Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1911-05-20
THE BLACK HILLS PIONEERS.
A Narrative of the John Gordon Stock.
ade Party in 1874.
CONTRIBUTED TO THE CUSTER CHRONICLE
BY DAVID AIKEN, voNA, COLO.
CONTINUED from last week.

CONTRIBUTED TO THE CUSTER CHRONICLE
| BY DAVID AIKEN, voNA, COLO.
! CONTINUED from last week.
The next day, April 9TH, 1875, we
started for Fort Laramie, leaving l3 head
of oxen, all of our wagons, mining tools,
and in fact everything that many of US
possessed on this earth, but our bedding,
tents, what little provisions we had left
and a good appetite. The oxen were
driven by the soldiers in the rear of the
train. Several of the Government
mules gave out on the way on account
of lack of feed, and were turned out and
driven With the oxen and when they
refused to keep up here as some of them
did, they were shot and left as feed for
the coyotes.
We passed through Red Clouds
Agency and stopped over night near the
camp Of the Ogaialla Sioux. The tribe
Is considered one Of the most sagacious
and intrepid of all the warlike bands
comprising the great Sioux Nation.
Each tribe or band seemed to camp
little apart from the rest, similar to a
large family clustered around their ruling
chief. Thus as we passed along clusters
of tepees were seen for miles on either
water were found.
At this camp l witnessed perform
ance on the part of the Indians that was
quite interesting to one unlearned in
their peculiar ways. In the evening
Harry and l, in company with a couple
of soldier boys set out to visit the old
chiefs tent. On our way we came TO
small fire or rather a large bed of Goals
ar nh In
were standing They were silent and
pipe which was being passed around the
circle. Each would take a puff and
hand the pipe to the one on his right,
and as we felt inclined to be neighborly
we instinctively adopted the old maxim,
"When you are in Rome do as the
Romans do," and we silently joined the
mysterious circle and shared in the
seductive pleasures of the pipe as it
passed around. Not word was being
said by the group, but in low, round
tent close by that was thoroughly COW
cred with blankets there was another
show or performance that was at once
startling and amusing.
1t seemed to be whole tent full of
wild, fierce, incoherent sounds and to US
of course, unintelligible and uncouth.
In many respects it was similar to an
old-fashioned camp meeting. Some Of
the occupants seemed TO be praying,
some singing, some exhorting while
others INDUCED in chirping whistle.
1t seemed veritable bedlam of sounds.
The tent seemed to be full of earnest,
determined, anxious petitioners and
each seemed TO be pleading his own case
in his own peculiar manner. Just how
long this had been going on before We
came up We could not tell, but it only
lasted few minutes after we Joined the
circle at the fire.
In answer to a peculiar whistle from
one of the occupants of the tent, one of
the lads by the fire stepped quickly to
the tent and threw up one of the blank
cts that enclosed it. A dense cloud of
hot steam rolled out and nine naked,
stalwart Indians, stepped out into the
cold night air. They did not wrap
themselves in their blankets or approach
the fire, but simply threw their blankets
on the frozen ground and sat down on
them and allowed their bodies to dry as
best they could. The last one TO leave
the tent was tall fellow who came close
to where was standing. l was regard
ing him with curiosity as he stood on
his blanket, when be answered my
silent inquiry by placing one hand on
his breast and pointing up with the
other and said, make clean"
inferred at the time that this was
religious performance and have since
learned from scouts and Indian inter-
prefers that such was the case. This
large bed of Goals was where rock had
been heated and were put into water in
this tent, where they had taken hot
steam bath. From this camp We visited
several of their wigwams. Some seemed
to be occupied by three or four families,
for from two to four guns were usually
to be seen in each tent.
In all of these wigwams the fire is in
the center, the top of the tent answer
ing as a chimney. Some tents were
divided into four or five apartments by
light screen about as long as a bed and
four or five feet high. Belts full of cart
ridges with knife and revolver attached
usually hung on the inside of these
screens Blankets and robes constitute
their beds, chairs and lounges.
The Chiefs tent was a little larger
than the others and the furnishings a
little better than the others, while his
household was little more tidy and
neat in their dress. The men seemed
to be mostly absent and the number of
children remarkably few.
Although the Squaws cannot talk
English as we'll as the men who seemed
to adapt the language and customs Of
the whites the more readily, they
seemed intelligent enough to divine the
the nature of our visit and readily ex-
tehded the hand of hospitality to us by
allowing US the privilege of looking
through the various apartments of the
tepee, which we did conveniently by
standing by the fire in the center of the
circular room and looking around us.
Harry and were recognized by all of
them, as we could see by their gestures
and peculiar manner in referring to us.
On arriving at Fort Laramie we were
paroled. Here We sold our oxen or
rather transferred title to someone else,
as we realized but little for them. Here
old California Joe, noted character of
the West at that time came to our camp.
He, with several others, were on their
way intending to slip into the Hills as
soon as the weather would permit. We
stopped here three days.
| We demanded of Uncle Sam trans
portation to Cheyenne, as it was nearly
a hundred miles dista Mt and the country
very sparsely settled. The most of us
could have made the trip in three days
on foot, but the incentive, the spur was
gone. We simply sat down on the knee
of Uncle Sam and told him his little job
was not completed until We were set
in Cheyenne-and this he forthwith
proceeded to do. On our way we were
met by Charles Collins, of Sioux City,
the organizer of the expedition. He
had been sent by Sioux City with means
to defray our expenses to that place.
The help was very timely as the most o
us were dead-broke and long ways