Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-09-26
bLACkFEET
INDIAN AGENCY
A. b. CLEMENTS TALKS OF THE
REDMEN AND SCENERY OF
NORTHERN MONTANA.
MAJ. MONTEATH HAS BEEN
ADOPTED INTO THE TRIBE.
They Have Named Him "Lame Bull''
in Honor of a Departed Chief
He Is Popular.

A. 3. Clements. the manager of the
his wife, has spent the past month visit
ing friends in Northern Montana. has
very pleasant recollections of his trip and
is enthusiastic in his praise of the people
Of that section. OF the scenic grandeur
and splendid possibilities of the northern
portion of the state, Mr.. Clements is
equally as enthusiastic and after a
months recreation among the beautiful
lakes and streams there he wonders why
Americans and western Americans. too.
will journey to Europe to be buncoed
by theh hotel keepers when grander scenes
can be witnessed in our own state at one
emit the cost.
The most enjoyable portion Of our
trip was the time spent with Major and
Mrs. j. H. Monteath at the Blackfeet In
dian agency" said Mr.. Clements to-day.
Major Monteath is known among the
Indians as Lame Bull. this title having
been conferred upon him some time ago.
The major Is very popular with the tribe.
Lame Bull was the name of a noted war
rior chief in h old days and the title
has never been conferred on any one
since his death until Major Monteath was
so honored. He is the second agent who
has been adopted into the tribe. Both
Major and Mrs. Monteath are delighted
with the country and like the life. Mrs.
Monteath is just a. popular with the In
dams. Some time ago she attended a
pow wow in a beautiful beaded buckskin
costume which had been presented to her
by an old Indian chief. Since then she
has been he great mother of the tribe,
in the eStimation OF the Indians.
There are 1900 indian on the reser-
walton and they are all we'll behaved red
men. They are the most intelligent and
docile of the Indian tribes in the west.
They have a splendid school system.
There are government schools about two
miles from the agency and then there are
schools for the boys conducted by the
Jesuit fathers and schools for the girls
by the Ursuline sisters. The Jesuit faith
ers treated us royalty during our stay
there. The young Indians all speak. Eng
fish we'll and dress in American costume
but the old fellows still cling ITO their
blankets. There are a number Of Carlisle
students there and they seem strangely
out of place among their fellows.
1T is a rather amusing scene to see
Monty In conference with the big chiefs
of the tribe. They have a conference at
any n all times and upon the slightest
preteOt. If they want the slightest on
cession from the agent they call a con-
ference of chiefs and discuss the matter
with as much gravity as if the fate of
the nation hinged upon the outcome. 1t
IS very formal affair. The chiefs all
shake hands with the agent before the
talking begins and then again when the
chief has concluded. 'Monty's' popular.
ity comes through his patience in listen.
ing to their long winded harangues. OF
course. all the talking is lone through ar
interpreter as Monty has not mastered
the Indian tongue.
"The tribe is rapidly dying out OWNS
chiefly I think, to the close intermar.
1iage of the members of the tribe. Dur.
ing my visit there I noticed one peculiar
feature which illustrates the remarkable
development of the west. The old Indiar
agency at Piegan is a stockade or for
consisting of a cluster of log buildings
built as protection against hostile In.
dians. The new agency at Browning i:
built more on the order of a city resi-
dence. There are no loopholes for Win
chesters and no pretense ait protection
from savage foes. The Indian is no long
neighboring tribes. His occupation
around Browning is that of stock raising
While there are no lands in severalty, /
the Indian will care for and cut the ha,
he will be allotted a hay meadow, which
he must fence and irrigate and the gov
eminent will purchase his product.
Thomas Dawson, the half breed VIII,
married Isabella the accomplished
daughter of Malcolm Clark has a beautf
full home on the reservation which is tn
rendezvous for all the rich sportsmel
who visit the reservation every year
Dawson is the son of a Scotchman VIII
went to live IN the reservation year
ago as the agent of the Hudson Bay com
pany. After the death of his squaw moth
err the aid was taken to Scotland and 1
ignorance of his Indian blood, received
fine college education. Years after h
drifted out west, learned of his birth an
then took up his home on the reservation
He married Isabella Clark, also a ha1
breed and a sister of Helen Clark who
now the agent for the allotment of land
in s~everalty to the Indians Of the India