Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-05-28
Editorial Correspondence

Z Editorial Correspondence
STEAMER DAcorAH, MAY "a, 1879.
: The good steamer Dakota cleared from
Yankton for the headwaters of the Missouri
at daylight yesterday morning and is Wig
orously stemminR the current of the Mis-
souri, and is making excellent progress un'
der the adverse circumstance of q down the
river gale. All day yesterday a heavy wind
prevailed, which of course impeded speed,
though the boat handles easily and goes
where she is directed in quick response to
1.-THE turn of the wheel. In this respect the
EDacotah may be put down as absolutely
fauldess and under the excellent manage
ment of her officers there is no fear but that
We shall make good time and avoid being
hung up on bars and shoals. Though the
%river is low and flat, We have hal but one
spar in the water, and that only a few mo-
ments last night at the mouth of the Mo
brara.
OF the accommodations on board this
superb steamer l shall have occasion to re-
fer at various times during my long trip
to the mountains. At present it will be
sufficient to say that for comfort and luxury
they cannot be excelled, while every detail
Of management or the part of officers and
employees is performed with the minuteness
of a we'll ordered household. 1t has been
my fortune to travel on most Of the naviga.
bic streams Of the west in the years Of the
past and 1 cannot recall a single steamboat
experience where such perfection of disci-
pline prevailed as is here found on the
beautiful, fast sailing Dacotah. We brought
out from Yankton some seven hundred tons
of freight and this with a draft of only thir-
ty-six inches. The boat sets upon the water
with her heavy burden with a lightness
which shows that the designers and builders
of her hull have given 10 it the shape and
the proportions Of depth, length and breadth.
which will make her one of the most suc.
cessful low water boats in the popular Coul,
son feet.
We have left a little freight at Springfield
Niobrara aud Yankton agency, but halt
have been brief at each of those points
Crowds have aocked to the river side 10 ge
a sight OF the big Dacotah, and her passen
gers feel not a little pride in being a part .
the great attraction. We have a cabin full Q
passengers. There is a pleasure party on boar
all the way from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
They are seeing new sights in new lands
and now that we have actually cut loos
from civilization and have entered the gres
domain of the Sioux nation, their anxiet
to catch sight of what they term a "liv
Indian" surpasses all other desires. On
would almost suppose that most of thei
previous experience had been passed in tn
society of m%nltitudes of dead Indians, BIT
that the active, living, moving, breathin
variety was exceedingly scarce in the gooo
ly land of Penn.
We have passed the lower portion Of tn
Yankton reservation, but as the hand Q
civilization has displaced the ruder tepe'
and dotted the beautiful slope of their Mis-
souri, river home with well made cabil
houses, the romance has departed from thei
surroundings and a commonplace sugges
%tiveness reigns in its stead. The Indian 8
a day laborer, living in his claim shant,
with his tomahawk turned into a sulk
= cultivator, and with his blanket and breec
cloth and gaudy tail feathers reverend
laid away with the bones Of his fathers,
much o ordinary a human being to f
). the longings of a soul which pines for Il
y painted Sons of the prairie, with war who'
and all thrown in. But we hope for bett
things beyond. Meanwhile l cannot p.
this Yankton agency without asking bri
: attention to the progress of these people
the ways of civilization. Their farms
well kept; their houses neat and cemfo
n able their stock in good condition; al
le their shops in aourishing shape. Since
~, year ago, when last I saw them, impro,
III ment is marked. and this IN epite of I
e' most wretched management on the part
en- Der that it is a part of the Indian policy
send promised plows just after the pic
ing season seeds when it is too late
las place them in the ground; harrows wi
led there is no use for harrows until next s
to son reapcrs and mowers when the thil
Ter to be reaped and moved are long past
IN saving influence of such 3 process-wl
eli we remember that such is the actual hs
rec ofthe Indian department here at this ager
the wonder is that the Yankton Indi
ipg have not refrigerated from the condition
Bic. which Major Gasmann left them. But
spite of these drawbacks, Major Dough
Mr.. administration has been. fruitful of e
her results. l met Major Douglass at the age
yest and also his successor, Major Gard
They are closing up the work of trans
of ring the agency property from one to
av. other and in a short time Major Doug
inn will leave for the east and Major Care