The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-08-27
OTTAWA FREE TRADER; SATURDAY. AUGUST p. 1881

MES, horses, wagons, &c, but upon hndlnl
among his people some one needing somethin,
of the kind he would unhesitatingly suppl.
the want from his own stock. lie frequentl
extended aid to orphans, and occasional
adopted one and brought II up In his owl
family.
He has been known to draw his pay, wheI
he was employed by General Crook, all ia =
bills, and although knowing the value .
money very we'll, he would throw oil his bills
one AT a time, to every indian he met, keeping
for himself but small number OF the notes
In this way he frequently gave away sol
or $50
Spotted Tail was great wit, and always en-
joyed joke. His witticiSms, If they could b,
collected. would ill u small volume. lie per
petrated good joke on Commissioner Hay,
and bald headed. men in general, at the coun
cil In 1878. Commissioner Hayt had Sale
something about the appropriation that hue
been made by Congress.
II understand all about that" said SpOtteC
Tail II have been at Washington and LOOKED
down upon the council. | noticed that mos
of your great men were bald headed. II re
minded me Of standing on hill and looking
down upon the rocks. around which there WA
no grass growing. While was looking at thu
bald heads some white man, standing near me
told me that a great many Of the bald hcadeC
men down there were thieves and liars anC
bad persons"
The Commissioner looked up At him, ant
Spotted Tail laughed and SAID: My friend,
see you are bald headed" and then pausing
for moment or two, lac added, but dom
mean you"
During ono of his EYtern trips he was
shown through the jails of Washington and
Il IA.
prisoncrs were in for murder, Others for for
gerry, some for arson, others for robbery, &c
Finally, at one Of these institutions, he turned
around to his informant and asked MY
friend, have you any body IN here for stealing
from Indians?" In this connection it may bt
proper to state that Captain Lee says he never
heard Of but one man gong to the Penitentiary
for robbng the Indians and he uhe captain.
helped to send him there, but he didn't stay
long.
One day Cal tain Lee was talking with Spot
ted Tail and others about honest people, and
the keeping Of ones word. There's no sLcl
thing as an honest man" SAID the Captain
iokingly; "tLcrc used to he, however. In form
er times honest men always used to have Q
bunch of hair growing in the palm of the
right hand. don't see but few sprouts III
my hand
Spotted Tail stepped up to him, and shak
ing hands with HIM, said: How? How!
used to have great big bunch Of hair in thu
palm of my maud, but 1t has all been worn of
by shaking hands with the whites"
Father Martin, a Catholic priest who was
doing missionary work among the Indians
one day, when it was raining very hard, asked
Spotted Tail if Father De S'nel had no, bap
tlzeu great many of the Indians many years
ago. Spotted Tail, who evidently was po
much of believer ID the bapllsmal rite, re
piled II don't know how that was, but dc
know that God Almighty has been baptizine
us for three days, and wish he would let up.
At another time a preacher was telling
Spotted Tail how the Great Father had SEN
His Son upon the earth to save mankind
Spotted Tail listened attentlvely to the story o
the Saviour until the preacher reached The cru
ciixion, and then he interrupted him by say
ing; THE white people killed the Saviour
did theyy" "Yes," replied the preacher, who
then started TO explain the whole Affair." bu
Spotted Tail kept right on, and said: $50 the
whites killed the Son of the Great Father. TIT
Indians never would have done that. Had hi
come among US | would have taken him int
tepee and fed him, and given HIM gooc
place to sleep. | would have listened to him
and nv people would have listened to him.
In 1875, ut the council held at Red Clout
Agency, a reporter of n prominent Easter
journal wanted To interview Spotted Tail, WHIT
looked ut HIM tor moment or two, and thef
said: "You are paid for this work, are yoI
nOt?"
Yes" replied the reporter.
81 have nothing TO say" replied spotted
Tail
What do yon mean 81 inquired the reporter
II have nothing to say" reiterated OLD spot
Some one, who seems To have been posted
SAID to the reporter, You give HIM 50 an(
he'll talk"
The correspondent did so, and Spotted Tai
then began talking and answering all ques
tons for quite lille while, until, when RICH
IN the middle of an interesting subject, he sud
denly stopped.
Whats the matterG' asked the puzzlet
newspaper man.
Il have talked S. WORTH" answered Spot
So the reporter handed hun over another 3;
bill, and Spotted Tail went on and finished thu
interview.
A Government official from Washington
some years ago had talk with Spotted Tai
about the benefits of education and religion
The old chief heard him patiently all the wa.
through, aud then said; "My friend when yol
90 Oack you may tell Tue UTeal dtner W nui
~ up aud send school teachers out here 10 teacl
my people and my children to read and write
so they can commit forgery, and make LIVING
IKE the Whites"
When the Commissioner Of Indian Affair
in 1915 talked about civilizing the Indians
and requested hun to have them throw asid
their war paint and native costumes an'
adopt the civillz,d dress which would be fur
nisied them by the Government he rep'ie'
that dress WAS a mere outside show, and tina
civilization must coEie from within.
DR.. Lehman, the Pennsylvania State micro
scopis,, holds the following view regardin!
LIQUOR alulteratiOn: II am well aware tina
nearly all alcoholic liquids sold are adultera
cd, but the drugs and flavors used are not NOR
harmful to the human system than the mate
rails which they substitute In fact from
what have discovered respecting the adult