[Illustration:  Chief Satanta passed the peace-pipe to general Sherman and said:  “My great white brothers”]

General Sherman reminded him that this would be highly impolite to the hosts, and ordered them, as soldiers, to make the best of the entertainment and to line up for mess when the Indians made a feast.

At ten o’clock the next morning the first session of the great council was held.  For three days the white chiefs and the red chiefs sat in a circle under the canopy, and many promises of friendship were made by the Indians.  When the council was concluded, General Sherman sent for me.

“Billy,” he said, “I want you to send two good men to Fort Ellsworth with dispatches, where they can be forwarded to Fort Riley, the end of the telegraph line.  After your men are rested they can return to Fort Zarrah and join us.”  When the two men were instructed by the General and were on their way, he took me into his tent.

“I want to go to Bent’s Fort on the Arkansas River,” he said, “then to Fort St. Barine, on the Platte, and then to Laramie; after that we will go to Cottonwood Springs, then to Fort Kearney and then to Leavenworth.  Can you guide me on that trip?”

I told him that I could, and was made guide, chief of scouts, and master of transportation, acting with an army officer as quartermaster.

At Bent’s Fort another council of two days was held with the Indians.  The journey homeward was made without difficulty.  At Leavenworth I took leave of one of the noblest and kindest-hearted men I have ever known.  In bidding me good-by, General Sherman said: 

“I don’t think these councils we have held will amount to much.  There was no sincerity in the Indians’ promises.  I will see that the promises we made to them are carried out to the letter, but when the grass grows in the spring they will be, as usual, on the warpath.  As soon as the regular army is organized it will have to be sent out here on the border to quell fresh Indian uprisings, because these Indians will give us no peace till they are thoroughly thrashed.”

The General thanked me for my services, and told me he was very lucky to find me.  “It is not possible that I will be with the troops when they come,” he said.  “They will be commanded by General Philip Sheridan.  You will like Sheridan.  He is your kind of a man.  I will tell him about you when I see him.  I expect to hear great reports of you when you are guiding the United States army over the Plains, as you have so faithfully guided me.  The quartermaster has instructions to pay you at the rate of $150 a month, and as a special reward I have ordered that you be paid $2000 extra.  Good-by!  I know you will have good luck, for you know your business.”

After the departure of General Sherman I made a brief visit to my sisters in Salt Creek Valley, and for a time, there being no scouting work to do, drove stage between Plum Creek and Fort Kearney.