Evening star., 1898-09-19
STRIkES-THE-lRON.
The Brave Old Chief Has Nearly Com
pleted Century.

| The Brave Old Chief Has Nearly Com
| pleted a Century.
| From the Philadelphia Times.
| Among the Indians who are in attendance
| upon the congress of nations at the Omaha
| exposition there is none more noted than
| the old chief Strikes -the-1rcn, Standing
| Rock Sioux brave This InGian is close to
| one hundred years old, and has seen more
| of life upon the plains than nave the In
| dans of some tribes if all of their expert
ence and observation could be combined.
| Strikes-the-Iron has watched the march OF
! progress, and at last is resigned to the in
| evitable, and reads the story Of his 1uture
| in the falling of the leaves of the forest.
StrikeS-thc-lrCn has not always been a
| FRIEND 10 the whites. He is uncertain about
| the place of his birth, but he is of the opln-
| ion that the important event occurrei not
| far from Albert Lea, MINI. His ancestors
were fighters and consequently he inherited
| the spirit of bravery which was first taught
| to MIN when he was a sucking ct his moth
| er's breast.
| The manner in which Strikes-the-Iron re-
| ceived his name is interesting. 1t has been
| said by tie writers of fiction that when an
| indian is born the father steps to the out
side of the tent and names the young hope
full after the first object that ne sees. This,
| however, is not true. AS rule, Indian
| children nameless until such time as
| they perform some act that will entitle
|
| with Strikes the-Iron. For some fifteen
years he hunted and shot down game with
| his arrows and was referred to as Kio
| kioS son. Later On, however, he made Il
hit and earned name.
| He was up in the iron region in the vicin-
| ity of the present city Of Duluth, with a
party of hunters. One day the Young lad
| saw deer passing and fired an arrow at
| the animal. The aim was true, and the
be autiful creature fell pierced to the heart.
| Tie arrow had gone through the body, but
| 1t did not stop. 1t went onward in It's course
| and struck a ledge of iron ore and, re-
| bounding. the flint head came back and
struck the young man in the eye. cutting
| the member from It's socket Immediately
| thereafter the Indian given the name
! of Strikes-the-Iron, a name which he Will
| carry to the grave, as that is the name
| which is registered on the ration rolls at
| the agency.
The losing of an eye was an epoch in the
| life career of the young Indian and upon
| his return home he was feasted and knight
| ed 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 howev-
| er, he is not talkative, and when approach
| ed upon the subject shuts up like clam.
After the killing of the whites at New
| Clm strikes-the.l Iron moved with his tribe
| to the plains of Dakota. and eventually
drifted Into the Cannon Ball River coun-
| try, where he remained unknown until the
settlement Of the Black Hills country, in
| 1875.
| Strikes -the-1ron declares that during the
Indian war of 1876 he never killed a white
| man or woman. but he admits that he was
a friend and bosom companion of Sitting
Bull, the most cruel and crafty of Indians.
Some sixty years ago, when / was a
young man and full of vigor, l was out in
| the Minnesota woods hunting elk, of which
there were many at that time. Passing
through dense underbrusn 1 came to a mar
row but deep stream over which tree had
fallen. 1t was necessary to walk over the
| log or else go miles around, and l was not
| IN a mood to go around l started to cross
and when about half way over l 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 arguing and both stripped
| for the fray for the purpose of ascertaining
| who was the best man. We went at it with
knives and fought like demons. This con-
| tlnued for nearly an hour, during which
| time l received several severe cuts and
wounds, l at the same time Furnishing my
opponent. 1t was apparent that it was a
| fight to the death, and putting all my en-
| ergy into one mighty effort, l grappled with
the Chippewa and plunged the knife into
his body The blood spurted out in a
stream and his body fell into the water and
fioated away, while pursued my course"