The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-10-12
STRIKES.THE-IRON.
The Brave Old Chief Has Nearly Com.
pleted q Century.

Among the Indians who are in attend
ance upon the congress of nations at
the Omaha exposition there is none
more noted than the old Chief Strikes
the-Iron. Standing Rock Sioux brave.
This Indian is close to 100 years old.
and has seen more of life upon the
| plains than have the Indians of some
tribes IL all OF their experience and OBJ
servation could be combined. Strikes
the-Iron has watched the march of
progress, and at last is resigned To the
inevitable. and reads the story of his
| future in the falling of the leaves of the
| forest. .Strikes-the-Iron has not always
| been friend 10 the whites. He il un-
certain about the place of his birth, but
he IL Of the opinion that the important
| event occurred not far from Albert Lea
| MINI. His ancestors were fighters, and
consequently he inherited the spirit OF
bravery which was first taught to him
| when he was a sucking at his mothers
| breast.
The manner In which Strikes-the-Ir Iron
| received his name is interesting. 1t has
been said by the writer's of fiction that
when an Indian is born the father steps
to the outside of the tent and names
the young hopeful after the first object
true. AS rule, Indian children are
nameless until such time as they per-
form some act that will entitle them to
name. This at least was the case
with Strikes-the e-Iron. For some Is
years he hunted and shot down game
with his arrows and was referred to as
kio Kio's son. Later on, however, he
made hit and earned a name.
He was up in the iron region i'm the
vicinity or the present city of Duluth.
with party OF hunters. One day the
young lad saw deer passing and fired
an arrow at the animal. The aim was
true, and the beautiful creature fell
pierced to the heart. The arrow had
gone through the body, but IL did not
stop. Ii went onward i'm its course and
struck ledge OF iron ore. and. re-
bounding. the flint head came back and
struck the young man I'm the eye, cut
ting the member from its socket I'M
mediately thereafter the Indian was
given the name of Strikes-the-Iron. a
name which he will carry TO the grave.
as that ia the name which is registered
on the ration rolls at the agency.
The losing of an eye was an epoch i'm
the life career Of the young Indian. and
upon his return home he.was feasted
and knighted as a warrior. In 1862 he
mixed up in the Indian troubles and, If
the stories told about him are true, he
hung several white scalps TO his belt
Regarding this however. he is not talk
ative. and when approached upon the
subject shuts up like a clam.
After the killing OF the whites at New |
Ulm. Strikes-the-Iron moved with his |
tribe to the plains OF Dakota, and |
eventually drifted into the Cannon Ball |
river country, where he remained un- |
known until the settlement of the Black |
Hills country, in 1875. |
Strikes the Iron declares that during |
the Indian war of 1875 he never killed "a |
white man or woman, but he admits |
that he was friend and bosom com
panion of Sitting Bull, the most cruel |
and crafty of Indians.
'Some 60 years ago. when I was a |
young man and full of vigor. was out |
in the Minnesota woods hunting elk. OF |
which there were many at that time. |
Passing through dense underbrush | |
came TO a narrow but deep stream. over
which tree had fallen. II was neces-
sary to walk over the log or else go
miles around. and | was not in a mood |
TO go around. i started to cross and
when about half way over i met a |
Chippewa, who disputed my right to
the passage. For a few moments we
carried on a conversation in the sign
language and neither seemed inclined
to turn back. There was no use OF ar
guing. and both stripped for the fray
for the purpose of ascertaining who was
the best man. We went at il with
knives and fought like demons. This
continued for nearly an hour. during
which time / received several severe
cuts and wounds. / at the same time
my opponent. 1t was ap-
parent that it was fight to the death.
and. putting all my energy into one
mighty effort. ] grappled with the Chip
pewa and plunged the knife into his
body. The blood spurted out In
stream and his body fell into the water
and floated away while l pursued my
course. e.'-Philadelphia Times.