Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-07-24

January 18th. After that defeat there
was no scarcity of arms or ammunition
in the Indian camp. They had o
than they could use.
just before the embassy went into
the Modoc Chief presence, MI. Steele
said to the newspaper men:
Gentlemen. l want to impress upon
you that, being entirely at the mercy
of these people, we are in a delicate
position. You must leave to Fairchild
and myself the whole business of this
mission. Do not talk to the Indians
or try to watch us closely, and do eX-
actly as we do. Everything must be
conclliatory. Some of these foolish
young chiefs may seem impertincnt, or,
indeed, insult us. We must submit to
any indignity, come how it may. If
Captain Jack asks you who you are it
will be a good point for you to say that
you L the men WHO write for the
of the Great Father, and that his COM
plants will be carefully taken down.
Now, let us be cautious and L believe
there will be no danger"
Everybody trusted Steele and Fair
child, and for once there were gath
cred as quiet, as demure and as un-
ostentatious a lot OF newspaper men as
eyer assembled. There were no at
tempts at interviewing, no bustling
about for pointers, and no button
holing on the quiet in search of
scoops" Each man simply held his
breath and listened. The Modoc
statesmen were one and all freed from
newspaper pertinacity.
Captain Jacks cave was a ssvaulted
chamber of natures make. 1t was
created by volcanic action, and the en-
trance to it was not more than ten
feet wide. The latter was irregular,
and one had to follow a dark and intri-
cate chamber. Once inside, the room
was perhaps sixty feet long by thirty
feet wide. The councilstire Of sage
brush and grease-wood was in full
blast, and around it, sitting on their
launches, were more than one hun
dred Indians. The only squaws pres
ent were Captain Jacks two wives.
one an old pure-blooded Modoc. and
the other a paler-faced and rather
comely woman, evidently possessed of
q strain of white blood. She spoke no
English, however. The '.embassy''
was escorted in by Scar-Faced Charley.
Captain Jack sat in the rear of the cave
on a mat of twigs, and one Of his wives
on either side of him. He looked up as
the party entered, and half smiled at
Fairchild. Then he took Steele's
proffered hand, but he did no rise
from his seat. Then followed hand
shakings all around. If anybody thinks
this was not irksome he had better try
it some time. Six people had each to
shake hands with owe II hundred
Indians, every one armed to the teeth.
Blinded by the smoke of the fire in
the cave, each white stomach some
what disturbed by the noisome smells
from a not too clearly housekeeping,
and, withal, the absolute necessity Of
expressing delight in the face if none
in the heart, imposed a task upon the
Indians guests which required some
exercise Of will. General Candy had
been thoughtful enough to send along
a couple of hundred cigars with which
to aid in subduing the savage soul.
Before another word was uttered Fair
child opened these and distributed
them.
One of the funniest things in aborig-
inal economy is to see an untutored
smoke a cigar. Ed. Fox, of
New York, came near sacrificing the
lives OF the whole Embassy by laughing
Hooka Jim bit his cigar half way
in the middle, put one piece. in his
pocket and stuck the other in his
mouth. elevated at an angle of sixty
degrees.
After the cigars were lighted the In
dians sat in silence several minutes.
The whites were clustered to the left of
Jack, around the council fire. When
Indians are silent it is etiquette to re-
main silent also. Steele and Fairchild
knew this and said nothing, but smoked
away. Presently, without preliminary,
Captain Jack burst into an animated
talk in the Modoc tongue. He spoke
to no one in particular. But the In
dams interrupted him frequently with
grunts and "ughs!" He spoke for five
minutes, perhaps; then, motioning to
one Of his wives, the latter got him a
drink of water.
Another phase of Indian character.
which Steele well understood, is not to
w Nasty ! iSPAy' AuCACAOIC' "AlCu tllC
interpreter had given the substance of
Captain jacks speech. Mr.. Steele pre-
served a dead silence for more than five
minutes. Nothing so pleases an Indian
as to have him believe you are weigh
ing his words and giving great thoughts
to his uttcrances. The Indian is one of
the vaslest of men. When the proper
time arrived Steele began a grandilo-
quent Grafton, which Riddle interpreted
sentence by sentence. He told how the
Great Father had been grievcd at the
conduct of his children, but that, be-
that his children had been i'm
properly treated, had sent a commits
sion of ''hy-as-tyees' to meet Captain
Jack and his braves and do full justice.
The Great Father simply wanted peace.
True, he had sent his soldiers, but only
to guard his ''hy-as-tyees" from i'm
proper treatment by the young and
thoughtless braves among his children.
[Cries of ugh! Ugh."]
This was a hopeful sign, and Steele
went On. Whenever you can get an
Indian to grunt Ugh" he is at least
satisfied with what you say. Steele
then spoke at length on the desire of