The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1917-01-18

the tribe for the wrOngdOing of the
bsta-nearted Indian who shot me In
the head five days ago. The same
man, or another man with bad heart,
tried to shoot me, after sundown to-
day, as came up the trail over on the
other side Of the brOken-tOpped noun
tain"
Oinna's Interpretation was met by a
cultural ugh" of surprise even from
the chief. He asked shrewdly: "If the
Longknife does not lie, is he not afraid
to be in my camp? 1t is the nearest
to the trail"
Hardy smiled and held out his open
palm to the chief. II trust Ti-Owa-
konza and his people. There is only
one bad Indian, and even he may come
to feel good in his heart toward me
when he learns that am the friend of
the tribe"
Still the old chiefs face remained
inscrutably immobile. He pondered,
and at last made another sharp query: !:
"The Longknife claims that he is a
friend. Why, then, did he say at the
council that he will do the way Nogen
did and make my people dig stones
and dirt from the big holes, without
giving them any trade goods for their
wOrk?"
Hardy's clear eyes dimmed for a
moment and then sparkled with COM
prehenson. He answered with an
earnest sincerity of tone that COM
PEELED belief:
81 now see that at the council Red
bear mistook much of what l told him
to say or else, in their anger, Ti-Owa-
konza and his subchiefS failed to un-
derstand Alright the Interpretation. The
place where stones are dug is on In
dian ground. 1t belongs to the tribe.
No white man has any right to make
your people dig stones. If they are
willing to dig, they must be given
trade goods, for their work."
The response to this statement was
unmistakable. The moment that Oinna
had interpreted it the last trace of
menace disappeared from the bearing
of the Indians, and even the chief
began to relax. Yet he had still an
other query:
did the Longknife say he would
stop the issue to the tribe of all gov
ernment goods and that he would take
away from the tribe all their lands
and give them to the white men?
At last the real cause of the failure
of the council was disclosed. Either
Intentionally or through stupid blum
dering, Redbear had made the chiefs
furious by a twisted Interpretation
that had given the exact reverse of
what had been intended. With the
key to the situation in his hands
Hardy at once began to make clear
what he had tried to tell at the cOun'
Gil. He explained why the issues OF
goods would cease the following
spring, and what was meant by an al
lotting of tribal land in severalty. He
added that if there was gold on any
of the reservation land it would be
we'll for the tribe to sell that part OF
what they owned; otherwise baC
white men would, sooner or later
come in and steal it.
More than half convinced of Har
dy's sincerity, though with still a lin
gering suspicion Ti-owa-kOnza eX
. planned in turn tb%t s.ia tribe was no
. only willing to allOt the farming lane
, Of the reservation and sell the min
eral land but treaty to that effec
had been agreed upon by the tribe, tht
previous year. All that remained tt
be done was for the white chiefs a
Washington to agree on the price Il
be paid for the mineral land and fol
delegation OF tribal chiefs to go tt
Washington and put their marks OF
the treaty paper.
A question or two from Hard!
brought out the angry complaint tina
when NOgen began to dig stones HI
; told the chiefs there would be NJ
| treaty, and that the tribe must di,
the stones for him, or they would re
| ceive no more issue goods. Chief Val
! and Big-mouth (Dupont) had tried t.
: get Nogen to give trade goods to tn
} young men and women who had dui
holes. But Nogen would not allow il
Then bad Indian had shot Nogen
t and Van had shot the killer. The trib
b. did not blame Chief Van. But the,
had felt bad toward NOgen and the,
had felt bad toward the new agent be
cause they thought he would do as No
gen had done. Now they would lik
the new agent No Indian would wisl
to kill him when it became know
what he intended to do for the tribe.
After the old chief finished this ex
PLANTATION, Hardy found himself wei
come and honored guest in the camp
At his suggestion M-owa-konza readil
agreed to send out runners in tn
morning to call council at the min
the day after. Hardy, in turn, prom
;! ised to draw up papers to make smoot
the way of the delegation of chiefs il
| Washington.
| At a sign from her grandfather, Dir
ma now brought food to the gues
| While he ate he talked with her abou
her experience in the camp. She tol
| him joyOusly that her mothers fathe
and all his family and band had bee
4 very kind to her. and had been hospit
I able, though not so kind, to her brotf
er.
But when Hardy casually inquire
! whether Redbear, had left the camp 9
the same time as Vandervyn, the girl
flow of conversation came to an abruI
n stop. She blushed and stammered an
d became so painfully shy and confuse
d that Hardy considerably feigne
I 1rnWSineSS.