The Press., 1898-08-18
THE FOURTH WITH THE SIOUX
INDIANS.
Sioux City, Aug. Q, 1898.

Shortly after my arrival In Sioux CITY
it was my good fortune to make the ac
quaintanee of Lieut.. Morris H. Leitner, g
former instructor at the st. Paups Epis
copal mission, on the Yankton reserva
ton, and at his suggestion we arranged
for an overland trip from Sioux City tC
the YanktOn Indian agency at Green
wood, South Dakota, distance of about
100 miles.
The Fourth of July is an exceptionally
IgoOd time to visit the Yankton SIouxs
las they are all gathered at the agency fol
Ia good time, although the majority dc
not understand what the day means; mol
do they know anything about the declara.
tion of independence.
| We left Sioux City, bright and early
on the morning of June goth with com.
plete camp outfit, consisting of blankets
cooking utensils, guns, and about five.
days supply of food, although ws expect
ed to make the distance in about -four
days.
l.
lands" of the Missouri, some of the rich
est farming country in the west, and also
across several miles of open prairie. The
enormous corn and wheat fields were of q
great deal OF interest to me, as were also
the western methods of cultivatirg and
harvesting.
A "tenderfoot" in this country causes
considerable fun, and consequently there
was quite little fun at my expense. ]
have always taken great interest in In
dians, and as ! gave my idea of them 1t
furnished a great deal of amusement for
Lieut.. Leitner, who would say, "Wait
till you see them, my boy" / had always
thought of the Indian as the noble but
oppressed red man, and think that sent
iment prevails largely in the east, but my
ideas In that line were greatly altered.
The Indian Of to-day is practically the
same as the Indian Of 80 years ago
treacherous, indolent, deceitful, and in
describably filthy. Everything is sup
piled them by the government, and their
chief occupation is to eat what is issued
them.
We reached the reservation about noon
July I'd, and about 3 o'clock we crossed
the old government trail over which Gen.
Custer passed with the 7th cavalry short
| ~ before he was killed. On nearly every
high hill / observed a number of poles
stuck In the ground, and was informed
that these were the graves of noted chiefs
who had gone to the "happy hunting
"a, md" These graves are visited every
pIght - the ssgood Indian, who comes
to get the sticks of candy placed on them
by the friends and relatives of the de-
parted.
We arrived at the agency about p. m.,
and was rather surprised to find such a
beautiful little place SO far from rail-
road center. The buildings consist of
those of the government (about IS in
number, including government school, }
a Presbyterian church and parsonage,
and an Episcopal mission school, chapel
and rectory. The agency Is beautifully
situated on the banks of the Missouri, 80
miles from railroad, but is in communi-
alton with the outside world by stage
line running to Armour, s. D.
We went directly to st. Paul's school,
where we were very cordially received by
the matron, Mrs. Johnston. The mis-
sion was founded by Bishop Hare in 1878,
who acted as principal of the school until
February 1874, when he was succeeded
by the Rev. Henry Young. Among the
nnames Of the visitors at this school are
Alice Longfellow, Col. Roosevelt Sitting
Bull, and Gen. Shafter, who at one time
was in command at Fort Randall, Is miles
north of the Yankton agency.
On Sunday morning we attended service
at the chapel, the service being read in
Dakotah by the Rev. Joseph Cook Lieut.
Leitner spent nearly all day In meeting
his former pupils and friends, and they
were all glad to see him, as he is very
popular with the Indians on this reserva-
tion. The Indians had been coming in
for week, and had selected for their
camp table-land about one mile from
the agency. was told on the morning
OF the Fourth that there were 100 In
dians on ''the hill"
The days celebration began with pa
rade of several hundred of the Indians, in
war-paint and feathers, mounted upon
ponies, and each one carrying an Ameri-
can or Cuban flag. About 10 O'Clock we
reached the camp. 1t was truly a won-
derful sight, one long to be remembered.
Not house in sight. The tepees were
pitched In the form of an oblong, about
and J miles long and J mile wide.
During the morning we listened to ad-
dresses by the agent, Major Harding,
Rev. Joseph Cook, Chief Bean and John
Gassman. The master of ceremonies
was Phelix Bruno, who is a remarkably
bright Indian. The first part of the af-
ternoon was spent ln riding around the
camp and seeing the pony and foot races.
The Indians are great lovers of pony
racing, and some of their little animals
show remarkable speed.
Outside of every tepee could be seen
poles covered with "ierk-meat," and also
four or five small puppies running about,
entirely ignorant of the fact that they
were soon to be killed, singed and made
into soup. had always supposed that
Indian "dog soup" was more talk than
soup, but when one sees four dogs feet
protruding from kettle he begins to be-
lieve that it isn't ''tenderfoot" story af-
ter all.
During the afternoon met quite few
of the Indians, and some with whom is
connected little history. We were in
troduced to Chief Running Bull, the only
Indian living who signed the treaty ceding
the land where Sioux Citv now stands IN