herd of buffalo in plain sight, and the young hunter was not long in
procuring a meal.
This chief's contemporaries still recall his wrestling match with the equally
powerful Cheyenne boy, Roman Nose, who afterward became a chief well known to
American history. It was a custom of the northwestern Indians, when two friendly
tribes camped together, to establish the physical and athletic supremacy of the
youth of the respective camps.
The "Che-hoo-hoo" is a wrestling game in which there may be any number on a
side, but the numbers are equal. All the boys of each camp are called together
by a leader chosen for the purpose and draw themselves up in line of battle;
then each at a given signal attacks his opponent.
In this memorable contest, Matohinshda, or Gall, was placed opposite Roman Nose.
The whole people turned out as spectators of the struggle, and the battlefield
was a plateau between the two camps, in the midst of picturesque Bad Lands.
There were many athletic youths present, but these two were really the Apollos
of the two tribes.
In this kind of sport it is not allowed to strike with the hand, nor catch
around the neck, nor kick, nor pull by the hair. One may break away and run a
few yards to get a fresh start, or clinch, or catch as catch can. When a boy is
thrown and held to the ground, he is counted out. If a boy has met his superior,
he may drop to the ground to escape rough handling, but it is very seldom one
gives up without a full trial of strength.
It seemed almost like a real battle, so great was the enthusiasm, as the shouts
of sympathizers on both sides went up in a mighty chorus. At last all were
either conquerors or subdued except Gall and Roman Nose. The pair seemed equally
matched. Both were stripped to the breech clout, now tugging like two young
buffalo or elk in mating time, again writhing and twisting like serpents. At
times they fought like two wild stallions, straining every muscle of arms, legs,
and back in the struggle. Every now and then one was lifted off his feet for a
moment, but came down planted like a tree, and after swaying to and fro soon
became rigid again.
All eyes were upon the champions. Finally, either by trick or main force, Gall
laid the other sprawling upon the ground and held him fast for a minute, then
released him and stood erect, panting, a master youth. Shout after shout went up
on the Sioux side of the camp. The mother of Roman Nose came forward and threw a
superbly worked buffalo robe over Gall, whose mother returned the compliment by
covering the young
Cheyenne with a handsome blanket.
Undoubtedly these early contests had their influence upon our hero's career. It
was his habit to appear most opportunely in a crisis, and in a striking and
dramatic manner to take command of the situation. The best known example of this
is his entrance on the scene of confusion when Reno surprised the Sioux on the
Little Big Horn. Many of the excitable youths, almost unarmed, rushed madly and
blindly to meet the intruder, and the scene might have unnerved even an
experienced warrior. It was Gall, with not a garment upon his superb body, who
on his black charger dashed ahead of the boys and faced them. He stopped them on
the dry creek, while the bullets of Reno's men whistled about their ears.
"Hold hard, men! Steady, we are not ready yet! Wait for more guns, more horses,
and the day is yours!"
They obeyed, and in a few minutes the signal to charge was given, and Reno
retreated pell mell before the onset of the Sioux.
Sitting Bull had confidence in his men so long as Gall planned and directed the
attack, whether against United States soldiers or the warriors of another tribe.
He was a strategist, and able in a twinkling to note and seize upon an
advantage. He was really the mainstay of Sitting Bull's effective last stand. He
consistently upheld his people's right to their buffalo plains and believed that
they should hold the government strictly to its agreements with them. When the
treaty of 1868 was disregarded, he agreed with Sitting Bull in defending the
last of their once vast domain, and after the Custer battle entered Canada with
his chief. They hoped to bring their lost cause before the English government
and were much disappointed when they were asked to return to the United States.
Gall finally reported at Fort Peck, Montana, in 1881, and brought half of the
Hunkpapa band with him, whereupon he was soon followed by Sitting Bull himself.
Although they had been promised by the United States commission who went to
Canada to treat with them that they would not be punished if they returned, no
sooner had Gall come down than a part of his people were attacked, and in the
spring they were all brought to Fort Randall and held as military prisoners.
From this point they were returned to Standing Rock agency.
When "Buffalo Bill" successfully launched his first show, he made every effort
to secure both Sitting Bull and Gall for his leading attractions. The military
was in complete accord with him in this, for they still had grave suspicions of
these two leaders. While Sitting Bull reluctantly agreed, Gall haughtily said:
"I am not an animal to be exhibited before the crowd," and retired to his
teepee. His spirit was much worn, and he lost strength from that time on. That
superb manhood dwindled, and in a few years he died. He was a real hero of a
free and natural people, a type that is never to be seen again.
Sioux Indian Chiefs |
Siouan Family History |
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