Volume 1

CHEYENNE CAVALRY ADVANCES. 377
ideas of our old general and his eldest son, the principal
war chief, we moved at a quick step, whilst those two commanders
were continually passing through the ranks at full
speed, haranguing and directing the young men. We did
not advance far before we met a small party of Schians on
horseback. They were young men sent to meet us. They
all gave us a friendly shake of the hand, uttering some words
in their own language which no one present understood.
Their horses were mostly beautiful, spirited beasts; some
were masked in a very singular manner, to imitate the head
of a buffalo, red deer, or cabbrie, with horns, the mouth
and nostrils—even the eyes—trimmed with red cloth.
This ornamentation gave them a very fierce appearance.
They were by far the best built and most active horses I
had seen in this country—superior, in every respect, to
those we see to the northward. We came on about a mile,
when, from an eminence, we perceived a large party of
horsemen advancing abreast, in perfect order. We were
ordered to stop, without dismounting ; the several squads
keeping their respective places, singing, shaking their
rattles, and, at intervals, shouting. The Schians and
Sioux— for the camp was composed of both of these nations,
and a few Buffalo Indians—having advanced within
about 50 paces of us, made a general halt, facing us ; they
were about 100 men. The neighing, snorting, and prancing
of such a large company of strange horses, meeting each
other suddenly and being restrained by their riders, had
really a very spectacular effect.
We had not remained many minutes in this manner,
when suddenly the first great war chief of the Schians, who
was posted in their center, mounted on a handsome black
stallion, gave him the reins, and at full speed
rode directly
up to the flag, the staff of which he folded in his arms ;
then he embraced the war chief who held it, next Le
Borgne's brother, and then Two Crows. This ceremony
being performed on horseback, with the greatest dispatch
and dexterity imaginable, he passed on to the main body,