He calls the year “The-people-were-burnt winter,” and adds:
They were living somewhere east of their present country, when a prairie fire destroyed their entire village. Many of their children and a man and his wife, who were on foot some distance away from the village, were burned to death. Many of their horses were also burned to death. All the people that could get to a long lake which was near by saved themselves by jumping into it. Many of these were badly burned about the thighs and legs, and this circumstance gave rise to the name, _si-can gu_, translated as Burnt Thigh, and Brulé, by which they have since been known. Battiste Good’s character for the year is here given as Figure 123.
[Illustration: FIG. 123.--Origin of Brulé. Dakota.]
This is of later date than the mythical times, even among Indians, and, being verified as it is, must be accepted as historical.
The pictographs under this head that have come to the writer’s notice have been grouped as, _First_, a continuous account of the chief events in the life of the subject of the sketch; _Second_, separate accounts of some particular exploit or event in the life of the person referred to. Pictographs of both of these descriptions are very common.
An example of a continuous record is the following “autobiography” of Running-Antelope:
The accompanying illustrations, Figures 124 to 134 are copied from a record of eleven drawings prepared by Running-Antelope, chief of the Uncpapa Dakota, at Grand River, Dakota, in 1873. The sketches were painted in a large drawing-book by means of water colors, and were made for Dr. W. J. Hoffman, to whom the following interpretations were given by the artist:
The record comprises the most important events in the life of Running-Antelope as a warrior. Although frequently more than one person is represented as slain, it is not to be inferred that all were killed in one day, but during the duration of one expedition, of which the recorder was a member or chief. The bird (_Falco cooperi?_) upon the shield refers to the clan or band totem, while the antelope drawn beneath the horses, in the act of running, signifies the personal name.
Figure 124. Killed two Arikara Indians in one day. The lance held in the hand, thrusting at the foremost of the enemy, signifies that he killed the person with that weapon; the left-hand figure was shot, as is shown, by the discharging gun, and afterwards struck with the lance. This occurred in 1853.