Milford chronicle., 1909-06-25

twenty miles III Wlulu AvL huAuACu va
miles.
His arguments, as l see them now,
covered every one that the unselhsh
advocate of communal existence can
advance, practicable when the so call
ed "civilized man" has become as con
tented as were the primitive children
of prairie land and forest, but lacking
which. this survival Of the fittest
seems to decree the fate Of the Indian
and control the relative prosperity Of
the white. The fire horse caused
prairie fires. His attendants increased
until they came with shovel, spade and
carpenter tools They first erected
tepees. got lonely and brought their
souaws. Their friends soon came to
ioin them, and soon wooden tepees
were built and camps became villages
and villages towns until cities were
filed with crowds Of people, such as
Bismarck. Mandan, etc. Then the
"man in the dark" sold the land.
Later. when the crops failed and the
lessee did not pay, he kicked the tenant
out and resold the land. He took the
money back in the dark toward the
rising sun. If a poor man had no
money he could not ride, but there was
plenty Of room; he had to walk-often
to die by the roadside of hardships or
starvation. If some Samaritan Indian
did not feed him. The "man in the
dark" never came there when he and
his chief made complaints. NO one
was responsible. They were told to
send letters or speak by the lightning
to the "man In the dark" but he never
answered. When the government trea-
ties were broken similar discourteous
lack of consideration occurred. My
chiefs and me. who signed, were al
ways here. The great fathers head
men General Haney and others) were
not They never returned. New white
chiefs took their places, and every four
years new great fathers took power and
their men laughed at what their prede-
cessors had done"
The breaking Of treaties so frequent
lv and the invasion of the Black Hills
and other sections by the gold seekers,
prospectors and trappers became the
cause Of constant irritation, leading to
almost continual contests, raids and
massacres. This condition had really
brought on the war Of 1876, resulting
in the Custer fight as well as its many
succeeding cleanups.
The forfeiture Of the Black Hills and
iniudiclous reductions Of rations kept
discomfort alive. When in 1889 con
gress passed a law dividing the Sioux
reserva ion into many smaller ones so
as to isolate the different tribes CT
clans of the Dakota nation a treaty
was submitted to their vote whereby
by reinstating the cutoff ratiOns and
paving for ponies captured or destroy
ed in the '76 war and other certain
conditions they ceded about One-half
their land-11, 100000 acreS. Fulfill
ment Of conditions was delayed, post
poned-forgotten, almost-by congress.
At this time, through some mysteri-
Gus mountain phantom or trickster,
the medicine men, became easy vic
tins Of a craze This was based on
the assertion that the Messiah {the
Manitou was coming back on earth to
use his miraculous power in favor of
the rcd man to crush out the whites,
to restore everything to the idealistic
condition of former years, restock the
ranges with big game, bufaloes, elk,
deer. etc. This created a universal
fanatical fervor, and not alone among
the Sioux. but affected all Indians
on this continent. Former foes be
came fast friends, and from the va
0uis in old Mexico to the Alaskan
tribes in the far north the religious
ghost dance festivities famed the
flames Of war. The medicine mems"
preachine that the holy medicinal
ghost shirts would protect the wearer
turn the white mans bullets, was ac-
cepted and made recruits by thou
sands to the cause. The dancing
frightened the settlers, shocked the re
ligious. philanthropic friends Of the
Indians and was officially ordered
stopped. easy orders, eh2" Instead
If they had been allowed to dance,
even If some did so to the death, ex-
haustion, like a boilers safety valve
and an afterthOught might soon have
made 1t appear to them in the ridic-
ulous light that so effectively kills alb
Then came the army and the Indian
agent. Left to himself, in conjunction
with his coadjutor, the army officer,
that most efficient and famous among
the best Indian agents, Major James
Mclaughlin NOW inspector), would
have probably brought about a peace
ful solution. But eastern meddlesome
energy demanded action, action against
this horrid religious innovation, and
they forced the market by their innuen-
does and long distance fears.
All interested In my best belief were
pushed, and Colonel Drum, comman-
dant at Fort Yates, and Major Nc
Laughlin were ordered to cooperate to
secure the person Of Sitting Bull.
Henry Bull, lieutenant Of Indian po-
lice. had intimated that the old chief
was preparing his horses for long
ride.Y Couriers were sent to tell him
to quietly arrest Sitting Bull, and. Ma
Tor Edmond G. Ratchet Of the Eighth
cavalry and a Hotchkiss gun were sent
to support him.
After a hard ride, Just at dawn they
saw man coming at full speed on Sit