The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-01-13
NUMBER 49.
A ROMANTIC CAREER.
IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY, THEN A SHOE
MAKER, AND THEN A MINER-DAEING
EXPLOITS AMONG THE INDIANS
NARROW EsCAPEs. ETC.

Sebastian Beck is a name which no novel
ist would select for his hero. but a man
bearing it is now in the city of Omaha, Neb.
whose career is heroic enough To be the skel-
etOn Of most entertaining frontier romance
Mr. Beck Is 81 wears of ace. sun Drowned
and considerably shattered in health. but he
is intelligent, and his story is vOuched for in
several letters he carries from wcll-known
army officers, who have had means of deter
mining its truth.
From 1867 TO 1870 the subject Of this arti-
Gle was a soldier in the regular army. and
when mustered out was private i'm Compa-
ny L of :he Ninth infantrv-the regiment
now stationed at Fort Omaha. Retiring
from the service, he settled in Chicago,
where ne worked at his trade being a shoe
maker. Business was good. and he and
three other workmen had all they could at
tend to, but his years Of army life. during
which his regiment had been frequently
transferred from one fort to another on the
frontier, had rendered him unfit for the Un-
exciting life of a cObber, and. in 1873. he
sold his business, determining to seek q for
tune i'm the West The gold discoveries in
the Black Hills about this time began to eN-
cite public interest, and Mr.. Beck was among
the number who caught the mining fever
He packed mp his household goods and with
his wife, two young daughters and a son l2
years old. he left < hiCaCo. March 10 1873.
and landed in due time at Chevpuue Wvom-
ing Territory. Here he iOiued the comnanv
Of Gen. Carpenter. Of Sedalia. Missouri. who
led twenty-five families into the HillS-
They had wagons camping outfits aud pro-
visions 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 Black Hills gold mining re-
giOn. However, this party was not detected
by the troops, and they reached Deadwood
Gulch in safety. ald part of them went to
work developing the st. Johns mine. Beck
was of this number, and ne erected a log
cabin about thTee-Guarters of q mile from the
"diLgings," " which himself and family called
their home.
All went well with the daring miners until
July 18TH when they were surrounded by
Sitting Bulls band of Sioux and were made
captiveS. Beck was separated from his fam
lily, and has never seen or heard Of them
since. He was taken. with several men of
the company, to the Indian village Of Rose
bud. then consisting of four huuUrpd 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 often the choice of the Caucasian, and
Beck formed no exception He doffed his
mining Carb and dOnUed the Blanket mOcca-
sins, paint aud feathers of n Sioux Grave.
He was given Young Cheyenne souaw
about eighteen years of Uc. for his wife and
soon became, to all appearances, thorough
going Indian.
"Moueka" was the name of his dusky
sweetheart and bride. "NlOncka.' - in the
Sioux tongue, is translated as 'mv 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. aud adapted UiIn-
self TO his surroundings. Five weeks after
his capture he was an unwilling participant
in the massacre of Custer on the Little Big
Horn. He followed the fates of his captOTS
through all the weary months y hicn followed
while the war continued. and at last, with
them, crossed the boundary into the British
possessions.
His story Of the sufferinCs of the red braves
and their wretched families in that wintrv
cline are enough To excite the hearers com
passion. Their clothing worn out their
game supply scaut. and the deep snow and
severe cold were braveIy borne and they
struggled along. keeniug soul and body to-
gether as long as their pride could endure,
but finally were forced to surrender Beck
and the Otuer caVtiveS returned to civiIiZ1-
tiOn with their red comrades at Standing
Rock agency, but so Drowned by exposure
that they could with difhculty establish their
identity as white men.
Mr.. Beck says that he could have escaped
almost any time since they crossed the hOr-
der, but his attachmeuU for the gentle Mon
eka had grown upon him and had been ce-
mented 10y the birth of two paD0oseS. and
he could not consent to leave them in exile.
After the surrender he i0incd n WAGON
train en- route to Fort Laramie, and with his
Indian wife and babies. went To tIat post
where he left them ana came East 70 Chica-
go. He Is now striving to find his white
wife ana children, or to learn their fate lie
called upon Gen. Cook, commanding at Fort
Omaha, and related the story, which has
aroused the sympathy of that old Indian
conqueror. Il Is likely that the white wife
has gone to her long home, but the daughters
may be alive and the mothers of half breed
Sioux, the son of q brave, whose experience
is not unlike that of the father The old
man Is anxious 70 learn what has become of
them, and, as he is broken down in health,
wishes to locate some where in the West,
where he can end his days i'm peace with his
white wife, if she be yet alive, or with Mon
eka,' if the civilized companion is no more
He is somewhat puzzled as to what will hap
pen in case the white Mrs Beck can be
found. It is a strange career this man has
I experienced.