Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1914-05-13

difference on the part of the Indi-
ans; one of these was the principal
chief of the tribe, Little Grow, who
was we'll known among all the tribes
of the Sioux under the sobriquet of
Soft-Heart, because he always in
clined to the side Of mercy when &C.
casion arose which called for the ex-
ercise of that unstrained quality.
Probably the most conspicuous in
stance of the display of Little
Crows heart tenderness was when he
pleaded with all the powers of his
great eloquence against the pitiless
massacre of the whites which took
place short time subsequent to the
events which are in these pages call
ed to the attention of the reader. I'm
fortunately he was overruled in the
counsels of his people by the united
strength of the petty chiefs, and was
compelled to witness many of the
heart-rending cruelties practiced by
a portion of his people upon the I'M
happy white settlers in southern Min
nesota; the memories of which still
linger among the earlier dwellers of
those regions.
Under the direction of Cut-Nose,
one of the most ferocious savages that
has ever appeared in all the annals
of Indian warfare-Cut-Nose
named because in one of his
many encounters he had re-
ceived a deep cash from a knife
cut on the right side of his nose
which left long livid mark making
his naturally ill-favored face all the
more grewsome. 1t was to this man
more than to any other that the
white squatters were indebted for
the misfortunes which overlook
them. Fleeing from their homes
which they knew could not be de-
Tended against the red marauders,
many of them sought refuge in the
most accessible towns of southern
Minnesota and northern Iowa. One
of the most noted of these cities of
refuge was the home of Jesse Bad
leigh and Frances Armstrong; which,
on account of its nearness to the
site of some of the tragedies, became
at one time a scene of wild excite
ment, for it was thronged with re-
fugees who swarmed into the town
from the north, many of them on
foot, others in conveyences of vari-
Gus kinds, from wagon drawn by
team of red and white oxen; to a
superanuated carriage with a real
leather top and deeply dished wheels.
The old stone fiat north of the
Winneshiek hotel was covered with
the teams of the homeless unfortu-
mates who sought safety and shelter
among the sympathetic kind-hearted
citizens, until they could in safety
return to rebuild their homes and
begin again the battle of life.
Little Crow was, like most of his
people, vain of his appearance;
whenever it was at all possible he
would naively affect the garments
of civilization. Arrayed in the
cast-off clothing of his white broth
er, the chief would proudly assume
all the distinction such adornment
was supposed tc confer, and move
among his people with the air of an
aboriginal Beau Brummel coupled
with the dignified poise of a Frede-
rick the Great. At the time our
party made it's unlocked for advent
into the camp, Little Crow had
proudly adorned his person in a
swaAowltail coat which, had once
been blue, but now, alas! was so fad
ed that its original color was almost
lost in variety of hues wrought up
on it by the practiced hands of
light and time. The coat however,
was of especial value in the eyes of
the chief because it was embellished
with great quantity of huge brass
buttons which gave to the wearer a
military appearance of which he was
prodigiously vain.
Also, in addition to the coat he
sported silk hat with very tall
crown and very narrow brim, the
hat bore the aspect of veteran
which had bravely endured the hard
ships OF many campaigns.
A pair of ancient spectacles with
"a heavy iron rim sat jauntily upon
the end of his nose so perched as
not to interfere with the vision Of
the wearer-completed the outfit of
the great chief, with the exception of
a pair of slippers which he wore only
when in the camp.
The entire outfit had been gener-
ously presented to him with much
ceremony by white friend who re-
ceived in exchange a paltry present
of the skins of animals which the
high-minded white man afterward