Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-10-14
PRESIDENTS ADDRESS At
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PRESIDENTS ADDRESS At
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thousand hues, they hunted the buf.
falo, deer and smaller game, all of
which found ample room as we'll as
sustenance upon the juicy grasses
with which Nature has garnished the
untitled fields; and upon which the
Sioux chieftains gathered their peo-
pie in re council and the dance.
Bluer skies, greener fields, richer
soil cannot be found. Dacotah's past
is identified, not with the white man,
and interests growing out of civili-
zed life, but on the contrary with a
warlike nation of Indians. Many Of
her records are already lost to us
while others written not by loving
hands but with deadly arrow point
dipped in warm life blood are fading
but with passing years. In the word
"Dacotah" from which our territory
took it's name there is special sig
nificance. 1t is a name at once sug-
costing greatness and broad domain,
and a careful review of its history
must satisfy one that a substitute
should never be given, and it is no
wonder that the people throughout the
length and breadth Of the territory
as with one voice said Let them bear
the ancestral name, name whose
every letter seems an unWritten chap.
ter in the history of that powerful
nation from whose hands we adopted
her with all the legends, wild roman
ces and fascinating traditions, an
ancient jeweled chain which must be
kept legancy for her children"
You are all doubtless familiar with
that altogether charming book Boots
and Saddles" by Mrs. Custer, who be.
cause of her residence at Fort Lin
coin can be classed with the Bis.
marck group of writer's. AS you know,
her book recounts her experiences in
Dakota beginning with the long march
from Yankton to Bismarck, then her
life at the Fort until the fatal event
of the Custer Massacre and the death
of her husband, General Custer. She
gives many realistic pictures of Da-
kota experiences; an April blizzard
which she lived through in a shack
without stove; her delight in the
prairies and bracing air, her difficult
ties in learning to drink Missouri
river water,etc., and her life at the
Fort, but of course, the most vital
part deals with the events leading
up to the Custer Massacre. Through
out, the book reveals nicely of lit
erary taste and style and makes one
wish that the gifted woman had more
often used the pen, but she seems not
to have had literary ambitions, but
to have written only to paint her
famous husband to us as she knew
and loved him.
Earlier than any of the persons
whom have named, very early in
the Nineteenth century, George Cat
lin, lawyer and artist, left his COM
Portable eastern home and his family
solely that he might study and paint
the North American Indian as he was.
For years he, gifted scholar, travers-
ed the wilds, lived at trading posts or
with the Indians in pursuance of his
quest, and he was more than success
full for he left behind him legacy
of many paintings besides two large
volumes of his travels. His work is
considered authentic and to form
largely the basis of our knowledge
concerning the Indian. His paintings,
to the number of about two hundred,
are in the National Museum at Wash.
ington, and l note that most of the
writer's on such subjects quote him
freely. Among his Journeys he trav-
eled up the Missouri from St. Louis
to the mouth of the Yellowstone.
There he painted the Crow and Black.
feet Indians, then he retraced his
path to the Mandan villages where
he spent much time and has given
us full interesting information regard
ing this now almost extinct unique
tribe Of Indians; in many respects so
far in advance of all others; so that
he may fairly be classed among the
slope writer's.
A most interesting character to
those who knew him was JahASN H.
Taylor. He located upon the Missouri
in the sixties. His vocation was that
of hunter and trapper. Subsequently
he took up his residence at Wash.
burn and opened a printing office,
the press of which he manipulated
He set his own type after
writing and editing his subject mat.
ter. He published several volumes
of North Dakota lore and history in
this manner. all of the labor being
performed by himself with the excep.
ton of the binding. He has been
described as an unusual man of much
interest and of whom many good tales
were told. His work was of value
chiefly for the preservation of sub
ject matter from which later history
may be woven. 1t had no great lit
erary merit although pleasantly writ
ten, but certainly to Mr.. Taylor at
tached much credit and to him should
be rendered our gratitude for the
work that he has done.
Other slope writer's to be mention.
ed in passing are Jessie Chase An
lerson, formerly of Bismarck. success
Ful writer of children's stories; Mr..
Slaughter and Ben Corbin. the latter
having published a book on Wolf