The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1906-03-01
PIONEER In SERVICE.
Hon Cyrus Bssfs lis Canght By
Newspaper Repnrtsr.


Concerning an l1anured citizen Of
0sfzaloosa the Riverside, California
Daily Press of Friday. Fen. 16, EayB:
Ttere are few men in government
employ today vino were appointed dur
ing the Grant regime and who have
served faithfully under every presf
dent since.
Such man lis Cyrus Beede. Mr.
Reede-he should have some sort or
military title, blIt he haEn't-is 3
government inspector of Indian
schools and is just now paying visit
to Sherman institute. 1t is mis- first
Whit to the school, and he is accom-
panied on the trip by his wife. They
have visited q half dozen schools Oh
the Pacific Coast and viii remain al
Sherman institute for several days
more.
"Bvrus BeedR has seen many chair
yes in the abnrigines during the So
years OF MS service, anu Is Touay me
man of largest experience in dealing
with Indians in the interior depart
ment He WAS appointed acting sup
erintendent of Indian affairs under
Grant, and has since oficiated as
United States Indian agent, special
agent and Indian inspector Many is
the time that ne has taken his life in
hand as he has gone among the In
dams who were saEages in Fery truth.
| "One incident in his career tells OF
the 8ndomitable viii Of the man and
Of his methods In dealing with the In
CLANS. Gen. Pope frnen eolone9 was
out on an Indian raid some years ago
with l25 soldiers They eamped at
noon for lunch. turning lis horses
loose in the valley below them and
retaining only ten animals with them.
While they were eating dinner band
Of hostile Indians crept UP and drove
off all the horses in the valley. Mr..
Beede was then in charge Of the In
: dian agency at Lawrence, Kan, and
J Colonel Pope wrote him about the
[. loss and asked his aid in recovering
the lost horses.
Now, be n known, that Mr.. Beede
is a Quaker and went into the service
Under the Grant peace policy, and II
seemed bit queer for an army officer
to seek his aid in matter where
force would seem to have been requir-
ed. II was the Keowas who made
the depreciation, and Mr. Beede wen;
! down single-handed among them TO
demand the stolen stock. Many par
leys were held but without satisfac-
tory results. While these were in
progress, the agent learned that FIVE
white children were being kept in Gus
tody by the tribe. He demanded that
the children be given up and that the
Indians relinquish the horses as well.
The chiefs in return demanded that
three big chieftains held as prisoners
of war be released. But the agent
would make no promises. The nego-
tiations went on for several weeks
and finally the Indians gave up the
children and were allowed to retain
the stolen horses.
Gen. Grant should be given all
credit for his peace policy" said the
grlzzled old veteran to a press repor
ter. "He was pioneer in the move
ment at the time when it was not a
popular policy, and its effect for the
betterment OF the indians has been
constant improvement of methods
] a man may be well trained along edu
cational lines, but be sadly def
cient in business accumen."
What OF the graduates of Indian
schools" was asked.
1T must be remembered" said Mr.
Beede, that the Indiane have been
i. going to school for less than quar-
ter OF a century, while the Anglo-Sax.
on has had a couple Of hundred years
. OF schooling. It's pretty good token
4 Of success that one quarter of the
employees Of Indian schools are In
dams who are educating their own
people. Not many can go into white
schools, but :saey make successful
teachers of their own people. 1ne
civil service rule applies to the work
of educating the Indians"
"The inspector is thoroughly delight
ed with the work being done at Sher
man, and he compliments Superin
tsndent Hall and his associates very
highly on the results achieved. enc
body could see the plant and witness
1.-THE working Of the school without ad
miring the work." he said.
! "The visiting official closed the in
J terview by telling a little story illus