The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-06-24

'1~SeN1' these names, the
sittino Bull changed values Of a
later day, others.
Perhaps he was all of these. One
thing is certain, he was colorful.
The year of his birth in South Da-
kota, 1884, is almost hundred years
ago. South Dakota was a wild coun-
try then, Inhabited by Sioux, who
fought the other plains tribes inces-
sanity. The Shoshoni and the Crows
knew the valor of this tribe, and as
time went on, young Sitting Bull be-
came noted far and near as a warrior
of the Sioux.
Certainly, his youth was not that
Of a coward. He distinguished him
self in hunting buffalo calves at the
age Of ten, and at fourteen he had
gone with his father on the warpath
and counted his first coup.
Coups are counted in three ways:
killing an enemy, scalping an enemy,
or being the first to strike an enemy.
Considering the ferocity of Indian
warfare, it must be granted that it
was brave lad who counted coup at
| the age of fourteen.
AS he grew older, Sitting Bull was
often consulted in the role of peace
maker. He a leader in war, was
also foremost in peace; but this did
not extend to the white men. For
| them, Sitting Bull always had a sense
of disdain and hatred. 1t shows in his
pictures, glaring out from his Indian
eyes; it showed most-and always-in
his life.
His first important engagement
against the whites was at Fort Buford
in 1866. The next three years found
Indians from various tribes fiocking
to his standard. Then came seven
years on the warpath, when the band
was never at loss for a fight; there
were frontier posts to swoop upon,
Shoshoni to battle with, or Crows to
raid
| Then the seven years of joyous
warfare came to an end. The govern
ment stepped in. This was no longer
an Indian land, where the red man
might do as he liked. Peace was the
word of the day, and peaceful In
dams went on reservations and be-
| haved themselves.
Yes, but Sitting Bull was not a
peaceful Indian!
The battle on the Little Bighorn,
where Custer and his men fell, is
of course the most famous engage
ment in which Sitting Bull is named.
Here one may always start an argu-
ment about him.
] Was he a coward? He is said to
have fed with the women and children
on that eventful day. Or was he the
mighty medicine man who stayed In
the hills and prayed for his people,
although his heart inclined to the
thick of battle? Who can tell? Gall
and John Grass fought bravely,
trained in the same school which had
taught Sitting Bull the lessons of war.
Many other Indian warriors fought
bravely also. Is it believeable that he,
who had spent the last ten years on
| the warpath, had fled from this hand
| full Of white men-especially when he
had already predicted the Indian vic
| tory?
| But with General Miles hot on his
| heels afterwards, no one can blame
him for escaping into Canada. Gen.
| eral Miles was another sort of enemy,
with an uncanny manner of achieving
| his ends in the face of all sorts Of
opposition.
The year 1881 saw the return of Sit
ting Bull to his own country. He had
been promised amnesty, and surren-
dered at Fort Buford, where, 10 years
before, he had made his first great
| fight against the whites.
| 1t is almost impossible. In describ-
| ing the Sioux leader at this time of
his life, to avoid using the express
sion, "a Gagged eagle" 1t so exact
| ly fits him. His fighting heart was
not tanned, even if his power was
| limited. Was this a martyr who
urged his people not to yield to the
white men, a prophet who fOresaw
| the fall of his race, or an old SCALA
wag with an Unsuitable desire to make
trouble? The truth. no doubt, lies
somewhere in between.
There is something little sad in
| Sitting Bulls death. The chief was
of more than middle age; his eloquent
opposition was his only effective weap-
on against the whites. Two troops of
cavalry with two Hotchkiss guns, and
43 trained Indian police, were sent
at night to take him. They woke
him where he slept, and told him to
go with them. and bitter-heart that
| he was, he berated them as he made
his preparations.
He was shot as he went out with
his captors. Fearful that his followers
might effect a rescue the Indian pO-
| liceman at his side killed him, in
front of his people who had crowded
around to save him. Killed by men of
his own race. Sitting Bull died as he
had lived. hating and despising the
white men and their ways TO the last.
&c. 1892. Western Newspaper Union.I
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