The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-01-04
SITTING BULL DINED OUT.

"a WOudu obOry Vi now Ou0 GuJ9r-
tanned aim in His First Suit of
Clothes.
From the Denver Republican.
1t was back in the '70s when a camp of
civil engineers constituted what is now the
well-known city of Fargo N. D. My hus-
band was among the number, and /, with
our little daughter, had recently Joined
him. Our camp had many visitors that
year. 1t CHANGED that two well-known
French gentlemen, heavy bondholders In
the Northern Pacific, were making the tour
to judge Of the wisdom of their inVestm
Two or three New York stockholders we're
speldiny few days in camp, also, and
couple of st. Paul wholesale merchants, on
the lookout for possible contracts for sup
plies.
heard an unusual commotion outside
the teAt before rising in the morning, and,
peeping out, saw party of eight or ten
Indians, full-blooded Sioux, from the Mis-
souri, valley, on their way to pay visit to
the 'Great Father" in Washington. Among
tnem was the willy, keen-w tied, merclless
savage who afJerR ard became so famous
Sitting Bull They had left their native
haunts clad only in their native garb, but
at Bismarck two or three of them had sue
ceeded the evening efore hey eft In in
Quoting themselves into some of the cast-off
clothes of Fort Liucoln soldiers. Over
| these they had thrown their own blankets,
| SO Sitting Bull had not discovered the
change until next morning While openly
| SOOTHING at such degenerate 4, the interpreter
| accompany e them told us the chief was
| secretly chagrlned at not having procured
such gorgeous raiment for hims9lf, and
| upon his arrival at Fargo he declined to be
presented to the pote tates Of the Northern
| Pacific railroad until properly attired.
As he was reSolute ia his desire to have
| white mans Clothes, contribution was
levied on different members Of the encamp-
| ment, result OF Wbich, although salts
| factory to him, struck the rest of US as in
| EXPIRE .sibly ludicgous. The only pair Of
| trousers whose waistband was suited to his
| gi tn belonged to a very short man, and
| gave to their present wearer that laughable
| appearance Inseparable from abbrevia ted
| neither garments. AS no ordinary masculine
| stock was long enough to fill the gap be-
| tween shosS and trousers, Aunt Venny, the
| huge old negro cook, was called to the res
| cue, and pair of snow-white stockings
! we're given to him. There was of course,
some difficulty in giving these the smooth.
| unwrinkled appearance desirable, but the
| ebony aunty (wh0m / have always sus-
pected Of presiding over that extraordinary
| toilet got round The difficulty by taste ing
| hose and trousers together with those use
| full littletarticles known as safety pins.
| Oue Oh OUT DFdWny UeaLIlSLeTs COQLrlDuDeQ
| a shirt. Flannel shirts were in general
| wear among our engineers, and white one
| Commonly known as boiled shirt was an
| almost unknown luxury. However, one Of
| the men resurrected one long buried in a
| hidden trunk, and. to Sitting Bulls great
| satisfaction, he was instructed as to the APP
proved manner of entrance and exit. A
vest was not to be found, and it seemed for
a time that civilization, as represented by
| coat, was for him still in the dim future.
| But here again his good genius in the shape
1 of the fat old negroes interviewed. A coat
| having been found whose only objection
was its extreme narrowness across the back,
| this ingenious woman theoretically ripped
| the center seam and inserted broad stripe
| of vivid red cut from heavy blanket. A
| stovepipe hat polished to the last degree was
found, and thus equipped the famous chief
| tain made his debut before the presiding
| officials of the encampment.
The wives of several Of the officers had
| been at various times residents in the camp,
| but just then | CHANGED to be left alone with
my little girl to represent our sex. | had
been warned of the impending call, but had
| been told nothing of the change of raiment,
| and when this astounding toilet appeared
| before me the keeping of the muscles OF my
| face der control and maintaining a grav~
| ity BETTING the occasion was the great
| triumph of my life. My little daughter was
not SO fortunate, ana at once gave utter
ance to an uproarious ,urst of mirth, caus-
| ing her father to insta ltly seize and bear
| her Ignomi nlously from the tent.
Sitting Bulls language was a compound
| OF pure Sioux, mongrel English, bespat-
| tered here and there with word or two Of
French, picked up in his intercourse with
post traders. As these traders generally
use language adapted to the streng b Of
their emotions when their stores are pliaged
by the half-breeds, the CALCULATIONS picked up
embalmed by Sitting Bull were OCCASION
ally somewhat startling to ladies. But
women on the frontier learn to exhibit
great fortitude in matters of this sort. So
proudly felt that as acdu;tting myself
very or ditably during tue interview, and,
as l had been instructed to invite the chief
tain to dine with US in due form and state, /
| did so. He e,idently viewed the idea OF
| sitting down to meal at the same time
with a woman with much disfayor. His
creed taught him that should stand meekly
behind his chair. bringing to him MS nectar
and am rosia, as represented by bean soup
and yenison, myself thankfully swallowing
at intervals such morsels as he might see fit
to toss me.
Among our guests that day was q young
eastern clergyman, making his first tri
over the prairies. He was a very jealous
youth, strongly imbued with the missionary
spirit, albeit sadly lacking in experience. /
soon saw he looked upon the meeting with
these Indians as a special providence, and
burned with desire to turn it to account