Lieutenant "Pick" Pickert squatted next to the three Indian scouts as they talked conspiratorially. "I get separated tomorrow," said Pick.

"We get paid off too," said Buffalo Killer, 'Buff' to his friends.

Pick, Buff, Lance and Red Hawk had been through hell a few times, with Major Reno at Little Big Horn and before that scouting all over the Dakota territory trying to get a handle on the Sioux uprising. Pick was assigned as scout officer. He was a totally green, wet behind the ears, shave tail when they started out over four years ago.

Pick resigned his commission and the contract for the three Lipan Apaches was not renewed. General Miles was not happy with Reno's whole unit. The Apaches had gathered up horses from both sides in Montana after the Custer Massacre. They had nearly two hundred Indian horses hidden plus almost a hundred army horses.

The three Lipan previously told Pick they had no home as the Comanches had killed their whole band. They did not think highly of Comanches, they were not fond of the Sioux either. They all spoke excellent English and liked white men's ways plus they understood that there were rotten white people but that did not sour them on all.

"This plan only works if we find a ready market for horses. That means to me that we have to get them in better shape than the Sioux keep them," said Pick. "We cannot sell horses branded U S. I believe they will pay a small recovery fee, we may have to settle for that, or . . . we can eat them." Pick grinned.

"We can take the army horses to Omaha, there is a post there and they don't know us," said Red Hawk, called simply Hawk by everyone.

War Lance was the youngest by far. He was a bit reckless. He suggested taking all the horses to Mexico selling these and stealing others before coming back. They had talked it over as a group and decided against that move. In the end they all agreed on Omaha.

The plan was for Lance and Pick to take the U.S. Army horses to Omaha and find someone to fatten and get the Indian ponies ready for sale. Buff and Hawk would take the Indian herd to southern Dakota Territory and they would all meet at a spot on the Missouri River that they all knew. Pick thought it might take a month before he and Lance caught up.

The next morning Pick and Lance rigged a light pack on one horse and took half of the group's meager food supply. They cut out the army horses put their pack horse in the herd. They headed southwest figuring to cut east when just north of the Black Hills and ride directly across Sioux lands only avoiding large encampments. They rode at a high lope. The horses needed to run.

They rode eighty miles that day by Pick's reckoning as they had changed horses twice. They rode quite late as they thought they were near a Cheyenne encampment and did not want any trouble with them. Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, their warrior society, were the meanest bastards on earth.

They ate jerky and slept on the ground that night, taking turn about watching the herd.

They left at first light and rode away from the Belle Fourche River hoping to avoid other Indians. Then they turned south.

They made it to Rapid Creek and camped there. Pick shot a deer and they roasted the whole back and rib section. They both ate until their bellies were distended. The rule of the western plains was eat well when you can, the next meal might be a long time coming. The horses were tired and hungry too so both men slept all night.

So it went. The terrible incidents started when crossing the Missouri River the first time. It was a long swim and they lost three horses. Their pack horse was one. They went hungry that night.

Pick told Lance that he would ride in to a nearby tiny town and buy something to eat. Lance stayed with the horses and Pick rode in to the town. Pick found a general store and bought foodstuffs and got a flour sack to put it in. There were no questions, Pick would not have answered anyway. He headed back to the herd.

Pick saw the fire and rode to it. Lance was in the fire and two grubby white men were watching him burn. Pick quickly dismounted and grabbed Lance's leg and dragged him out of the fire. Lance was clearly dead. He was mutilated and cut all over.

Pick turned on the two and saw one had a pistol aimed at him. "What happened here?" Pick asked.

"Renegade injun here stole a bunch of army horses. We took 'em away from him," said the tall one holding the pistol. "Now soldier boy hand me your hog leg, back end first."

"Didn't you talk to him first about the horses? He could have told you where he got them and where he was taking them," said Pick.

"Well he said something funny like that but you know how they lie," said the gunman and the other gave a heehaw laugh like an idiot.

Pick stood and took a step toward him and said, "LOOK!" The pistol holder looked. Pick grabbed his wrist holding the gun. He stooped in case the man fired then pushed the his elbow up hard with the other hand. The man turned around very quickly and screamed in pain. His arm was behind him held by Pick, who was trying to push his elbow over his head, thus dislocating his shoulder. He dropped the pistol and complained loudly. Pick pulled his pistol and shot the second man in the bridge of his nose. He dropped in his tracks.

Pick reared back with his pistol and brought it down hard on the antagonist man's head. As the man lay there unconscious Pick stomped and broke both of his arms. He then took the mans own knife and cut his belly open. A long intestine popped out and Pick pulled it out farther with his boot.

Lance had died a slow death at the hands of these two, they would pay with their lives but that did not help.

Pick gathered some tree branches and built a bier tying it together with one man's rope. He tied Lance's body to the bier and dragged the assembly to a cottonwood with a big low branch. He threw the other end of the rope over a branch above and then tied it on the saddle horn of his horse. He walked the horse forward and thus pulled Lance and his burial platform up. Backing the horse down he poised it over the branch he wanted and climbed the tree. Realizing his mistake he crawled out of the tree and backed the horse until the bier was entangled in the branch's hanging precariously. He untied the rope from the horse, crawled back up the tree and tied the assembly securely to the big branch using the remainder of the rope. "Rest well my brother, we will meet in the next life," said Pick choking and crawled down.

He walked back to the man he had tortured and saw his eyes flutter. The man looked at Pick and said, "Please mister, please kill me. Don't leave me like this."

"The man you tortured and killed was my brother. He died slow so you will die slow. He was not shot, you will not be shot. I will burn your body like you did his. When you meet in purgatory you can apologize for you shall know his suffering." Pick finished his speech and started gathering dry branches. He stacked them next to the man then leaned over and said, "These are for your fire." The man was dead.

"Damn," said Pick.

It took a long time to gather all the horses. Pick and the herd headed for Omaha.

He saw no one for two days. When almost there two riders approached and Pick milled the herd. He was ready to fight.

"Howdy, looks like you have your hands full," said a sunburned cowhand. "What happened to your help?"

"Two thieves tried to steal the herd and killed my helper," said Pick.

"Where you going maybe we can help," said the other cowhand.

"Truth be told I'm not sure. I looking for a place to leave these critters until I can contact the army and take them back to them," explained Pick.

"The army remount corrals are about five miles. We can help out Lieutenant," said the first one. They apparently took turns talking.

"I'm not in the army any more, you see I'm trying to collect the recovery fee on these horses," said Pick. He still wore his uniform. He did not have any other clothes.

"I'm sure Mr. Hansen will help, let's go to the main house," said number two right on cue.

Burl Hansen's place was the ranch Pick was looking for. Hansen, before the ban on Texas cattle bought young herds and grazed them and sold them for slaughter the following spring. He not only got premium price because he sold ahead of the coming Texas herds, the cattle gained weight and brought more money as cattle were sold by the pound. (Texas herds at railheads usually sold by the animal for a lot less than their per pound price.)

Hansen and Pick talked into late evening and reached a deal for horses. Hansen got excited when he asked pick how many horses he was talking about. Pick told him three or four thousand.

Hansen would shoe them, trim them up, feed them grain and have his men ride them. The better horses if unbranded he would sell to the army. The rest he would supply every ranch for a hundred miles. Hansen would keep a quarter leaving Pick and 'his brothers' three quarters. Hansen estimated the cost of doing all this and how a typical transaction would split out. Hansen offered to have a lawyer draft it all up into a contract. Pick agreed.

Pick talked of the dichotomy of being blood brother to Indians, stealing horses from or killing other Indians. He wanted Hansen to completely understand where the horses came from and who his partners were. There were savages and regular people Indians he explained. He wondered to himself if he was a savage, he certainly was a few days ago.

Hansen said he could collect the recovery fee so Pick left the following morning taking the two horses and saddles of Lance's killers.

He made it to the meeting spot in two days. The herd of Indian horses was not there but Pick knew he was a week early. He waited.

They came right on time but there were 430 horses not the 200 they started with.

They milled the horses and rode to Pick's camp. They dismounted and Pick signaled for quiet. Hawk quickly l ooked around and his face fell.

Pick looked solemn and said, "Our brother has gone to his place of spirits. He was killed by horse thieves." One did not ever say the deceased persons name aloud.

Hawk spoke, "Did our brother suffer?"

Pick was very troubled and said, "Yes he suffered very much. His killers were white, but they were cruel. They in turn died with more suffering in the manner of a Cheyenne Dog Soldier."

Hawk and Buff understood as they had seen what happened when Dog Soldiers caught a U.S. army soldier.

"How did you leave our brother," asked Hawk?

"On an Apache platform in a cottonwood tree," said Pick.

"Good, good I am not a traditionalist but getting buried in the ground seems barbaric to me," said Hawk.

Buff walked away from camp and said nothing. He went out about fifty yards and sat down cross legged.

The stilted conversion was over.

Later Hawk explained that the Sioux are very careless with their horses, he laughed. He and Buff had picked up a few as they came along.

They took the horses to Hansen who went to work on them immediately. He brought in two more blacksmiths and had all hands trimming manes, tails and riding the horses, gentling some. They went for the younger horses first with the intent to sell them to the army. In a few days they were selling horses all over.

Then Hawk and Buff wanted to go to where their brother was in the tree, so they all three left telling Hansen they would be back with more.

In almost two years they recovered/stole almost 6000 horses. Hansen was shipping them out by the train load. Each of them had twenty thousand dollars in banks. They decided to quit. It became more dangerous each day. Indians and Pinkerton's hired by the army were looking for them.

Hansen was buying shorthorn cows anyplace he could find them. He taught the boys how to make money in the cattle business.

The work began.