It is a cold winter day in 1839 as Dark Cloud, a wife of the great Cheyenne hunter Antelope-Dances-in Fire, works to flesh a deer hide before certain snowfall. It is only a few hours later when Dark Cloud gives birth to Snow, her overdue son. As her baby grows into a Cheyenne boy and word spreads that white people are coming, the Cheyenne and Arapaho prepare to meet the Kiowa and Comanche to make peace. But as a spotted sickness lurks in the shadows, the tribes must weather the winter with thin hides and little fat. Their troubles have just begun. In Ohio, a few years later, George Custer attends school, graduates, and begins teaching school. At the same time, as Dark Cloud's belly swells again and the Native American warriors grow angrier with every unjust raid, Snow has grown into a strong and brave warrior named Bear of the Cheyenne. In this captivating historical novel, two parallel lives intertwine during an intense conflict between cultures-one focused on the future and the other clinging to a remembered yesterday. "Obviously written from the heart, this is a story that had to be written . . . " -Terry Wilson, PhD, dean emeritus of Native American Studies, UC-Berkeley

ENCOUNTER

AN HISTORICAL NOVELBy Joseph W. Ulmer

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Joseph W. Ulmer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-5788-4

Contents

Dedication...........................................................vAcknowledgements.....................................................viiGenealogy............................................................xiIntroduction.........................................................xiiiChapter 1: Winter, 1839; A BEGINNING.................................3Chapter 2: Summer, 1840; MAKING THE PEACE GOOD.......................15Chapter 3: 1841; TENTS ON WHEELS.....................................27Chapter 4: 1842; SHADOWS.............................................35Chapter 5: 1843; NEW BOY.............................................51Chapter 6: 1844-1847; A TIME FOR GROWTH..............................68Chapter 7: 1848-1851; TOWARDS A TREATY...............................88Chapter 8: Part 1: 1852; THE CLEANSING...............................120Part 2: 1852; THE SPIRITS COME.......................................137Part 3: 1852; THE SHIELD.............................................152Chapter 9: 1853-1856; YEARS OF HUNGER................................159Chapter 10: 1857-1858; COMMITMENTS AND PORTENTS......................179Chapter 11: 1859-1860; YEARS OF PEACE................................189Chapter 12: 1861-1862; MEETINGS......................................198Chapter 13: 1863-1865; THE GATES OPEN................................213Chapter 14: 1866; HO-PEE.............................................239Chapter 15: 1867; HOSTILES...........................................266Chapter 16: 1867-1869; DÉJÀ VU.............................275Chapter 17: 1870-1872; BONES AND BONE HUNTERS........................302Chapter 18: 1873-1875; LONG HAIR AND CRAZY HORSE.....................329Chapter 19: 1876; ENDINGS............................................340Epilogue.............................................................361Bibliography.........................................................363

Chapter One

A beginning

Winter, 1839

Dark Cloud and Elk Calf knelt together, enjoying the meager warmth of the low, pale sun. They worked quickly, hoping to flesh the deer hide before sundown and certain snowfall. Many in the tribe envied these women, the wives of Antelope-Dances-in-Fire, one of the best hunters among these Southern Cheyenne. They were sure to have ample food and enough hides to make a good display, so they could always be generous. But even in this cold, mid-winter camp, the envy was good-hearted, as all knew that the two women were excellent providers in their own right and generous by inclination as well as ability because of the hunting prowess of their husband. The two young women gossiped and giggled, adding their happy sounds to the general easy feeling in the snug camp along Medicine Lodge Creek.

As Dark Cloud reached forward with her bone scraper to ease a stubborn bit of fat from the hide, she winced and pulled back to a sit. "Elk Calf, they start, I think!"

"It is time. You've carried this baby half a moon longer than you should, just like my sister, Yellow Woman. But she wasn't as big." Elk Calf made light to mask the worry she felt about the size of the overdue child, stretching so tightly the mother's belly. "You should be in the council with the old men—you're a `Big Belly' now, too." She saw the pain in Dark Cloud's eyes, and no appreciation of her little joke, and said, "I will finish this hide, let's go inside," her breath condensing in the ever colder air.

Antelope, sitting at his place by the fire, cast a disapproving glance at his first wife for her remarks about the Chief's Council. He turned quickly away from Dark Cloud, wary of showing unmanly concern, but revealing it in his rapid smoking and his stiff nonchalance as the two women bent through the tipi opening.

"It will be so nice finally to hear baby sounds in ... Oh! Calf, I'm sorry." Dark Cloud placed a hand on Elk Calf's thigh, seeking to soften the hurt with her eyes.

"Don't be, Sister. It was I who asked for you to come to us when I was taking too long to make a child. I didn't want people to think Antelope was not doing his duty." With falsely demure eyes and a quick check to see that her husband still smoked outside, she grinned and added, "We keep trying, though. It is nice to keep trying!"

Both women laughed their womanly laughs and glanced at Antelope who scowled at them, then went to check his horses to escape the embarrassing rowdiness of his wives. Dark Cloud whispered, "I think we were too rowdy." Then they both spluttered as they tried to suppress their laughter before proceeding with some of their myriad small tasks. As they worked, they occasionally dipped their fingers into the cooking basket for a morsel or sipped from the water skin. When they drank, it was always from the horn spoon that was one of their prized possessions. Made of steamed and intricately carved horn, even Antelope was not sure of the animal from which it had come; three years before he had traded three prime beaver pelts and a horse to bring it home to Elk Calf from a Lakota encampment.

Dark Cloud stopped and sucked in her breath as a new pain developed. "Oh, Calf, I didn't finish the cradle board, and here I am starting." Both women touched the taut, distended belly and felt the muscles churn as the pains strengthened. Dark Cloud looked imploringly at Elk Calf, certain, finally, that her time had come. In response to a soft rustling outside, Elk Calf rose and opened the flap, inviting in the old woman waiting there.

"I watched as you stopped work, and guessed that it was your time, Little Cloud. I came to see how you fared." Badger Woman was the birth helper and healer of the band, a position gained through both knowledge and necessity. She had lost her man in a raid against the Kaws years before and, too old to remarry and too proud to live solely by charity, she made herself indispensable to her people in this way. Over the years, her well-deserved reputation had spread north and south along the range of mountains they called the Creator's Spine. Though dour and seemingly unapproachable, she willingly shared her lore with any who took time to ask.

"You guessed right, Grandmother. She has started the pains." Elk Calf offered a dish from the simmering pot and Badger Woman sipped it noisily in true relish, not just from politeness.

As she wiped her chin with her sleeve, grown dark and stiff from this habit of hers, the old woman asked, "Have the waters come yet?"

"Not yet," Cloud said, "but the pains are long and hard."

"We will go to the birth tent, then." To Elk Calf she said, "Is everything ready?" She knew it was, but wanted to include the childless young woman in the birthing as much as possible. She watched as Dark Cloud clenched her teeth and trembled, then said, "You need not fear showing pain with me, Daughter. I know it hurts, and there are no men around, now."

Dark Cloud let out a low cry. "Ai, they do hurt."

Elk Calf announced that all was ready, and left to get Dark Cloud's mother. Calf would tend to the needs of Antelope, though she longed to remain in the birth tent.

Antelope-Dances-in-Fire, in his thirty-second winter, was a little old for his first child and wanted everything to be done properly. He watched discreetly, returning to his split-willow backrest by the fire only after the women had left, wary that he would forget some taboo in his ill-concealed nervousness. He no sooner leaned back to rest when he jumped up again and ducked back outside. He stood there, taking deep breaths, looking around at nothing. Younger men of the tribe, not yet fathers themselves, laughed and made comments that would be considered indecent if their elders heard them; others, who understood, overlooked his fretting and walked by with a smile or a nod. But neither nods were seen, nor jokes heard. Antelope correctly glanced away as Willow, Dark Cloud's mother, hurried by, wishing everything to be well with his second wife.

When Willow was past, Antelope went out to his herd and carefully selected one of the animals which he took with him to the tipi of Split-Nose. "My Father," he said after he was invited to sit, "I believe my child is coming out to be with us." His voice was high pitched from nervousness. "I will be honored if you will make the first naming."

Split-Nose grinned as he continued to draw on his pipe which he had filled when he saw his son-in-law coming toward his tipi. "Here, my Son. Smoke. Relax. This is a time when men can only wait." As Antelope took the pipe, Split-Nose patted him on the back. "I hoped you would ask me to name your first born. It will be my honor to do so; I will think and pray on the name. I thank you for the fine horse you have tied to my door. I thank you. Now—smoke with me."

In the birth tipi, erected weeks ago by the two wives of Antelope, Dark Cloud stripped and Badger Woman massaged her with sweet smelling real-bear grease as she prayed, "Great Bear Spirits, be here with us; make the coming birth easy, as easy as a sow bear in her winter den." Willow built up the fire and the three women waited for the baby's time. Dark Cloud rested between her contractions and the older women chatted and tended the fire, making sure to keep the air warm. Willow occasionally bathed her daughter's face or gave her a sip of fennel and burdock-root tea.

"It seems such a short time since we were drinking the tea, old friend. Now here I am waiting for a grandchild." Willow glanced at her daughter and encouraged her with a smile. The two women nodded together, knowing Dark Cloud's ordeal, but knowing, too, that they could relieve her of none of it. But they had no doubt, either, that she would see through her personal journey.

Dark Cloud spent the rest of the night and the following early morning in increasingly sharp and frequent contractions, but still there was little movement of the child, though the waters had broken hours before. She hung resolutely in the birthing straps, eyes sunken in pain but still bright with eagerness to see through this bringing-forth-life.

"I had another dream, Mother." Willow looked closely at her daughter. "In the Moon of New Calves I dreamed this birth would be hard, so I have been prepared ... Ai-e-e." She drew blood to her lip as yet another great convulsion moved the new one a little further. This spasm was more persistent, demanding yet more effort from the young woman who had already tried so hard. It started beneath the ribs and moved strongly, painfully downwards. She spoke again, partly as distraction, partly to reveal herself as completely as her body was revealed. "That is why," she continued as the pain began to ease, "I cut these ... stout straps ... from the back leather ... of our last shaggy-head."

After a glance and a nod from the medicine-woman, Willow continued the conversation, hoping to distract her daughter. "Did you dream else, Daughter?"

"Yes, Mother ... I've told no one ... I knew not what to ... make of it. I've ... hoped more dreams would come ... to make it clear to me."

"Tell us, Daughter. We may help you see meaning."

"Mother, I dreamed ... I would have a son ... who would never be a chief ... but who many will follow ... into a deep hole in the earth." Dark Cloud rested to regain her breath, head down and sweating from her hard labor. The others waited quietly, knowing these were words she had to say. "I dreamed he would have many arrows ... shot at him ... but the only thing that will harm ... him ... u-h-h-h-hn-n-nn." Again the sharp pain began, and from long experience Badger Woman recognized the time and shouted a strong and demanding, "Now!" at Willow, who grasped Dark Cloud about the top of the belly, giving a strong, slow downward shove to move the child. The exhausted young woman felt the movement and, with one more massive effort, dropped her body against the thongs and, despite her waning strength, gave a powerful, groaning shove. Badger Woman forced practiced fingers into the canal to hook the infant's chin. She was able to maneuver a better position for the head and pull to give a little downward help. Again an urgent, "Now!" and with a final gushing, screaming contraction, Dark Cloud was delivered of her son.

"By the All, he's ugly ... and big," were the first words that the new mother heard. Badger Woman chuckled as she deftly severed the mother-rope and handed the new infant to Willow for its first blessing. After checking the after-birth, she said, "You have come clean, Little Cloud, and your tear is small for such a big one."

The child's head was distorted from its long, hard passage, but, as he was laid against her sensitive breasts, his mother thought him most beautiful. As the infant began to suckle, Badger Woman coated Dark Cloud's torn skin with healing salves and checked the new child for marks to make sure all was well. Willow gave the bison robe and parflech of jerky to the midwife who grunted her tired thanks and left to complete her final duty, the ritual drying of the cord and afterbirth.

The door flap had barely settled when Elk Calf rushed in. "I heard the cry and saw Badger Woman leave, so I knew it was over." She pulled back the furs covering the infant. "Ah, beautiful. We have a son. Thank the Spirits. Now I must tell that man of ours!" She stood and danced and waved her arms in pantomime. "He's been as nervous as a youth on his first hunt; I'll have to dress him in his finery so he can go out and show off that he is a new father." She looked again at the new child and smiled. "Then, perhaps, I can send him out to hunt something for the pot." She beamed her excitement and pleasure at the birth in her family and was greatly relieved. She was, however, not yet ready to consider herself barren; she felt a twinge in her own breast as she tried to imagine an infant suckling there. Finally, she laid an exquisitely quilled pair of moccasins on the bed as a gift, and the two women clasped hands over the child and shed mutual tears of joy. When Elk Calf left, Dark Cloud fingered the beautiful designs worked on the moccasins and let her tears fall unchecked to the furs.

Thus was a child born on this cold day in the Big Hard Face Moon in the cold winter of Wood Cracking. Despite the difficult birth, the mother and son rested comfortably between the pelts of fall beaver on the springy sapling bed. The soft orange light of the birth fire played on the child as he suckled, relieving a little of Dark Cloud's aching engorgement. After a few sips of water with the white sweetness in it, Dark Cloud drifted into a welcome, dreamless sleep of exhaustion. The child slept too, the newest addition to a proud people who loved children.

Dark Cloud slept most of the next day. She woke only to nurse and wonder at her child, then allowed Willow or Elk Calf to tend to the new son of Antelope-Dances-in-Fire. The next morning, after a bath and a hearty stew provided by Elk Calf, Dark Cloud left the small birth tipi to resume the tasks interrupted by the onset of her labor. When she entered the family tipi, Antelope was standing, and he began to shift nervously until Elk Calf nudged him with her elbow. He lifted the finest soft elk robe from his bed and held it out to her. "My wife," he said quietly, "I have seen our son. He is fine. May this robe keep you and him as warm as my love."

Elk Calf then lifted a robe. Hidden beneath stood the finished cradle-board, decorated with some of the elk teeth which were her pride, cut every second one from the fringe of her dance dress, and with swan down, tied on loose so that it fluttered with each movement like snow.

Dark Cloud took it from Calf and turned it, watching the down feathers flutter; she hugged it to her full breasts. "This is fine, truly fine, Sister." Her voice broke as she looked at her husband and Calf. "Thank you." The women hugged and Antelope found it necessary to look for something in his belt pouch.

In the late morning, with only a passing notice of the pain still present from the birth, Dark Cloud bundled her new infant in wildcat furs and held him close to her breast under her blankets. She and Elk Calf then started a circuit of the camp so all could see this good thing to happen during the hard winter. Women throughout the camp smiled and trilled their approval, having heard how she had withstood her hard labor. From the men, Dark Cloud received shy nods. Many of the People interrupted their tasks or looked from their lodge openings as Small Dog, the camp crier, followed the new mother's path singing, and lisping through his broken teeth:

    "Yo—the two women walk
    with a strong new one.
    He-ye, hai-ye
    The People are proud."

Small Dog had the knack of making the simplest event seem grand. His new eye-dazzler blanket was like an out-of-season bloom, a reminder to the People that those warmer, brighter days would surely come. He walked slowly with his decorated lance and, with the fox pelt tucked in his sash dragging in the snow, led a few children and dogs to complete the child's first parade through camp.

Glowing in the momentary joy of their position, the two young women chatted gaily, usually frowned upon, but overlooked now in this glad, mid-winter diversion. Dark Cloud fell silent when she saw the fine buckskin from Antelope's herd tied at Badger Woman's tipi, showing in a strong way his pleasure with his new son.

Just then, Small Dog began a new singing chant:

    "Ho, People—Listen!
    Listen, while Runs-at-the Enemy
    shares with us his naming
    of this new child you see here.
    People, Listen!"

Split-Nose, almost forgetting his formal name, smiled to himself as Willow prodded him and he stepped out into the cold air. Always nervous when he was expected to speak, he studied his moccasins and cleared his throat as he collected his thoughts. He spoke slowly and clearly:

    "People, hear me.
    I have named the new child `Snow',
    for snow can be hard and strong,
    yet yields to warmth as it nourishes
    the new spring grass,
    and snow covers everything.
    Thus, my grandson, Snow,
    will be strong and hard,
    but be a friend to all.
    Snow is also a reminder of the strength
    my daughter shows to bring our band
    such joy in this hard time."

Women trilled, Willow loudest of all. Elk Calf hugged Cloud and looked down at Snow, snug and sleeping under his mother's robes. Split-Nose continued:

    "Antelope-Dances-in-Fire,
    the husband of my daughter,
    has asked me to say that he has
    a fine, big elk to make a feast
    for all the People in his son's name."

Small Dog nodded, smiling, and nudged the young warrior, Yellow Bull, next to him. Of course their great hunter would have an elk, even in this bitter cold time. Split-Nose looked back at Willow and returned her smile and winked. She nodded and motioned for him to continue. He turned back to his speech:

    "People! Hear me!
    My daughter gives her extra tipi
    to Blackbird, the daughter of Red Lance,
    so that she will not have to wait
    until the summer hunts before
    she has enough lodge-skins to get married."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from ENCOUNTERby Joseph W. Ulmer Copyright © 2012 by Joseph W. Ulmer. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.