Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-02-01
N /, IS.

l1lialSh3-
u Letter from. ton ]. n. Ric hard
son il tense .. n
| Agent Luce IElay etI.
TN roo TH m AZ sH E1ukiRr ii Il AND
I'll PRorE en- III EN- Il otts,,,'
Editornf the .rrsnseri pl :5 ~ .5 SZz
/ As there is Just now being gitsteel q
| question as Is whether Is u il, .of fact
/ the Mile Laos band &c Chipp IA Indians
are really III 4 sutering condition FIR. the
want Of food and clothing, and as I I'M
dsrstald Tic matter, and think that I can
sac into this. question, after T haye ex-
ar1fiisl tie facts, as far as an ordinary
! insn can see into milestone, Z presume
| i Gem kau'aication coneerning the uues.
ton viii " Of interest. 4 2..-@*:.a. =.
The question now Icing agitated came
up in this wise =. "A short tims since
Hon. J. Simmons, ex State senator Of
lsllfis place, and Joseph Roberts, Esq, Of
ST. Paul, being::a, least as they ,honght
creditably informed tina, those, Indians
were III avery destitute coalition this:
winter and In ACTUAL need foof help. in
formed Governor Hubbard and he in.
formed the commissioner osInclIan af-
fairs Washington that he had been
credibly jnfvn,ed that the Mile Laos
Indians were in a very destitute cond;-
tion and Should haya some assistance TOR
words to. That effect, >whereupou the
commissioner tel sgraphcd Major Luce,
Indian agent, to Immediately visit said
| Indians and ascertain their true condi-
ton. The Major promptly obeytd the
comm and, came To Little Falls with Re .
Mr.. Gj|6llan of White Earth, and from
here took sleigh to Mile Laos lake.
After being out from Little Falls nearly
three days retsrned 10 this place and the
next day to White Earth, and reported
thai the indians were. we'll / provided
with The necessaries Of life, and that the
reports .bo,,s. their being very destitute
and in;need &ef he1p were. untrue, Mr.
Simmons being sare. that they had made
a false report, Immediately sent out r.
N. Wofthingeon, county attorney, !. 7.
Stillwell and @. w. SYLVESTER, old set
Tiers Of This place, to look into the CUES.
ton, who after being gons, four Ola. S re
turEed with an entirely di ferent report.
Now it is certain that one or the other
of these parties has made; a false report,
either wilfi,Ilyer on account of lahering
under mistak as to the s1acts. From !,
few facts that have ZEN able to gather
if either party is guilty 'hnf knowinsl
misrepresenting the condit ion of the In
dians at Mile Laos, it is llajor Luce
/ and the R-y. GSi6llan. NJ grounds for
! Think lag 8 are these: The Mile Laos
! Indians last fall re!used t, accept theii
payment fronk Major Luce ! ecause he
proposed that they should t. re in place
of IS head in m 'ney, as til ~ had been
used 10 getting and what their treaty
calls for, 81 in money and S. in snip
plies, Tlsey could not pay their debts
with supplies, so refused tc take them
therefore they got me- paymr NJ last fall
! and so Major Luce has not Jet gol in his
pocket tire profits On the rejected sup
plies. The order made by the depart
mesn in SNsssas ii, gs,n last fall, Which, ts
doubt originated with Maj. luce, reads
that ali the Chippewa 7 e iaus excep
those al White Earth, SHAH be paid. il
money 81 ard in supplies ? per head
Major Luce resides at y White Earth
which accounts for thu oand getting
their payment all in mon ~ He evi
deaily has an eye to his + ersonal saFet J
as we'll as au eye 10 bust J es+ He knew
better 'lrapa to force The indians au1ons
whom he bad to reside ,, take supple
in the place Of money tina: 4 Was due tbeln
Usually the Mile Laos indians gathers
large qeantity Of wild rice 10 live. or
during the winter, bessie es a censiderabl
Quantity to sell Last, summer the hum
bermen erected a dam OR the Rum rive
below the rice fields md raised the waite
so as TO destroy nearly their whole Gro
ofrice. And, from, some cause, there i
very liTtle game in their country thi
winter. 49, J
r. 4. Richardson, the person " ho tlroy
/ fire team for Maj. luce and Rev. Gi:
f1f1an, made ~ at idavit in which b
states that they lj1ost aud lsu o,ed sotsa
I indians to learn the way, who recos
nIzed TIE Majer,a AL after giving hin d
lrections as to the road, said to him tha
he saust have some object: IN visit'n
7 them and asked to know what it was
! they also stated to him that they $Wer
| hard up and had but: little ta. eat, an
\: That they would: like 10 have:a talk witt
Eshin,, T He them told them hat he had u,
! tisaes Is talk Will, them, but il one o
4 them would so and pilot them throug q
Etq I'embe CONS trading post "a distanc
Il of eleven miles, he would give him 3
d Il .eeni !, hien misery. offer the Indian
d declined 20 take d Alta lum Der cam
Il where, the parf y staid over asight an 10
4 dian cllief named Big Wind was caape
with his Ifalnily and told his story to th
Major WITH out being solicited Hessai
81 HEY Wers.syery poor this year, they ha
4 M ,aYnaent that he I had been able i
2 HI but 1.-TWO deer this season, whereas j
/ tIsanerallJ sol .1we nty # We o. thirty. III
Il Major YI,s ind no camps to inyestigat
D. and disco veI the condi tion Of the Indian
.sI aa II cav hut four, all Of whom told hir