coming struggle, for, smarting under the loss of their bravest men, and having noticed the comparatively small numbers of the Ojibways, they determined to go back and fight the battle anew, and revenge the death of their relatives.
They bravely made the attack, but the Ojibways were so strongly and securely posted, that they sustained the fight till dark without losing any of their men, while the Dakotas suffered severely, being obliged to fight from open ground, without shelter. The fight lasted till night, when the Dakotas retreated. They encamped where they had landed, and in plain view and hearing of their enemies, who, during the night distinctly heard their lamentations, as they wept for their relatives who had been slain during the day's fight.
In the morning, the Dakotas, burning for vengeance, returned to the attack. Acting with greater caution and wariness, they approached the Ojibway defences by digging counter holes, or making embankments of earth or logs before them, to shield them from their missiles. The ammunition of the contending warriors failing them, the Dakotas dug their hiding holes so close to those of their foes, that large stones were easily thrown from hole to hole. In this manner, a late noted Ojibway chief named We-esh-coob (Sweet), who was then a young man, received a stunning blow on his face, which broke his jawbone. Some of the bravest warriors fought hand to hand with clubs and knives, and the Ojibways lost one of their number, who, fighting rather rashly, was dispatched by a Dakota brave, and scalped.
The Ojibways, however, defended themselves so obstinately, that they eventually forced their enemies to retreat. Having suffered a severe loss, the Dakota warriors returned to their villages, and for fear that the Ojibways would retaliate, by making a similar incursion into their country,
