The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-09-21

State, Old Betz made her appearance
(somewhat uglier than usual from tot
and care and hardship with fifty poo
wretches behind her, every one o.
whom had been believed 10 have fur
nished "a ornament TO some Sioux war
rior's sc;llp-pole. ~
But the history of the world show:
us 100 plainly that applause is not Al
WAYS followed by due reward. No
that we are ungrateful; we merely for.
get.uNlinor incidents, like stars, pass
out of sight in the sunlight Of the great
excitements and events OF the day and
the injury of the mass makes a more
abiding impression than the kindness
of the individual Well, not to moral
ize, Il somehow came to pass that when
the hostile Sioux, cowed and captured,
were exported pretty nearly to the base
of the Rocky Mountains, Old Betz, in
requital for her unexampled services
was sent with them. Do you realize
what this means? 1t means that she,
who had done us nothing but kindness,
and that at her own extreme hardship
and peril, was torn by military order
from the only spot and the only people
that she loved on earth, and committed
to the tender mercy of those who re-
garded her as renegade that had
robbed them of their lawful prey. Still,
it does not seem that any violence was
offered her. Possibly the war chiefs
were beginning to realize their folly in
not following her advice; possibly they
were too thoroughly whipped, for the
time being, to dare any revenge. Or,
yet again, they may have been moved
to forbearance by savage admiration
for such courage and opstancy, when
displayed by squaw AT any rate,
they did not stab her, nor brain her,
nor scalp her, as might reasonably have
been expected. \
But, nevertheless, she was i'll at ease
and downhearted. The new land TO
which she had been moved owned moth
ing in which she had an interest. All
about her she beheld sullen looks that
repealed, if they did not threaten. Her
condition was that of the merest saw
agery, without the hope of learning Gas
she was fond of doing) any thing bet
ter. And, besides all this, there was
the ranking thought that she had been
punished by those whom she had served ;
that if she had slaughtered and tor
tured like the brutes about her she would
have Jared no worse.
But, in spite ofthis natural sense of
bitter injustice, there was simple,
grand fidelity in the old woman's heart,
which would not let her put the worst
construction upon the conduct of her
friends. She felt in some vague way
that the times were those of bewilder-
ment and excitement, and that it was
not astonishing that the fate of one
poor old squaw should attract no notice
even from those whom She had saved,
when so many greater interests had
and were crumbling, all
At any rate, with the whites
were all she valued on earth, her only
hope of communion with the few per-
sons who had given ker some rudi-
ments of civilization; her only prospect
of comfortable existence for the present,
or of improvement for the future. And,
more than all, her real love for the race
which she had served drew her back
ward from the mountain and prairie to
the Mississippi which she knew and
loved so well. Day by day the attrac-
ton grew upon her, until she could re-
sist it no longer. So at last this lone
woman of 20 stepped forth without
single companion on the plains of the
far Northwest. Feeble and powerless
of defense, she yet dared to attempt on
foot the crossing of a waste that might
well embosOm an empire-a waste filled
with wild beasts and hostile Indians,
where she could hope for neither the
aid of friendly hand, nor the sight of
a friendly voice from the beginning to
the end. Well, she made that journey.
None but she can certainly say what
were the scenes and experiences crowd
ed into these lonely days. But we may
picture to ourselves the hungry tramp
at midday under the glaring sun, with
old limbs lettering, and faint, n very
faint hope, fleeing mockingly on be-
fore. Or the crouching at nightfall by
some grotesque clump of cactus, with
the prairie wolves dismally lying all
round, and the hiss of the rattlesnake
any sudden stir. Or, again,
we may see her stretched at full length
for hours in the long prairie grass, half
dead with thirst, but not daring to rise
lest she should be seen by the Crows or
who were lowering near. In
truth, it is a story which needs little
establishment of rhetoric. The SIM
pie, inevitable details of such a journey
are enough. And that journey was
made.
Yes, a second time that quaint old
Betz, nerved to encounter every risk by
her strong love for the whites, had ac-
complished the seemingly impossible.
And this time her heroism was neither
nor celebrated only for
q day More substantial tributaries did
not lack. A movement was set on foot
which resulted in providing her with a
comfortable support near the capital
of the Land of the Sky-tinted Wa
ters," the land where she had been
born, and where, if now living, she must
shortly be laid away for that long sleep
which comes to us all. &a 8as q
But three or four years ago (perhaps
it is the same now the traveller riding
the picturesque round of st. Paul, Min
neapois, Minnehaha and the Bridal
Vail would catch sight across the river
a little below old Fort Smelling of n
cluster of humble dwellings surround
ing a picturesque, dun-colored brick
church, surmounted by a cleaning
cross. You could tell at glance that
it was one of the many Franco-Indian
villages, which have come down to US in
all their unchanging quaintness from
the old days of the voyagers, the ro-
mantle period par excellence of Mime
sota's history. But to me, and | trust
to all the readers of this sketch, it will
ever have an additional charm as the
final chosen home of that grand uncouth
heroine of the Northwest-0l Betz.-
Neo0 York Mercury.
The Tramp, Scientifically Considered.