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THREE YEARS ON THE PLAINS
[Illustration: THE DEATH OF JOHNSON IN COLORADO.
_Frontispiece._]
THREE YEARS ON THE PLAINS
OBSERVATIONS OF INDIANS,
1867-1870
EDMUND B. TUTTLE
"_Like an old pine-tree, I am dead at the top._"
--_Speech of an old chief_
Dedication
TO
GEN. W. T. SHERMAN,
WHOSE SPLENDID TRIUMPHS IN TIMES OF WAR SHED LUSTRE UPON
THE NATION'S HISTORY,
AND
WHOSE WISE COUNSELS IN TIMES OF PEACE WILL
INCREASE THE NATION'S STRENGTH AND
PRESERVE ITS HONOR, THIS
LITTLE BOOK IS, BY
PERMISSION,
Respectfully Dedicated.
LETTER FROM GENERAL SHERMAN
HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, WASHINGTON, D. C.,
June 13th, 1870.
REV. E. B. TUTTLE, FORT D. A. RUSSELL, W. T.
DEAR SIR,--I have your letter of June 8th, and do not, of course,
object to your dedicating your volume on Indians to me. But please
don't take your facts from the newspapers, that make me out as
favoring extermination.
I go as far as the farthest in favor of lavishing the kindness
of our people and the bounty of the general government on those
Indians who settle down to reservations and make the least effort
to acquire new habits; but to those who will not settle down, who
cling to their traditions and habits of hunting, of prowling along
our long, thinly-settled frontiers, killing, scalping, mutilating,
robbing, etc., the sooner they are made to feel the inevitable
result the better for them and for us.
To those I would give what they ask, war, till they are satisfied.
* * * * *
Yours truly,
W. T. SHERMAN, _General_.
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations xi
Introduction 11
Where did the Indians come from? 13
Despoiling the Grave of an old Onondaga Chief 16
The Fidelity of an Indian Chief 22
Big Thunder--a Winnebago Chief 26
Indian Tradition--the Deluge 27
Tribes on the Plains 32
The Author a "Medicine-man" 47
The Sioux Sun Dance--Scene on the Plains of Young Warriors
exhibiting Fortitude and Bravery in Torturing Pains--a
Horrible Scene 48
Julesburg 52
A Brave Boy and some Indians 55
An Indian Meal 56
Shall the Indians be exterminated? 59
Indians don't believe half they hear 65
Army Officers 66
What shall be done? 68
A Good Joke by Little Raven 71
How the Indian is cheated 72
Burial of a Chief's Daughter 72
An Indian Raid on Sidney Station, Union Pacific Railroad 75
Why do Indians scalp their Enemies? 77
Indian Boy's Education 79
Making Presents 81
Indians making Signals 81
Merciful Indians 82
A Scene at North Platte 82
Across the Plains 87
Why does not the Indian meddle with the Telegraph? 89
Plum Creek Massacre 90
Pawnee Indians--Yellow Sun and Blue Hawk 91
A Trip to Fort Laramie 92
Moss Agates 95
A Young Brave 97
The Head Chief--Red Cloud 100
Red Cloud's Journey 106
Phil. Kearney Massacre 107
Perilous Adventure--Pursuit of a Horse-Thief 121
Hanging Horse-Thieves 128
An Indian Fight at Sweetwater Mines 131
Indian Attack on the Stage-Coach going to Denver--Rev. Mr.
Fuller's Account of Two Attempts upon his Life 135
Chaplain White says there's a time to Pray and a time
to Fight 143
Legend of "Crazy Woman's Fork" 145
Phil. Kearney Massacre 149
Mauvaises Terres, or Bad Lands, Dakota 150
Natural History--Animals on the Plains 153
A Night Scene 158
The Mission-House 160
Indian Language, Counting, etc. 160
Indians attack Lieutenant W. Dougherty--Fight between Forts
Fetterman and Reno 161
Speech of "White Shield," Head Chief of the Arickarees 162
Indian Trading 164
Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, and their Friends in Washington 167
Conclusion 201
Lord's Prayer in Sioux Language 205
Apostles' Creed 206
Distances 206
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Death of Johnson in Colorado _frontispiece_
FOLLOWING PAGE 102
Issac H. Tuttle
Indian Boys
Indian Burial
Bishop Clarkson
Group of Converted Indians
Spotted Tail and his Son
MAP
Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska xii-xiii
[Illustration: Detail from an 1877 map showing principal areas of
Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska mentioned by Tuttle. Ft. D. A.
Russell was located near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Original by S. Augustus
Mitchell (1792-1868), 1" = 55 mi.
Courtesy Jerome A. Greene.]
INTRODUCTION
The interest which boys are taking in all that relates to our Indian
tribes, and the greediness they manifest in devouring the sensational
stories published so cheaply, filling their imaginations with stories
of wild Indian life on the plains and borders, without regard to their
truthfulness, cannot but be harmful; and therefore the writer, after
three years' experience on the plains, feels desirous of giving
youthful minds a right direction, in a true history of the red men
of our forests. Thus can they teach their children, in time to come,
what kind of races have peopled this continent; especially before
civilization had marked them for destruction, and their hunting-grounds
for our possession.
The RIGHTS and WRONGS of the Indians should be told fairly, in order
that justice may be done to such as have befriended the white men who
have met the Indians in pioneer life, and been befriended often by the
savage, since the Mayflower landed her pilgrims on these shores some
two hundred and fifty years ago.
The writer proposes now only a history of Indians since he began to
know the "Six Nations" in Western New York, about forty years ago.
Since then, these have dwindled down to a handful, and do not now exist
in their separate tribal relations, but mixed in with others, far away
from the beautiful lakes they once inhabited.
WHERE DID THE INDIANS COME FROM?
The origin of the native American Indian has puzzled the wisest heads.
The most plausible theory seems to be that they are one of the lost
tribes of Israel; that they crossed a narrow frith from the confines of
Asia, and that their traditions, it is said, go far to prove it.
For instance, the Sioux tell us that they were, many moons ago, set
upon by a race larger in number than they, and were driven from the
north in great fear, till they came to the banks of the North Platte,
and finding the river swollen up to its banks, they were stopped there,
with all their women, children, and horses. The enemy was pursuing, and
their hearts grew white with fear. They made an offering to the Great
Spirit, and he blew a wind into the water, so as to open a path on the
bed of the river, and they all went over in safety, and the waters,
closing up, left their enemies on the other side. This, probably, is
derived from a tradition of their forefathers, coming down to them from
the passing of the children of Israel through the Red Sea.
Elias Boudinot, many years ago, and a minister in Vermont also,
published books to show that the American Indians were a portion of the
lost tribes, from resemblances between their religious customs and
those of the Israelites. Later still, a converted Jew named Simon,
undertook to identify the ancient South American races, Mexicans,
Peruvians, etc., as descendants of ancient Israel, from similarity of
language and of civil and religious customs. These authors have taken
as their starting-point the resolution which, Esdras informs us (in the
Apocrypha), the ten tribes took after being first placed in the cities
of the Medes, viz., that they would leave the multitude of the heathen
and go into a land wherein never mankind dwelt, that they might there
keep their laws, which God gave them; and they suppose that, in
pursuance of this resolution, the tribes continued in a northeasterly
direction until they came to Behring Straits, which they crossed, and
set foot on this continent, spreading over it from north to south,
until, at the discovery of it by Columbus, they had peopled every part.
It must be admitted that this theory is very plausible, and that if our
Indians are not the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, they show
by their traditions and customs a knowledge of the ancient religion,
such as calling the Great Spirit Yo-he-wah, the Jehovah of the
Scriptures, and in many festivals corresponding to the Mosaic law.[1]
The country to which the ten tribes, in a journey of a year and a half,
would arrive, from the river Euphrates, east, would be somewhere
adjoining Tartary, and intercourse between the two races would easily
lead to the adoption of the religious ideas and customs of the one by
the other.
[1] Labagh.
The gypsy tribes came from Tartary, and in my intercourse with these
wandering people, I found they had a custom somewhat like our Indians'
practice, in removing from place to place. For instance, the gypsies,
when they leave a part of their company to follow them, fix leaves in
such wise as to direct their friends to follow in their course. This is
called "_patteran_" in Romany or gypsy language. And the Indian cuts a
notch in a tree as he passes through a forest, or places stones in the
plains in such a way as to show in what direction he has gone. An
officer saw a large stone, upon which an Indian had drawn the figure of
a soldier on horseback, to indicate to others which way the soldiers
had gone.
_Origin of Evil_.--They have a tradition handed down that the Great
Spirit said they might eat of all the animals he had made, except the
beaver. But some bad Indians went and killed a beaver, and the Great
Spirit was angry and said they must all die. But after awhile he became
willing that Indians should kill and eat them, so the beaver is hunted
for his skin, and his meat is eaten as often as he suffers himself to
be caught.
DESPOILING THE GRAVE OF AN OLD ONONDAGA CHIEF.
On-on-da-ga was the name of an Indian chief, who died about the year
1830, near Elbridge, a town lying north of Auburn, in the State of New
York. This Indian belonged to the Onondagas, one of the tribes called
"the Six Nations of the IROQUOIS" (E-ro-kwa), a confederacy consisting
of the MOHAWKS, ONEIDAS, SENECAS, CAYUGAS, ONONDAGAS, and TUSCARORAS or
CHIPPEWAS. I was a lad at the time of this chief's death, having my
home in Auburn, New York, where my father was the physician and surgeon
to the State prison. My father had a cousin, who was also a doctor and
surgeon, a man of stalwart frame, raised in Vermont, named Cogswell. He
was proud of his skill in surgery, and devoted to the science. He had
learned of the death of the Onondaga chief, and conceived the idea of
getting the body out of the grave for the purpose of dissecting the old
fellow,--that is, of cutting him up and preserving his bones to hang up
on the walls of his office; of course, there was only one way of doing
it, and that was by stealing the body under cover of night, as the
Indians are very superstitious and careful about the graves of their
dead. You know they place all the trappings of the dead--his bow and
arrows, tomahawk and wampum--in the grave, as they think he will need
them to hunt and supply his wants with on his journey to the happy
hunting-grounds. They place food and tobacco, with other things, in the
grave.
Dr. Cogswell took two men one night, with a wagon, and as the distance
was only twelve miles, they performed the journey and got back safely
before daylight, depositing the body of the Indian in a barn belonging
to a Mr. Hopkins, in the north part of the town. It was soon noised
about town what they had done, and there lived a man there who
threatened to go and inform the tribe of the despoiling of the chief's
grave, unless he was paid thirty dollars to keep silence. The doctor,
being a bold, courageous man, refused to comply with a request he had
no right to make, because it was an attempt to "levy black mail," as it
is called.
Sure enough, he kept his word, and told the Onondagas, who were living
between Elbridge and Syracuse. They were very much exasperated when
they heard what had been done, and threatened vengeance on the town
where the dead chief lay.
The tribe was soon called together, and a march was planned to go up to
Auburn by the way of Skaneateles Lake,--a beautiful sheet of water
lying six miles east of Auburn. They encamped in the pine woods,--a
range called the "pine ridge,"--half-way between the two villages, and
sent a few of the tribe into Auburn for the purpose of trading off the
baskets they had made for powder and shot; but the real purpose they
had in view was to find out just where the body was (deposited in the
barn of Mr. Josiah Hopkins), intending to set fire to the barn and burn
the town, rescuing the dead chief at the same time.
For several days the town was greatly excited, and every fireside at
night was surrounded with anxious faces; the children listening with
greedy ears to narratives of Indian cruelties perpetrated during the
war with the English about Canada, in 1812; and I remember how it was
told of a cruel Indian named Philip, that he would seize little babes
from their mothers' arms and dash out their brains against the wall! No
wonder we dreamed horrid dreams of the dusky faces every night.
At that time the military did not amount to much. There was a company
of citizen soldiers there, called the "AUBURN GUARDS," numbering about
forty men, with a captain whose name I forget, but who became suddenly
seized with the idea of his unfitness to defend the town against the
threatened Indian invasion, and did the wisest thing he could, and
resigned his commission on a plea of "_sudden indisposition_." The
doctor walked the street as bold as a lion, but acting also with the
shrewd cunning of the fox. And now, my young friends, instead of
weaving a bloody romance in the style of the "Dime Novels," depicting
the terrible massacre, which might have happened, with so great a wrong
to provoke the hostility of the poor Indians, I am about to tell you
how the town was saved, and how the doctor outwitted them. If you pause
here, and guess, I think you will be far from the mark in reaching the
shrewdness of the surgeon, who had not been bred among the hills of old
Vermont for nothing.
As I said, at Auburn there is a State prison, and when the convicts
die, their bodies, unless claimed by relatives or friends within
twenty-four hours after death, are at the disposal of the surgeon for
dissection.
As good luck would have it, a negro convict died at the time of our
story; and the doctor conceived the idea of getting out of his
difficulty by transferring the dead body of the negro Jim to the
despoiled empty grave of Onondaga! This done, he easily persuaded the
Indians to go back and find the body of their chief all right: and so
he succeeded in humbugging the weak-minded Indians, while the bones of
old Onondaga were duly prepared and hung up to show students how
Indians and all men are made of bone and muscle. The doctor thought he
had done a good thing; but when I went into the office and saw the
horrid skull grinning at me, I was thankful that the spirit of old
Onondaga could not say of me, "You did it!"
II.
The most notable of the chiefs belonging to the Six Nations were
Hiawatha, Thayendanega (or Brant, his English name), Sagoyewatha, or
Red Jacket,--the most intelligent of the chiefs, and who is said to
have been the uncle of General Parker, a full-blood Chippewa, and at
one time Indian Commissioner at Washington. (Parker served as an aide
of General Grant during the war. In early life, he was a pupil at the
normal school, in Albany; and was reckoned quite a proficient in music
by Prof. Bowen.)
Most of these tribes, inhabiting the country bordering on the Mohawk
River, Onondaga Lake, Skaneateles, Owasco, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, and
Erie, migrated at an early day to Green Bay, and to the Straits of
Mackinaw. As remnants of the Onondagas were passing through Auburn,
they often slept on the floor of our kitchen, and they never stole
anything or did us any harm. One day, they were passing the American
Hotel, and, as usual, begged a few sixpences of all they met. A
gentleman sitting on the porch said to one of them, "No, you'll spend
it for whisky."
"Oh, no," he replied; "_give it to my wife,--he's a Methodist woman_!"
I met a tribe of Chippewas at Marquette, a short time since, on Lake
Superior, whither they had migrated from Green Bay. _An-ges-ta_, the
chief, was a tall, noble-looking fellow. He wanted the church to help
his people, who were very poor.
Said he, "We lived in Green Bay a great while, but when I looked into
our cabins and saw so many of them empty, and into the graveyard, and
counted more graves than we had living, my heart was sad, and I went
away farther toward the setting sun!"
He made an eloquent speech to the Prince of Wales on his visit to the
West, and it was pronounced a fine piece of natural oratory.
A few remnants of the New York tribes are living not far from Buffalo,
on a reservation, where they cultivate farms and have schools and
churches.
Such were the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, Mohawks, and
Chippewas. Only one band is left in New York State now, that of the
Onondagas.
The present generation of grown people have read with delight the
beautiful novels of J. Fenimore Cooper, Esq., but they have been
disappointed in not finding any living examples of his noble heroes. As
a general thing, the Indian of our day is an untidy lord of the soil,
over which he roams unfettered by any laws of society, and often--in
his wild state--not controlled by its decencies or in possession of its
privileges. But I think this is the fault of Christians more interested
in foreign pagans, while neglecting these heathen at our own doors.
THE FIDELITY OF AN INDIAN CHIEF.
The following story about an Oneida chief is told by Judge W----:
Early in the settlement of the western part of New York, the judge was
living in Whitesboro', four miles west of Utica. All around was an
unbroken forest of beech, maple, and other trees, held by wild tribes
of Indians, who had been for ever so long owners of the soil. Judge
W----, feeling how much he was at their mercy in his lonely place, was
anxious to keep on good terms with them, and secure their friendship in
return.
Many of the chiefs had heard of his friendly ways, and went to see him,
carrying presents, because of the gifts he had sent them; but he was
much troubled that an old chief of the tribe, having great influence
with his people, had never come to see him, or sent him any presents,
or shown any signs of welcome. After awhile the judge made up his mind
to go and see the sachem in his wigwam, and thus secure a friendship he
might rely on in case of any difficulty. His family was small,--only
his daughter, a widow, and her only child, a fine boy, five years old.
So, one day he went to pay the chief a visit, taking the widow and her
son along with him. He found him seated at the door of his tent,
enjoying a nice breeze of a fine summer's morning, and was welcomed by
the old chief with kind manners and the word "Sago," meaning, "How do
you do?" Judge W---- presented his daughter and her little boy to the
old chief, and said they had come to live in his country; they were
anxious to live in peace with them, and introduce among them the arts
of civilization. Listening to these words, the chief said,--
"Brother, you ask much and promise much; what pledge can you give of
your good faith?"
_Judge._--"The honor of a man who never knew deceit."
_Sachem._--"The white man's word may be good to the white man, yet
it is but wind when spoken to the Indian."
_Judge._--"I have put my life into your hands by coming hither; is
not this a proof of my good intentions? I have trusted the Indian, and
I will not believe that he will abuse or betray my trust."
"So much is well," said the chief; "the Indian repays trust with trust:
if you will hurt him, he will hurt you. But I must have a pledge. Leave
this boy with me in my wigwam, and I will bring him back to you in
three days with my answer."
If an arrow had pierced the bosom of the young mother, she could not
have felt a sharper pang than that which the Indian's proposal had
caused her.
She flew towards her boy, who stood beside the chief looking into his
face with pleased and innocent wonder, and, snatching him to her arms,
would have rushed away with him.
A gloomy frown came over the sachem's brow, and he remained silent.
The judge knew that all their lives depended upon a right action at
once; and following his daughter, who was retreating with her child
into the woods, he said to her, "Stay, stay, my daughter; bring back
the child, I beg of you! I would not risk a hair of his head, for he is
as dear to me as to you,--but, my child, he must remain with the chief!
God will watch over him, and he will be as safe in the sachem's wigwam
as in your arms beneath your own roof." She yielded, and her darling
boy was left; but who can tell the agony of the mother's heart during
the following days?
Every night she awoke from her sleep, seeming to hear the screams of
her child calling upon its mother for help. How slowly and heavily
passed the hours away. But at last the third day came. The morning
waned away, and the afternoon was far advanced, yet the chief came not.
There was sorrow over the whole home, and the mother, pale and silent,
walked her room in despair. The judge, filled with anxious doubts and
fears, looked through the opening in the forest towards the sachem's
abode.
At last, as the rays of the setting sun were thrown upon the tops of
the tall trees around, the eagle feathers of the chief were seen
dancing above the bushes in the distance. He came rapidly, and the
little boy was at his side. He was gayly attired as a young chief: his
feet dressed in moccasins, a fine beaver-skin thrown over his
shoulders, and eagle's feathers stuck in his hair. He was laughing and
gay, and so proud of his honors that he seemed two inches taller than
before. He was soon clasped in his mother's arms, and in that brief
moment of joy she seemed to pass from death to life.
"The white man has conquered!" said the chief; "hereafter let us be
friends. You have trusted the Indian; he will repay you with confidence
and kindness."
And he was true to his word. Judge W---- lived many years, laying there
the foundation of that flourishing community which has spread over a
wide extent of western New York.
The Far West, in my childhood, meant the "Genesee country," as far as
the falls of Niagara.
BIG THUNDER--A WINNEBAGO CHIEF.
The Winnebago Indians migrated from Belvidere, Illinois, on the
Kish-wau-kie River, to Minnesota, and thence to the Omaha reservation,
in Nebraska. At Belvidere, there is a mound on which Big Thunder when
he died was set up, his body supported by posts driven in the ground.
This was done at his dying request, and in accord with his prophecy to
his tribe: "That there was to be a great and terrible fight between the
white and red men. And when the red men were about to be beaten in the
battle, he would come to life again, and rising up with a shout, would
lead his people to victory!" His tribe would visit the spot once a
year, where his body was drying away, and leave tobacco as an offering;
and the white young men would surely go there soon after and stow the
plugs away in their capacious pockets. As the town became settled,
visitors would carry off the bones as mementos of the old chief. After
they were all gone, some wags would place the bones of some dead sheep
for relic-hunters to pick up and carry home as the bones of a noble
chief.
I have seen the stakes, which was all that remained of "Big Thunder"
after he was dried up and blown away.
INDIAN TRADITION--THE DELUGE.
The Oneidas have a tradition about the deluge, which is very singular.
According to their story, an unlimited expanse of water covered the
whole space now occupied by the world we live in.
At this time the whole human family dwelt in a country situated in the
upper regions of the air. Everything needed for comfort and pleasure
was found. The people did not know what death was, nor its attendant,
sickness or disease; and their minds were free from jealousy, hatred,
or revenge.
At length it happened that all of this was changed, and care and
trouble came to them.
A certain youth was seen to withdraw himself from the circle of social
amusements, and he wandered away alone in the groves, as his favorite
resort.
Care and sorrow marked his countenance, and his body, from long
abstinence from food, began to make him look to his friends like a
skeleton of a man. Anxious looks could not solve the mystery of his
grief; and by-and-by, weakened in body and soul, he yielded to his
companions, and promised to disclose the cause of his trouble, on
condition that they would dig up by the roots a certain pine-tree, lay
him in his blanket by the edge of the hole, and place his wife by his
side; at once all hands were ready. The fatal tree was taken up by the
roots; in doing which the earth was opened, and a passage made into the
abyss below. The blanket was spread by the hole; the youth lay upon it
the wife also (soon to be a mother) took her seat by his side. The
crowd, anxious to know the cause of such strange and unheard-of
conduct, pressed close around; when, all of a sudden, to their horror
and surprise, he seized upon the woman and threw her headlong into the
regions of darkness below! Then, rising from the ground, he told the
people that he had for some time suspected that his wife was untrue to
him, and so, having got rid of the cause of his trouble, he would soon
recover his health and spirits.
All those amphibious animals which now inhabit this world then roamed
through the watery waste to which this woman, in her fall, was now
hastening. The loon first discovered her coming, and called a council
in haste to prepare for her reception,--observing that the animal which
approached was a human being, and that earth was necessary for its
accommodation. The first thing to be thought of was, who should support
the burden?
The sea-bear first presented himself for a trial of his strength. At
once the other animals gathered round and jumped upon his back; while
the bear, unable to bear up such a weight, sank beneath the water, and
was by all the crowd judged unequal to support the weight of the earth.
Several others presented themselves, were tried, and found wanting. But
last of all came the turtle, modestly tendering his broad shell as the
basis of the earth now to be formed. The beasts then made a trial of
his strength to bear by heaping themselves on his back, and finding by
their united pressure they could not sink him below the surface,
adjudged him the honor of supporting the world on his back.
Thus, a foundation being found, the next subject of thought was how to
procure earth. Several of the most expert divers plunged to the bottom
of the sea and came up dead; but the _mink_ at last though he shared
the same fate, brought up in his claws a small quantity of dirt. This
was placed on the back of the turtle.
In the mean while the woman kept on falling, till at last she alighted
on the turtle's back. The earth had already grown to the size of a
man's foot where she stood, with one foot covering the other. By-and-by
she had room for both feet, and was able to sit down. The earth
continued to expand, and when its plain was covered with green grass,
and streams ran, which poured into the ocean, she built her a house on
the sea-shore. Not long after, she had a daughter, and she lived on
what grew naturally, till the child was grown to be a woman. Several of
the animals wanted to marry her, they being changed into the forms of
young men; but the mother would not consent, until the turtle offered
himself as a beau, and was accepted. After she had lain herself down to
sleep, the turtle placed two arrows on her body, in the shape of a
cross: one headed with flint, the other with the rough bark of a tree.
By-and-by she had two sons, but died herself.
The grandmother was so angry at her death that she threw the children
into the sea. Scarcely had she reached her wigwam when the children had
overtaken her at the door. She then thought best to let them live; and
dividing the body of her daughter in two parts, she threw them up
toward the heavens, when one became the sun, the other the moon. Then
day and night first began. The children soon grew up to be men, and
expert with bow and arrows. The elder had the arrow of the turtle,
which was pointed with flint; the younger had the arrow pointed with
bark. The first was, by his temper and skill and success in hunting, a
favorite of his grandmother. They lived in the midst of plenty, but
would not allow the younger brother, whose arrow was insufficient to
kill anything but birds, to share with their abundance.
As this young man was wandering one day along the shore, he saw a bird
perched on a limb hanging over the water. He aimed to kill it, but his
arrow, till this time always sure, went aside the mark, and sank into
the sea.
He determined to recover it, and made a dive for the bottom. Here, to
his surprise, he found himself in a small cottage. A fine-looking old
man sitting there welcomed him with a smile, and thus spoke to him: "My
son, I welcome you to the home of your father! To obtain this meeting I
directed all the circumstances which have combined to bring you hither.
Here is your arrow, and an ear of corn. I have watched the unkindness
of your brother, and now command you to take his life. When you return
home, gather all the flints you can find, and hang up all the deer's
horns. These are the only things which will make an impression on his
body, which is made of flint."
Having received these instructions, the young Indian took his leave,
and, in a quarrel with his brother, drove him to distant regions, far
beyond the savannas, in the southwest, where he killed him, and left
his huge flint form in the earth. (Hence the Rocky Mountains.) The
great enemy to the race of the turtle being thus destroyed, they sprang
from the ground in human form, and multiplied in peace.
The grandmother, roused to furious resentment at the loss of her
favorite son, resolved to be revenged.
For many days she caused the rain to descend from the clouds in
torrents, until the whole surface of the earth, and even the highest
mountains, were covered. The inhabitants escaped by fleeing to their
canoes. She then covered the earth with snow; but they betook
themselves to their snow-shoes. She then gave up the hope of destroying
them all at once, and has ever since employed herself in inflicting
smaller evils on the world, while her younger son displays his good and
benevolent feelings by showering blessings on his race.
[For this tradition I am indebted to N. P. Willis, Esq., whose visits
to my house in New York were among the events of early days never to be
forgotten.]
TRIBES ON THE PLAINS.
The Indian tribes on the plains, altogether, with those of New Mexico,
Texas, California, and Arizona, do not exceed 300,000, including
Indians, squaws, and papooses. They are as follows:
_Dakota._--Sioux (pronounced Soos), of these there are several bands,
under chiefs for each band, called Yanktons, Poncas, Lower Brules,
Lower Yanctonais, Two Kettle Sioux, Blackfeet, Minneconjons, Uncpapas,
Ogallahs, Upper Yanctonais, Sansarc, Wahpeton Sioux, Arickarees, Gros
Ventres, Mandans, Assinaboins, Sipetons, Santee.
This nation is the most numerous and warlike, numbering 31,534. They
range from Kansas, on the Republican River, to Winnepeg, on the north.
A treaty was made with these in 1868, between General Sherman, General
Harney (an old Indian fighter), General Augur, General Sanborn, General
Terry, Colonel Tappan, and Mr. Taylor, Commissioner, all of the Peace
Commission, on the part of the government, at Fort Laramie, now Wyoming
Territory, with Ma-za-pon-kaska, Tah-shun-ka-co-qui-pah, Heh-non-go-chat,
Mah-to-non-pah, Little Chief, Makh-pi-ah-hi-tah, Co-cam-i-ya-ya,
Can-te-pe-ta, Ma-wa-tan-ni-hav-ska, He-na-pin-na-ni-ca, Wah-pa-shaw,
and other chiefs and headmen of different tribes of Sioux. This treaty,
among other things, contained an agreement that, "If bad men among the
whites should commit any wrong on the property or persons of Indians,
the United States would punish them and pay for all losses.
"If bad men among the Indians shall do wrong to white men, black, or
Indian, the Indians making the treaty shall deliver up the wrong-doer
to the government, to be tried and punished; also agreeing about
certain lands for reservations, farms, annuities of goods, etc., to be
paid them instead of money, thus:
"For each male person over fourteen years of age, a suit of good
substantial woolen clothing, etc.
"Each female over twelve, a flannel skirt, or goods to make it, a
pair of woolen hose, twelve yards calico, and twelve yards cotton
domestics, etc.
"Ten dollars in money for those who roam and hunt, twenty for those
who engage in farming. For such as farm, a good American cow and
one pair broken oxen.
"1. The Indians agreed to withdraw all opposition to railroads
built on the plains.
"2. They will not attack any persons at home, or traveling, nor
molest or disturb any wagon trains, coaches, mules, or cattle
belonging to the people of the United States, or to persons
friendly therewith.
"3. They will never capture or carry off from the settlements white
women or children.
"4. They will never kill or scalp white men, nor attempt to do them
harm. The government agrees to furnish to the Indians a physician,
teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths, and
ten of the best farmers shall receive five hundred dollars a year
who will grow the best crops."
The names of the chiefs who signed the treaty are as follows:
_Brule Sioux._
Ma-za-pon-kaska, his x mark, Iron Shell.
Wah-pat-thah, Red Leaf.
Hah-tah-pah, Black Horn.
Zin-tak-gah-lat-skah, Spotted Tail.
Zin-tah-skah, White Tail.
Me-wah-tak-ne-ho-skah, Tall Mandas.
He-cha-chat-kah, Bad Left Hand.
No-mah-no-pah, Two and Two.
Spotted Tail, who was at Fort D. A. Russell in 1868, just after the
treaty, wore a coon-skin cap,--hence called Spotted Tail. Each chief
gets his peculiar name from some event in his life, or some peculiarity
of person, as for instance,--
Tah-shun-ka-co-qui-pah, Man-afraid-of-his-horses. His horse stampeded
one day, when his tribe was fighting some other one, and ran into the
ranks of the enemy. When his owner got back again, he left his horse
behind and _went in_ (as we say), on foot, to fight again. It is not a
term of reproach, as he was not a coward, but did not want to lose his
horse,--hence called "Man-afraid-of-his-horses."
_Ogallahs._
Tah-shun-ka-co-qui-pah, his x mark, Man-afraid-of-his-horses.
Sha-ton-skah, his x mark, White Hawk.
Sha-ton-sapah, his x mark, Black Hawk.
E-ga-mon-ton-ka-sapah, his x mark, Black Tiger.
Oh-wah-she-cha, his x mark, Bad Wound.
Pah-gee, his x mark, Grass.
Wah-non-reh-che-geh, his x mark, Ghost Heart.
Con-reeh, his x mark, Crow.
Oh-he-te-kah, his x mark, The Brave.
Tah-ton-kah-he-yo-ta-kah, his x mark, Sitting Bull.
Shon-ka-oh-wah-mon-ye, his x mark, Whirlwind Dog.
Ha-hah-kah-tah-miech, his x mark, Poor Elk.
Wam-bu-lee-wah-kon, his x mark, Medicine Eagle.
Chon-gah-ma-he-to-hans-ka, his x mark, High Wolf.
Wah-se-chun-ta-shun-kah, his x mark, American Horse.
Mah-hah-mah-ha-mak-near, his x mark, Man that walks under the ground.
Mah-to-tow-pah, his x mark, Four Bears.
Ma-to-wee-sha-kta, his x mark, One that kills the bear.
Oh-tah-kee-toka-wee-chakta, his x mark, One that kills in a hard place.
Tah-tonka-skah, his x mark, White Bull.
Con-ra-washta, his x mark, Pretty Coon.
Ha-cah-cah-she-chah, his x mark, Bad Elk.
Wa-ha-ka-zah-ish-tah, his x mark, Eye Lance.
Ma-to-ha-ke-tah, his x mark, Bear that looks behind.
Bella-tonka-tonka, his x mark, Big Partisan.
Mah-to-ho-honka, his x mark, Swift Bear.
To-wis-ne, his x mark, Cold Place.
Ish-tah-skah, his x mark, White Eyes.
Ma-ta-loo-zah, his x mark, Fast Bear.
As-hah-kah-nah-zhe, his x mark, Standing Elk.
Can-te-te-ki-ya, his x mark, The Brave Heart.
Shunka-shaton, his x mark, Day Hawk.
Tatanka-wakon, his x mark, Sacred Bull.
Mapia-shaton, his x mark, Hawk Cloud.
Ma-sha-a-ow, his x mark, Stands and Comes.
Shon-ka-ton-ka, his x mark, Big Dog.
Tah-ton-kak-ta-miech, The Poor Bull.
Oh-huns-ee-ga-non-sken, Mad Shade.
Thah-ton-oh-na-an-minne-ne-oh-minne, Whirling Hand.
Mah-to-chun-ka-oh, Bear's Back.
Che-ton-wee-koh, Fool Hawk.
Wah-ho-ke-zah-ah-hah, One that has the Lance.
Shon-gah-manni-toh-tan-kak-seh, Big Wolf Foot.
Eh-ton-kah, Big Mouth.
(This was the first Indian I saw at North Platte, when we came there in
1867. Looking out of the car window, I called my wife's attention to a
big Indian, and said, "Did you ever see such a big mouth before?" Sure
enough, it was the chief, and he was killed in a drunken row in Dakota
recently, having been shot by Spotted Tail.)
Ma-pa-che-tah, Bad Hand.
Wah-ke-gun-shah, Red Thunder.
Wak-sah, One that cuts off.
Cham-nom-qui-yah, One that presents the Pipe.
Wah-ke-ke-yan-puh-tah, Fire Thunder.
Mah-to-nenk-pah-ze, Bear with Yellow Ears.
Con-reh-teh-kah, The Little Crow.
He-hup-pah-toh, The Blue War Club.
Shon-kee-toh, The Blue Horse.
Wam-balla-oh-conguo, Quick Eagle.
Ta-tonka-juppah, Black Bull.
Mo-to-ha-she-na, The Bear Hide.
_Yanctonais._
Mah-to-non-pah, his x mark, Two Bears.
Mah-to-hna-skin-ya, his x mark, Mad Bear.
He-o-pu-za, his x mark, Lousy.
Ah-ke-che-tah-che-ca-dan, his x mark, Little Soldier.
Mah-to-e-tan-chan, his x mark, Chief Bear.
Cu-wi-h-win, his x mark, Rotten Stomach.
Skun-ka-we-tko, his x mark, Fool Dog.
Ish-ta-sap-pah, his x mark, Black Eye.
Ih-tan-chan, his x mark, the Chief.
I-a-wi-ca-ka, his x mark, The One who tells the Truth.
Ah-ke-che-tah, his x mark, The Soldier.
Ta-shi-na-gi, his x mark, Yellow Robe.
Nah-pe-ton-ka, his x mark, Big Hand.
Chan-tee-we-kto, his x mark, Fool Heart.
Hog-gan-sah-pa, his x mark, Black Catfish.
Mah-to-wah-kan, his x mark, Medicine Bear.
Shun-ka-kan-sha, his x mark, Red Horse.
Wan-rode, his x mark, The Eagle.
Can-hpi-sa-pa, his x mark, Black Tomahawk.
War-he-le-re, his x mark, Yellow Eagle.
Cha-ton-che-ca, his x mark, Small Hawk, or Long Fare.
Shu-ger-mon-e-too-ha-ska, his x mark, Tall Wolf.
Ma-to-u-tah-kah, his x mark, Sitting Bear.
Hi-ha-cah-ge-na-skene, his x mark, Mad Elk.
_Arapahoes._
Little Chief, his x mark.
Tall Bear, his x mark.
Top Man, his x mark.
Neva, his x mark.
The Wounded Bear, his x mark.
Whirlwind, his x mark.
The Fox, his x mark.
The Dog Big Mouth, his x mark.
Spotted Wolf, his x mark.
_Minneconjons._
Heh-non-ge-chat, One Horn.
Oh-pon-ah-tah-e-manne, The Elk that bellows Walking.
Heb-ho-lah-reh-cha-skah, Young White Bull.
Wah-cha-chum-kah-coh-kee-pah, One that is afraid of Shield.
He-hon-ne-shakta, The Old Owl.
Moe-pe-a-toh, Blue Cloud.
Oh-pong-ge-le-skah, Spotted Elk.
Tah-tonk-ka-hon-ke-schne, Slow Bull.
Shunk-a-nee-skah-skah-a-tah-pe, The Dog Chief.
Mah-to-tab-tonk-kah, Bull Bear.
Wom-beh-le-ton-kah, The Big Eagle.
Ma-to-eh-schne-lah, his x mark, the Lone Bear.
Mah-toh-ke-su-yah, his x mark, The One who remembers the Bear.
Ma-toh-oh-he-to-keh, his x mark, the Brave Bear.
Eh-che-ma-heh, his x mark, The Runner.
Ti-ki-ya, his x mark, The Hard.
He-ma-za, his x mark, Iron Horn.
Sorrel Horse.
Black Coal.
Big Wolf.
Knock-Knee.
Black Crow.
The Lone Old Man.
Paul.
Black Bull.
Big Track.
Black White.
Yellow Hair.
Little Shield.
Black Bear.
Wolf Moccasin.
Big Robe.
Wolf Chief.
Friday.
The Foot.
And lastly, "Stinking Saddle-Cloth!"
_Uncpapa Sioux._
Co-kam-i-ya-ya, his x mark, The Man that goes in the Middle.
Ma-to-ca-wa-weksa, his x mark, Bear Rib.
Ta-to-ka-in-yan-ke, his x mark, Running Antelope.
Kan-gi-wa-ki-ta, his x mark, Looking Crow.
A-ki-ci-ta-han-ska, his x mark, Long Soldier.
Wa-ku-te-ma-ni, his x mark, The One who shoots Walking.
Un-kea-ki-ka, his x mark, The Magpie.
Kan-gi-o-ta, his x mark, Plenty Crow.
He-ma-za, his x mark, Iron Horn.
Shun-ka-i-na-pin, his x mark, Wolf Necklace.
I-we-hi-yu, his x mark, The Man who Bleeds from the Mouth.
He-ha-ka-pa, his x mark, Elk Head.
I-zu-za, his x mark, Grind Stone.
Shun-ka-wi-tko, his x mark, Fool Dog.
Ma-kpi-ya-po, his x mark, Blue Cloud.
Wa-mln-pi-lu-ta, his x mark, Red Eagle.
Ma-to-can-te, his x mark, Bear's Heart.
A-ki-ci-ta-i-tau-can, his x mark, Chief Soldier.
_Blackfeet Sioux._
Can-te-pe-ta, his x mark, Fire Heart.
Wan-mdi-kte, his x mark, The One who kills Eagle.
Sho-ta, his x mark, Smoke.
Wan-mdi-ma-ni, his x mark, Walking Eagle.
Wa-shi-cun-ya-ta-pi, his x mark, Chief White Man.
Kan-gi-i-yo-tan-ke, his x mark, Sitting Crow.
Pe-ji, his x mark, The Grass.
Kda-ma-ni, his x mark, The One that rattles as he Walks.
Wah-han-ka-sa-pa, his x mark, Black Shield.
Can-te-non-pa, his x mark, Two Hearts.
_Ogallalla Sioux._
To-ka-in-yan-ka, his x mark, The One who goes ahead Running.
Ta-tan-ka-wa-kin-yan, his x mark, Thunder Bull.
Sin-to-min-sa-pa, his x mark, All over Black.
Can-i-ca, his x mark, The One who took the Stick.
Pa-tan-ka, his x mark, Big Head.
_Two-Kettle Band._
Ma-wa-tan-ni-han-ska, his x mark, Long Mandan.
Can-kpe-du-ta, his x mark, Red War Club.
Can-ka-ga, his x mark, The Log.
_Sansareh Sioux._
He-na-pin-wa-ni-ca, his x mark, The One that has neither Horn.
Wa-inlu-pi-lu-ta, his x mark, Red Plume.
Ci-tan-gi, his x mark, Yellow Hawk.
He-na-pin-wa-ni-ca, his x mark, No Horn.
_Santee Sioux._
Wa-pah-shaw, his x mark, Red Ensign.
Wah-koo-tay, his x mark, Shooter.
Hoo-sha-sha, his x mark, Red Legs.
O-wan-cha-du-ta, his x mark, Scarlet all over.
Wau-mace-tan-ka, his x mark, Big Eagle.
Cho-tan-ka-e-na-pe, his x mark, Flute-player.
Ta-shun-ke-mo-za, his x mark, His Iron Dog.
_In Washington Territory_ are five bands, such as the
Spokans, Pend d'Oreilles, etc., in all 9,285
_California._--Seven bands, such as Wylackies, etc. 25,225
_Arizona._--Apaches, Yumas, Mohaves, etc. 31,570
_Oregon._--Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, etc. 10,942
_Utah._--Utahs and Utes 25,250
_Nevada._--Pi-utes, Shoshones, Bannacks, Washoes, etc. 8,200
_New Mexico._--Navajoes, Pueblos, Jicarilla Apaches,
etc. (with 2000 captives held in peonage,--_i.e._
slavery) 20,036
_Colorado._--U-in-tak, Utes 5,000
_Dakota_, including Wyoming, set off from Dakota:
Yancton Sioux 2,500
Poncas 979
Lower Brules 1,600
Lower Yanctonais 2,250
Two-Kettle Sioux 750
Blackfeet 1,200
Minneconjons 3,060
Uncpapas 3,000
Ogallallas 3,000
Upper Yanctonais 2,400
Sansarc 720
Wahpeton Sioux 1,637
Arickarees 1,500
Gros Ventres 400
Mandans 400
Assinaboins 2,640
Sissetons and other Sioux 3,500
------
31,534
_Montana._--Piegans, Blackfeet, Flatheads, Gros Ventres,
Kootenays, Crows, etc. 19,560
_Nebraska and Kansas._--Winnebagoes, Omahas, Pawnees,
Sacs and Foxes of Missouri, Iowas, Cheyennes, Arapahoes,
and Sautee Sioux 17,995
_Central Agency, in Kansas and Indian
Territory._--Pottawatamies, Shawnees, Delaware, Osages,
Senecas, Kaws, Kickapoos, Ottawas, Comanches, Arapahoes,
Cheyennes, and Apaches 17,422
_Southern Agency, Cherokee Country._--Creeks, Cherokees,
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, Wichitas, Keechies, Wolves,
Tuscaroras, Caddoes, Shawnees, Delawares, etc. 48,145
_Green Bay Agency._--Oneidas, Menominees, and Munsees 3,036
_Wisconsin._--Chippeways of Mississippi 6,179
_Lake Superior._--Chippewas, etc., wandering 6,114
_Mackinac._--Pottawatamies, etc. 8,099
_New York State._--Cattaraugas, Cayugas, Onondagas,
with Senecas, Allegany, Tonawandas, Tuscaroras, Oneidas,
Onondagas 4,136
-------
Total 298,528
Friday was found on the Plains many years ago, while a lad, by Father
de Smet, a Jesuit missionary, and taken to St. Louis, where he was
educated. He returned again to his tribe, and leads a roving life. In
November, 1869, he came to our post with Medicine-Man, Little Wolf,
Sorrel Horse, and Cut-Foot, having been brought down by General Augur,
Commander of the Department of the Platte, to go up the Union Pacific
Railroad, as far as Wind River Valley, to meet old Waskakie, head chief
of the Shoshones, and to make a treaty with his tribe, fearing the
southern Sioux and Cheyennes would make war upon Friday's band, which
numbered only fifteen hundred. Not finding Waskakie on his reservation,
they waited several weeks for his return from the mountains, where he
was gone on a hunt for his winter's supply of buffalo and deer meat.
After waiting as long as they could, the Arapahoes left some of their
arrows for Waskakie, that he might know they had been there, and also
brought back some of the Shoshones' arrows, to convince the Arapahoe
Indians that they had fulfilled their mission.
At this time, Friday had a beautiful set of arrows, bow and quiver,
which I desired to purchase and carry east, to show Sunday-school
children the weapons of Indian warfare, and how they kill their game,
Friday would not sell his "outfit," as it is called, for money, but was
willing to "trade" for a revolver, with which he said he could hunt
buffalo. At first, the Indian agent said it was unlawful to sell
firearms and ammunition to the Indians. This I told Friday. He then
said, "_Well, let's trade on the sly_." This I declined to do. But
after a few days, I got permission, and took Friday into Cheyenne, to
select the pistol. After picking out a good one, he then begged for
bullet-mould, lead, powder, and caps. A trade is never complete with an
Indian as long as he sees anything he can get added to the bargain.
General Duncan, of the 5th Cavalry, tells me of one of his trades with
a red man at Fort Laramie. His little boy took a fancy to an Indian
pony one day, and the general offered to exchange a nice _mule_ for the
pony. This was soon done and settled, as the general supposed. But next
day the Indian came back and demanded some tobacco, sugar, flour, etc.
"What for?" demanded the general. The Indian gave him to understand
that he did trade horses, but as the mule had little or no tail, and
the pony a long one, "_he wanted the sugar, tobacco, and flour to make
up for the tail_!" After Friday and his fellow-chiefs had left us, some
one wrote this to a Chicago paper, as follows:
THE AUTHOR A MEDICINE-MAN.
The Indians sometimes confer "brevets" on distinguished individuals as
marks of favor, though they do not, or have not as yet, scattered them
in like profusion, as in the army, so that the whole thing has become a
farce.
Mr. Catlin, or Mr. Schoolcraft (Indian writers and painters), was made
a regular chief of the Chippewas in the time of Red Jacket, a big chief
at Tonawanda. In the month of November, 1869, five Arapahoe chiefs came
to Fort Russell,--"Friday," "Little Wolf," "Cut-Foot," "Sorrel Horse,"
and "Head Medicine-Man." On account of many little kindnesses to them
while remaining, Friday invited the writer to go up with the party to
their home among the Black Hills, where he could be initiated into the
forms of a civil chief. Friday said, "These fellows"--meaning his
companions--"think a big heap of you, and want you to go home with
them." As the ceremony includes a dog feast, it was postponed for
awhile. They called me "The White Medicine-Man,"--and the feast has
been partaken of at different times by some officers on the plains, who
say dog's meat tastes much like mutton. A feast was made, it is said,
at Fort Laramie for the Peace Commission, which met there in 1868.
There were Generals Sherman, Harney, Augur, Terry, Sanborn, and Col.
Tappan present. A big chief had given the entertainment of dog, in
soup, roast, etc. Having only one big tin dish to serve the soup in,
and it being rather dirty, the old squaw seized a pup to wipe it out
with. But the old chief felt mortified at it, and so he tore off a
piece of his shirt and gave the pan an extra wipe!
THE SIOUX SUN DANCE--SCENE ON THE PLAINS OF YOUNG WARRIORS EXHIBITING
FORTITUDE AND BRAVERY IN TORTURING PAINS--A HORRIBLE SCENE.
Red Cloud, a head chief, lives in what is called the Powder River
country, above Fort Fetterman. But the Sioux nation roam for hundreds
of miles all over the plains, and are sure to turn up just when and
where they are least expected.
These Sioux, the most numerous of all the Indian tribes, have a festive
performance, which is regarded by all civilized people with horror and
abhorrence, and one which few can look upon with nerve enough to see
the end.