Education, Wild West Style
Chapter 7
A new beginning for Tom
On the reservation again it was almost like Tom and Little Buffalo, Luke and Running Bear, were joined at the hip. They could hardly bear to be apart from each other until they had assuaged their lust with their lovers. Then it was down to some serious work.
The first serious piece of work was to get English speaking members of the new tribe they were going to work with and try to emulate the same thing with that they were already doing with Lone Arrow's. Luke suggested that Tom start to groom Little Buffalo to be a reservation policeman, then he could take him to the new location and parting would not be an issue. Both things worked.
Several members of the new tribe who had lived close to the white men at the frontier fort close to the tribal grounds spoke good English so Tom moved there with his detachment, and Little Buffalo of course. The change brought problems for Luke. Tom's replacement was not a sympathiser and started to cause trouble. The two NCOs came to Luke to tell him of incidents that were causing resentment among the Indians. The culmination was when he pistol whipped Running Bear for an incident. Luke went berserk and had the lieutenant trussed up by members of the tribe, slung over his horse and Luke took him into the fort.
The colonel wasn't sure whether he should laugh or cry at the spectacle and ensuing conversation. Luke was like a cat on a hot tin roof he was so angry. He had Running Bear with him so that the colonel could see why. The fort doctor dressed Running Bear's wounds after the colonel had seen them and then listened to the lieutenant who came across as an Indian hater. Using the word savages when talking about the gentle people of Lone Arrow's tribe was enough.
"I think Mr. Atherton should be arrested Sir, and thrown in the brig. A good spell in jail would do him good for assaulting an army officer."
"I think a better idea Lieutenant will be to post you to Colonel Custer's command where you can take out your hatred of the Indians on the Apaches giving him so much trouble. Two years loss of seniority will go with you and if you can't be more dispassionate in your feelings towards the Indians you will lose much more before the Indian question is settled."
"I'm sorry Luke, I hope the doctor will be able to repair the damage to Running Bear. Please take my apology and condolences back to Lone Arrow for the action of this officer."
The lieutenant was speechless never expecting this kind of support for an Indian tribe. Unfortunately he didn't live long enough to learn. He was with Custer at the Little Big Horn when so many Cavalrymen died.
Luke and Running Bear returned to the village with another young second lieutenant, not anti Indian and two new troopers.
"He is a good officer Luke, for one so young. I have put him under your direct command so you can teach him and discipline him. You know the officer's code so you should have no more problems. I have another two troopers I would like you to take and train as well. I want you to double the size of your police force because we are getting an increased flow of settlers and your tribal lands are very attractive."
This was going to give Luke lots of problems he was sure. Michael and Brett would have to be more discreet as would he with Running Bear. There would be lots of work teaching more of the tribe English and integrating more into the reservation police force.
Lone Arrow appreciated what Luke was doing and was as co-operative as he could be. The new Lt. was impressed with how well received the new cavalrymen were, but was disappointed at the obvious suspicion with which he was greeted.
"Bill, your predecessor caused trouble here and injured the Chief's youngest son. You will have to prove you have the interests of the tribe at heart if you are to be accepted. Learn the language, take guidance from your sergeant and corporal, they have both been with this tribe for more than two years. Treat the young braves with respect when you are teaching them, they aren't savages."
Bill had been briefed by the colonel before taking up this post and knew quite a lot about Luke and his two NCOs. He was ambitious so if he could make a success of this posting perhaps he would get accelerated promotion like Tom Arnold so he watched and learnt. Of course he saw things he thought were not quite right so he went to Luke with his worries.
"Luke, I have been watching and learning for several weeks now and I think I can handle the job. My problem and worry is that Hudson and Tanner are almost like Indians now instead of cavalrymen. I am sure that their actions with some of the braves aren't quite correct for military personnel either."
Luke sat Bill down and told him what he had told Tom when he actually caught Michael Hudson having sex with a brave. Of course he didn't tell Bill about the sexual side.
"But that is contrary to civil and military law Luke, they should be disciplined."
"Put aside those thoughts for a minute and tell me how you think the two of them perform their duties and how effective you think their attitude to the braves helps their performance."
Bill blushed a little as he formulated his reply.
"They are liked and trusted by the trainees Luke, so they learn quickly. They are quite patently integrated totally into the tribe and I know they sleep in tepees most nights, instead of here in the camp. But this is all wrong."
"Bill, if you spent one year of your life being treated like a woman by a tribe of Indians don't you think you would have adapted to survive?"
Bill realised then that Luke was speaking sense and then it clicked.
"You were a prisoner the same, weren't you?"
"Yes Bill."
"And Running Bear is your lover?"
"Yes Bill. Before you say or do something you might regret, think on this. We are doing a job here that is good for a whole tribe, keeping them on their own lands. The cavalrymen at the fort were being slaughtered on nearly all the patrols that tried to find Lone Arrow's people, so we are saving large numbers of lives there, and the colonel can now keep the lawlessness of the towns under control because he isn't using his resources to hunt rebel bands. The Senate in Washington is 100% behind me and is using this experiment to expand the scheme. If you want to be the oldest Lt. in the army just make waves about what you perceive as improper conduct here."
Bill had much to think about during the next few days before accepting what Luke said.
Bill did take on board Luke's brief and was a success. He did get his accelerated promotion, but only to a captain. Michael Hudson and Brett Tanner both obtained field commissions and joined Tom Arnold and Bill in a special unit set up to carry on the work started by Luke. A series of troopers did field training with Luke and Running Bear before joining the same unit.
Luke, Tom Arnold and Luke Snr. would sit down every few months in Washington to discuss progress. Unfortunately there were not many success stories but Luke's tribe remained one of them. When the colonel changed at the fort, Luke went through a rocky spell until he, and the reservation police had convinced the new commander that he should be grateful for a simple job instead of fighting Indian wars like most other commanders.
Much pressure was placed on Luke after his five year stint to hand over to another white administrator with Running Bear as his aide but Luke fought it and remained in charge, with no white supervisors, keeping the reservation police trained and mediating occasionally with settlers that tried to encroach on the tribal lands.
His only concession to his father's wishes was to spend short spells of time in Washington as an advisor on Indian affairs.
When Lone Arrow died, Running Bear became supreme chief with Luke at his side, a much respected member of the tribe now. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I would like to have kept this story going because I like Luke and Running Bear, but I didn't know where to take it. I hope you enjoyed it and will let me know.
It has been pointed out to me that in some of the earlier chapters I spelt Lone Arrow's name 'Loan Arrow'. I apologise if it spoilt your appreciation of this story in any way.
My next posting will probably go to College section. It's a five part story called, "College Challenge"