The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-03-31
Gold Hunters Violate Sanctity
of Burial Custom and Rob
Dead Brave.
AvENeING NEMESIS
From the Sioux City Tribune.
BY CAPTAIN e. III. ALLISON.

6Y AIN z. ". AcllSON.
Dallas, S. D.-special: Until the
close of the ear 1876 all of that coun-
Try known as the BLACK Hills" in Da-
gotta, lay within the boundary of the
great Sioux reservation. The Indians
rights were recognized by the United
States government and prior to the
discovery Of gold there, in 1874, no one
| disputed their ownership. Stories had
been told. however, of Indians from
known to barter big nuggets of gold
for merchandise at the trading stores
at Laramie and Fort Smith. and vague
| rumors reached the mining camps in
Montana and the Wind River O
tains that wonderful deposits of the
dark gulches of that mysterious SEN
final which, isolated n apart from
his fellows, a guard at the gate
way to the mighty ranges
of the west.
Tho Lure Of Gold.
Millions of dollars taken out of the
Homestake, De Smet and other mines
located and developed since the Hills"
were wrenched from their Indian own
ers attest the solid foundation upon
which these stories We're based. The
ubiquitous prospector quickly found
his way into the Hills and soon the
entire white population of the states
OOI0Sl ING DihOld hdo III a Sldle VI
feverish excitement over the reports
from the newly discovered Eldorado,
and before the middle of the summer
of 1875 hundreds of White without
respect for Indian ownership and re-
gardless of the earnest protest of the
from the United States authorities
~forbidding trespass on the reservation,
We're digging up the earth in the
| gulches, sinking shafts into the noun
tain sides and blasting the eternal
rocks in every section of the Black
Hills.
Bad River Trail.
Among other routes leading to the
Black Hills was one known as the
Bad River Trail" SO called from the
fact that it followed the curse Of
Wakpa Sica or Bad river from it's
mouth, opposite where now stands the
city Of Pierre, S. D., westward to its
source near the Black Hills.
About 40 miles above the mouth Of
Bad river, on the banks OF the big
Missouri. the Cheyenne River indian
agency was situated, around which
were clustered about 5000 friendly
Sioux. Down the Missouri about the
same distance below the Bad river,
$500 Brule Sioux, who We're also
friendly, received their supplies at
the Lower Brule agency.
These Indians were continually Wis
tt1ng each other, making a we'll beaten
trail between the two agencies upon
which little bands OF men, women and
children could be seen moving to INC
These friendly visitors We're compelled
to observe the utmost caution to avoid
contact with the miners who were
pouring into the Hills over the Bad
river trail n who looked upon every
Indian as a mortal enemy, just as the
i III oil ~ ~oo r thA Nv - <hD lo,,~a
which he is in the act Of plundering.
Death Caused Massacre.
Early in the spring Of 1876 seven
lodges of up river Indians were on
their return journey from Lower Brule,
where they had been for the purpose
of having one Of their number, a young
man who was afflicted with tubercu-
losis, treated by a famous Indian doc
tor at that agency. Growing worse
and realizing that he could live but
a few days, he begged to be carried
home that he might look once more
upon the face of an elder brother and
bid him a last farewell. Drawing near
80 miles west Of Fort Pierre, they
sent one Of their nunber ahead to
examine the white mans trail and,
finding it clear, they moved down into
the valley, where there was wood
and water, where they fixed their camp.
\ A0I lIC 44l6ll 1lS SSOIS lIldH Knew
worse and just after the sun rose in
the morning he died.
Manner Of Burial.
Fortunately no white men were in
view, so they were permitted peacefully
to conduct the funeral rites and cere-
monies peculiar to their tribe. Nothing
possessed by the Indian is too precious
to be used in preparing the dead for
their last resting place. First, a fine
buffalo robe is spread out on the
ground, fur uppermost, on top of the
robe a new wooden blanket is spread,
then three or Q dressed deer skins
on top of the blanket, a cotton sack,
filled with the hair of antelope or deer,
is placed near one end for a pillow, and
on these the body, painted and dressed
as If for a festival, is tenderly laid, a
costly war bonnet Of eagle feathers
~surlnounts the head, around the neck
md resting on the breast. a necklace
Of bear claws. silver arnlets encircle
the arms above the elbows, brass wire
wristlets on the wrists, a highly orna-
mented leather belt around the waist.
held by the belt is an embroidered
knife scabbard with its hunting knife.
The belt also holds in place the WOOL
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