Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-09-30
How Chief Sitting BULL
Was Received i'm Canada

was. and hat his errand was to see Sit
ting Bull, adding I'VE will be in your
camp, and you can kill us then II neces-
sary, but let Us see Sitting Bull first"
This logic prevailed, n they entered
the camp.
He was not by birth a hereditary great
chief, but the Sol of a small subchief
He had first succeeded in working him.
self into the Oggalalla lodge Il. e, the
Soldier lodge of the Sioux %Indians), and
later on in his capacity as a medicine
man, politician, and an elected chief, he
dominated and controlled the whole ma
ton.
When Walsh entered the counci with
Paul Caplette, Sitting Bull, after eying
him for an appreciable length Of time,
suddenly rose and said, 'Thi is a man
and a soldier. we will listen to what he
has to say"
Walsh, a fin looking, soldierly man,
was wearing the gold braided scarlet
HuZzar tunic worn by the mounted po-
lice officers at that time, and this, cou-
pied with his dramati entry into the
camp, and the Sioux traditional love and
respect for the British scarlet, all helped
to make his reception q favorable one.
Sitting Bull went on to enlarge on the
fact that When an American general
came into their camp, cannon were
trained on it, and troops 1t;
but his man gallops boldly in and
| says: Don kill me, let me speak to
| Sitting Bull first, kill me afterwards II
you will"
Major Walsh told them he had not
come to make a speech. but to make mat
ters clear as to how they stood now
| they were on British territory. The gist
of what he said was as follows: You
nave made the United States too hot
for yourselves. and now you enter the
| territory Of the Great White Mother. Her
soldiers here are few, it is true; but she
has countless soldiers, n unless you
promise and agree to obey our laws and
accept any punishment dealt out lor
their infraction I will report 1T. and you
will be forced to return to the United
States"
After various speeches, they promised
| and agreed to accept Walsh's terms, and
eventually the camp moved to Wood
| Mountain, not far from the fort. Beyond
this, on the farther side from the Sioux
camp, was Layton and Jordan's trading
post.
One day, Walsh was obliged to Is
sue a warrant for an indian for flagrant
violation of the law. He sent O sergeant
Interpreter to arrest the man and bring
him to the post for trial. Relying on
the Sioux promise to obey the law, he
| did not anticipate any interference on
their part. When, however, the sergeant
| tried to get the man, the Indians good
humoredly walked in between him and
| the culprit, and do as he would, he could
accomplish nothing. Finally. he returned
to the post and reported his failure to
the major. That word has never been
| tolerated by the mounted police, and
Walsh flew into one of his tempers, which
were not infrequent, but in spite OF
| which his men loved him.. He walked
round and round the sergeant, and said,
well, Sergeant. You are the greatest
hero I have ever seen, all covered with
bullet ounds and knife stabs, and
| scarcely able to stand. You come now
to report your failure to get your man
Truly, you are q brave one!'
The sergeant replied with somewhat
unexpected calmness, Major, there is nc
use in talking like that, sir. Under the
circumstances neither I nor any living
man could make a prisoner OF that In
dian. Even you, yourself, sir, couldnt
do it,
II accept tha challenge" said Walsh.
Come with me-
He ordered out a light baggage wagon,
known in the force as a sheep wagon,
with two men lying on the bottom with
leg irons and handouts, n with the
sergeant interpreter, rode down to the
camp.
He told the interpreter, after we dis
mount, indicate the indian to me, and
while talking to the others I will try
to work myself close up to him and
grapple with him"
When they reached the camp the In
dams greeted him vociferously, as he was
immensely popular with them.
Wasn't 1t ridiculousP" they cried.
"One of your soldiers came into this
camp to arrest one of us. 1t can't be
done. We will not permit It,"
Walsh laughingly agreed, and every
one took a hand in the talk. even the
Indian wanted" Walsh gradually n
cautiously got nearer and nearer to him,
then suddenly sprang upon him, and
snapped a handcuff on one wrist. He
knew the psychology Of this. Suddenly
snap a handcuff on q mans wrist, and he
can no more resist placing his other hand
on that wrist thar you can refrain from
putting your tongue into the space where
a tooth has Just been pulled. Walsh knew
this, and as the Indian obeyed the natu-
raj impulse, he Immediately snapped the
cuff on the other wrist: then, being an
extremely powerful man, %grappled with
him, and with the assistance OF the
sergeant, threw him into the wagon. They
leaped INTO the saddle and galloped for
the post. AS they reached 1t, Walsh threw
out the prisoner, gave the order TO peat
to quarters, and stand ready to close
the gates, whilst he and the Others, with
Continued on Agricultural Page)