The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1889-01-18
rHs MnnIsaeo RESERVE VAIL Be soLu.
4 Majority of the Indians Sign an Agree
fsesf 10 THIS Effect.

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4 Majority of the Indians Sign an Agree
ssse,t 10 THIS Eject
Winnebago Agency (Neb. special: A
majority of the Winnebaso Indians have
finally signed the agreement to sell a
portion of their reservation adjoining
Emerson on the south. The whole mat.
ter was left entirely to the Indians, there
being no outside influence whatever
brought to bear on them, either for or
against the measure. The most intelli-
gent and enterprising Indians signed the
agreement without any hesitation. but
this was only about one-third of the
necessary signers. Then began the con.
test. and a terrific wa of words. and for
a while it looked as if the CHECKERS"
were going to carry the day, by defeat
ing the proposition. It was only by the
powerful efforts of Gray Wolf and other
leading men that the victory was won.
They stood up before the excited ''kick-
ers" and poured forth flaming speeches,
which, if rightly interpreted, would not
make q bad showing in the halls of con
gress. And the leaders of those kickers
too, were not far behind in their stirring
speeches of resistance, and when they
saw the tide was against them and that
they must submit to the inevitable. they
became frantic. Their utterances were
fraught with the most vehement words
known to their language.
GRA jill ak
Early In the day Gray Wolf led of
with the following speech: "Men of the
Winnebago tribe-I am going to talk q
few minutes to you. / am in favor OF
selling this land. L have given my rea.
sons in former speeches to you. We
have more land than we can use. What
do our opponents wish to do with this
land if we do not sell it. / will tell you
what they want to do with it. They
want it to lie there in idleness for the
raging prairie fires and the cold blasts
of winter to sweep unmolested over it,
instead of having a beautiful city and
pleasant homes reared thereon. We are
now American citizens. We stand be-
fore the world as Recommendations OF
the grandest country that aver existed.
Our Great Father, Grover Cleveland.
has declared that we are now a part OF
this great and powerful nation.
'.Ihen why should we-a mere hand.
full Of beings-stand in the way of the
mighty wheels of progress? Throw
away your old customs and habits OF the
beast and be men not savages."
THE SIGNING BEGINS.
At the conclusion of Gray VOLTS
speech n number or Indians went for
ward and signed, and it soon became
apparent that the required number
would sign, which greatly exasperated
A. I.1a. a. III. .. z-.-
as follows:
1.-THE white men are dirty dogs. They
are cheating us out of Jul lands. Thus
it has always been from the day when
Columbus first put his polluted foot
upon our beloved hunting ground.
They drove us from the ocean shores
and we plunged into the great west
hoping to see them no more. Soon we
heard the woodlands ak and the sound
of the hammer. Again we fled before
their mighty army of emigrants and
again they crowded upon us until to.
day we have but a handful of land left
and they are swarming around us on al
sides. don't want to be a citizen
don't want to be a white man. I wan,
were, and when / die L want to chase
LILO DullhlO dIOuS U1ub lldppy uuuGIll
ground. [ say it again, the white men
the pilgrim fathers were villains; vii.
liam Penn was two-faced and a hypo.
critic. Here are the graves of our ia.
theirs, here and there on every hill tor
they rest in peace. They were brave
men, they fought the ways of the white
men to the last. Hear their voices call.
inn uo,, 70 ho Hryn Soma IF won orc
~cowards-the white men have stopped
your ears and blinded your eyes, and
the spirit of your fathers will haunt you
great commotion and things were warm.
advocates of the measure stepped for.
ward and shook hands with their agent,
Col. Jesse F. Warner and his clerk, w.
A. McKewen, and then began a scorch-
ing answer to the speech of the ".Aick-
en-" He began thus:
AN ANSWER TO KICKERs.
"My friend who has just been talking
is very foolish. His heart is not right.
We must teach him better. Teach him
what a vast thing civilization has done
for America. Columbus was a genius
and the brave men who followed him
were heroes. William Penn was the
truest friend the Indians ever had, and
his teachings and mode of dealing with
the Indians will live to the end of time.
A brave and good man was he. The
white race has always been a friend to
the Indians. At times the whites and
Indians both have been to blame for the
wrongs existing. There is a right side
and a wrong side to everything. Let us
try at all times to choose the right side,
md then our hearts will be good. Let
us sell this wild land that we have no use
for. 1t is not right for us to keep great
tracts of land just to look at. The time
has come when we must work and live
like the whites and abide by their laws.
It is a grand thing to be q citizen, and
to know and feel.that wheresoever. we
may go upon this wide world the Great
Father at Washington will always pro-
tect us against oil iniustices from for
eign nations. Our country is rapidly
drifting on to prosperity. Everywhere
is life and Activity. Why then should
we-a mere drop in the bucket-retard
n single step in the march of civiliza-
ton? Let us sell this surplus land. We
have no use for it. We need the money
to open up our farms. We must learn
to work or starve."
When the speaker set down silence
prevailed for few moments. Presently
the leader of the kickers, who made the
speech above referred to came forward
and with q %stoical look signed the docu-
ment. This completed the victory for
the measure. and the land will be sold.
SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ne Werk Being Done From Dog to Dav n
Botk Rrassehss Of Congress-
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