The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-03-28

eminent raised the Northwest Mount
ed Police. Three hundred men were
sent across the plains to take posses
sion and run the American traders out
of the country. But the police vera
only tenderfeet in those days. eastern
Canadians unused to the western ways.
who came hungry through the count
less herds of the bison. A band Of
hunters brought news to the Blackfeet.
Some men are coming" they said,
who wear red coats, and they are
drawing cannon"
"Oh," said the Blackfeet, ''these must
be Hudson's Bay" For In old times
worn red coats when they admfnisterea
justice, so that the color was sign OF
honest dealing. So the police were not
attacked by the Blackfeet. and they
were welcomed by the American trad.
ers, who sold them food IN abundance.
The liquor trade ceased altogether,
but the police and the traders became
fast friends, while the police and the
northern Blackfeet have been loyal al
lies ever since. After the buffalo van-
ished, the tribes were fed by the Cana.
dian government and, not lavishly, pera
haps rather stingily. helped to learn the
important arts of ranching.
Meanwhile far away to the south.
ward, the white men were slaughtering
buffalo for their hides, and in Kansas
oil d11,.i fnr fhfI.fu-Ru0 mil
lion carcasses were left to rot on the
plains. The bison herds still seemed
as large as ever, the country black
with them as far as the eye could
reach. But men like Schultz who had
brains, had news that away from these
last migrating herds, the plains were
empty for thousands OF miles. re-
member the northern plains like vast
graveyard, reaching In all directions
to the skyline, bare save for its tomb
stones, the bleached skulls of millions
of bison. Afterward the sugar refiners
sent the wagons and took them all
away.
in 1880, the whole IF the prairie ma
tons surrounded the last herds, and
white men took a hundred thousand
robes, leaving the carcasses to rot as
usual. The Indians slaughtered also,
but sold the robes for groceries, and
dried the whole of the meat for winter
food.
1--WE are near the END Of It." said
Red Birds Tail. 81 fear that this is
our last buffalo hunt. Are you sure"
he asked Schultz, that the white men
have seen all the land between the two
salt waters%
There is no place." answered the
trader, where the white men have not
travelled, and none of them can find
buffalo"
THAT being the case," said the chief
with deep sigh, misery and death
are at hand for me and mine"
The Indians were compelled to strip
the plains of every living creature, the
Blackfeet, despite their religion, to eat
fish and birds. Then came the winter ;
Schultz and his wife rode at. dusk to
the camp of Lodge-Pole, chief.
Hurry" he commanded his women.
"cook a meal for our friends. They
must be hungry after their long ride"
His wives brought out three small
potatoes and two little trout, which
they boiled. "'Tis all we have" said
one of them, brushing the tears from
her eyes, and then the chief broke
down.
I'VE have nothing" he said, hating
ly. There are no more buffalo. The
Great Father sends us but little food
gone in day. We are very hungry.
There are fish, to be sure, forbidden By
the gods, unclean. We eat them. but
they do not give us any strength, and
l doubt not we will be punished fol-
eating them. 1t seems as IL our godi
had forsaken u.s."
Mrs. Schultz went out and brought
back sack of food, and they made 4
feast, merry as in the days Of plenty,
which were gone forever.
Schultz came from the starving
camps to write letter to New York
paper, but it was never printed
matter of politics.
In his next annual report the agent
wrote much about the Blackfeet, whose
''heathenish rites were most deplora.
BILE" And then came the Winter of
Death, when a chief. Almost-a-dog.
checked OFF daily the fate of a starving
windows of the agents Office, holding
out skinny children. Co." he would
say; ''go awayl / have nothing for
your
The thirty thousand dollars provided
for their food had all been stolen, but
there was plenty Of corn to fatten fifty
chickens, some geese and ducks.
Wolf Head, once known as Wolver-
inc, rode south to Schultz's trading
post where he and his partner were
feeding hosts of people, but when they
heard his story of death after death.
one by one they stole away out into
the darkness. sitting upon the frozen
ground where they walled for their
dead.
That night Schultz wrote to friend
of his in New York, known to the In.
dians as Fisher Cap. Then he rode
hard and far to consult with Father
Prando, Jesuit priest, who had also
been writing letters. Thanks to Fisher
Cap, perhaps, or to Father Prando, the
government sent an inspector. and one
day he drove into the agency. Where
is that chicken house?" he yelled, and
when he found the place, kicked II
open. Here you'll" he called to the
Indians. and they did the rest.