davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Nueer Gunshot Mounds.

Lieut.. Muncie, of the Sixty-frst Georgia
regiment" said Capt. Tip to an Atlanta
Constitution reporter, was one of the most
remarkable men l ever knew. He was a
slender, adaverous-looking man, with APP
parently no physical strength, yet he lived
through what would Lave killed a dozen
ordinary men, and is alive to-day. In the
early part Of the war he was shot through
and through. The ball struck the breast
bone and shattered it, passed through his
bouy and came out within nm inch Of his
gle for life he recovered and r%ejoiued his
regiment. At the battle of Monocacy
creek he was again wounded, the ball en-
tering between the corresponding ribs on
the other side of the spine and issuing
from the same hole that the first ball en-
tered at. The second shot must have taken
the passage inside Muncie's body that the
first ball made III going in the opposite d.
%rection. He was in prison with me later,
and appeared to suffer no unusual pain."-
Lieut.. Leath was another man with q re-
markable experience. He was leading his
men into battle when he received the order
to charge. The noise of the guns and the
shriel1s of the wounded made it ne. essary
for him to give his orders at the top of his
voice. He had his mouth wide open, calling
out the word charge, when the silver from a
shell struck him in the cheek. 1t passed
through his mouth without touching q single
tooth and came out through the other
cheek, leaving on each side Of his head q
cash as clean as if cut by q razor. The
wound became iHHamed, and Leath. who
was at the tine near his home, was given
leave Of absence for two or three days.
When he rode up TO his mothers house his
head was tied up with bandages.
The old lady rushed out when she saw
him coming and cried: oh, my son, wher
are you wounded?"
Right through the head" was the reply.
His mother, thinking the wound must be
fatal, sent for a doctor without waiting TO-
explanations. When the medical man arr
rived he found Leath sitting at the dinner
table eating a hearty meal.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07

lNoTE.-Many of the northern counties that
reducing the average very materially.l
Average wheat per acre in the state, IL ITO
bushels; corn, 20 Is; flax, TX potatoes, 70.
Miner and Faulk counties report severe
drought, with many needy people. Six
other counties report drought in small To-
c%alities, with a few needy. Brown county
reports drought, but nearly oil farmers in
comfortable circumstances owing to good
crops in previous years. All counties but
three-Miner, Faulk and Edmunds-report
W people. One.half of l per cent. of
the total population will need assistance,
and 5 per cent. Of the farmers will be COM
PEELED to buy seed grain on time. Sixty
per cent. Of the farmers have a part or all
of their real estate mortgaged, and rs per
o have O part or all of their chatteis
%mortgaged. A few only of the stock grow
ers are involved.
Thirty-seven correspondents report des-
tltution and want caused by drought.
Eifty-Bix report cause poor management,
buying too literally of machinery and other
goods, and 1913 report high taxes, high rate
OF interest, usury, elevator combinations,
and high freight rates.
It is evident from the foregoing that to
other causes than the drought must be at
tributed the greater portion of the appeals
for aid.
Reports, coming, as they have, from
every county in the state, and from the
very best men in every county, ought to be
as convincing to the world as sensational
newspaper reports, circulated for the .pur-
pose Of injuring our good name. It must
be remembered that an average of nearly
eight to each county have repliedto our
circular, from which the above facts have
been cleaned. Don O. NEEDHAM,
Chairman Committee.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
THE MILE SQUARE.
Something of the History of That Disputed
Tract.
Says q Pierre letter:

Says q Pierre letter:
Each and every day increases the interest
in this section over the now famous mile
square, opposite this city, OF the great
Sioux reservation. AS the weeks roll by
new complications arise, and never since
the existence of land titles has there been
such q middle as there is at present over
this slice of land. The history of the mile
square is as follows:
Away back in 1875 the United States
made q treaty with the Sioux nation for q
strip of land between this point and the
Black Hills, to be used as q road for
freighters and the United States mail, and
known as the Black Hills trail. Fl. Pierre
was the starting point, and the treaty in.
cluded a mile square on which the old fort
was located. This land was actively oc-
cupied by the Northwestern Transportation
company until the first railroad was built
into the Black Hills In 1885,
when it was abandoned. The fort
was abandoned in 1882, and it would seem
that the land would all revert to the In
dams, as it is inferred by the treaty that
they only allowed the use Of their lands for
the purposes agreed on. But q few trap
pers and squaw men, who had inhabited
the spot long before the fort was in exist
ence, remained thereon after the fort, the
government and the trading company had
abandoned the land. About this time the
Dakota Central railroad by an agreement
with the Sioux Indians acquired the right
to q section of land opposite the city OF
Pierre at the mouth Of the Bad river, for
which the railroad company has made pay
ment as provided by the terms Of said
agreement, and such title and agreement
was recognized as valid by section 16 of the
act of congress approved March 8, 1879.
Now, this mile square is situated oppo-
site the city Of Pierre on the Missouri
river, at the mouth of the Bad river, and is
Bad river. On the north side Of the river
is located what is now known as the town
Of Fort Pierre. The population tn ereof
until last foil had been totally confin ed to
about twenty families, whose occupation
has been trapping, bartering with the In
dians and raising a few head of cattle and
cultivating an acre or two Of corn. They
have suffered hardships untold, and have
r~atherIexisted than lived. They have suf-
felel Indian depredatlons and privations,
which would have totally exterminated
people Of ordinary physical qualities.
During all this time they have been allowed
to occupy this land by the grace of the
government and the Indians.
About the time the reservation was as
sured Of being opened last fall q large mum
Der of speculators came from Fort Pierre,
and located, and everything went well for
awhile, when o number of half-breed Sioux
realized that land OF this point was worth
something, and they attempted to drive
the settlers of, bat the latter held their
ground.
That part Of the mile square on the south
side Of Bad river has been occupied for
many years by o half breed family BY the
nahs u Tfaysrey. About . month ago !
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07

band Of boomers on this side Of the Mis-
souri, conceived the idea that if that part of
the mile square gu the north side Of the
Bad river could be occupied by settlers that
part of the south side of the river was open
to the Same conditions, and therefore the
half breeds could not locate on the
south side and take up the land in
severalty any more than they could on
the north slde. Accordingly one dark
night. they organized q band, and with
teams of lumber and tools crossed
the Missouri and located on the south side
Of the Bad river on the mile square. Morn
ing found them with the slice of land
nearly all surveyed into town lots, a pub.
a complete roster of city officers elected.
The half breeds upon discovering the
boomers, Immediately organized and as
saulted them, the settlers being routed and
chased back ACROSS the river, several being
seriously injured in the fray. in this fight
the settlers were backed by the Fort Pierre
settlers, who also informed the military
authorities Of the circumstances ut Fort
Bennett. Immediately four companies of
Ie~"lars were dispatched to the scene of
tho conflict with orders to allow no ona-to
settle on the reservation or the mile square.
Conceiying the idea that, if the Traversy
half bleeds could hold that part OF the mile
square on the south side of the Bad river
as a claim, according to the reservation
bill, he could do the same, Tomahawk. a
full blooded Sioux Indian, who had re-
sided at und around Fort Pierre for fifty
years, then laid claim to the land which he
had heretofore occupied. This strip ex-
tends light across the mile square from
north to south and takes in the entire east
half Of the same, which includes Fort
Pierre, and the other half the east half of
the Traversy claim.
The situation is, therefore, complicated
in the extreme. The Fort Pierre settlers
will not give up without o struggle, and at
the present time the settlers u,e carrying
on the traffic in town lots just as if ttelr
titles were rs good as any that could be
had. Spectators are locating thereon, but
one thing is certain, that while there may
be q chance for big speculations in the lots
at Fort Pierre it will be many years to
come before the titles will be settled, and
from the present outlook there will be no
end of controversy. While it appears that
the original squatters ought in equity to
have some rights to the land they have
lived on for SO many years, yet they have
located and lived thereon with the full
knowledge that they had no right to do so.
All parties interested are intensely des.
perate, and there is certain to be more or
less serious difficulty before the question
is settled.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Another Conference.

Messrs. Harrington. Peavey and Pratt,
the committee appointed by the local grain
dealers, held q conference with Gov. Mel
lette, Of South Dakota, at the West in the
morning to arrange means for the relief Of
the destitute residents of Sphinx and Faux
counties. The local millers nave agreed to
hold back what seed wheat is necessary for
their relief and sell it to the sufferers at
the present market value. They will also
handle the wheat without cost and give the
farmers the free use Of their elevators.
After a short discussion it was considered
advisable for Gov. Mellette to recommend
to the legislature the passage of a bill all
thorizing the issuance of bonds so that tho
grain men will not have so many individual
accounts.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
ANNExEp THEMSELVES.
PARKWAY Indians Declare themselves a
Part of Our Government.

PARKWAY Indians Declare TIemSelves O
Part of Our Government.
The following, in prominent type, APP
peared in the New York Tribune: The In
dams of the San Bias coast have annexed
themselves and their country to the United
States. For many years these Indians have
been supplied with merchandise in ex-
change for cocoanuts by the American.
traders. They have had little communica-
tion:with the rest Of Colombia and have
lived under tribal rule, never acknowledge
ing the authority over their country of the
government of Bogota. The recent seizure
of American vessels laden with goods for
them and the stoppage of trade with this
country by the action o fthe Colombian gun
boat La Popa, have exasperated them to
the highest degree. Leopold Schepp, the
principal trader on the coast, has twenty
seven trading stations strung along the
shore, at each of which is q brass cannon
and an American flag. The natives call
him "the Great Father" Several of the
SOILS of the chiefs of the larger tribes have
been brought to this country and educated
in American schools. When the Indians
learned of the action of the Colombian
government and La Popa they decided to
become at once American citizens. Soon
afterward La Popa appeared off the coast
and a landing party was sent ashore. .At
once the Indians ran up to the Amerl-
can flag, and the firing of the signal gun
soon brought q large force Of armed In
dams to the spot. They were led by a
chief of valor and reputation, who, step
ping out before his men, delivered
an address to the Colombian COM
mander, in which he asserted that
and would fight under the American flag.
The forces from the gunboat were directed
TO return Immediately aboard their vessel
or suffer the consequences. The Colon
bian commander had no alternative, SO he
and his men boarded their vessel and
steamed down the coast. Here o second
landing was made and here o second time
the Indians assembled in force and declared
themselves American. Again they de-
manded the return of the Colombian forces
on board the La Popa. The Colombians
retired on board the La Popa and sailed
away. There are said to be 100000 Indians
i'll the Saa Bias country and an attempt BY
the Colombian government to subdue
them would be fraught with great expense
and difficulty. They are q brave and
hardy race, and, like the North American
Indians, will submit to the greatest physi.
cal pain without a murmur
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
What legislative NIileaoe Casts.

A person can get something OF an idea
OF the vastness of the state of South Da-
kota from the fact that the members of the
senate-forty- five in number-travel As, 95Sj
miles to make a round trip TO the capital;
for two trips, double this distance, or 97,-
GIG miles. At 10 cents per mile this would
amount to 50, 791. 60. The members OF the
house-124 in number-travel for one
round trip GS,1G7 miles, or 136, 1884 miles in
making two visits to the temporary seat Of
government. This at 10 cents per mile.
amounts to $13, 1888. 10, OF q total mileage
for both houses of S22.425. In explana-
ton Of this large item FOR mileage, it is
but just to say that there are fifteen men,
beers of the house and five members of the
senate from the Black Hills country. The
distance by the usually travelled route via
Norfolk and Sioux City, is about 400
miles q round trip, and as there are twenty
of them, the item for mileage alone would
be for the W trips, in round numbers.
$5,oUO, Or more than one-fourth Of the
whole amount. This. of course, will be
overcome with o road to the Hills.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Nora Marks, scnsatonalist.

d1E5 Nora NlbTAS, ScnS1llOTal1SG.
Sensational reports of restitution aud
suffering have been sent from Huron,
Redfeld, Carthage md other points to
the Chicago Tribune by Nora Marks, whose
real name is Eleanor ~Stochhouse. Careful
inquiry from the Beadle county commits
sioners and chairman of the county relief
committee shows that not a case of suffer
ing has been reported in that county. The
authorities inc various relief societies have
distributed clothing, fuel and wood to all
needy persons. If there are any in desti-
tute circumstances their wants can BIZ sup
piled Immediately, as large quantities of
fuel and provisions are on hand ready for
distribution. There is no truth in the re-
port that people or farms in that locality
are starving to death, or going mad from
want and restitution. Superintendent
Oliver, of the Dakota Central railway, in
dignantly denies Nora Marks report of
an interview with him concerning destitu-
ton in Beadle and other counties. A
Carthage correspondent writes:
That dispatch giving nm interview with Mr..
Paxton is 9 libel on this county. There is a
large quantity of flour and clothing now i'll tho
city 10 be eiycn to any ono who needs it. This
has Lsen the cnse all winter. Corn is us cheap
in Carthage Us it is in Iowa, as the railroads
transport it free.
A Dakota paper has this also: IF the
following note in Nora Marks letter to the
Chicago Tribune be correct it would indi-
cate that tie destitation alleged can
scarcely have been the result Of o seasons
failure; it must have Lad a pretty good
start when its victims settled i'll the coun-
try:
In the houses the floors arc bare, n blanket is
q %lnSurf, a suit Of WOODEN underwear unhcard
OF. and there is o fatal lack OF shoes and stock
lngs OF u kind that will keep out the cold and
Wet. &
Wonder if tho city of Chicago couldn't
disclose ten such cases to South Dakota's
one?"
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Other Matters Over the State.

TIE board of control of the South Da-
kota Firemen's association, has decided to.
bold the next tournament at Pierre, the
date being June II, IS, 10 and 20. The
board of trade of the city offered 50, 900
bonus and a large sum for prizes to secure
the tournament, other cities having good
but smaller bids in.
A posToFFIcE has been established at
Ward, Moody county, and F. z. Brain ap-
pointed postmaster.
ONLY two states in the union raised
moro wheat than the Dakotas the past sea-
son-Minnesota and California.
J. l.. Carlin has been appointed post
master at Rockersiiie, Pennington county.
The controversy between the Miller and
York, Neb., hook md ladder comnanies
has resulted in the former challenging
the latter for o race for from $1,000 to
$2,00O'a side, with Yankton as the battle
field.
Articles of corporation have been fled
with the. secretary of state from the South
Dakota Homestead company of Sioux Falls,
with a capital of $4,000, and the Security
Investment company, Of Minneapolis,
Mimi, with John E. Garland, Of Sioux
Falls, as resident agent.
The houses and business blocks in Alb
erdeen are being numbered, and it is ex.
pected that the free delivery system will go
into operation with the advent Of the new
postmaster.
Ex.Goy. CHURCH has removed from
Huron to Tacoma, where, it is said, he will
engage in the real estate business.
DIPHTHEnIi has again broken out
among tho Russians in some Sc actions Of
Campbell county. Several deaths are re-
ported.
The reports Of the regents of the uni
yersity Of South Dakota show q list Of
th~irty-one professors, instructors and en-
ployes, with ansaggregate salary Of $$27, $50.
The estimated expenses for 1890 is put at
$40,45O.
GEoReE PERRY has the honor Of having
made the first final proof of a timber cnl-
ture entry in the Aberdeen land district.
lie made entry in 1880 and proved mp Jan.
ri. 1890.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
knights otLabor Officers,

At the territorial assembly ofthe Knights
of Labor at Aberdeen the following officers
were elected: Grand master workman,
Frank Wilder, Of Aberdeen; WE, T. W.
LaFleiche, of Central City; secretary and
treasurer. William L. johnson of Aber-
deem; members of state court, II. S. Volk-
mar, of Milbank: judge advocate, j. G.
McDonough, of Aberdeen; executive board,
Frank Wilder, W. L. johnson, II. S. Voll-
mar, F. A. Burdick and L. NJ. Mearcher;
delegate to next general assembly, H. S.
Volkmar; alternate, Abram Bemish. Pierre
was selected for the next meeting. Reso-
lutions were passed favoring division,
South Dakota having t~hirty-six and North
Dakota eight assemblies. Resolutions
giving the position of the assembly on
matters of public interest were passed,
chief among which was one pledging sup
port to the cause of the woman's suffrage
as ar amendment to the state constitution.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Chicago Gamblers Indicted.

Ten of the most prominent keepers of
gambling houses in Chicago have been in
dicted for carrying on the business. Three
of them, including George Hankins and
John Condor, are said to have left town
suddenly just before the indictments were
returned. A number Of other keepers
escaped indictment through technicali-
systematic hunt for evidence by the grand
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Domestic Diplomacy.

Wife-A box came for you to-day filed
with shirts. Why did you have any made
to order when it was only the other day I
made you a dozen with my own hands?
Husband-My dear, yon don't under
! consider your shirts too good to
wear every day, SO I ordered q few ordinary
ones for use except on special occasions.-
CIOthier and FuYYaiaher
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Public Buildings for South Dakota.

Representative Clifford, Of South Dakota,
a member Of tho committee on public
buildings and grounds, has been an eff
Gent aid to RepreseutatiyelSnider upon his
st. Paul public building bill. MI. Clifford
has several public building bills for differ
ent towns in South Dakota on his hands,
but it seems that there will be some diff
Guilty in getting through these bills at this
session, owing to the fact. that the capital
of the new state has not been definitely
located, or tho location of the United
States court established. Mr.. Clifford ex-
poets that before the next session matters
will be arranged SO that the bills for the
South Dakota public buildings will be
passed,
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Five Years I'M die Pan.

Judge Grinnell, Of Chicago, overruled
the motion for a new trial for James j..
West and imposed sentence upon the one
time president Of the Chicago Times COM
pany in accordance with the verdict, five
years in the penitentiary and a fine Of
ST. 900.
The charge on which the prisoner was
convicted was the fraudulent oyer-issue Of
Times stock to the extent of nearly $780,
600. The prisoner was visibly affected
when sentence was pronounced. but soon
recovered his usual spirits.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
The Dittman Mystery,

The %coroner's jury in the case of Banker
Dittman, Of Philadelphia. returned q YER
dict that Dittman came to his death by &C.
cidental drowning, notwithstanding the
fact that the coroner's physician testified
that his autopsy led him to believe that the
deceased committed suicide by drowning.
The payment Of o $4,000 accident insur-
ance hinged on the determination Of the
cause Of his death, whether accidental or
ii, ;nids aEe=-E -
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Still Reaching for Plums.

The Kansas City Star asserts that an
English syndicate is negotiating for the
purchase of all the principal sash and door
factories in the country. Options have
already been secured on thirty-fve plants,
including the Western sash and door
factory in this city, the largest plant of the
kind in the United States, with branches
at Muscatine, Ia, st. Joseph, Mo-, and
other points.
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
A New Treasurer.

Gov. Humphrey has appointed William
Simms treasurer Of the state of Kansas, to
succeed j. W. Hamilton, who resigned re-
Gently to accept a position on the Santa Fe
railroad. Simms is president of the State
Farmers alliance,
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Fewcr Question.

Representative Wilson, Of Washington.
has been requested by the commissioner of
the general land office to prepare a lis sof
questions ~relatise to final proof which are
not 30 lengthy and cumbersome as those
now used and which were prepared by;
Sparks. There has beena great deal ofi
icompiaitt about their length,
The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1890-02-07
Still Has q Double.

New York paper says that a master
builder in that city named Dobbs is very
often taken for Chauncy Depew. 1t was
believed that the death Of Adam Fore
paugh had removed the only man in the
country exposed to this misfortune.