straggling cow, which fell behind. The Indians had not eaten for quite some time awaiting the promised delayed supplies, and the wayward cow was killed and eaten by a hungry Miniconjou Lakota warrior, High Forehead, and his family who were visiting Conquering Bear's camp. A Mormon settler reported to the army at Fort Laramie that the animal had been stolen by the Native Americans. Lt. John Fleming, the senior officer at the fort, called for Conquering Bear to meet with him at the fort on the matter. Conquering Bear attempted to negotiate compensation for the cow, offering several of his own horses in exchange. The Mormon cow owner refused, demanding $25 in payment instead. Lt. Fleming also demanded that Conquering Bear turn over the guilty warrior. Conquering Bear refused, stating that he had no authority over a brave from another band, and that the warrior was his guest. Lt. Fleming was swayed by the migrating Mormons, and his second in command, Second Lieutenant John Lawrence Grattan, was eager to take a detachment to arrest High Forehead. The massacre With cannon trained on the Indian encampment, the fragile peace was about to shatter. Lt. Grattan ordered Conquering Bear to surrender the Miniconjou Lakota warrior and Conquering Bear refused. The negotiations went on for quite some time, during which the translator, Auguste, repeatedly mistranslated. Auguste also was quite intoxicated by the time the negotiations began, and although Grattan had scolded him before the meeting, he failed to take charge of him and return him to the fort. Trader James Bordeau, who owned a nearby trading post, was in the encampment at the time, and later relayed the most reliable accounts of what transpired. Bordeau stated that Auguste had taunted the Sioux warriors, calling them women, and was openly boasting that the soldiers would kill them all. Evidently seeing that their situation was not good, and that negotiations were going poorly, Lt. Grattan concluded the precedings. However, before he reached his column, a shot rang out, fired by a nervous trooper. Conquering Bear had been shot in the back as he walked away, and another shot had been fired by another trooper, hitting another Indian nearby, wounding him. Angered by the shooting, the Lakota rose up and counterattacked the troopers and with the aid of warriors like Spotted Tail, the Lakota quickly killed the entire detachment. Lt. Grattan was one of the first