New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1902-08-06


had come to assist my hostess in sewing.
They eyed me frequently and : soon
found out that a regulation Indian suit.
was being made for me. Itconsisted of
9 belt, abreech or loin cloth, "a shirt. a
pair of leggings and q pair Of noccasins.
/ was not allowed to Wear any kind of
head gear as the Indians were not jim the
habit Of wearing any in camp. was or.
dered to discard my clothes Of which there
were but two articles ahickory shirt.and
a pair of trousers-I had lost my hat
early in the morning Of that eventful
.day-and put on the new. OF course l
was in need of instruction as to the
proper use and adjustment of some Of
the parts of the. outfit. | made a neat
bundle of the old clothes and was about
to stow them away in the tee-pee when
I was commanded to throw them into
a nearby ravine.
Soon after my arrival at the village !
was asked as to my name. When gave
them the namessB Benedict my interlocutors
were simply disguised. They had never
heard of such a name and hadanosuse tor
it. They were suspicious that Twas jok-
ing with them. If it had been either Joe
or John it would have stuck to me but as
1t was, must of needs be rechristened
and received the name of Ta-han-sha.
Nor was thong before I was the indignant
possessor of nick name. s..Ssz@
At that age my hair was silvery white
and sorely in need of the shears. AS /
wandered about. the camp the Indian
youth OF my age would have paid no
more attention to me thanato one Of their
own 2 un her but my white tow head
touched their vein of sridicule. Twas
greeted from all sides .Pa-ska!" spa
ska, ''meaning s.Head white, as, the Iu-
dians put it, for they invariably hare the
adjective follow the noun. B
Camp was shifted q few times during
the first ten days without hoWeser getting
far away from the original site. T think II
was more for drillthan any other purpose.
During the battle of Birch Coulie there
was great excitement in the camp. We
at times could plainly hear the roar of
battle. Towards evening of the first day
the squaw told me that She feared I was
not safe in camp, She took me to the
timber along the bluff. When she espied
hollow Eastwood tree she ordered me
to get into that and stay there all night.
q little before dark a heavy shower,
Though Of but short duration, fell ID that
region: The topof the tree had been
broken off and the rain came down the
hollow trunk and was soon wet and
numb. Then, too, fear such as children
are often possessed of when darkness sets
IN. began to seize me and sneaked back
to camp and hid IN the tee-pe like q
/ guilty cur. Itwas not slight surprise to
my hostess the next morning to see me
crawl out from under robe. .#
The Indian who had approp riated our
team remembering how easily managed
the oxen soon came to get me to do some
hauling for him. did this two or three
times but one day on returning fromssuch
an errand my hostess who had always
been stern to me, though she would not
have me suffer il any way, told me that
1T worked for other people / could also
board there. This started the tears.
had begun to regard this q ny home ana
though not greatly alta .hed to. her,
loathed tosparts with her daugh whom
Hooked up to as elder sister. When tile
Indian came again with the same request
| told him how mattars stood. SO much
the better he said you shall live with nae
hereafter, and went along though with
u
q sad heart. Though parted the two
maidens did notforget their white brother,
MN Ma ska, as they called me. After
lapse Of weeks, when their camp was
miles away from ours, they came q visit
me and asked me to 60 with them to re-
turn the visit. i asked for permission and
was granted q leave Of absence of one day,
from one afternoon to the next. It is
needless to say that was royalty enter.
tanned. Kind reader, you will not take
itsamiss when confess that tears startto
my eyes when my memory rever.s 70 these
maidens. Think Of Ghrist's words q
was IN prison and ye visited me moi, g did
] not they and Others Of their race exempli.
3Ify more practical Christianity than many
Of our 50 called Christians Of the white
race2 War always brings crueltiesin it's