Middletown transcript., 1900-10-20
Saved by a Feather
! BY John H. WhitsOn. ;
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A MONG those who lost their lives il
II the great blizzard which sweep
with such unexampled suddenness ant
severity over the northwest IL winters
ago. was "Old" Proteau, who was founC
frozen to death near Fort Bennett.
Proteau-whose given name, think
was Jean-is said. to have been the frs
white resident of Dakota. Hewas 9;
years Of age, and had Lived with thu
Indians since childhood.
AS trapper and hunter he was vel
known all along the Missouri slope
He acted as scout and interpreter tc
Gems. Custer, Harvey, Sibley and Sully
and bore some 20 arrow-points in his
body as evidence of his bravery.
He was buried by the people of hiE
adopted tribe with all the honors due
a chief.
Many of the early settlers of the
northwest owe their lives to Proteau's
kindness. These releases and rescues
have given rise to a number of stories
among which the following stands pre-
eminent as narration of romantic ad'
venture and juvenile heroism:
Long before the awful massacre neal
the Rosebud, and while the Black Hills
were yet almost ian undiscovered coun.
try" a government steamer was sent
from Yankton up the Missouri river on
an exploring and scientific expedition
The second in command of this ex-
pedition was Lieut.. Frank Chadwick
of Yankton.
He was accompanied by his nephew,
Elmer Chadwick. boy of IA, who had
pleaded so hard to be allowed to GO
that his parents had at last yielded
reluctant consent.
The Indians along the Missouri were
then supposed to be at peace with the
whites, and no outbreak was appre-
hended.
A few days after their departure, how
ever, the Sioux began to show signs Of
restlessness, and early one morning a
shower of bullets apd arrows from the
river banks pattered around and
against the sides of the steamer.
No one was injured, and the steamer
continued serenely on its way.
The commander believed the attack
to have been made by party of young
"bucks" with an itching for war
riors' plumes, and perhaps anxious to
distinguish themselves in the eyes of
the girls of the tribe by display of
scalps.
All through the day they followed
the steamer, firing shot now and
then, and occasionally coming into view
on some knoll.
Nothing was seen of them the next
morning, and it was thought they had
given up the pursuit
About noon a halt was made to col
iect fuel for the furnaces.
The river banks at this point were
scanned and rocky, and well covered
with scrubby growth of timber.
Lieut.. Chadwick was not long in dis
covering some interesting petrifed re-
mains along the fiinty slopes, and set
out on a short tour of inspection, ac-
companied by his young nephew.
Viewed with our fuller knowledge.
his action seems reckless and fool
hardy.
But we must remember that it vas
the opinion of all on the boat that the
Indians had long since abandoned their
pursuit, and that, therefore, no dam
ger was to be apprehended. Not a sipo
of an enemy had been seen since earIv
the previous evening, and the steamer
had. in the interval, traversed mspv
miles.
The petrifactions were usually found
in the center of small stones. Tbsse
they were forced to break open before
they could determine their contents
In this way many fine specimens were
destroyed.
Elmer was as enthusiastic in this
search as was his uncle. Coming across
q small, irregular, stratifed bowIder
he split it with the edge of his hatcbet
The dull-looking stone held a sinon-
larly rare and beautiful specimen. It
was no less than a petrifed feather
in a perfect state of preservation.
The blow of the hatchet had sens-
rated the stone into slightly UNEQUAL
halves. One of the halves contained
In its center, the feather, raised lika .
cameo; the other, the sunken. matr;x.
IKE outline
Elmer was intensely delighted with
chis find, and looked carefully about
for other powders similar in an
pearance. He thought he saw a num-
ber some little distance up the slona
Lieut.. Chadwick was several wards
in advance. Knowing his uncle would
have to return by the way he had
gone to reach the boat, Elmer bound-
ed off toward The powders that had
attracted his attention.
One by one he split them omen
None OF them contained feathers, but
in two or three he found petrifiet
fern leaves.
These he thrust into his pockets:
and, anxious to obtain another feath
er, he wandered farther, carried awax
by his enthusiasm and forgetful OF
time.
Suddenly there was crack of fire.
arms, followed by a series of blood.
curdling yells. Elmer recognized the
yells as the terrible war cries of the
Sioux. They were firing upon the
boat, and his heart sank as he re
allied the extreme peril of his posi-
tion.
! The slope above him was wooded
and well-covered with underbrush. He
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