ORIGIN OF INDIANS--CAPTAIN CARVER--SITTING BULL.
There is something wonderfully interesting about the origin of the
Indians. Different writers have different theories; John McIntosh, who
is an interesting and very exhaustive writer on this subject, says they
can date their origin back to the time of the flood, and that Magog,
the second son of Japhet, is the real fountain head. Our North American
Indians, however, were first heard of authentically from Father Hennepin,
who so early came among them.
At a later date, about 1766, Jonathan Carver, a British subject and a
captain in the army, made a visit of adventure to this almost unknown and
interesting country. The Sioux were then very powerful and occupied the
country about St. Anthony Falls, and west of the Mississippi, and south,
taking in a portion of what now is the State of Iowa.
The country to the north and northeast was owned by the Chippewas. The
Sioux then, as later, were a very war-like nation, and at the time of
Captain Carver's advent among them were at war with the Chippewas,
their hated foes. Captain Carver came among them as a peace-maker; his
diplomacy and genial spirit prevailed, and the hatchet was buried. For
these good offices, the Indians ceded to him a large tract of land,
extending from the Falls of St. Anthony to the foot of Lake Pipin;
thence east one hundred miles; thence north and west to the place of
beginning--a most magnificent domain, truly, and which in Europe would
call for nothing less than a king to supervise its destinies.
A writer, Hon. W. S. Bryant, of St. Paul, Minnesota, on this subject,
says: "That at a later period, after Captain Carver's death, congress
was petitioned by others than his heirs, to confirm the Indian deed,
and among the papers produced in support of the claim, was a copy of an
instrument purporting to have been executed at Lake Traverse, on the
17th day of February, 1821, by four Indians who called themselves chiefs
and warriors of the Uandowessies--the Sioux. They declare that their
fathers did grant to Captain Jonathan Carver this vast tract of land and
that there is among their people a traditional record of the same. This
writing is signed by Ouekien Tangah, Tashachpi Tainche, Kache Noberie and
Petite Corbeau (Little Crow)." This "Petite" is undoubtedly the father of
Little Crow, who figures in this narrative as the leader in the massacre.
Captain Carver's claim has never been recognized, although the instrument
transferring this large tract of land to him by the Indians was in
existence and in St. Paul less than twenty-five years ago. It has since
been destroyed and the possessors of these valuable acres can rest
themselves in peace.
In 1862 the red man's ambition was inflamed, and in his desire to
repossess himself of his lost patrimony, he seeks redress of his wrongs
in bloody war. Fort Snelling at the junction of the Mississippi and
Minnesota rivers was the rallying point for the soldiers and we produce a
picture of it as it appeared then and give something of its history from
its first establishment up to date.
The great Sioux or Dakotah nation at one time embraced the Uncapapas,
Assinaboines, Mandans, Crows, Winnebagoes, Osages, Kansas, Kappaws,
Ottoes, Missourias, Iowas, Omahas, Poncas, Nez Perces, Arrickarees,
Minnetarees, Arkansas, Tetons, Yanktons, Yanktonais, and the Pawnees. It
was a most powerful nation and under favorable conditions could withstand
the encroachments of our modern civilization. The Ahahaways and Unktokas
are spoken of as two lost tribes. The Unktokas are said to have lived
in "Wiskonsan," south of the St. Croix and were supposed to have been
destroyed by the Iowas about the commencement of the present century.
The Ahahaways, a branch of the Crows, lived on the Upper Missouri, but
were lost--annihilated by disease, natural causes and war. The Uncapapa
tribe were from the Missouri, and Sitting Bull, whose picture appears,
although not an hereditary chief, was a strong man among them. He was for
a time their Medicine Man and counselor. He was shrewd and a forceful
diplomat; he was a pronounced hater of the whites, and has earned
notoriety throughout the country as the leader of five thousand warriors,
who annihilated General Custer and his command at the Little Big Horn
in 1876. After the massacre, this huge Indian camp was broken up, and
Bull, with more than one thousand warriors retreated into the British
possessions, from whence he made frequent raids upon American soil. His
band constantly suffered depletion until, in the summer of 1881, he had
but one hundred and sixty followers remaining. These he surrendered to
Lieutenant-Colonel Brotherton, at Fort Buford, and with them was sent as
a prisoner to Fort Randall, Dakota. He was married four times, and had a
large family. He was not engaged in the Sioux war of 1862, but being a
chief of that nation and an important Indian character, I introduce him.
He has gone to the happy hunting ground, some years since, through the
treachery of the Indian police, who were sent out to capture him.
[Illustration: Sitting Bull,
The Chief in Command at the Custer Battle of the Little Big Horn in
1876.]