The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-09-16
Spotted Tail.

The Indian nation, il not the Ameri.
a nation, has lost n remarkable man
in Spotted Tail, whose life reads like o
romance. He was tho chief of the
Brule Sioux, and the ablcst representa-
tive of the Sioux nation. His name
has been intimately connected with
tho Indian history of this country
for thirty years, and he met his death
by assassination at the hands of Crow
Dog. Spotted Tail was born sOme-
where in the Republican river country
about iifty-iive years ago. Of his
%parentage and early history little is
known. In 1854 he was ut tho head of
a band of warriors sent out by Red Leaf
to avengo the murder of q Brulo In
dian by the whites lear Fort Laramie.
He once captured an overland stage
coach. killed the passengers, and OBJ
tanned $500. This was one cause of tho
Indian war which soon followed. in
which Gen. Harvey defeated the Sioux
ut Ash Hollow. Spotted Tail was cap
tured, tried, and sentenced to death,
but pardoned by Buchanan. Since that
time he has been friendly to the whites.
His daughter, like Pocahontas, was
largely the cause of this, having fallen
in love with an officer OF the army, and
it is said, died of a broken heart. She
was buried among the soldiers, leaving
a request that her people should always
remain friendly to the whites. In 1867
Spotted Tail took a leading part in
the great peace council at North
Platte, Neb., when he made a most fa-
vorable impression by his eloquence.-
The treaty made by this council gave
Spotted Tail and his associated chiefs,
Red Cloud, Turkey Leg. and others,
the land north Of tho North Platte.
which they have since held. In 1875,
when a council was held at Red Cloud
agency, for the sale of the Black Hills,
a massacre was contemplated by Little
Big Man and his warriors, when Spot
ted Tail, with his decision and ~self-as-
s~ertiOn, cowed the hostiles with a pow
erful speech. Gen. Crook, of the army.
says of him: "He was the nOblest In
dian of them all. Tho white people
never knew how much they were in
debted to him, and the Indians will
never look upon his like again" In
1877 he succeeded in detaching some
of the tribes from Sitting Bull, which
compelled that warrior to give up his
war and go to Canada. When in Au-
gust of the same year Crazy Horse
came to the Spotted Tail agency to get
up a stampede among the Indians,
Spotted Tail stepped to the front and
said TO them, while Crazy Horse and
his braves had their guns cooked: II
want you to understand that you can't
come here and make trouble between
us and the government. l am chief,
and | want you to hear. or I'll give you
ears" In many other instances since
that time Spotted Tail has served tho
government by bringing the Indians to
terms.
He was very eloquent, and often wit
ty. He once said TO Crow Dog. his as
sassin, who once before attempted to
kill him, having pointed his gun at him:
''If | point my rifle at q mans body, l
make his heart bleed; if l point my
rifle at a mans head. l make his brains
fly. Are you a squaw that you are
afraid to firep" Once in the gallery Of
the senate at Washington, he said: II
bald headed 1t reminds me of stand
ing on n hill and looking down upon
the rocks around which there is no
grass growing. understand many of
these bald-heads are thieves" Once,
when taken through the Jail Of WASH
ington, he asked if anybody was there
for stealing from the Indians. When
told that honest men used 70 have O
bunch of hair growing in the palm of
the hand, he said: 81 used to have a
great big bunch of hair in the palm of
my hand, but it has all been worn of
by shaking hands with the whites"
When a suspicious Indian agent was
explaining to him the benefits of educa-
ton and religion, he said: "When you
go back, tell the great father to hurry
up and send schoOl-teachers here to
teach my people to read and write, SO
they can commit forgery and make q
living like the whites"
Spotted Tail was about 5 feet 81 inch
es high, and weighed about 40 pounds.
He is said to have looked like Henry
Ward Beecher. He had three wives at
the time of his death, and eight or ten
grown children. One of these latter is
named Spotted Tail. One Of his daugh-
tiers, Shaunkoo, was to have entered q
convent, but was stolen by her lover
the night before, which ended the pro-
ject. Chicago NeWS.