Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-02
MYSTIFlED BY FALSE TEETH
G. A, Baldwin Tells an Indian Story Of the
Early Days.
FOUR INDIANS ARE TRl.D FOR MURDER
onc of Them swallows Chair
u,und Fourteen Inches Long
Escape of Quartet and
Their Recapture.

"r nm n wears old" said c. A. Baldwin
tho well known attorney yesterday 10
ANAL group OF friends who we're lndulslns
in "reminiscences. -
Are those your own teeth?' asked one
os the party. who was admiring MT Daiu
wins fine array of masticators.
"Yes. sir. | paid the dentist for them'
said no land by the way, that reminds me
oTan Incident that occurred many years ago
on the pawnce Indian reservation, when l
nystieed the Indians by taking out my teeth
and cleansing them. But it is Tong story
IN connection with other Incidents
"Never mind the length" said another OF
tho coterie. "go on and spin your yarn
Some of you may have heard OF the triai
NJ somo Indians for the murder OF nome
stcader named McMurty, south OF the platte
near Columbus. in 1869" said Mr.. BALDWIN
cone morning in May of that year McMurty
,o,, bone IN go to the railroad station across
the river to get a plow point sharpened'
THAT was the last seen OF him alive. In
ouirv was soon made and some person told
Of seeing Indians in that vicinity and near
ing reports Of guns. search was maue
and the dead and mutilated body ot NC
Murtv was found. He had evidently peen
murdered and suspicion at once rested upon
the Indians. NJ tndL lllllt ludl Stttiop ""S
,,norpanized. There were no courts for the
arrest and trial Of the offenders very tew
people cared to undertake the task and had
little or no money to do 1t with. Some OF the
noiEhbors, however, came 10 Omaha, and,
having an acquaintance with General
O'Bricn then rving consulted him. o Brien
was United States commissioner and vested
with power TO issue warrants for the arrest
of parties charged with an offense against
tho laws OF the United States and give them
n preliminary examination. O'Brien con-
suited with Judge Dundy and General Strick-
land who was then United States attorney,
and It was agreed that O'Brien should issue
sort of blanket warrant commanding
the marshal to arrest John Doe,
ct al 1t was further arranged that l, at
that time being the law partner Of General
O'Brien, should aid in the investigation OF
the parties and take charge OF the prosecu-
tion. ] accompanied Marshal I. T. Hoile on
the cars to Columbus. There, by appoint
ment, we met Major North, one OF Gods
noblemen, well acquainted with the Pawnee
Indians, understanding and speaking their
language as well as though 1t had been his
mother tongue At Columbus Hole got a
livery rig, and Hoile, Major North and I
went out to the Pawnee reservation. dis
tanCe of twenty or twenty-five miles We
arrived there early in the evening. We dis
covered that very day that the great body
of the Indians. indeed all but the old and
feeble men women and small children, had
left the agency under permit from the
agent to go upon their annual buffalo hunt.
We could accomplish nothing unless we
could call them back. The agent said that
to do so was impracticable. The head chief
Il forget his name-holding the position
h... NfNtt,, ,ant
not by the Indians, but by the government,
was at the reservation. He was too old
TO engage in the hunt He insisted that the
Indians should not be called back, but
Major North talked to him, and the rest OF
us talked to the agent. Finally courier
was sent out to the Indians to have the
leading members OF the party return for a
conference. They were in camp about ten
miles from the reservation. The next morn
ing between and 10 o'clock the Indians
began to put in an appearance at the agency.
They We're excited, they were mad and very
dcmonstrative. They were full Of talk and
gestlculations. Major North did the talking
for us and after an hour or two 1t was agreed
that after dinner we should meet n the
council chamber room, large enough to hold
five or six hundred people, and there come to
some arrangement to be followed out.
strange Iecth.
"Iole Major North and l stayed at the
agents house over night and took our meals
there We ate dinner before going over to
the council chamber. 1t was at this time
that an incident occurred of more impor-
tance in connection with what followed than
one would naturally suppose. In the Office
Toomat the agency there was water tank
with wash basins beneath the faucets. When
] came out from dinner the room was oc-
cupied by n dozen or twenty Indians md |
stepped to the water tank, took the plate
to which is attached my store teeth out OF
any mouth. turned the water from the faucet
thereon to rinse it, and put 1t back into
my mouth. Turning around ] noticed that
ahe Indians began to gather around me and
3abber and gesticulate, but could not un-
derstand what was up. They came close up
10 me and looked me sharply in the face. |
began to think they were about to cut off my
chin whskers for scalp lock. ] quietly
backed into the dining room. few min
utes later Major North came to me and
said: Baldwin, what have you been doing?
You have got the Indians excited told
him / hadn't been doing anything-hadnt
said anything He then called up an Indian
nearby and talked with him, and then said:
1T is something about your face, Baldwin.
What is it?' The Indian pointed to my face
and then to the water tank aud | at once
suspected what the trouble was. The Indian
had seen me remove my toothplate and re-
turn 1t TO its place, and he thought that
had taken out the roof of my mouth and re-
stored II at will. 1t was something that he
could not understand, They gave me at
that time name, / can't remember II now
] thought that wOuld-but It was something
connected with the Great Spirit; and after
that the Pawnee Indians paid good deal OF
respect to what ! said and did.
suspects Are Surrendered.
eve went over to the council chamber at
the appointed time. The room was filled
with Indians; there was the old head chief.
The Pawnee nation at that time was made
up of three different tribes, each having
head chief, and they all were there. to-
gether with their leading men and police
force. Major North, Hoile and myself The
old head chief got up and made talk
There was no demonstration. but occasion
ally in different parts of the room there was
uttered heavy cultural grunt repeated by
another and another, When the head chief
stopped talking l was 10 follow him. and
what ! said was TO be translated by an in
terpreter. ] remember very little of what