Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-10-22
MISS FLETCHER STILL
BELIEVED TO BE ALIVE.

Broken Horn, an old Arapahoe In
dian living on tie Wind River reser-
walton, Wyoming, who is supposed to
be sister of Mrs. William Z. Cook,
of Davenport, who, with the other
mem bers of her family, was captured
by the Indians while crossing the
plains in an emigrant train many
years ago. This was the last time
Mrs. Cook ever saw her sister. who
was then a small girl. The story of
the capture Is a fascinating one. more
like a romance than the real history
Of PERSONS life.
| Says an old warrior who has seen
this strange woman on the plains:
Her features and the tradition of
the tribe point clearly to white par
entsge, but after a residence of SO
years in the tepees the white squaw,
as she is commonly called on the res
ervations, speaks only the Indian
tongue and professed to have no rec
objection other than squaws, warriors
and medicine men. Attention was
attracted to the white squaw little
over a year ago. when a small band Of
Arkpahoes came to Crapser. a town
on the border of the reservation, TO
sell trinkets. She was a member of
the band and at once attracted atten-
ton. She was as dirty and sur
burned as the other squaws, but be-
meath the dark skin were the traces +
different race. Her hair was light
in color and much finer than that of
the other women of the tribe. and il
was noticed that all of the mem bers
of the tribe paid her large amount
of consideration. Her clothing, blan-
kets and even souvenirs were better
than her associates. Her eyes were
clear blue.
eff the white squaw is a sister of
Mrs. Cook, and there is good reason
to believe she is, she was captured by
the Arapahoes while passing through
the state 35 years ago. She with her
sister, ND. Cook, were the only sur
vivors of the massacre. Mrs. Cook
escaped, but never saw her sister
after that eventful day. She was
taken in charge by an old chief and
grew into a typical Indian maiden.
She was then given in marriage to
Broken Bow.
The capture of Mrs. Cook occurred
when she was only IS years old.
She was with her parents, who were
Oh their way from Illinois to Cali
fornia. On the plains her father
] Joined an OK train of as wagons and
1 CUntlnded with it to Rock Creek sta
ton in Wyoming. just as the party
I had camped for the night and the
I entire Fletcher family, Mrs Cooks
parents, was on the bank of stream.
war party of 500 Cheyennes at
! tackled the whites. Fletcher and his
three sons escaped TO the wagons, but
the mother and daughters were
seized. In the fight, the mother was
| speared to death. One of the Indians
seized Lizzie. the youngest daughter,
aud pulled her upon his horse and
rode off. Mary Fletcher, the MrI.
Cook of today, was carried off. a
| prisoner That night was the last
time she ever saw her sister. She
was placed on the back of a pony,
| .rried away and was adopted as an
Indian girl. After she had seen a
scalp dance and a skirmish with SOL
diers, she was painted red, with
stripes of black and green, and her
hair colored. In the spring of 1866.
not quite a year after her capture,
she entered Sde tent of an Indian
traLer, who had visited the camp
near Fort Dodge. on the Arkansas
river. aud spoke few words in Eng
lish. She was Immediately knocked
down and carried from the tent
That night the trader was told the
story of the capture by the girl and
also that KIowa buck had been ne
gotiating for her purchase The
dor tho II for E00
she was taken back TO her old home
in illinois,"
During the past year Mrs Cook en-
deavored to silt the story Of the white
squaw Of the Arapahoe tribe. with
the hope that she might prove to be
her younger sister.
Concerning the matter Mrs. Cook
says:
Il will never be satisfied until 1 in
vestigate myself. 1 would have done
so several months ago. but according
to press reports, smallpox was raging
among the Indians. and since then a
threatened uprising has kept me away.
L will say il the woman is my sister
/ can fully identify her by birth
mark. L intend to fully investigate
this matter"
Capt. Nickerson, at the Shoshone
agency, believes the white squaw
comes from white parentage and may
be the long lost sister.
OF course l have seen the squaw,
said he, land tried to learn ker true
story. But the matter is a hard thing
to accomplish. She speaks only the
Indian language, and says she has no
recollection of white parents. She is
contented as an Indian She has
lived with the Indians since childhood
and undoubtedly would refuse to
leave her adopted home. Neverthe-
less, have agreed to help Mrs. Cook
in her search ~