St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-03-10
SHAW-BOSH-KING.
The Death OF the Oldest OF the
Mile laos Chiefs.

Mile laos Chiefs.
LITTLE FALLS, Feb. 5.-Shaw .Bosh-
King, the oldest Mile Laos chief, died
at his home at the outlet of the lake,
with the grip. Several more are sick
at the reservation. The chiefs brother
is down with it, and is not expected to
iive.-Daily Paper.
The above paragraph filled my heart
with sorrow. l have known Shaw-Bosh-
King thirty years. He asked me to
come and see him. My visit was in the
dead of the winter. | went on foot
from Crow Wing, and [ shall never for
get the long, Wearisome tramp in deep
snow, the camps made in snowbanks.
and the bitter winter cold. Shaw
BOsh-King received us as king,
dignified, courteous and eloquent even
in his poverty. l am sure his heart was
touched, and he has always been my
friend. In 1862 Little Crow sent a let
Ter of friendship to his old enemy, Hole
in-the-D Day, which [ read. 1t was a
warning for Hole-in-the-Day to look out
for some Sioux warriors who had gone
after Chippewa scalpS. He said: 81
tried to keep them back as | agreed"
This was the same party who killed the
whites at Acton. HOe-in-the-Day was
sullen, discontinued and smarting under
Wrongs. He sent messages to all the
scattered bands Of Chippewa with to-
bacco and asked their help in war. Old
Falmouth saved the whites at Leech
Lake. Our Indian minister, e II
megahbowh and Chief Bad-boy sent
runners to misunderstanding and
urged him to show his friendship for
the whites, and come with all the war
riOrS he could muster to Fort Ripley.
The chief came promptly. and | doubt
if ever beleaguered garrison gave
their deliverers warmer welcome
The venerable DR.. Gear, the chaplain
OF the post, wrote me at the time let
ter of grateful love, and said: ave owe
our lives to these good lndianS and their
noble chief" The commissioner of In
dian affairs was at Fort Ripley, and
made prOfuse promises Of the love, graf
itude and protection of the great father.
If my memory serves me the iegisla-
tuIe expressed its sense of gratitude.
When the ChippewaS coded their lands
a clause was put into the treaty that
for their friendship the Mile Laos In
dianS shall never be removed so long as
they remain at peace with the whites.
Snaw-UoSh king and his fellow chiefs
always declared that they had not sold
their lands. 1t would have been better
if these Indians had been removed
twenty years ago to White Earth. They
were then ready to entrr on civilization
and, like the Mile Laos Indians, who
did remove, would have been leaders of
their people. have no heart to de-
scribe the years which have passed,
years of neglect on the part Of the gov
eminent, and years of degradation and
sorrow which have dragged these poor
red men down to depth of anguish and
sorrow their fathers had never known.
Yet all these years there are those who
know this history and who will drop
tear over this new-made grave. Shaw
DOSh-klng was a natural orator and was
as keen, sharp and witty as any one who
ever graced the halls of legislature.
Years ago, in the dark days of our In
dian affairs, the president sent q man
from Washington to make treaty with
these Indians. He had marked out
strip of country north of Leech lake and
Winnebegoshesh for their home. lie
asked me to help him. said: 81 have
travelled over the country. 1t is the
poorest land in Minnesota for farming,
There is no game there. The Indians
are not fools. They will never accept
it. Don't try; you will come to grief"
The agent called a council. In grand,
eloquent address he tOl | the Indians
how their great father had looked in
the North, the East and the West to
find all honest man. "When he saw
me he said | have found him and he
shall go To make a treaty with my red
children Look at me, my red brothers.
have lived in this world fifty-fiye years
and the winds of fiftyfive years have
silvered my head over with gray. In all
that time [ have never Wr0nged man.
tell you to be wise and sign this treaty |
4 Ghs,yx -I,Oc N hi
said: "My friend, look at me. The |
winds of fitty-fiye winters have blown |
over my head and siyered it over with |
gray, but they have not blown my |
brains away" Once party OF sur |
vey0rs and proSpect0rS were lost and |
came out to misunderstanding village, |
they told him of their hunger and |
asked for food. In those days Shaw
bosh-kiu was prosperous. He told his |
wife to cook dinner, and when ready |
misunderstanding and wife and children |
sat down and leisurely ate, leaving the |
hu ngry white men as wall flowers. |
After dinner he had another good din
ner prepared and the table laid, and |
chief said: do you know why l did |
not ask you to eat with me? When l
was in Washington the Great Father |!
said to me, If you would be happy in |
this world and go to the good place
when you die. keep your eyes open and
see what the white man does and do
the same / noticed that the
white man never asked the poor
man to come to his table, and if
OF another colored skin he would not
receive him as friend. You are the
poor men to-day and you are of another
color. don't want TO lose my chance
of the good home, and so asked you to
eat at the second table,"
Poor Shaw-bosh-king has gone to his |
grave. He had sad, weary life; he |
suffered great wrongs. j am afraid it
kept the Door man from accepting the
religion of the white man. He was
child Of Our Father-a poor, wandering. |
weary child, but we can leave him !
where we have left many of life's
troubles, TO Une who doeth all well.
We shall always have green place in
our memory for an Indian chief who
was every inch hero.
NIrrnDrU pichnY re Mirpacafo 4