The Holly chieftain., 1923-07-26

man in the United States Court of Claims and le-
gal documents and the oratory Of lawyers instead
of war club and lance will be his weapons For the
great Dakota nation has filed suit against the
United States for total Of nearly $22O,OO0,0OO
which the Indians say Is due them for lands seized
by the government. Added to this amount Is
enough interest to bring the total up to nearly
three quarters OF billion of dollars, making 1t one
OF the largest suits ever filed In any court In this
country
The biggest item in the bill which the Sioux are
trying to collect from Uncle Sam is for $156OOO.
600 In payment for the Black Hills Of South Dakota
which they say were taken from them by force Of
arms and In violation of all sacred treaty obliga-
tions SO they are going to make one last fight
for their beloved "Pah-sap-pah" (Back Hills), for
which such tribal heroes as Red Cloud and Crazy
Horse, Gall and Spotted Tall once fought so vail
antly and 30 unayangly.
Back of this legal action is story through the
fabric OF which runs a shining thread of gold. To
pick up that thread you must go back to Fort
Laramie, the old Fort Laramie of the American
Fur company. the Laramie Of Jim Bridger and Kit
Carson aud the other old-time long-haired noun
tain mem Past this famous post ran the Oregon
trail and over it In 1S49 were hurryng thousands
Of men with their faces set toward the West to-
ward the gold fields Of California.
The reckless slaughter Of game by the Argonauts
melted to fury the Ogalala and Brule Sioux When
the Indian depredations became unbearable, a
Sioux, Cheyenne. Arapahoe, Grow, Gros ventre
Mandan and Arlkara-was called at Laramie by
the government. There in 1881 the tribes signed
treaty guaranteeing undisturbed passage for
emigrant trains The lands guaranteed to the
Sioux included the Black Hills
But as the tide of emigration flowed on and CON
tinued to frighten away the buffalo, the Brule
Sioux renewed their attacks on wagon trains
Then Gen. William s. Harncy appeared on the
scene with 1000 soldiers. At the Battle Of Ash
Hollow, Neb he won victory which many con.
slider little more than massacre of Indians who
were trapped and would have surrendered If given
the chance. But he did his work so thoroughly
that the Sioux were willing to sign a treaty at
Fort Pierre in March, 1885, in which they again
promised to allow the gold-seekers to travel In
peace.
The Sioux were then left In undisturbed posses.
sion of the fills for nearly decade. In the mean
time Spotted Tail and his Brues had renew ed
their depredations along the Oregon trail and they
nearly put both the Overland Stage line and the
Pacific telegraph out of commission The govern
ment was too busy with the Civil war to repeat
Harney's measures, however, and "Old Spot was
pretty much boss of the whole trans-AIissouri
country.
In 1865 the thread Of gold appears again. This
time the gold was In Montana and Idaho and the
"ush of miners there led to demand for a better
route to the new diggings. Accordingly congress
authorized the construction Of road from Fort
Laramie on the Oregon trail to Bozeman, Mont,
to run dagonally across the country west of the
Black Hills and skirt the Big Horn mountains in
Montana and Wyoming. Incidentally, 1t ran
through the heart of the ogalala Sioux buffalo
range.
Red Cloud young Ogaala chief who had risen
to the position of the greatest leader of the Sioux
actively resisted this violation of the treaty of
1851 The government sent out a commission to
treat for right-of-way. At first, neither Red
C1ou1 nor pd treat hut In
1866, they were persuaded to come into Fort La
ramIe for a council. In the midst of the council
Col. ii. B Darlington, with force of 700 soldiers,
arrived -at Laramie under orders to build forts
along the road.
Red Cloud hotly denounced the white men for
'trying 30 steal the road before the Indians had
chance TO say yes or no." "Are to give up
the sacred graves of ancestors to be plowed
up for corn 2? he demanded Of his tribesmen "Da-
kotas, I am for war; So he Withdrew from the
council. Spotted Tail, however, was won over and
yigned The treaty allowing the road to be built