The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1906-03-24
GHOST SHIRTS FAILED,
SIOUX BRAVES SUFFERED g..
CAUSE OF FAITH IN THEM.
Confidence in Their lrvJIrc-abii.y
Sealed in an Episode Following the
Death Of Sitting 3.n-Redsk,as
Forced to tn. Belief Tha: They
Were bad Medicine"

Fuinerablllty OF their ghost shirts
was sealed at the time hat cap. Ed
mond G Fechet made his dash to
the rescue of the police who were be-
siesed after the arrest and the kill
ing Of Sitting Bull
The medicine men to be sure, had
told the braves that their shirts
were good medicine" and Sitting
Bull himself had added the weight
Of his word. but there were certain
Sioux who had been trained in
Government schools and who had
dropped some Of their superstition.
who told their brethren that such
things were folly AMI th>t i was
much better to trIs' 10 strategy and
TO cover than to expose themselves
openly to the fire of Long Tom" and
| carbine
This advice of the students was
' received in the spirit IN which
Christian would take The announce
ment that he had been uorshoning
false God all his life. AMI with as
| little belief One warrior. however.
| determined to put the matter tc TIE
test A the first opportunity and 50
It was after Fechet aud Ils men had
driven the ghost dancers away from
Sitting Bulls hut that a brave rode
soddenly into he open from clum3
OF trees less than eighty yards from
the troopers ana fired into their
ranks
Instantly a vGIIaY was let loose.
but Indian rider ana pony escaped I'M
scathei The daring ono made the
morning ring with his var wh0op and
with The challeng" - the troops to
throw away more ammunition. a
challenge that was no sooner made
than taken. and another volley rang
through the valley. 1t was answered
by second war whoop and BY two
shots In quick succession from the
red rider who now had every reason
IL the world. from the Indian point
of view. to have confidence in the
soothsaying of the medicine man.
The savages turned and headed his
pony for the woods. into which he
disappeared with yell. to reappear
and to tempt fate once more at
distance of about 700 yards, where he
successfully withstood another dis
charge from every rifle and carbine
that could be brought to bear on
him
What better proof did the Sioux
need than this warrior deed and its
outcome that the prophets Of their
nation were inspired and that the bull
lets OF the palefaces were powerless
to harm them when they were cloth
ed in their shirts of magic
Two weeks later there was fear
ful awakening from the dream of i'm -,
munity from death Scores of the
band, that had taken to heart the
killing Of Sitting Bull. fell under tho
fire OF the carbines of the troopars :;
Of the 18th cavalry. the ghost shirts :,
were perforated as if they were paper :,
and the medicine man was forever :.
II has been said that the Indians
OF the Government schools who had
gone back to their tribe had for
saken largely their superst ition So
they had. but they had lost none or :,
their savagery. Many Of them hated ;,
The whites as bitterly after four years -
ot education and civilizing influences =
as mad any OF their savage ancestors :,
before them. Graduates Of the white :,
schools went on the warpath. and =
hey went In paint and feathers. n
Prior t0 thn
lostiities. but at time when tha
Government was much disturbed oy -
ar the fanaticism of the ghost craze =
md the Messiah idea which had TAX
IN possession Of the reds. 1t became
inoWn through "squaw men" and 9th
RS that the Indians were kept. in. oil
ormed in some way of every Govern fe
nent move and Of every order that in
fected the change in the stations Ia
Il troops that might be needed in the Iii
leld in case the Sioux committed q,
overt acts. -,
1t did not take long to discover he
he source of the information that Ct,
cached the camps of the FESTIVE -,
raves Supposedly peaceful Indians y,
Tho hung around the frontier towns ~,
ecured possession Of the daily pa ax
ers and sent them by runners to r,
ne tepees OF the Sioux where the mi
ioux who had been taught to read or
Government expense turned their -.
to account and translated -.
ne news paragraphs to the chief. -,
Among the Sioux at an Eastern -
al ~
HON the tribe had dubbed, for ~,
ONE reason or other. Plenty Horses. ~,
1hen the Eastern pedagogues went %