Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-10

last. and then the papers were full of descrip-
tions OF this wonderful region where twenty
redskins could, il was asserted, hold the fort
against an entire army corps. All this story Of
Impregnabllity was mere empty talk. l do not
believe that any sensible Indian thought for a
moment that the Bad Lands retreat was secure.
Thirty or forty soldiers could have shut every
Indian in and kept the savages there until cold
ami starvation and lack of water did their
worst. The stronghold was a mile and q half
from water. Firewood had to be ''snaked" up
by ponies. and no number Of hostiles could
possibly have made anything like a successful
raid for forage. One little Hotchkiss gun. in
diligently manned, conid clean the place out
In hfteen minutes or The alleged impregna-
bility conld be disproven by plucky storming
party in half the time. The earthworks that
we're thrown up were very light, and, 80 far as
protection was concerned, amounted to moth
ing: When the ninth cavalry was out there,
Just before the command moved in to the
agency the utter unsuitnbility of the place as
fortification was clearly shown.
Lieut.. McAnaney Of the ninth says that the
Indians who occupied the stronghold were
mostly civilized. In support Of his assertion
he brings mp the statement that while he was
nosing around the deserted camp he found an
accident insurance policy made out in the
maine of a prominent hostile. The testimony as
to the policy would be perfect the policy itself
could only be produced. but MIR. McAnaney,
who is one Of the best story tellers in the army,
asserts that it was lost when the wagon train
was attacked. He also says that the pictures
of the stronghold" which appeared in some
OF the illustrated papers were drawn from
memory by man who wasn't there.
ORIGIN OF THE BARBED-wIRE FENCE.
THAT torn place in my blouse? Did that on
a barbed-wire fence" said Lieut.. McAnaney to
me one pleasant Pine Ridge afternoon. when
the sun and the mercury were falling with
about equal rapidity, the mercury a trife
tenant, "did you ever hear of the circum-
stances which brought the barbed-wire fence
into existence? No? Quite interesting and
very true. Years ago pretty girl, down in the
state OF Kansas, was sitting on fence, board
fence, near her fathers house Alongside the
fence were railroad tracks. and inst when this
beautiful maiden was balancing herself on the
uncomfortably thin edge Of the top board a
train rolled slowly by and into the station just
beyond. An English nobieman was one of the
passengers who saw the vision of loneliness, as
Harry Wright would term it, and he was so
smitten that he had what Finley would call his
luggage thrown off Immediately. Then he
followed the fence until he found the vision.
Within few hours the gentleman with Dun
dreary whiskers (all properly equipped En-
glish noblemen have them) and the little Kan
sas girl were engaged, and in few days the
engagement eliminated in matrimony. Of
course the manner of the brides taking of
of the fence-was soon noised abroad. Then
signs OF extraordinary wear and tear in their
fences, and soon even the stoutest protection
broke down. A little investigation located the
cause of the trouble: it was those dear girls,
and they were all waiting to be taken off.
Neither threats nor entrcaties were of any
avail, and the value OF property on lines of
railroad went away down because fencing was
expensive. The occasion always calls forth the
man. and at that time there came ont of
previous seclusion the inventor of the barbed-
wire fence. That was good for the farmers.
but bad for the girls. You never saw any kind
OF a girl sit on u barbed-wire fence, did you?
l thought not
AsIoUx BOYCOTT.
One of the things which should be immedi-
ately attended to by the authorities is the boy
colt which practically exists at the various
agencies on the Sioux reservation. When
"ery strong minority of the Sioux refused to
treat with Gen. Crook, Gen. Warner and ex-
Gov. Foster the members of that minority were
promptly blacklisted and they have since been
continually under the ban. The majority has
been allowed to crowd them and the local Off
Gals have been careless of the mnorty's rights
A line has been drawn between the signers and
the anti-signers and there has been n great
deal of persecution INDUCED in. In this may
be found one of the causes of the late trouble.
The prosecuted are the hostiles of today.
No one need be surprised if the Sioux in the
future declines to sign anything. Old Two
Strike, who has as clear head as any of his
tribe, remarked but a little while ago that
whenever he touched o pen he always lost some
thing.
PLAIN BLANKET INDIANS SUGGESTION.
The views of an ordinary Indian as to how
civilization could be advanced among the
Sioux may not be of much real value, but they
are at least interestingly suggestive. asked
one Of the Ogallalas-just a common, everyday
blanket Indian-what he thought Of the send
ing of delegations to Washington to see how
would be better to have a number Of the men
who talk in the big tepee Cthe Capitol come
out to Pine Ridge and after changing their
civilized garments for blankets, breech clouts
and moccasins, to live with the Indians and in
that way find out what was really needed. The
suggestion may not be adopted, but the plan is
better than the one now in vogue.
PRACTICAL EDUCATION NEEDED.
The Brule Sioux never had a more practical
friend than Capt. Lee, who for the second
time is their military agent at Rosebud. He
believes in Indian education and talked to me
about it the other evening. II want every
young Indian to be educated" said he. ''but
the knowledge We feed to him ought to have a
commercial value. The Indian who can cor
rectly state the boundaries of kamschatka has
no show whatever alongside of his brother who
has no book learning, but who can intelligently
earn $40. Classical education for Indians is
simply expensive nonsense. Can any reason
able being hope in five years to eradicate the
heredity of fifteen generations of savagery?
When l was in charge of the Cheyenne and
Arapahoe agency l had teacher there
who would spell the same word
fifteen different ways on the same page of a
etter, but he educated more Indians than any
Other teacher ever saw. He taught the BOYS
what yard was and made them understand the
weight of a pound and the value of dollar
Every boy in his school owned from ten to
twenty head of cattle when they studied under
him for five years. That's the sort OF an .edu-
cation the Indian neetls'