The National tribune., 1885-06-04

| thing for himself gets the most rations, while
! the men who are industrious and thrifty get
much of the inducements taken away from
| them, because the Government docs not treat
| them as we'll as the worthless shriftiess ones.
| The Indians arc like great. overgrown chill
dren in many things, and any thing that looks
! like reward and appreciation IS highly priced
| by them"
"Do you really think the Indian will make
| good worker" the Father Was asked
90 yes, indeed. None better if he is prop
! erly managed and shown that his labor accom-
plishes something One OF the first things
| did at Standing Rock was to get the military TO
| buy their wood of me- They had formerly
| hal the wood used at the forts cut by contract.
| | set the Indians to work cutting wood, and
! paid them the contractors price for 1t. They
! supplied all that was necessary, and were well
| satisfied with the money paid them, which
| they, as a rule, made good use of | taught the
| men mems work, aud the Sisters of Charity who
! were attached to the mission taught the girls
| and women how to do housework and sewing.
you must have had some interesting ex-
! perenccs in your work there?'
| 20. yes, indeed Any quantity of them.
One rather comical sight l remember was one
day when l drove out 10 see how an old CHIEF
was getting along with his crop OF potatoes. 1t
| was very hot day, and when | arrived at his
farm found the old gentleman, who is over
six feet high and as straight rs an arrow, at
wOrk III MS potato uclu nOSiIS away, Nieh hoe
a speck of clothing on except q belt which was
| around his body and held over his head an nm-
brella to protect him from the blazing sun. One
| great trouble found there was the passion OF
the Indians for dancing. They will leave any
thing to go to dance, and they are as intem-
| perate in their indulgence in this form OF ex-
| ercse as fashionable young lady. They over
heat themselves, colds follow, and Indian
| consumption, as it is called, sets in. This
is independent of the bad effect it has upon
| their work. l found that / had to hu-
NOR them, aud SO 1 used to make an
| agreement with them that if they would
work well they should have dance, say once
| month"; and got them SO completely under
my control that have at times stopped hum
dreds of them who were on their way to a
! dance and ordered them to go back to their
| homes, which they did like a lot of children at
the command Of their parents. One day was
| sitting in my tent, when a runner came In say
ing there was fight in progress over several
miles from my house l Immediately drove
over there as rapidly as | could and found sharp
| battle in progress. 1t seems that the Mandans,
Arickaries and Crows had come down to make
peace but as they carried their guns my In
| dians had thought their mission was warlke
one and opened fire On them as soon as they
| came in sight. l drove down between the lines
and succeeded first in getting my men to stop
| firing. and then with some little trouble i'm
silencing the fire of the others, but not until
! there had been some IL of my men killed and
| proportionate loss Oh the other side. l got
them to fraternize and then nothing would do
| but dance; but l interrupted their prepare
! tions with demand to know if the dead had
/ been buried. No, they said, they had not, and
no one was in a mood for attending a funeral.
| Then they wanted TO dance, but was firm and
would not let the dance proceed until the dead
/ had been properly inferred, which was done !;
then the fun-making was allowed to go on. l
| found that it was almost useless TO attempt to
teach them religion until we had taught them
some of the elements Of civilization. The first
thing always WAS to get them interested in
peaceful pursuits and in supporting themselves,
then You can teach religion with some hope of
success.
Sitting Bull and his band was part of my
charge for year, and he told me the story of
the fight he had with Custer. He said: Be-
fore the fight with Custer | had filled my pipe
and held it up before me toward the sun and
promised the Great Spirit that | would never
make war again. We had heard that Yellow
Hair (meaning Custer was coming up our way,
! but We had received orders to go hunting. We
had at that time but very little ammunition,
and were moving along hardly expecting any
attack. My runners came in and said that
Yellow Hair was coming with the soldiers. We
gathered the women together in rayine, aud
the soldiers came right in On us, and without
any talk at all fired at US. They killed squaw
and some pappooses This made my young men
very angry. | said to them then for each man
to pick out 4 soldier and kill him,-not to waste
any shots, but make sure and each man kill his
man, and they did so. We would not have
been SO angry if they had not shot the sGuaw
and children in the first place. Yellow Hair
did not have his long hair when he came into
the fight, and we did not know that it was he,
or that we had killed him until the soldiers
afterwards told us that we had
What do you think OF Sitting Bull, Father;
is he really great man and a commander"
mo. On the contrary, | regard him as quite
an ordinary man, and one that is very liable to
be pulled up by vanity, as he was after his vic
tory over Custer. | also knew Rel quite we'll"
What do you think Of him?" was asked.
" Riel is a good man, and man Of much
ability
what was the trouble that caused his fe-
bellion?"
at is the same trouble that we are having
out West with the cattle owners. The great
cattle companies come over from England and
Scotland and grab up all the available lands,
driving the half breeds and other settlers off.
They have the right to homestead there the
same as our people, but the cattle ranchcrs
would not permit this, and the consequence
was the rebellion"
That is fine country out there, is it not ?"
Very fine indeed. 1t is one of the grandest
! spots on earth for agricultural purposes and
| however. The masketos are awful pests, and
/ every sort Of vermin seems TO thrive as
well as plant life. They believe that the cot
! tonwood out there generates the bed bugs, of
| which there Is an enormous quantity every
| where. When the Bishop caHic out TO see me
| he was worried almost 10 death by the insects
that preyed upon him, and there seems to be
/ no relief"
Father Malo, a French priest, who has
| spent all his life among the Indians and is now
| i'll charge of the mission on Turtle Mountain
/ near Devils Lake, has been visiting Father
! Stephan for some time aud has returned to his
! charge. He has about 800 Indians under his
control, and reports gratifying progress in the
! way of civilization They have schools, at which
| the little Indians are taught the elements of
in which the Sisters of Charity teach the young
! squaws the household arts. Father Malo's
mission to Washington is TO secure the erection
| of saw and grist mill at his mission At pres
| ent all the wheat has to be taken across the
! Canadian line to be ground. The revenue
| officers there make them pay duty as wheat
| and then when it comes back they have to pay
! duty as flour, which makes il very hard for the
Indians He will probably secure the mill he
desires from the Interior Department Like
| Father Stephan he is genial, hearty man with
much tact in dealing with Indians, and ami
mated by sincere desire to benefit Them He
| is an enthusiastic American citizen. and is as
! sangune as TO the future Of Dakato as any of
! the people who have gone out there with the
firm expectation of developing the region into
tho pta,ueSt State IA he Naf;nn