St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-12-02
A Romantic Tale.
LIFE STORY OF MAN WHO HAS HAD A
DECIDEDLY CHECKERED CAREER.

A Romantic Tale.
LIFE STORY OF MAN WHO HAS HAD A
DECIDEDLY CHECKERED CAREER.
Sebastian Beck, writes an Omaha
(Neb.) correspondent to the Globe
Democrat, is a name which no novel
list would select for his hero, but a man
bearing it is now in this city, whose
career is heroic enough to be the skel-
eton of a most entertaining frontier ro-
nance. Mr.. Beck is 81 years of age,
sunbrowned and considerably shatter-
ed in health. From 1867 to 1870 he
was a soldier in the regular army, and,
when mustered out, was private in
company Z of the 9th infantry-the
regiment now stationed at Fort Omaha.
Retiring from the service, he settled in
Chicago, where he worked at his trade,
being a shoemaker. Business was good,
and himself and three other wOrkmen
had all they could attend to, but his
years of army life, during which his
regiment had been frequently trans
ferred from one fort to another on the
frontier, had rendered him unfit for the
life of cobbler, and, i'll 1873, he sold
his business, determining to seek a for
tune in the West. The gold discover
les in the Black Hills about this time
began to excite public interest, and MIR.
Beck was among the number who
caught the mining fever. He packed
up his household goods, and, with his
wife, two young lady daughters and a
son of II years, he left Chicago March
10, 1875, and landed in due time at
Cheyenne. Here he joined the compa-
nv of Gen. Carpenter of Sedalia, Mo-,
who led - families into the hills.
They had wagons, camping outfit and
provisions for six months. just about
this time the President issued his order
to the army, commanding the arrest of
all persons who should attempt to cross
the line into the Sioux reservation,
which then included what is now the
prosperous Black Hills gold mining re-
gion. However, this party was not
detected by the troops, and they reach
ed DeadwOod Gulch in safety, and part
of them went to work developing the
st. Johns mine. Beck was of this
number and he erected IA log cabin
about three quarters of "A mile from the
diggings, which himself and family
called their home. All went well with
the daring miners until July Ia, when
they were surrounded by Sitting Bulls
band of Sioux, and were made captives.
Beck was separated from his family,
and has never seen or heard OF them
since. He was taken, with several men
of the company, to the Indian village
of Rosebud, then consisting OF 4OO
lodges, and expected to be the victim
of an Indian scalp dance. The Indians,
however, offered the white men their
choice between death and becoming
members of the tribe. Death is not
often the choice of thesCaucassian, and
Beck formed no exception. lie DOTTED
his mining garb and assumed the blan-
kets, mOccasins, paint and feathers OF
a Sioux brave. He was given young
Cheyenne squaw, about IL years of age,
for his wife, and soon became, to all APP
pearances, thorough going Indian.
Moneka was the name of his dusky
sweet heart and bride. "MOneka" in
the Sioux tongue, is translated "my
love" She had been made captive by
this band when but ii years of age,
and Beck became strongly attached to
her. He soon learned the language
of the Sioux, and adapted himself to
his surroundings. Five weeks after
his capture he was an unwilling par
ticipant in the massacre of Custer on
the Little Big Horn. He followed the
fates of his captors through all the
weary months which followed while
the war continued, and at last, with
them, crossed the boundary into the
British possessions. His story of the
sufferings of the red braves and their
l. lnt nftsxr oil
are enough to excite the hearers COM
passion. Their clothing worn out,
their game supply scant, and the deep
snow and severe cold were bravely
borne, and they struggled along, keep
ing soul and body together as long as
their pride could endure, but finally
were forced to surrender. Beck and
the other captiVes returned to civlllZa-
ton with their red comrades at Stand
ing Rock agency, but so Drowned by
exposure that they could with difficulty
establish their identity as white men.
Mr.. Beck says that he could have es-
capped almost any time since they cross
ed the border, but his attachment for
the gentle Moneka had grown upon
him and had been cemented by the
birth of two papooses, and he could
not consent to leave them in exile.
After the surrender he joined wagon
train en- route to Fort Laramie, and
with his Indian wife and babies went
to that post, where he left them and
came to Chicago. He is now striving
to find his white wife and children or
to learn their fate. He called upon
Gen. Crook, commanding at Fort Oma-
Ia, and related his story, which has
aroused the sympathy of that stern old
Indian cOnqueror. 1t is likely the
white wife has gone to her long home,
but the daughters may be alive and the
mothers of half breed Sioux, and the
son brave whose experience is not
unlike that of his father. The old man
is anxious to know what has become
of them, and, as he is broken down in
health, wishes to locate somewhere in
the West, where he can end his days
in peace with his white wife, if she be
yet alive, or with Moneka, if the civil
lied companion is no more.
Capt. Eads' Ship Railway.