Evening star., 1940-12-22
Fifty Years Ago
In the Star

an account of the death of Sitting Bull,
Sittino Bull an Indian chief who gave
the United States Govern
49,, ment a great deal of trou-
oo'"e BILE half a century ago. 1t
says:
"At daybreak yesterday morning there
was a desperate fight at the camp of
the hostile Indians. 40 miles northwest
of Standing Rock agency, and before it
could be ouelled Sitting Bull his son,
Grow Foot and six other Indians were
killed. besides four of the Indian police.
while quite number on both sides were
wounded. The fight was the result of
an attempt to arrest Sitting Bull in order
to prevent his departure for the bad
lands.
"The Indian police were ordered early
in the morning to proceed to the camp
and arrest the wild old chief who it
was known had arranged to make an
early start for the bad lands, where
he would be almost absolutely safe from
arrest. The police were followed by
troop of cavalry in command of Capt.
Fauchet and a company of infantry
under Gen. Drum. When the police
reached Sitting Bulls camp on Grand
River they found arrangements being
made for the departure of the band,
and. without waiting for the soldiers to
come up. at once placed the old chief
under arrest and started back with him
to the agency.
Scarcely had the officers gotten under
way when the friends of the old Indian
rallied to his rescue. The police were
surrounded and, though greatly ouuum-
bered, they fought like demons and sue
ceeded in holding their own against the
redskins until the cavalry, attracted by
the firing, came up on a quick run and
succeeded in compelling the Indians to
fly or surrender
I'm the furious fusilade Sitting Bull
fell out of his saddle, pierced by bullet,
but it is not known whether it was
fired by one of the charging party or by
one of the police. The hostiles fired with
deadly accuracy and slowly drove the
police from the field If the cavalry
had not come at this time it is probable
that the force would have been annihi-
lated. A skirmish line was thrown out
and then, kneeling and firing as they
advanced, the gallant troopers with the
machine guns playing over their heads,
poured whitening fire into the savages.
THE fighting was of the hand d-to-hand
description and is said to have been ex-
ceedingly savage. One of the Indian
police jumped on Sitting Bulls horse as
back with the infantry, which arrived on
the scene shortly after the cavalry had
relieved the overmatched police. Then
the Indians began to break away and
probably 100 of the braves deserted their
families and fled west up the. Grand
River.
when the smoke of battle had cleared
away it was found that { ting Bull
was dead. as also was his son, Grow
Foot, and six braves. -Four of the police
men were also dead and three of them
badly wounded. A number of the In
dians were badly injured, but managed
to escape on their ponies.
1cu NclSOn "A. MILES, at tNe military
headquarters in st. Paul. received two
dispatches last evening stating that Sit
ting Bull and his son had been killed.
After telling the reporters the contents
of his dispatches, which were substanti-
ally the same as the account of the fight
just given, Gen. Miles said
I have been criticized in some quar-
ters for failing to order the military to
make direct attack upon the Indians
Sitting Bull was born about 1887 He
was the principal chief of the Dakota
Sioux, who we're driven from their reser-
vation in the Black Hills by miners in
1876 and took up arms against whites
and friendly Indians, refusing to be
transported to the Indian Territory. In
June. 1876, they defeated and massacred
Gen. George A. Clusters advance party
of Gen. Alfred H. Terry's column on
Little Big Horn River, and were pur-
sued northward by Gen. Terry. Sitting
Bull, with part of his band, made his
escape into British territory and through
the mediation of Dominion officials sur
rendered on promise of pardon in
1880. In July and August, 1888. he in
fiuenced his tribe to refuse to relinquish
Indian lands"