Omaha daily bee., 1886-10-05
A CONCLAVE INDIAN STORY.
Attended with Very Interesting Results
The Lost Found.
Mr.. S. II. Bcichcr, of st. Louis, Finds a
Relative Who, Twenty Years
Ago, Then Little Girl, Was
stolen by the Indians,

n second occurrence in addition to the re-
union of the Miller brothers, as a result
of the conclavc, and which followed in
its wake coming to light yesterday. The
| incident referred to was the passing of u
casual observation, which led to the re.
counting of experiences and ultimately
to the discovery of one who for years
| had been given up for lost. One of the
persons most deeply interested is Mr.. $.
L. Bclcher, manager of the French Sill.
vering Glass company, of tins city.
Like many others, forced to leave his
hotel in order to make room for Il knight
templar, he secured room in an up.
town residence, and was requested by his
laudlady to allow two sir knights to oc.
cupy the same compartment with him for
n week or two. He checrfully consented,
and on their arrival naturally engaged
them in conversation, and cndcavored
to make them feel ut home. One even.
ing in the latter part of last week during
one of their conversations, the subject
turned on Indians. One of the SIR
knights remarked that he had lived
among them for six years and was deep
ly struck with their Intelligence. This
conversation made n strong impression
on Mr. Bolcher, and at the dinner table
the following day he repeated what the
Sir Knight said in regard to the Indians,
a lady who sat opposite quickly spoke up
and said that she agreed with the person
who had said that the good Indian was
the dead Indian" This remark, coming
from n lady OF very evident refinement
naturally excited surprise and she quick
ly said: 81 was captive among them
for three years, so | have good reasons
tor my opinion" All eyes were at once
turned on the lady as she made this last
remark and as she was pressed on all
sides to tell her story She at last con-
sentcd.
woOED BY A SIOUX CHIEF.
She said that upward of twenty-eight
years ago, when she was a girl of IL
years of age, she left her home in New
York City to visit some friends at a fort
on the frontier. While there she saw Il
great deal of the Indians as they were
daily visitors at the fort They were
greatly attracted toward her, and her
beautiful auburn tresses especially inter-
estcd them. The color seemed to be TO
them good medicine, and they begged
ft6f ic5ns i o. H. II ;,s ~ Would insure 10 .nem
good luck on the war-path. One young
Sioux chief did not coniine himself to n
single lock- but requested the whole
head, as well rs her hand His aspira-
tions were cruelty checked, but he, rs
we'll as other members of the tribe, still
continued to lavish on her presents of
beads and trinkets of various kinds. This
went on for some time, until one day in
October the little girl took her basket,
left the fort and trotted Off to the woods
to gather butternutS. While thus en-
gagged, her too ardent friend, the rejected
chief, stole stealthily upon her, and be-
fore she was aware OF it her head was
enveloped in a blanket she was lifted to
the back of Il horse and rapidly carried
the tribe was cncamped, she
was received with great respect
and treated with extreme kindness. The
tribe at once moved off with their captive.
and during the entire three years she was
with them they moved from place to
place, never remaining at any one for
any length of time. Vainly did the poor
vainly dld she wait for rescuing party
to come to her assistance. During all
this time she was well treated by her
captOrs, and never once did they offer
any lndignity to her. In their furious
bursts of passion she witnessed many
cruel and vengeful acts on their part, but
never were these acts directed towards
her. She was, as it were, queen among
them, so far as treatment went, but was
nevertheless placed under the strict
surveillance of the squaws of the tribe.
When travelling she was never forced to
walk, but was always gwen seat on II
pole carriage or in rough ground carried
on the shoulders of stout buck. Not
withstanding their kindness to her she
hated them violently, and never ceased
to long for her freedom. From being II
plump, stout, rosy girl she became
almost n living skeleton.
A RESCUlNG PARTY.
When she had been with them about
three years they were encamped some
where in the Rockies. Her tent was
pitched against tail cliff. down which
ran little stream of water, and which
also ran through under the tent. While
she was sitting there in the company of
several squaws one day, she suddenly
heard shouts out among the hills. The
shouts were Immediately followed by
shots, and she knew that n conflict of
some kind was going on. A few squaws
rushed into the tent, gave few orders
seized the trembling captive, threw her
on the ground, covered her with pile of
furs. and, Judging from the weight, she
concluded they must have sat on her. 1t
was with the utmost dl liiculty that she
could breathe, and she thinks she would
never have lived to tell this story had it
not been that she was within reach of the
Siilul ihu tliulcNi ubl w
mosten her parchcd throat and lips.
Soon she heard the squaws who had gone
out return, and after an interval of
deathlike silence she was almost enrap-
tured by hearing what she had given up
all hopes of ever again listening to-her
own language. The welcome words
spoke the following; We'll, boys, guess
we might as well take this pile of furs
along too" With this they gathered up
the furs, and their astonIshment can be
readily imagined when they came to the
almost inaminatc form lying ON the
ground. She was quickly restored, and
learned that her captors had been almost
completely annihilated, only Two or three
escaping. Her rescuers were a military
party who were travelling eastward.
HUNTING HER OLD HOME.
On arriving again in civilization the
| girl, whose name was Mary Otis, at once
| set about gaining information of her par
| ents. Every trace of them seemed to be
| lost. Whether they were living or dead
she could not discover, She no sooner
| obtained clue to their whereabouts than
something arose to destroy it. and in this
way she continued her effort to find
them, but never succeeded. Gradually
| she brought herself to consider all her
friends as gone, and to look upon herself
as alone and friendless in the world. But
| she was free and among civilized Deople