Our Friend Sitting Bull: The True Story of A
Pioneer Couple’s Friendship With The Famous
Lakota Chief
It was a steamy, late-summer day when newlyweds Lizzie and George Dell pulled up
their two covered wagons at the site where they would live as cattle ranchers for the
next twelve years. Lizzie was twenty years old. She was exhausted, hungry, thirsty,
sweaty, AND six months pregnant. Her skin was tanned like leather and her hands were
calloused from driving George’s team of horses four months while he drove the oxen-
pulled wagon. Surrounding her were the cowboys, cattle, and horses that accompanied
the couple on their long journey.
It would not be long before Lizzie discovered that there were no neighbors for miles in
this beautiful but remote part of the Dakota Territory. She wondered if the years ahead
would bring a lonely, isolated existence. They might have—but one summer day Chief
Sitting Bull rode up on his horse. He must have liked the dinner and company that day
because he came back often and brought a lot of family and friends with him.