A still more striking and characteristic incident is related of a chief called the Red Thunder. Col. Wm. Dixon, a Scotchman of family, who made his influence felt in the late war of 1812 as a leader of the Sioux and a merchant among them, married the sister of this notable chief. So daring were the acts of Red Thunder, that he had put the Chippewa nation in awe of him. At length, however, after a long series of the bravest acts, he was taken prisoner, with a favorite dog, and condemned to expiate his offences at the stake. It was a time of want by his captors. One day he said to them: "Why do you not feed my dog?" They replied, "feed him yourself." "Then," he said, "give me a knife." This being thrown to him, he cut a piece of flesh from one of his large and fleshy thighs, and threw it to the dog. Admiration of this act ran through the Indian camp. They immediately released him, and bestowed on him the highest attentions and honors.
The Dacota or Sioux nation constitute one of the families of America who speak a peculiar language. Lieut. Pike, who visited them in 1806, estimated their numerical strength at twenty-one thousand six hundred and seventy-five; of which number he computed three thousand eight hundred to be warriors. They consist of six or seven independent tribes, or sub-tribes, bearing different names, who occupy most of the country between the Mississippi and Missouri, between N. latitude 43° and 46°. The Mendawekantoñs are located on the Mississippi, below the Falls of St. Anthony and the mouth of the St. Peter's. The Sessitoñs and Yanktoñs occupy the upper waters of the St. Peter's. The Titoñs only extend west of the Missouri. The several tribes regard themselves as a confederacy, which is the signification of the term Dacota. They do not acknowledge the name of Sioux as an Indian word. We first hear of them from the early French missionaries, who visited the head of Lake Superior about the middle of the 17th century, under the name of _Nadowasie_.[94] They speak a language which prevails over an immense area, which is now occupied by the prairie tribes towards the west and southwest, from whence, it is inferred, they came. They appear, at a former time, to have reached and dwelt at the sources of the Mississippi, and to have approached, if not reached, the west end of Lake Superior; for it is from these positions that the oldest traditions represent them to have been driven by the Chippewas. Lieut. Pike thinks they are, undeniably, descendants of Tartars. If so, I feel inclined to think that they must have made the circuit of the Mexican provinces before reaching the Mississippi Valley, for the track of their migration is traced towards the south certainly as far as the country of the Kansas and Osages; while they preserve some striking traits and characteristics which appear to be referable to those intertropical regions.