The age-herald., 1897-10-24
ROBBED 4 DEAD RED MAN Real Cause of Indian 0utrages
 in Black Hills.
STOLE THE BURIAL OUTFIT
Failed to Use It-Scout Allison Adds interest to What Was Reported as
 Mere Uprising.
Fronn l.he .Reston Hor alld.

the extract gIySn below from the fc-th- Eeoming report of the bureau of etnnio.ogy is of universal interest, and throws a new light on the matter of Indian out- rages. The story Is thus told in the words of Scout Allison, and it's plIbit- cation is allowed by Major Pcw-lA !, Gold was discovered in the Black Hllls fin 1874, and 4egardless of Indian owner ship, white men from all parts of the United States rushed into the hills in eager s:arch of the precious metal. The Indians entered a sHrong protest and appealed to the Unittd States author.g ties to expel the miners from thsie res- ervatfon. Many were driven ous by the t1oops, but in spite of all opposition in the spring Of 1876 found the new gs.d fields literally aiva wdth white men and mines giving up gold at the rate of tfIousaridls of dollars per day, while every trail qeaiitng to he Black Hills aeruss the rss ervation became' a public highway ovisf wElslia supPlies were haul ed iLto the mines. One of the princil al routes to the Black Hfs wos over the Bad River 'tnai, through the very heart of the great Sioux rese1V2' ion in So1th Dakota Fort Pierhs at the mou.t1 CT Bad River was the starting point ana base of supplies. Tnirty-five miles above Fort Pierre wss situated the Cheyenne River Ind,An agency, 0l ,the wi,s' pank oIs the Alass5glrB adver, adouLI Whfch were clustele ed about 1000 friendly In- dians. Sixty-five muss bs9ow Fort Pierre the lower Bi'ule agsncy W'@ts To- cated, also on the west banA oIf the Ms souri,. where about 2,500 friendly SIOUX received their datio7s. lridlans passing 1lt1m one agency to th. other fieIu1n9- ly came in cont act with miners and WaS- on tlains on the Bad River tra9l, but the IndDans, inclined to pe2ceful mSth- ods, and h5paI1g tf.at The government would eVeE .laIEly protect them in tn 1T rights avoided corlaact as much as pes rslole, waiting their opportunity and Cnossing the trail where no white man was visible.
 About the middle of April, 1876, seven lodges of Mlnnkanyetu Sioux, who had been visiting at the lower Brulc agency, were on their way home to ,he Cheyenne River agency, when one of their num- Der, a yoUng warrior, was taken vio- 1ently i'll and died while th:y were en- campel on the bank of the Bad river.
 Following the ushiaa Indian custom ip such cases, the body of the dead war rior was washed and painted as if fof. festival, dressed in Els finest savage attire and then Wrapp.d q in q new wool len blarlket, his olil mother hav first brought his Ltw and arrows and
 
 the blanket dreSS5d deer skrls were care fully wrapped around the body and ras- tened WAfuh leather tElongs Lastly, the fineJt and biggest buffalo robe in camp is wrapped with the fur inside aroard the dead warrior and fasttned with q long, stout laTIat. Four forked posts were th n set upright i'm the ground on O little mound a fdw rods north of the Black HIll ,raA, on which a sea fold wIa s erected about eight felt rom tne grcuni tl, airflJ 1,-f I-l-~ secure from burrowing animals, an1 af- ter the usIIal furual lftes the grief st.dcken fieGdS went SJrroWing u) their homes at the CneyenAe River agency. The mourning red men had bsen gore perhaps nd. more than six hours when lpadty of gold hunters, fourteea in number, with a span of mu1es and d wagon to haul theSr supplies, came to the place whsre the dead warrior was iaid to rest. .,.,,,,. 4A..Et
 The whites saw the Indian grave; the f1rst one they had ever seen, and the last and only one they evsr saw. They turned the mules out of the beaten track and drove to the little mound and halted by the side of the scaffold. They walk ed round and round ,he strange obj sct, looking up and examining 1t from every side. At length one of them said: Say boys, that looks like a good robe around that redskin; somebody bring an axe from the wagon and we'h see how they fix up a dead injsn, anyway" The axe is brought, and in a moment the posts are cut through and the scaffold with i,s gruesome tenant falls to the ground. The lariat IS loosened, and two men @ seize the edge of tn: robe and unwind 1t from the body. It is, indeed good robe. They shake 1t in the wind and then throw it into their wagon "wen have use for that robe" they say.
 Th= removal of the robe brought to view the dressed deerskins. Just what We want" they said, Ito make whip 1ashes." and the deerskln followed the buffalo robe into the wagon. And then the blanket, which was a brand nsw one. It wouldn't do to leave that. So into the wagon it went to keep company with the rest of the funeral furniture.
 Next their attention is given to the almost naked body of tha dead warrior. One of them seizes the bow and arrows ''I1l keep them for my little boy" said ahe. Another takes the bear claw neck lace. He will take that home for his wif-. And thus the body is entirely denuded. The mycasins are taken by one the silver a<mlets by another, the them, are taken by another, and spurn- ing the naked body with their feet, they go on their wayc rSjoicing al their rich find. It portends good luck when they reach the Hills.
 About noon the following day the lit- tie band of Indians rrea eired% their homes, where they imparted the sad news of the death of the young. brave to his friends and relatives. Among the lat ter was brother, who, after learning the exact locality f'the grave, mounted his horse, saying that he. would go and look upon the silent form of his brother and weep for him. Before sunset he was drawing near the little mound, but saw mo scaffold standing there. and wondered if he. had naistcken his direc- tions No,rtthereris spnlething there, and he rides .closyr to see what it is. One brief glance at the ruins and he. knows the whole story. The posts with the marks. of the, axe, and the poles which formed the scaffold.are there. The tracks of the wagon and the mules show plainly in the soft earth, and all around are the footprints of white men. But where is the dead warrior? Seat tered about are fragments of the skele- ton stripped of the flesh, anIdown yon- der by the river are a scoresof coyotes, snarling and fighting over something which looks very much like portion of