The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-05-25
An IndiaA Scandal.

An Indian scaudal.
The troubles at the Winneba,o Indie,
aGency' alluded to in dispatch to the
.1tn'es of the 14th inst, are assuming a
rather serious phase, as learned from The
rgent OF the reservation, Taylor Bradley.
who was in the city last night, and eaye
your reporter statement of the s;tu..
ton. Under instructions from Sunor;r.
dent Barclay White, of Omaha. who h.s
general supervision of the seven soeno;as
controlled by the Society of Friends q
keformatory school was established a.
the Winncbago agency in October last
The aim has been to gather into The
school the young of both sexes. rano;no
in age from 10 to IL years, and by isola.
ting them from the heathenish homes of
the parents, make an earnest effort tn c;v-
iilze them by hot only giving them
me rudlments of an education.
oos as well by instruct
ing the girls in housekeeping, sewing,
cooking, etc., and the boys in agriculture
and general knowledge of business. In
making up the school great care was
taken IN selecting the better class Of
children, and here she difficulty, not be-
fore realized to its full extent, confronted
the agent. Upon inquiring into the re-
cord of the girls, it was ascertained that
there was hardly one of ID years Of age
and over but was common nrosf;.
tute, and that too with the knowledoe
and approval of the parents. Making
the best selections possible 26 bows and
20 girls were gathered into the school.
and every endeavor was made to human.
l =: their degraded natures. Coming there
olrty' ragged, lousy, and diseased, thew
were cleaned, clothed, and carefully
cared tor, and the treatment they re.
ce'ved was such that, hardly without ex.
cePtslon, they profess desire to remain.
only one difficulty stared the managers
OF the school in the face, and that was a
iaxity OF morals on the part of the older
girls. The sexes were carefully isolated
and all communication between their "a
spectlve apartments barred in a manner
which seemed to defy access from one
apartment to the other on the part of pu-
pills. But all the cunning of their race
vas brought to bear to circumyent the
the teachers; locks were picked
lattices broken down, and ncay,v
every night there would be =
mingling of the sexes in the sleeping
rooms, which was in the highest degree
repulsive to decency. The teachers could
not help knowing what was going on, and
Though they made every exertion to check
the evil, they were thwarted on every
hand. Finally, one night, when matters
were being carried on with a high hand.
and after he had dragged two Young In
dams from beneath the bed occupied by
two girls, Mr.. Clark, the superintendent
OF the school, did make an examination of
the person of the girls.
AS has been before charged, this action
IS net approved by Mr.. Bradley. who
knew nothing of it until next day. He
does not believe that Mr.. Clark was &C.
tuated by any improper motives in doing
what he did, but that his hasty and iii.
ADVISED action was the work of moment
when he was laboring under strong ex-
element. induced by the scandalous stu
alton which confronted him. Mr.. Clark
is man Of middle age, married, and is a
brother'in-law of Mr.. Bradley, and has
always enjoyed a reputation above
reproach. While his course in this par
ticular instance cannot be approved of
IN the least, still there is reason to be-
lieve that he meant no harm. Mr.. Brad
Icy says that the degradation which ex-
lists among the Winnebagos is heart sick
ening, and that female virtue is some.
thing almost wholly unknown. He
thinks the treatment Of the girls by Mr..
Clark is simply made a pretext of by dis
affected Indians to cause trouble, as they
have no such ideas Of decency as would
lead them to naturally revolt at the ex-
animation they were subjected to.
One cause of trouble at the agency is
the enforcement of recent order which
cuts off the annuity Of such Indians as
will not wor k, and this class, indignant at
being deprived of their accustomed gra-
tuities, is full of wrath and ready to seize
the first opportunity to create disturb
ance. Fer himself, Mr.. Bradley says, he
courts the fullest investigation, and pro-
poses to keep Mr.. Clark III his place. and
keep the girls where they are in the
school, until proper authority decides
what action shall be taken in the prem
lses. In the meantime the Indians have
been working themselves into state of
great excitement, and named yesterday
as the day when they would make an at
tack upon the school and take the girls
out by force, if they should not be peace
ably given up.
Mr.. Bradlcy's visit to the city Sunday
night was for the purpose of telegraphine
for small force of military to be sent to
the agency to preserve order. He re-
turned home early this morning with the
understanding that portion Of the cav
airy company now in camp at Yankton
would be sent to his assistance. The
whites at the agency are few in numbers,