The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-11-05
NOTED INDIAN DYING.


TF'ron the Chicago TimeS-Herald.1
Two Strike, the Sioux chieftain, the
unreconstructed savage. lying on his bed
of skins hears the laundering hoof-falls
of the buffalo on the plains that skirt
the eternal hills. Two Strike, the willy,
the bitter enemy of the whites, is dying
in his Dakota wigwam firm in the faith
of his fathers that he will but close eyes
on earth to open them in the happy
hunting ground. About none other or
the elders of the tribe of the Dakotas
does there center SO much Of interest
as about this old brave, whose heart
holds g nobility of hatred" for the enc
mics of his people The chieftain took
part in the last uprising of the Sioux
against the whites 10 years ago, and
when forced with the others to give up
the unequal combat he said The body
is given up, but the spirit never surren-
ders'' There is only one being on earth
whom Two Strike holds in greater ha-
tired than the white man, and that is the
hereditary foe of his tribe-the Pawnee
warrior.
Old Two Strike bears the distinction
of having been the leader in the last
battle which took place on the American
continent between two hostile tribes Of
Indians. For years without number the
Pawnees and the Sioux have hated each
other The wars that were waged be-
tween them were wars of eXtermina-
ton. No prisoner, warrior, squaw or pa
pOOSe was taken in battle or in the raids
upon sleeping villages. All were put to
the kD1fe or the tOmahaWk. In one OF
Cooper's novels Hard Heart, the Pawnee
chieftain, haunting the Sioux says.
Since waters ran and trees grew the
Sioux has found the Pawnee on his war
path" The battle in which Two Strike
led the hosts of the Sioux against the
PawneeS was fought near a little stream
known as THE Frenchman." a branch
of the Republican river, about 100 miles
south of Lexington, Neb. For genera
lions the PaWnees had held the valley
of the Platte It was the most famous
buffalo hunting ground on the continent.
The Sioux from the north constantly in
vaded the buffalo plains of the Pawnees.
This in itself was enough to bring about
constant battles. but back Of everything
else there was set a hereditary hatred
between the two nations, the beginning
of which not even the old men OF the
tribes pretended to know. The masterful
Sioux had thrashed all the Indian tribes
with which they had come in contact.
but they met a foe worthy of their tom
ahawks every time that they came in
contact with the Pawnee. About the
middle of the nineteenth century disease
ravaged the Pawnee nation. 1t carried
off little children and stalwart warriors
with equal impartiality. The strength of
the tribe was Slapped, but its spirit was
unbroken. The Sioux won frequent vic
tories over their weakened enemies and
forced them to course which they
had ever before spurned, IAN alliance with
the whites
The Sioux had-killed scores of whites
VINO naQ naQ the courage TO pierce the
wilderness and establish homes. Soldiers
were sent against them to punish them
and the Pawnees, burning for revenge.
went with the white soldiers as scouts.
The Sioux warriors were punished. Two
Strike bided his time With the other
chiefs he finally urged his people to
make peace with the whites. 1t was the
only time that words of peace had ever
been known to come from the chieftain's
lips. It was not case of hating the
white man less but the PaWnee more.
With the end of the active campaign the
white soldiers withdrew from their Paw
nee allies, who returned to their hunting
ground and their villages. Adabel FL
lis, who knew better, perhaps, than 9TH
erS the fullness Of the Sioux plot and the
circumstances of the Pawnee annihila-
ton, has told the story. Two Strike and
his Sioux watched for an opportunity.
battle in which so many warriors should
be killed off, but they were after a
chance for determination. They wished
to root the tribe out from it place in the
land.
Early in August, 1874. the Pawnees
started from their homes on a great
hunting expedition. They were led by
Sky Chief, once noted for his prowess
in the Pawnee tribe. Sioux runners car
Strike Then the Sioux took the war
path They cut down into the heart Of
the buffalo country, and finally found
the PaWnees encamped in a compare
lively narrow canyon The Sioux started
a small herd Of buffalo, and, driving
them into the upper end of the canyon,
started them down toward the camp Of
the Pawnees. The Sioux goaded the an