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10 ^^1

//■^^ li

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

Rv Herbert Wehb.

T is the aim of thin
paper to explain the
recent Indian troubles
in Dakota ; to say a
word which, if possi-
ble, may harmonize
the conflicting press
despatches and con-
tradictory stories that
have perplexed the
minds of intelligent and fairly well-
informed readers, who are anxious to
arrive at a trustworthy and reasonable
conclusion, not only concerning the re-
cent outbreak, but upon the whole Ind-
ian question.

As a writer's treatment of an impor-
tant public event, and his claim to a hear-
ing, depend not alone upon knowledge
of its attending circumstances, but also
upon his acquaintance with conditions
lying far back of its occurrence, I may
be permitted to take my readers over
the road leading to my own point of
view on this topic. I had no personal
knowledge of Indians or Indian affairs
(although a near relative — the late Will-
iam Welsh, of Philadelphia — had given
constant attention to them during more
than twenty years of his life) until the
summer of 1882, when a journey made,
in company with Bishop Hare, over parts
of the Great Sioux Reservation, first
brought me into contact with many of
the various subdivisions of the Sioux
people, or, as they call themselves, "the
Dacotahs." My interest became excited
by the peculiar, and to me virtually un-
known, facts and conditions of Indian
life which were thus opened to my ob-
servation. In company with various
gentlemen I was led to organize, first in
my own and then in other cities, an as-
sociation for the extended and careful
study of the condition of the Indians in
all parts of the country, for acquiring
an understanding of their precise needs,
and for promoting their advancement
in civilization. Those engaged in this
movement were whoUv free from such

financial interests are involved. Their
8ei'\'ice has been wholly gratuitous.
During the past nine years, while con-
ducting the work of the Indian Kights
Association, I liave three times visited
the Sioux of Dakota, tmvelling on horse-
back or by wagon through all parts of
the reservation, camping out at night,
or receiving the hospitality of amiy of-
ficers, civil agents, missionaries — both
white and native — and of Indians. I
have also paid three visits to the Navr.-
jos and Pueblos of New Mexico and
Arizona, and one to the Apaches of the
latter tenitory. During all this period
I have been brought into constant coii-
tact with men and women whose expe-
rience made them valuable contributors
to an imdei-standing of the Indian ques-
tion — officei-H of the army, officials of the
Interior Department, membei-s of Con-
gress, missionaries on the reservations,
Lidian agents, and teachers in Indian
schools.

With this brief necessan' preface I
will outUue, so far as space permits, the
gradual development of our Indian i)ol-
icy.

General (Grant's Peace Policy gave
birth to the tii-st national effort for a
solution of the Indian problem. That
broad-minded and far-seeing man be-
came convinced, through his wide mili-
tary experience, that, notwithstanding
the fierce nature of many of the Indian
tribes, and the incessant conflicts which
marked the progress of American civili-
zation westward, there were unrecog-
nized hopeful elements in the Indian ;
that back of Indian uprisings, with
their accompanying atrocities, usually
lay some unseen spoliation or injustice
on the part of the white man. General
Grant believed the time had como for
the enlistment of subtler forces than
that of militarv chastisement in the
management of Indians. In his first in-
augural address he said : " The proper
treatment of the original occupant of

bias as usually exists where personal or this land, the Indian, is one deserving of

ar.d^^D

440

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

careful study. I will fnvor any course
toward them whi(;h tends to their civil-
ization, Christianization, and ultimate
citizenship." As the result of this allu-
sion, a dele(;;ation of citizens from Phil-
adelphia promptly called on President
Grant, March 24, 1H08, to tliauk him
for his utterance. This led ultimately
to the passage of a bill in Conf^'ress au-
thorizing the Presiilent to appoint a
Board of Indian CommisHionerH, who
should serve without pay, and net as an
advisory body with the Executive, to
promote the ci ; ilization of the Indians,
and to come to the assiHtimce of the
Government with the forces of religion
and education. The gentlemen invited
to become members of this Board, most
of whom served upon it, were the Honor-
able John V. Farwell, Chicago ; James E.
Yeatman, St. Louis ; William K. Dodge,
New York ; E. S. Tobey, Boston ; Hon-
orable Felix B. Brunot, Pittsburg ;
George H. Stuart and William Welsh,
Philadelphia. General Grant's policy
was no doubt clue iu i)art to the good
work accomplished by the Indian Peace
Commission, in negotiating treaties with
various tribes of Lidians during the
years 18G7-68. The I'eace Commission
was composed partly of anuy ofticei-s
and partly of civilians.

At this time the general sentiment of
the country was hostile to the Indian,
and generally sceptical as to the possi-
bility of success resulting from efforts
for his civilization. It was quite natu-
ral that such should be the case. The
horrible cnielties perpetrated by the
Sioux Indians in the ]^Iinnesota massa-
cre of 18G3 were fresh in the i)ublic
raind. Indeed this was but the most
prominent and recent of the many sim-
ilar tragedies throughout the course of
our history which had created a wholly
adverse impression in the minds of even
the most intelligent and well-informed
among our people, and had helped to
establish the conclusion that the Indian
race was irreclaimable — altogether sav-
age, treacherous, and cruel. There were
too few examples to the contrary, and
too little known of the real grievances
of the Indians, to lead to a broader and
more correct impression.

Few persons knew of the services of
friendly Indians, during the outbreak,

in giving settlers timely warning of
danger, in restruing others from captiv-
ity, ami in i)erforming valuable scouting
service for the Unitetl States troops.

The inauguration of General Grant's
peace policy led ultimately to large re-
sults in bringing more and more the in-
telligence of our people and their really
keen sense of justice to a knowledge of
the Indian, nn<l an understanding of
his peculiar ixisition.

The Board of Indian Commissioners
proved an important link between the
educated C^hristian per pie of the coun-
try and the Executive. The knowledge
which they acquired in their visits to
various Indian tribes did much to pro-
mote a better state of affairs than had
previously existed. The board proved
of great value, but its usefulness was
hindered to a serious extent by existing
])olitical conditions. Corruption ami
dishonesty, in that :M)rrupt and dishon-
est period, riourished more luxuriantly
iu the Indian service than in any other
de])ai'tmoiit of the (Jovernment. Its ri-
otous audacity astoiuided and disheart-
ened honest men who were brought in
contact with it. The Iu«lian Bureau was
the central point of oi)erations for dis-
honest contractors and officials, who
extended the meshes of their nets to
the most remote Indian agencies, and
who robbed alike the Government and
the Indian. The boldness of these plun-
derers in carrj'ing on their projects and
iu avoiding tletection was remarkable.
An incident will serve to illustrate :

An Indian agent located at one of
the ageiu'ies among the Sioux was sus-
pected of defrauding the Government
and the Indian to the extent of about
eighty thousand doUai-s. An investigat-
ing committee was sent from Washing-
ton to inspect his affairs. The agent got
wind of their coming and determined
to outwit them. He biibetl one of his
interpreters to meet the committee at a
point on the Missouri where they would
be obliged to take stage for the agency.
The coiumittee, in the long drive to the
agency, fell into conversation with their
unsuspected fellow-traveller, found him
well acquainted with the Indians, and
were especially overjoyed to discover
that he spoke Dacotah. "The very
thing," they said. *' We will secure his

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THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

441

g of
iptiv-
ating
«.

rant'w
re re-
he in-
really
(Ige of
iDg of

lioners

en the
B coun-
wledge
isits to
to pro-
lan bail
proved
ess was
existing
ion ftutl
[ (Ushon-
luriantly
tny other
;. Its ri-
tlisheart-
•ought in
Lireau was
8 for dis-
tials, who
r nets to
ucies, and
Linent and
ihese plun-
•ojects and
eniarkable.

atrate :

at one of
iix was 8US-
iovernmcnt
nt of about
i investigat-
iji \Va8hing-
he agent got

deterniined
I one of his
nmiittee at a
e they would
r the agency,
r drive to the
"on with their
■r, found him

iudians, and
I to discover
"The very
will secure his

seniccs as an interoreter." The fellow
consented and rec _ived fifty dollars in
payment for his services. Thus an in-
terpreter was HC(rurcd who translated
the bitter complaints of the Indinut) in
a way to make them api)ear as warm
coiumendntiouH of their agent. The
committee retunied, batlled, to Wash-
ington.

The great work whii^h the Board of
Indian Commissioners accomplished
was the detection of existing corruption
in Indian management, by which, ulti-
mately, a radical improvement in the
quality of supplies sent to the Indian
was secured, and, to a birge extent, the
banishment of dislionesty from this de-
partment of the Indian service was ef-
fected. But most important of all was
the work of the C'ommission in sowing
the seeds of an intelligent national in-
terest in the Indian question, and a na-
tional determination that the problem
should ultimately be solved by means
worthy a great j)eople.

The Board of Indian Commissioners
failed to act^omplish the full measure
of the puii)OHt) which General (Imnt
hatl in view, and which was within their
own hopes, owing to the firm grip \ni\\
which political corruption held the Ind-
ian service, and because of the Presi-
dent's own fatal unwillingness to " de-
sert liis friends under tire." At great
personal risk to its members the Board
sought tt) drive out the plunderei-s who
were feeding upon both the Government
and the Indian, but owing to the pro-
tection accordetl tliem l)y high officials
the Commissioners were largely thwart-
ed in their puiimse.

Some of the more aggressive members
of the Board resigned, in the belief that
they could accomplish more good by
independent and unofficial action than
by holding further relations with the
Government, since muny of their pro-
tests against wrongdoing were unheed-
ed. The Board still exists and does
good work, though its activity is not
80 great as in former years.

I have treated at some length this in-
troduction to that part of my subject
which is of more immediate interest —
the recent Indian disturbance — in the
belief that by so doing I can make plain
how slowly and with how much appar-

ent loss any advance is effected in the
performance of a great public work.
The sacrifice is great, but it is not made
in vain. Great abuses, which at one
time seemed impregnable, are, by pa-
tient, intelligent effort, finally removed.
Twenty-five years ago corruption in Ind-
ian ailairs was wide-spread ; it is now,
I believe, quite the exception, not the
rule. I would especially emphasize this
fact at this time. The restrictions in
the semce and the keen observation of
the jmblic make dishonesty now very
difficult and dangerous.

That many things in Lidian manage-
ment are to-day seriously wrong and
urgently in need of amendment will be
readily granted. The only efficacious
remedy for these evils lies in an appli-
cation of the force of popular sentiment
to the centres of power in Washington ;
but this application must bo made with
intelligent discrimination.

The Sioux people number about
twenty-eight thousand souls. They oc-
cupy to-day what is known as the Great
Sioux Reservation. This tract until
very recently included about twenty-two
million acres, lying in the Temtory of
Dakota. It is shaped somewhat like a
boot, its sole resting on the northern Ne-
braska hnc ; its calf, or western bound-
ary, the Black Hills of western Dakota ;
the upper f)r northern boimdary, the
Cannon-Bali River (so named from the
spherical stones found on its banks and
bottom) ; its eastern line, correspond-
ing to the shinbone — to carry out the
simile — the swift, tawny Missouri, with
its dangerous eddies, its fretted surface,
and its ever-crumbling banks of sand.

The Sioux in old times roamed over
tracts vastly greater than even their
present reservation, until recently, com-
prised ; but under the treaty of 1868
most of them, and after the treaty of
1870 all of them, had been brought
within the limits of the reserve. They
were a very aggressive, warlike people
so far back as we have record of the
tribe in the early days of French ex-
ploration, when Marquette, the young
Jesuit missionary, about 1670, came in
contact with them on the west shore of
Lake Superior. The Chippewas, the
Crows, and the Utes were among their

442

THE MEAhlING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

y[\V OK TIIK SkmX

Indian Ukskhvation

, IN NlillTII AM) SOITII
])AKOTA.

traditional and hereditaiy enemies ; but
it is said to have been tlieir boast that
they never shed the blood of a white
man. Catlin — the artist, explorer, and
their historian — spent some time among
them, studying their customs and com-
mitting to canvas their fierce, painted
faces, their dances, and their hunts.

The Great Reserve is subdivided into
six minor reserves, each with its agency,
its agent, and Government employees —
school-teachers, physicians, blacksmiths,
and carpenters. These subdivisions
are as follows : Standing Bock Reserve
in the northeast on the Missouri ; Chey-

enne River to the south, with its agency
on the Missouri ; Crow Creek Reserve,
a little farther down on the other side
of the liver ; then Lower Brule border-
ing on the Missouri, with its southern
boundary the Nebraska line. These
last-named agencies are now consoli-
dated under the care of a single agent.
Westward lie the two largest, and in
some respects most important, reserves
— Rosebud find Pine Ridge — the latter
being the southwestemmost section and
forming the heel of the boot. This is
the home of the Sioux people. It is
high, breezy, prairie land, almost tree-

ON
Til

;ency
serve,
side
)rder-
tbem
These
nsoli-
igent.
id in
lerves
latter
nand
bis is
It is
tree-

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

448

lesH, except wliere the infrequent i-reekH
spread a fringe of scant timber — the
C(>ttou-woo<l, scrub-oak, the ash, with
undergrowth of wild phim- trees and
buffalo-berry bushes. The face of the
country suggests a mighty roUiug sea —
its billows sinking into the level hori-
zon — that by some magic touch had
turned to dry land, still retaining in
outline the suggestion of fonuer move-
ment, and in the color of grassy hills
the memorj' of its waves.

What can be said with truth as to the
character of these people V What does
one tind that is tangible, actual, in mov-
ing among and studying them with a
sincere desire to be rid of either jjarti-
san or hostile bias ? Many things ; for
truth here, to the superlicial eye, is ap-
parently as complex and as discordant
i OS it is elsewhere ; but patient study

reveals certain great truths which will
not betray the investigator.

There are two great and sharply de-

_ fined parties among the Sioux Indians

1 to-day, either of wliich is the creation

and representative of an idea. These

ideas are antagonistic and irreconcilable.

First. There is the old pagan and
non-i)rogres8ive i)arty. Inspired by sen-
timents of hostility to the Government
and to white civilization, it believes
in what is Indian, and hates what be-
longs to the white man. Its delight is
in the past, and its di*eam is that the
past shall come back again — the illim-
itable i)rairie, with vast herds of the
vanished buffalo, the deer, the antelope,
all the excitement of the chase, and the
still lier<!er thrill of bloody struggle
with rival savage men. Consider what
has been the education of the men who
form this party — eating Government
rations paid them in lieu of ceded lands,
idleness, visits to distant relatives and
friends, constant feasts and dances, with
oft-repeated recitals from the older men
of their own deeds of valor and the
achievements of their ancestors. If we
put oui*selves in their place, the attitude
of these non-progressive Indians will be
intelligible, and their acts will be partly
accounted for. A wliite man nurtured
under such conditions would scarcely
be distinguishable from an Indian. As
Captain Pratt has well said : " Savagery
is a habit, civilization is a habit."

This old Indian party has, nndoubt-
edly, grievances in unfulfilled promises
and broken treaties — and it has wel-
comed them and nurtured them. Its
argument with members of its own race
who thought otherwise and did other-
wine has been : " !Make trouble and the
Great Father will send you what you
want."

The most noted leaders of this party,
and the men most tyi)ical of its spirit and
intentions, were Spotted Tail (who was
killed by Crow Dog in 1881 in a per-
sonal feud), Red Cloud, and Sitting
Bull. Of these three men Spotted Tail
WHS the most remarkable for native force
and ability ; but all were alike in love of
power, a <leep sense of personal and
race i)ride, duplicity, tmconijuerable an-
tagonism to civilization. Visits to the
East and to AN'nshington, with the well-
meant but injudi(*ious attention of cha-
ritable persons and the llattering curi-
onxiy of the public sened io heighten
the vanity and sense of personal iniiior-
tance of these leatleix, but only to in-
tensify their hostility to the white man's
ways. They felt precisely the same con-
tempt for work which has often been
shown by aristocratic classes among
civilized nations — with the same sense
of personal j)ride. Once, in an interview
between Bishop Hare and Spotted Tail,
the lattei*, replying to the bishop's re-
marks, said : " You did not inform me
that you were coming," and then, as
though not wishing to recognize the
bishoi)'s presence further, he drew his
blanket about him with the air of a pa-
trician, and stejiping back and aside, so
as to place a wood-pile between his
visitor and himself, put an end to the
conversation. Sitting Bull is said to
have received one hundred and fifty
dollara from a photographer for the
privilege of taking his picture and
to have habitually asked and received
ten dollars for a series of peri)endicular
pen-strokes which served as his auto-
graph. Such is an outUne sketch of the
chai*acter of the men who held together
the pagan party and guided the minds
of its young men. The elements of
danger to be found in such conditions
will be readily appreciated.

Second. A new, progressive, and what
may properly be termed Christian party.

444

THE MHANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

whose life wan begotten, nounHhed, nnd
trninecl by miHsiouary euterjiriHe and de-
votion. Anionf? the ^reat pioneers and
foundei'H of tliin niovcniout were DrH.
Ri{?ps and Williamson — the former of
the Con^^regaiional and the latter of
the Presiaytcriau Church — Father de
8met, the heroic Itonian Catholic niis-
sionary who ministered to the Sioux
among the other tribes west of the Mis-
souri, and Bishop Hare, of the Protestant
Episcojjal Church, wliose work has
now assumed extended projxtrtions and
has acquired a strong influence all over
the Sioux coimtry. The translation of
the Bible into the Dakota tongue was
the great work of Drs. Williamson and
Riggs. The entire Bible was first
printed in the Dakota tongue in 1879,
though large portions of it were in print
long before. It was the foimdation of
the successful efforts of the Protestant
missionaries of all denominations, and
has been an essential factor in the de-
velopment of the progressive party.
The work of the Congregational Church
among the Sioux has its centre on the
Santee Keservation in Nebraska, which
is separated from the Great Sioux Res-
ervation by tlie Missouri. Here a large
Indian training-school of the Congrega-
tional Church is located, which sends
out its gradiiates and exerts its influ-
ence all over the great reserve. The Con-
gregationalists have seventy -five mis-
sionaries and teachers among the Sioux ;
fourteen schools, with four himdred and
fifty-two pupils ; six chxirches, with three
hundred and thirty-two church mem-
bers. The Roman Catholics have large
and important schools on three of the
Sioux reservations. Both this church
and the Presbyterian labor actively for
the civilization of these Indians.

The Santee Sioux, who number about
seven hundred, afford a striking exam-
ple of the complete change which Ind-
ians undergo when favorably situated,
and when subjected to the influences of
education and religion. They took a
prominent part in the Minnesota mas-
sacre, but having passed through many
vicissitudes and sufferings for their
share in the uprising, they are to-day
among the most peaceable and indus-
trious Indians to be found in the coun-
try. They have become citizens of the

Unite<l States, they own their land in
severalty, while their unused lands have
l)een opened up to white settlement.
It was not, however, until after great
pressure had l>een brought to bear by
their friends that the Oovernmont could
be induced to fulfil its own specific
promises to grant them patents for
their lands ; while the cupidity of their
white neighbors was eagerly noting the
increasing value of their possessions,
and was urgently petitioning Congress
to move them to the westward, and to
open their faims to white settlement.
Such a sad and but too frequent ca-
tastrophe in the history of Indian prog-
ress was happily averted.

No more abundant results have been
obtained in building u]) the party of
Christianity and civilization among the
Sioux than have rewarded the long la-
bors of Bishop Hare and the little band
of earnest workers who, for a period of
more than seventeen years, have labored
under his direction, and who now have
their boarding - schools and mission
chapels scattered over every part of the
Sioux reserve. At this date from seven
thousand to eight thousand among the
people are counted as attendants upon
the Episcopal Church. There are one
thousand seven hundred communicants,
forty native catcchists and nine native
ministers, forty branches of the Wom-
en's Auxiliary to the Board of Missions,
Among Indians of this denomination
alone during the past year about three
thousand dollars have been raised for
religious purposes. It is my purpose to
draw attention to thesf facts only on
account of their bearing upon the ques-
tion of a new and progressive party
among the Indians, and in order to per-
mit a clear understanding of the precise
conditions under which the recent out-
break occurred.

In these Christian Indians is to be
found abundant food for a study of
the germs and first awakenings of civil-
ized life rich in variety and suggestion.
They present all ])OS8ible differences of
age, condition, and of moral and mental
attainments. Here is the man from
whose face the paint has just been
washed, whose clothing is a struggle
between civilization and barbarism,
whose hair is still plaited, and into

THE MEANING Of- THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

44ft

whoflo (larkoiiod mind 1 nvo fiiHen tlie
first faint RleaniH of deHire f(ir the " new
way ; " here is a native teacher, perhaps
fairly taught in a reservatiun boardin^;-
srhool, but only able tu HjM'ak Kn^lisli
imperfectly, stnigfjling single-handed in
a heathen camp to win converts tc» Chris-
tian moi-ality ami civilize«l life ; while
!iere, as the ripest fruit of Indian civih-
.-^ation, is the native minister, or physi-
cian, the graduate of an Eastern college,
whose wife perlu4)s is a white woman,
whose habits of thought and whose
manners are those of a gentleman, and
who stands on equal terms with the rest
of the world.

And yet in all this divei-sity to be
found in the progri'ssive i)arty among
the Sioux is clearly shown one control-
ling principle — an awakened moral pur-
post*, new-born, or well-<leveloped, the
stirring of an enlightened conscience,
and of a long-dormant intellect.

I do not think that any intelligent or
fairly well-disposed person could travel
with observation among thtse Christian
Indians, as the writer has fretjuently
done, without being strongly impressed
with the many direct an«l indirect evi-
dences of the CHsentiid difference which
has come to exist between them and
their wild brethren in thought, pur-
pose, find occupation. How serious the
existing divisi<m might become under
stress of an accumuliitiou of misfor-
tunes, whether of an avoidable or un-
avoidable character, can reiulily be im-
agined.

Huch a crisis was destined soon to
occur which excited tlie heathen party
to ]iai"oxysms of resentful fury, and test-
ed the lidelity and fortitude of their oj)-
])oueuts to the uttermost. For many
yeiirw the whites of Dakota have sought
to rut a great highway for civilization
through the heart of the Sioux reserve,
so that easy comnmnicatiou might be
established between eastern and west-
ern Dakota, and Indian lands, practi-
<'ally unused, might be opened to white
settlement. It was to the highest in-
terests of both whites and Indians that
this should be done — if done wisely
and fairly. Unfortunately, the terms of
the agreement presented for the accept-
ance of the Indians by a Commission
sent out from Washington to treat mth

them in 1HK2 were ine((uitable ; the com-
pensation promised for the lands was
absurdly small, being about eight centA
per acre, and the means used to procure
the assent of the Indians to the agree-
ment were in some notalde instancies
not honorable. The past ih full of such
instances. Fortuuatvlv, the friends of
the Indians roveale<l the objectionable
character of the agreement, and of the
means that had been taken to procure
the Indians' assent t(» it in time to ])re-
vent its passage in ('ongress, althou^'h
the measure narrowly escaped ratifica-
tion. But the ojipoiients of tli< bill
saw clearly that sooner or later the
opening of the reserve must be devoted
to making the change contribute to the
Indians' advancement. The reservation
could not be permitted permanently to
block i)rogress, and the Indian could
not be allowed to rest in an isolation
which kept him from contact with civ-
ilization, and nurtured savagery. In
1HH7 another agnsement was prepared
and j)resented to the Indians by another
Commissi(m. Its terms were a great
improvement upon those of its preile-
cessor, and were, on the whole, very for
vorablo to the Indians; but tln^y, having
learned how they had been deceived in
its previous attempt, refused to accept
the agreement. Finally its tenns were
modified so as to make them still more
favoral)le to the Indians, and, under the
efforts of another Commission, of which
General Crook was the distinguished
chairman, the Indians were induced to
sign. About eleven million acres of
land were given up under the opemtion
of this act, and the reservation, which
ha«l originally been about four times as
large as the State of Massachusetts, was
reduced one-half. These Indians, who,
like other trilies, have always been ex-
tremely sensitive to a reduction of their
resei'vation, were only induced to sign
this agreement under severe pressure.
Both parties among th(; Sioux were in-
disposed to cede more of their land, but
the non-progressives were bitter and ac-
tive in their opposition. Bishop Hare
treating this matter, says :

"Some preferred their old life the
more earnestly because schools and
churches were sapping and undermin-
ing it. Some wished delay. All com-

446

nW. MHANIMG or THE D.-iKOTA OUTBREAK.

plainod tlint many of tho eu^a^^eineiitH
8oU>iiiuly iiiodfl with them in former yeavH
. . . ha«l been hroken — and hero
they were ri^ht. They HUHjiected that
prcHent promiHeH of ])ay for their laudH
would prove only old oneH i'l now nhape.
When mil(!h cowh wore i)>.)iuised — fovH
having been proniiHed in previouH ajjree-
mcutH — the Indiaim exclaimed, 'There's
that Hamo old cow ! ' and demanded thnt
no further Hurrender be expected until
former proniiHeHlia«l been fulfilled. They
were asHured that anew era had dawneci,
and that all paHt promiHeu would be
kept. So we all thouj^ht."

The Indians were tiually induced by
the moHt urf^ent preuHure on the part
of the Commissioner to sij^n tlie agree-
ment. Their expectations of the re-
wards which were to follow, and which
had been {glowingly depicted hy the
Commissioners ran high. Then fol-
lowed a series of delays and misfort-
unes, some of which might have been pre-
vented, while others were from purely
natural causes. To jiresent them clearly
and briefly to the reader I cannot do
better than to quote the graphic lan-
guage of Bishop Hare :

The Indians understand little of the complex
forms and delays of our (jovernment. Six
niontlia passed and uotliing caiuo. Thri-u
montlis more, and nothing came. • Hut in the
midst of the winter's pincliing cold the Ind-
ians learned that tho transaction had been de-
clared complete and half of their laud pro-
claimed OS thrown open to the whites. Sur-
veys were not promptly made ; ])erhaps they
could not be, and no one knew what land was
theirs and what was not. Tlio very earth
seemed sliding from beneath their feet. Other
misfortunes seemed to be crowding on them.
On some reserves their rations were being re-
duced, and lasted, even when carefully hus-
banded, but one-half the period for which they
were issued, f In the summer of 1889 all the
people on the Pine Ridge Reserve — men,women
and chililren — were called in from their farms
to the agency to treat with the Commissioners
and were kept there a whole month, and, on
returning to their homes, found that their cat-
tle had broken into their lields and trampled
down or eaten up all their crops. This was
true in a degree elsewhere. In 1890 tlie crops,
which promised splendidly early in July, failed

* A bill was drawn np in the Senate onder General
Crook's eyp, and psHscd, providinf: for the fnlfllment of
tbe promiecs of the Commieaion, but it was pigeon-holed
In the Uonae.

t The amonnt of beef boaght for the Indian is not a
fair criterion of the amount be receives. A etecr will
lose two hundred poonds or more of its flesh during the
co> ne of the winter.

entirely later, because of a severe drouglit.
The ])e<iple were ot'teu hungry, and the phy-
>ician.-4 in many eases said died, when taken
sick, not so much from disease as for want
of food. I

No doubt the |ieople could have saved them-
selves from sutfering if imlustry, economy, and
thrift had abounded ; but these are just the
virtues whu'h a people nuirging from barbarism
lack. 'I'lie nieasles prevailed in 1889 and were
exceedingly fatal. Next year tho grippe 8wej)t
over the people with appalling results. Whoop-
ing eougit followed among the children. Hul-
leniiesH and gloom began to gather, especially
among the Jieatheu and wilder Indians. A
witness of high character told me that a
marked discontent, amounting almost to de-
spair, prevailtMl in ntuny quartcs. The peo])le
Haiti tlieir chililren were all dyi ig from disea.ses
brougiit by the whites, their race was jieri.'-hing
from the face of tlie earth, and they might as
well be killed at once. Old chiefs and medi-
cine-iiutii were losing their power. Withal new
ways were prevailing more and more, which
did not suit the older people. The old ways
which they loved were passing away. In a
word, all things were against them, and to add
to the calamity, many hulians, especially the
wilder element, had nothing to do but to brood
over their misfortunes. While in this unhappy
state the story of a Messiah coming, with its
(ihost Dance and strange hallucinations, spread
among the heathen part of the people. Tho
Christian Indians, on tho whole, maintained
their stand with praiseworthy patience and
fortitude ; but the dancers were in a state of
exaltation approaching frenzy. Restraint only
increased their madness. Tho dancers were
found to be well armed. Insubordination
broke out on several reserves. The authority
of the agent and of the native polico was over-
thrown. The civilized Indians were intimi-
dated. Alarm spread everywhere.

From what has been already presented
the precise nature of some of the condi-
tions which brought about the disturb-
ance among the Sioux will be apparent.
I have endeavored to point out the shai-p
diflferences and antagonisms which ex-
isted between the Christian and the
l^agan party, diflferences which became
more and more shaii)ly accentuated as
the party of progress advanced and
prospered. The party of conservatism
was driven more and more within itself,
as it saw the progress of civilization
without the reservation and within it.
Then came the strange delusion of an
Indian Messiah, with its promise of re-
demption to the Indian race and the

X This is doubtless true of all the poor, the poor in our
cities, and the poor settlers in the west. The testimony
regarding the existence of hunger is exceedingly con-
flicting, but at Pine Ridge Agency at least it seemed to
me conclusive that it was general and extreme.

THH MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

447

■e ilrouRlit.
id the phy-
n\w\\ taken
LM for want

tavtjd them-
uiiotny, uiiil
ire ju8t tlif
n harbarihin
^0 and were
ri|)i)e swept
\», Wliooj)-
dren. Sul-
r. cBpecially
Indinnn. A
me that a
moHt to du-
The i>L'Oi)lo
rom diHi'a.s).<8

!IH |IHI'ihhil)|{

I'v might us
I and medi-
Witlial new
tore, which
le old ways
I way. In a
and to add
pecialiy the
but to hniod
lis unhappy
ng, witli its
ionH, spread
jople. The
maintained
itience and
1 a state of
straintonly
mcers were
bordination
e authority
o was over-
ere iutimi-

presented
the condi-

disturb-
apparent.
the shaip
which ex-
and the
, became
tuated as
iced and
servatism
hin itself,
i^'ilization
within it.
ion of an
ise of re-

and the

16 poor in our
'be testimony
aedingly con-
it seemed to
ime.

di'Htructiou of the white invader. It
came, so I learn through tlie last n'port
of the Rev. Williai.iJ. Cleveland, the ex-
perienced niiMHii>narv, who w now niak-
inf^ a journey of iuvcHti^ation into the
cauHeH of the upriKints' for the Indian
Ki^hts AsHOciatiou, and who i^ivcH the
Indian story as they tell it, "from the
people who wear rabl)it-8kin blankctH
(whoever they are), far west of the Yellow
SkiuH, who are far west of the Utes."
Mr. Cleveland does not know who the
Indianu referred to are, but the writer
surmises that they lue the Pueblo, or
villaffe, Indians of New Mexico and Ari-
zona. They use rabbit-skin blankets,
live far west (»f the Utcs, and, moreover,
hold tlio old Aztec tradition of Montezu-
ma, their Saviour, returninj^ to free their
race. It is one of their customs to look
from their house-tops at dawn for the
cf.minjT of Montezuma over the eastern
moiuitaius. It is not impossible that
this ancient tradition, which was liereto-
fore «ron lined to the southwest and to
certain tribes of Indians, 1)ecame. under
peculiar conditions and circumstances,
mitfrfitory and operative everywhere.
Whether that is, or is not, the true solu-
tion of the origin of this religious fanati-
cism among the Indians, there can be
no <loubt of its powerful effect upon the
Sioux. It was eagerly taken hold of by
the leaders, of wliom Sitting Bull was
the foremost, and was made the vehicle
of warlike designs, notwithstanding the
fact that the new doctrine was altogeth-
er pacitic, so far as the actions which
it permitted to the Indians themselves
were concerned. The revelation from
the Messiah was that he had once come
down to sa^e the white race, but that
they had rejected him and finally killed
him. He now rejected them, and would
come, when the grass was about two
inches high in the sj)ring, to save his
red children and to destroy the white
race and their works. It was enjoined
upon all who believed in him to wear a
peculiar kind of dress, and to practise
the Ghost Dance as often and as long at
a time as they pcissibly could, as an evi-
dence of their faith. If any died of ex-
haustion in the dance or pwooned away,
they were to believe that such went im-
mediately to him, where they had com-
munion with the departed, and whence

they couUl return to tell the living of
wliat they had heard and seen. At the
coming of the Messiah, for which his
followers were to wait patiently until
the spring, a new earth would be formed
covering the present world, and burying
all the whites and those Indians who
had not joim.'d in the dance. The Mes-
siah would again bring with him tho
departed of tiieir own people, and the
earth would be again as their forefa-
thers knew it, only there should be nr
more death.

Such is the doctrine of tho Indian Mes-
siah fresh from Imlian \\\)H. It can read-
ily be imagined with what power such a
doctrine came upon the darkened minds
of savage men, some of whom were
suffeiing, in addition to tlie irritating
remembriiui'e of unfultilled promises,
tho pangs ot hungei".

It is "he jjositive assertion of Mr.
Cleveland, after a detailed and careful
investigation at Standing Rock, that
there was no suti'ering from lack of food
at that ])oint. He says in answer to the
questicm : " How far due to hunger?"
" Not at all, no one of them comi)lained,
or does now, at this agency, of sliort ra-
tions. The number of those at Stand-
ing Kock who took i)art in tlie insur-
rection was very small, not more than
ten per cent, of the wliole. Three hun-
dred and seventy-five in all left the
agency when the stampede incident to
the death of Sitting Bull occurred,
though many have since retunied. The
entire Lidian population on the Stand-
ing Rock Reserve, according to the last
census, is four thousand and ninety. It
is important to note the maintenance of
Government authority at Standing Rock,
through the influence of an experienced
and able agent, and its complete coi-
lapse at Pine Ridge through the inca-
pacity of an inexperienced one.

Sitting Bull himself, however, was one
of the leading, if not the leading, agita-
tor and fomentor of trouble. His run-
ners were everywhere active among
those Indians on the other parts of the
reservation to whom they could appeal
with most chance of success — Big Foot's
people among the pagan element on the
Cheyenne River Reserve, the Lower
Brules lower down the Missouri, the
Upper Brules, or Spotted Tail's people,

448

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

at Bosebud, Bed Cloud's people among
the Ogiillalas at Fine Ridge. They had
fruitful soil in which to sow their evil
seed — ignorance made dangerous by fa-
naticism among many of the wildest Ind-
ians, and at Pine Jttidge hunger and
discontent and unfulfilled treaties, both
long past and recent.

What powers of resistance and con-
trol had the Government at its disposal
with which to meet the coming storm ?
Upon what principle of selection does
the Government base its choice of agents
and employees sent to represent its pol-
icy and to manage its affairs on Indian
reservations? This question touches
the Adtal point of the whole Indian ques-
tion.

On the experience, courage, fidelity,
tact, keen sense of justice and sympathy
of an Indian agent at a large agency,
where wild and dangerous, as well as
peaceable and easily controlled Ind-
ians are located, depend the success or
failure of the Government's efforts for
the civilization of its wards. Upon the
agent's possession of such qualities may
also depend the safety of human life,
the protection of property, and the sav-
ing of vast siuns of money.

With such serious considerations in
view in the management of such an im-
mense business concern as the Indian
service, in which not only the welfare of
two hundred and fifty thousand human
beings is directly concerned, but of mul-
titudes of white settlers besides, is it be-
yond reason to ask that the principles
of sound business administration should
be adopted?

What are the plain, indubitable facts
regarding the Indian service? The
Spoils System of appointment has been
the prevailing system since the writer
first began acquaintanceship with Ind-
ian affairs in 1882. What does that
mean ? Simply that the President, the
Secretary of the Interior, or the Indian
Commissioner, one or all, are under com-
pulsion, or at the least powerful press-
uie, to appoint persons to positions in
the Indian service, not as they would
like to do, because they have the best
and most reasonable assurance that
they are fitted by character and expe-
rience to perform well the duties of
their severid stations, but because these

appointees are thrust on them by the
importunity of Senators, Bepres'enta-
tives, or other powerful politicians.
These gentlemen frequently demand
such positions of the Executive as their
manifest perquisites, as their lawful
prey and spoil. It is thus that their
political debts are paid. I have known
the Governor of a great State laughing-
ly admit that for political hacks who
were unfit for anything else he found
places in the Indian service. I could
fiimish, were it desirable or neces-
sary, a long list of needy, inefiicient,
worthless persons, some not actually
bad, but wholly unsuited to their posi-
tions ; others with shady or blackened
records, men who had failed in every-
thing else, or drunkards and debau-
chees, who had found their way into the
Indian service. Many things, half sad,
half ludicrous, and some really dreadful
things I have known regarding the pub-
lic service of these people. And then
again I have known men of high char-
acter, high talent, lofty aspiration, and
generous sympathies serving as Indian
agents, with patience and self-sacrifice,
ill-paid but abundantly rewarded with
abuse, building up industry and civili-
zation among their Indians only to see
their plans and hopes sadly marred or
sinking into decay with the passing of
the administration or the party that
gave them office. The ghastlj- levity
and unreason, the insane wickedness of
the whole false system has been handed
down as a miserable legacy from one
administration to another.

Good men and women, in the service
and out of it, have been tempted to say,
"Is there enough gained to make effort
worth while since the people love to
have it so?" Nevertheless the cloud
has had a silver lining, for the evils have
stirred a great popular sentiment, and
things are better than they were.

In 1882 Dr. V. T. McGillycuddy held
the post of Indian Agent at Pine Ridge.
He had previously served with distinc-
tion in various departments of the Gov-
ernment ; from 186G to 1868 as resident
physician, Marine Hospital Service ; in
the War Department as topographer
on the international survey of the 49th
parallel in 1874 ; in the Interior De-
partment as chief topographer of the

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

440

lem by the
lepresenta-
politicians.
y demand
ive as their
teir lawful
that their
lave known
e laughing-
hacks who
he found
, I could
or neces-
inefiicient,
ot actually
their posi-
■ blackened
d in every-
ind debau-
pay into the
[8, half sad,
lly dreadful
ng the pub-
And then
' high char-
iration, and
g as Indian
elf -sacrifice,
.'arded with
y and civili-
only to see
^ maiTcd or
passing of
partj' that
lastly levity
ickedness of
)een handed
ly from one

the service
ipted to say,
make eflfort
)ple love to
3 the cloud
lie evils have
itiment, and
were.

ycuddy held
Pine Ridge.
Bvith distinc-
I of the Gov-
3 as resident

Service; in
topographer

of the 49th
Interior De-
^pher of the

survey of the Black Hills in 1875 ; in the
War Department as attending Surgeon
of Second and Third United States Cav-
alry in the Big Horn expedition of 187G,
ami Assistant Post-Sui'geon in the De-
partment of the Platte and Dakota in
1877-78, and as Indian agent in charge
of the Pine Ridge Agency fronx March,
1879. His incumbency at Pine Ridge
was one evincing the highest courage,
skill, and administrative abilitv. A force
of fifty Indian police was organized by
him, and admii*ably trained in cavalry
and infantry tactics, under the command
of his chief clerk, who had been a soldier
during the war. With this force the
agent was able to thwart or to subdue
the frequent attempts of Red Cloud to
create disorder. In 1884 a serious out-
break was threatened by this chief, who
was used as a tool by certain men with
whose selfish and dishonest schemes the
agent had interfered. Senator Dawes,
the champion of Indian interests in the
Senate, writing of this afltair in 1884,
said :

For days the life of every white man tliero
was in peril, and nothing but tlie courage and
prudence of McGillycudcly saved them from a
horrible mas8acre. lied Cloud, overpowered by
the law, preferred charges against MoGillycud-
dy. They were investigated by a special agent
sent from Washington, who reported against
McGillycuddy. lie then asked a hearing be-
fore the Secretary, who sent another inspector
for re-examination. This inspector reported
in favor of lIcGillycuddy, not only exonerating
him from the charges of Red Cloud and tho
report of . . . , but reflecting severely
upon [tho former inspector] himself. Red
Clouil enlisted liland in his favor, who induced
the Secretary to send out a third inspector to
investigate tho conduct of McGillycuddy. Tliis
report not only declared the charges false, but
highly commended him for the work ho was
doing at that agency.

Senator Dawes further says : " The
Senate Committee, of which I was a
member, was at this agency last sum-
mer and took much pains to ascertain
the truth of this matter. They were
unanimouHly of the opinion that at no
agency which they had visited, or had
any knowledge of, had so much been
done for the advancement of wild Ind-
ians as at this place." The writer can,
from frequent personal observation, fully
"ontirm the truth of Mr. Dawes's state-
ment. Pine Ridge at that time, and so
Vol. IX.— 48

long as McGillycuddy was in charge
of it, although one of the most difiicult
agencies in the service, was a model of
eiiiciency and order.

Upon the advent of the Democratic
administration there began, to the sur-
prise of many, and to the regret of all
of the friends of the Indians, a general
proscription of those Indian agents and
employees who had served under the
previous administration. In vain were
earnest protests presented. The in-
cumbents at every agency on the Sioux
reservation were changed, with the sin-
gle exception of Standing Rock, where
the agent, Major McLaughlin, one of
the best men in the service, was proba-
bly saved by his own good record and
the political influence of the Roman
Catholic Church, of which he is a devout
member. In two instances these changes
were manifestly for the better ; in most
of the others they were seriously for
the worse. The latter was manifestly
the case at Pine Ridge and Rosebud.
Under McGillycuddy's successor there
was a steady deterioration in the morale
of the agency and in the efficiency of the
police force. At Rosebud the former
agent, Mr. James G. Wright, to whom
the public owes a debt of gratitude for
years of wise, patient, and successful ser-
vice, was succeeded by an agent whose
career in the Indian service was one of
ignominious failure.

Out of fifty -eight Indian agents in
the entire sei"vice, upward of fifty were
changed. The removals in the other
grades of the service were general. In
some instances, as has been frankly and
gladly admitted, these changes were
for the better ; but the general result
was deterioration, not improvement.
Where changes were fortunate and hap-
py in their results the friends of the
Indians were prompt to admit the fact,
and stood ready upon the incoming of
the Republican administration to pray
for the retention of every officer known
to them to be deserving. Indeed, the
first request made by them to Mr. No-
ble, the Republican Secretary of the
Interior, was that agents and employ-
ees might not be removed for political
reasons, but that they might be retained
or dismissed solely on the ground of
merit, so that the fatal rock of spoils

450

THE MEAhlING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

policy, on which the Indian manage-
ment of the previous administration
had foundei-ed, might be avoided. The
request was as courteously listened to
as it was subsequently completely ig-
nored. The administration adopted
what was styled the " Home Bule " sys-
tem of appointment, an elegant syno-
nym for the opprobrious term " spoils
system." Home rule meant, so far as
the Indians were concerned, the rule of
aUens and enemies, for it transfeiTed
the appointment of agents, and in many
cases of subordinates, from the hands of
the central and responsible authorities
in Washington to the tender mercies of
politicians in every territory in which
Indian reservations were located. The
Indian Rights Association uttered a
prompt but ineffectual protest against
this principle of appointment as Ijeing
"unsound in theory and likely to be
disastrous in practice."

No blame can be attached to General
Morgan, the present Commissioner of
Indian Aflfeirs, or to Dr. Dorchester,
the present Superintendent of Indian
Schools, for whatever evil consequences
have flowed from the adoption of this
phase of the spoils system. Both of
these gentlemen have been earnest ad-
vocates of the merit system, and have,
■within the limits of their power, ob-
sei*ved it, and beyond those hmits have
labored for its adoption in all grades of
the Indian service. The present Indian
Commissioner has, in the opinion of the
writer, rendered an inestimable service
both to the Indians and the pubhc by
wise, faithful, and energetic service.

Under the " Home Rule " system the
inefficient Democratic successor to Dr.
McGillycuddy was removed during the
past summer to make room, not itor a
wisely selected man chosen with a view
to the skilful control of the usually
troublesome and now dangerous and
excited elements at Pine Ridge, but for
one destitute of any of those qualities
by which he could justly lay claim to
the position — experience, force of char-
acter, courage, and sound judgment.
His moral weight and force was insuffi-
cient to suppress the threatened irrup-
tion. At aU the Sioux agencies, with
the exception of Standing Rock, where
McLaughlin, equipped by long years of

experience, faced the storm with firm-
ness and success, the agents had been
changed by the Republican adminis-
tration, as their predecessors had been
by the Democratic one. But at Pine
Itidge, the most important of all, the
results were most disastrous. As has
been ma<le cleai', it was the weakest
point in the Sioux country, and here
had been provided the weakest control,
as though, in a spirit of malicious fun,
the Government had set a timid and un-
trained rider astride a wicked, fractious
horse, just to see what would happen !

At the time the agent took charge of
Pine Ridge, October 1, 1890, the Ghost
Dance was at its height. There was
general discontent throughout the Sioux
nation, the troubled condition added to
and fomented by Red Cloud, Sitting
Bull, and other agitators. But I do
not hesitate to say that had a man of
nerve and experience, who knew these
Indians, and was known by them, backed
by a disciplined force of Indian police,
been iu charge, an abandonment of this
agency and the calling of the military
would no more have been necessary
than were such measures necessary at
Standing Rock. It is well known that
the presence of troops at an agency is
always extremely in-itatiug to Indians.
It proved so in this instance.

The next scene in the drama is vigor-
ously depicted by Dr. McGiUycuddy,
who had been present for some days at
the agency as the representative of
Governor Mellette. Under date of De-
cember 4th, he writes :

The condition of affairs wlien I lel't tliere
last r/eek was as follows : About four thousand
of the agency Indians were camped at the
ni?enc_v. The outlying villages, churches, and
schools were abandoned. About two thousand
Hrules and Waziizas were camped twenty-five
miles distant on Wounded Knee (Jreek, uncer-
tain whether to come into the agency or' not, on
account of the j)re8enco of troops. Emissaries
of Sitting Bull were circulating among ail of the
Indians, inciting them to revolt, and ranging
through the abandoned villages destroying
])roperty of friendly Indians. Indians by the
dozen were beseeching mo to obtain permis-
sion for tliem to go to their Iiomes and protect
their property, their horses, cows, pigs, chick-
ens, etc., the accumulation of years. Runners
came to me from the Rrule camp, asking me
to come out and explain what the coming of
troops meant. They said they knew me, would
believe in me, and come iu. Red Cloud and

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

451

with firm-
had been
adminis-
i hspd been
ut at Pine
of all, the
As has
He weakest
and here
ist control,
icious fun,
lid and un-
l, fractious
happen !
char{»e of
the Ghost
There was
t the Sioux
D added to
lid, Sitting
But I do
1 a man of
knew these
em, backed
lian police,
lent of this
he military
necessniy
ecessary at
known that
1 agency is
to Indians.

aa is vigor-
Glillycuddy,
me days at
entative of
Jate of De-

I k'tt there
our thousand
uped at the
hurches. and
two tliousand
1 twenty- five
^-'reek, uncer-
iioy or not, on
. Enii8sari*>8
long all of the

and ranging
8 destroying
idians by the
jtain permis-
8 and protect
I, pigs, chick-
rs. Runners
p, asking me
lie coming of
BW me, would
,ed Cloud and

other chiefs made the same request of Agent
Royer and Special Agent Cooper. The reijiiest
was refused ; no white man was sent to them.
On Sunday last Sitting IJuH's emissaries pre-
vailed ; the Brules became hostile, stole horses
and cattle, and are now on the edge of the Had
Lands, ready for a winter's campaign. Many
Indians who were friendly when I left the
agency will join them. They have po.ssession
of the agency beef herd of thirty-live hundred
head of cattle. The presence of troops at the
agency is being rapiilly justified. What I .state,
investigation can Substantiate.

There are two prominent events sub-
sequent to the arrival of troops at Pine
Ridge which have especially excited in-
quiry in the public mind and to which I
will refer. The first is the arrest and
death of Sitting Bull ; the second is the
affair of Wounded Knee. The limits of
this article will only pennit an outhue
of these incidents.

Tlie arrest of Sitting Bull was, no
doubt, a measure necessary to prevent
further spreading of a revolt which
largely emanated from him. Concern-
ing his own dangerous intentions there
can be no doubt. The evidence on this
point is abundant and specific. The ar-
rest was attempted under telegraphic
instructions from General Ruger, at St.
Paul, to Colonel Drum, commanding
Fort Yates, the military post adjoining
the Standing Rock Agency, under date
of December 12th. It was the expressed
wish of General Ruger that the military
and the civil agent should co-operate
in effecting the arrest. Fortimately en-
tire harmony existed between Colonel
Drum and Major McLaughlin. The
agftnt wished to effect the arrest by
means of the Indian police, so as to
avoid unnecessary irritation to the fol-
lowers of Sitting Bull, and at a time
wh<iu the majority of tliese Indians
would be absent from their camp
drawing rations at the agency. This
wise intention was frustrated by the
unexpected attempt of Sitting Bull to
leave the reservation. Therefore the
arrest, instead of being attempted De-
cember 20th, was precipitated Decem-
ber 14th. Sitting Bull evidently intend-
ed to submit to his captors peaceably,
but, while dressing, in his tent for the
journey, he was incited to resistance
by the outcries of his son, who berated
the Indian policemen and exhorted his
father not to allow himself to be taken.

Upon coming out of his tent, under
charge of the police, Sitting Bull yielded
to his sou's advice and called on his
people to rescue him. In an instant a
savage crowd of one hundred and fifty
Indians attacked and tired upon the
poUce. Almost immediately six of the
police were killed or moi-tally wounded,
and Sitting Bull was himself killed by
one of the wounded police. The fight
lasted about half an hour. The police
soon drove the Indians, who far out-
numberc' them, from around the ad-
joining buildings and into the surround-
ing Avoods. During the fight women
attacked the poUce with knives and
clubs, but in every instance the latter
simjjly disarmed and placed them under
guard until the troops arrived, after
which they were given their liberty.
The highest praise for courage aixd
ability was accorded the police for their
part in this affair ])y the military officer
commanding the troops who supported
them.

Can American patriotism see nothing
in the devotion of these men to dutv,
their loyalty to the flag, their constancy
even unto death, which is worthy an en-
during monument ? Can American art
find no inspiration, no elements of true
dramatic emotion, in this pre-eminently
American tragedy?

It were well if the same chisel which
recorded in "eternal bronze" the sad
and patient nobUity of Lincoln might
also fashion some memorial to the
humble heroes of Standinjij Rock ! The
genius of Thorwaldseu and the fidelity
of the Swiss Guard breathe forever in
the dying Lion of Lucerne. May not
the genius of some American sculptor
and the fidelity of the Indian police find
similar expression?

What is to be said of Wounded Knee,
with its two hundi-ed dead, its slaugh-
tered women and children? Evidence
from various reliable sources shows veiy
clearly that Colonel Forsythe, the vet-
eran officer in charge, did all that could
be done by care, consideration, and
firmness to prevent a conflict. He had
provided a tent warmed with a Sibley
stove for Big Foot, who was ill with pneu-
monia. He assured the Indians of kind
treatment, but told them also that they
must surrender their arms. He tried to

452

THE MEANING OF THE DAKOTA OUTBREAK.

uvoid a search for weapons, but to this
they forced him to resort. The explo-
sion came during the process of search,
and when a medicine-man incited them
to resist and appealed to their fanaticism
by assuring them that their sacred shirts
were bullet-proof. Then one shot was
fired by the Indians, and another and
another. The Indians were wholly re-
sponsible in bringing on the fight.
"Whether in the desperate struggle which
ensued there was or was not an unneces-
sary sacrifice of the lives of women and
children is another question. From the
fact that so many women and children
were killed, and that their bodies were
found far from the scene of action, and
as though they were shot down while
fleeing, it would look as though blind
rage had been at work, in striking con-
trast to the moderation of the Lidian
police at the Sitting Bull fight when
they were assailed by women.

But responsibility for the massacre of
Wounded Knee, as for many another
sad and similar event, rests more upon
the shoulders of the citizens of the
United States who permit the condition
of savage ignorance, incompetent con-
trol, or Congressional indifference and
inaction, than upon those of maddened
soldiers, who having seen their comrades
shot at their side are tempted to kill
and destroy all belonging to the enemy
within their reach. That the uprising
ended with so little bloodshed the coun-
try may thank the patience and ability
of General Miles. Perhaps had he taken
the field earlier there might have been
still less to mourn.

What is the remedy? What must be
done to prevent such occurrences in
future ? The remedy is not far to seek
nor does it require many words to state
its essentials.

First, the people as a body must de-
sire and demand of the President and
of Congress better things. There must
be a substantial unity of opinion among
various bodies of citizens as to the main
points of a remedy, and unity of ac-
tion in securing it ; a willingness to
abandon minor points in order to secure
the greater ones. The necessity for
abandoning partisanship in considering
this great national question should be

frankly recognized. The words Demo-
crat and Republican should be forgot-
ten in dealing with Indian affairs. Even
now there are sincere friends of tho
Indians who are very sensitive to any
criticism, no matter how just it may be,
which reflects on their own party. This
is a fatal block to progress. The great
religious bodies, the Roman communion
on the one side, and the Protestant
communions on the other, should try to
recognize the value of each other's work,
at least as an instrument of civilization.
There should be gi-eater co-operation
between the civil and military branches
of the Government, less drawing into
hostile camps with the idea that there
is a military severity and inhumanity on
the one side, and unmitigated rascality
on the other. There are military of-
ficers who would make capital Indian
agents, and civil agents could be found,
if the right way were taken to seek
them, who can manage Indians without
the intnision of troops.

If, then, a public sentiment can be
aroused on this question at once power-
ful, intelligent, united, and persistent,
these are the simple principles and the
flexible system which it should demand :

1. A single, intelligent, exijerienced,
responsible head to control the Indian
service under the President— a man who
shall be permitted to form his plans and
to carry them to f mitiori along the lines
of well-defiued and sound principles, and
free from partisan interference.

2. An Lidian sendee conducted in
absolute hannony with the principles of
Civil Service Refoim — the principle of
merit, not of spoils. Only thoroughly
qualified men, should be appointed to
serve as Indian agents.

3. The prompt appropriation off imds
by Congress to permit the education of
all Indian youth, and the effective man-
agement of the service. No more Ind-
ian boys and girls should be permitted
to grow up in ignorance and savagery ;
also the prompt passage of laws rec-
ommended by the Indian Department
and requisite to protect the interests of
the Indians.

But to do these things, as Bishop Hare
has well said, and to solve " the problem
that remains, the spoils system, will re-
quire ' the uprising of a great people.' "