The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-08-06
wnoNes OF THE sioux INDIANS.
Charges Against Agent McGinicuddy-
Bland Elected from the Aeencx

Charges Against Agent McGiIlicuddy-Dr.
Bland Elected from the Agency.
Washington special
Several weeks ago T. A. Bland, of Washing
ton, was arrested and expelled from the Red
Cloud Indian reservation by Indian Agent Nc
Gillieuddy of the Pine Ridge agency. Mr..
Bland is one of the editors of The Council Fire
monthly publication devoted to Indian mat
tiers. In the current number of the periodical
large amount of space is devoted to Agent Nc
Gllllcuddys misdeeds and shortcomings and to
a narration by Mr. Bland of his recent expert
ences In the Sioux country. He says that early
in June he received letters from Red Cloud and
other Sioux chiefs, inviting him to visit the res
ervation and advise with them about the sale of
portion of their land, and saying that matters
were in a bad condition Mr.. Bland says Secre-
tary Teller advised him not to go, as he would
probably get into trouble with the agent" Mr..
Bland persisted, however. and received from
the secretary letter addressed to the agents at
the Pine Ridge and Rosebud agencies. In this
letter the Secretary directed that the bearer be
afforded the opportunity ITO visit his friends
among the Indians and added:
DIR. Bland holdsn official position under this
department. and is not authorized to represent
the department. IN any way, nor to interfere in
the affairs of the agencies
In his journey from Rosebud to Pine Ridge
through the reservation. Mr.. Bland reports he
found that "a few of the Indians have small
patches of land fenced, plowed and planted,
mainly in corn with here and there few hills
of potatoes; that few of the Indians exceed one
acre. that the great majority of the Indians
live in canvas tepees and that in travelling 120
miles he saw only one schoolhouse and that was
unfinished and unoccupied.n He spent night
at Red Leafs village Red Leafs band numbers
about 1000 persons. They say they have fifty
one wagons seven oxen, 100 other cattle, two
broken moving machines, two plows and five
hoes They all want to farm but can't get
implements or seed. few of them got last
spring few grains of corn and five potatoes each
to plant. They earnestly ask for implements
and seeds, school houses and teachers.
Mr. Bland gives the particulars of his arrest
and expulsion from the reservation as follows:
On reaching the Office, Agent McGillieuddy
met me at the door and said:
This is DR.. Bland suppose"
That's my name" replied
ton"
ri think I can, /" said, and handed him your
letter. He read the letter aloud and handed it
to his clerk ordering him to copy it. Then, ad
dressing me, he said
Ordinarily / take great pleasure in obey
ing the orders of the Secretary, but in this case
shall not You will leave the reservation this
afternoon"
mot unless am put under arrest and removed
by force responded.
Il hope you will not give mo that trouble
he replied
Il certainly shall not leave the reservation
for ten days or two weeks unless forcby put
off"
He then said to his acting chief of police:
Muster six men in the Office Immediately"
The order was obeyed. The men filed in and
in my presence McGillicuddv issued six rounds
of fixed ammunition to each man, remarking to-
me at the same times / will have you under
stand that you not in the United States
now, but on an Indian reservation where |
am in supreme command. You are now under
arrest, and will be put out of the reservation
at once Y
He ordered out carriage and asked me to get
into it. declined to do so on request, saying:
II shall not get into the carriage until you shall
order me to do SO, on pain of personal violence
if / refuse
He then said: IF you do not instantly get
into that carriage will order you thrown in by
force
THAT will do said, and stepped into the
carriage and at 1:30 p NJ. on the 18th
of June, 1884, was forcibly carried from the
agency under escort of six armed Indian police
men. / was taken to Ganows ranch, seven
miles south Of the agency, in Sioux county, Ne
braska, and left there at about P. NJ, June %,
1884,
A few DAYS later DR. Bland held council
with Red Cloud and 1873 Of his head men, a few
miles outside the reservation. Red Cloud made
a speech in Winch he said:
ssFhe government didsnot keep its treaty Of
1851 1t has not fully keptthe treaty of 1868
Afterward it promised us $50, 600 for not hunt
ing buffalo; we got only half the money We
sold the Black Hills in 1876, but not the land
around them; got no pay yet. We sent for you
after our interests. We sign no more papers
until the government pays what it owes US. We
want our reservation surveyed so we can know
where our outside lines are; then we want a
patent for it. But the first thing we want is a
new agent"
On the authority of Mrs. Julia Draper, who
was missionary teacher among the Sioux for
ten years, Dr. Bland charges that Bishop Hare
and the Rev. John Robinson, missionary at
Pine Ridge agency, are fully cognizant of Agent
McGillicuddys unfitness and misbehavior,
and yet for some reason they sustain
him. Mrs. Draper, according to Dr..
Bland was dismissed by Bishop Hare from her
place as teacher in October, 1882, at the request
of Mc(4illicuddy because she signed petition
to the Secretary of the Interior asking that an
Inspector be sent to the Pine Ridge Agency. Dr.
Bland continues:
Mrs. Draper informed me that Bishop Hare
reprimanded her for not attending dances in the
agency school building, which were gotten up by
MeGillcuddy and wife, and that the McGillicud-
dys refused to speak to her because she did not
join in their dances, although on such occasions
whisky was used freely by the agents guests
employees and cowboys"
Under the treaty, DR. Bland says, the Indians
are entitled to soldiers rations. He weighed
some of the rations and found the supply of eight
persons for two weeks was -four eighteen
pounds; bacon, four pounds; sugar, two pounds;
coffee, one and half pounds; baking powder,
quarter pound; soap, half pound. The beef
ration, he says is one beef, generally SMALL for
twenty persons, each twelve days. He was told
by Indians and white men that before McGilli
cuddy's reign began the Indians got beef every
ten days or three beef 1ations month. Giving
them two and half rations per month enables
the agent to defraud them of lS00 cattle per
year. DR.. Bland asserts that the seven Indian
traders on the reservation have combined
and fixed two scales of prices-one for
their white customers and another for the In
of fho Ind iar ipa1 20