The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-06-06
ALL REMEMBER HIM
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. FORMER
ASSOCIATES SPEAK.

day-Every Ore Who Knew Him Spoke
of His LiberaIity and ENTHUSIASTICALLY
tion of His First Wife-She was Pictur.
esque in the Extreme-He Still LinSerl
Without Hope of Recovery,
Many were the words Of kindness, OF
sympathy and of gratitude which were
spoken yesterday by the former asso-
ciates OF William Greiffenstein, whose
approaching demise was chronic,ed in
yesterdays Eagle.
Mr.. Otto Weiss was seen and he said
that re had received another letter and
tina. there was no hope for generous
Uncle Billy" Greiffenstein, the father
of Wichita
"reminiscences were related and anec-
doteS were told about the early career
OF Uncle Billy by which name he
was known and called by his friends.
The frontiers and Indians hailed him
with the soDriQuet OF Dutch Bill. :"
Mr.. Greifferstein's first wife was recall
ed. She was full blooded Cheyenne
Indian and was said 10 De both beauti-
fuf and graceful. She was by no means
an ordinary squaw. She did not dress
like any of the women Of her tribe. In
stead OF wearing the traditional leggings
and the red blanket, she wore a gown,
which was a combination between a
mother hubbard and a Grecian robe,
which was confined at the waist by a
long red sash of silk. The sash had a
profusion Of fringe al each end and il
gave her a picturesque appearance, es-
pecially when she was mounted on a
prancing steed and the wind was blow
ing breeze. On her head she wore a
rebosa, which with her stately mein
gave her queeniy air. She was known
to all the tribe and throughout the west
as Cheyenne Jennie 1t is related that
she ruled the tribe and was woman of
superior quality, being a born COM
mander and one gifted with diploma
tic skill. She was tall and slight of sta
tue with long black hair and even fea-
with her husband and were on the point
Of having Uncle Billy" banished from
the tribe, she said ii was not TO be. She,
with rare skill, adjusted the difficulty
and gave the Indians a severe lecture.
Mr.. Greiffenstein was once travelling
across the plains in the dead Of winter
on a mule. When he reached the Srno-
key Hill river in northern Kansas a ter
rife snow Storm came upon him. He
rode down and got under the river bank
for shelter, where ne was detained for
four days. When the mule would lay
down at night, Mr.. Greiffenstein would
get along side Of the mule and they
would both sleep until daylight. The
heat. from the animal kept him from
freezing to death. He had exhausted his
supplies with the exception of some
jerked Buffalo meat. This food he di-
vided equally between himself and the
mule, which kept them both alive for
four days. When the storm subsidized he
started out and met a camp. where he
was well cared for.
On another occasion he had camped
for the night with his party about where
Kiowa now stands. He had a very fat,
sleek pony tied to the rear Of one OF the
wagons. While he was in the act of pre-
pairing supper several Indians rode up
and after greetings were exchanged, one
OF the Indians wanted to trade the pony
which he rode for the one Mr.. Greiffen-
ponies were a rarity and they were not
considered adaptable for life on the
plains. The pony being very fat, ne
was naturally lazy. When the Indian
made the proposition it was accepted
by Mr.. Greiffenstein. no boot" being
given. About a week after the trade
when the party was well down into the
Indian country, Mr.. Greiffenstein awoke
to find his fat little pony tied 10 the
wagon and the one he had traded for
gone. Afterwards he met the Indian
with whom ne had traded and he asked
him why he had traded back. The In
iian put out both his hands, one slight
y IN the rear OF the other and parallel
ng. With this pantomine exhibition
The Indian said the first hand was "bur-
,alo," the rear hand pony" Then he
showed the hand forward that repre-
'ented the buffalo and drew the hand
backward which represented the pony
This was TO signify that the pony was
~ SOpa ~ Will anu lie
lidn't want him. Mr.. Greiffensten US
ID 10 tell the above story on himself and
augh with great relish when he de- |
;cribed how the Indian told him the tale !
Mr.. Greiffenstein was a man OF much |
iaring, and he never seemed 10 know
what fear was. He on several occasions |
'escued both women and children ;.
lad been captured by the Indians dur |
n their raids and restored tn. 90 their |
friends and relatives. During the lat
er part of 1868 NJ. Greifens;ein learn |
d that there was a woman, Mrs. |
Slinn, by name. who with her child were |
,eid in captivity by the Cheyennes.
They were from Ottawa, Kan. At the |
eqEest OF his friend, General W. e. Ha-
zen, he took a small outfit, accompa- |
lied by two Caddo Indians and a Mex
can and proceeded 70 the Kiova camp |
o put himself in communication with |
he Cheyennes. He there learned that 4
Turing the battle with General Custer on |
he Washi:a. that the woman and child |
lad been killed by the sQaaws in retalia- |
ion for one OF their family killed in that |
'aitie. His mission proved fruitless and |
lie returned home.
When General Sheridan was alive and |,
vas serving in the territory. he and Mr..
irsiffenssein got into an alteration re-
arding a cattle trade which Mr. Greif-
enstein was connected with. Subse-
uent events proved that Mr.. Greiren-
;ein was right and he received dam
ges from the Federal government. a..
Ia; time General Sheridan compelled |
i'm 70 leave the territory under the pen