The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-06-06


After a silence so long ard so com
plete that men had forgotten almos
that he ever lived. -pah-meap-to
grandson and only living descenden'
Of Tecumseh. the greatest OF the Shaw'
nee chiefs, has come out OF the west
where he and the remnant of his once
powerful nation live i'm poverty whicf
is aImosts abject. TO ash
fhe Great White Father
or the return Of a few acres OF
the vast domain that once was theirs
says the Washington Post. IL Is not
much that they ask: Just enough res
ervation to live on and 10 hunt little
the old chief says. The tract OF land
they now have, he declares, is not nj 10
cultivate: II is unhealthy ana tne
members of his tribe, which today mum
bers les than four hundred souls, are
rapidly dying off.
But the chief Of the line or the proud
Tecumseh does not come as supplant
with outstretched hands. He ASKS
what he believes is his of right ana
wants IL not unless due. When ne called
at the office OF the commissioner OK IN
dian affairs the other day he told MS
story I'm a plain, straightforward man
who believed his case was good. ana
who asked but simple justice.
-pah-meap-to. though old, ana
broken in health has a spirit that is
undaunted and is as proud and naughty
as his grandsre was. His face is no.
bic and a kindly one but full of rugged
strength and scanned with many years.
His eye is bright and flashes proudly,
and when he speaks IL would be easy 10
imagine IL were old Tecumseh saying
haughtily to William Henry Harrison:
The sun is my father. and the earth
Is my mother; on her bosom l will re-
pose.
-pah-meap-to. who in everyday
life is known less POLITICALLY as "a
JIM" looks. too. as though he might be
as fierce warrior and as honorable a
foeman as was his ancestorThe father
of Wah-pah -meap-to. the son ofTecum-
sch, has no place in history. there being
no record even of his name. He was
only an ordinary Indian. and probably
succumbed TO the corupting influences
tnat the white man brought his red
brother along with civilization.
Wah pah-meap-to was born in Texas
sixty-three years ago. He was living
in the Indian territory when the civil
war broke out. His tribe had land
there and lot OF cattle and horses, but
they We're forced To move, and went
into Kansas and left 1t all behind.
Their original grant was from Mexi-
co, but when the Texans whipped the
Mexicans, Gen. Sam Houston renewed
the grant. Their reservation was thir-
ty miles square, but Ii was never re-
stored 10 them after the civil war.
The difficulty now is to prove their title
TO the land. II this can be done, IL will
probably be restored 10 them, but a
trip 10 the Mexican capital by a lawyer
must be made. and other expenses
would have TO be incurred big Jim
and his people are without funds, and
their case seems well-nigh a hopeless
one. He came to Washington TO see
IL the Indian office could not help him
in securing the necessary evidence.
but there is no money at the command
OF Commissioner Jones for such pur-
pose.
Seven years ago big Jim" came TO
Washington and called at the White
House and shook hands with President
Harrison. the grandson OF the man his
grandfather fought against. The Incl
dent passed almost unnoticed at the
time. but 1t was full of pathetic his
torical interest,