The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-11-08
SITTING BULL HAS BEEN CONVERTED.
He Believes In tho Coming of the
Indians Messiah,
When Red Men Will See the Earth
Swallow the Whites
And Dead AborIeines and RuffaIoes
VIII So Resurrected.

ST. PAUL, Mimi, November 7.-Major
General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A, COM
mander of the Military Division of the Mis-
souri,, arrived in st. Paul yesterday, and in
the course Of a long conversation made some
interesting statements regarding the causes
and nature Of the religious craze now exist
ing among the Indian tribes of the West.
II have been out In Utah, Montana and the
Cheyenne reservation" said General Miles,
investigating this craze. You have no
doubt heard that the Indian tribes in the
districts have mentioned, are reported to
believe that Messiah has come who is to
restore them to their former glory. bring
back the buffalo and drive the whites from
the land. have learned that this belief ex-
lists among the various tribes of Sioux, Che
tribes. In all, the craze has extended to 16
tribes, the Snake indians being the only
ones to repudiate 1t. There is no doubt but
that many of the Indians holding this belief
in the Indian Messiah are sincere, and some
few have certainly seen some person whom
they took to be that Messiah. Several par
ties of Indians have gone westward from
their tribes to some point which, as near as
can locate, is in Nevada, and there they
have been shown somebody disguised as the
Messiah ana have spoken with him. am
inclined to believe that there is more than
one person impersonating this Messiah. as
when Sioux have spoken with him he has
replied IN the Sioux language, and to Black
feet he has spoken their tongue, and SO on
with the representatives of each nation or
tribe, speaking their own language to each.
II cannot state positively who is response
pie for this imposition, but it is my belief
the Mormons are the prime movers in il.
Ihls is not hard statement to believe. for
there are 100000 Mormons, and they them-
selves claim to believe in prophets and spir-
ltual manifestations, and they even now
claim tc hold intercourse with the spirit of
Joe Smith. Besides, they have had mission
aries at work among the Indians for many
years, and have made many converts"
DO you think this new belief of the In
diaus will lead to an outbreak and blood
shedp"
81 do not think SO, but where an ignorant
race of people become religious fanatics it is
hard to tell just what they will do 1t is
noteworthy, however, that this so-called
Messiah tells the Indians that when he comes
to reign over them firearms will
no longer be used or necessary. lie tells
them also that with his coming the dead In
dians will all be raised to life, the buffalo
will return, and he will draw line behind
then he will roll the earth back upon the
whites. This has naturally excited the In
dians, and large numbers have accepted a
new belief. Among those who have done so
none are more ardent than Sitting Bull. who
is intensely Indian in all his ideas. Those
who have seen the impostor say he is muf-
fled up and disguised so that they do not see
his face, but l believe that he is full
blooded white. The argument the Indians
use in discussing the matter is that the
whites have had their Messiah and the In
dams now have theirs"