Omaha daily bee., 1889-06-19
THEIRS THE PATH OF PEACE.
Arcadian Lines OF the Nations
Wards at Santee Agency.
POOR Lo AS A soIL-TiLLeR.
Hands Which Once Welded the
Deadly Tomahawk Now Guide
the Polished Plow Share-The
War hoop Heard No More.
Civilization Among the snntses.


SANTEE AGENCY, Neb., June A.
Especial to THE BEE. The Santee
band of the Sioux or Dakota Indians
were driven out of Minnesota in 1868
and located at Grow Creek, OAK, but
after three years of fruitless endeavor
to raise crops, on q then barren soil,
and after the government had expended
$500, 900 for their subsistence, they were
again removed to the Missouri bottom
rivers, occupying the land upon which
the town of Niobrara is now built. With
this location they were well pleased,
but here another difficulty was en-
countered. The land had already been
occupied by whites, who had been
driven away by the hostile Indians
from the west, and they again laid
claim to it. The Santees were again
obliged to move-only few miles,
however, and were permanently located
at this place in the summer OF 1867.
They numbered at that time about
one thousand and fifty, mostly women and
children, the male portion of the tribe
having been badly scattered at the close
Of the Minnesota outbreak, when some
of:them were executed and others fled
to the British possessions and to other
tribes.
With this location the Santees opened
a new page in their history. They i'm
mediately went to opening up land,
building houses, and carrying on the
pursuits of the white man, who gradu-
ally lost evil suspicion of his new neigh
bors and all worked in harmony. Dur
ing the past six or eight years the San
tees have made more progress toward
civilization than in any other period of
double that time.
In the spring OF 1885 the heads of
families having completed their selec-
tion of farms, all of the children were
allotted eighty acres each. In April the
remaining portion of the reservation
was restored to the public domain, and
on the 18th OF May was opened to settle
ment. This tract-about thirty thou
sand acres-was, of course, not the
most desirable land, but it was largely
sought for, and the white settlers
rapidly opened up some fine farms.
Roads we're established, school houses
built, and the reservation put on a new
appearance, and soon, wnat had been
but sparsely settled tract, became
prosperous community. From the sale
of their lands in Minnesota the Santees
received about 100000. This in part
has been used in building houses, pur-
chasing horses, stock, seed grain, etc.,
and has aided them greatly. They still
have about s27 900 of this trust fund re-
naming. They have at present about
one hundred and twenty comfortable
houses, and will build twenty more this
summer. These houses are built en-
tirely OF Indian labor, and they are as
we'll built as any OF those of their white
neighbors.
In having good and honest agents APP
pointed for them the Santees have been
fortunate from the beginning. Each
change has brought man more capable
and better acquainted with Indian ma
ture than his predecessor, For the past
four years the agency has been in
charge OF Charles Hill, who for many
years was general superintendent of the
agency. His sixteen wears OF service
here among the Santees has admirably
qualified him for the work, and prob
ably no man in the Indian service has a