The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-09-20

1Ztu. II Ndo oldLSu thdl oohiO !
n the names attached to the treat
e were those of men who had die
s previous to 1886, others were mer
D children at the time. Still other
were those of young men at tn
: time, full of life health, VIII
: neither desired to sit in the coucil
, of the old men, nor were consider
t ed sufficiently wise to be includes
in the councils, much less sigl
/, a treaty of such nature. But t.
offset the ones who did not sigl
that treaty, there was found on
mana Sioux, not an Assiniboin'
who signed, or made his mark
on the treaty four times.
What They Told
Without attempting to go into
the individual testimony of the
various witnesses, it may be said
that this testimony showed that
the Assiniboines roamed ove a
certain wide territory which they
considered their own. They spent
their summers north of the Mis-.
souri, and their winters south OF
the river. Deer and antelope as
we'll as buffalo were plentiful be-
fore the white hunters came.
They knew where the best berries
were to be found. They seldom
went beyond the confines of their
own territory because they we're a
peace loving race and did not
want to get in any trouble with
their enemies, the Nez Perces, the
Sioux and Crows. The best hunt
ing grounds were along the Mus
selshell and the Big Dry although
there were antelope all over the
southside. Then came the hunt
ers with their high power rifles,
their bands of SINNERS and oon
there we're no more buffalo graz
ing on the hillsides, but piles of
dry buffalo hides waiting to be
freighted out of the country.
luOS. n. II u DGO ltOlllCd " kO1
ditions existing at the time he
came into the country in 1880 as
an employee of the Leighton and
Jordan company who had large
freight steamers on the Yellow
stone and a trading store at Blu
ford and another at Wood Mbun-
tain, Sask. They freighted out
many buffalo hides, and shipped
out several thousand buffalo robes
the Fort Buford store.
Try to Get Truth
Judge Jackson, for the court of
claims, did little cross examining
and when he did, it seemed only to
give the witnesses an opportunity
to amplify and explain their form
testimony in such a way as to
strengthen rather than weaken it.
The procedure was ~noticeably diff
ferent from that in district court.
Both sides seemed to be trying to
earn the truth about the matter
issue. AS a result neither side
spent time in trying to tangle up
he witnesses or in erecting tech
meal hurdles for the opposing
.awyer to scale as best he might.
Indians Grateful
The Indians were touchingly
grateful for their day in court,
which came after so many years
Of effort to be heard. AS each
witness left the stand he thanked
he lawyers of both sides and
shook hands with them. On Sat
Irday, the final day of the hearing
lere, several of the old Indians
lressed in their finest costumes, .
.ang a song of gratitude which,
translated, ran something like i,
his: This is our case, this is [
ur case. 1t is the land of our {
and grandfathers, it is our {
and. We have waited so long, ]
We were afraid we would die be- t
ore we could tell our story. But I
.ow the day has come and we are i
cry glad. We have told the
etc" They are so sure that
II that is necessary for them to g
.et justice is to tell their story to 7
he court. Following the noon in L
emission Saturday this same
roup said that they had previous a
y held the wrong opinion about
he government, and that they
to renew their allegiance
o the flag. One of the Indian j
gave Miss Cannon a beau Ii
fully beaded belt.
Sanders Speech b
After the last witness had been 7
xamined, Mr.. Sanders made an Z
ddress to the Indians, thanking a
lem for being witnesses, and for
ssisting their lawyers in getting e
lie information they wanted. He G
he was pleased to represent S
ne Indians because they were Y
-illing to work with the attorneys. is
lie spoke for Mr.. Whitlock of his is
and for Mr.. Busick of the
m of Davis, Jones and Busick
saying that. He said that the W
Overnment has always wanted to G
D the right things, but that some T
mes individuals did wrong, and IL
lat the government wished to N
AXE right the wrongs done by
ldividuals. He said that Judge M