Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1885-05-02
SUICIDES AMONG INDIANS.
killing q Squaw and HimselEFour
Savages Hang with One Rope.

OF the New York Sun, under date Of March
20. says: The Indian is progressing. He
il fast becoming civilized. An Indian shot
and killed his squsw last week. and then
blew his own brains out. He did it within
two miles Of Fort Assiniboine. The Indian
was known as Bull.
1t is remarkable what a fascination the
name of Bull has for Indians. They use 1t
with every qualiioation-Sitting, Standing
and Running. The Indian Bulls are pro-
portionately as numerous as the white
Smiths. This particular Bull, who does
not seem TO have been provided with the
usual descriptive adjective, but to have
been plain Bull. was ON his way to the fort,
accompanied by his squaw. When near
the fort he drove her into the brush and
shot her dead. II is believed that the
squaw had some money which she declined
to turn over to the brave; hence the sud-
den and bloody act. After the murder
Bull went toward the fort. At o hunters
camp near by he told an Indian boy what
he had done. Afterward, he started back
toward the place where the body Of the
murdered squsw lay. A white scout in
the employ Of the Government happened
to be in the neighborhood looking for some
stray horses. Bull, seeing him, supposed
he was coming to arrest him. He sat down,
put the muzzle of his gun to his forehead,
and blew his brains out.
Suicide is rare among the red men, but
I have known several instances within the
pas. eight or nine years. A young squaw
shot herself in the heart in 1877, when she
was held, with her mother and other
squaws. in temporary captivity at Fort
Keogh, as a hostage for the performance
of certain agreements OF White Bulls
band of Cheyennes, to which she belonged.
She was one OF the captives taken on the
eve of the fight at Wolf Mountain, Wyo-
ming. A chief was deeply ensmored Of
her, and the first offers Of this band of
Cheyennes to surrender were due, in some
measure, to this tender sentiment, and
not wholly to the Indian reverses at Vol
Mountain. After the Tongue River ex-
the captives were safely lodged under
guard, truce bearers were sent in by the
tribe to negotiate for the return OF the
captives. Negotiations were reopened
for the surrender Of the Obey
ennes A large party, headed by
White Bull, who wa enwrapped in an
old calico American flag, was allowed to
come into the cantonment to have q talk.
They were also allowed to see and talk with
the captives. After the first days council
it was seen that the Cheyennes were merely
playing a diplomatic game. They were al
lowed to return to report to the rest OF the
tribe still in the field. Their requests that
the squaws be allowed to accompany them
were firmly refused. The warriors, who
had feared q forcible retention, were much
pleased when they were allowed to return
to their tribe. During the previous night
an ominous stiffness reigned among them.
They evidently feared treachery or bad
faith. Next morning the scene was
changed.
They were feeling good. They saddled
their ponies and packed their mules. The
captives were allowed to remain with their
relatives during these preparations. The
young squaw, with q face beaming with
smiles, was saddling her pony, and the
Young buck, her fisncee, was not far away.
She expected to go with the party, but she
was detained with the other captive squaws,
as a hostage for the return of White Bull
and his party in twenty days. A very dis
tinguished young warrior, Buffalo Hump,
also remained a voluntary hostage. The
party moved out in the usual Indian fash
ion, and promised their speedy return with
the rest OF their tribe.
The Young squaw, when she found she
could not 60 with the band, was deeply
grieyed. She could not be made to believe
that they would ever return again. The
sight of her departing lover and her
friends was more thar she could bear. The
Indian, male or female, ia q creature OF
impulse. She drew q small pistol which
she had in some way secreted about her
clothing, and shot herself through the
heart. At the appointed time the Chey-
ennes returned and surrendered. Her
lover came back with them, but he found
his intended squaw dead and buried on the
brink of the Yellowstone. For several
days her mother and relatives gave ex-
preston to their grief in their usual savage
| w~ay-gashing their limbs with knives and
| letting their blood stream upon her grave.
There were also four very determined
| suicides of Indians here in 1880 and 1881.
| The suicides were Cheyennes OF the north.
| They had wounded a cavalry sergeant de-
| tached ON signal duty between Desdwood
and Fort Keogh, and killed a raneher'
| They were captured by a detachment from
| Fort k6OBn, tuEueu oNch W VIC CANi'
| authorities here, and all four confined in
| the same cell. They considered them.
| selves as bad as hanged, and they decided
| to save the Government the trouble OF
| hanging them. They could procure only
| one rope. The first hanged himself. The
| other three took him down, and the second
| had his turn at the rope. He made nc
| botch of the job. Then he was taken
| down and the third hanged himself. The
| third was taken down by the fourth, and
| the last was found hanging and dead by
! the taller next morning.
A Quijotoa, A. t., correspondent says
It ia quite dull here. A 20-stamp mill ii
in the course of construction, and will be
completed in August. A large body Of
| water.has been struck in the we'll, which IL
| five miles from here. AS the mill is 10
Gated here, the water will have to be
pumped up. There 10 nothing going on as
| far IS outside claims are concerned. The
weather is very hot, and not having had
rains, no prospecting will be lone this
Summer.
The champion eater arrived in Hollister'
| CAL, last Saturday, and signalized his ar.
| rival by eating ~twenty-seven raw eggs al
| ono sitting Whan exnoatulated with for