The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1908-07-30
INDIAN HISTORY
WEST OF RIVER
State Historian Among Old Sit
ting Bulls Descendants

Sioux Indians living along Grand
river, in the Southern portion of the
Standing Rock Reservation, going
by way of Aberdeen and the new
Pacific extention to the Milwaukee
railroad. to Mclaughlin station
about forty miles west of the Mis-
souri, and within eight miles of Miss
Collins Mission station at Little Ea-
gle. was accompanied by Miss And
ing stenographer of the Department
of History and Rev. E. V. Pierce, of
Ipswich. Both in the amount of
historical information secured and
valuable relics for the musuem it
was the most successful visit ! have
made to the Indian country.
One cannot go among the South
Dakota Indians without being i'm
pressed with the wonderful accomp-
lishments of the Missionaries among
the people. At Little Eagle, every
Indian of sufficient years was par
ticipant in the Battle Of Little Big
Horn in 1876. Not one of them now
but is an active and consistent
churchman. Rev. Mr. Wakutemani,
pastor of the Congregational church
at Little Eagle, Miss Collins charac-
terizes as one of the truest and
gentlest men she ever knew, yet
he shot two of Custer's men. Near
by resides One Bull, son of Sitting
Bull, who was his fathers chief fac
totem at the Little Blghorn. One
Bull is deacon in the Congrega-
tional church. and a gentler and
more agreeable man one rarely
meets.
They are all making good pro-
gress in the ways of civilization, liv-
ing as far as they can by white stan
dards and taking good care of their
live stock which is their chief de-
pendence. All have houses, but in
the summer they resort to the te,
pees as Of yore, though One Bull,
lives in good. we'll furnished house
kept as cleanly as the average farm
house.
We visited the former home OF
Sitting Bull, .were shown the ar
rangement of the buildings and cor.
rails, which are now all destroyed,
and the position of each of the men
in the affair which resulted in the
death of the old chief. We secured
the details of the whole affair which
the men who participated in it, both
police and those who were then hos,
tile, and got very much that has not
been published. After almost q
score of years the Indians have nc
reluctance in telling the whole story
and a marvellous one it is.
One of the chief objects in the
visit was to see Crawler, the man
who rescued Frances Kelley in 1874
and restored her to the military at
Old Fort Sully below the Indian
School here. We found the old man
at his home ten miles above Bull
head. He is II years of age and
very frail but his mind is clear and
he told his story most graphically
He is reputed to be the "storytelle, .
historian of the Tetons. Having
but recently obtained from Frank
Myers, of Miller, the story of the
delivery of Mrs Kelley at the old
post it is very gratifying to get from
Crawler all the details of the rescue
which occurred upon the very
ground where Crawler now lives
and he pointed out the tree under
which it took place. Mrs Kelley
wrote book about her captivity
and rescue, but so confused was she
in her facts, and so obscure as tt
men, and places that her story ha!
very little historical value. From
the information secured from My
ers and Crawler it will now be pos
sible to write correct history Of
the most interesting event.
Among the many valuable relic.
secured from Miss Collins for the
state museum is the buffalo heaC
used for many years in his incanta
tions and black art. 1t was tht
chief fetch hung upon his prayer
tree in the ghost dance of the Mes
siah craze at the time Of his deatf
and was secured by Miss Collins i'm
mediately afterward and has since
been in her possession so that it il
thoroughly identified.
Among these Indians Miss Collin
is an oracle. She is their spiritua
and temparal advisor. doctor, law