The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-08-06
WOMAN LEADER
OF SIOUX DIES
IN so. DAKOTA
Mrs. James Mclaughlin Was
Leader Among the ,WOm.
en- of Her Tribe
HAD WRITTEN BOOK
Told of myths of the Sioux"
in Book Published Sew
eral Years Ago
Especial to the Tribune)

Especial to the Trlbune)
Fl. Yates, N. D., Aug. 6.-Mrs.
James Mclaughlin, aged 81 years,
widow of the late Major James Nc
Laughlin, oldest representative of
the Indian service at the time, Of his
death, died at Mclaughlin, South
Dakota, Tuesday night, according to
word here. Burial will be Friday at
Mclaughlin.
Mrs. Mclaughlin was an outstand-
ing figure among Indian women of
the Northwest. OF both white and
Indian blood, she was a member of
the Sioux tribe of Indians when Ma
jor Mclaughlin met and married her
in Minnesota. She went as bride
to Fort Totten, near Devils Lake.
when Major Mclaughlin was sent
there as representative of the
United States Indian Bureau, and
later went to Standing Rock when he
was transferred.
Mrs. Mclaughlin was we'll educat-
ed and cultured. Several years ago
she published book, myths Of the
Sioux" which was widely read. In
it she told of many of the traditions
of the Sioux nation. She had done
a great deal of mission work among
the Indians. She was member of
the Catholic church. Her activities
in mission work were entirely urof-
ficial and largely without reference
to any creed. She had been of much
service to the Sioux Indians in maty
ways, her intelligence and education
enabling her to speak forcefully in
their behalf.
Mrs. Mclaughlin had lived in South
Dakota for many years. Two sons,
one in Mclaughlin and one west Of
Selfridgc, North Dakota, survive.
Tells of Ancestry
Mrs. Marie Mclaughlin, in the fore
word to her book, myths of the
Sioux" published by the Bismarck
Tribune Company, dated May /, 1913,
told of her ancestry.
I'm publishing these Myths of the
Sioux, 1 deem it proper to state that
l am of one-fourth Sioux blood. My
maternal grandfather, Capt. Duncan
Graham, a Scotchman by birth, who
had seen service in the British Army,
was one of a party Of Scotch High
landers who in 1911 arrived in the
British Northwest by way Of York
Factory, Hudson Bay, to found what
was known as the Selkirk Colony,
near Lake Winnipeg, now within the
province of Manitoba, Canada. Soon
after his arrival at Lake Winnipeg
he proceeded up the Red River of the
North and the western fork thereof
to its source, and thence down the
Minnesota River to Mendoza, the con-
fluence Of the Minnesota and Mis-
sissippi Rivers, where he located.
My grandmother, Ha-za-ho-ta-win,
was a full-blood Of the Medawakanton
Band of the Sioux Tribe Of Indians.
Ny father, Joseph Busson, born near
Montreal, Canada, was connected with
the American Fur Company, with
headquarters at Mendoza, Minnesota,
which point was for many years the
| chief distributing depot Of the Amer
lean Fur Company, from which the
Indian trade conducted by that COM
pany on the upper Mississippi was
directed"
Mrs. Mclaughlin stated she was
born December 8, 1912, at Wabasha,
Minnesota, then Indian country, and
resided there until ID years old
when she was sent 70 school at
Prairie dy Chen, Wisconsin: She
was married to Major Mclaughlin at
Mendoza, Minnesota, January %,
1864, and resided in Minnesota until
July 1, 1871, when she accompanied
her husband to Devils Lake Agency,
Fort Totten, near Devils Lake, then
Dakota Territory. After 10 years
she and Major Mclaughlin moved to
Standing Rock Agency. This was in
1881.
"Having been born and reared in
an Indian community, at an early
age acquired thorough knowledge
of the Sioux Language. and having
lived on Indian reservations for the
past forty years in a position which
brought me very near to the Indians.
whose confidence I possessed. have
therefore, had exceptional opportun-
tiles of learning the legends and
folklore Of the Sioux"