Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1891-04-17
"a BIG CHIPPEWA CHIEF.
He CUT A WIDE swATH AROUND
ST. PAUL IN EARLY DAYS.

Chl~"s D~cscrsdants-A MlnncaoiE fio-
necr's RoB,iniscenccs.
The reminiscent strain ia quite a gen.
eral and gcherons y with 1iai. 4. M.
Newson. Among the interesting and his
torical s.orios in his fund Of such is one
Of the noted Chippewa chief, Hole-in-
the-Day, with whom he, in company
with other early settlers Of st. Paul, was
personally well acquainted. The story,
in his own language, is as follows:
While sitting ia a small Office in the
old Fort Smelling house, st. Paul, Mimi,
in the year 1858, my attention was ar
rested by tho imposing presence Of a
large Indian chief, who, with his blanket
about him, strobe into the room with
the dignity Of a Roman senator. He was
a large man, with high cheek bones, n
well poised head, brilliant black eyes
and hair, and with a pleasant smile he
exclaimed willie passing: "Booshu ne
chee"-how to 10, friend?-and took a
seat near me. There was q massive
characteristic about tho man which did
not belong to the ordinary Indian, and
yet he had all the Indian peculiarities.
DIDN'T LESSEN HIS APPETITE.
Dinner was soon announced. and he
took a seat near me at the table. He ate
with ordinary deliberation and slowed
away an ordinary amount of food, but
while 50 engaged one Of the windows
was suddenly d%arkened, and on looking
up / beheld many grimy faces and burn
ing eyes, with war paint and feathers,
the possessors of which belonged to the
Sioux nation, and which nation had been
for years and was then at war with the
Chippewas. Cleaning knives and par
tally covered tomahawks made my po-
sition by the side of the Chippewa chief
rather uncomfortable, so l moved; but
he continued to eat, and then the door
opened and SOME ten or twelve Sioux
warriors filed along in front of the foe
of their people, with clinched rifles and
hearts glowing with revenge. Still calm,
with not a muscle Of his mobile face de
noting fear, the chief finished his dinner,
coolly arose., drew his blanket about him,
and with a lordly tread, a compressed
lip and a flashing eye, walked down in
front of these hostile Sioux, and lighting
his pipe, deliberately pulled the smoke
into the very faces of his inveterate foes.
That man was Hole-in-the-Da the CHEF
of the Chippewa nation, and the Sioux
warriors were on his warpath, but they
feared the white mans troops at Fort
Smelling would dart down upon them the
moment a blow had been siveH. so they
restrained their wrath and let the great
chief depart unmolested.
Hole-in-the-Day was an Indian Of re-
markable sagacity and intelligence. He
associated with the whites and compre
hended their ideas Of civilization. He
was very willy and very brave, and
greatly feared by his enemies. It is
said of him hat he would float down the
Mississippi river in his canoe to st. Paul,
paddle across the stream to the opposite
shore, secrete his boat, lay in wait for
the Sioux, who were in the habit Of fol-
lowing the trail to MENDOZA, then pounct
down upon them, kill one or two, secure
their scalps and make his way back to
the east shore aud thence home. lie
visited Washington several times, and
became very well versed in the ways Of
tricksters and politicians. Once, while
on a visit to the capital, he fell ia love
with a white waiter girl in the National
hotel, proposed to her, was accepted, and
they were married. He came west, re
paired his home near Fort Ripley, in.
stalled his wife in his tepee as the white
Indian queen, and o 0 after he was as
sassinated while riding home with his
little son, probably growing out Of tn,
insane jealousy Of his squawS.
Ills TWO SONS.
This white widow of Hole-in-the-Day
lives at present, OF did live, in Minneap
oils, where her son held a position in th'
postofice. but I believe he is now IL
some official position on the White Eartl
reservation. Ignatius Hole-in-the-Day
the eldest brother, and heir apparent L
the craftsmanship, wa drowned in the
Illinois river in Chicago about one yea
ago. OF course he was full blood. Hi
brother, or rather his h~alf-brother, th'
son Of the white wife, is a fine, genteel
well educated young man, and quite at
tractive in his appearance. The heaC
men Of tho tribe have been anxious t,
have him take the place of his father
but in an interview with me he said
while he would like to do something foI
his people, he could not go from c~iviliza
ton back into the habits Of the Indians
as he would be obliged to do TO hold any
power over them.
The CHIEF, Hole-in-the-Day had n mag
ni6ceDt physical organization. He wa
very straight, quite dignihed, and ye
very affable, and withal he was very
generally liked by the whites. During
the Sioux outbreak in Minnesota in 1856.
he had o%vertures from Little Crow, thu
great Sioux chief, to join with him il
massacreing the whites, but he declined
the honor, although some of his people
were anxious TO have him do so. st
Paul, In early times, without HOle-in
the-Day, would be like the play o
Hamlet with Hamlet left out.
On the bank Of the upper Mississippi
about Little Falls, in Minnesota, lies tin
body Of the once great Chippewa chic.
and that Of his father, Hole-ir the-Day
another noted chief before him, boil
bodies facing south, so they can watc'
the movements Of their enemies-.hI
Sioux. There is q depression between
the two hills upon which the bodies lio
and In the middle Of this depression
nfonIa "a Inua froa n~fuuavfnO tho lido