The Last Warriors

By Leon Taylor

It was 1877, one year after the Sioux and Cheyenne defeated General George Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and Crazy Horse had agreed to surrender at Fort Robinson.  Talking Elk, a prominent war chief, was with him, but turned back before getting there.  He knew he couldn't live as the U.S. Government demanded, his power was that he was not to give in to the ways of the white man but to live as his people had always lived, keeping their spirit alive.

The military couldn't stand for this, all Sioux had been commanded to surrender to the reservation or be branded "hostile" to be hunted down and captured or killed.  Talking Elk knew this, but he would live as he chose and fight the soldiers if necessary.  In time, others joined him.  Together, they strove to drive all the gold miners out of the Black Hills, land that was sacred to them and promised in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 to belong to the Siouix for as long as the grass grew and the streams flowed.

It didn't matter to the government that the Black Hills belonged to the Sioux, there was gold there and if Talking Elk and his band of warriors were allowed to remain free others would follow.  They were to be hunted down and captured or killed, regardless of how many soldiers it took.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leon Taylor
• Release date: Dec 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224664252

Leon Taylor

Leon Taylor is a college graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science and Humanities and a veteran of military intelligence.  He has lived and worked in many different venues that have contributed to a vast array of experiences, all lending their credence to the stories he writes.

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Prologue

In 1868, the United States Government signed a treaty with the Sioux Indians of the Great Plains at Fort Laramie to establish the Great Sioux Reservation within parts of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, which included the Black Hills of South Dakota.  However, after the discovery of gold in the Black Hills in 1874 by General George Armstrong Custer, who entered the Black Hills illegally, there was a rush of gold miners into the Black Hills despite the fact their trespass violated the Treaty of 1868. 

Chapter One

He was like a ghost .  At times, miners said they saw him, but they hadn’t.  All they’d seen were the dead miners he left behind with his arrows sticking out of their bodies.  These miners were in the Black Hills, Paha Sapa , land sacred to the Sioux where no white man was allowed.  The dead miners were Talking Elk’s message to the other miners, they were violating the Fort Laramie treaty which gave all this land to the Sioux.  They were to leave.

Talking Elk had gone in with Crazy Horse to surrender at Fort Robinson but had turned back before getting there.  Crazy Horse had known Talking Elk would turn back and had agreed with him that he should.  He would do the same, Crazy Horse told Talking Elk, if it wasn’t for his family.  Talking Elk had none, his wife and two children had been killed by the soldiers that previous winter when they attacked Crazy Horse’s encampment on the Tongue River.

When Talking Elk turned back, Crazy Horse stopped and watched him go.  His spirit went with Talking Elk, but his body could not follow, and he felt the loss.  Talking Elk was free while he was going to the Agency at Fort Robinson to surrender, something he thought he would never do.  When Talking Elk disappeared over the last horizon, Crazy Horse knew he would never see him again.  As long as Talking Elk lived, he would be free, while Crazy Horse knew he would not be free again.

The soldier chiefs demanded that the Sioux live on only one small portion of their reservation that they defined for the Sioux or be declared a hostile to be hunted down and captured or killed.  Talking Elk knew he would be branded a hostile for not living where the soldiers told him to live, even though he was on land that was the Sioux’s by their treaty rights.  It was in his vision that he was to live the way his people had always lived, and Talking Elk knew he could not do otherwise, choosing to elude the soldiers and fight them if necessary to remain free.

And that was how Talking Elk lived, never staying anywhere very long, living in caves and temporary shelters, always on guard and ready to move.  All alone, he had only his horse and pack besides his bow and arrows.  There was nothing else, only what he procured and provided for himself with the skills and knowledge that had been passed down to him through the generations from his people.

Talking Elk knew the soldiers would be looking for him once they found out he hadn’t surrendered with Crazy Horse, and they were.  The commander at Fort Robison, Colonel Harris, became enraged when he was told that Talking Elk, a prominent war chief, who was coming in with Crazy Horse had turned back.  He called for volunteers to go after Talking Elk, but no one volunteered.  One lonely Indian wasn’t worth their trouble, his men complained, and would be a waste of ammunition.  Given that, Colonel Harris called Lt. Edward Benson to his office.  He was to pick his men and go after Talking Elk, Colonel Harris told Lt. Benson, and to not return until he had him, preferably dead.

He didn’t want to take that assignment, Lt. Benson replied.  Let one of the younger officers go, I’m too old to die just yet.

That’s the idea, Colonel Harris told Lt. Benson to his face.  Then I’ll be rid of you.

Lt. Benson returned to his barracks and told his men that he was to pick from among them and go after Talking Elk, a renegade war chief who refused to surrender when commanded to do so.  Let someone else go after him, was his men’s unified answer.  We’re not interested.

That’s the way it is then, Lt. Benson answered and then retired to his bunk.  His men had deserted him was his planned response to Colonel Harris’ forthcoming inquiry.

When Colonel Harris learned the following day that Lt. Benson and his men were still in their barracks, he had Lt. Benson arrested and thrown in the stockade, which was fine with Lt. Benson.  Spending the next month in the stockade doing nothing was preferable to him than having to pursue an Indian that could never be found, and who would probably kill him before being seen. 

It didn’t quite work out as Lt. Benson planned, however, as Colonel Harris brought him to his office to promise him a court-martial that would strip him of his rank and pay, affecting his retirement, if he didn’t comply with his orders.  Facing court-martial, Lt. Benson relented and took several men with him into the field to find Talking Elk as he was commanded.  They didn’t go far, however, just far enough to not be discovered by the other soldiers at Fort Robinson.  Finding a quiet and treed ravine on the Platte River, they set up their camp and spent their days in the shade drinking whiskey and gambling their time away until their rations ran out.  They then reported back to Colonel Harris, Lt. Benson telling him how they had found Talking Elk’s trail, he was driving a herd of buffalo to Canada, where he and his men couldn’t legally go.  Lt. Benson maintained that Talking Elk was delivering the buffalo to Sitting Bull to feed his camp, but even though the buffalo could cross the border, they couldn’t, it was against international law.

Colonel Harris was more enraged than when he had first sent Lt. Benson out into the field.  He knew there were no buffalo for Talking Elk to drive to Canada, the white hunters had killed all of them for their hides and tongues long ago.  He had told him not to return to Fort Robinson until he had Talking Elk, Colonel Harris shouted at Lt. Benson, and he meant it.  There would be no more rations for him or his men, they’d better learn to live off the land like the Indians did until they returned with Talking Elk.  That was impossible, Lt. Benson countered, even the Indians couldn’t live off the land anymore since all the buffalo had been killed, that was why they had surrendered to the reservations and the paltry rations the government allowed them.

Colonel Harris didn’t care if Lt. Benson could live off the land or not, he was a disgruntled and frustrated old man who needed someone to yell at.  He’d never married, not that he hadn’t wanted to, but given his military career and less-than-stellar appearance, the opportunity never presented itself.  Given that, he funneled his frustration into the demands the Army laid before him, striving to accomplish every goal to gain promotion in rank and better assignments. 

The Civil War had furthered Colonel Haris’ career in that he’d led men to successfully overtake their enemy, soldiers of the South, but the war ended, and he had no other option than to go wherever the Army sent him.  He initially thought that being sent out West was an opportunity to gain in rank, but it didn’t turn out that way.  It was a dead-end assignment, and he was stuck without hope of further promotion, as he’d gotten to the Great Plains after the war with the Indians was over and his role now was primarily administrative.  Without a war, he was going nowhere, he was especially not going to get promoted to general, which had become his goal in life.  He liked the sound of General Harris, but it would never be uttered by anyone other than himself when he was standing in front of a mirror.  Colonel Harris didn’t know it, but he would forever remain a colonel if he didn’t get demoted somewhere along the way.

Talking Elk knew the commander of Fort Robinson would send soldiers out to hunt for him once he didn’t surrender, but what he didn’t know was that the man sent to find him, Lt. Edward Benson, had failed to graduate from West Point and had been a first lieutenant for the last fifteen years, unqualified to be promoted to a higher rank.  He was past time to retire but failed to do that as well, knowing there was nothing else for him in this world.  His failure to be promoted beyond first lieutenant didn’t deter Lt. Benson from staying in the military, however, even the ridicule of the men he was assigned to lead didn’t drive him from the Army.  They didn’t know what it was like to grow up without a home.

Lt. Benson’s one redeeming quality was that he loved horses, and they seemed to respond to him in kind, an important commodity for a cavalryman.  Each seemed to understand the other, and even though his horses knew he was a failure as a military man, they overlooked his failure for the care he provided and the grain he spared them.  In time, Talking Elk would learn how safe he was from capture or death by Lt. Edward Benson, one of the more incompetent officers the Army had ever fielded, the product of poverty and deprivation.

It was shortly after he had turned back from the reservation that Talking Elk went to the Grandmother’s Land, Canada, to counsel with Sitting Bull, who had fled there after what the white man called the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which had only been a year earlier.  To the Sioux and Cheyenne, it was the Battle of the Greasy Grass, the place where Long Hair had been wiped out.  Sitting Bull had been wise enough to see that even though the Sioux and Cheyenne had won that battle, they weren’t going to win the war.  Once the celebrated Civil War hero, George Armstrong Custer, was killed by the Indians, there was a public outcry for revenge, calling for the military to subjugate the wild and nomadic tribes of the Great Plain, which the military did with overwhelming manpower, arms, and murderous zeal.

With Talking Elk’s arrival, Sitting Bull’s warriors clamored for war once again.  They were proud that they hadn’t surrendered to the small island of land as had been demanded by the soldiers, but they were still forced to flee north of the border for protection from the military.  They now lived as if they had been defeated, and were heartened that one man, Talking Elk, had also chosen not to surrender and lived free as they once had on land that was rightfully theirs.  Land which they wanted back.

Both Talking Elk and Sitting Bull knew how the soldiers feared that if one Indian was allowed to live free away from the reservation agencies others would follow, potentially leading to an uprising.  That fear was one of the reasons the soldiers had tried to lock Crazy Horse up shortly after he had surrendered.  They feared he was getting ready to leave the Agency at Fort Robinson, taking others with him, and in their attempt to arrest and take him to the guardhouse, a struggle broke out and he was bayonetted in the back by a soldier, killing him.

Colonel Harris, commander of Fort Robinson, had ordered that Talking Elk be brought in as he violated the order that all Sioux were to surrender to the agency or be pursued and captured, killed if necessary.  Talking Elk had expected as much when he didn’t surrender with Crazy Horse, but he didn’t think that one Lakota war chief would merit continuous pursuit by the United States Cavalry, which was the case.  Being that as it was, even though Lt. Benson and his men spent the entire summer looking for Talking Elk, they came nowhere near to capturing him.

Most of the time, Lt. Benson’s men were as drunk as he was, and had no interest in the hard pursuit of one lonely Indian. Lt. Benson had been afforded no scouts, white men, or Indians, and was at a loss with his ordinary cavalrymen as scouts, even if they had tried to track Talking Elk.  They would return to Fort Robinson to resupply, even though Colonel Harris had told them not to, with reports of how they were nearing capture of Talking Elk.  Several times he had barely escaped their traps, they told, eluded them by minutes when they had him within their grasp.  This wasn’t true, of course, they had never found any sign of Talking Elk, let alone come close to capturing him.  They had merely spent their time idling away on the plains drinking whiskey and gambling, lucky enough in that they didn’t kill one another in one of their fall-down drinking bouts. 

Sitting Bull assured Talking Elk the Cavalry would send soldiers out to pursue even one hostile, which was why he had fled to Canada.  He didn’t want to be on the run, constantly trying to outmaneuver the soldiers, not with the women and children in his band who would be indiscriminately killed by the soldiers if they were caught.  It had happened in the past to all their bands, as Talking Elk knew, which was what had happened to his wife and two children, and why he was now alone, not wanting to endanger any other women or children.

While Talking Elk was at Sitting Bull’s camp, three of Sitting Bull’s men decided they wanted to join Talking Elk.  They were young, Chases Crow had lost his wife and child to sickness, and Broken Bow as well as Charging Bull had never married.  He could spare no more men, Sitting Bull told Talking Elk, but it was good that these three men went with him, they needed to be on the move.  The Grandmother’s soldiers were not to learn of his men’s exploits, Sitting Bull advised Talking Elk, as he had promised the Canadians he would live peacefully in their land and not raid across the border into his former homeland.  The Grandmother’s men were not to know, either, that he had been here, Sitting Bull told Talking Elk, as his presence would create controversy between the two governments, such as his already had.

Broken Bow and Charging Bull were young, but they remembered the stories told to them by Sitting Bull of the battles in which their fathers had fought, battles in which both of their fathers had died.  It was now left to their mothers to tell them about their fathers, brave warriors who had died defending their land and way of life.  Chases Crow was just old enough to fight at the Battle on the Rosebud, and at the Battle of the Little Big Horn as well.  It was the winter after then that his wife and child died of the white man’s coughing sickness, his wife, Yellow Flower, being quite young and their baby girl only months old.

Leaving Sitting Bull’s camp, Talking Elk took Chases Crow, Charging Bull, and Broken Bow with him as they wanted.  It was good to have companions, Talking Elk felt, together they could protect one another against the soldiers who would be looking for them.  The soldiers would have no interest in capturing him, Talking Elk was assured by Sitting Bull, and the same would apply to them, Sitting Bull told his three men who joined Talking Elk.  He had no interest in surrendering to the soldiers, Talking Elk had already told Sitting Bull, telling the same to Chases Crow, Charging Bull, and Broken Bow.  They felt the same, the three agreed with Talking Elk, that there was nothing to be gained by surrendering and then being killed later by the soldiers as had happened to Crazy Horse.  They wanted to live free and would do so until they died.

As he was older than Charging Bull and Broken Bow, Chases Crow knew he would need to watch over them.  The two were young, just barely in their late teens, and had no experience beyond fleeing to Canada with Sitting Bull and his band.  Chases Crow feared that since they had never been on raiding parties against their hereditary enemies, or in battle with the white soldiers, they could easily become a liability.  There was much for them to learn, and without the protection of a large band of warriors, they could in the end be on their own and would need to be able to protect themselves to stay alive.

What Sitting Bull hadn’t told Talking Elk was that he was allowing the three men to go with him because they were a nuisance around camp.  Broken Bow wanted experience and was a constant bother to the older men.  Chases Crow was experienced, but restless, and needed to be on the move and doing something.  Charging Bull needed to fulfill the promise of his father and was always trying to prove himself, needlessly.  The idleness of camp wasn’t good for anyone, Sitting Bull knew, but it was the price they paid for peace in the Grandmother’s land.

On their first night in camp after leaving Sitting Bull, Chases Crow began teasing Broken Bow about the young girl he was infatuated with, but who paid him little attention.  Sitting Bull let you come with Talking Elk because he wanted to get you away from Dawn Rain, Chases Crow told Broken Bow.  He doesn’t want you marrying her.

That isn’t true, Broken Bow countered defensively.  He was especially sensitive to the matter as Dawn Rain had turned his overtures away and it was well known in their camp.

Oh, but it is true, Chases Crow smiled slightly.  She’s his niece and he wants a big strong warrior to marry her.

Sitting Bull didn’t send me away, Broken Bow defended himself.  I chose to join Talking Elk on my own and Dawn Rain wanted to come with me.

Chase Crow laughed a little, How come she isn’t with you then?

Because this isn’t for women, Broken Bow answered.  Not right now, anyway.

Do you mean girls? Chases Crow continued his prodding.  Dawn Rain was even younger than Broken Bow.

She’s a young woman, Broken Bow defended his love interest.  Someday she will be old enough to marry me.

Chases Crow discontinued his prodding, telling Broken Bow that he was right, Dawn Rain was a beautiful young woman who would someday be lucky to have a man like him for her husband.

Broken Bow wasn’t sure how to take Chases Crow's encouragement, but sensed Chases Crow was only toying with him like warriors would do with one another when in a war party or on a raid together, and felt emboldened that he was with Talking Elk and a young but proven warrior like Chases Crow.

And after you count many coup, Charging Bull joined to bolster his young friend, Dawn Rain will beg you to marry her.

That’s true, Broken Bow repeated what Chases Crow had said, she will be lucky to have a man like me.

Chases Crow laughed to himself, Broken Bow was going to be a good companion to have along.  She will have to compete with all the other young women to have you, though, he told Broken Bow.  It won’t be easy for her.

Just remember, Charging Bull added, you can’t have them all.  Leave one for me.

Even Talking Elk had to smile over their banter.  When they fell into silence, he told them they were going to Paha Sapa to fast and pray.  Even though the soldiers told them they could only live on one small portion of their land, Paha Sapa belonged to them as promised in their treaty made many moons before at Fort Laramie, Talking Elk explained.  It was then that the white chiefs signed the treaty which said for as long as the grass grew and the streams flowed the Black Hills belonged to the Sioux.  There was no better way for them to start their time together, Talking Elk told the three, than to go to Paha Sapa to fast and pray and seek guidance from the Creator. 

It was in Paha Sapa, Talking Elk said, that he had gone on his first vision quest.  On the fourth day of his quest, an old and wise elk came to him and spoke, telling him he must not give in to the ways of the white man.  He was to live the way his people had always lived to keep their spirit alive.  It would not be easy, the spirit elk had told him, but he could come to him after fasting in prayer if he needed guidance.  That is how he got his name, Talking Elk revealed, because his guiding spirit is an elk that talks to him.  And it is because