New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1911-07-19
.MoNTAuk TRIBE
LEGALLY DEAD
I'M island Indians Oaes Nh
Jt,etuIsTs of Wealth.
.wA Y CAUSED STRIFE.

Number Of Sea Wssshipsrs-A
eisnt Land Holdings Taken From
ossesndants Aftsr Long Litigation
Valuable Tract Sold Fer kiss.
The Aontauk tribe Of Indians is Of.
ncially and legally dead. It is 90 writ
b the records, and the waves beating
against the Long Island shore moan It
a. a requiem.
Before Columbus or Cabot set sail
for the hemisphere somewhere far
away to the unknown west the ancient
Montanks, Indians alike of land and
sen, were wont to greet the sun as it
rose with smiling face from out the
deep or toss their weather tanned
heads when the waves welled in stormy
tumult. Now from the deck of the
passing liner one may picture the bent
figure that once typifed the grandeur
Of a race that was.
Long Island in the days before the
coming of the Dutch was called Island
of Shells. It was the aboriginal treas
ure house, the home Of that which
spelled wealth. Wampum grew there
on as the gold nestles in the rocks.
Wampum was Indian money; it was
made from the stock or stem Of the
periwinkle. Paque was a medium of
exchange Of lesser value. 1t was cut
from the purple heart 6 the hard
clam shell. Some bronze face f1nancier
gave the fat that the sand banks were
to be the tribal repositories, and from
that time on for generation after gen.
GRAFTON, Montauk was at once the
bourse and the Wall street Of Indian
operations.
Pequots Found Easy Money.
One day when Long Island sound
lay warm and placid twoscore or
more of Pequots who lived on the
Connecticut shore bundled into their
canoes and padded over to the head
lands Of Montauk for fight. 1t was
a sad affair. The Montauks were
trimmed. That night when the Pc !
quots pointed their barlzs for Connec-
ticut they carried with them portion
of their neighbors' bank roll.
1t didn't take long for the news to
get around that the Montauks had |
most of the ready cash. A consider
able tribe of ambitious and hopeful In
dams, known as the Narragansetts,
occupied, among other places, what IS
now fashionable Newport. So they
sent part of the naval reserve Of the
tribe to make a demonstration on the
island.
This time the Montauks weren't so
easy. They met the Narragansetts on
the beach and fought them until dark.
Some time thereafter, or about 1641,
an understanding was arrived at by
which the Montauks and the Nara
gansetts got along without further
fighting.
Sold Land For Kiss.
When the Indians began to dispose
If their lands on Long Island they at
irst got real Dutch money or its equal
n disable barter. But it wasn't al
ways SO. Take the gallant old Chief
for example. He held a
stretch of wave washed
and on the ocean side Of the island
)ne Sally Higbee, buxom young
maiden, was anxious to acquire tract
pon which she and her intended hus-
and might make their home. Smack
tagh-suggestive name, in view of the
1cident-ofered to sell the required
ores.
"How much?" asked Sally, leaning
gainst the door and rolling her hands
p in her apron.
The big chiefs solemn face broke
ito grin as he replied that he would
al 1t for kiss. What did Sally do?
1hy, she sat down with her father,
no knew thing or two about such
VS. OF contracts as obtained at the
me, and drew up a contract, which
e chief signed. Then she turned her
Jump, cheek to the Indian, who kiss
it and went away satisfied.
In 1863, when all the Montauks of
'htlng age were summoned to coun-
, their number exceeded 600. War
re and sickness made such great in
ads during the next three generations
at instead of increasing in number
~ had become less than 200 in 1859.
1899 tribal roll call was answered
only thirty, and forty years there
er there were only twenty.
Tribe Now Extinct.
he last real council of the tribe was
lvened in the early seventies. Chief
vid Pharaoh went to the council ar
ed in all the ancient plumery of the
ntauks and called his followers to
ir places in a semicircle around him.
passed the pipe from one to another
silence and then addressed them as
father Of the tribe Could it be, he
ed, that the tribe, which had lived
centuries in happiness on Long Is
!, was doomed to extinction? What
the tribesmen to say? Nothing.
or half century more or less the
ltauk Indian lands have been in liti-
on. Deeds bearing date of 1860