West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-01-04
Remarkable Adventures Of an Iowa
Woman and Her Son.

Woman and Her Son.
lomeha Dispatch u New Nvrk ucralJ.I
Deep interest is taken here to-day i,
the narrative of Mrs Charles Jones. ~
Washington County, Iowa, who arrived
with her son last night. and whose stor,
OF suffering on the plains. with astc cniSh
ing revelations regarding certain In
/ dianS ot the NHnktou Agency, has lew
. parallels in frontier history Mrs. Jones
and her son, II is believed, are the sole
. survivors of = party of twelve cmigraut-
/ who left Washington Counts last Feb.
ruary Tor the Yellowstone Valley They
reached Fort kearuey about March [.
1910, and when few days out from
there, in the river bottom, they were
surrounded by a party of seventy In.
dians William Brown, Joshua Brown
ana Joseph Hyatt, a brother sof Mrs.
Jones, constituting the men of the party.
were instantly shot dead. An the others
Were taken into captivity All but Mrs.
Jones and her son disappeared, and "a
she believes were massacrcd.
She was made slave TO the Chief
named ankton, cooking, picking her
RES and performing other menial offices.
she was never allowed To meet or talk
with her son. Her clothes were taken
from her and She was allowed only
blanket and mOCcasins. The camp was
moved often, always northward. The
warriors several times left the party and
returned with clothing and plundcr.
evidently taken from murdered whitcr.
The interpreter who was with the party.
named Chimes, stated that he was can
tured from "a party of cmigrants when
he was only seven years old, and he is
now forty, He adopted their life, be.
came Catholic and was educated at a
Jesuit College. He told Mrs. Jones
that the party were chiefly Yanktons,
from the Yankton Agency, but there were
few from Red Cloud aud Spotted Tail
Agencies. They were outalways during
summer and returned 10 the agencies i'm
the winter.
Their slaves are kept outside the
agencies in concealment. Other white
slaves in the party told her, through the
interpreter, that their friends had been
murdered, and as they had no homes
they did not desire To escape. Young
Jones, who is aged fifteen, became n
iavorite, aud was kindly treated. AT the
expiration of two months they reached
the neighborhood OF a small village i'm
Northern Nebraska, where the Indians
procured liquor, and they all became
drunk. Mrs. Jones escaped, having on
only ragged blanket and one moccasin.
She travelled south, being guided in her
course by the stars, and subsisting for
many days on raw artichokes. After
hive or six days she met occasional emf
grant wagons moving northward, and
Mrs. Jones was given dress She beg.
ged her way through the State, reach
ing her old home i'm Iowa the last day
Of June
Here she procured a small sum of
money. She became alarmed nj the un-
certainty OF her sons fate and returned
TO Central Nebraska; where she travelled
from place TO place, watching for emf
grants from the north and living with
farmers. At the expiration of many
weeks, sick and disheartencd, she again
started eastward. One day last October.
while walking through Kearney, she
met an emaciated lad, whom she recog-
nlzcd AZ her son, who had Just come i'm
from long and terrible Journey
Sheltered by James Carmichael. a
farmer, she watched at her SON bedside
during long Illness. When the boy
had partially recovered they both
started east on foot, stopping with
farmers and makingslow progress on ac-
count of their cnfeebled condition.
Citizens here collected some money
and sent them both home Every de
tail OF the above story is confirmed The
naked bodies Of three murdered men
were found last March on the plains
north of Keaney, but hemurders were
supposed 10 bc the work OF tramps.
Men here from the agencies are prepar-
ing to investigate the matter and express
the opinion that many of the agency
Indians have kept up the systematic
murder Of settlers during the summer
and successfully conccaling their crime.
AT the Yankton Agency there will be
an immediate investigation and the
identity Of the Indians secured il pos.
siblc