St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-03-23
FATHER DE SMET.
The First to Successfully Treat
With Sitting Bull.
His Narrative of His Council With
the Unkapapas in 1868.
Sitting Bull Chief of Warriors, and Not a
Border Raider
To the Editor of the Globe:

|
of distinguished officers to negotiate with the
Sioux Indians for roadways through their
country and for peace. The demands OF the
Indians, especially of the Unkapapas, among
whom Sitting Bull was regarded as first Oh
warrior chiefs, though Four Horns and Black
Moon then outranked him in council,
would not have been agreed to by the COM
mission had they thought the government
then able tie send an army OF 25,0oO men IN
to the country. No less an army, they be-
heved, could subdue these Indians. The
treaty was accordingly substantially as pro-
posed by Black Moon and Sitting Bull. The
forts which had been established in the Unka-
papa country were Abandoned and the emf
grant roads and surveys for railroads were
limited to regions little occupied by the In
dams. Up to this time Sitting Bulls part in
war against the whites had
consisted only of resistance to what he
and his people regarded as invasions OF their
country-by gold prospectors and buffalo
hunters. He was not treaty lndlan-he
had never signed treaty and he avoided all
contact with the whites. He did not attack
settlements or in any way provoke war, ex-
cept by defending what he regarded as his
own country. He never took part in council
or treaty with the whites save in the year
! 1868 when the Unkapapas were visited, on
behalf of the peace commission, by Father
De Smet, and on which occasion Sitting Bull
was pursuaded to agree to be represented at
peace council at Fort Rice. At that coun-
Gil treaty was concluded which was well
enough observed on the part of Sitting Bull
but which the whites did not intend to keep.
1t was broken by Custer's first Black HIPS
| NV, thn a6u
of Gen. Crook, from the south,
followed by the Terry expedition, when CusS
ter and his immediate command were all
killed. Custer endeavored to charge an In
dian village, to repeat scenes of massacre
which have often occurred in our dealings
with the Indians but was met by an over
whelming force andhe and his men persisted,
every one. The subsequent history
of Sitting Bull is familiar to
readers of the GLOBE. He was
fugitive for years, more than ever distrustful
of the promises of the whites, and when at
last forced by regard for his people to sur
render, he did not abandon his honest belief
that he and his people owned the Black Hills
country; but he yielded to necessity, and,
giving his word, has done what no white
chief had ever done with him, kept his word.
The man is ignorant according to our esti-
mate of men, but is regarded as wise by his
own people. With Four Horns and Black
Moon he outgeneraled and defeated Crook
and annihilated Custer's little force. He
was never guilty of the atrocities attributed
to him by late correspondent OF your paper,
but if he had been it might be
said for him that he only
followed examples set by white warriors in
hundreds of raids upon Indian villages. And
1 might truly add that Indians learned most
of the devilish cruelty to the helpless and to
prisoners which is commonly regarded as
their particular savage trait, from those white
warriors whose fame as Indian fighters is
recorded in the histories of the colonies and
the United States.
But intended only to call your attention
to Father De Smet's report of the council he
had with the Unkapapas in 1868, on Powder
river, where Sitting Bull, for the first time,
consented to treaty with the whites. His
second and last treaty was his surrender
about two years ago. Father De Smet's re-
| port to the peace commission, was as follows:
PRESENTED TO THE HON. COMMISSIONERS BY
THE REV. P. j. DE SMET, S. j.
June 19.-We left camp early on Sandy
river a tributary of the Yellowstone, and
soon found ourselves well under way. We
| travelled about twelve miles over high rolling
prairies, and came in sight of Powder river,
where we halted. 1t presented a beautiful
view for about eight miles down the stream
where it enters into the Yellowstone. In the
| distance we saw one solid mass of moving
creature, phalanx, and when we looked
| with the field glass we found them to be
| some 400 Indian warriors, all arrayed in
| their war costumes, who were deputied by
the head chiefs of the Uncpapa camp-the
| Four Horns, the Black Moon, Sitting Bull
and others-to welcome us to their camp.
We soon pushed forward with our little band
of braves, who, although braves, seemed to
show that they felt their weakness. Howev-
er, we made slowly forward, and soon ar
rived within half mile of where the hostile
column stopped, and went through with
some of their war maneuvres-by scattering
around the prairie in all directions and cir
cling around the main body. At once four
dashing fellows, armed with bows, arrows
and guns, mounted on the finest horses,
made their appearance short distance in
| front of us. We halted and awaited their
coming. They rushed on US as if upon a
| charge. Three of the four rode straight up
| to us, and shook us by the hand. The fourth
came close, waved his hand and passed at
full speed in front of US, and made circuit
of our little band, when he cried out, "All is
WE'LL" and then rejoined the main body.
We resumed our march with the holy flag
unfurled, and Haunting gently in the breeze,
proceeded about q quarter of a mile and
halted in front of the main body. There the
| principal chiefs embraced with a brother of
the Four Horns Gheir generalissimo), came
| forward, shook hands, and placed themselves
is front of US, and, after general salutation to
all, bid us move on. They formed a com
plete guard around us and marched in good
order towards the camp, about eight Or ten
miles distant.
The camp consisted of over five hundred
lodges. They passed us to the center, where
the Sitting Bull ordered our effects to be
placed in his own lodge. They soon swarmed
around US in perfect masses and the camp
! soldiers, as they are called, were ordered by
the Black Moon and Four Horns to disperse
the crowd, which was soon done. The Sit
ting Bull then said when he first saw US
with the flag his heart futtered, but he bid
| it to be quiet and now that he heard that it
was the flag of peace, he felt easy and I'M
disturbed. He then told the braves to take
charge OF US aud to see that we had water and
food, and requested them not on any cir
| cumstance to allow us to go far from the
lodge, and to attend to the safety of our
animals. They shook US heartily by the hand.
Mr.. Jalpin was called to almost every
lodge in the village and was treated with
great respect and kindness.
At shutdown, Four Horns, Block Moon and
Sitting Bull entered the lodge and ordered
twenty of the night braves to take the place
of the soldiers, who had passed the day with
US, gave them the same orders, and they
passed the night with us.
AT daybreak they ordered the ladges to be
thrown together for the council, where all
could be present. 1t was completed about
10 a. m, and the different bands of the