Bismarck weekly tribune., 1888-07-27
They Will Oppose the Opening of a
Portion of Their Reserva-
tion to Settlement.
They Claim That Former Treaties
With Them Have Been Broken
by the Whites.
The Indians Have a Private Confer.
ence and Unanimously Decide
to Oppose the Treaty.
Sitting Bull Supposed to he Sowing
Dynamite Among the Indians
of the Other Agencies.
The Great Conference To-day

The Great Conference To-day.
STANDING Rock AGENCY, OAK, July
There is much excitement
on the reservation, now that the commits
sion has arrived and ready to begin its
missionary work. Nearly the entire 5000
Indians Of this agency are camped within
two miles OF Fort Yates and additions to
their numbers are arriving hourly. The
willy Sioux braves have not waited to meet
the commission to discuss the situation,
but at 4 o'clock this evening they formed
an immense circle on the prairie, and
never in the history Of the tribe were more
eloquent or more stirring speeches made
by the dusky orators. Without regard to
the merits of the proposition made by the
government, and with no definite under
standing of the proposed treaty, the tribes
gathered here
OPPOSE THE OPENING OF THE REsERvA-
TON.
Sitting Bull, the famous medicine man,
who made the medicine for the Custer mas
sacre, is the only we'll known Indian snot
present, and several policemen have been
riding over the reservation in pursuit of
him for four days. News was received
here to-day that he will be brought back
tomorrow. He left the agency for hunt,
but it is believed the sly old trickster has
been at work among the Indians of other
agencies sowing seeds of discord and urg-
ing them to oppose the measure. Know
ing that the conference with the commits
si0ners will be held tomorrow, the In
the center of their vast city of tents which
were pitched at daylight yesterday morn
ing they formed the circle. which was
composed OF wagons, ponies and
NEARLY FOUR THOUSAND ORATORS,
for nearly every one of them seemed
loaded with oratorical fire. The council
was kept secret from the whites, but
your correspondent, with a friendly in
terpreter, was present. The Indians Sc
lected Chiefs Gaul, John Grass, Mad Bear,
Big Head and Running Antelope as their
orators for tO-mOrrOw's conference.
"John Grass" the chief justice of the
Sioux court was the first to speak. He adj
vised the Indians to be careful in what
they say to the commissOn, and no matter
what is said, to make no decision until ma
ture consideration. He said, "the treaties
made before by the whites have been bruk-
en- by them. think these men sent out
by the great father to make this treaty
about our land have come for some pur-
pose. The government will support us for
twenty five years, and after that time we
will have to pay taxes and will be very
poor.'
CAN NEVER GET THE LAND BACK.
Mad Bear, another of the great chiefs
said: "These commissioners have come to
talk with us about onr land. They come
here with an interpreter and we must have
one to look after our interests. You have
chosen four of us to do the talking for the
tribes and we will work hard. Do not for
get, fellow warriors, that if you sign this
paper giving away your lands you can
never get 1t back again. No matter how
Mad Bear repeated that the whites had
broken all former treaties with the Indians
and at the close of his speech there were
numerous grunts Of applause from the cir
Gle.
Up to this time the council had been
quiet and comparatively cold. The ap-
plause which is given by grunts and gut
teral explosions was mild, but when Mad
Bear took his seat and Chief Gaul arose
majestically,
THE INDIANS WENT WILD.
Gaul is the handsomest and most COM
manding Indian of the tribe, and as field
general led all the brilliant manouvres
during the Custer campaign for which Sit
ting Bull was given credit. He is unques-
tionably the finest living Indian orator and
his speech to-day is pronounced by the in
terpreters to be the most eloquent ever de.