A fire blazing on the skyline behind them suggests that these Sioux warriors have been successful in a raid that has cost someone dearly. Making their escape in the bright moonlight with a band of stolen horses, they will be many miles away by the time any effective pursuit can be mounted at daylight.
Once horses were introduced into America, the Indians really took to them. The Sioux, Navajo and Apaches, especially, played something of a raiding game with each other and the ranchers. These started blood debts and animosities that continued generation after generation. By the time they learned they had a greater enemy than one another, it was too late.
