The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1894-01-12
A DAKOTO CASTLE.

few miles below the site OF the present
pretty little city of Vermillion, in South
Dakota, the earliest pioneers found a
small, strongly built log house, with sod
and bark Roof and surrounded by clear
ing of several acres extent The house
was furnished with loopholes in each side,
and other marks were there which led to
the theory that it had once been fort, or
at least had been designed for Defense but
no trace of an occupant remained. The
little opening had been abandoned to the
growth of weeds, the door of the building
had fallen from its hinges and lay half
rotted on the ground outside, and small
cottonwood and willow saplings were al
ready beginning to claim the spot
The scene was one to excite the curiosity
of the most stole disposition, and our pio-
neers early sought some clue for determin-
ing the nature of the strange structure.
1t was not built by the Indians, for such
was not their custom; it was not fitted
for trading post; it was not large enough
to have been the quarters of an exploring
party, and no fort had been built by the
army in this region. What it could have
been was mystery. The Indians, who
occasionally strolled back to visit their old
haunts, said that it had not been used for
many summers, and that white man had
lived there alone many years before. The
story only deepened the mystery, for white
men had not been allowed to settle or even
stay any great length of time on lands
owned by the Yanktons, and this was in
the very heart of their territory. Traders
were found who had been up and down
the Missouri nearly its whole length,
spending many seasons in the Gland of
the Dakotas," yet they knew nothing of
the man.
At last there came cew. An old In
dian was questioned and said:
"Longknife live dere long time go"
"Did you know Longknife?"
A grunt answered yes rather By its tone
than by any meaning dictionary would
give it.
Where did be come from2"
Don't know"
"Where did he go tor"
Don't know. Funny man." The old
fellow tapped his forehead, shook his head
as if to say that the man was of unsound
mind and began telling what he knew Of
him. His dress and belongings were de-
scribed such as would correspond to those
OF the English gentry He liked best to
be alone, seldom visited the Indians and
was not often visited by them, but was al
lowed to stay unmolested. This Indian
was the only one with whom he would
make friendship, and to him he showed
his relics. He had n number of pictures,
one of them being very young "squaw,"
and another of building, which so i'm
pressed the old man that he drew its out
lines in the sand where they stood 1t
was st. Paul's cathedral
Here then was n new line to work on
He must have been an Englishman and
Londoner.
In the colony was young English set
tier, who had been in America but short
time, and who had left many friends in
England. He at once wrote to class
mate, whom, for the sake of convenience,
we will call Hyde, telling him the mys-
terry of the old log hut and the long, fruit
less search for some information regarding
it.
Hyde was the son of wealthy gentle
man and loved task of research even bet
ter than his horse and hounds. He at once
set about his work, which was for long
time rewarded only by encouragement
One day while looking through private
museum, without a thought of America,
he noticed queer petrifed specimen,
bearing the label: "Found in Iowa terri
tory, U. S. A, July 90, 1916, by George
Briggs"
How quickly the mind will turn from
one subject to anotherl Hyde was wholly
engrossed in the subjects before him when
he saw that specimen, but in the twin
king of an eye he could not have told even
the line upon which his thoughts had been
working His whole mind was on that la
bel
Found in Iowa territory" George
Briggs" Could that be his name? He
had known Briggs and knew he was an &c
centric character, but had lost his wherea-
bouts. He sought the owner of the speci-
men to see if he knew where to find Briggs
and if he knew anything of the circum-
stances connected with the finding of the
specimen. Briggs was in Kent, but the
circumstances were unknown. Thither did
Hyde 90, his spirit so full of hope in his
work that places and things he passed on
the way were left unnoticed or served only
to excite some new story in his imagina-
ton. His mind was full of day dreams.
As he passed an old manor house he pic
tured to himself a wealthy young fellow
who, from love of adventure, had sought
the wilds Of America, and becoming fasci-
mated with border life had remained to
pass his days among the Indians. A turn
in the road brought poor PEASANTS cot
tage in view, and Hyde's story changed to
a poor young laborer who by dint of hard
work and close economy had made fine
start toward wealth, but an i'll fated
friendship for naughty daughter of a
laughter nobleman had so ripened into
an attachment that the western frontiers
had been visited as an asylum from the
whole world, where he might brood in sol
itude over the misfortunes which birth
alone had cast upon him.
An old grove and ruined castle brought
picture of disgrace from which IA quarter
the length of the earth had been Travelled
to find relief And so Hyde journeyed op
until one OF those grand mansions so com
mon in England came square in view. He
recognized the house as the one he sought.
and approaching the entrance with flush
he could not conceal he asked for Briggs.
He was given a seat in large, pleasant
entrance hall, on the walls of which hung
many articles that would have been feast