The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-04-28
GENERAL NELSON A. MILES.
OF u. S. ARMY, TELLS ABOUT
LAST INDIAN UPRISING

" t.tIb't 'RNA -
200 # Big Foot's followers, men wo-
men and children. n the death &C
tbfrty United States officers and men,
- Mich occurred December %, 1880,
NOT far from Pine Ridge Indian agen-
,r and north OF Rushville, Neb., some
thirty good miles, closed f~orecer In
dian warfare so far as the State Of
Nebraska is concerned. About this in
rident many tales have been told and
many stories written which contained
much that was incorrect. Now after
tventy-three years have passed Cen
.ral Nelson A. Miles, United States
army. tie old Indian fighter and
pIainsman, who has personal knowl.
.dee Of the battle of Wounded Knee,
brief history of the contest that is at
variance with the tales told by many
and what led up to it, as written by
writer's.
The general uprising of the Indians
IN 1890 extended Yer a large area
and included various tribes of redmen
and was brought about from various
causes. largely, however, by the teach
incS of a Messiah" a so-called half
breed. who claimed to be the Christ.
Ills name was, he asserted, "Wovo-
ka. son Of Tavibo, or WaughZee-
~vauehber, who claimed to be a pro-
phct who had had a vision. One year
prjor TO the battle of Wounded Knee
emissaries appeared among the tribes
of the west, and sent by Wovoka, who
told the indians that they were to con-
Nene for Il great conference at Pyra-
mid Lake. New. In November of 1889,
representatives of the different tribes
left their reservations and travelled to
the designated place in Nevada where
the supposed Christine half breed
met and harangued them, telling
them that he would soon drive from
the country the paleface and bring
back The vast herds of buffalo, deer,
elk and other big game for the bene-
Dit Of the Indians.
The Lake Meeting.
OF this great gathering of Indians,
General Miles has written: 1T is re-
markable that by concerted action
the delegations from the different
tribes left their various reservations,
some starting from points a thousand
miles apart from others and some
travelling fourteen hundred miles into
a country unknown to them and in
which they had never been before.
The delegation from the Sioux Chey-
euue and other tribes secretly leaving
their reservations, met al and Travelled
through the Arapahoe and Shoshone
reservations in Wyoming, and thence
via the Union Pacific railroad, passed
into Utah and were there joined by
the eros Nentres, UteS, Snakes, Pie
EanS. ~Bannocks, Pi-Utes and others
until they came to a large conclave OF
whites and Indians near Pyramid lake
IN Nevada, where not less than siXteer
of the principal tribes of Indians were
represented. With simplicity yet re-
served formality, the pretender APP.
pearcd 10 them, surrounded by a few
Of his followers, all robed in white il
u manner to impress the u~nsuSpectins
natives with Il feeling of awe and pro
found generation. The delegates Wer'
told that those present, were all be
levers in a new religion; that the,
were an oppressed people; that tt
whites and Indians were all the same
and mat the Messiah had returned t
them. SO we'll was this deceptiO'
prayed by men masquerading and i'm
personating the Christ hat they mad
these Superstitious believ
that the so-called Christ could spea
all languages, that the white, VIII
were not Of their faith, were to be de
Stroyed, and that all who a faith i
me new religion would occupy tn
earth: that the Messiah would cove
'he earth with dust and would the
renew everything as it used to be an
make ii better He told them ais
that all of their dead would be RI
stored to life and come back to cart
'''iN VI o Il "VoiN A''N
east, driving before Him vast herds
wild horses, buffalo, elk, deer, ant
iope, and convert the earth into
happy Mounting ground. an ideal Ii
"lan heaven; and they must so inforl
an the people they met. He said tn;
'hose remaining on earth were to
all good hereafter and they must a
ne friendly to one another: that in tt
lali OF the veal (1S90) the youth
all the good people would be renewt
80 ina nobody would be more ths
az years old and after that time IL
EoVth of every one would be renew
IN The spring and that they won
"lSo live forever. That if any man di
"peyed, his tribe would be wiped fro
ne tact of the earth; that he wOu
know their thoughts and actio
Wherever they might be.
Song Indians Chanted.
indian delegates who saw the S
ralled Messiah described him in d
iereht ways: some as an Indian, OF
IS us Il white man. There were IL