Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-10-19
SITTING MIL
ilis Flight aud Ia Country Witch Tie
Has Chosen for y Houar.

slulongitudc 1907 west from Greenwich
latitude l9o north, ID the Turtle mountain
Seven de5 rees further wet on the same par
allel 10 the wood mountain" the presen
home and encampment Of Sitting Bull, fIgi
tive from justice, &c, &c. The surveyor
have it that, according to rule, the shortes
distance between two points is the straight
line which joins them. Now that straigh
line 10 that described a. the boundary com
mission trail, or, in other words. the inter
national line, or the forty-ninth parallel
The "Convention Of London" established
this line in 1871, and it commences at The
northwest angle Of the Lake Of the Wood.
in about longitude 95o 3ON east Of Green
which. and ends with the shores of The
Pacific.
Refugees and fugitives from Justice from
either side generally halt in the vicinity o
the line. Amile north or south Of it an
swers..cverv purpose Of the fugitive, 30 tina,
the 'line" eventually becomes settled by Z
class which has little regard for anything
but their own purposes.
The chief Of the "Tetons'' prcfted by the
circumstances which shield the ordinary
refugee. When lie lied last spring before
the avenging forces Of General Miles Sit
ting Bull, with his remnant of warriors and
his non-combatants, went ~norshwsrdly, in
the direction of Fort Peck, crossed the Mis-
souri, at q point where the Milk river enters
that stream, and, continuing his haStv tramp
further northward, entered Canadian terri
tory at a point where the Poplar river in,es-
sects the boundary line, in abols longitude
1862 west from Greenwich.
Details Of that flight ~ they are furnished
by halfbreed eyewitness DO not seem to
confirm the opinion that Sitting Bull and
his forces made their escape across the line
flushed with victory and bearing great spoils
or much plumber.
Old and reliable worth half breeds and
whites give clrcumstantial accounts Of the
scenes which they witnessed at the time
when the irrepresslble Indian outlaw,
pursued by Miles command, crossed the
treacherous ice Of the Missouri in the
month Of April and sought refuge under
the British flag. Witnesses to that flight
do not describe a band Of savages flushed
with victory, retiring lin order" before q
superior force, but their accounts confirm
the statements that a few hundred savages,
composed of men, women and children,
without order, even IN the Indian sense,
a hclter SHELTER fashion, without any other
purpose than to reach the country of the
Long Knives" (the Engiish), scampered
through daylight and darkness, through
swamp and over mountain, across ravine
and river to escape the swift footed though
unsuccessful forces of Uncle sam. What.
ever may have been General Miles want
of skilled success in that campaign 1t Is
beyond doubt that the flight of Sitting
Bull and his savage force was a hasty
retreat-a wild %disorderly race from United
States territory to soil which has not only
protected him, but which invited him.
1t is curious, but nevertheless a true
circumstance. that even after the Cluster
massacre" emissaries from the Canadian
mounted police at Fort Mcleod assured
Sitting Bull that, notwithstanding his
peculiar" relations with United States
government on the event of his wanting
an asylum 10 the Dominion he would easily
find one if he wished it. These assurances,
whether authorized or not, exercised con.
siderable Influence ovef the irrepressible
chief. He was taught to believe, and did
believe that no matter what happened him
in United States territory he could always
find q home and a asylum 10 the Dominion.
No matter who fell under his savage
feroclty, no matter how many squads Of
Yankee soldiers were scalped and
.mutilated by this Indian Bluebeard, when
he wanted q safe retreat from the avenging
minister he would find 1t in
Canadian territory. and the mounted police,
under the amiable Major Walsh, would
even receive him with a guard of honor !
That was only held out as an inducement
to 20 ahead, but it was afterward faithfully
carried out by those who now find the same
ferocious savage to be a white elephant on
their hands.
Perhaps the relative position Of the pres
ent encampment of Sitting Bull with GER
tain familiar points east and south ought to
be indicated here. Taking Pembina, D. T.,
as an eastern point, the shortest and quick
est route, and the most direct one to Sitting
Bulls camp is the traders trail, which be-
gins at Pembina and terminates in the heart
ofthe buffalo country at Wood mountain,
the present encampment of the remnants Of
what was once a formidable savage host.
This trail does not coinside with the boun-
Diary commission trail or the boundary line.
but practically it is nearly indentical with
it. For years it has been the route of the
half-breed traders Of St. Joe and the central
road to the plains, the great buffalo region
Of the Gros Ventres, Piegans, B!oods, Black.
lCCt dtlu 4AObCl SAON AuNshue) " soy VSnA
Of the Crees and Sioux, with their numerous
bands and tribes. 1t penetrates the very
heart of the buffalo Indian country, and il
the very highway to the paradise of the
hunter 80 often described. And it is in
every sebse a trail. Leaving Pembina il
winds across the Pembina mountain, inter
sects numerous small rivers and creeks
passes the northern end of Turtle mountain
in longitude 100 dez. SO min, thence in its
westward course crosses the Mouse river
thence for a long distance it bounds the
Plateau de Coteau du Missouri; then again
it crosses another bend of the Mouse river;
and finally it terminates at the settlement in
Wood mountain. Canadian territory, in
about latitude 40 deg. 80 min. longitude LOG
deg. 90 min. west from Greenwich. That is
about the latitude and longitude Of Sitting
Bull'spresent encamnment. BY thetrsil from
Pembina to Wood mountain, where the
outlaw is e%ncamped, the experienced half.
breed will accomplish the distance in an
ordinary Red river cart in sixteen days.
As a scout the half.breed has been known
to accomplish it in less than ten days.