Chapter 29The weather was cold, but heavy winter had not yet settled in as we started the trek to the Standing Rock Agency where Sitting Bull and his Hunkpapa lived. A large group of us wanted to go, but Bear and I worried too big a force might catch the attention of the army, so we kept it to six: Firm Foot, Crow Hop, Howling Wolf, Winter Bird, Bear, and me. Even a party of our size might appear a threat should we meet up with a squad-sized army patrol. But we made our way safely to Sitting Bull’s village on the Grand River about forty miles north of Fort Yates in North Dakota. As it was late in the day, we did not approach the old man’s wooden cabin, but found shelter in a bachelor’s tipi some distance away.
Winter Bird and Crow Hop, excited over the prospect of meeting the Lakota’s pri
