Three Years on the Plains Part 14

Yap-ta, five. Girl, wi-tin-chil-a.

Sha-ko-pe, six. Small, chu-chil-la.

Shoko, seven. Hat, por-ta.

Sho-go-lo-ra, eight. Snow, of-hene.

Nim-chalk, nine. Pot or kettle, mushta.

Wieh-grin-ina, ten. Good, wash-ta.

Dog, sumka. Don't know, so-lo-wash-ta.

Horse, tu-gon-ka. To-morrow, umpa.

Major Van Voost, at Fort Kearney, always told the Indians who begged, "Yes, call to-morrow." So they kept calling, and finally gave him the name "Umpa."

INDIANS ATTACK LIEUT. W. DOUGHERTY--FIGHT BETWEEN FORTS FETTERMAN AND RENO.

Lieutenant D---- started down from Fort Reno in the month of March, 1868, and when within seventeen miles of Reno, he was attacked by a band of Indians while he and his escort of a sergeant, eight men, four citizens, two teamsters, and servant, were eating supper at Camp Dry Fork, on Powder River. The distance between the two posts is ninety-five miles. Springing to their feet, the soldiers fought off the Indians till they could harness the teams and start for Fort Reno. The fight was very severe, the Indians having every advantage of position, as they skulk over the bluffs and come in upon soldiers and others when least expected. By a bold dash at them, Lieutenant D---- succeeded in driving them off. They had shot an arrow into the shoulder of a dog belonging to one of the soldiers. The dog ran towards Reno, _carrying the arrow all the way_ (seventeen miles), _sticking into the poor creature's hide_, causing him immense pain. And when he came in, his appearance apprised the commanding officer of the condition Lieutenant D---- and his handful of men were in, and he at once sent a reinforcement of two companies to rescue the besieged. This was the only way they had of knowing that the party were attacked, and no wonder it was regarded as a providential circ.u.mstance.

All reached Fetterman in safety the next evening, and the dog is still a hero among the boys of Company D, 18th United States Infantry.

SPEECH OF "WHITE s.h.i.+ELD," HEAD CHIEF OF THE ARICKAREES.

FORT BERTHOLD, D. T., July 2d, 1864.

I speak for my brothers, the Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandaris. We all live in peace in the same village, as you see us.

We have a long time been the friends of the white man, and we will still be. Our grandfathers, the Black Bear of the Arickarees, and the Four Bears of the Gros Ventres, were at the treaty with our white brothers on the Platte a long time ago. They told us to be the friends of our white brothers, and not go to war with our neighbors, the Dakota Sioux, Chippewas, Crees, a.s.sinaboines, Crows, or Blackfeet.

We listened to their words as long as they were heard in council.

They have both been killed by the Dakotas; we have none left among us who heard the talk at the treaty on the Platte.

We want a new treaty with our Great Father. We want him to tell us where we must live. We own the country from Heart River to the Black Hills, from there to the Yellowstone River, and north to Moose River.

We are afraid of the Dakotas; they will kill us, our squaws and children, and steal our horses. We must stay in our village for fear of them. Our Great Father has promised us soldiers to help us keep the Dakotas out of our country. No help has come yet; we must wait. Has our Great Father forgotten his children? We want to live in our country, or have pay for it, as our Great Father is used to do with his other red children. We, the Arickarees, have been driven from our country on the other side of the Missouri River by the Dakotas. We came to our brothers, the Gros Ventres and Mandans; they received us as brothers, and we all live together in their village. We thank our brothers very much. We want our Father to bring us guns to hunt with, and we want dresses, coats, pants, s.h.i.+rts, and hats for our soldiers, and a different dress for our chiefs. We want a school for our children. Our hearts are good. We do not speak with two tongues. We like to see our white brothers come among us very much. We hear bad talk, but have no ears. When we hear good talk, we have ears.

his WHITE x s.h.i.+ELD.

mark

To our Great Father in Was.h.i.+ngton.

INDIAN TRADING.

A bargain is never concluded so long as anything more can be obtained by an Indian from a white man. This feature of Indian character is very old indeed. I remember, when a child, that when one gave his brother a ball, or anything, and took it back again, he was called "an Indian giver." Mr. Hinman gives this experience: "If an Indian (not a Christian) gives, he expects soon to ask more in return. This is the selfish habit of all heathen, and when they have power, they often accompany their demands for gifts with threats of killing one's horse, etc., if their demands are not complied with. They seem to know nothing of disinterestedness, except among persons nearly related. An Indian will press you with his pipe one day, and the next, with a polite speech about not intending to ask pay for his pipe, which he treasured highly, intimates that he needs a blanket!

"One will offer to a.s.sist you to work for a day, and the next ask to borrow two dollars. They try to get you so indebted to them for favors, that you cannot decently refuse their requests. In all their speeches they try to prove to you that you are indebted to them." So one will ask as few favors of them as possible. He says, "I was surprised at the Yankton agency, to have some young men offer, without any pay, to cut all the timber and do all the work on a building for the council-room for the Mission. The change came sooner under their limited instruction than I had expected, and almost immediately the chief, 'Swan,' offered to cut logs and build a house for a chapel-school at his camp, opposite Fort Randall. The chief, Mad Bull, offered the same for the other end of the reservation, near Choctaw Creek.

"Among those heathens that have borne Christian fruits with the Santees, is 'Little Pheasant,' chief of the wild Brule Sioux, who came down to restore to the Yankton reservation some stolen horses, and promised Paul Mazakuta to take a list of his men desiring instruction.

G.o.d is moving the hearts of these wild Indians in a wondrous way.

"At our Sunday evening service, over a hundred Yankton warriors and chiefs were present. I preached from the parable of the prodigal son.

At the end of this pa.s.sage, 'Though the elder brother be still jealous of the kindness and mercy shown to you, and thinks your people only fit to go down to the grave with the beasts that perish, yet G.o.d is good and just; and though long lost and wandering so many years, now found at last, He will lead you safely to his home.' Dulorio, a chief, said, 'Oh, my friends, this is where we all ought to cry Ko (yes) with a loud voice!' But the chief, 'Swan,' replied, 'True, true, Koda (friend); but men must not applaud in church. The words they give us ought to be laid up in our hearts.'

"To-day, twenty-two plows are started in the fields, and two in the prairies, to break an additional hundred acres for wheat. A little opposition is shown to dividing the land, but only a few Indians oppose. It is a great step, and one that many are prepared for; but it must be executed by a wise and good man. It is _the death-blow_ to heathenism, barbarism, and idleness, and therefore a medicine absolutely necessary to restore health and quicken life; but yet it must be administered by a brave and judicious physician. It is a revolution of habit and of manner of life to the Indian. And in Minnesota, the delay in perfecting it, and the lack of moral support given to those who took farms, caused, as much as anything, the outbreak of 1862, which was, in the beginning, a triumph of the hostile party over the working bands. Philip the deacon, Thomas Whipple, and Alexander Umbeclear, Indian catechists, and two Yankton head soldiers, who volunteered, are on their mission to the wild Sioux. As far as I know, there is a very general desire for schools; and G.o.d is surely opening the way for the building up of his kingdom."

RED CLOUD, SPOTTED TAIL, AND THEIR FRIENDS IN WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

History will point to the visit of these great chiefs of the Sioux tribes at Was.h.i.+ngton as the most important event in their lives, because it not only staved off a great war threatened on the plains, but most likely inaugurated a system of just and fair dealing for the time to come, that may prevent any more cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y wars with the Indians on our frontiers. Hence every incident that took place there is interesting; and as it is a costly expense to the government, it is likely to be discouraged in the future, and if boys have another chance to see some "big chiefs," they will have to go a great way, perhaps to Nebraska or Dakota, to have a good look at them.

The party belonging to Zin-tak-gah-lat-skah--Spotted Tail--left Minnesota before Red Cloud's from the Powder River country, and arrived first in Was.h.i.+ngton; but their interests were the same, so nothing was done until General Smith arrived with Red Cloud and reported to the Secretary of War. He then turned them over, as we say, to the Indian Bureau, which has a suite of offices, etc. in the Patent Office building in Was.h.i.+ngton. The Secretary of the Interior, who is a member of the cabinet, and General Parker (Chippewa chief), Indian Commissioner, received them as their charge during their stay in Was.h.i.+ngton. Before Red Cloud came, however, Spotted Tail had an interview with General Parker. He said:

"The government does not fulfill its treaty promises, and that supplies of goods promised and money owed for lands were not sent to them at the times agreed on, and that the white man, wherever he can find many buffaloes and gold, comes on the Indian's land and takes the Indian's ponies."

Colonel Parker told him of the many difficulties the Indian Bureau had to contend with in order to get moneys through Congress, and the great difficulties such a great government as ours had to go through in conducting all its affairs. But he gave his word to Spotted Tail that all the promises now made in the treaties would be fulfilled, and that they should get the provisions as soon as possible. He said that the Indians must not go to war among themselves, preying on other tribes, nor must they fight any more against the people of the United States, nor steal their cattle or horses.

Spotted Tail said, "He was glad that the Great Father was going to treat them right," but did not commit himself to any policy for the future. He was too good an Indian to make any professions in advance.

Spotted Tail has of late years committed no offense except killing Big Mouth in a drunken brawl last winter.

The citizens of Was.h.i.+ngton have now and then seen Indian delegations at the Capitol. But these l.u.s.ty fellows, such as Red Cloud, Swift Bear, and others, at once attracted attention.

Their large size and well-developed muscle, tall and graceful in action, especially when speaking in their native eloquence, mark them as objects of surprise and wonder. Their faces were painted in red, yellow, and black stripes. Their ears were pierced, men and women, for large ornaments of silver and bear's teeth. They wore magnificent buffalo robes, ornamented and worked with beads, horse-hair, and porcupine quills. Red Cloud wore red leggins beautifully worked and trimmed with ribbons and beads, and his s.h.i.+rt had as many colors as the rainbow. His robe--made to tell by characters his achievements in battle--was quite rich, and worked with seal-skins. His moccasins p.r.o.nounced the handsomest ever seen there.

The squaws were ugly, wore short frocks, turned in their toes walking, and had flat or pug-noses.

It was said as a reason for Red Cloud's not bringing his squaws with him, "that Congressmen left their squaws at home!"

Red Cloud said that the pale-faces are more than the gra.s.s in numbers.

He had come to see the Great Father, and to see if the peace-pipe could not be smoked on the big waters of the Potomac.

The appearance on the balcony of the hotel of the whole party, watching the crowds of pale-faces going to and from the Capitol, created much curiosity, and the Indians remarked to one another that the horse-thieves in the Indian country had a good many brothers in Was.h.i.+ngton! The negroes were especially attentive, and spoke of them as quite inferior to the colored community. They were a.s.sured that Indians never scalp negroes; which is really true, I found, in my interviews with different tribes on the plains. The reason I can only guess at: the curly hair of a negro would not ornament the saddle-bow of an Indian, in the shape of a scalp token of victory.

_Meeting at the Bureau._

Long before the Indians came, the pa.s.sages of the department were filled with a crowd of anxious persons, to inspect the red men as they pa.s.sed along, and this, besides being unpleasant to them, interfered with their pa.s.sage into the council-chamber. But soon they all got in, Spotted Tail looking very dignified, with his three companions on one side of the room, while seated in two rows across were Red Cloud and his larger number of chiefs and head-men, and the squaws that came with them.

General John E. Smith, who came with Red Cloud, Colonel Beauvais, of St. Louis, Colonel Bullock, post-trader at Fort Laramie, and others, were present.

After the Indians had got comfortably seated and had pa.s.sed the pipe around among them a few times, Commissioner Parker, with Secretary c.o.x, entered the council-room, and were introduced to each Indian of Red Cloud's band, having previously seen Spotted Tail and party. As Indians never speak first, but will sit for hours, Commissioner Parker opened the meeting, saying: