The band of the Sioux to which he belonged is known as Iteshicha. As no comprehensive account of his life has ever been published, I intend to devote this entire chapter to him and his activities. He first comes into prominence in 1865, when the Government undertook to build a road from Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to the gold regions of Montana. Red Cloud captured a detachment of troops and held same prisoners for two weeks and then released them without injury. Commissioners were sent out from Washington that fall to treat with him, and he refused to meet with them.[27] Of the individuals who exerted an influence upon the various bands of Sioux something can be learned by a search of the records. Perhaps Sitting Bull and Red Cloud are more popularly known than others. Every plainsman worthy of the name has had an encounter at some time during the past with Red Cloud’s warriors. Army officers stationed on the frontier in the ’60’s or ’70’s testify to the courage and dash of these sons of the Plains. The War Department records contain more frequent mention of Red Cloud than of any other American Indian; and the pictographic accounts made by the Sioux themselves upon tanned buffalo hides, many years ago, are filled with evidences of the prowess of this chief. Makh-ṕiya-lúta, or Red Cloud, has said in his pictographic history of his life, that he was born in the year 1822.[28] His parents were not prominent among the tribe. He calls this year “Star-passed-by-with-a-loud-noise-winter.” The Sioux, in their winter-counts, designate each year by some particular or striking occurrence. For instance, in Red Cloud’s winter-counts, or census, one winter is called “Winter-in-which-many-died-of-smallpox”; another, “Winter-we-killed-one-hundred-white-men.” There are several of these winter-counts made by different chiefs in possession of the Government, which agree as to the naming of each year, and only vary in minor details. Two of them cover a surprisingly long period of time, from 1800 to 1877. Both have been carefully studied by ethnologists and interpreters, and accurate translations prove them of special value to history students. Of the extreme youth of Red Cloud we know nothing. An old Indian, when asked at Pine Ridge, shrugged his shoulders and said, “All great men were once boys.” He was trained as became a young Lakota. All Indian children learn to ride when extremely young. General Dodge says that, whether men or boys, the Plains tribes, or, as most officers call them, “Horse Indians,” produced the finest horsemen in the world. Red Cloud was not a hereditary chief, but arose to distinction through merit.