The Bozeman courier., 1926-01-22
(By SYLVESTER WHALEN)
Of Huron, South Dakota


r THAVE always read with great !
pleasure the accounts of the |
= early days appearing in the Mon
tana weekly newspapers, as it brings
the romantic past with all its allUr-
ing glamOr and adventure to pass in
review, perhaps for the last time for
many of us. There is one thing,
however, which detracts from the
pleasure of the reading, and that is
when the Liver Eating Johnson va
riety of frontier hero is Obtruded up
on the landscape as the correct pic
ture of the frOntiersman that made
! this great state Of Montana what it
! is today, and wrested the wilderness
from its Cat that time) rightfull
owner, the American Indian.
1t is this livereating variety of cit
izen who caused the friction between
the Indians and the whites, which
turmoil resulted in the sacrifice of
innumerable lives and the needless
torture of hundreds of human be-
lings, all of which was charged by
those who knGw nothing of the
West, to the "Red Fiends, Murder
lous Savages and TraiterOus Red
Skins" as they pleased to term the
Indian who was doing nothing but
endeavOring to protect his home
and life from invasion by the whites
, who had proven themselves enemies
to the red race at almost every turn
of the road.
To be sure, there were many hon
est and upright persons who helped
in the making of the West. There
o11 in
er to protect the Indian from eX
plOitatiOn by the white men, but, un
fortunately, these rarely commanded
the positions of power then, an!
more than now. 1t was the actions
of a few unscUpulOus individual'
who. through political intrigue OF
IOtherwise succeeded in occupying
places of responsibility and prOmi
nence in the new country, with thu
aid of some Of the livereating ele
ment that produced a condition o
hostility among the Indians ant
then demanded protection from th
soldiers, claiming that the Indial
chad gone on the warpath".
Thus the Indians were forced tt
remain passive while the exploiter
: monOpolized their land for range o
N mining purposes. In referring t.
III these matters, am not doing so a
III random or from mere hearsay, bu
II rather from first-hand knowledge
Nj So far as I am concerned, wouli
II much rather trust myself to tn
mercies of the Indian who rOameu
n the unbrOken plains in the earl
days than to the average minin
camp aggregation, many Of WhOI
III were in the West for the reason tina
l some sheriff in the East was lookin
for them.
III In March, 1896, the Indians a
Lame Deer Agency were reporte
to the authorities at Fort Keogh q
HI becoming very restive, and the agen
iii Captain Slough, asked for prOteu
ton. AS a result, a detachment
l17 men under Lieutenant b. e. Da
HI ton, was despatched to Lame Dee
iii Montana to guard the Agency. Whe
It'll this request for protection was mad
I'LL there accompanied it no explanatiC
HI as to the cause of the dissatisfactiC
HI among the redmen, but when we a
HI rived on the ground, it was four
HI to be another Of those many i
stances of starving the Indians.
developed that the agent, eth
through corruption or inefficienC
had withheld the rations Of t
tribesmen until there existed actu
III famine and the Indians were up
the point Of taking the warpath
matter. of self-preservation.
When we marched into the Agen,
which was situated upon Lame De
I'LL creek, we were surrounded by
couple Of thousand Indians who Z
peareg to be fully armed, and
two weeks we we're not allowed
lleave camp or TO carry arms for (
fear that we might unintsntiona