The times in which Sitting Bull lived, and the incidents surrounding him were such as will produce an unscrupulous, crafty, and cruel man. Yet, with all of that, we must admit that he was a great man and that the words of his prediction were verified—he never became a reservation Indian. * * * * * After writing this chapter, the proofs were sent to my friend Dr. Eastman. His reply is interesting. AMHERST, MASS., SEPT. 30, 1914 Dear Mr. Moorehead: I have read with interest your chapter on Sitting Bull. You are right in believing that he was present at the Fetterman fight. In regard to the Custer fight, I have carefully compared many stories of Indians who were there, including several of my own relatives. Sitting Bull did not run away, neither was he “making medicine” at the time. He was on the Reno side of the fight at the first, and later, when Custer appeared, was heard in a loud voice urging the young men to be steady, etc. Most certainly I agree with you that he was no coward, and do not agree with Major McLaughlin in his estimate of Sitting Bull’s character. According to all my researches, he was no medicine man, but a statesman, one of the most far-sighted we have had, and as such I have represented him in my study of his career, which has not yet been published. In his early days, he won distinction as a warrior. After he came in from Canada, his character was ruined by the humiliation to which he was subjected, followed by his exhibition all over this country and Europe by “Buffalo Bill,” and being lionized and his photographs and autographs sold, etc. Then he was brought back to the agency and again humiliated, and crushed by the Agent until he was both spoiled and embittered. The weakest thing he ever did was to take up the Ghost dance craze, which led to his death. As to Red Cloud’s warriors, it must be remembered that the number of Indians engaged in a fight with U. S. troops is nearly always exaggerated in the military reports. They have no means of counting the warriors, and their estimates are more than liberal, for obvious reasons. At the Custer fight, for example, not more than 1,400 warriors were probably present. You are welcome to use any or all of this letter in your book. I wish to say that I like the tone of your work very much and agree with most of what you say. I do not desire to idealize Sitting Bull, but what he did, and the conditions of the period, and the Indians’ own estimate of him at the time, will tell their own story. It is not the story of an Indian Agent, or an Indian on the reservation who is very apt to say things to soothe the savage white man’s ear for the favor he may receive.