Arizona weekly citizen., 1890-07-26
A BIG CHIPPEWA CHIEF.
HE GUT A WIDE SWATH AROUND
 ST. oAUL IN EARLY DAYS.

6ole-In-the-Day and His Career-A Speo& men of His Magnificent Nerve-T The Chiefs Descendants-A Minnesota Pio- neer's ReD,fEiscences.
 The reminiscent strain is quite a geD- eral and generous one with Mai. T. M
 Sewson. Among the interesting and his tOrical stories in his fund of such is csr,
 of the noted Chippewa chief, Hole-in- | she-Day, with whom he, in company
 with other early settlers of St. Paul, was pe4>Onally we'll acquainted. The story.
 in his owr language, is as follows: Whilc Uitting in a small office in tlrs old Fort Smelling house, St. Paul, Minn..
 n the year 1853, my attention was aI-
 rested by the imposing presence of large Indian chief, who, with his blanket about him, strode into the room with the dignity of a Roman senator. He was a large man, with high cheek bones, a
 well poised head, brilliant black eyes snd hair, and with a pleasant smile he
 exclaimed while passing: 'Booshu ne- shee"-how to do, friend?-and took a seat near me. There was a massive characteristic about the man which did not belong to the ordinary Indian, and ret he had all the Indian peculiarities DIDN'T LESSEN HIS APPETITE. Dinner was soon announced, and he took seat near me at the table. He ate with ordinary deliberation and slowed away an ordinary amount of food, but
 while so engaged one of the windows
 Tas suddenly darkened, and on looking up beheld many grimy faces and burn- Ing eyes, with war paint and feathers, the pOssessors of which belonged to the Sioux nation, and which nation had been for years and was then at war with the Chippewas. Cleaning knives and par sially covered tomahawks made my DO sitiOn by the side of the Chippewa chief rather uncomfortable, so I moved; but he continued to eat, and then the door opened and some ten or twelve Sioux wlrriors filed along in front of tine foe Of their people, with clinched rifles and hearts glowing with revenge. Still calm, with not muscle of his mobile face de noting fear, the chief finished his dinner cOOlly arose, drew his blanket about him, and with a lOrdly tread, a compressed lip and a flashing eye, walked down in front of these hostile Sioux, and lighting his pipe, deliberately puffed the smoke Into the very faces of his inveterate foes. That man was Hole-in-the-Day, the chief of the ChipF@wa nation, and the Sioux warriors were on his warpath, but they feared the white mans troops at Fort Smelling would dart down upon them the moment blow had been given, so they restrained their wrath and let the great Sliief depart unmolested.
 Hole-in-the-Day was an Indian of re- markable sagacity and intelligence. He associated with the whites and compre hended tlsir ideas of civilization. He was very willy and very brave, and greatly feared by his enemies It is said of him that he would float down the Mississippi river in his canoe to St. Paul, paddle across the stream to the opposite shore, secrete his boat, lay in wait for the Sioux, who were in the habit of fol lowing the trail to Mendota, then pouncf down upon them, kill one or two, secure their scalps and make his way back to l the east shore and thence home He | visited Washington several times, and ! became .ery we'll versed in the ways of | tricksters and politicians. Once. while | nn vist to the capital, he fell in love ! with white waiter girl iu the National ! hotel, proposed to her, was accepted, and 1 they were married. He came west, re paired his home near Fort Ripley, in | stalled his wife in his tepee as the white Indian queen, and soon after he was as sassinated while riding home with his | little son, probably growing out of the insane jealousy of his squaws.
 HIS TWO SONS.
 This white widow of Hole-in-the-Day lives at present, or did live, in Minneap- oils, where her son held position in the postoffice, but I believe he is now in | some official position on the White Earth reservation. Ignatius HOle-in- -the-Day, the eldest brother, and heir apparent to the chieftainship, was drowned in the Illinois river in Chicago about one yeaf ago. Of course he was full blood. His brother, or rather his half-bTother, the son of the white wife, is fine, genteel well educated young man, and quite at tractive in his appearance. The head men of the tribe have been anxious to have him take the place of his father, bat in an interview with me he said, while he would like to do something for his people, he could not go from civiliza. :ion back into the habits of the Indians, as he would be obliged to do to hold any power over them.
 The chief, HOle-in-the-Day had mag nificent physical organization. He was very straight, quite dignifed, and yet very affable, and withal he was very generally liked by the whites. During the Sioux outbreak in AIinnesOtS in 1869 he had overtures from Little Crow, the great Sioux chief, to join with him in nassacreing the whites, but he declined the honor, although some of his people were anxious to have him do so. St. Paul, in early times, without Hole-in the-Day, would be like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out.