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Sunday
Lame Deer, Montana
via Rosebud
October 3, 1897

My own true loving little wife,

Yours received and glad to hear from you, and also glad that your mother is better.

I have finished a cute picture of a Cheyenne little girl with her face painted all up. I have been loafing with the Indians all day. They all like me and liked to have me with them. They tell me about their troubles here and about the trouble there was here. The Indians told me that if Capt (2) Stouch, the agent, hadn’t managed the trouble as he did they, the Indians, would of killed a lot of white people. The Indians are all right as long as white people are square with them. The Cheyenne are the smartest and bravest Indians in America.

This afternoon I went to see a sweat tipi. The Indians take sticks and bind them and make a little house large enough to accommodate some 12 Indian sitting down. They cover the sticks all over with blankets and then they take a lot of stones and build a big fire and put the stones in it. When the stones are hot, (3) they put them in this little house or tent and the Indians undress naked outside, squaws and all, and get in the tent and the entrance is covered. Then they put water on the hot stones which makes steam and they have a sweat bath. Before the stones are put in they place a buffalo’s skull in front of the entrance for medicine and then they go in. They smoke and go through queer motions and will put some hot coals in the center of the tent and put on it some kind of herb, which burns and gives a queer smell. They all wanted me to undress and go in. Two or three squaws were hanging (4) around. Pretty soon Chief American Horse came along and shook hands with me and wanted me to go in. He said, "Heep good." Finally, when he saw I didn’t want to, he said the squaws wanted to undress and I had better go away which I did.

I now have a regular Indian pipe and an Indian has made me alot of Indian tobacco. So when I get home I will smoke like the Indians do. I am better acquainted with the Cheyenne than any Indians have been with because I work in an Indian's house and he speaks good (5) English and there are Indians hanging around all the time.

I will have 31 or 32 pictures at my exhibit.

Good night my dear. Your own true loving husband.

Lots of love, hugs & kisses,

Elbridge