The Preacher of Cedar Mountain: A Tale of the Open Country

  CHAPTER XXXVIII

  When the Craze Struck

  "Brethren and sisters," said Dr. Jebb, in the Wednesday meetingestablished for general discussion, "I consider it my duty to speakopenly and officially in condemnation of this outbreak of the fearful,soul-destroying vice of gambling that is sweeping over the land, overthe country, over the town, I might almost say over this congregation.Never, in all my experience, has this inclination run so riotouslyinsane. Not men of the world merely, but members of the Church; and thewomen and little children who can barely lisp the shameful word, arebetting on the race."

  The reverend doctor had much more to say in fierce denunciation, butHartigan, while regretting the sinfulness of the habit, pointed out thatthis was a land of few pleasures and a land of horses; and if, as wasnatural, they sought to get their pleasure out of their horses, thensurely Dr. Jebb would not consign them all to hell for it, but take aview more in line with the Christian charity of the Church.

  Deacon Higginbotham rose to expound his theory of risk. Every man whotook a risk of profit or loss was gambling; and everybody did it, so allwere gambling, every one. "Now, see, we have a fire insurance risk onthe this church, which means the church is gambling against Providence.So, clearly, the gambling itself is not a sin, it is the accessories ofgambling that make for evil. For example, if we gamble with cards,sitting up all night in a stuffy room, drinking bad drinks, smoking badsmokes, speaking bad words, neglecting our business, neglecting ourmorals, hurting our health--then these things are bad. But, if we gambleout in the sunlight, on a beautiful prairie, on beautiful horses--nowplease don't mistake me; I'm not betting on the race----"

  Here Hannah pulled his coat tail and he sat down. The fact of the matterwas, he had issued a number of insurance policies on the race, and wasquite ready to issue any number more.

  It was well known that Dr. Jebb had invested his little savings inDeadwood town plots; and when Dr. Carson rose and asked if any onepresent had ever risked money on a probable rise in town plots--gambled,in fact, on the chances of a boom--Dr. Jebb turned scarlet and Dr.Carson laughed outright. Whereupon the Rev. James Hartigan whispered tothe Rev. Dr. Jebb, who nodded; and the Reverend James, standing up,said: "Let us close the meeting with prayer."

  If the Church--with all its immunities, safeguards, antitoxins,influences, warnings, prophylactics, creeds, vows, exposures,denunciations, traditions, and holy leaders--should become infected withaggressive interest in the speed contest to the extent of outward andvisible material risk, what was likely to be the condition of theungodly? It is said that the real estate boom of Minneapolis and thegold craze of Deadwood were psychological trivialities compared with thesudden great boom in betting that set in during the last week of June atthe Black Hills; and the only reason why the wagering cataclysm was lessdisastrous than it threatened to be was because it ended quickly.

  Fifty thousand dollars of treaty money was in the hands of Red Cloud andhis people; fifty thousand more went to the Cheyennes under HowlingBull. The ranchmen were ready with an equal sum, and Fort Ryan was notfar behind. By noon the fifty thousand dollars had been distributed tothe Indians; by one o'clock every cent of it was put up on the race inequal bets. Who was to be stake holder? How much was each stake to beheld or awarded? These were problems of some intricacy in view of thefact that the Indians could not read a word or trust any white manexcept the Indian Agent and Father Cyprian, the Jesuit missionary, bothof whom declined to have any hand or part in the matter.

  The plan devised by Red Cloud and accepted by the whites was as follows:every pair of stakes was tied together and marked with two names, thewhite man's and the Indian's--the latter's mark or totem being used.They then were piled up in a lone tepee, half way between the Fort andthe Indian camp, and the tepee put under guard of an Indian and a whitesoldier. The understanding was that as soon as the race was over thewinners should take possession of the lodge and distribute the contentsamong themselves, as indicated by the marks.

  There was nearly one hundred thousand dollars in cash piled up in thatIndian lodge in twin bunches. Of course, it was easy to arrange themoney that way, and possible to make bundles of robes, bridles,beadwork, buckskin, pemmican, and weapons. It was even practical to pairoff ploughs and bureaux; but the difficulties became huge and complexwhen horse was wagered against horse, or cow against cow, and even moreso when cow was put up against horse; for, obviously, they could not belaid away in pairs, pending the decision; so that an elaborate sort oftally stick was instituted with some success, but even so a number ofdisputes ensued.

  There was not a trooper who did not wager all the cash he had or couldby any means get. There was not an officer who was not dragged in by thegrowing power of the craze. And daily, parties of Indians came to theFort to put up cash, or peer around to get a glimpse of the horses. Thewhites made no attempt this time to spy on the Indians--their lastexperience had not been very encouraging. Anyway, why should they? Theyhad all the cards in their hands. The shoeing of the Buckskin, the knownimportation of oats and timothy, the absence of reliable proof that theIndians had any other horse, were conclusive on that side; and on theirown, the Rover could beat the Buckskin, even as Blazing Star could beatRover; so, allowing for an accident, they had two winning horses tochoose from.

  John Higginbotham, who represented the bankers of the little wooden Bankof Cedar Mountain, had to send to Deadwood for a fresh supply ofmortgage blanks, an assistant inspector of risks, and all the cash theycould spare for the present need. Colonel Waller began to take alarm.The men were mortgaging their pay for months ahead, although many werestill in debt from the autumn before. One young officer whose pay waspledged for a year in advance did not hesitate to pledge for thefollowing year, so sure was he.

  As early as the middle of June, the long lines of mounted men withprairie schooners were seen crawling over the plain to northward andeastward, while down the mountain roads came Indian bands inever-growing numbers. The authorities might well have taken alarm butfor the fact that the gathering was to be at Fort Ryan where there wereample troops to deal with any possible situation. Then over the hillsfrom the south came Red Cloud with all his clan, and many more besides.Mounted men in hundreds, with travois and different kinds of carts,carrying tepees, provisions, household goods, and with them--stragglingoff or driven by the mounted boys--were herds of prairie ponies, inscores or even hundreds, the Red men's real wealth, brought now tostake, they fondly hoped, against the horses of the regiment at FortRyan. On the old camp ground by the river below the Fort, the Indianspitched their village, and every day came others of their race to set uplodges, and add to the lively scene. On the other side was a growingcanvas town of whites with every kind of sharper and blackleg that thesurrounding settlements could contribute from their abundant shadypopulation.

  Prominent among the visitors at Fort Ryan was the Indian Commissioner,with the local agent as his assistant. He opened a temporary office inthe barracks, and the morning of his arrival many a lively scene tookplace as gorgeously dressed bucks, with wives and interpreter, gatheredthere to receive their treaty money. Although the Colonel was careful toexclude all liquor dealers and known sharpers from the Fort during theissue of the cash, he could not exclude them from the Dakota prairie,and they were hanging about everywhere with their unholy wares andmethods. Firewater was, of course, the most dangerous snare; but a greatdeal of trick robbery was carried on with gaudy knick-knacks for whichunbelievable prices were asked and got. The Indians might have partedwith all their cash on that morning but for the need they felt of havingit to cover their bets on the race.

  Red Cloud and his counsellors had been many times to Colonel Waller'shouse. They had come with money bets, they had come with promises, andnow they came with horses, eager to bet horse against horse for themounts of all the regiment. The Indian chief did not understand theColonel's refusal until he was told that a mythical Great High Chiefnamed Unca-Sam was the owner of the cavalry mounts--that though Unca-Samwas over
a hundred years old, he was a young man yet and knew all thatwas done in the West. Then it slowly dawned on Red Cloud that these menwere riding horses that did not belong to them; he despised them for it,but his Indian honesty made him see how impossible it was to bet thehorses that they did not own. However, he managed to stake a throng ofponies against the cattle of the ranchers, and thus the wealth of oneside was staked against that of the other.

  Next morning saw many wagons come to the Fort, with squaws beside theirIndian drivers. They stopped at the Colonel's house, the covers wereremoved, and great piles of beadwork, coats, leggings, moccasins,baskets, war-clubs, and other characteristic things of Indian work wererevealed. It was made clear that these were offered as stakes; would thewhites match up the goods? In a spirit of fun, at first, the women ofthe Fort, as well as the men, began offering household goods or personalgear; a frying pan against a baby-bag, a pair of corsets against amedicine flute, a bureau against a war bonnet. Then, bitten by thecraze, they kept on till everything was matched and all the goods tiedup in bundles, according to the established custom, to lie in the big,special tepee under guard.

  Another band of Red men followed with some tepees that they offeredagainst government tents and, on being refused, finally wagered themagainst provender and hay. Each day there were new offers as groups ofIndians came to the Fort, so that as soon as an Indian outfit on wheelscame slowly up, it was quite understood that it was bringing newmaterial to put up on the race. It was toward the end of the time thatRed Cloud and his retinue came again, riding in much solemnity. Ignoringall others, he went to Colonel Waller's house and, in his usualdeliberate way, after smoking, he began:

  "Maybe so, you bet big?"

  "Yes, indeed," was Waller's answer.

  "Good. We bet all Dakota. You bet United States. Maybe so--yes?"

  "No, no," laughed the Colonel.

  "You win, we go away out west. We win, you all go back east. Maybeso--yes?"

  "No," said the Colonel. "I am only a little chief. The Great High Chief,Unca-Sam, would not allow it."

  Red Cloud smoked a while, then resumed:

  "Heap afraid, maybe so?" Then, after a pause, "We bet Pine Ridge, youbet Fort Ryan--yes?"

  Again the Colonel had to protest that only the Great Father Unca-Samcould deal in such matters; and Red Cloud grunted, "Heap scared," made agesture of impatience, and rode away.