Chapter 9

There was another set of eyes watching the White Eyes and the Indian Princess and not even the dogs who placed themselves around the sleeping pair noticed him.

Yes, Brave Bear knew who the Indian Maiden was. There were few female War Chiefs, and this one was not only beautiful, but had powerful friends and some powerful enemies. The man with her was not known however. That in itself was not as much a surprise as when the other, older Indian, approached them. That he only once shook his head, sighed, and made certain the campfire was clearly put out was very much a mystery. He then slept, close to the two and the dogs, but not too close. That he carried a rifle Brave Bear had not ever seen before was another surprise. It was a White’s rifle, and yet seemed different, not anything an Indian he ever knew had carried. Why? Why was such a scene even presented before him.

It was not his role to judge however, or to make any decision about such things. He would report only those things he had seen with his own eyes. Whatever the reason, what he beheld would have results never heard of before, one way or another. White and Indian could not get along, could they? He wondered, now. He could hardly believe what he was seeing with his own eyes.

Parker County Texas and joining Counties were the center of Indian raids by the Kiowa and Comanche Indians between 1855 and 1875, they came south from the Oklahoma and Indian Territories usually when there was a full moon, they usually followed the Brazos River and its tributaries because the rivers and creeks offered more cover and shelter for them from the settlers.

Of the two tribes, the Comanche were the most brutal and bloodthirsty, at times, they killed and scalped with out provocation, in twenty years time they killed, scalped and abducted several hundred men, women and children, they stole and destroyed several million dollars worth of horses, livestock and property.

When pursued they had but to ride north and cross the Red River into Oklahoma and Indian Territory; where, by law, their pursuers could not go.

That a Kiowa then would be chosen by the Sioux to watch over Soaring Eagle was not a difficult decision to understand, they too were enemies of the Crow and Pawnee. Satanta, also known as White Bear or by his Indian name, Settainte; was almost a friend of Red Cloud. He was the last Kiowa Dohäsan[1], or supreme chief of all the Kiowa Tribes, he honored and respected all that the Lakota chief, Red Cloud, had accomplished and took council to do as he was asked to do by him, watch over a friend; in this case, a dear friend of his daughter.

Brave Bear told of the strange things he had seen. He gave no conclusion nor personal views about this, only retold the facts. That Whites and Indian on one hand were waging war again, yet on another seemed like they were one people. This was not something to be easily understood. What was also strange was that The Great Beasts guarded and protected them, that they had killed and followed the Indian customs after defeating Whites and Indian alike and the White Eye not only armed the Indians with strange guns, he seemed to show no fear of them after.

That he and the Princess lay together raised little question, all knew that Soaring Eagle had a beauty no man could ignore. This was surely something ‘Wakan Tanka’, ‘the sacred’, ‘divine’, ‘Great Spirit’ of the Lakota Sioux. He himself had caused this to be done, and therefore it could not be questioned.

Satanta knew the Lakota were fighting great battles and winning against the Whites. This would make for a difficult decision on his part. What Brave Bear had told him he had seen was very disturbing, to say the least. His next move would be something that bothered him but seemed to be a duty required by the Lakota Great Spirit. He sent Brave Bear and a dozen true and brave warriors on a journey, saying that it was deemed to be one demanded by Wakan Tanka himself. Not only did he absolve himself from any words that he was helping a White Eyes, but by this approach, those he sent deemed this as serving the Great Spirit. For any Indian, there was no greater honor than to die in such a battle.