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Siege At Baker Ranch, Part Iv

IV.
Myron’s jaw clenched as he eyed the old brave,
who stood quiet and took in the whole scene
glared intensely at Myron where he stood,
said,”Well then white man, what do you mean?”

Myron just stared iron back at the man,
said”Leave my home and do not ever come back.
I’ll set him free when you’re all out of site,
and on foot he will have to make tracks.”

The brave was still, and then asked of Myron,
“How can we know that your word will be good?
Your kind once promised us our sacred hills,
now they scar the slopes, and chop all the wood.”

Myron angrily shook his head and declared,
“It’s with the soldiers that you need to fight!
I can make no rules, I give no decrees,
have scant power for the wrong or the right!

“I only fight here for the things I have built;
for my family, my land, and my home.
I do not much care for government words
like you I am just protecting my own.”

This brought a glint to the man’s tired eye,
it was an impulse that every man knows,
he motioned the braves to follow him out,
one-by-one the proud warriors rode.

And Myron was just as good as his word,
he let Diving Bird walk away on two feet,
he thought he detected a look of respect,
but maybe he saw what he wanted to see.

Myron was left nearly broken by this,
they had taken every horse that they found,
worse still were the tears from the womenfolk
when he put poor Harold into the ground.

And though the war would rage for one more year,
and on both sides cruelty got its fill,
for Myron the war had taken its toll,
he could only struggle on and rebuild.

The fight would continue to its sad end,
filled with terrors that make good people blanche,
but the Sioux kept their word, and never again
did they show face on the Baker Ranch.

Copyright © David Welch | Year Posted 2019

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