Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1932-09-29
TALE
OF THE
By
Editha
Watson
JOHN OTHERDAY

Iflere Is no headstone to tell wb
lies here. There are no lovingly-plan,
ed flowers TO brighten the spot. ivy
or three small stones mark the loca
ton-stones which a child could rol
down into the creek which flows by.
Yet In this little-noticed. unken
grave lies the dust of John Otherday
hero.
lie was a Wahpeton Sioux. born n,
the beginning of the Nineteenth cen
Jury, and his early manhood was no,
what We would expect from heroes
passionate and reyengeful, he killed
several of his tribesmen In drunken
RACES. Here, surely. was not the ma.
1erlai from which good citizens are
made.
Bravery, however, was a virtue
winch Otherday always possessed. In
one OF the fierce battles between those
4lneiong enemies. the Sioux and the
ohlppewa. he carried a severely
wounded tribesman from the field. and
later In the day saved the life OF an
other. Thus the scales might be said
TO balance, for though he killed on one
hand. he herolcally saved on the other.
&c not know what changed Other
DAY into the man he became. At any
rate, when he decided to become as
nearly like a white man as an Indian
could. he went at the task with the
intensity he showed In everything. He
became a deyout church member. and
dressed in white mans clothing.
This, perhaps, was not Il In
itself, but the spirit Lake massacre,
proved Otherday to be a sincere friend
OF the white man. Inkpaduta, a hos
tile, renegade Sioux, with his follow
ers Killed the settlers at Spirit Lake,
> D., and carried off two white wom-
Abigail Gardner (later Mrs. Sharpl
and Mrs. Noble. Otherday and anoth-
er Sioux. a chief, offered TO attemnt
a rescue, and followed the dangerous
at the risk OF their own lives.
Mrs Noble died before the friendly
pair 0 through to them. but Miss
Gardner was released.
Otherday was fifty-six years old at
his time. The exciting events of his
lie, especially this latest exploit. were
enough for n person to have expert
.nced, surely. He had married a white
Woman, and lived comfortably In O
louse built for him by the agent OF
lis reservation 1t Is unlikely that he
expected further adventures-he had
'ertainly earned a peaceful life for
LIS later years-and 1t is doubtful If
e ever longed for other deeds of vaIor
o perform.
But his service was not over: In
act, 1t may be said to have scarcely
egun- The Sioux outbreak of 1862. In
hitch hundreds OF Minnesota settlers
ere tortured and killed, aroused the
ntire region Somthing must be done.
nd done quickly.
John O~therday, Sioux, one of the
cry tribe whose anger had famed
nth In such dreadful might, heard
le call again. He was ~sixty-one
aars old, but he knew that he must
1sWer- There was a wilderness be
e the besieged settlers and Saint
aul, where they would be safe. The
needed a guide, lest they be-
me lost and die as they fled. !
Slxty-tWo white persons were gath !
ed by 0therday. He led them !
rough to Saint Paul safely, and then
rned back to the frontier to offer !
cry aid at his command. !
General Sibley and his troops hav.
2 been ordered to quell the uprising. :
herday became attached to them as !
scout, fighting against his tribesmen. !
is said that mo person in the field :
impaired with him In the exhibition I
reckless bravery He dressed all !
white, and 1t was his custom to 20 :
far In advance OF the troops that \
~ often fired at him, mistaking him :
an enemy. r.
the age of John Other :
y; 1t seems incredible that he could !,
| several younger men, Sioux q o
RS, and take their horses. but a man !
o had lived through adventures :,
,ugh to fill several lives, found this !,
t not so difficult. =
1t the close of this war, the valiant 1.
Sioux vas granted the sum of !,
500 by congress. He bought a farm, n
| tried to succeeded at agriculture. 10
1t was too late for the war horse &c
begin drawing a pillow. Finally he H.
we'd to the Sisset0n and Wahperon j.
eryation, where he lived only a
rt time, dying of tuberculosis, and ~
; buried on the land which he had -
led to some day own. ~.
here is d monument at Morton, a
IN, erected In honor of Otherday D;
the three other Christian Indians -
, showed their loyalty SO heroically !
ing the Sioux uprising. But only =,
more than sixty years after his o.,
tn, a movement has begun to mark rr,
grave In a fitting n ~
suggest an epitaph for the stone:
Here lies the body Of an Indian, =,
oh enclosed the soul Of a white ~
l." -.
10. 1882. Western Newspaper Union.) IS
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