The Portland daily press., 1890-09-29

4
reap rich harvest This argument mas
prevailed, and you will be permitted 10
finish your exploration unmolested'
other white men come into this valley
they must take their chances:
"Capt. Paige asked McLain II ne mad re-
strained his people because he knew that
he Paige) was in the party, ana McLain
answered that he had. Several days be-
fore tbis he had recognized Paige as an
| old classmate by the aid of his field
glass. one of the few instruments of civ
| ilization which he had chung to, and one
which had helped him amazingly in ac-
curing renown and influence among the
Apaches. McLain refused to tell Paige
the name by which he was known
among the Indians, and parried further
inquiry concerning himself with ques-
tions about what had been going on in the
world of civilization. AS suddenly and
mysteriously as he had appeared, Nc
Lain then gave the signal to his follow
ers, and the visitors rose and filed out
of the camp into the darkness.
capt. Paige was unable to learn
much more about our old classmate at
West Point" continued Gen. Wilcox
HE made inquiries in various directions,
but could only ascertain that there was
white chief among the Mojaves, a
great war chief on whom the native
chieftains relied for leadership in their
struggles with the troops. One of the
scouts attached to the exploring expedi-
ton reported that he had engaged one of
McLain's followers in such conversation
as his small knowledge of Apache would
permit the night of the strange visit,
and had learned that McLain was known
among the Mojaves as Chief White
Bull At least the scout thought it
was White Bull He knew that it was
Bull, but he was not SO certain of the
prefix.
"That was in 1868. In 1867 there was
a pitched battle between the Mojaves
and detachment of troops in the Gila
river country. The troops were defeat
ed, and defeated because of the mastery
tactics displayed by the Indians. The
officers were surprised and astounded at
the familiarity with the art of war dis
played by their foe, and were at loss
to account for it till they heard rumors
that the Mojave war chief, or captain,
was an ex-cadet at West Point military
academy. This engagement was de-
scribed in recent number of The Cent
ury Magazine, and in that article the
writer, one of the officers who was in
the battle, pays high tribute to the mill
tary skill displayed by his unknown an
tagonist.
"This is all know positively of the
career Of Bison McLain," Gen. Wilcox
went on. "But have reasons for be-
heving that he left the southwestern
country and moved into the northwest.
The Mojave Apaches have been pretty
well broken up, and if McLain had con-
tinued to reside with them he would
have been uncovered. Had he met with
death in the tribe some traditions of the
taking off of such a unique and noted
character would be likely to exist among
his fellows~or in the annals of the from
tier. What more natural than that Nc
Lain, perceiving the gradual encroach-
ment of the whites on the Arizona coun-
try, and discovering the miserable char
acter of the Indians among whom he had |
cast his lot, and perhaps firing of the |
family ties which he had formed, should |
seek to better his condition and enlarge |
his influence by seeking alliance with the |
nobler Indians of the Yellowstone, the |
Black Hills and the Big Horn-the war
like Sioux?
"That is just what McLain did. in my |
opinion. | firmly believe that Bison |
McLain, expelled from West Point, a |
fugitive from Galveston, was chief of |
the Mojave Apaches, migrated to the |
Sioux country and became the famous |
Sitting Bull. We have no photographs
of Sitting Bull, as he has always refused |
to sit before camera, claiming that to |
be bad medicine, unlucky; but such |
sketches as we have of him show a strik- |
ing resemblance between his head and |
faao a,,1 Tho hao1 n-.5 f..--. ---l-:- -
West Point led us to nickname their |
owner Bison McLain. 1t is said Sitting |
Bull is a medicine chief and not war |
chief at all, but how erroneous this is |
must appear from consideration of his |
great campaigns in the last fifteen years. |
Were Custer alive he would not say Sit |
ting Bull was a medicine chief. Custer
found to his cost that Sitting Bull knew |
the art of war. Crook learned the same |
thing. There has always been mystery |
about Sitting Bull, and believe if it |
could be cleared up he would be found |
to be none other than my old friend Nc |
Lain. Maj Mclaughlin, of the army, |
tells me in his opinion Sitting Bull is |
white man, and familiar with both |
French and English. My friend Col. |
Taylor, of this city, has written little |
book to show that Sitting Bull was a
white man, educated by the Jesuits in |
Canada. That would account for his
knowledge of English and French, BUTT |
would not account for his familiarity
with the art of war as taught at West
Point-a familiarity which has enabled
him to anticipate precisely what his foe,
the United States troops, would do at
any particular crisis"
Gen. Wilcox is one of the most promi-
nent citizens of Washington. He was
strongly urged upon President Harrison
few days ago for appointment to the
vacant commissionership of the District
of Columbia. He is nearly related to
ex-Attorney General Garland.
A little romance in Gen. Wilcox's life
is worth mentioning. He and the late
Gen. George B. cClellan were as young
men fast friends. Both loved the same
young lady. Magnanimously Gen. Will
cox stepped aside, and left the way clear
to q union between his friend and the
woman he loved. Mcclellan did marry
the girl, and Mcclellan and Wilcox
were warm friends as long as the former
lived.
W. W.