Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-10-24

to prosecute his lawsuit. Standing Bear 10
. logical savage. Having laid his founda-
ton byan assumption of humility and weak.
pess on biz, own psst, and Of slrensthsoa the
art stke white man, he proceeded 70 cite
Scripture, to-Wit: IL have been told that
Jesus the son Of God says for US to help
one another when in trouble. and I hope all
of you christian people will help me, as I
am in trouble.n1 This moving appeal touched
the hesftslof the Ssxoellsnt people Of the
fSeeodd church, aud they gave The good log
ical Indian seven hundred dollars to fee his
lawyers. This episode will no doubt great
" encourage the devoted friends of Indian
civilization and Contamination. Skeptics
Who have studied the history of two hup-
dred years Of effort to make . human Of the
noble red man are requested to makes note
Of Standing Bears piety and logic. The
one touches the heart and the other appeals
10 the head. No doubt Rose Meeker would
denounce the one - cant and the other -
hinly-dissuisedc cunning. But abe Is hardly
a disinterested Judge. Her father, . gentle,
kindly man, was brutally murdered . few
weeks ago BY Standing-Bear's kinsmen. q
band of untntored savages. Tho orphan
daughter, in the depths of her affection,
would doubtless favor the punishment of
the savages for composing the death Of her
father. And in her grief she might desire
the adoption Of the Indian idea Of justice,
revenge upon n representative of the Of
Tending race. There are people go shocked
and enraged at the massacre Of the gallant
Thornburgh ::aud::,his troops. and the real
dents Of the Meeker A%gency,that they quite
agree with Rose Meeker that somebody
|ought1o be brought to %justise for the hide
Gus crime. These regard Standing Bears
intrusion into a Christian church, on
the heels Of the late Indian atrocities, as
evidence of "cheek" rather than piety,-ss
long immunity from punishment. But
claws and white feathers, backed BY Rev.
Mr.. Harsha. Of Omshs, presented
himself before an audience Of a thousand
Christian people, made bis p:ors speech,
pocketed bis donation, and departed on his
way to other churches.
1t would have seemed fit that the Rev.
MI. Harsha should in his speech have re-
ferred At least In y deprecaiing way To the
Ute massac,es; hut he did nothing of the
sort. On the co.trary. he defended the
position of the utes as equitable, and utter
ed not y word in reprobation of the meth
DDS they adopted to be revenged on the
interior department. He admitted, i0doed,
that many of the Indians are degraded, but
he coolly charged the blame Of their de-
graduation upon the whites. ut is because
the white man has made them 60" oracular-
" pronounces the Rev. Mr.. Harsha. The
reverend gentleman does nothing by halves.
He even defended BY implication the massa-
ere of c listers troops by Sitting Bull. !
"What q sarcasm upon our Indian policy
was the going Of Sitting Bull to Canada for
protection" exclaimed the Rev. Mr.. Harsha.
The good man seems to forget that the effort
made, at the instance of christian people.
to ameliorate the condition of the savage BY
c~onfding them to the instruction and gui.
dance of Quakers and %clergymen, antedates
the Custer annihilation as we'll ~ the
and Meeker killings! Every
proposed for civilizing and christian-
izing the noble red man has been tried by
the government, and tried without the sha.
dow Of beneficial effect. The Indians
the work of massacreing in New
and New York two hundred years
ago, and they have kept it up until the
ssnturi.s there have BEEN
legends of good Indians; but, - in
The early time so now, the good Indian is
found in the cities and towns, never on the
Where there are . hundred white
to one Indian, the Indian is pious,
reverently of the Good Spirit, and il
IS humble a. he is nasty. But let him
upon = miner, or . settler with his
in the wilds Of Arizona or Colorado,
backed BY a dozen other painted devils, and
be straightway DEVELOPS q taste for rob-
berry and = thirst for blood. He kills the
settler" fires the cabin, aud devotes the |
women to his beastly lusts.
There is . prevalent theory among a class
Of optimistic humanitarians that the Indian
is agonizing for religion and civilization
but that he is deferred from embracing the
one and adopting the habits Of the other by
The avarice of white men. But in the
whole history Of the governments dealings
the Indians, how many of them have
betrayed . desire to settle down peaceably |
upon the land and adopt the habits Of the
agr%iculturist? Civilization commences
with agriculture. 1t is idle to presume
the Indian will become
long as he
vanders about over the plains shooting
game. If he would become civilized he
must either till.the coil or embark in me-
chanics, the arts, or literature. So long as
he exhibits no taste for the one or the other
of these pursuits he must remain . savage.
Whsnsver the $4,000 Indians are ready to
exchange their ponies and rifles for hoes,
and plows, and reaping and mowisg ma.
they will find plenty of land to
cultivate This i the ansHer % the queru-
lous complaint constantly reiterated By SEN
timentalfss to the effect that the whites rob
the lndtazs oftheir slanda This country Il
MOI, and cannot remain, . mere hunting
ground for savases. Every foot of it 10 to
be turned over By the pillow and made 70
yield abundant harvests Of grain for the
support Of man. The whites will continue
to invade underground, q thsy always
have invaded them, until they arc ill taken
up. The only way to retain possession Of
the soil r to obtain . title to It and Ance Il
in. Whsnsver the Indian elects TO pursue
this course he will cease TO be . vag abond.
Bot this involves the necessity Of Indian
civilization; and, after two hundred years
Of experiment, the problensof Indian, civil
lizetionsSeaajns Z problem still. d
To all Who are euferinG from the arroep