River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-12-08
SUICIDE OF BRAVE BEAR.
sitting bulls SOn-in-Law Takes
Poison i'm the HanktOD Jail.

Yankton Press and Dakotain. Nov. 70.
There was startling sensation at the
Yankton county jail last evening.
About half past seven o'clock. Knowl-
ton, one of the prisoners, was alarmed
by the most dismal and heart rending
groans proceeding from the cell in
which Brave Bear was confined, and
upon entering found the Indian suffer
| ing from the most violent commissions.
| The jailer Immediately dispatched a
messenger for DR. Miller, who quickly
responded, and after very brief ex-
animation found that Brave Bear had
been poisoned. DIR. Miller called in
DIR. Etter, and the customary antidotes
were administered with good effect,
and when the physicians left the jail
| that night they had hopes that their
patient would recover. Deputy Mar
shall Gray remained at the jail until
ten o'clock that morning, at which
hour there seemed every probability
that Brave Bear would survive. The
favorable symptoms, gave way to seri-
Gus complications about eight that
morning, and since then he has been
suffering intense pain, and the ply
sicians are apprehensive of fatal results,
as the great suffering indicates the
effect of some irritant poison, probably
mixture of strychine and arsenic"
Brave Bear is a son-in-law of Sitting
Bull and Is known as an old offender.
He is very shrewd, intelligent Indian,
and has made up his mind that he will
die before another moon rises. He, in
connection with Rain-in-the Face,
were charged with the murder of a
family named belong, near St. Joe,
in Pembina county, in 1876. Brave
Bear was tried for this crime at Fargo in
1879. The evidence was overwhelming
against him, but the question of Jurls-
dict m being raised, the court held
thai as Pembina county was organized
the prisoner should be tried by the
district court of that county. The cul-
prit was accordingly handed over to
the Pembina county authorities and
confined in the jail from which he sub
sequently escaped, and with his squaw
made his way to Fort Sully IN 1873,
where he committed the murder OF
Joseph Johnson, and then fled north
and joined Sitting Bull. He surrender
ed with the other hostiles last spring,
and few months ago was again arrest
ed near Fort Sully for Johnson's muir
der, taken to Bismarck and examined
before the United States commissioner,
who held him for trial at the No
vember term of the United States court
to be held in Yankton this month.
Deputy Marshal Gray escorted the
prisoner from Bismarck to Yankton.
At Fargo he thoroughly searched HIM
and is satisfied thai he had no poison
on his person at that time. At St.
Paul Brave Bear was placed in jail a
few hours Tor security, and he has con-
fessed to Marshal Gray that white
prisoner in the jail gave him two
| powders and told him to take one
whenever he felt bad. Brave Bear felt
badly shortly after supper that even
ing, and placing one of the powders
in a small piece of bread that he had
taken with him to his cell, he swallow
ed it.
Spiritual consolation has been ad-
ministered to the dying man, by the
Catholic priest. Gray has a document
which Brave Bear gave him, which, if
it can be deciphered, may prove to be
confession. 1t consists of number
of animals, rudely sketched and color
ed, and underneath quite a lengthy
st .tement in writing. Whether the
writing is ineligible remains to be in
vestigated. Brave Bear denounces
Sitting Bull in the most emphatic and
vulgar terms. notwithstanding his re-
latiOnship. He has expressed wish
that in case he dies to have his body
placed in box and sent to his father
| at Standing Rock