The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1882-11-23
NUMBER N ] B: l3..
AN INDIAN HANGED.
Brave Bear Finally E1eeuted It Yank i
~ - ton. Meeting His Fate with .,..
agl Great Calmness, ,s-.ss,


31 e @...s +. g. g..
Having Made will Disposine Of His
Property-Sketcl, Of His Lie,
.l.s Crime, and Trial 80,
From the 81. Paul Pioneer Ptep. :-.i #.'H
YANkTos, OAK: Nov l5-Dravo Boss b
dead. His last day WAS - beautiful ~ could
be deeired It wss day more suitable for
marriage bells than for the nournful work oi
the hangtn.n.. Workmen were busy Ill the
morning putting finishing touches to tho scat
fold aud building the fence. ~hich was abou,
twenty feet high, and enclosed . space sixty
feet by forty. Every precausion xss taken
4hat nothing should interfere with the success
OF the execution. and the programme Was car
r1ed without break. Brave Bear has proven
worthy Of his name. During the past
week. though now aud then depressed,
be displayed q good deal Of nerve while be
continued to believe he should yet sscapa
For the last three days he had reason to be-
heve that bis end was near, especially a. he
oonld hear tho worknaen building the scaflOld
! The sisters and priest wore with nim = good
deal aud Brave Bear was evidently glad to see
| them. Last night he sent for Assistant Dis
srict Attorney Palmer, to whom no had takon
decided fancy, perhaps because it was Mr.
Palmer who carried him tho news OF the
presidents repEieve They talked about On
hour aud = half. Brave Bear told something
Of his history, but his main object in sending
for Gr. Palmer was to =
MAKE HIS WILL
He said he had large quantity Of furs and
various articles and trinkets. besides . sum Of
sold and paper money and gold dust, all of
which was buried in . certain spot up the
river: Ho told where the key of the box was
and also the Indian who knew the spot He
described everything in detail to Mr. Palmer,
whom he delegated to look after the
disposition of his effects When Nh.
Palmer asked il the money was not Johnson's
money, Brave Bear denied that it Was From
! the description given Of his mooey and prop
erty 1t must amount to between 1000 and
49, 600. which ho divided among different in
dlvlduals. He had Two wives. but did not like
the ono who testified against him. He said
che was rather too friendly with the word of
the wood choppers: Brave Bear rested we'll
last night and up early this morning to
mas, which was said ut q o'clock BY Father
Willard and which lasted nearly an hour.
THE s1sTE1.s WERE ALSO FA:LY WITH HIM,
and remained I'll, ulhu a::;l Be ste but lit
tie breakfast this morning, but for the last
week be had an unusually good appetite Yes
terday aud last hight ha was constantly eating
nuts and fruits, etc, OF which no had . good
supply. This morning he had another talk
With Mr.. Palmer. and more fully affirmed wha,
he eaid last night. About the middle Of the
forenoon be grew someWhat nervous He
would walk abont the prison, light his pipe,
call for water, and twitck his handkerchief
Shortly before IL Father Willard held
services in the corridor Of the Jail.
ALTER which tho warrant xas read, and ex-
planned by an interpreter. Meantime quite q
crowd gathered Outside tho yard, and passes
were eagerly sought, aud about 100 were is
sued to the lawyers, p"wspaper men, officials
and few others, who wore early on hand to
witness the first judicial execution Of an In
dian ever ordered by u civil court Promptly
at IL o'clock Brave Bear was led up through
the ajil to the marshal's Office, where he
MADE STATEMENT
Hs desired that the newspapers should SAY
to the Indians that his death WAS
all right; that they should not
attempt to take any revenge. He particularly
requested his relatives not TO kill any horses He
also asked that the president be Informed that
he died happy. When asked If lie really killed
Joseph Johnson he dropped his head and
made no reply. Though lie made NO confes-
elon, he virtually acknowledged yesterday that
he did commit the murder, and it was per-
haps not the only ono Of which he was guilty
At 1915 o'clock Brave Bea. was led out
to the scaffold by Father Willard and
the deputy marshals. He stepped along
easily, took his pos,tion on the trap,
looked up At the crowJ. smiled and said in
loud, cheerful tone, swell, e God BY" He
then stopped over and received the moose upon
bis neck. He was dressed in wooden stock
ings. black pants and long linen duster. As
the moose was tightenea he gave several
witches. just as . Insu will do when his collar
10 too tight He then read over the 6nsl SER
vices with the priest, which lasted four or i've
minutes. While reading he rolled his eyes
about ~ il anxious to see how the
spectators regarded the matter. At
1921 o'clock. Yankton time, the
black cap was pnt on and at q given signal .
man, no one but the marshal knows, who wss
inside tho court huuse.
- ''s srRANa THE TRAP
and tho unfortunate Indian shot like an arrow
though tho doorou: of sight He fell into .
cage about ten feet squaie, which WAS boarded
uo, and 10 one conld see his death struggle
In minute or two the physicians went inside
the cage, and they say that he gave two 0.
.;hree convuislve msvenieuts and Was probably
unconscious. from the moment he fell
Ilis normal puiae wa- eighty: in
hve minutes it rose to 100
b,,ru <>l 3.
were no distinguishable pulsation Of tho hear.
At the end Of thirty minutes he Was cut down,
bic remains placed in Il cofiiu, the nnal requi-
escat in pace tad by the priest, and
Brave Bears body Vas soon carried
marching on to tho happy hunting ground,
whore game 10 plenty and tho red and white
men never kill or scslp each o her :.,..
HIS LIFE AND CRIME 'e,
YANKToN' Nov; l5.-Brase Bear. whoss Indian
name:is Mato O.te-te-k 10. was about twenty-five
and has lived a, Yaricon. s andinr Rock and o,her
He was an unusually intelligent lndi:n, ana could
read in the Indian language, aud spoke English
Signify tits claimed that he was bad Indian and
that his hands were stained with the blood of three
OF four white persons. The crime for which be
finally arrel lte, tri"d convicted and hanged vas the
murder Of Joseph johnson in April 1879. JoLnsou
ha0 Uecu SLUp!OStN oy TIE post ttaOeI ~ CnoyoDNe
agency for some time. but finally decided to Leave
ana Jotu two brothers whoNved IN the James River
valley 1t is claimed that Brave Bear knew that
Johnson would stn1s at . certain time, and that b.
would lake certain trail. He therefore laid iii
wait for johnson. shot him at point about twenty
five miles east of Fort su!ly, took his horse. Gu,
aud $500 in money. and then Joined Sitting Bull,
who was at that time the war path. 1t Is proba
by true thar Brave Bear was largely instrumental
in inducing. Sitting Bul! to surrender in 1881.
Brave Bear asserts that he did not kill Johnson,
but tha. even if hr had done so. the government
had agreed with Sitting Built that il he should sur
render1 all past offenses should be condonsd, and
hat under this agreement he himself -.
=, COULD NOT BE PUNISHED. -.
In the summer OF Sal. while at Standing Rock
Brave Bear, either honestly or to gain notoriety.
asserted that he had killed johnson and had buried
Tho moucy. Ho 10 also said to have promised Allison
the scout half of the mouey il he would get him
away from the agency. -Uoo,s this Allison caused
his arrest, and he was brought here in October,
1881, and was indicted n The November term of
the United States district court. His trial 10
January. and this the first cas- presided over by
Chief Justice Edger1on Brave :Bear had no
counsel and the court assigned Oliver Shannon.
ESQ.,, to conduct his defense. During the trial