Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1869-07-08
Among the Indians.
EXPERIENCE OF AN AGENTS WIFE.

The following is extracted from private let
ter of Mrs. DIR. Painter wife of the indian Agent
for the Omahas.
am happy to be able to give favorable ac
count Of our new home, and should never tire Of
pralsing this glorious country. Indeed, this |.
the " Cottage Home" have so long pictured ID
my mind, as my ideal. l little thought to find il
In this far Western country. Mrs. r., the Agents
mother, extended to US on our arrival, the kind
est, warinest hospitality. She is a warm.hearted
Southern lady, about so; very lively and agreca
Die. She did the honors to perfection. Oul
dwelling Is roomy, comfortable frame house
Two stories high, painted white; porch front and
back side hall, large parlor On one side, sit
ting and dining room, with nice pautry ant
kitchen back. which makes quite large build
ing, with three good rooms on the second floor
also, good cellar, ice house, poultry house, meal
house, &c. The Council House, ind Office, is /.
low one-story red building in one corner of til,
yard with benches, stools, Nc, inside. The yard
In front Is terraced, an1 some very fine shade
trees surround the home, which, together with
the beautiful flowers which are abundant, make
it n fairy bower. 1t is surrounded by neal
paling and fancy gate.
The Indians arc willing and anxious To work
for us, but they are cunning enough to demand
exorbltant wages, at least higher than | have
ever paid before. A squaw asks 81 day for
washing, and yesterday an Indian charged the
Doctor 81 for hoeing little while in the garden.
They are all very civil to us. They allow us the
use of two cows for their keep during the win
| ter. They seem much pleased with their new
Major. The Superintendent holds the title of
Colonel. The Agent is commander-in-chief OF
the agency. This tribe is under good discipline
They have police force Of Indians, of their own
organization, and whenever an offence is COM
mitted, the offender Is tried sentence passed aud
the guilty one is punished. They mostly confess
their crimes, and submit bravely to their fate
without a complaint.
On high bluff, in sight of our house,
stands an hcxagona frame house, with flag staff
on top, which is called the block house. 1t
contains government ammunition. On 4th
day last Mrs. Thornhill accompanied the Doctor
and myself to the Winnebagu agency, To attend
II grand council held with the Indians We went
to the home Of the agent, partuuk of a good diu-
| ner, and met with several officials, who were
very kind gentlemen, Samuel Jones, Dr. Wilkn-
son, Col. Denman, cx.supt and others. The
were dressed showy in different colorcd blank
| cts, many of them red, the prevailing color.
| Some were in citizens dress however. s. NJ.
| Janney addressed them, and told them our object
| III comllg among them. They appeared pleased
to see their father, and'grandIatlcr, as they call
the new Major, aud Superintendent. Each chief,
| in turn made known his wants, through The in
terprcter, nn Intelligent half breed, the two
Tribes, WlnncbaSoes and Omahas. are consider
10 be the most civil and intelligent of any, aud
| these two agencies are the most desirable. My
| husband did not select this. or any, but il was
offered to him, (thc Omaha aud he will, know.
as he ever does, s,consccntlou,ly perfo his duty.
| If s. NJ. Janney gets the Winnebago agency for
his brother Asa, 1t will be very pleasant for Us 10
have him ms neighbor. 1t is only miles Oft.
| excellent level road all the way, with not stone
| to bc seen, and magnificent couptry OF rolling
| prairie. 1t would take volume to tell you all
the advantages Of this beautiful country, my dear
| friends, and only the artistic skill of u photo
graphist could do justice To the scenery. Some
| of the Indian chiefs are fine specimens of hu-
manity. They have singular names-Standing
Hawk, Two Crows, Yellow Snake, Fire King,
Lion, Ga-ha-ha. are specimens. Col Denman,
Co. )Jnnncy, and DR.. Wilkinson came back home
with us, and held council with the Onilhas
next day. The iorm and ceremony was similar
to the other one, but the attendance was small,
many Of them having gone in pursuit of several
ponies, which had been stolen from them, by an
| other Tribe; they requested passports, before
leaving, IN case they might get into trouble
They Will go out on their summer hunt the last
OF tbis month, and will be absent several months
They take thcii families, provisions and so on
We shall have quiet time suppose, when they
are gone. We often see them riding or walking
across the fields. Some of the employees say
they have resided among them many years and
have had no trouble. Indeed, To my surprise,
can lie down at night feeling us safe ils l ever did
in my life. We thought we were going into dai-
ger when we left Maryland. How different from
our expectation: the inhabitants are not as par
Inn f.,f f,af. fl..tn
been accustomed to do. II our friends could sec
things as they are here they would change their
opinion of the fancied hardships of uu Indian
Agency Emile will bc delighted, when she
comes, to ride over the bluffs and valleys on an
Indian Iony. She wont want to return to old
Maryland. She could ride twenty miles and not
be tired. Captain Porter and wife were here last
night. They have just left for Decatur. We have
had plenty OF visitvrs since our arrival here we
got well acquainted in this Western country, d-
rectly, and feel Mt home amongst the people. We
went over 10 the Mission House and called to see
the Engineers wife to inquire about young
girl as servant. We have 10 cntt rtan company
frequently, which is very pleasant. The public
road from Decatur TO Winnebago passrs in front
of our house, and the stage runs twice n day, so
that our facilities for getting supplies are better
than we anticipated Our trader, Mr.. Chlse has
squaw for a wife, and lives more like his wifc's
tribe than his own. He is n very important per
sonagc at the reservation, being u good interprc-
ter, SO conversant with the habits and character
of the Indians ms he Is. He also attends to the
post Office. The Major is postmaster at the
Omaha Agency there is no danger of his mcdi-
cal faculties rusng for want OF usr the ludians
are constantly coming into the Office for medical
advice and for medicine. They are subject to
scroiula and various other diseases. They made
proposition yesterday at the Council that they
should have three day schools instead of the
mission boarding school now in operation They
have iund of S250OO out ut which they can
pay for the erection Of school houses aad employ
teachers
On the Winnebago reserve there is comforta-
ble house, called h tel, where travellers and
those visiting the agency aie entertained. On
our reservation the farmer is expected 10 Keep
The stopping place. This country is subject to
high wiuds-n summer bnlmy, in winter bleak.
Riding over the bluls this morning. it was with
difficulty | could keep my wrappings on.
The Indians have forty yoke oxen aud as many
light wagons for their own use. They have 800
acres Of corn IN, but no wheat. They raise
Spring wheat which makes good bread. Corn
can be raised twelve years In succession, without
any visible change. The Dr. intends 10 have n
great part OF the reservation iu wheat, next year.
and Il cks OF cattle and sheep grazing on these
beautiful hills. The Indians are lords of the land
and they are very aDXlous TO hold their own
lands, and not have the whites to sette among
them, and after few years to oust them out.
Their new Fathers have assured them they shal!
not be dlsposscssed, but they sahll retain their
land. We have cause of thankfuness to mer-
ciul Providence who has been with us on our
journey, and brought us safely to the end OF it,
Did tell you we have an excellent garden with
plcrty of vegetables as we had ut home? Wild
fruit grows here in great abundance. can pur-
chase all need from the sqnaws. The flowers
grow larger than ours ut home. | have no need
to regret our flowers in Hartford which my hus-
band took such delight in. We have the vel
low wood bine honey suekle which is rare with
us at home. And here VIC have the Cotton wood
tree 1t Is similar TO the Lombard poplar, but Is
smaller in size. Its leaves are of hight downy
substance like the thistle Remember lis alice
tionately to our friends, tSc.
"A man in Georgia is so fond of riding
ho' sc back that he shouldered saddle and
walked sixteen miles after horse for the
pleasure OF riding him back.
MIR. Seth Green is engaged in restocking
the Hudson with fish. In the eighty boxes
there are daily hatched iromlO0, 900 to 2O0,-
600 fish, His present operations are carried
on just below Casteton.
The London Times lately had to pub
lish an erratum to a notice of n religious
ceremony, saying that the word ''malclac-
tors" should have been ''male actors"
One Of those singular optical phenome-
ma known as mirages was lately seen at