Goldsboro semi-weekly argus., 1909-11-13
LITTLE LOST BIRD
WEDS WHITE MAN
Romance of Indian Babe Found
at Mothers Breast on Wound
ed Knee Battlefield
ADOPTED BY GEN. |. W. COLBY


ZIntka LanunI Writes to "Her Snow
Man Papa" Telling of Her Marriage
at Portland, Oregon, to Albert chaii-
vat-May Teach Her Red Relatives.
Beatrice, Neb.-Zintka Lanuni, 'Lit-
tie Lost Bird" the little Indian maid
en- found by General L. w. Colby, COW
cred with snow, at the breast Of her
dead mother, in the battlefield Of
wounded Knee, and by the General
raised up as his own daughter, with
every advantage money could buy, has
just been married to white man, Al
bert Chanvat of Portland, Ore, where
Lost Bird has resided with Mrs. Colby
for several years. A letter from Zint-
ka Lanuni to her "Snow Man Papa"
as she learned to call General Colby,
who lives in Beatrice, gives the de-
tails of the wedding and tells how hap
py she Is with her white Man Hus-
band"
What the little girls real name is
was never discovered. The sQuaw at
lay moaning with hunger and cold as
General Colby rode by the morning
after the battle was buried in the long
grave with 500 other Indians. The
father, too, must have been killed in
the battle. None claimed the little
baby, and none could identify her.
General Colby took her home with
him and gave her the name of Zintka
Lanuni, meaning Little Lost Bird"
and Little Lost Bird" she has been
ever since.
The Wounded Knee battle was
fought in 189G-on the last day Of the
year. On the one side were the sol
diers. On the other, 5000 Sioux. 1t
was the last real Indian uprising and
battle-so much of battle, in fact,
that in the two hours of it's duration,
nearly 500 Indians and 80 soldiers
were killed.
That night the winds came down
from the north and the SHOWS followed
in their wake. The next morning the
battlefield lay covered with a white
blanket and each mound, like fold
in the covering denoted where dead
man lay. General Colby rode over
the field, arranging for the burial of
the dead.
He passed one mound, and drew up
his horse to listen again for a sound
which he had heard; sound not often
heard on a battlefield. 1t was the low
wall of a child. And it came from a
snow mound directly before him. The
officer dismounted and made his way
to the heap; he brushed aside with his
feet the snow. Within, huddled in a
heap, was the body of squaw. The
marks of the Gatling gun showed how
death had come to her. In her stiff
arms was a small bundle, an Indian
blanket. And from fold in the
blanket could be seen the wondering
face of a child-a little Indian girl.
Colby climbed on his horse and,
with the child in his arms, made his
way back to headquarters. Inquiry
among the Indian prisoners failed to
elicit any information as to her iden-
tity and when the campaign was over
and the Indians had returned to their
villages General Colby came back to
his home in Beatrice and brought with
him the Little Lost Bird, whom he and
his wife adopted as their own child.
The little girl grew up a white
girl in everything but color. She at
tended the white schools, and when
General Colby was stationed in Wash
ington the adopted daughter attended
the most exclusive and fashionable
schools in the city. In time she be-
came ''miss." And then General
Colby and his wife became estranged.
Mrs. Colby went to Portland, Ore, to
nve-and took Lost Bird with her.
Finally divorce was secured, and the
Indian maiden continued with her
tPaleface Mama" as she called Mrs.
Colby. Occasionally Lost Bird came
to Beatrice to visit her "Snow Man
Papa" whom she loved very dearly.
Some weeks ago invitations were re-
ceived by friends here to the wedding
of Zintka Lanuni and Albert Chalivat
at Portland.
While Lost Bird cannot prove her
identity, it Is believed that she is the
daughter of White Cloud, famous
Sioux Chief. Her only means Of iden
tification is the Indian blanket In
which she was wrapped when found
by General Colby, and this never has
been identified. However, the girl is
known to be member Of the Sioux
tribe, and as such is entitled to 32C
acres Of land on the Sioux reservation
and q share of the tribal funds Of the
Sioux, as well as to all the rights and
privileges of the tribe.
General Colby says it is the inten
ton Of Lost Bird to visit the IndiaE
reservation to see her people, and
having received all the benefits OF edu
cation and culture that money coult
purchase, 1t is one of the probabilities
that Lost Bird may take up her resi-
dence among the Sioux for the pur
pose OF teaching her red relatives
some of the arts of Christianity ant
civilization that have been taught hel
by her "Snow Man Papa" and "Pale
face Mama"