The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1876-08-04

VI
Last night a curious relic Of the
Black Hills fever turned up in this city.
Hi name was Sebastian Beck Prussian
who talks broken English with the fun
NEST imaginable German accent. He
tells q wonderful story of his advent
urej among the Indians of Dakota, and
improbable as it may seem, it is quite
probable that it may be true. Briefly
his story is as follows: He left Phila-
delphia in Col. Carpenters company,
being one of rs heads Of families. Be-
sides the men there were rs women
and children, and they went into the
Hills by way of Cheyenne over the
Union Pacific railroad. They left Chey-
enne in q driving snow-storm, and for
the first three days they only made 80
miles. After travelling about 100 miles
in the direction of the Hills, and when
about Is miles from Deadwood City, the
party wa surrounded by a band Of
Sioux, Chey enne, and Arapahoe In
dams and captured. The men were
taken charge Of by the Sioux, who were
commanded by Red Cloud, the women
and children being taken possession of
by the other two tribes, and from that
moment the men never saw or heard OF
their families. Beck had a wife and
two children, but what became of them
he does not know. The men were blind
folded, mounted on ponies, and driven
of with the Sioux, .as the prisoners
thought, to a death Of horrible torture.
When the bandages were removed from
their eyes they discovered that they
were in a large cave, and here they were
kept for weeks and fed upon jerked buff
falo meat. Finally the chief one day,
called them out and babe them choose
between living in the a the balance
Of their lives and being fed on jerked
buffalo, or joining the tribe, marrying
one, two, or three squaws each, as they
might elect,and living like their Indian
captors upon the fat of the land. The
men consulted, and the result was that
they signifiedtheir willingness to join the
tribe. The chief then told them to
select, each, as many squaws as was de-
sired, which the men did, some taking
one and others two. They were then
each given a lodge pole, with a skull
upon it, and the marriage ceremonies
were completed by a dance around the
poles of their new houses. They were
warned to guard their poles with their
lives, as they would be held responsible
for the poles with their lives. They
were compelled to swear that they would
fight for Red Cloud, and they humored
their red masters 70 well that after a
week or two they were permitted to go
out upon the hunt with others of the
warriors. Sebastin and two others,
Fred Shaw, of Philadelphia, and Joseph
Beck, another Prussian, IN every sue
cessive hunt tried to draw nearer Fort
Laramie, and on the Dist of June, in
company with their three squaws, they
made a dash for liberty, and were sue
cessful in arriving at Fort Laramie in
safety. When they arrived Gen. Custer
was in command Of the fort, and the
adventures were received with the
greatest hospitality, They remained
around the fort a short time, and about
three weeks ago left Cheyenne destitute
and have since been making their way
home. They left their squaws after
them in the west. They arrived in this
city on Monday night, and it is their in
tention to work along to Philadelphia.