St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-02-19

number, dangling, to his body. having
thrust the head of each beneath his
belt. Loading his gun. Mr.. Sibley then
co0lly walked over to where the Indian
stood, and with infinite self-poSsession,
and the air of immemorial right, un-
laced, at his leisure, the entire number
from the Indians belt, attaching them,
head by head, securely to his own, the
Indian staring and mute with astoniSh-
ment. Like ''Scotch Geordy," who, de-
slrous of teaching theology, yet unable
to use the vocal organs, held up three
fingers to denote that there are three
persons in the Godhead. then dubbed
his fist to prove that these three are
oDe,'' SO Mr.. Sibley, duck-girded, and
wishing to preach discourse of morals,
and yet powerleSS to speak the Sioux
tongue, resorted to the genuine Dakota
sign language, in order to communicate
his ideas and reveal his emotions. II
held up" he says, 1.-TWO fin
gers, denoting that, if he had
been satisfied with two ducks, |
would not have objected, bnt as he was
so gluttonouS as to appropriate the
whole number, he should have none?''
1t may be imagined that the Indian I'M
derstoOd, by two fingers upifted, two
possible ducks, but, as no actual fowl of
that number were offered, it is hard to
conceive how Dakota logic could have
dreamed of ducks at ALL BY what pro-
cess of ratiocination untutored "Lo."
"who sees God in clouds and hears him
in the wind" could see ducks in the
digitals OF Mr.. Sibley, or pass from the
outstanding major and minor premises
to the conclusion ''shaE't have any," or
how 20, is. really an entertainment
for Hdipusl More likely the In
dian, abaShed by the shaking men,
ace before him, began to think that
Sibley meant to say, You uncOnverted
heather. you! You have done this bust
ness once. shooting my ducks l came
all the way from Mackinac TO find, and
even stealing them here in my pres
ence! If you do it twice, Fll discharge
both barrels at your head"' At any rate,
this was the first lesson in ethics it was
Mr.. Sibley's privilege to impart to the
taWny children of the proud Dakotas.
In later years, when familiar with the
Sioux language, it afforded him supreme
amusement to repeat and mimic the in
cldent, and tell how dashed the Indiay
was at his cool presumption.
For nine years young Sibley continued
to live bachelor life at Mendoza, or st.
L
ing zealOusly the interests of the fur
company, and devotlng his leisure hours
to literary pursuits. Among the noble
band of pioneers who became his fastest
friends were such men as Joseph Brown,
Joseph Renville, Louis PrOvoncalle,
Louis Laframboise, the two FaribauIts,
Alexis Bailly, Norman w. Kittson,
Franklin Steele, Henry NJ. Rice, Wells,
Prescott, Forbes, Mcdonald, Harrison,
Beaulieu, Cakes and Borup. In bear
ing testimony to the character of the
early settlers, Gen. Sibley is quoted as
follows:
1.-The pioneers of Minnesota,as a class,
were far superior in morality, education
and intelligence to the pioneers of most
of the older territories, and they have
left favorable impress upon the char
acter of the state. They were by no
means free from the vices and frailties
of poor humanity. but, OIL the other
hand, were for the most part dlstin-
guished for charity to the poor and
friendless, hospitable even to fault,
and enthusiastically devoted to the in
terests and prospects of our beautiful
Minnesota. Although, generally speak
ing. men Of limited school education,
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