Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-12-04
EIGHT INDIANS HUNG.


Massacre Executed at Battleford.
A Winnipeg dispatch says: Eight
Indians were hanged in Battleford at
s:2s a. M, Friday, for completely in
murders committed last spring. Three
others had been sentenced, bat there
was q communication in one case, and
Dressyman and Charlsbois, the In
dams who killed q crazy squaw, had
respite. The carrying out of the
sentences passed has been greeted
with great satisfaction by the white
residents, who have no sentimental
sympathy for the redskins who did
plundering and numbering. 1t is be-
lieved the executions will have q
wholesome effect on the Indian tribes
and tend largely to the preservation
of peace. The hangings were con-
Quoted publicly and were witnessed by
q large number of whites and a few
Indians. No trouble occurred. In
their last hours the condemned In
dams were attended by priests. All
confessed their crimes, and appeared
to be Indifferent as to their fate. For
several days previous to the execution
uneasiness was observed among the
Indians. It was reported that the
Blackfeet were on the move and in
sympathy with the Indians in the
Battleford district. In fact, a report
was raised that the Blackfeet were not
far distant. Consequently, as pre-
cautionary measure, the sentries
around the barracks were doubled, and
mounted men patrolled to consider
able distance above the town. A few
Indians from each reserve were col
lected to witness the execution of
their countrymen, so that by seeing
they might be convinced that the con-
demned were actually hanged. The
eight prisoners were placed on trap
and chanted the death song of their
tribes. They wore an air of indiffer-
ence and bore the ordeal firmly. There
was some little delay, but at S:2S
o'clock the trap fell, the eight Indians
came crushing downward and in few
minutes all was over. There was no
bungling and no unsightly scenes.
The Indians present made no demon
stration and appeared 10 be impressed
by the fate of their companions, Dur
ing the night an alarm occurred, one
of the sentries being fired upon and
receiving a bullet hole through the
hat. The battery turned out and sent
a volley in the direction of his assail-
ants, but so far as known nobody was
hurt.
The names of the eight culprits
were Wandering Spirit, Bad Arrow,
Miserable Man, Iron Body. Little
Bear, Round the Sky, Man Without
Blood and Ikta. OF these eight, seven
we're active participants in the massa-
ere at Frog Lake April 8, last. The
work was commenced by Wandering
Spirit and afterward carried on under
his direction until the white people of
the Frog Lake settlement were almost
exterminated. The tragedies were be-
lieved to be consequence of REELS
uprising, and these Indians belonging
to Big Bears band attempted to put a
stop to the white mans reign and as
sert their own sovereignty over the
land. Thomas w. Quinn, the Indian
agent, was the first to fall. He was
shot down like a dog by Wandering
Spirit. Young Gouin, John Delaney,
Gowenlark, the Miller Dill, Willis
craft, and Fathers Marchand aud Fa-
fard were brutality murdered in rapid
succession. 1t was the most horrible
feature of the whole rebellion. The
savages were tried before ard con-
demned by Judge Rouleau. Man
Without-Blood was sentenced for kill
ing Bernard fremont, q rancher, near
Battleford, and Ikta, Stony Indian,
for the murder of James Payne, farm
instructor on the Steny reserve.