[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.I do not wishto leave the bodies of our dead unburied here in this hollow.I do not wantto see the blood of our children reddening the snow.If you choose to go,you are free to do so.I will remain here with those who cannot travel.I havenever heard of a wounded Indian recovering in the hands of the whiteman.Many of the warriors also spoke for holding out.White soldiers wereweak, they said, and this weather was cruel to the spirit.If the Nez Percewaited long enough, the soldiers might charge.Already, the braves hadbeen taunting them, shouting across that soldiers were too cowardly toattack when warriors stood against them.They had also been firing theirguns infrequently so the soldiers would believe they were low on bullets.Let those soldiers charge, they boasted, then we will show them our bul-lets.We are ready to destroy them.Then we can reclaim our horses andmove on to the Old Woman Country.But all this changed on the cold, dreary morning of the fourth day afterthe first attack.Miles had sent word that there must be surrender by themiddle of the morning or his men would resume firing in earnest.Thisgave the warriors hope.Perhaps the foolhardy soldier charge they soughtwould actually take place.But as the deadline came and passed, a terrify-ing noise, like a clap of thunder, filled the air, followed by a fusillade of ar-tillery fire that crackled like raindrops all through the camp.This wasfollowed by another great explosion.The sound was so powerful, so terri-fying, that the women and children jumped screaming back into the shel-ter pits and the dogs were thrown into a frenzy of yelping and barking.Thesoldiers had brought some new and horrible weapon onto the battlefield,and they were aiming it right into the ravine where everyone was hiding.The percussion from this great gun shook the ground and caused ex-plosions in the air above their heads.No one knew what it was or what hor-rible damage it might do.All they knew was that the soldiers had movedaround to the west and that they were now in possession of a terrifyingweapon that could fire from a great distance directly into the people scamp.Joseph was despondent.This was the result of his meeting with Miles.Only the man in the yellow raincoat, for whom he had been traded theman who had been allowed to wander into camp under the flag of trucethat Joseph had wanted could have identified so accurately the location Colonel Miles Wants to Meet with Chief Joseph 259of the places where the people were dug in.Surely it was he who had car-ried this information to Miles.Perhaps the whole meeting with Miles had been a ruse, and Miles hadsent the strange soldier in the yellow coat into camp to gain knowledge,knowing that the warriors would trade him for their chief.Was he, Joseph,responsible for the suffering and terror that were now being visited uponhis people? And what sort of person was this Colonel Miles, that he wouldorder his men to fire into shelters that held only women and small childrenand old men and wounded?The great cannon shells continued to explode above the camp.On oc-casion, the firing would stop and the people would begin to hope that per-haps there was no more ammunition for this horrible gun.Then, justwhen they were beginning to feel secure, another thunderous concussionwould rip the sky above them, showering chunks of steel down upon theirheads.Terror was now coming at them from all directions.The earth shook,knocking dirt loose from the walls of their shelter pits.The sky was filledwith cracking gunfire, and shells cut randomly through the air in theircamp.The snow continued to fall, melting under the warmth of their bodies,then freezing again as it settled on the cold earth, turning their sheltersinto damp, slushy tombs of water and ice.People began to see visions oftheir ancestors calling to them.There was nothing to do but wait fordeath.Night brought some relief but, again, no assistance.The snow let upsomewhat, and the women were able to crawl down to the creek to collectwater in their buffalo horn cups.The disagreements between White Bird and Joseph had now intensi-fied.Two chiefs who for months had been in charge of the camp were nowin charge of the war.White Bird s distrust of the soldiers and white justiceran deep.He had seen his valley overrun by miners, his people killed, hiswomen raped, his elders cheated, and his efforts at all honest dialogueused against him.Every meeting with every white official had resulted ingreater injustice and ruin for his people.Any surrender would be no differ-ent.Had Joseph not seen the way he had been used by Miles? This was theway white people acted [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]