5O CENTS. 
 
 THE 
 
 PONG A CHIEFS. 
 
 
 AN INDIAN'S ATTEMPT TO APPEAL FROM THE 
 TOMAHAWK TO THE COURTS, 
 
 WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS TOWARDS A SOLUTION OF 
 THE INDIAN QUESTION. 
 
 IB 3T Z Y !_, 3T IF 1 IF. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY INSHTATHEAMBA (BRIGHT EYE.) 
 
 AND DEDICATION 
 
 BY .WENDELL PHILLIPS. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 LOCKWOOD, BROOKS, AND COMPANY. 
 1879. 
 
FANEUIL HALL RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 At a largely attended meeting held in Faneuil Hall, Dec. 2, 
 1879, over which His Honor, Mayor Prince, presided, the 
 following preamble and resolutions, written by Mr. W. H. 
 
 Whereas, Great and inexcusable wrongs have been com 
 mitted by the National Government and its agents upon peace 
 ful tribes of Indians, in removing them, against their will and 
 consent, from the lands they occupied to a sickly and malari 
 ous climate ; and whereas, the petitions and remonstrances of 
 the chiefs of these tribes have been totally disregarded ; and 
 whereas, this action on the part of the government has pro 
 duced great distress and suffering and death among these 
 tribes, and has led to wars in which both white people and the 
 Indians have suffered severe losses ; and whereas, the Indians 
 have been denied the protection of law in the assertion of 
 their just rights and privileges, it is hereby 
 
 Resolved, That in the case of the Poncas we recognize the 
 insufficiency of the treaties and promises of the government 
 to protect them,- and therefore the necessity of placing them 
 under the protection of our laws. 
 
 Resolved, That the present system of agencies and trader- 
 ships, placing the authority in the hands of one man, and com 
 pelling the Indians to sell the products of their labor to him, 
 and to buy all their necessary supplies from him, is detri 
 mental to the welfare of the Indians, discouraging to honest 
 labor, and corrupting in its tendencies to the government. 
 
 Resolved, That the only solution of the Indian problem is to 
 recognize the Indian as a fellow-citizen, and to accord to him 
 the rights that are declared by the fourteenth amendment to the 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That while we heartily commend the Indian policy 
 suggested by the Secretary of the Interior to educate the In 
 dians, to convey to them in fee, individually, titles to their 
 farms, and thereafter to treat them like other inhabitants of the 
 United States under the laws of the land, we earnestly urge 
 and declare that immediate measures should be taken to secure 
 to them their legal rights and due protection and compensation 
 under the law ; and especially to restore to the Poncas their 
 former homes and property as indemnification for the wrong 
 which the Secretary of the Interior says has been done them. 
 
STANDING BEAR AND HIS FAMILY, 
 
 1. Ta-du-mon-ie. 2. Ma-chii-nah-zhe. 3. Ma-he-du-ba. 4. Sust 
 
 (Walk-in-the-wind.) (Standing Bear.) (Sunshine.) Standing Bet 
 
 Orphan grand-son of Standing Bear. Only living child of Standing Bear. 
 
 te. 5. Vo-zh6n-ga-du-ba. 
 
 's wife. (Light of the way.) 
 Orphan neice of Standing Bear. 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 AN INDIAN'S ATTEMPT TO APPEAL 
 
 FROM THE TOM AH A WK TO THE 
 
 COURTS. 
 
 A FULL HISTORY OF THE ROBBERY OF THE PONCA 
 
 TRIBE OF INDIANS, WITH ALL THE PAPERS FILED 
 
 AND EVIDENCE TAKEN IN THE STANDING BEAR 
 
 HABEAS CORPUS CASE, AND FULL TEXT OF 
 
 JUDGE DUNDY'S CELEBRATED DECISION, 
 
 WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS TOWARDS A 
 
 SOLUTION OF THE INDIAN QUESTION. 
 
 BY Z Y L Y F F, 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 INSHTATHEAMBA (Bright Eyes), 
 
 AND DEDICATION BY 
 
 WENDELL PHILLIPS. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LOCKWOOD, BROOKS & CO. 
 
 1880. 
 
Copyright, 1879. 
 By LOCKWOOD, BROOKS & CO. 
 
7/623 
 
 Bancroft Library 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 Those who love liberty and intend that their Gov 
 ernment shall protect every man on its soil and ex- 
 ecute justice between man and man, 
 
 THIS NARRATIVE, 
 With an Introduction, written by an Indian Girl, 
 
 of the wrongs suffered at the hands of the Government 
 by the Ponoas, in consequence of which one-third of 
 the tribe died within the last eighteen months, and 
 the rest have endured and still endure cruel and wast 
 ing oppression, 
 
 18 RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 
 
 as a fair specimen of the system of injustice, oppres 
 sion, and robbery which the Government calls "its 
 Indian Policy;" which has covered it with disgrace as 
 incompetent, cruel, faithless, never keeping its treaties, 
 and systematically and shamelessly violating its most 
 solemn promises; has earned the contempt and detesta 
 tion of all honest men and the distrust and hate of the 
 Indian tribes. WETOELL PHJLLIFS. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 PAGB 
 
 DEDICATION, ...... iii 
 
 INTRODUCTION, ...... v 
 
 I. STANDING BEAR'S FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH 
 
 THE INDIAN RING, ..... 1 
 
 II. STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND IN THE 
 
 EDITOR OF A WESTERN PAPER, . . 17 
 
 III. A FLANK MOVEMENT ON THE INDIAN RING, 37 
 
 IV. MR. HAYT'S ASSAULT ON STANDING BEAR, 
 
 AND THE RJEPLY THE OLD CHIEF MADE, 53 
 
 V. THE OMAHAS COME TO STANDING BEAR'S 
 
 Am, ....... 62 
 
 VI. THE OMAHAS FRIGHTENED AT THE CLAIMS 
 
 OF THE COMMISSIONER, . . .67 
 VII. STANDING BEAR'S RELIGION WHAT ARMY 
 
 OFFICERS THINK OF HIM, . . .71 
 VIII. STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL TO THE COURTS, 77 
 IX. WHAT THE ATTORNEYS HAD TO SAY TO THE 
 
 COURT, ....... 103 
 
 X. STANDING BEAR RELEASED DECISION OF 
 
 JUDGE ELMER S. DUNDY, . . .106 
 XL THE ORDER OF RELEASE STANDING 
 
 BEAR'S FAREWELL ADDRESSES, . . 128 
 APPENDIX, ....... 135 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THIS little book is only a simple narration of 
 facts concerning some of my people. Many of 
 the transactions recorded in it came under my 
 own observation, my uncle, White Swan, being 
 one of the chiefs who underwent so much suf 
 fering after being left in the Indian Territory. 
 
 Wrongs more terrible than those related here 
 have been practised on others of my people, but 
 they have had no writer to make them known. 
 
 I wish for the sake of my race, that I could 
 introduce this little book into every home in 
 the land, because in these homes lies the power 
 to remedy the evil shown forth in these pages. 
 The people are the power which move the mag 
 istrates who administer the laws. 
 
 It is a little thing, a simple thing, which my 
 people ask of a nation whose watchword is lib 
 erty ; but it is endless in its consequences. They 
 ask for their liberty, and law is liberty. " We 
 did not know of these wrongs," say the magis 
 trates. Is not that only the cry of " Am I my 
 brother's keeper?" For years the petitions of 
 
 vii 
 
INTRODUCTION. v iii 
 
 my people have gone up unnoticed, unheeded by 
 all but their Creator, and now at last a man of 
 your race has arisen, who has sho vm faith enough 
 in humanity to arouse the nation from the sin of 
 its indifference. Thank God, it was only indiffer- 
 ence, and not hatred, which withheld from an 
 oppressed and unfortunate race, justice and 
 mercy. 
 
 May those who read this story, when they 
 think of the countless happy homes which 
 cover this continent, give help to a homeless 
 race, who have no spot on earth they can call 
 their own. 
 
 INSHTATHEAMBA (Bright Eyes). 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 STANDING BEAR'S FIKST ENCOUNTER WITH THE 
 
 INDIAN KING. 
 
 Ix the autumn of 1876, the Indians on the 
 Ponca reservation in Southern Dakota were at 
 work on their farms as usual. It was as peace 
 ful and happy a community as could be found 
 anvwhere. Most of their children were attend 
 ing school, and their church was in a flourishing 
 condition. How these people were robbed of 
 their wealth and a large portion of them sent 
 to their graves, through the tools of the Indian 
 Ring, it is the object of these pages to relate. 
 
 One Sunday the Indians went to their church 
 as usual, to hear the words of the minister, but 
 some of the words which he said that tribe 
 will never forget. He told them that he had 
 heard that they were to be driven from their 
 
 1 
 
2 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 homes and sent far to the south, never to come 
 back again. He said he was exceedingly sorry 
 for them, as they had been honest, industrious, 
 frugal, hard-working, and had just gotten 
 themselves nice houses and farms. He did not 
 know that he could help them. He could only 
 pity them. Under all circumstances he advised 
 them to do that which was right, and trust in 
 God, that in the end he would protect them 
 from their oppressors. 
 
 Consternation seized upon the whole commun 
 ity. Runners were dispatched, and in a few 
 hours afterwards every member of the Ponca 
 tribe had heard the news. The one universal 
 sentiment was: " We will not leave the home 
 of our fathers to go to a strange land, never to 
 return." 
 
 The chiefs and head men came together and 
 questioned the minister, but he knew nothing 
 more than he had already told. Somebody had 
 ordered them to be taken to the Indian Territory. 
 
 Soon after a great council was called, and 
 some men purporting to come from Wash 
 ington appeared, and said an order had been 
 issued to take the tribe to the Indian Territory. 
 Standing Bear, White Eagle and other chiefs 
 absolutely refused to go. Standing Bear said: 
 
 " This land is ours, we have never sold it. "We have 
 
STANDING BEAR AND THE INDIAN RING. 3 
 
 our houses and our homes here. Our fathers and 
 some of our children are buried here. Here we wish 
 to live and die. We have harmed no man. We have 
 kept our treaty. We have learned to work. We can 
 make a good living here. We do not wish to sell our 
 land, and we think no man has a right to take it from 
 us. Here we will live, and here we will die." 
 
 Then these men told them that the Indian 
 Territory was a much better country. That 
 they could raise much more grain and not work 
 near so hard. That if they once saw it they 
 would not want to stay in Dakota, and many 
 other things of like nature. Finalty, they pro 
 posed that the chiefs should go down to the 
 Indian Territory and look at the country. 
 Then, if they did not like it, and did not wish 
 to go, they might stay where they were. 
 They told them that if they went down there, 
 the Great Father would buy their land in 
 Dakota and pay them for it, and give them 
 all the land they needed in the Indian Terri 
 tory. If they would just go down and look at 
 the country all the trouble would be ended. 
 They could sell their land then or not, just as 
 they pleased. After further consultation it 
 was agreed that ten of the leading men should 
 go down there and look at the country. 
 
 These men took them to the territory. 
 They showed them a portion of country, and 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 wanted to know what they thought of it. The 
 chiefs replied they did not like it at all. They 
 did not think it was as good as where they 
 were located in Dakota. Standing Bear's 
 account of what occurred at this time is as 
 follows: 
 
 " These men then talked entirely different from what 
 they did in Dakota. They said, you shall trade your 
 land in Dakota for land here. You can go out there 
 and choose what you want, but you shall trade. Your 
 tribe will be brought down here, and you may as well 
 choose your land now. I told them that we could not 
 come. I had seen that a great many people down 
 there were sick. The land they showed us was stony, 
 and I did not believe we could make a living on it. I 
 was afraid my people would get sick and die. We 
 could not come there. 
 
 "Then the men grew very angry, and said if we did 
 not agree to come they would go off and leave us there 
 to starve. They would not take us back home. We 
 said it would be better for ten of us to die than that the 
 whole tribe, all the women and little children, should 
 be brought there to die, and die we all would, right 
 there, rather than do what they asked. 
 
 " Then they went off and said we might stay there and 
 die. They would not take us back. I sent the interpreter 
 to them, and told them that they had brought us far from 
 our own country on the cars, and if they would not 
 take us back they should at least give us some money 
 to pay our way. They said they would not give me 
 one cent of money. They had said they would 
 take us from the Indian Territory to see the Great 
 
STANDING BEAR AND f HE INDIAN RING. 5 
 
 Father. I sent and asked if they would take us to 
 Washington, and told them if they would, and the 
 Great Father said we must come to the Indian Terri 
 tory, then, I supposed, we must come. They replied 
 that the Great Father had nothing to do with the matter. 
 They would not take us anywhere. We could stay there 
 and die. I sent again, and told them if they would not 
 take us" back, nor give us any money, to give us a 
 paper that we could show to white men and tell who 
 we were, so they would not think we were hostile or 
 intended to steal from them. They replied they would 
 give us nothing, not even a paper. 
 
 "Now, there were two very old men with us, who 
 could not travel on foot at all. I sent to them and told 
 them we would walk back, but that these two old men 
 could not walk and they must care for them. We could 
 not carry them on our backs, and they must take them, 
 and I sent the old men to them, and told them to stay 
 with them. They took these two old men and went 
 off and left us. 
 
 " None of us had a cent of money, and we had no in 
 terpreter, so we could not speak a word to any man. 
 The next morning we started on our long journey. It 
 was in the winter. White men were suspicious of us. 
 They thought we were vagabond Indians, who will travel 
 round to beg and won't work. Very few of them would 
 give us anything. Every day we travelled on we grew 
 weaker, and had to go slower. We got a few pieces of 
 bread. What we lived on was corn. We would take it and 
 pound it between stones. We slept out on the prairie 
 without shelter. A few times we foiled haystacks to 
 sleep in. It took us just fifty days to reach the Otoe 
 Agency in Southern Nebraska. The last few days we 
 
6 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 were very weak, and could walk only a few miles. 
 When we got there, we found that these men had sent 
 word to the Agent there to have nothing to do with 
 us; that we were bad Indians, and if we came there 
 we should be driven off. But when the Agent saw 
 how nearly starved we were, and looked at our bleed 
 ing feet, for our moccasins wore out the first ten days, 
 he took pity on us, and first gave us something to eat, 
 and then asked us what bad things we had been doing. 
 When we told him what had happened, he was much 
 astonished, and said he would write a letter to Wash 
 ington, and tell all how we had been treated. 
 
 "The Otoes gave us horses and provisions, and we 
 made the journey to the Omaha Agency in five days. 
 We looked so bad when we got there that everybody 
 w&s sorry for us. From there we sent a telegram to 
 the President. The other seven who were with me 
 went on up to the reservation on horseback, and Mr. 
 Hamilton, the missionary to the Omahas, sent John 
 Springer, an educated Omaha, with me to Sioux City to 
 send the telegram. We stopped at the first station at 
 which we reached the railroad, and sent the telegram. 
 It cost $6.25. We asked the operator who sent it if 
 anybody would stop it before it got to Washington, 
 and he said, 'No, if they did, they would be put out 
 of their place.' 
 
 "John Springer went on with me to Sioux City, and 
 we went to see the editor of the paper there (Sioux 
 City Journal). We told him all about it, and he printed 
 it in his paper. Springer gave me some money there, 
 and left me, anjd I went on the cars up to Yankton. 
 The men who took us to the Territory had returned and 
 were there. A white man, whom I did not know, came 
 
STANDING BEAR AND THE INDIAN RING. 7 
 
 to me there, and said he had heard about our troubles. 
 He said these men who were there were scoundrels. 
 He knew every one of them. They were very bad 
 men who got rich by swindling the Indians. He said 
 he knew that we had never sold our land, or signed a 
 treaty to go away, and the best thing for me was to go 
 back to my farm, go to work, and pay no attention to 
 what these men said, or what orders they gave, until 
 some man came who had papers signed by the Presi 
 dent. He said if these men had land, and another man 
 should come and order them to leave it, they would 
 knock him down, and that was the way they ought to 
 be served ! 
 
 " I went back to the Ponca Agency and these same 
 men came there. They wanted to talk again. I said : 
 ' What are you here for? What business have 
 you to come here at all. I never sent for you. I don't 
 want anything to do with you. You are all liars. You 
 are all bad men. You have no authority from the 
 Great Father. You came out here to cheat and steal. 
 You can read and write, and I can't, and you think 
 you know everything and I know nothing. If some 
 man should take you a thousand miles from home, 
 as you did me, and leave you in a strange country with 
 out one cent of money, where you did not know the 
 language and could not speak a word, you would never 
 have got home in the world. You don't know 
 enough. I want you to go off of this reservation. You 
 have no business here, and don't come back until you 
 bring a letter from the Great Father. Then if you want 
 to buy my land, bring the money with you so I can see it. 
 If I want to sell I will talk to you. If I don't 
 I won't. This is my land. The Great Father did 
 
g THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 not give it to me. My people were here and ownefl 
 this land before there was any Great Father. Wo 
 sold him some land, but we never sold this. This ia 
 mine. God gave it to me. When I want to sell it I 
 will let you know. You are a rascal and a liar, and I 
 want you to go off my land. If you were treating: a 
 white man the way you are treating me, he would kill 
 you, and everybody would say he did right. I will 
 not do that. I will harm no white man, but this is my 
 land, and I intend to stay here and make a good living 
 for my wife and children. You can go.' 
 
 " When I said this he was very angry, and the next 
 morning he had Big Snake and me arrested. They 
 took us down to Yankton, and brought us before eight 
 officers. The head officer said : ' We have heard many 
 complaints about you. We have had four letters mak 
 ing complaints. What have you to say? I thought 
 you were good and all trying to work. I have read in 
 the papers that you have been badly treated, but these 
 letters say exaclly the opposite.' 
 
 "Then we told the soldiers all about it, and the soldiers 
 were angry at what had been done, and the head officer 
 said : ' I will send a telegram to Washington, but you 
 will stay here until I hear from it. I will not put you 
 in prison. That land is yours. I have a hard duty, 
 but I am a soldier, and must obey orders. I would like 
 to help you, but I cannot. I have known your tribe a 
 long time, and you have all done well, and learned 
 how to work. I know that is so. Some rascals are 
 trying to swindle you out of your land and stock. I 
 have seen things like this many times. It is very hard 
 to see this, but I can't help it. When a white man has 
 land he can stay on it, and if anybody else wants it 
 
STANDING BEAR AND THE INDIAN RING. 9 
 
 they have to pay him money for it, and he don't have 
 to give it up until he gets the money, and I don't see 
 why the same law will not apply to an Indian who has 
 land.' 
 
 ' ' The soldiers treated us very kindly, and after a little 
 while we went back on the reservation. I don't know 
 whether the head officer ever had from Washington an 
 answer from his telegram. Then these men got up 
 another council. The half-breeds who belong to the 
 tribe are most all bad men; they are rascals, and go witn 
 the agents and traders. At this council all the half- 
 breeds took the side of these men. They all wanted 
 to go to the Indian Territory. But not one of the 
 Poncas would agree to go. At this council there was 
 a white man who came to talk for us. He was a lawyer, 
 and said he had been watching us for years, and he 
 knew we were trying to do right. He said be would 
 not see us swindled out of all we had, and not do any 
 thing. 
 
 "These men said to us that we were thieves and bad 
 Indians, and the Commissioner had resolved to move us 
 away from the white people. That the Sioux would 
 come and kill us all unless they kept many soldiers to 
 watch them, and that cost the Great Father much 
 money, and that he did not have many soldiers any 
 more, and what he had he wanted to fight for the white 
 people, and not to protect bad Indians. 
 
 "Then this lawyer answered back for us. He said 
 he did not want to call them liars, but he believed they 
 wera. If they had any authority for what they were 
 doing, why did they not show the papers. They had 
 none. They could not show an order of any kind. He 
 would not say so positively, but he believed they were 
 
10 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 all of the same lot of thieves who had always been 
 swindling the Indians. That reservation belonged to 
 the Poncas. They had never gone to war with the 
 whites, though everybody knew they had cause 
 enough. Nobody could take it from them. Nobody 
 could make them sell it. Even the Great Father could 
 not do that. He said many other things, and talked a 
 long while. He got very angry at last, and said they 
 were thieves and scoundrels, and if they were served 
 right they would every one be hung. Then they would 
 not let him talk any more. 
 
 "At last they said it was no use to talk any more. We 
 must all go to the Indian Territory, and that was the 
 end of the matter. It was no use for us to say we 
 would not, because we must. We told them we would 
 not go, and the council broke up. 
 
 ' 'Soon after this the half-breeds belonging to the tribe, 
 numbering ten men and their families, packed up 
 and started. This white lawyer told us not to go, and 
 he did not believe they would try to make us go. He 
 said for us to do what we thought best, and not rely 
 on him, but it was his belief that if we went on with 
 our work and paid no attention to them they would not 
 do anything. He said, if you want to go, go, and if 
 you don't, stay right where you are. It will be time 
 enough when, they begin to try to make you go. No 
 body will shoot you while you are at work. If the sol 
 diers come and give you orders, then you will have to 
 obey.' 
 
 " We talked over the matter very much, and we were 
 very sad. After a little while some soldiers came to 
 the Agency, and the interpreter said they had come to 
 go to war with us, if we did not go. We could not 
 
STANDING BEAR AND THE INDIAN RING. H 
 
 fight. We were all farming and had but few guns. 
 Everybody was working hard. It was in the spring. 
 Many had sowed their spring wheat, some had planted 
 corn, and made gardens. The children were going to 
 school. One day about noon, 1 had just come in from 
 the field; my brother was still at work, and another man 
 was plowing for me. My wife was gelling dinner, and 
 a man rode up. He said the officer liad given an order 
 that we were to load up everything we had and bring 
 it 10 the Agency building. I supposed it came from tho 
 soldiers, aud I unhitched my horses from the plows 
 and hitched, them to the wagons, and loaded in all I 
 had. There were some things the government had 
 given us. I do not count them. They had given them 
 to us, and I suppose they had the right to take them 
 back. Among them were the threshing machines, reap 
 ers, mowers, and the mill. Then I had some things 
 which I Lad bought with the grain and stock I had 
 raised and sold. These were mine, and no man had 
 any right to take them away. However, I obeyed the 
 order, and took them all to the Agency. Within two 
 or three days I had them all there. These were the 
 things which were mine and which they took away: 
 " One house (I built it with my own hands. It took 
 me a long time, for I didn't know how very well). It 
 was twenty feet by forty, with two rooms; four cows, 
 three steers. ei<rht horses, four hoirs (two very large 
 ones), five wn<ron-loads of corn with the side boards on 
 (about 1 30 bushels), one hundred sncks of wheat, nnd one 
 Wfiron-lond loose, which I hnd in boxes (nhout 275 bush 
 els), twenty- one chickens, two turkeys, nnd one prairie 
 breaking plow, two stirring plows, two corn plows, a 
 good stable and cattle sheds, three axes, two hatchets, one 
 
12 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 eaw, three lamps, four chairs, one table, two new bed 
 steads, one hay-knife, three pitchforks, two washtubs, 
 and washboard, one cross-cut saw, one cant hook, two 
 log chains, two ox -yokes, two ladders, two garden rakes 
 three hoes, one new cooking-stove, one heating-stovei 
 twenty joints of pipe, two trunks (one very large), one 
 valise, crockery, knives and forks, and a great many 
 other things which I cannot now remember. These 
 things were mine. I had worked for them all. By 
 their order I brought them all, except the house and 
 such things as I could not move, to the Agency, and 
 they put them in a big house and locked them up. I 
 have never seen any of them since. Our wagons and 
 ponies they did not take away. 
 
 "A few days after this we started to the Indian 
 Territory. I said I would not go there when I started. 
 If some man wanted my things and my land, I said I 
 would go down and live among the Omahas. They 
 wanted us all to come there, and had land enough for 
 all. The man who had charge of us said we could go 
 down there where the other part of the tribe was and 
 see them, and if we did not like it, we could then 
 come back to the Omabas. My wife had some relations 
 who went down with the half-breeds, and she wanted 
 to go and see them, and so we went on. It was a long 
 and tedious journey." When we got there the Agent 
 issued us no rations for a long time. For months we 
 had to beg of the other tribes. We were all half-starved. 
 This was all different from our own home. There we 
 raised all we needed. Here there was no work to do. 
 We had nothing to work with, and there wns no man 
 to biro us. We said we would cr back; that we did 
 not like it there. Then we were informed that we werje 
 
STANDING BEAR AND THE INDIAN RING. 13 
 
 prisoners, and if we attempted to go away from tho 
 Agency we would be punished. Sickness commenced, 
 several died. All my people were heart-broken. I was 
 like a child. I could not help even myself, much less 
 help them. I hunted for some white inan, who knew 
 the ways of the government, to tell me what to do. No 
 man would tell me. At last I resolved I would go 
 and see the Great Father. I thought surely he does not 
 know about this. He would never allow it to be done. 
 I went to see the Great Father and told him what had 
 been done. He seemed very much astonished. He 
 said he never heard of it before. He would order it 
 investigated. Then I talked with him again. He thought 
 now that we were down there we had better stay. He 
 told me to go back and hunt for some good land, and 
 he would have our things sent to us; that we should 
 be treated well, and he did not think we would be sick 
 any more, after a little. We would soon get used to the 
 country, and then we would not be sick. I said ki 
 reply that I could only obey his orders. 
 
 " Then I went back to the Indian Territory and se 
 lected some land that looked good, and we moved the 
 tribe on to it. It was now in the fall, and the sickness 
 was worse than ever. Families had settled on separate 
 tracts of land, and were scattered around. The whole 
 family would be sick and no one know it. In some of 
 these families persons would die and the others would 
 not not be able to bury them. They would drag them 
 with a pony out on the prairie and leave them there. 
 Men would take sick while at work and die in less than 
 a day (congestive chills). 
 
 " There were dead in every family. Those who could 
 walk around were sick. Not one in the whole tribe 
 
14 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 felt well. I lost all my children but one little girl. A 
 few more weeks and she would have died too. I was 
 in an awful place, and I was a prisoner there. I was 
 not a free man. I had been taken by force from my 
 own country to a strange land, and was a captive. 
 Sometimes I thought I had better gather up my people, 
 send them on ahead, keep my warriors in the rear, and 
 endeavor to retreat to the mountains, and if the sol 
 diers came, all die fighting, but I did not want to fight 
 the soldiers. They had always treated me kindly, and 
 the officers had taken my part; besides my warriors 
 were too sick to march or fight. I could see nothing 
 ahead, but death for the whole tribe. I was much sorry 
 for the little children who were so very sick. They 
 would moan and moan, and we had no medicine 
 and no way to help them. The fall months wore 
 away, and it was the middle of winter. The sickness 
 got no better. I resolved at last that I would make an 
 attempt to save the lives of a few. If I failed it could 
 be no worse than to stay there. I said I will take a 
 small party and start back to my old home. If the sol 
 diers come after us I will not fight. They can do what 
 they please with us. Whatever they do, it can't be 
 worse than to stay here. I told nobody of my plans 
 but those I intended to take along. I brought away 
 thirty persons, seven of whom were very sick when we 
 started. We slipped away on the night of the second 
 of January. We had a small quantity of rations when 
 we started. I had ten dollars in money, and Buffalo 
 Chip had ten. We were ten weeks making the jour 
 ney to the Omaha Agency. I had to buy a little corn 
 for the ponies. 
 " We had three covered wagons and one light spring 
 
STANDING BEAR AND THE INDIAN RING. 15 
 
 wagon. I subsisted this party of thirty persons for 
 twenty days on less than a dollar a day. After that 
 we had no more money. For two days \ve were with 
 out food, little children, sick, and all. Then I went 
 to a white man's house and motioned for him to come 
 with me. He came and I pointed out to him the sick. 
 He did not seem to understand, but he looked at the 
 ponies and saw how very poor and gaunt they were. 
 He went off and came back with his boys and brought 
 hay and a big bag full of corn. We took some of the 
 corn, shelled and parched it. He watched us, and 
 when he saw the children eat it ravenously, he, for 
 the first time, seemed to understand that we had noth 
 ing to eat. He went to the house and brought us some 
 flour, "some meat and some coffee. After that the 
 white people treated us very kindly. Some gave us 
 bread, some coffee, and others meal or flour. None 
 of them refused to give us anything when they saw 
 we were hungry, except two places, and I don't think 
 they had much themselves. I kept far out in Kansas, 
 and frequently changed my course, for I thought they 
 would follow us from the Agency, and the white peo 
 ple out there seemed very poor. After ten weeks of 
 gucli journeying, about the middle of March we arrived 
 at the Omaha Agency, on the way back to our old 
 home. The Omahas and Poncas speak the same 
 iannunge, and we have many relatives among them. 
 We intended to go back to our own land, but the 
 Omahas said, you have no plows or tools of any 
 kind, and you cannot go back there. We will lend 
 you seed and toois to work with, and help you 
 start. They gave us land. There was enough broken 
 to raise what we wanted to live on. Some of the 
 
16 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 men were sick in bed and couldn't work. Those who 
 were well enough all went to work. Some had sowed 
 their spring wheat, and some were plowing. I was at 
 work when the runner came and told us that the sol 
 diers had come to take us back. Consternation and des 
 pair seized upon us. We all went down to the Agency, 
 and found Lieut. Carpenter there. He said we must 
 go to Omaha with him, and there we could talk with 
 Gen. Crook. We hitched up our ponies and started 
 south again. One woman was too sick to move, and 
 that one was left at the Agency, and came to Omaha 
 barracks. When we started back the scene among the 
 women and children was heart-rending. They and 
 their friends among the Omalias cried most bitterly. 
 It would break one's heart to look at them.. Many 
 were still sick, and all felt that we were going back to 
 certain death. My effort to save their lives had failed." 
 
 INTERPRETER'S CERTIFICATE. 
 
 " I certify that I acted as interpreter for Standing 
 Bear, and that the above is a true translation of his 
 words, the interview taking place at Fort Omaha the 
 13th glay of April, 1879. I am perfectly acquainted with 
 the Omaha Indian language, which the Poncas speak, 
 and I know many of the facts to be true of my own 
 knowledge, having resided among the Omahas for 
 twelve years. W. W. HAMILTON." 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND IN THE EDITOR 
 OF A WESTERN PAPER. 
 
 ON the twenty-ninth day of March, 1879, at 
 about eleven o'clock at night, there sat in the 
 editorial room of the Omaha Daily Herald the 
 assistant editor, who at the time was editor-in- 
 chief. 
 
 The city editor came in and informed him 
 that he had just returned from Fort Omaha, 
 four miles distant, where there was a band of 
 Ponca Indians under arrest for running away 
 from the Indian Territory. 
 
 This assistant editor of the Herald had a 
 strange history. He said he had been born on 
 the frontier, never had had any raising, and 
 did not pretend to be civilized. He was a 
 thorough newspaper man, and had held positions 
 as an editorial writer on several leading papers. 
 He had the medical, legal, theological, turf, 
 stage and musical terms at his tongue's end. 
 He carried perhaps the marks of more gunshot 
 
18 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 and other wounds on his person than any other 
 one man in a thousand miles of him. He was 
 one of the best shots with a revolver in the 
 west. He commenced life by enlisting in Jim 
 Lane's company in Kansas in 1856, and was in 
 every prominent fight during the bloody wars 
 which lasted for two years in that Territory. 
 Part of the time he was in old John Brown's 
 company. Such was the individual who sat at 
 the Jler aid editor al table on that night. When 
 informed of what had occurred at the barracks, 
 he brought his fist down on the table and said, 
 "Those Indians shall not betaken back to die in 
 the Indian Territory." 
 
 He was doing nearly double work on the 
 paper on account of the absence of the editor- 
 in-chief, and his duties kept him at the office 
 until the paper went to press at four o'clock 
 in the morning. That morning he retired at 
 4.30 A. M., and rose at seven A. M., and immedi 
 ately started on foot to Fort Omaha, four miles 
 distant. It was on Sunday, and while others 
 went to church he went to see these prisoners. 
 Arriving there he found an interpreter, and 
 informed Standing Bear that he wanted to hold 
 a council and print what he said, so that all 
 the white people could know how he had been 
 treated. But Standing Bear would not talk. 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 19 
 
 He did not think it would be dignified for him 
 to talk with any one else before he held his 
 council with Gen. Crook. Persuasion did no 
 good. He was afraid Gen. Crook would take 
 it as an insult, and talk he would not. It was 
 explained to him that it would not be printed 
 until Tuesday morning, that no paper was pub 
 lished on Monday, but it was all of no avail. 
 
 Here was something that the editor had not 
 expected, an impassable barrier on the first 
 day's march, and he sat down and cogitated. 
 At last he remembered that several years before 
 he had joined a secret society among the In 
 dians, and concluded to try the signs on the 
 old chief. Standing Bear recognized them in 
 an instant, and the two gave the grip of friend 
 ship. A council was called immediately, and 
 the editor and warriors were soon seated in a 
 tepee around the council fire smoking the pipe 
 of peace. 
 
 Ta-zha-but (Buffalo Chip) was the first to 
 speak. He talked slowly, making graceful but 
 emphatic gestures, as follows: 
 
 "I sometimes think that the \vhite people for 
 get that we are human, that we love our wives and 
 children, that we require food and clothing, that 
 
20 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 we must take care of our sick, our women and chil 
 dren, prepare not only for the winters as they come, 
 but for old age when we can no longer do as when 
 we are young. But one Father made us all. We 
 have hands and feet, heads and hearts all alike. 
 We also are men. Look at me. Am I not a man? I 
 am poor. These clothes are ragged. I have no others. 
 But I am a man." 
 
 Ta-zha-but stopped after saying this, for sev 
 eral moments, and all was as silent as death. He 
 then proceeded: 
 
 "I have said this, because as I have been sitting in 
 this tepee thinking since I was taken prisoner, that the 
 government could not think I was a man, or they would 
 not treat me as they have. I have hands that know 
 how to hold the plow handles and to sow the wheat 
 and corn and gather it in. I have taught them that in 
 the last. few years. 
 
 " When I was young the gun was the greatest friend 
 the Indian had. With it he defended himself against 
 his enemies, with it he fed his wife and family, covered 
 his tepee, and clothed himself and his children. The 
 gun is not my friend now. The greatest friend I have 
 is the plow. The game is gone, never to come back. I 
 look everywhere and I see none. It has vanished away 
 like a dream when I wake from sleep. But the ground 
 is here. It can never vanish away. From the ground 
 the Indian must live. It tells him no lies. It makes 
 him no promises which it does not fulfil. It is like 
 Wakanda. All the Indians know this. They are not 
 blind, that they cannot see. Neither are they fools, that 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 21 
 
 they cannot think. So we talked among ourselves 3*ears 
 ago. We agreed that we would raise cattle, horses, 
 pigs, and all kinds of stock. We said we would learn 
 to plow, we would build houses out of wood, we would 
 learn to do like the white people. They always have 
 good clothes and enough to eat. We told the men the 
 Great Father sen-t to talk to us that we would do this 
 years ago. We have kept our word. We have taught 
 our hands to hold the plow handles. We built houses. 
 We raised stock. Now look at us to-day. See these 
 rags. We have no houses, no stock, no grain, we are 
 prisoners in this camp, and we have never committed 
 any crime." 
 
 H 
 Here another prolonged silence ensued, and 
 
 then Ta-zha-but spoke again: 
 
 "Eight days ago I was at work on my farm which 
 the Omahas gave me. I had sowed some spring wheat, 
 and wished to sow some more. I was living peaceably 
 with all men. I have never committed any crime. I 
 was arrested and brought back as a prisoner. Does 
 your law do that? I have been told since the great war 
 that all men were free men, and that no man can be 
 made a prisoner unless he does wrong. I have done 
 no wrong, and yet I am here a prisoner. Have you a 
 law for white men, and a different law for those who 
 are not white? ' 
 
 Ta-zha-but paused and waited for a reply. The 
 editor found himself cornered. The Declara 
 tion of Independence says " all men are created 
 equal." The constitution says there shall be 
 
22 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 no distinction on account of race or color, but 
 here was a man who had committed no crime, 
 held as a prisoner. He at last replied that 
 there was but one law for all alike. 
 
 Ta-zha-but. "Then why am I and my family held 
 prisoners when we have committed no crime?" 
 Editor. "I cannot tell." 
 
 Another silence here fell on the council. 
 The Indians sat smoking a huge tomahawk 
 pipe, and passing it one to another. Ta-zha- 
 but spoke again: 
 
 "When I worked my farm, my wife, my children 
 and myself had three meals each day. When I am 
 forced to live on the government we get but one. 
 Why does the government insist on feeding me? If 
 they intend to always feed all the Indians I should 
 think they would eat all the government had. I seem 
 to be blind. I cannot understand these things. Here 
 I am, and those who are with me want logo to work and 
 raise grain to live on next winter. We don't want to 
 live on the government. We want to support our 
 selves. We commence to plow and sow wheat, and 
 the government sends the soldiers to take us prisoners 
 and make us live on the government. We would go 
 right back to our work and make our own living if 
 they would only let us. " 
 
 This declaration of the chief was received 
 by an emphatic affirmative grunt by all pres 
 ent. Ta-zha-but then asked if it would not be 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 23 
 
 better for the government and them, to be al 
 lowed to pursue such a course, and why they 
 could not do it. The editor could give no 
 reason why they should not. 
 
 "If we go back to the reservation in the Indian 
 Territory," said Ta-zha-but, "we shall have nothing to 
 do. We must live on the government and will soon all 
 die. There will be not one left to tell the tale. It would 
 be better for the government, better for us, to stand us 
 out there in a line, bring the soldiers and tell them to 
 shoot us all. Then our miseries would be ended, and 
 the government would have no more trouble. It would 
 be better that way." 
 
 This was said in a solemn tone, spoken very 
 slowly, and every one present signified his as 
 sent. Somehow a feeling of solemnity came 
 over all. They seemed to think death was very 
 near in any event. A squaw who held a young 
 baby, sitting behind the men, pressed the little 
 thing close to her bosom and rocked herself back 
 and forth, with the tears running down over her 
 face. Not a muscle moved on the face of any 
 of the men. They looked steadily toward the 
 fire in the centre of the lodge. The first thing 
 that was said was by Charles Morgan, an 
 Omaha, who reads and writes, and speaks Eng 
 lish as fluently as any one. He turned to the 
 reporter, after some moments of silence, and 
 
24 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 said: "This is awful. These men are my 
 friends. They are of my blood." 
 
 The editor after a few moments asked Ta- 
 zha-but what he thought ought to be done in 
 reference to the Indians, how the govern 
 ment should deal with them. He continued as 
 follows: 
 
 "It seems to me that the government should let the 
 Indians go on some land that is good, where good crops 
 could be raised. This land should be given them for 
 theirs forever, given so that the government could not 
 take it away, so that the white men could not get it. 
 It should be the Indians' forever. Indians cannot 
 make plows and axes and wagons, so the government 
 should give them some to help them start. All the 
 Indians will go to farming if the government -will do 
 this. But they can't farm without plows, and they 
 can't plow where the ground is all hills and stones like 
 it is down where the Ponca reservation was. Then 
 there should be laws to govern the Indians the same as 
 the whites. A court should be established where those 
 who do wrong, both Indians and white men, should be 
 tried. There never would be any rows or troubles 
 with the whites if we had a court. But we have never 
 had a court. If white men steal our ponies there is 
 nobody to punish them. If the Indians do wrong 
 they make the tribe responsible and the solQiers come 
 out and kill our people. We want land which shall 
 be our own, and we want a court: Let those who 
 do right be protected, and those who do wrong be 
 punished. If the Indian has land which he knows 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 25 
 
 is his own forever, he will build a good house. He 
 will soon be like a white man." 
 
 STANDING BEAR'S SPEECH. 
 Standing Bear spoke as follows : 
 
 " The Poncas and the Omahas are one tribe, and 
 speak exactly the same language . We saw the game 
 was gone some years ago, and we resolved to go to 
 farming, to raise stock and grain like the white men. 
 Our Agency was in the edge of Dakota. We had many 
 good farms, some good houses, a school and a church. 
 But the Sioux made raids on us, stole some of our 
 ponies, and killed some of our people. It was then 
 proposed that we come down to the Omaha agency. 
 There was a great council of the Poncas, the Omahas, 
 and the Commissioners the Great Father sent. Both 
 the Omahas and Poncas signed a paper to go to the 
 Omaha Agency. That is all the paper we ever 
 
 Then followed a history, stated briefly, of 
 what had occurred as narrated at length in the 
 first chapter. He proceeded as follows: 
 
 " We were taken to the Indian Territory. My son 
 died, my sister died, and my brother there, was near 
 dying. We had nothing to do but sit still, be sick, 
 starve and die. I know I never signed a paper to go 
 there, and after many months of a life that was more 
 than to die, we concluded to come to our relations and 
 friends the Omahas. We brought our sick with us. The 
 weather was very bad and we have little clothes. We 
 had very little to eat on the way and were very hungry, 
 
26 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 but we never touched anything that belonged to a white 
 man. I am getting old now, he is old (pointing to his 
 brother). We have but a little time to live. My son who 
 died was a good boy. I did everything I could to help 
 educate him, that when I was gone he could live like 
 the white men and teach these little ones (pointing to 
 some little children). I am too old to learn to read 
 and write and count money. They can learn. I want 
 to work on a farm, have them go to school, learn many 
 things, and be like white children. I know how to 
 plow, how to plant wheat and corn, to raise stock. The 
 Omahas gave me some land with thirty acres broke. I 
 can raise this year enough wheat, potatoes and other 
 things to have plenty to eat next winter. But the gov 
 ernment won't let me. My boy who died down there, 
 as he was dying looked up to me and said, I would like 
 you to take my bones back and bury them there where 
 I was born. I promised him I would. I could not re 
 fuse the dying request of my boy. I have attempted to 
 keep my word. His bones are in that trunk." 
 
 At this point Standing Bear's wife, who is a 
 very intelligent-looking woman, asked permis 
 sion to speak to the editor. Her eyes were full 
 of tears. She said: 
 
 "My mother is buried there, my grandmother and 
 another child. My boy was a good boy, and we tried 
 to do what he wanted us to do. We were just getting 
 ready to bury him, when the soldiers came upon us. 
 Won't you go to Gen. Crook and ask him, if we. 
 must go back south, to let us have time to take him 
 back to the Agency and bury him?" 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 97 
 
 A promise was made to the weeping mother 
 that such a request would be made. She said: 
 
 "My heart is broken. My eyes are full of tears all 
 the time, and ever since I came to this place there is 
 an ache here (laying her hand on her heart). If we 
 must go back these little children will soon die too." 
 
 A long silence followed. The mother sat 
 there with features immovable, but the tears 
 chased one another in quick succession down 
 her cheeks. Such a feeling of depression and 
 utter hopelessness settled down over all that the 
 editor arose and left the lodge and walked 
 around outside a few minutes. When he went 
 back, Standing Bear continued: 
 
 " When Big-White-Hair (Senator Saunders) and the 
 other commissioners came down there last summer, he 
 asked if we desired to be turned over to the military. 
 I told him I did not like to say certainly. I could not 
 read nor talk English, and there were so many Indians 
 of different tribes, and so many goods to be brought 
 to the reservations that there must be many things I 
 did not know anything about. The Indians all thought 
 that if they were turned over to the soldiers they would 
 get all the government gave to them, while with the 
 agents and traders they did not. But some of the In 
 dians were afraid if the soldiers had control and any 
 of the young men did anything wrong they would be 
 too severe. All the Indians who have reservations of 
 
28 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 good land would now raise enough to support them 
 selves if it were not for the agents and traders. They 
 don't want the Indians to become like white men. 
 They are the worst thing in the way of the Indians. 
 All the Indians know the game is gone. They want land 
 of their own, they want schools, they want to learn to 
 work. Wakanda knows I tell the truth. (This sen 
 tence was said with an upward look and reverent ges 
 ture.) We want to be under the same law as the white 
 man. We want to be free. The northern tribes who 
 have been sent south will all die. All they ask is that 
 they may have a chance to make a living for themselves, 
 and have the same law as the white man." 
 
 It was explained to him that if he came 
 under the law he would have to pay taxes. He 
 thought it over a minute or two, and then 
 said: 
 
 "I don't think for the first year or two we ought to 
 pay taxes. We would have very little to pay with, but 
 after that, if the officers would protect us from bad 
 white men, and punish those who steal, so all our 
 property would be safe, then we could afford to pay 
 for it, and let every man pay according to how much 
 he had. If the Indians are given lands and courts, 
 with the same law as the white man, a few plows to 
 start with, and a school teacher for the children, they 
 need not be turned over to the soldiers, the civil au 
 thorities, or anybody else. That will be the end of all 
 our troubles. Ten years from now there will be no 
 difference from the whites except in the color of their 
 skin." 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 29 
 
 After Standing Bear had closed his speech, 
 the editor came outside of the lodge. The sun 
 was just sinking in the west. The city laid 
 four miles away. There was no way to get there 
 but to walk there. Not a mouthful of food 
 had he taken since morning, but he thrust his 
 note-book in his pocket and struck out on a 
 five-miles-an-hour gait for the city. He had 
 an idea in his head, and there was no time to 
 lose. He resolved he would lay the matter 
 before as many of the churches as he could 
 reach that night, and get them to pass a reso 
 lution requesting the Secretary of the Interior 
 to rescind the order, and then send a telegram 
 to Washington. To do it, he must reach the 
 city before the hour set for services to com 
 mence. By the end of the first mile it began 
 to grow dark, and he found he must make 
 faster time than that. Not a single vehicle 
 was going in that direction, although he met 
 several going the other way. He leaned for 
 ward and broke into a regular Rowell run, 
 which he did not break until he had made two 
 miles and a half. He reached the Presbyterian 
 church, Rev. Mr. Harsha pastor, just in time, 
 and obtained permission to speak after the 
 sermon. He then went to the Congregational 
 Church, Rev. Mr. Sherrill pastor, and spoke 
 
30 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 between the opening hymns. Both of the 
 churches passed a resolution requesting Mr. 
 Carl Schurz tc rescind the order under which 
 this band of Poncas were being returned to 
 Indian Territory. 
 
 Other ministers were afterward seen, and 
 Rev. Mr. Jameson, who was an old friend and 
 acquaintance of Mr. Schurz, wrote the follow 
 ing, which was signed and sent by telegraph: 
 
 " OMAHA, NEB., March 31, 1879. 
 "To Hon. Carl Schurz, Secretary of the Interior, Washing 
 ton, D. C.: 
 
 ''Seven lodges of Ponca, Indians, who had settled on 
 Omaha reservation, and were commencing to work at 
 farming, have, by your order, been arrested to be taken 
 south. I beseech you as a friend to have this order re 
 voked. Several churches and congregations have 
 passed resolutions recommending that these Indians 
 be permitted to remain with the Omahas. Some of the 
 Indians are too sick to travel. Particulars by mail. 
 
 "E. H. E. JAMESON, 
 
 " Pastor Baptist Church. 
 "We concur in the above. 
 
 "H. D. FTSHER, 
 
 "Pastor M. E. Church. 
 " W. J. HARSHA, 
 
 " Pastor Presbyterian Church. 
 "A. F. SHERRILL, 
 
 ''Pastor Congregational Church." 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 31 
 
 At eleven o'clock that night the weary editor 
 reached his home. The first thing he did was 
 to call for a good " square meal." Having dis 
 posed of that he sat down at his desk and wrote 
 out the speeches of Standing Bear and Ta-zha- 
 but, with such other matter as made a connect 
 ed history of the affair up to that time an'd at 
 twenty minutes past 5 A. M. retired. 
 
 At seven o'clock he was up. Gen. Crook 
 was to hold his council with Standing Bear 
 at ten o'clock, and procuring a conveyance, 
 he started for Fort Omaha. The council did 
 not really commence until twelve o'clock, and 
 was held in Gen. Crook's office. There were 
 present General Crook, Colonel Royall, General 
 Williams, Lieutenants Bourke and Carpenter, 
 and the editor, who was somewhat astonished 
 to see Standing Bear dressed in a magnificent 
 full costume of an Indian chief. He had a 
 red blanket, trimmed with broad blue stripes, 
 a wide beaded belt around his waist, and wore 
 a necklace of bear's claws. The other Indians 
 were dressed in citizens' clothes. Standing Bear 
 spoke first as follows : 
 
 "FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, The Almighty created 
 us Indians. We are as he made us. The Almighty 
 has given to the whites a hook to read, and they have 
 plenty of things to work with. The Indian has no 
 
32 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 book. He cannot read. Here is where I am weak 
 and you are strong. I never see a book or paper of 
 any kind, but I think it is a good thing. It lets you 
 know all that is going on in the world. I want my 
 children to learn to read. I want them to go to school, 
 my friends. A great while ago we came from the 
 great water to the east. We kept coming, coming, 
 coming west until we got to Dakota. I made a good 
 living there. Then some power took hold of me, as 
 by the arm, and made me to stand up and told us to 
 go south. They took us to a very bad place. They 
 took our plows and all our farming utensils and locked 
 them up. I have never seen them since. After I got 
 to the Territory I went to see my Great Father at 
 Washington. When I went into his office he took me 
 by the hand. I said to the Great Father, ''My people 
 are much wronged, and I hope you will do something 
 for me. I am in an awful bad place.' I told him 
 before I went to the Territory that I had a good house 
 and barn which I had built with my own hands. I 
 had cattle and hogs and all kinds of stock, and some 
 body came and took all my things away, and my 
 Great Father stood up and said: 'How is this? I 
 will order an inspection.' I told him I was in a bad 
 fix. He told me to go and see if I could find some 
 good land near where we then were. I went back. I 
 started to look for land. I found some land that looked 
 good. We moved onto it, but some unseen force came 
 down upon us and crushed us to the earth. One hun 
 dred and fifty-seven of our people died right there. A 
 few days passed by, and an inspector came from Wash 
 ington. I told him I would like to move back to my 
 old home, that he saw we were in a dreadful place. 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 33 
 
 He answered in this way: 'I will do all I can. I will 
 try what I can do for you.' He didn't say he could do 
 anything, but that he would go back to Washington, 
 and tell them what a bad place it was. But I was like 
 one in haste. I wanted to save the lives of my people." 
 
 Standing Bear then asked permission to 
 address the officers and others present, and Gen. 
 Crook gave him permission, and turning to 
 them, he made the following pathetic appeal: 
 
 " MY FRIENDS AND BROTHERS, I am now with the 
 soldiers and officers. I want to go back to my old 
 place north. I want to save myself and my tribe. 
 
 "My brothers, it seems to me as if I stood in front 
 of a great prairie fire. I would take up my babies and 
 run to save their lives; or as if I stood on the bank of 
 an overflowing river, and I would take my people and 
 fly to higher ground. Oh! my brothers, the Almighty 
 looks down on me, and knows what I am, and hears 
 my words. May the Almighty send a good spirit to 
 brood over you, my brothers, to move you to help me. 
 If a white man had land, and some one should swindle 
 him, that man would try to get it back, and you would 
 not blame him. Look on me. Take pity on me, and 
 help me to save the lives of the women and children. 
 My brothers, a power, which I cannot resist, crowds 
 me down to the ground. I need help. I have done." 
 
 TA-ZHA-BUT'S SPEECH. 
 
 " In the start I knew nothing of what was going on. 
 I was holding the handles of my plow. I had a home. 
 
34 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 I built a good stable. I raised cattle and hogs and all 
 kinds of stock. I broke land. All these things I lost 
 by some bad man. Any one knows to take a man 
 from a cold climate, and put him in the hot sun down 
 in the south it would kill him. We refused to go 
 down there. We afterwards went down to see our 
 friends, and see how they liked it. Brothers, I come 
 home now. I took my brothers and friends and came 
 back here. We went to work. I had hold of the 
 handles of my plow. It looks this way: The govern 
 ment wants me to go back, but I think it would be a 
 better plan for me to go to work and raise something 
 to live on next winter. Down there it weakens me all 
 over. My hands drop down by my sides, and I cannot 
 use them. We all feel sick all the time. I desire to 
 stay here, where I can work and raise plenty to eat 
 for my family." 
 
 Gen. Crook. "How long since you went down 
 there?" 
 
 Answer. "In 1877, May or June." 
 
 Gen. Crook." I have heard all this story before. It 
 is just as they represent it. It has long since all been 
 reported to Washington." 
 
 Gen. Crook, turning to Standing Bear, said: 
 
 "It is a very hard case, but I can do-nothing myself. 
 I have received an order from Washington and I must 
 obey it. They have all the facts in Washington, and 
 it would do no good for me to intercede. I might send 
 a telegram, but it is likely to do more harm than good. 
 They can stay here a few days and let their stock 
 strengthen up. " 
 
STANDING BEAR FINDS A FRIEND. 35 
 
 Standing Bear then said he would like to 
 say a few more words, and General Crook gave 
 him permission. He said: 
 
 "I have been going around for three years. I have 
 lost all my property. My constant thought is, ' What 
 man has done this ? ' Of course I know I cannot say ' no. ' 
 Whatever they say I must -do, I must do it. I know 
 you have an order to send me to the Indian Territory, 
 and we must obey it. I have this request to make. 
 The Great Father orders us to go back to the Indian 
 Territory. He should give us some money to pay our 
 expenses and buy such things as we need on the way. 
 Half of my people here are sick, and of course they 
 will die before we get there, and they must be buried. 
 I wish the Great Father would give us money to pay 
 the necessary expenses." 
 
 Gen. Crook. "All we can do is to give you what 
 rations you will require on the way down. You will 
 be permitted to take all your stock with you, and you 
 can go slowly. It is a very disagreeable duty to send 
 you down there, but I must obey orders." 
 
 At the close of the council Lieut. Carpenter 
 reported to General Crook that six of the In 
 dians were \ery sick and needed medical at 
 tention. Gen. Crook made some inquiries and 
 found the post surgeon had prescribed for them 
 that morning. 
 
 It was nearly three o'clock when the editor 
 reached his office. He first wrote out the 
 
36 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 speeches and Gen. Crook's reply, and then 
 made arrangements to. have them telegraphed 
 to different papers in New York, Chicago and 
 other cities. Then he sat himself down and 
 wrote three columns of editorial matter for the 
 paper in the morning. At 3.30 A.M. he stretched 
 himself out on his bed for a sleep, remarking 
 that he had made some hard campaigns for the 
 liberty of black men with pistol and sabre, but 
 this campaign for the liberty of the Indian, in 
 which the pen was the only weapon, required 
 just as much physical endurance. Consoling 
 himself with the thought that the whole coun 
 try would know all about it in the morning, he 
 was soon sound asleep. 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 A FLANK MOVEMENT ON THE INDIAN EING. 
 
 AFTER nine hours of sleep, so deep and un 
 conscious that an earthquake would not have 
 disturbed it, the editor arose. He had some 
 hope, not much (for he knew of the red tape 
 way of doing things in the departments in 
 Washington), that there might come a reply 
 to the dispatch sent to the Secretary of the 
 Interior. For the next four or five days he 
 watched his eastern exchanges to see what 
 effect the telegrams sent out would have on 
 the country. The first that came to hand were 
 the Chicago Tribune and Missouri Republican. 
 Both took strong ground for the Poncas and 
 denounced the cruelties practised upon them, 
 and following after came the New York Her 
 ald, Tribune, Sun, and many others. No word 
 came from Mr. Carl Schurz, who was the man 
 that under the interpretations given to the 
 laws in this boasted "land of the free" could, 
 by a single word, doom these thirty Indians to 
 
38 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 death and slavery, or set them free. He took 
 from the shelf the Constitution of the United 
 States and read the portions referring to per 
 sonal liberty with greater interest than ever in 
 his life before, and between the writing of edi 
 torials on current affairs made up his mind on a 
 new course of action. He would find out whether 
 the courts regarded an Indian as a man, or simply 
 as a brute, whether he " had any rights which 
 a white man was bound to respect." He found 
 himself again contending for exactly the same 
 principles for which he fought twenty-four 
 years ago, the equality of all men before the law. 
 To test the case there must be a lawsuit. 
 But a lawsuit would cost money. Now, every 
 body knows that an honest, genuine newspaper 
 man, never can earn more than a support for 
 his family. If he has money to spare, it is a 
 sure sign he has been writing up somebody, or 
 advocating some project for which he has been 
 paid outside of his regular salary. A news 
 paper man in the West is expected to work fif 
 teen hours a day, get from fifteen to twenty- 
 five dollars a week for it, and take part of that 
 out in advertising. However, as he had once 
 routed a battalion of border ruffians by the ex 
 ercise of "pure cheek" he determined to en 
 deavor to carry on a lawsuit in the same way. 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 39 
 
 There was a lawyer in Omaha who had grad 
 uated at the same college that he did, and with 
 whom he was on the intimate terms of friend 
 ship. This lawyer had been president of the 
 Nebraska constitutional convention, had a very 
 large practice, was a hard student, and a man 
 whose opinions commanded respect in the 
 courts and outside. He laid the case before 
 him, and told him he believed a writ of habeas 
 corpus would hold. The lawyer, Hon. John 
 L. Webster, took the matter under advisement. 
 
 The next day when the editor called, Mr. 
 Webster said: 
 
 " This is a question of vast importance. A petition 
 for such a writ must be based upon broad constitutional 
 grounds, and the principles involved in it underlie all 
 personal liberty. It is a question of the natural 
 rights of men, &uch as was discussed by the fathers 
 and founders of this government. I am not satisfied 
 that a writ would hold, on account of the peculiar re 
 lation of Indians to the government. They have al 
 ways been treated as 'wards,' as incapable of making 
 contracts, etc., but it will do no harm to try. It seems 
 to me that there ought to be power somewhere to stop 
 this inhuman cruelty, and if it does not reside in the 
 courts where shall we find it? My services are at your 
 disposal, but on account of the magnitude of the ques 
 tions involved I would like to have assistance. If Hon. 
 A- J. Poppleton will assist me, I will go right to work 
 and draw up the papers. I know of no lawyer in these 
 
40 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 United States, who can handle these underlying, fun 
 damental questions of government and human liberty 
 more ably than he." 
 
 The editor started to find Mr. Poppleton. 
 He knew he was considered without a peer in 
 the legal profession in the State, and that as 
 an orator there were few in the whole country 
 who could so entrance an audience.- 
 
 Mr. Poppleton had just returned from the 
 east. He was given a printed account of the 
 treatment of the Poncas, and the matter left 
 with him. The next day he was called upon, 
 and he said: 
 
 " I believe you have a good case. I think we can 
 make the writ hold. It is true that these Indians 
 have been held by the courts as ' wards of the nation,' 
 but this writ was intended for the weak and helpless 
 for wards and minors. A ward* cannot make a con 
 tract, but it does not follow from that, that the guard 
 ian can imprison, starve or practise inhuman cruelty 
 upon the ward. The courts always have, and always 
 will interfere in such cases. I will undertake this 
 case, and you can inform Mr. Webster that I will give 
 to it close attention and my best efforts." 
 
 The form of the petition was given as care 
 ful study as the necessity for haste would per 
 mit. The Indians were likely to be started 
 south at any moment. Judge Dundy, before 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 41 
 
 whom the case had to he brought, lived a hun 
 dred and fifty miles away. Considerable tele- 
 garaphing was done to reach him, and find 
 where he would hear the application. After a 
 day or two it was decided he would hear it in 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The form of the petition was as follows: 
 
 "In the District Court of the United States for the 
 District of Nebraska. 
 
 "Ma chu-nah-zha (Stand ing Bear) vs. George Crook, a 
 Brigadier-General of the Army of the United States, 
 and commanding the Department of the Platte. 
 
 "In the matter of the application of Ma-chu-nah-zha 
 (Standing Bear), etc., for a writ of habeas corpus. 
 "To the Honorable Elmer S. Dundy, Judge of the 
 
 District Court of the United States, for the District of 
 
 Nebraska. 
 
 "The petition of Ma-chu-nah-zha (Standing Bear), 
 Ta-zha-but (Buffalo Chip), Shan-gu-e-he-zhe (Yellow 
 Horse), Nu-don-ah-gaz (Cries for War), Wa-the-ha- 
 cuh-she (Long Runner), Wan-chu-dun (Crazy Bear), 
 Me-tha-zhin-ga (Little Duck), Ta-the-ga-da (Buffalo 
 Track), Ka-wig-i-sha (Turtle Grease), Min-i-chuck 
 (Walk-in-the-Mud), Ta-do-mon-e (Walk-in-the-Wind), 
 Me-gah-sin-de (Coon's tail), E-tun-kah (Big Mouth), 
 Wah-thi-ga (Swift), Ta-wau-oo (Buffalo Cow). Ma- 
 shnd-da-de (Feather Crazy), Ze mon-a (Walking 
 Yellow), Oo-moo-ah (Good Provision), Susette 
 Primo, Laura Primo, Ta-nigh-ing-ah (Little Buf 
 falo Woman), Kre-ah-du wah (Midst-of-t he-Eagles), 
 Me-he-da-wah (Midst-of-the-Sun), Za-zi-zi (Yellow Spot- 
 
42 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 ted Buffalo), No-zha-zhe (Grown Hair), Wa-gang-wah, 
 Who respectfully show unto your honor, that each and 
 all of them are prisoners unlawfully imprisoned, de 
 tained, confined and in custody, and are restrained 
 of their liberty under and by color of the alleged au 
 thority of the United States, by George Crook, a 
 Brigadier- General of the Army of the United States, 
 and Commanding the Department of the Platte, and 
 are so imprisoned, detained, confined, and in custody 
 and restrained of their liberty by said George Crook at 
 Fort Omaha, on a military reservation, under the sole 
 and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, and 
 located within the Territory of the district of Nebraska. 
 That said imprisonment, detention, confinement and re 
 straint by said George Crook as aforesaid are so done by 
 him, under and by virtue of some order or direction 
 of the United States, or some department thereof, and 
 which order or direction is not more particularly 
 known to these complainants whereby they are unable 
 to more particularly set the same forth, save that the 
 complainants are informed and believe that said order 
 or direction is to the effect that these complainants be 
 taken as such prisontrs to the Indian Territory. 
 
 " These complainants further represent that they are 
 Indians, and of the nationality of the Ponca tribe of In 
 dians, but that for a considerable time before, and at 
 the time of tteir arrest and imprisonment, as herein 
 more fully set forth, they were separated from the 
 Ponca tribe of Indians, and that so many of the said 
 Ponca tribe of Indians as maintain their tribal rela 
 tions are located in the Indian Territory. 
 
 " That your complainants at the time of their arrest 
 and imprisonment were lawfully and peacefully resid- 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 43 
 
 ing on the Omaha Reservation, a tract of land set 
 apart by the United States to the Omaha tribe of In 
 dians, and within the territory of the District of Ne 
 braska, and were so residing there by the consent 
 of said Omaha tribe of Indians, and on lands set apart 
 to your complainants by said Omaha tribe of Indians. 
 That your complainants have made great advancements 
 in civilization, and at the time of the arrest and im 
 prisonment of your complainants, some of them were 
 actually engaged in agriculture, and others were making 
 preparations for immediate agricultural labors, and 
 were supporting themselves by their own labors, 
 and no one of these complainants, were receiving 
 or asking support of the government of the United 
 States. 
 
 "That your complainants were not violating and 
 were not guilty of any violation of any law of the 
 United States for which said arrest and imprisonment 
 were made. 
 
 "That while your complainants were so peacefully 
 and lawfully residing on said Omaha Reservation as 
 aforesaid, they were each and all unlawfully impris 
 oned, detained, confined, and restrained of their liberty 
 by said George Crook, as such Brigadier-General, com 
 manding the Department of the Platte, and as such 
 prisoners were transported from their said residence at 
 the Omaha Reservation to Fort Omaha, where they 
 are now unlawfully imprisoned^ detained, confined, and 
 restrained of their liberty by said George Crook, as 
 aforesaid. 
 
 '' Wherefore these complainants say that their said 
 imprisonment and detention is wholly illegal, and they 
 demand that a writ of habeas corpus be granted, di. 
 
44 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 reeled to the said George Crook, a Brigadier-General 
 of the army of the United States, commanding the De 
 partment of the Platte, commanding him to have the 
 bodies of (here followed the list of names) before 
 your honor at a time and place therein to be specified, 
 to do and receive what shall then and there be consid 
 ered by your honor concerning them, together with the 
 time and cause of their detention, and said writ, and 
 that the complainants may there be restored to their 
 liberty. 
 
 " Ma-chu-nah-zah (Standing Bear), his X mark. 
 
 " Ta-zha-but (Buffalo Chip), his X mark. 
 
 "Ma-dele-chu dun (Crazy Bear), his X mark. 
 
 " Shan-ga-he-zhe (Yellow Horse), his X mark. 
 
 " Ma-chu-dun-ah-gaz (Cries for War), his X mark. 
 
 " Wa the-ha-cuh-sbe (Long Runner), his X mark. 
 
 " Ta the-ga-da (Buffalo Track), his X mark. 
 
 " Me-tha-zhing-ga (Little Duck), his X mark. 
 
 "A. J. POPPLETON and JNO. L. WEBSTER. 
 
 " Atttfsfor Petitioners. 
 
 "UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, ) 
 "DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA. vss. 
 "DOUGLAS Co. ) 
 
 " Ma-chu-nah-zha (Standing Bear), his X mark. 
 " Ta-zha-but (Buffalo Chip), his X mark. 
 " Ma-del e-chu-dun /Crazy Bear), his X mark. 
 " Shan-ga-he-zhe (Yellow Horse), his X mark. 
 " Ma-chu-dun-ah-gaz (Cries for War), his Xmark. 
 "Wa-the-ha-cuh-she (Long Runner), his X mark. 
 " Ta-the-ga-da (Buffalo Track), his X mark. 
 "Me-tha-zhing-ga (Little Duck), his X mark. 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 45 
 
 being first duly sworn, according to law, do severally 
 say the facts stated in the foregoing complaint are true. 
 " Ma-chu-na-zah, his X mark. 
 " Ta-zha-but, his X mark. 
 "Ma-dele-chu-dun, his X mark. 
 " Shan-ga-he-zhe, his X mark. ' 
 " Ma-chu-dun-ah gaz, his X mark. 
 " Wa-the-ha-cuh-she, his X mark. 
 " Ta-the-ga-da, his X mark. 
 " Me-tha-zhmg-ga, his X mark. 
 " Witnesses. 
 
 "T. H. TIBBLES, W. L. CARPENTER, TJ. S. A. 
 "Subscribed in my presence, and sworn to before me, 
 this the 4th day of April, A. D. 1879. 
 
 " HOMER STULL, Notary Public" 
 
 [RETURN.] 
 
 " To tlie Hon. Elmer 8. Dundy, U. S. District Judge, 
 for the District of Nebraska, 
 
 "As directed by your writ of habeas corpus, dated 
 April, 8, 1879, requiring me to take and have the bodies 
 (list of names) by me "imprisoned and detained as it is 
 said, together with the time and cause of such imprison 
 ment, and such detention within ten days after the ser 
 vice" thereof, and to do and receive what shall then and 
 there be considered concerning the said persons, and 
 to have them and this said writ; I have the honor re 
 spectfully to state and return in obedience to, and with* 
 the said writ, that the bodies of the aforesaid persons 
 are as required produced. 
 
 "That the time of their detention at Fort Omaha,Neb., 
 is from the 27th of March, 1879, as appears by the report 
 
46 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 of the commanding officer at that Fort; copy of which, 
 and of the special order therefor, is hereto attached and 
 made part of this return, with like effect as though fully 
 set forth herein; that I am the Brigader- General U. S. 
 A. commanding the Military Department of the Platte, 
 and all officers and soldiers stationed therein, and as 
 such commanding officer, subject to the orders of my 
 military superiors. 
 
 "That the cause of the detention of aforenamed 
 Indians is the request of the Secretary of the Interior, 
 and the orders of my commanding officers, General Sher 
 man and Lieuten ant-General Sheridan, based thereon. 
 " Which orders were to me communicated and directed 
 by the first and second endorsements on the copy of the 
 letter of Hon. C. Schurz, Secretary of the Department 
 of the Interior, dated March 7, 1879, and addressed to 
 the Secretary of War, enclosing a copy of a telegram, 
 dated March 4th, 1879, addressed to the Commissioner 
 of Indian Affairs at Washington, D. C-, and signed 
 Jacob Yore, Indian Agent, copies of which letters & and 
 telegrams and of said indorsements, are also hereto 
 attached and made part of this return, with like effect 
 as though fully set forth herein, whereby it appears 
 that the Hon. Secretary of the Interior requested the 
 Secretary of War 'that the nearest military comman 
 der (to the Omaha Indian Agency) may be instructed 
 to detail a sufficient guard to return these Poncas 
 where they belong.' 
 
 " Wherefore the undersigned asks to be released from 
 said writ, and that said Indians maybe returned to him 
 for the fulfilment of his orders concerning them. 
 "GEORGE CROOK, Brigadier-General. 
 
 " Commanding Department of the Platte." 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 47 
 
 " STATE OF NEBRASKA, ) 
 " COUNTY OP DOUGLAS, f " 
 
 "Personally appeared before me, Brigadier-General 
 George Crook, U. S. Army, who, being duly sworn 
 according to law, deposes and says that the statements 
 made in the foregoing return are true so far as they 
 are within his knowledge, and as he is officially informed 
 and believes, of such facts as are stated as based on 
 official information. 
 
 "GEORGE CROOK, Brigadier- General U. 8. Army. 
 
 " Sworn and subscribed this llth day of April, 1879, 
 before me. 
 
 [Seal.] " WM. K. BOWEK, Notary Public." 
 
 [COPY.] 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS FORT OMAHA, NEB., 
 "March 26th, 1879. 
 
 " To the Assistant Adjutant General, Department of the 
 Platte, Fort Omaha, Neb. 
 
 " SIR, In pursuance of instructions of the 19th inst, 
 from department headquarters, I have the honor to 
 report the arrival at this post on the 27th inst., from the 
 Omaha Tndinn Agency, of twenty-six Ponca Indians, con- 
 sistingof eight men, seven women, and eleven children. 
 Several of the Indians are sick with chills and fever, 
 and it will be necessary for the entire party to remain 
 here for a few days so that their ponies may recuperate 
 sufficiently to enable them to proceed on their return 
 
48 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 to the Indian Territory. I am, sir, very respectfully 
 your obedient servant, 
 (Signed.) " JNO. H. KINO. 
 
 " Col. Qth Infantry, Commanding." 
 " Official copy. 
 
 "E. WILLIAMS, Ass' t Adft General." 
 
 [copy.] 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS FORT OMAHA, NEB., ) 
 " March 20, 1879. f 
 
 ' ' Special orders, No. 33. 
 
 " In obedience to instructions from headquarters, Pe- 
 parlment of the Platte, of the 19th inst., First Lieut. W. 
 L. Carpenter, 9th Infantry, with a guard consisting 
 of * * * * * * will 
 
 proceed without delay to the Omaha Indian Agency, 
 Neb. Upon arrival thereat, Lieut. Carpenter will call 
 upon the agent in charge for the thirty Ponca Indiansiwho 
 are reported to have recently arrived at that Agency 
 from the Indian Territory. 
 
 "Upon receiving these Indians Lieut. Carpenter and 
 the guard will bring them to this post. 
 
 "The quartermaster's department will furnish the ne 
 cessary transportation, consisting of our four mule 
 team and three saddle horses. 
 
 ******* 
 "By order 0/CoL. JOHN H. KING, 9to Infantry. 
 (Signed.) " "J. M. LEE. 
 
 "Fifst Lieut, and Adft, Wh Infy, Post Headquarters, 
 Dept. of the Platte." 
 
 "Ass'T ADJ'T GENL'S OFFICE, . } 
 "FORT OMAHA, NEB., April llth, 1879. J 
 
 " Official Copy. 
 
 "R. WILLIAMS, Ass't Adft General." 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 49 
 
 [COPY.] 
 
 " DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ) 
 "WASHINGTON, March 7th, 1879. ) 
 
 "The Honorable, the Secretary of War: 
 
 " SIR, I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy 
 of a telegram, dated Omaha, Neb., March 4th, 1879, 
 addressed to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs by 
 Jacob Vore, U. S. Indian agent at Omaha Agency, Neb., 
 and by the Commissioner referred to this department, 
 with the information that thirty Ponca Indians who 
 have left their agency in the Indian Territory without 
 permission have just arrived at the first named Agency. 
 
 " lu accordance with the desire of the Commissioner, 
 I respectfully request that the nearest military com 
 mander may be instructed to detail a sufficient guard 
 to return these Poncas to the Agency where they 
 belong. Very respectfully, 
 
 "(S. D.) "C. SCHURZ, Secretary." 
 
 " A true copy. 
 
 " H. B. BURNHAM, Judge Advocate, U. S. A." 
 
 [COPY TELEGRAM.] 
 
 "OMAHA, NEB., March 4th, 1879. 
 "To the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. 
 "The Poncas have just arrived, thirty in number; had 
 them arrested ; they promise to remain for orders; have 
 no place to confine them. I await instructions. 
 " (S. D.) "JACOB VORE, Indian Agent. 
 
 " A true copy. 
 
 "H. B. BURNHAM, Judge Adwcaie, U. S. A." 
 
50 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 "Edorsements on copy of letter of the Secretary of 
 the Interior dated March 7th, 1879, to the Secretary of 
 War, transmitting copy of telegram from Jacob Vore, 
 Indian Agent, OmaLa Agency, of March 4th, 1879, 
 stating that thirty Ponca Indians have just arrived at 
 that Agency from Indian Territory, and requests de 
 tail of a guard to return them to their Agency. 
 
 "Official copy referred by General Sherman, March 
 14th, 1879, to Lieut. -General P. H. Sheridan, Com'g. 
 Mil.Div. of Mo., to comply with the request of the In 
 terior Department. 
 
 "Ref erred by Lieut. -General Sheridan, March 17th, 
 1879, to the Com'g General Department of the Platte 
 for action." 
 
 " HEADQUARTERS DEP'T OF THE PLATTE, ) 
 ASS'T ADJ'T GEN'L'S OFFICE, 
 
 FORT OMAHA, NEB. , March 19. ) 
 
 "Respectfully referred to the commanding officer 
 Fort Omaha, Neb., who will please detail an officer 
 and a guard of enlisted men, to proceed to the Omaha 
 Agency, and return the Indians to their Agency in the 
 Indian Territory, as directed by the General of the 
 Army. If the Indians referred to came mounted, as 
 they probably did, they will go back in the same man 
 ner, and in this event it will be necessary to provide 
 horses for the detachment of troops returning with 
 them. 
 
 " By command of BRIGADIER-GEN'L. CROOK. 
 
 (Signed) "R, WILLIAMS." 
 
 " UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ) 
 DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA, y 
 
 "I, Watson B. Smith, clerk of the District Court 
 of the U. S., for the District of Nebraska, certify that 
 
A FLANK MOVEMENT. 51 
 
 I have compared the annexed copy of return, in 
 case of TJ. S. ex rel. Ma-chu nah-zah (Standing Bear), 
 et al., vs. George Crook, Brigadier-General, etc., with 
 the original on file in this office, and that the same is 
 a correct transcript thereof, and of the whole of said 
 original. 
 
 " In testimony whereof I have caused the seal of said 
 court to be affixed, at the city of Omaha, in said 
 District, this 25th day of April, 1879. 
 
 (Seal) " WATSON. B. SMITH, Clerk" 
 
 By the consent of court, and agreement of 
 parties, the following amendment was inserted 
 in the body of the return: 
 
 " That the said complainant, Standing Bear, is an In 
 dian Chief of the Ponca tribe of Indians; that the other 
 petitioners are members of said tribe of Indians; that 
 said complainants have not dissolved, but still retain 
 their tribal relations with said tribe of Ponca Indians,- 
 and owe allegiance to the tribal head of said Ponca 
 tribe of Indians ; that said complainants have not adopted 
 and are not pursuing the habits and vocations of civil 
 ized life; that these complainants are not illegally re 
 strained of their liberty, but were arrested on the 
 Omaha reservation, where tbey were in violation of 
 law, and were arrested in pursuance of the authority 
 herein set forth for the purpose of returning them to 
 the Indian Territory, w r here they belong." 
 
 This being inserted in the body of the re 
 turn, appeared on the record over the signa 
 ture of Gen. Crook. To this, through the 
 
52 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Judge Advocate of his department, Col. Burn- 
 ham, he protested. He did not wish his name 
 signed to any such document, or statement, 
 and he had never authorized any one to sign 
 it for him. 
 
 The court explained that he was not signing 
 it as Gen. Crook, personally, but as a Briga 
 dier-General of the Army, and for the Govern 
 ment. Gen. Crook continued to protest, and 
 Judge Dundy explained again. The General 
 never did give his consent that his name should 
 go to it, and yet that is the way it appears on 
 the records of the court. Such are some of 
 the ways of the law, and yet Gen. Crook no 
 doubt to this day cannot see why it was neces 
 sary for him to sign a statement which was 
 not true. 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ME. HAYT'S ASSAULT ON STANDING BEAE, AND 
 
 THE EEPLY THE OLD CHIEF MADE. 
 
 DUEING the ten days intervening before the 
 trial, several things happened worthy of rec 
 ord. Commissioner Hayt published the follow 
 ing letter: 
 
 WASHINGTON, D.C., April 10th, 1879. 
 TJie Honorable flie Secretary of the Interior: 
 
 "Sm, I have the honor to forward herewith a brief 
 statement of facts regarding the Ponca Indians, who 
 recently went from the Indian Territory to Nebraska. 
 By the treaty of 1868 the Sioux were given lands in 
 Dakota to the east bank of the Missouri River, which 
 included the Ponca reservation. As the Poncas and 
 Sioux had been at feud for many years previous, it 
 became necessary to remove the Poncas from their 
 reservation to save them from the destruction that 
 would be likely to overtake them from the location of 
 the Sioux on the Missouri River. By the Indian Ap 
 propriation acts of August 15, 1876, and March 3, 1877, 
 Congress provided for the removal of the Poncas to 
 the Indian Territory, and in pursuance thereof they 
 had to be so removed, and were located on the Quapaw 
 
54 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 reservation. They, however, expressed great dissatis 
 faction with the place to which they had been sent, 
 and undoubtedly with good reason, and upon their re 
 quest they were permitted to send a large representa 
 tion to Washington to make known to the President 
 and to the department their grievances and wishes. 
 There being no way by which their request to be sent 
 back North could be complied with without action of 
 Congress in the matter, they were permitted to make 
 their own selection among the best lands in the Indian 
 Territory. A delegation of chiefs was accordingly 
 sent with an Indian inspector, and, after a careful ex 
 amination of various points, they selected an eligible 
 location at the junction of the Salt Fork and the Ar 
 kansas River. There is probably no finer location for an 
 Indian settlement in the Indian Territory, and in all re 
 spects it is far superior to their old location in Dakota, 
 from which, in previous years, they had themselves 
 ask^d the department to remove them. 
 
 "I visited these Indians during the month of Octo 
 ber last, and found their condition very much improved, 
 both as to their outward circumstances and their feel 
 ings. Every effort was made, and large sums of money 
 were expended to provide for their comfort, and they 
 received a sawmill, timber and all appliances for 
 building houses, as well as an abundant supply of 
 cattle and agricultural implements, and they entered 
 upon the work with a good deal of determination, and 
 are undoubtedly succeeding as well as any Indians 
 could under the most favorable circumstances. It is 
 true that during the first four months of their resi 
 dence in the Indian Territory they lost a large number 
 by death, which is inevitable in all cases of removal 
 
STANDING BEAR'S DEFENCE. 55 
 
 of Northern Indians to a Southern latitude. They 
 have, however, been in the Indian Territory long 
 enough to become acclimated. Their sanitary condi 
 tion is vastly improved, and henceforward they may 
 expect to have as good health as they would in any 
 other location. 
 
 "During my visit to the Agency above referred to I as 
 certained that Standing Bear was dissatisfied, but that 
 he was the only one among the chiefs who showed a 
 bad spirit. He was constantly grumbling, and held aloof 
 from the other chiefs,' and .seemed full of discontent, 
 which he took no pains to conceal, while the other 
 Poncas were at work. The agent informed me that he 
 expected that Standing Bear would leave the Agency at 
 the first favorable opportunity. It was not thought ex 
 pedient at that time to put him in confinement, as one 
 chief out of ten or twelve was hardly of sufficient im 
 portance to deal with in that manner. Soon afterward 
 he made his escape, and at the present time, as may 
 be judged from current reports, endeavors to attract 
 public sympathy by grossly misrepresenting the cir 
 cumstances of the case. The removal of Northern In 
 dians to the Indian Territory was probably not good 
 policy, but it was done in pursuance of laws enacted 
 before the present administration came into power. 
 
 " There is no law at present for moving these In 
 dians back to their old reservation or to any other 
 place. If the reservation system is to be maintained, 
 discontented and restless or mischievous Indians can 
 not be permitted to leave their reservation at will and 
 go where they please. If. this were permitted the 
 most necessary discipline of the reservations would 
 soon be entirely broken up, all authority over the In- 
 
56 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 dians would cease, and in a short time the Western 
 country would swarm with roving and lawless bands 
 of Indians, spreading a spirit of uneasiness and restless 
 ness even among those Indians who are now at work 
 and doing well. The government should be, and un 
 doubtedly is, willing to redress all their real grievances 
 as far as they can be redressed ; but it must, in my 
 opinion, be done in such a way as not to subvert all 
 control over the Indians, or to put all arrangements 
 made in pursuance of law and with large expenditures 
 of money at the mercy of the caprice of mischievous 
 individuals or bands among the Indian tribes. The 
 task of transforming the nomadic habits of Indians 
 into habits of permanent settlement and steady and 
 self-supporting work, is a very difficult one at best, re 
 quiring the introduction and maintenance of certain 
 rules of discipline which cannot be enforced in every 
 case without sometimes producing individual hard 
 ships, and which cannot be abandoned without detri 
 ment to the best interests of the large majority of our 
 Indian wards. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your 
 obedient servant. E. A. HAYT, Commissioner." 
 
 This letter was shown to Standing Bear, and 
 he made the following reply : 
 
 " The Commissioner says our lands w^ere given to the 
 Sioux. Who had any authority to give our lands to the 
 Sioux? The land belonged to us, and not to the Com 
 missioner or General Sherman. What right had he to 
 give it to the Sioux? The Ponca tribe was never in 
 formed of any such transaction, and never agreed to 
 
STANDING BEAR'S DEFENCE. 57 
 
 do anything of the kind. What would the Commis 
 sioner think if some man should give his land to the 
 Sioux. He says we are not sick any more in the Indian 
 Territory. I will only point you to these lodges. 
 There are now seven very sick people in them, out of 
 this small party. The army doctor who is attending 
 to them will tell you how sick they are, and that they 
 caught their sickness down there. Seven persons out of 
 thirty very sick, and five or six others not well enough 
 to work, proves that the Commissioner's words are not 
 true. There is the same proportion of sick in all the 
 tribe. The Commissioner says I show a bad spirit! 
 He must have changed his mind about me. I will show 
 you a paper signed by his own name, and you can 
 judge whether he told the truth then, or whether he 
 tells it now. " 
 
 Standing Bear then went to a trunk and took 
 out a large roll of papers. Among them was 
 the following: 
 
 "DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ) 
 "OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, > 
 "WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 18th, 1877. ) 
 " This is to certify that Standing Bear is a chief of 
 the Ponca Indians. This tribe is at peace with the 
 United States, and Standing Bear is recognized as a 
 chief of said tribe, whose influence has been to preserve 
 peace and harmony between the Ponca Indians and the 
 United States, and as such is entitled to the confidence 
 of all persons whom he may meet. * * * * 
 (Seal.) " E. A. HAYT, Commissioner." 
 
 It was remarked that " Mr. Hayt gave him a 
 
58 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 good character." Standing Bear did not seem 
 to understand, for he replied, "The Commis 
 sioner did not give me a good character. I got 
 my character by a long life devoted to the ad 
 vancement of my tribe. Many years before 
 other white men have said the same about me. 
 They could not say differently if they told 
 the truth." He then showed the following 
 documents: 
 
 "To whom it may concern: 
 
 " This is to certify that Standing Bear, the bearer 
 hereof, is an Indian, full blood, of the Ponca tribe, 
 and a chief of said tribe. He is a reliable and trust 
 worthy man, of industrious habits, and rare zeal in set- 
 ting a good example to the Indians and inciting them 
 to industrious and civilized habits. He and bis wife 
 are one in the good work of providing comfortably for 
 their home and children, who are likewise taught to 
 work^and respect all who do. If the Poncas had no 
 other councilors but such men as Sta'nding Bear, their 
 condition would not long be one of helpless dependence. 
 I most heartily commend him to the kindness of all to 
 whom he may present this. 
 
 ''A. J. CARRIER, U. 8. Indian Agent." 
 
 "Ponca Agency, D. T., March 30th, 1876." 
 
 ' ' To all whom this may come: 
 
 " The bearer, Ma-chu-na-zha (Standing Bear), is one of 
 the liead chiefs of the Ponca tribe of Indians. He is 
 civil, quiet and well-behaved, a warm friend of the 
 whites, and loyal to the government. He is deserving 
 
STANDING BEAR'S DEFENCE. 59 
 
 of respect and kind treatment from all to whom he 
 may present himself whenever traveling through the 
 settlements. 
 
 . H. HUGO, First Lieutenant, TJ- S. Army" 
 
 Standing Bear exhibited a large number of 
 these documents, all speaking of him in the 
 very highest terms, some of them dating back 
 as far as 1865. After they were examined 
 Standing Bear remarked: '"You see that the 
 Commissioner did not give me my character; 
 he only certified to what was true." 
 
 The translation of the letter was continued, 
 and that part was read where Mr. Hayt says: 
 "There being no way whereby their request to 
 be sent back North could be complied with," 
 Standing Bear smiled and said: " No one asked 
 the Commissioner to send me back North. All 
 I wanted was permission to come. Now I am 
 already North, and that difficulty is overcome. 
 If the Commissioner can't send me North, he 
 seems to know of a very quick way to send me 
 South." 
 
 Coming to that part where Mr. Hayt says 
 "large sums were expended," Standing Bear 
 said, "That may be so, but all the money we 
 ever got was $6.25 a head. There was a good 
 deal of money at the Agency. I know that we 
 never got it. Besides I don't want the Com- 
 
60 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 missioner's money. All I ask is to be allowed 
 to make my own living. I can take care of 
 myself if they don't keep me under arrest. 
 The statement of a supply of cattle and agri 
 cultural implements is untrue." 
 
 In regard to the disaffections of other chiefs 
 against Standing Bear, he said: 
 
 "In every tribe of Indians there are two parties. 
 First, those who understand that it is necessary, if the 
 Indians are not all to be exterminated, to go to work, 
 to learn to read and write and count money, to be like 
 white men. Those who think about these things at 
 all, know that the game is all gone, and that our mode 
 of life must change. Then there are always some who 
 believe in the old traditions, who think the Great 
 Spirit will be displeased with them if they do like 
 white men. They want to retain their old habits and 
 religion. They hate to work. They want to lie in the 
 shade in the summer, and near the fire in the winter, 
 and make their women wait on them. These two 
 classes gather around the chiefs who represent these 
 two things. There are a few of these Indians who do 
 not want to work among the Poncas. They have a 
 chief, and he don't like me, because I tell him and his 
 band that they are not good Indians, and if the tribe 
 should follow his advice there would soon be not one 
 Ponca left to tell what had become of us. The bad 
 agents, half-breeds, and all those who make their liv 
 ing from the money which is sent to tribes which are 
 not advanced enough to make their own living, give 
 a great deal of encouragement to this sort of Indians, 
 
STANDING BEAR'S DEFENCE. 61 
 
 and pretend that they have a great deal more influence 
 than they really have. I represent in the Ponca tribe 
 the foremost of those who want to support themselves, 
 to send their children to school, to build houses, to 
 get property and all kinds of stock around us, and to 
 be independent. It may be that those lazy, bad In 
 dians told the Commissioner that I had no influence. 
 They would do so if they had a chance. But if I 
 could go down to the Territory, and tell all the tribe 
 to follow me who wanted to work and send their chil 
 dren to school, nine out of every ten would come with 
 me. A few would object, but there are not more than 
 fifteen or twenty of them. White Eagle thinks the 
 same way about these matters that I do. He is a good 
 man, and has great influence in the tribe. The Com 
 missioner may have intended no wrong to me in mak 
 ing the statement. He may have been so informed, 
 but if he had issued an order for my arrest he would 
 soon have learned whether I had friends in the tribe 
 or not. There might have been trouble, for I could 
 not have been with them to have told them what to 
 do. My voice has always been for peace. Some 
 others have advised differently." 
 
62 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE OMAHAS COME TO STANDING BEARDS AID. 
 
 THE next day after tliis conversation, the fol 
 lowing petition from the Omaha tribe was re 
 ceived. The petition was drawn up and 
 forwarded by Chas. P. Morgan, who is a full- 
 blooded Omaha. 
 
 OMAHA AGENCY, April 21, 1879. 
 " To the friends of the Poncas now held as prisoners at 
 
 Omaha barracks: 
 
 " We, the undersigned, Omaha Indians, for ourselves, 
 and on behalf of the Omaha tribe, wish publicly to 
 declare that in consideration of the relationship exist 
 ing between our tribe and those Poncas, and under a 
 sense of the dictates of common humanity to our race, 
 we are anxious for their return to our reservation, nnd 
 are willing to share with them our lands, and to assist 
 them until they can, by their industry, support them 
 selves. They are our brothers and our sisters, our un 
 cles and our cousins, and although we are called sav 
 ages we feel that sympathy for our persecuted brethren 
 that should characterize Christians, and are willing to 
 share what we possess with them if they can only be 
 allowed to return and labor, improve and provide for 
 
RELIEF FROM THE OMAHAS. 63 
 
 themselves where they may live in peace, enjoy good 
 health, and the opportunity of educating their children 
 up to a higher state of civilization. They came here to 
 our reservation about the first of March, from the In 
 dian Territory, and as they believe from the jaws of 
 death, even bringing sickness with them. We received 
 them kindly and hospitably, and afforded- them such 
 assistance as we could in the way of land to raise a 
 crop this summer, and they were preparing to go to 
 work to sow and plant when they were arrested and 
 taken from us by soldiers without any just cause or 
 provocation that we or they know of. Having learned 
 with thankfulness that the good people of Omaha, and 
 the friends of humanity and justice deeply sympathized 
 with and enlisted in the cause of these Poncas, we feel 
 encouraged to appeal to you for a continuance of your 
 efforts in their behalf, until their right to live among 
 their friends and brothers and enjoy the fruits of their 
 labor is restored to them. 
 
 " Fire-Chief, Standing Hawk, 
 
 " Yellow Smoke, Hard- Walker, 
 
 "Ga-he-ga, Shon-ga-skah, 
 
 ' ' Paw-nee-num-puzzhe Du-ba- mo-ni, 
 
 " Ta-o-ka-hah, Um-pa-tun-ga, 
 
 " Wah-ha-wn-ne, Mowad-da-na, 
 
 " Num-ba-du-'.a, Hog-ga-mo-ui, 
 
 " Gali-ke-a-mo-ni, Wah-jap-pa, 
 
 " Wah-ke-da, Nah-ha-wa-kah, 
 
 " Mah-pe-a-hog-ga, Ta-noo-ga." 
 
 The New York Herald made the following 
 comment upon this petition: 
 
 " The appeal of the Omaha Indians in favor of their 
 
64 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 kindred, the Poncas, is one of the most extraordinary 
 statements ever published in America. Whether some 
 portion of it may not be the work of a white man we 
 are not prepared to deny ; but the facts are of more 
 consequence than the rhetoric, and these are simply 
 that a tribe of Indians, nominally civilized, but still 
 savage in the estimation of many whites, are willing 
 and anxious to recieve the Poncas on their reservation, 
 allot lands to them, and assist them until they can 
 make crops and support themselves. Many white men 
 in Nebraska might have made the same offer without 
 hurting themselves, and the news of such a deed would 
 have gone through the entire Indian country with 
 benefit to the dominant race. But white men did 
 not do it. Church members talked and petitioned, 
 but not an acre of laud did they offer. It was re 
 served for a band of heathen redskins, who have 
 hardly yet forgotten the war-whoop, to emphasize 
 that sympathy which civilization and religion have 
 talked about and only talked. The world moves, 
 but civilization seems sometimes to stand still, while 
 savages pass to he front and into the position of 
 honor." 
 
 Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, who is engaged in 
 linguistic labors, preserving various Indian lan 
 guages, was at the Omaha Agency the day the 
 Poncas were arrested. Long Runner refused 
 to obey the order to go. He was surrounded 
 and a gun was placed at his head. He told 
 them to kill him there, for he would rather die 
 than go back. He was' tied and a guard placed 
 
RELIEF FROM THE OMAHAS. 65 
 
 over him. Word was sent to the others to re 
 port and be ready to start at noon. 
 
 Mr. Dorsey wrote a letter to Col. Meacham, 
 editor of The Council Fire, who was at the 
 time in Washington, in which he said: 
 
 "I saw them leave to-day. All but the prisoner 
 (Long Runner) went about half a mile in advance of 
 the soldiers without a guard and without a struggle, 
 save that which was going on in their own hearts. Their 
 appeals to me were* touching. Said Standing Bear: 
 ' My friend, you know us. We can't live down there 
 where the Great Father put us. So we came here to 
 live and work the land." 
 
 Mr. Dorsey asked Col. Meacham to see the 
 Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner 
 and appeal to them in Standing Bear's behalf. 
 Col. Meacham made the following report of 
 his interview with them: 
 
 "They gave me a patient hearing. I read your 
 (Rev. Mr. Dorsey's) letter to them a second time. Mr. 
 Schurz remarked : 
 
 "That is a sad case. I feel deeply for the Poncas. 
 They are peaceable and quiet, and I wish I could better 
 their condition." 
 
 Mr. Hayt "There is no use of talking about the 
 Poncas going North. They must remain where they 
 are. We have expended large sums of money for 
 them in their new home. They have become ac 
 climated (we//). They are there by law(?). They 
 cannot be sent North without authority of Congres 
 
66 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 They must stay where they are. Those who have left 
 must be taken back. If we allow them to stay away 
 the others will follow." 
 
 Col. Meacham "If a mistake has been made, we 
 made it. The Indian was in our power. He was help 
 less, and is still helpless. He is at our mercy. He 
 should not pay the peDalty of our mistakes. We 
 have it in our power to relieve him of the wrong. 
 True, we cannot call Lack the dead, but we can do 
 justice to the living. Let us do right became it is rigid" 
 
 Mr. Hayt "Right is for the Poncas to stay where 
 we have placed them. If we suffer them to leave their 
 homes, the Pawnees, and Cheycnnes and Ncz Perces 
 must go next. We cannot do that. It was a mistake 
 to give the Sioux the Ponca country. This mistake was 
 made by Gen. Sherman before our administration 
 began. I am sure Congress will cot consent to send 
 all these Indians back North. We must reconcile them 
 to stay where they are in the Indian Territory." 
 
 Col. Meacham "Gentlemen, I submit that there 
 is a principle involved in this matter. I doubt the 
 right of any man to say that another man shall not 
 live where God placed him. If the Pawnees, Poncas 
 and Nez Perces cannot live in the Indian Territory we 
 ought to move them out. " 
 
 Col. Meacham closes his report of this inter 
 view with these words: 
 
 " The Commissioner insisted that the Poncas must 
 return. I will make another effort. Ever yours, for 
 God's children, "A. B. MEACHAM."* 
 
 *Note: Mr. Meacham afterward visited the Poncas in the Indian 
 Territory and made reports which greatly injured their cause. 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE OMAHAS FRIGHTENED AT THE CLAIMS OP 
 THE COMMISSIONER. 
 
 WHEN the letter of Commissioner Hayt was 
 published, the educated Omahas were fright 
 ened, because it claimed absolute power over 
 their bodies, to remove them anywhere, at the 
 will of the Commissioner, and one of them 
 wrote a letter to Omaha, inquiring if the Com 
 missioner, just because she was an Indian, could 
 order her to the Indian Territory, New Mexico, 
 or any place he pleased, and she could not ap 
 peal to the law for protection. She stated that 
 if it was true, rather than live in constant 
 dread of such a fate, she would go to Canada 
 and live under the protection of the British gov 
 ernment, where this Commissioner could not lay 
 his hands on her. She was informed that 
 the object of this suit was to ascertain that 
 very thing. 
 
 Actuated by a similar feeling, another Indian 
 girl prepared a statement concerning the Poncas, 
 
68 THE PONCA CHIEFS, 
 
 which she proposed to publish. Not knowing 
 the nature of the document, she was requested 
 through Mr. Dorsey to forward it to the editor, 
 that it might be submitted to counsel. The fol 
 lowing is a verbatim copy of her letter and the 
 statement which she prepared, excepting the 
 blank for the name: 
 
 OMAHA AGENCY, April 29th, 1879. 
 
 "MB. , DEAR Sm. Mr. Dorsey requested me 
 
 to send you the inclosed copy of a statement 
 made by the Ponca chiefs at my house on their 
 return from the Indian Territory about two years 
 ago. We had it published at their desire in one of 
 the Sioux City papers at the time, and I kept the 
 original, thinking it might be of use at some future 
 time. I send also the telegram which the chiefs sent 
 to Washington about the same time. On reaching 
 their home after leaving here, they were ordered to get 
 ready to go to the Indian Territory, and soldiers were 
 sent to them to force them to go. I feel a deep interest 
 in the subject, as White Swan, one of the chiefs who 
 was taken down, is'my uncle. My father and I went to 
 Columbus to bid him and his family good-bye on their 
 way down, and the soldiers were with them there. My 
 uncle says they never signed any paper, petition, or 
 treaty to be taken down to Indian Territory, although 
 it is said a petition signed with their names was seen in 
 Washington. The chiefs told us that when the white 
 men were trying to make them sign the paper, they 
 were asked to allow the Ponca tribe to live with the 
 Omahas. They, the white men, told the chiefs, 'No, 
 the Omahas are to be taken down too.' The chiefs 
 
THE OMAHAS FRIGHTENED. 69 
 
 then asked to be allowed to live with the Sioux and 
 mingle with them as one people ; that the two tribes 
 were formerly enemies, but they had made peace with 
 them and would rather live with them than be sent to 
 Indian Territory. This also was denied them, and they 
 were told to get ready to go. 
 
 " The statement shows how much they trusted in the 
 justice of the white people, believing that the wrong 
 done them had been done only by a few, and without 
 authority. I do hope some action will be taken in the 
 matter soon. Yours respectfully, 
 
 " BRIGHT EYES." 
 
 STATEMENT OF PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 "We, the Ponca chiefs -and principal men of the 
 tribe, desire to make the following statement of facts 
 concerning ourselves in all good faith, hoping it may 
 come to the ears of the President of the United States, 
 whom we are glad to learn is a good man and anxious 
 to do justice to all. 
 
 " Some time ago there came a man to our reserve, 
 who said he was sent by the Great Father at Washing 
 ton to make a treaty with us for our land. We said the 
 President was our friend, and this was our home, but 
 we would hear what he had to say. If he wanted our 
 land we would go to Washington and talk about it. 
 He told us he was ordered to do what he did, seemed 
 sincere and friendly, and to satisfy us he sent .a 
 telegram to Washington, and after getting an an 
 swer, he said he would take ten of our chiefs to see 
 the Indian Territory, where we could select a new 
 home, and that the money for our present journey 
 would be furnished from the Sioux's funde . 
 
70 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 " We got ready and started, wishing first to visit the 
 Omaha reserve, but this was not allowed us. After 
 some days we reached the country of the Osages, and 
 looked over the country and found it stony and broken, 
 and not a country that we thought we could make a 
 living in. We saw the Osages there, and they were 
 without shirts, their skin burned, and their hair stood 
 up as if it had not been combed since they were little 
 children. We did not wish to sink so low as they 
 seemed to be." 
 
 The remainder of the statement is only a 
 repetition of that of Standing Bear, made in 
 the first chapter. The statement is signed by 
 White Eagle, Standing Buffalo, Standing Bear, 
 Smoke Maker, White Swan, Big Elk, and Ga- 
 he-ga. 
 
 The following is the telegram which Stand 
 ing Bear said that he and John Springer sent 
 to the President, and which was also enclosed 
 in the letter of Bright Eyes. 
 
 "To the President of the United States: 
 
 " Was it by your authority that the men you sent to 
 take us down to the Indian Territory, to select a home, 
 left us there without money, and without an interpreter 
 or pass, to find our way back as best we could? And 
 did you tell him to say to us: 'If you don't select a home 
 here, you shall be driven from your present home at 
 the point of the bayonet?' Please answer, as we are in 
 trouble. 
 
THE OMAHAS FRIGHTEKED. 71 
 
 " We have been fifty days in getting back as far as 
 the Atoes ; tired, hungry, shoeless and footsore, and 
 with heart and spirit broken and sad." 
 
 This was signed with the same names as 
 the above statement. 
 
 Perhaps it would be well here to refer to 
 the remarks of Gen. Crook, at the close of the 
 council" with Standing Bear, when he was first 
 brought to Fort Omaha. After Standing 
 Bear's brief rehearsal of his treatment by the 
 government, Gen. Crook said: 
 
 "I have heard all this story before. It is just as 
 they represent it. It has long since been reported to 
 Washington. They haw all the facts in Washington, and 
 it would do no good for me to intercede. I might sencj. 
 a telegram, but it is likely to do more harm than 
 good." 
 
 Many who read the report of Gen. Crook's 
 remarks in the papers, thought he was mis 
 taken about the facts being known at Washing 
 ton, that it was almost beyond belief that 
 the authorities would countenance such treat 
 ment of the Indians. These documents show 
 how truthfully he spoke. 
 
72 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 STANDING BEAR'S RELIGION WHAT ARMY OFFI 
 CERS THINK OF HIM. 
 
 As much had been said about these Poncas 
 being savages, Standing Bear was asked to 
 state his religious belief. Without a moment's 
 reflection, he spoke as follows: 
 
 "There is one God, and He made both Indians and 
 white men. We were all made out of the dust of the 
 earth. I once thought differently. I believed there 
 were happy hunting-grounds, where there were plenty 
 of game, and plenty to eat, no sickness, no death, and 
 no pain. The best of the Indians would go to these 
 happy hunting-grounds. I thought that those who 
 were bad would never live any more; that when they 
 died that was the end of them. But I have learned 
 that these things are not so, and that God wishes us 
 to love Him and obey His commandments, follow the 
 narrow road, work for Him on earth, and we shall 
 have happiness after we die. I am told His Son died 
 for us, died that we might live. I want to try and do 
 something for Him, to be like Him, follow in His foot 
 steps as nearly as I can. I think there is but one God. 
 I need help to do right, and I pray to Him that he will 
 
STANDING BEAR'S RELIGION. 73 
 
 help me for His Son's sake. I do not wish to do any 
 thing wrong. I wish to follow the 'narrow road. It 
 is the road of happiness. God never does anything 
 wrong. He knows what is best for me. No man can 
 understand God, or know why He deals with us as He 
 does. Sometimes what we think is the worst is the 
 best for us. When I was arrested by the soldiers and 
 brought down here, I thought for a little while that 
 God had forsaken me, but now I see tnat, perhaps, it 
 is the best thing for me and my people. If they would 
 only hearken to His word, they would find that all is 
 for their good. He sees me all the time . He watches 
 over me, and knows all I do. He knows my thoughts. 
 He knows when I think wicked thoughts. He knows 
 it all. If He did not watch over me, and take care of 
 me, I should die. I want Him to watch over me, and 
 take care of me. and I believe He always will. He 
 helps me. I can do nothing without His help. I love 
 His truth. 1 hate lies. I wish to follow the truth al 
 ways. God has control of the whole earth, and every 
 thing is in His power. He sees over all things at once, 
 every man, woman, and child, and knows their thoughts 
 and actions, and everything they do. He watches 
 over me wherever I go. He sees me here to-day. He 
 has been with me through all my wanderings, and has 
 taken care of me. He has seen how I have been taken 
 away from my land. Through all this He has been 
 close to me. When I have felt that I had no friends, 
 I remembered that He was my Father. His people 
 have been good to me, but the people of the devil are 
 trying to send me to hell. They have tried to make 
 me believe that God tells them what to do, as though 
 God would put a man where he would be destroyed, 
 
74 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 and they have destroyed many already, but they can 
 not deceive me. God put me here, and intends for 
 me to live on the land they are trying to cheat me 
 out of. 
 
 "I pray to God every day for Him to help me to 
 regain my rights, if I am worthy of it. For His Son's 
 sake I have asked it. He made me and the whiles, 
 and although we are of a different color, I think men's 
 hearts are all alike. If I were to go back to my land 
 to-day, the first thing I would do would be to fall 
 down on my knees and thank God for it. I think in 
 the future, as I grow in years, I will try to love Him 
 more and more every day, do that which is right, and 
 be afraid to do that which is wrong." 
 
 He was asked how long he had held these 
 views, and he replied, " Since the missionary 
 came up from Omaha Agency, about eight 
 years ago, and told me the right way." 
 
 " How many of the tribe think the same way on this 
 subject that you do?" 
 
 "Only a few. It is a hard thing to say, but I will 
 tell you the truth. Some of these have died since we 
 went down to the Territory. We had no missionary 
 down there, and no one to talk to us about God. My 
 boy, who died there, would get a few in a tent and talk 
 to them sometimes and tell them the right way the best 
 he knew how. He used to pray with me very often, and 
 read to me out of the Testament. Some of the people 
 who were sick prayed all the time when they were dy-' 
 ing. They asked God to take them away from there 
 if it was His will, or to end their sufferings speedily. 
 
STANDING BEAR'S RELIGION. 7,3 
 
 When any one came to our old reservation to talk of 
 God, I would always find a place for Mm to speak, and 
 get the people to come." 
 
 By request, Lieut. Carpenter, who was de 
 tailed to make the arrest of Standing Bear 
 and his party, made the following statement 
 in writing: 
 
 " On the 23d day of March, 1879, acting under or 
 ders of my superior officers, I arrested a band of 
 twenty-nine Ponca Indians, under Standing Bear, at 
 the Omaha Indian Agency, and brought them to Fort 
 Omaha, Neb. At the time of the arrest, while holding 
 a council with the party, Standing Bear made an able 
 speech to me, in which he reviewed the situation of his 
 people, and declared their desire to remain where they 
 were;' although consenting under vigorous protest to 
 accompany me. He stated that he had alwaj's been a 
 friend to the whites, and that on one occasion he 
 found a poor soldier on the plains in midwinter, with 
 both feet frozen, and nearly starved to death; that he 
 carried him in his arms to camp and took care of him 
 for several weeks until he died. 'And now,' said he. 
 'you, a soldier, come here to drive me from the land 
 of my fathers.' 
 
 "When arrested they were in a pitiable condition 
 from the effects of chills and fever. Over half of the 
 adults suffered from this disease on the march to 
 Omaha, and, notwithstanding the best medical treat 
 ment while prisoners, many are still in feeble health. 
 
76 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Before leaving their camp, the women and children 
 cried piteously at the prospect of going back to the 
 Indian Territ ory. They must have suffered greatly 
 during their winter march, but no charge of depreda 
 tions while en route has ever been made against them. 
 
 ''From my personal knowledge of these people 
 while under my charge, I consider them further ad 
 vanced in civilization than any other tribe west of 
 the Mississippi, with the single exception of the Omahas, 
 to whom they are related by the band of common origin. 
 The men are industrious and willing to work, at any 
 thing they can find to do. The children conduct 
 themselves well, and the women are modest in their 
 demeanor and neat in appearance and domestic 
 habits. 
 
 "Fort Omaha, Neb., May 8th, 1879." 
 
 By reference to the dates it will be seen that 
 the above statement was written after these 
 Indians had been under Lieut. Carpenter's 
 charge over two months, so that he had had 
 ample opportunities to observe them closely, 
 and know of their character and habits. Every 
 man among them able to work has been at 
 work since their arrival at Fort Omaha, being 
 employed by the contractors on the govern 
 ment buildings. One, who worked a few days, 
 was forced to quit on account of the return of 
 malarial disease. 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL TO THE COTJBTS. 
 
 THE case came to trial on the 30th of April, 
 1879, and lasted two days, including one evening 
 session. The following chapter contains a ver 
 batim report of the evidence: 
 
 THE EVIDENCE. 
 
 Willie W. Hamilton, sworn on behalf of the relators, 
 and examined in chief by Mr. Webster, testified as 
 follows : 
 
 Q. You may state your age. 
 
 J.. Twenty-two. 
 
 Q. Where do you live? 
 
 A. At the Omaha Agency. That is where I have 
 lived for the last twelve years. 
 
 Q. What are you engaged in at the Agency? 
 
 A. I have been in a store for the last six years, sell 
 ing goods. 
 
 Q. To what people were you selling goods? 
 
 A. The Omaha Indians. 
 
 Q. On their reservation? 
 
 A. On their reservation, yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Are you acquainted with the Omaha language? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
78 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 The Court Do the Poncas speak the same language? 
 
 JL. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Webster You are able then to talk with both 
 Omahas and Poncas in their native tongue? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Do you know the parties that are under arrest at 
 the present time at Omaha? 
 
 A. I do. 
 
 Q. How long have you known them? 
 
 A. I became acquainted with them since they came 
 down here, twenty-two days ago. .1 saw them when they 
 came to the Agency, but not to talk with them or be 
 come acquainted with them. 
 
 Q. When was it t-hat they came to the Agency? 
 
 A. They came to the Agency in March, I think. 
 
 Q. That is last March? 
 
 A. Yes, sir, I think it was in the fore part of the 
 mouth. I won't be certain. 
 
 Q. Where does your father live? 
 
 A. My father lives at the Agency, or about three 
 miles from the Agency. 
 
 Q. How long has he been living there? 
 
 A. For the same length of time I have twelve 
 years. 
 
 Q. What has been his business? 
 
 A. He is- a missionary to the Indians. 
 
 Q. How long has he been such? 
 
 A. He has been missionary among the lowas and 
 Oniahas for over thirty years. 
 
 Q. State the condition of these Poncas when the}' 
 arrived at the Omaha Agency, *so far as you observed? 
 
 A. So far as I know they were in a very bad condi 
 tion when they came there. 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 79 
 
 Q. What property did they have when they came 
 there? 
 
 , A. All they had was their horses and wagons and 
 tents. 
 
 Q. How were they supplied as to clothing? 
 
 A. They had blankets, some of them, and some had 
 coats ; those that had coats wore pants, and were dressed 
 in citizens' clothes. 
 
 Q. DC you know where they came from when they 
 arrived at the Agency? 
 
 A. They said they came from the Indian Territory. 
 
 Q. Do you know how they came up from the Indian 
 Territory to the Agency? 
 
 A. They came up in wagons, some of them horseback, 
 and others 011 foot. 
 
 Q. State the number that came. 
 
 A. I don't know exactly the number that came I 
 think about thirty-five. 
 
 Q. How many were men, about the number approxi 
 mately, and how many were women, and how many 
 were children? 
 
 A. Ten or twelve were men, I think. I don't know 
 how many were children, or how many were women. I 
 was not among them much at first, and I did not pay 
 any attention to them. I think there must have been 
 between twelve and fifteen women. 
 
 Q. You may state whether or not they were divided 
 into families at the time when they came whether 
 they were married and composed families as man and 
 wife? 
 
 A. They were. 
 
 Q. And the children were the children of these 
 families ? 
 
80 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 A- Yes, sir, some of them some were orphans, liv 
 ing with their relations. 
 
 Q. Which ones do you speak of as being orphans? . 
 
 A- There were two orphans came with them. There 
 is one (indicating a young Indian boy who was present 
 with the relators in ,the court room) sitting in the 
 woman's lap. The other is at camp. 
 
 Q. Whose son is this one here? 
 
 A. He is a grandson of Standing Bear's. 
 
 Q. Which one is Standing Bear? 
 
 A. That one in the corner (indicating one of the 
 three Indian men present.) 
 
 Q. Who is this woman who sits here? 
 
 A. She is the wife of Standing Bear. 
 
 Q. The child is the grandson of Standing Bear 
 and this woman? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. What is her name? 
 
 A. Susette. 
 
 Q. Is the father of that child living or dead? 
 
 A. Dead. 
 
 Q. And the other orphan that you speak of, what 
 relation does it sustain to Standing Bear and Su 
 sette? 
 
 A' Grand-daughter. 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government as im 
 material, and not tending to show that these Indians have 
 dissolved their tribal relations.] 
 
 Mr. Webster Tell us who is that man sitting next to 
 Standing Bear? 
 
 A. Yellow Horse. 
 
 Q. Do you know what relation he is to Standing 
 Bear? 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 81 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for government as incom 
 petent. Overruled.] 
 
 A. They are brothers. 
 
 Q. State what these Indians were engaged in after 
 they arrived at the Omaha Agency? 
 
 A. What little time they staid there they were en 
 gaged in helping the Omahas put in their crops. 
 
 Q. What crops were the Omahas putting in? 
 
 A. Wheat. 
 
 Q. State what one, if any, of the Indians, the Poncas, 
 were putting in crops for themselves? 
 
 A. Buffalo Chip was helping put in a crop for him 
 self. His friends at the Omaha Agency gave him land 
 enough to sow his wheat. 
 
 Q. At the time of the arrest, state, if you know, 
 about the amount of wheat Buffalo Chip had put in on 
 this land which was set apart for him? 
 
 A. I think there must have been four or five acres 
 sowed. 
 
 Q. You may state what the habits of the Omahas 
 were at the Agency where these Indians were, as to 
 labor and agriculture? 
 
 A. They are all, or the greater part of them, on their 
 farms. They have a great deal of land broken, and each 
 one has his farm to himself. 
 
 Q. State whether the land is allotted to the members 
 of the tribe? 
 
 A. It is. 
 
 Q. State what day of the week it was when these 
 Indians were arrested? 
 
 A. It was on Sunday. 
 
 Q. On that day, state whether they were resting from 
 their labors? 
 
 A. They were. 
 
2 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Q. State whether.it is the habit of the Poncas to rest 
 on the Sabbath day from their labor? 
 The 'Court Is that necessary? 
 
 Mr. Webster The theory of this government is to 
 Christianize these Indians, I believe. 
 
 The Witness It is about the same as it is with white 
 men, some do, and some do not. 
 
 Mr. Webster State how many of these Poncas, , 
 during their stay at the Omaha Agency, were engaged 
 in labor whether all were so engaged? 
 
 A. All that were able, to were. 
 
 Q. Those who were not employed in actual labor, 
 state why they were not? 
 
 [Objected to as immaterial by counsel for the gov 
 ernment. Objection overruled.] 
 
 Mr. Webster You may answer why the others 
 were not engaged in labor. 
 
 A. Because they were sick and unable to work. 
 
 Q. How many of their number were sick when they 
 arrived on the Agency and unable to work? 
 
 A. There were hardly any of them able to work 
 when they arrived on the Agency not more than one 
 or two, so far as I could learn. 
 
 Q. During their stay at the Agency, and prior to their 
 arrest by Lieut. Carpenter, state to what extent they had 
 improved in heal h so as to be able to commence labor? 
 
 A. They had improved a good deal, but those who 
 weie working were not really able to work. 
 
 Q. At the time of their arrest by Lieut. Carpenter 
 about how many had begun to labor? 
 
 A. I think five or six out of the twelve. 
 
 Q.. State whether any are engaged in labor now at 
 the Fort? 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 83 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for government. Objection 
 sustained.] 
 
 CRO SS- EX AMINED. 
 
 Dist.-Atfy Lambertson How many Indians came 
 there? 
 
 A. Thirty-five I think. I don't know the exact num 
 ber. 
 
 Ihe Court How many join in the petition twenty- 
 seven? 
 
 Mr. Lambertson I believe there are not quite that 
 many. The children, I think, are not put in the peti 
 tion. (To the witness.) At the time they were ar 
 rested, five or six were engaged in agricultural pursuits? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Were they squaws? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. Standing Bear was working, was hfi? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Then there were five of the thirty-five that were 
 working? 
 
 A. Only that many in the field. The women were 
 working around their tents. They are not supposed 
 to go into the fields. 
 
 Q. Who was their chief? 
 
 A. Standing Bear is the head chief of the tribe. Buf 
 falo Chip was the chief of these Indians here. Stand 
 ing Bear has a tribe of about a hundred, I think; I do 
 not know the exact number. 
 
 Q. You don't know what some of them, or a good 
 many of them did at the Indian Territory before they 
 arrived at the Omaha Agency? 
 
 A. I know that a good many of them died before be 
 left with his tribe. 
 
84 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Q. And the original number of his tribe was about 
 a hundred? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. He was their acknowledged chief there at the 
 Agency? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Did they obey his orders? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. What other chiefs have they? 
 
 A. There are several chiefs down at the lower 
 Agency in the Indian Territory. I was not there. 
 
 Q. Name some of the other chiefs that were ar 
 rested. 
 
 A. Standing Bear, Buffalo Chip, and Chicken Hunter. 
 
 Q. These managed and controlled the Indians? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. Each one controlled his own band. 
 
 Q. They lived at the Omaha Agency as the friends 
 of the Omaha Indians? 
 
 A. Yes, sir; while they were there. 
 
 Q. They followed the same pursuit the other Indians 
 did? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. What did they live in tents? 
 
 A. Yes, sir; they brought their tents, I think. 
 
 Q. These tents were provided by the government? 
 
 A. These tents were made by themselves. 
 
 Q. These wagons were furnished by the govern 
 ment? 
 
 A. Yes, sir; they brought their wagons with them. 
 
 Q. Did they have any citizens' clothes? 
 
 A. They had. 
 
 Q. These clothes were also provided by the govern 
 ment? 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 85 
 
 A. Yes, sir; some were, and some wore not. 
 
 Q. Some of them wore blankets? 
 
 A. Some wore blankets, pants, and vests, and some 
 wore Indian clothes throughout. 
 
 Q. These blankets were they provided by the gov 
 ernment? 
 
 A. Some of them yes, sir. 
 
 Q. You say Standing Bear had put in about five 
 acres of wheat? 
 
 A. No, sir; Buffalo Chip had. There was three or 
 four acres put in for Standing Bear by the police of 
 the Oinahas. 
 
 Q. Then Standing Bear didn't put in any himself? 
 
 A. He helped to put it in. 
 
 Q. About how long were these Indians there before 
 they were arrested? 
 
 A. About two weeks. 
 
 Q. Who arrested them Agent Vore? 
 
 A. They were arrested by Lieut. Carpenter. 
 
 Q. Hadn't they been arrested before by Agent Vore? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. Didn't they seem to .come there as guests of the 
 Omahas? 
 
 A- No, sir. 
 
 Q. How did they come? 
 
 A. They came as Indians, and said they wanted to 
 go back to their old land, or find some place to work, 
 and that if the Omahas would give them some land 
 they would remain with them. 
 
 Q. Do these Omahas speak the English language? 
 
 A. A very few of them. 
 
 Q. None of these Indians here can speak English? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
86 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Q. About how much cultivated land is there at the 
 Agency? 
 
 A. I couldn't tell. 
 
 Q. Do you have any idea of the amount? 
 
 A. I suppose they have in about 1,500 acres of 
 wheat. 
 
 Q. How many Omaha Indians are there? 
 
 A. 1083, I believe, at the last count. 
 
 Q. That would be about an acre and a half to the 
 Indian? 
 
 A. Of wheat ground yes, sir. They have corn 
 ground as much as that, or more, too. 
 
 Q. That would make about three acres to the Indian? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Do they cultivate this land? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. How do the Omahas live? 
 
 A. They live very well. 
 
 Q. Does the government furnish them anything? 
 
 A. Nothing but farm implements. 
 
 Q. The government has an agent there? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Is there not from time to time annuities paid 
 them by the government? 
 
 A. There has been none paid for going on three 
 years now. 
 
 Q. Does the government furnish them any clothes? 
 
 A. No, sir, all the annuities they have is in money. 
 
 Q. Have these Indians received any better clothes 
 since they came to Fort Omaha, or are the clothes they 
 have on now the same they had when arrested? 
 
 A. Some they had, and some were given them. 
 
 Q. Who furnished them? 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 
 
 A. I don't know. Several persons who came there 
 gave them things. 
 
 Q. They didn't have as good clothes as these when 
 they came to Omaha Agency, did they? 
 
 A. No, sir, hardly so good. 
 
 Q. Are all the Indians at the barracks dressed as 
 well as these? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. These are the better dressed ones and the better 
 looking ones? 
 
 A, Yes, sir ; for that matter they all look alike. 
 
 RE-DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. WEBSTER. 
 
 Q. During the stay of these Poncas at the Agency, 
 were tliey receiving any annuities from the govern 
 ment? 
 
 A. No, sir, not that I know of. At one time, a day 
 or two before they were taken away by Lieut. Carpen 
 ter, they received some rations from the agent at the 
 Omaha Agency. 
 
 Q. State what objections the Omahas had, if any, to 
 the Poncas remaining upon these lands at the Omaha 
 reservation? 
 
 A. They had no objection at all. I know from what 
 the Omahas told me. 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government, ss in 
 competent and immaterial. Overruled.] 
 
 Mr. Webster You may sta'te the facts. 
 
 A . They said they wanted the Poncas to come back 
 there and live with, them; they had more land than 
 they needed, and they could sell them part of their 
 land and they could join together and live as one tribe 
 
88 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 of Indians. They were willing to have them come 
 and take part of their land, and try to become citizens, 
 as they were trying. 
 
 The Court Were the Poncas ever any part of the 
 Omaha tribe? 
 
 Mr. Webster No, sir, they have simply inter-married 
 to some extent. 
 
 RE-CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. LAMBERTSON. 
 
 Q. State whether these Indians submitted themselves 
 to the authority of the Omaha Indians, or the Omaha 
 chiefs? Were they governed in the same manner the 
 Omahas were, and followed the same pursuits? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. And obeyed the Omaha chiefs? 
 
 A. They took ad vice, of course, of the Omaha chiefs. 
 
 Q. Were they governed by the same form as the 
 Omaha Indians? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. They submitted themselves to the same rules, 
 customs and habits as the Omahas? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Webster Do the Omahas have any chiefs? 
 
 A. Tliey have no chiefs now. 
 
 Q. Then there was no part of the Omahas command 
 ing these Poncas? 
 
 A. No, sir. 
 
 Q. About all there was about that was that they 
 simply advised together, and consulted as to what was 
 best to be done? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Is there any head man in the 
 Omaha tribe? 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 89 
 
 A. No, sir, not now. There was some time ago, last 
 summer but they put away all their chiefs and head 
 men. 
 
 Mr. Webster They live like white men, then? 
 
 A. They try to. 
 
 LIEUT. WILLIAM L. CARPENTER. 
 
 Sworn on behalf of the relators, and examined in chief 
 
 by Mr. Webster, testified as follows: 
 
 Q. Do you have immediate charge of these Indians? 
 
 A. I have. 
 
 Q. State whether you are the officer who made the 
 arrest at the Omaha Agency? 
 
 A. I am. 
 
 Q. Will you state the date of that arrest? 
 
 A. It was on Sunday, in the latter part of March, the 
 last week in March. I would have to look at a cal 
 endar. 
 
 Q. State whether prior to that time you had been 
 acquainted personally with these Poncas? 
 
 A. I had never seen them at all before. 
 
 Q. At the time they were arrested by you, state in 
 what manner they were dressed whether they were 
 wearing citizens' clothes or not? 
 
 A. The majority of the men were dressed in citi 
 zens' clothes. Only two, I think, wore blankets and 
 leggings. 
 
 Q. State what you know of these Indians having 
 been engaged in labor and agriculture at the Omaha 
 Agency at the time of, and prior to their arrest. 
 
 A. I don't know anything on that subject from my 
 own knowledge nothing but what I have heard. 
 
90 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 
 
 Q. Did you, by conversation or otherwise, acquire 
 any knowledge as to what their habits had been at the 
 Omaha Agency? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government as in 
 competent, immaterial and irrelevant. Sustained.] 
 
 Mr. Webster After you had brought these Indians 
 to Fort Omaha, you may state what kind of dress they 
 continued to wear from the day of their arrest by you, 
 up to the present time? 
 
 A. Some of them wore the same clothing they are 
 wearing now. 
 
 Q. State what these Indians have been doing while 
 under your charge, as to laboring, and their desire to 
 labor. 
 
 A. About ten days ago two of the Indians stated 
 they were willing to work. They had been sick for 
 some time. 
 
 [Objected to as immaterial by counsel for the gov 
 ernment. Sustained.] 
 
 Mr. Webster State from your observation of these 
 Indians, and the labor which they have performed, what 
 skill and knowledge they have as laborers? 
 
 [Objected to and sustained.] 
 
 CROSS-EXAMINED ME. LAMBEETSON. 
 
 Q. How many chiefs are there. 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for relators as improper 
 cross-examination. Sustained.] 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Slate the names of the parties 
 arrested? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the relators as immaterial, 
 and on the ground that the returns show that.] 
 
 The CtouriVTby is that material? 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 91 
 
 Mr. Lambertson To show that these Indians have 
 their chiefs, to whom they profess allegiance. 
 
 The Court You will have to make the witness your 
 own to do that. 
 
 STANDING BEAR, 
 
 One of the relators, sworn on the part of the relators, 
 and examined in chief by Mr. Webster, through the 
 witness Hamilton, who was sworn as interpreter, testi 
 fied as follows: 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Does this court think an Indian is a 
 competent witness? 
 
 The Court They are competent for every purpose in 
 both civil and criminal courts. The law makes no dis 
 tinction on account of race, color, or previous condition. 
 
 Mr. Webster (to the interpreter) Ask him to state 
 when it was they left their reservation to go to the 
 Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He says it is about two years since they left. 
 
 Q. Ask him to state the manner in which they lived 
 on their old reservation, what labor they performed, 
 and what success they had? 
 
 A. He says, we lived well ; I had my land, and raised 
 enough so I could get along nicely. Mj children were 
 going to school, we had a good school, and everything 
 going nicely. 
 
 Q. Ask him whether his people were working when 
 they lived up there? 
 
 A. He says they were all working hard. 
 
 Q. Ask him what they were doing up there to be 
 come like white men? 
 
 The Court What sort of white men? You had bet 
 ter limit that a little. 
 
 Mr. Webster Well, civilized. 
 
92 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 A. He says the white men are great workers, some 
 of them, and some are not. He says it is about the 
 same way w;th the Indians some want to work, and 
 some don't. He says he wants to work, and become 
 like a white man, and that he has tried his best. 
 
 Q. Ask him when they left their reservation where 
 they went to first, whether to the Omaha reservation? 
 
 A. He says no, they didn't go there; they went south 
 to the Indian Territory. 
 
 Q. Ask him how they came to go down there. Have 
 him tell the story as to how they came to go down 
 there? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for government on the ground 
 the inquiry here is solely as to whether these Poncas 
 have dissolved their tribal relations. The question was 
 withdrawn.] 
 
 Mr. Webster Ask him how he and his people lived 
 in the Indian Territory after they got down there, 
 what they had, whether they worked, and what kind 
 of clothes they wore? Ask himjfurther, what they did 
 still after they arrived thore to become like civilized 
 white men, and then let him tell the story. 
 
 Mr. Lambertson I want questions put to him, and 
 let him answer the questions. 
 
 A. He says, when I got down there, I saw the land, 
 and the land was not good to my eye ; some places it 
 looked e:ood, but you kick up the soil a little, and you 
 found lots of stones. It was not fit to farm. When we 
 got down there we heard we were going to get cloth 
 ing, and get money, and everything that we wanted, 
 but I have not seen it yet. When I was told to go 
 down there, I thought, perhaps, the land was good, 
 and I could make a living, but when I got down there 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 93 
 
 it was entirely different from the land in my own home. 
 I could'nt plow, I couldn't sow any wheat, and we all 
 got sick, and couldn't do anything, it seemed as though 
 I had no strength in my body at all. The hot climate 
 didn't agree with me. But when I came back here I 
 seemed to get strength every day. Instead of our tribe 
 becoming prosperous, they died off every day during the 
 time. From the time I went down there until I left, 
 one hundred and fifty-eight of us died. I thought 
 to myself, God wants me to live, and I think if I come 
 back to my old reservation he will let me live. I got 
 back as far as the Omahas, and they brought me down 
 here. I see you all here to-day. What have I done? 
 I am brought here, but what have I done? I don't 
 know. It seems as though I haven't a place in the 
 world, no place to go, and no home to go to, but when 
 I see your faces here, I think some of you are trying 
 to help me, so that I can get a place sometime to live 
 in, and when it comes my time to die, to die peacefully 
 and happy. (This was spoken in a loud voice, and 
 with much emphasis.) 
 
 The Court Tell the witness to keep cool. 
 
 Mr. Webster Have him state what they did by way of 
 farming and labor while they were down in the Indian 
 Territory. 
 
 A. He says they couldn't farm, all the work they did 
 was to haul wood sometimes to the agent, and work 
 around the Agency, what work they could do. 
 
 Q. Ask him if they were all ready and willing to work 
 if they had had any work to do? 
 
 A. He says yes, if there had been any work to do. 
 They would have all worked if there had been any 
 farming; they all farmed on their own reservation , they 
 
94 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 all had farms, and all had work to do. Down there, 
 there was no land to farm, and they all got sick, and 
 were not able to work. 
 
 Q. Ask him if they had any schools down there, or 
 anything by way of educating the children? 
 
 A. He says they had no schools there. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many there were in his band of 
 Poncas at the time he left the Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He says about fifty. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many came away with him when 
 he came to the Omaha reservation? 
 
 A. He says thirty. 
 
 Q. Ask him whether the others are still in tne In 
 dian Territory? 
 
 A. He says he thinks some may be on the road back. 
 He heard some were on the road up here. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many chiefs of the tribe are down 
 there with the others in the Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He says seven. 
 
 Q. Ask him why he and the others left the tribe in 
 Indian Territory and came to the Omaha reservation? 
 
 A. He says it was hard for him to stay there, and ho 
 thought perhaps if he could come up here he could 
 save his wife and child, the only child he has living, 
 and that is why he came up to save them, and to get a 
 living for them some place else, if he could. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many of his children died in the 
 Indian Territory before he came away? 
 
 A. He says two died down there. He says his son 
 could talk English and write, and was a great help to 
 him when he was on White Creek, and whenever he 
 thinks of it, it makes him feel very bad. 
 
 Q. Ask him what he and those who came with him 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 95 
 
 meant to do when they came north how they meant 
 to enrn a living? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government as imma 
 terial. Overruled.] 
 
 A. He says he thought it was necessary to earn a 
 living by work, and that is what he wanted to do, and 
 that he thought if he came north he could get his laud 
 back and go to work and earn his living in that 
 way. 
 
 Q. Ask him when they left the tribe whether they 
 intended to stay away from the tribe? 
 
 A. He says when he left, they asked if he was ever 
 coming back, and he told them if he ever came back 
 it wouid not beto stay; that lie wanted to go to a place 
 where they could all work and earn their own living. 
 
 Q. Ask him what he intended to do by way of be 
 coming like civilized white men? 
 
 A. He says in his travels he has seen a great many 
 white people, .and he finds them all working wherever 
 he goes farming, building houses, and that they have 
 cattle and everything they want; all they want to eat, 
 and he thinks if he has a chance he can do just the 
 same, and that is the way he thought he would do. 
 
 The Court That is the reason he left? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Webster Ask him whether the others that came 
 awny with him intended to do what he did? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government as in 
 competent.] 
 
 The Court He may state if he knows. . 
 
 A. He says they all wanted to do the same to work 
 and earn a living. 
 
 Q. Ask him, if he was released from his imprison- 
 
96 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 merit, whether he intends to go back to the tribe, or 
 What he intends to do? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government. Ques 
 tion withdrawn.] 
 
 Q. Ask him whether they all intended to put in 
 crops on these lands of the Omahas? 
 
 A- He says that was the intention of all. 
 
 Q. Ask him whether, after the time they left the 
 Indian Territory, he intended to continue to exercise his 
 powers as chief, or whether they simply acted together 
 as friends? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the government as 
 leading. Overruled.] 
 
 A. He says he didn't consider himself a chief ; he didn't 
 consider himself as their head man, but looked upon 
 himself and the rest as being alike. 
 
 Q. Ask him whether, when they advised with him, 
 it was simply in a social way, because of his haying 
 been a chief, or whether they recognized any authority 
 in him. 
 
 A. He says he felt himself to be as poor as the rest 
 of them. 
 
 Q. That is after they left the tribe? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Ask him to state whether he sent his own chil 
 dren to school? 
 
 [Objected to as immaterial. Sustained.] 
 
 CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ME. LAMBEKTSON. 
 
 Q. Ask him what was the number of people in the 
 band of which he was chief in the Indian Territory. 
 A. He says about fifty. 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 97 
 
 Q. Ask him how many of his particular band he 
 left in the Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He says only three of his band he brought with 
 him. The rest of his band are there yet. He brought 
 Yellow-Horse, Long-Runner, and Chicken Hunter, 
 these men and their families. 
 
 Q. About how many families of his band did he 
 leave in the Indian Territory! 
 
 A. He says about forty people. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many families? 
 
 A. He says about thirty families; there are about 
 twenty that are married. There are few children; the 
 children are dead. 
 
 Q. Ask him if any members of any other band ex 
 cept his own came with him? 
 
 A. He says there was. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many? 
 
 A. He says there was one chief of some other band. 
 He says this other chief had six men with him. Of 
 course he has his family and some of his band. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many compose his band, when he 
 is in the Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He says about fifty-six. That was his band 
 when he went to the Indian Territory. 
 
 Q. And there were fifty when he left? 
 
 A. Yes, sir. 
 
 Q. Ask him how many of the band of which he was 
 chief died during the time he was in the Indian Terri- 
 tory? 
 
 [Objected to a? immaterial.} 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Ask him how many of his own 
 band came with him, that is including his own fam 
 ily. Assuming that he had fifty in his band in the 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Indian Territory, how many of that fifty came with, 
 him? 
 
 A. He says, taking the men, women, and children, 
 that came with him, there were twenty. He says, 
 counting his {amity, and all that came with him out 
 of his band. 
 
 Q. Ask him if he was chief or head man over these 
 Indians now here and those in the Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He sa3 r s, I was not the head man; I don't consider 
 myself any better than they are. 
 
 Q. Was that after he got out of the Indian Territory? 
 A. Yes, sir; after we left the Indian Territory. 
 Q. Ask him who came with him from the reservation, 
 in Dakota to the Indian Territory. 
 
 [Objected to as improper cross-examination by coun 
 sel for the relators. Sustained.] 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Ask him when he went to the In 
 dian Territory the first time? 
 
 A. He says the time he went down there was the 
 year before they planted corn , it was the year before 
 they were taken down the second time. 
 
 Q. Ask him if he remained there until the other 
 Indians came down? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the relators as im 
 proper cross-examination. Overruled.] 
 
 A. He says no, he did not stay there. He says ho 
 was left down there without an interpreter, to make 
 his way back the best he could, because he would not 
 pick out a piece of land there that he liked. 
 
 Q. How long was he left there before the other In 
 dians came down? 
 
 A. He says it was in the spring they were taken 
 down from their reservation. He says he would like 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 99 
 
 to tell the whole thing over from the time he was taken 
 down first until they were all taken down. 
 
 Mr. Lambertson (to Mr. Webster) Are you willing he 
 should? 
 
 Mr. Webster No. 
 
 Mr. Lambertson (to the witness) Ask him if while 
 they were in the Indian Territory the government pro 
 vided them with wagons and farming implements? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the relators as im 
 proper cross-examination and as immaterial. Over 
 ruled.] 
 
 A. He says they got some wagons and some mowing 
 machines. 
 
 Q. Ask him if they took their wagons with them 
 when they left the Agency in the Indian Territory? 
 
 A. He says they came in wagons. 
 
 Q. Ask him if the wagons which the} 7 " came in from 
 the Indian Territory to the Omaha Agency were the 
 same wagons that were furnished by the government? 
 
 A. He says two of the wagons they have were given 
 to them on their former reservation, and the other is 
 one he bought himself a light spring wagon. 
 
 Mr. Webster^- Does he mean the Ponca reservation? 
 
 A. Yes, sir, up above. 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Ask him if when he left the In 
 dian Territory the other members of the tribe were 
 willing to remain? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the relators as imma- . 
 terial and irrelevant. Sustained.] 
 
 Mr. Lambertson Ask him if, when he left the In 
 dian Territory, he informed the agent that he was going 
 away to live for himself and take care of himself? 
 
 A. He says he told the agent several times he 
 
100 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 wanted to go, and asked him to help us get away to 
 our own lands. He says he told him he was comiug 
 away to try and save the rest of his family and find 
 some place where he could work and make a living. 
 
 Q. Ask him when he left the Indian Territory, 
 whether he intended to go back to their former reserva 
 tion in Dakota Territory, or did they intend to go to tho 
 Omaha reservation? 
 
 A. He says he wanted to go on his own land, 
 that had always been his own land; that he never 
 sold it, and that is where he wanted to go to; that 
 his son when he died made him promise if ever he 
 went back there that he would take his bones there 
 and bury him, and that he has got his bones in a box, 
 and that if ever he goes there he will bury his bones 
 there; that there is where he wants to live the rest of 
 his life, and that there is where he wants to be buried. 
 
 Q- Ask him if he wants to live in the same manner 
 in which he lived when in the Dakota reservation? 
 
 A. He says he might go there and worli until he 
 was blind, but that would not change his color; that 
 he would be an Indian in color, but he wants to go 
 and work and become a citizen. 
 
 Q. Ask him if he wants to live as the Omaha Indians 
 live on the Omaha reservation? 
 
 [Objected to by counsel for the relators as being too 
 indefinite. Sustained.] 
 
 Mr. Lambertson What I desire to ask him is, at tho 
 time he came away, if he intended to continue in the 
 same pursuits as when he was arrested, to adopt the 
 same habits and customs as the Omaha Indians. 
 
 [Objected to same as before.] 
 
 The Court He may answer. 
 
STANDING BEAR'S APPEAL. 1Q1 
 
 A. He says that before he was brought down hero he 
 didn't know hardly what to do whether to remain with 
 the Omahas, or to go up to his old reservation ; tha^; 
 the Omahas wanted him to stay there. They said they 
 hed better all stay there and farm this summer, and 
 then go up this fall ; that if they went up there now 
 they would have a hard time to get along, and if they 
 staid there this summer they would heip them so they 
 could have a good start after they got to their old res 
 ervation. 
 
 Q. Ask him whether during the time he was at the 
 Omaha reservation the government issued him and his 
 band rations or provisions? 
 
 A. He says the agent issued rations to his band once. 
 He don't know whether they were issued from the gov 
 ernment or were bought. It was issued only once. 
 (The interpreter adds that he was the person who 
 weighed out the rations the time referred to.) 
 
 With this the testimony closed , the relators resting 
 their case at this point, and no testimony whatever 
 being introduced on behalf of the government. 
 
102 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WHAT THE ATTORNEYS HAD TO SAT TO THE 
 COURT. 
 
 At the conclusion of the testimony of Stand 
 ing Bear, the government having no evidence 
 to offer, the argument for the Indians was 
 opened by Hon. J. L. Webster. He first on- 
 quired, after a brief recital of the wrongs and 
 cruelties which had so long been practised upon 
 the Indians, how the government of the 
 United States got titles to land, and said titles 
 come in three ways first by discovery; second 
 by conquest; third by purchase. 
 
 He maintained that the government could 
 not claim title to this land by discovery. The 
 landing of white men upon the eastern shore 
 of this continent could not give a title to the 
 little piece of land on which the Poncas then 
 resided at the mouth of the Niobrara river. A 
 title by discovery did not give a fee simple to 
 the soil, if it was occupied, but only political 
 control. 
 
SUMMING UP. 103 
 
 The government of the United States could 
 never acquire a title by conquest, for it had 
 never been at war with the Ponca tribe. These 
 two peoples had always been on the most 
 friendly terms. The government had never 
 purchased the land, and, therefore, the title 
 to it still remained in the Poncas. Mr. Web 
 ster then discussed the questions relating 
 to Indian tribes as separate nations, the 
 effect of the fourteenth amendment to the 
 Constitution, citizenship of Indians, the use 
 of the army in their control, and made a 
 thorough and able review of the whole prob 
 lem, claiming that there was no law for the re 
 moval of the Poncas to the Indian Territory, 
 or for keeping them there by force, or for re 
 turning those who had escaped, and asked 
 the absolute discharge of Standing Bear and 
 his party. 
 
 Mr. Webster, who occupied about six hours 
 in the delivery of his argument, was followed 
 by the Government Attorney, Hon. G. M. Lam- 
 bertson, who opened his argument with a very 
 high commendation of the course of Messrs. 
 Poppleton and Webster in volunteering their 
 services, without the hope of reward, in defence 
 of those helpless Indians. He claimed that 
 Standing Bear was not entitled to the protec- 
 
104 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 tion of the writ of habeas corpus, not being a 
 person or citizen under the law. His argument 
 occupied about five hours, and was very ingen 
 ious and eloquent. 
 
 lion. A. J. Poppleton followed in a very 
 powerful argument. He traced the history of 
 the writ of habeas corpus from its origin, and 
 claimed that it applied to every human being. 
 He appealed on the behalf of these Indians as 
 men, and showed that the position taken by 
 the government counsel undermined the very 
 foundations of human liberty. His argument 
 consumed about four hours. 
 
 Judge Dundy then allowed Standing Bear 
 to address the court on his own behalf. The 
 court room was at this time filled with leading 
 citizens of the State, prominent officers of the 
 army and their wives. Standing Bear's speech 
 made a profound impression on all who heard 
 it. He claimed that, although his skin was of 
 a different hu, yet he was a man, and that 
 God made him. He said he was not a savage, 
 and related how he had saved the life of a 
 soldier whom he had found on the plains, 
 starved, and almost frozen to death, and of a 
 man who had lost his way on the trackless 
 "prairie, whom he had fed and guided to his 
 destination. In spite of the orders of the 
 
SUMMING UP. 105 
 
 court and the efforts of the bailiffs, he was 
 greeted with continual rounds of applause. At 
 the conclusion of his speech, court adjourned, 
 and the judge took several days to consider 
 the matter. 
 
106 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 STANDING BEAR RELEASED DECISION OF JUDGE 
 ELMER S. DTJNDY. 
 
 "United States ex rel. Standing Bear, vs. George 
 
 Crook, a Brigadier-General of the Army of the U. S. 
 
 Before Elmer S. Dundy, U. S. District Judge for 
 
 Nebraska. Habeas corpus. 
 
 "An Indian is a person within the meaning of the 
 habeas corpus act, and as such is entitled to sue out 
 a writ of habeas corpus in the federal courts, when it 
 is shown that the petitioner is deprived of liberty 
 undercolor of authority of the United States, or is in 
 custody of an officer in violation of the constitution, 
 or a law of the United States, or in violation of a 
 treaty made in pursuance thereof. 
 
 "The right of expatriation is a natural, inherent, and 
 inalienable right, and extends to the Indian as well as 
 to the more fortunate white race. 
 
 "The Commissioner of Indian Affairs has ample au 
 thority for removing from an Indian reservation all 
 persons found thereon without authority of law, or 
 whose presence may be detrimental to the peace and 
 welfare of the Indians. 
 
 "The military power of the government may be em 
 ployed to effect sucTi removal. But when the removal 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 1Q7 
 
 is effected, it is the duty of the troops to convey the 
 persons so removed by the most convenient and safe 
 route, to the civil authorities of the judicial district in 
 which the offence may be committed, to be proceeded 
 agains^in due course of law. 
 
 "In time of peace no authority, civil or military, ex 
 ists for transporting Indians from one section of the 
 country to another, without the consent of the Indians, 
 nor to confine them to any particular reservation 
 against their will, and where officers of the govern 
 ment attempt to do this, and arrest and hold Indians 
 who are at peace with the government, for the pur 
 pose of removing them to, and confining them on, a 
 reservation in the Indian Territory, they will be 
 released on habeas corpus. 
 
 A. J. POPPLETON and 
 JNO. L. WEBSTER, 
 
 For the Relators. 
 G. M. LAMBERTSON, U. S. Atty. 
 
 For the Government. 
 
 The facts are fully stated in the opinion of 
 
 the court. 
 
 "DUNDY, JUDGE. 
 
 "During the fifteen years in which I have been en 
 gaged in administering the laws of my country, I have 
 never been called upon to hear or decide a case that 
 appealed so strongly to my sympathy as the one now 
 under consideration. On the one side we have a few 
 of the remnants of a .once numerous and powerful, 
 but now weak, insignificant, unlettered and generally 
 despised race. On the other, we have the representa 
 tive of one of the most powerful, most enlightened, 
 
108 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 and most christianized nations of modern times. On 
 the one side we have the representatives of this 
 wasted race coming into this national tribunal of ours 
 asking for justice and liberty to enable them to adopt 
 our boasted civilization and to pursue the arts of 
 peace, which have made us great and happy as a na 
 tion. On the other side we have this magnificent, if 
 not magnanimous, government, resisting this applica 
 tion with the determination of sending these people 
 back to the country which is to them less desirable 
 than perpetual imprisonment in their own native land. 
 But I think it is creditable to the heart and mind of the 
 brave and distinguished officer who is made respond 
 ent herein, to say that he has no sort of sympathy in 
 the business in which he is forced by his position to 
 bear a part so conspicuous. And so far as I am indi 
 vidually concerned, I think it not improper to say that 
 if the strongest possible sympathy could give the relators 
 title to freedom, they would have been restored to 
 liberty the moment the arguments in their behalf 
 were closed. No examination of further thought 
 would then have been necessary or expedient. But 
 in a country where liberty is regulated by law, some 
 thing more satisfactory and enduring than mere sym 
 pathy must furnish and constitute the rule and basis 
 of judicial action. It follows that this case must be 
 examined and decided on principles of law, and that 
 unless the relators are entitled to their discharge under 
 the constitution or laws of the United States, or some 
 treaty made in pursuance thereto, they must be remand 
 ed to the custody of the officer who caused their arrest, 
 to be returned to the Indian Territory, which they 
 left without the consent of the government. 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 109 
 
 " On the 8th of April, 1879, the relators, Standing 
 Bear and twenty-five others, during the session of the 
 court held at that time at Lincoln, presented their pe 
 tition, duly verified, praying for the allowance of a 
 writ of habeas corpus, and their final discharge from 
 custody thereunder. 
 
 " The petition alleges in substance that the relators 
 are Indians who have formerly belonged to thePonca 
 tribe of Indians, now located in the Indian Territory; 
 that they had some time previously withdrawn from 
 the tribe and completely severed their tribal relations 
 therewith, and had adopted the general habits of the 
 whites, and were then endeavoring to maintain them 
 selves by their own exertions, and without aid or as 
 sistance from the general government ; that whilst they 
 were thus engaged, and without being guilty of violat 
 ing any of the laws of the United States, they were ar 
 rested and restrained of their liberty, by order of the 
 respondent, George Crook. 
 
 "The writ was issued and served on the respondent on 
 the 8th day of April, and the distance between the place 
 where the writ was made returnable and the place 
 where the relators were confined being more than 
 twenty miles, ten days were allotted in which to make 
 return. 
 
 "On the 18th of April the writ was returned, and the 
 authority for the arrest and detention is therein shown. 
 The substance of the return to the writ, and the addi 
 tional statement since filed, is that the relators are in 
 dividual members of, and connected with the Ponca 
 tribe of Indians; that they had fled or escaped from a 
 reservation situated some place within the limits of the 
 Indian Territory; had departed therefrom without per- 
 
HO THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 mission from the government, and at the request of the 
 Secretary of the Interior the General of the army had 
 issued an order which required the respondent to ar- 
 restftmd return the rclators to their tribe in the Indian 
 Territory, and that pursuant to the said order, he had 
 caused the relators to be arrested on the Omaha Indian 
 reservation, and that they were in his custody for the 
 purpose of being returned to the Indian Territory. 
 
 " It is claimed upon the one side, and denied upon the 
 other, that the relators had withdrawn, and severed for 
 all time, their connection with the tribe to which they 
 belonged. And upon this point alone was there any 
 testimony produced by either party hereto. The other 
 matters stated in the petition, and the return to the 
 writ, are conceded to be true, so that the questions to 
 be determined are purely questions of law. 
 
 "On the 8th of March, 1859, a treaty was made by the 
 United States with the Ponca tribe of Indians, by which 
 a certain tract of country north of the Niobrara river, 
 and west of the Missouri was set apart for the perma 
 nent home of the said Indians, in which the govern 
 ment agreed to protect them during their good behav 
 ior. But just when, or how, or why, or under what 
 circumstances the Indians left their reservation in Da 
 kota and went to the Indian Territory does not appear. 
 
 JUEISDICTIOX OF COURT. 
 
 " The district attorney very earnestly questions the 
 jurisdiction of the court to issue the writ and to hear 
 and determine the case made herein; and has supported 
 his theory with an argument of great ingenuity and 
 much ability. But nevertheless, I am of the opinion 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 
 
 that his premises were erroneous, and his conclusions 
 therefore wrong and unjust. The great respect I en 
 tertain for that officer, and the very able manner in 
 which his'views were presented, make it necessary for 
 me to give somewhat at length the reasons which lead 
 me to this conclusion. 
 
 " The district attorney discussed at length the reas 
 ons which led to the origin of the writ of habeas corpus, 
 and the character of, and proceedings and practice in 
 connection therewith in tie parent country. It was 
 claimed that the laws of the realm limited the right to 
 sue out this writ to the free subjects of the kingdom 
 and that none others came within the benefit of such 
 beneficent laws. And reasoning from analogy, it is 
 claimed that none but American citizens are entitled to 
 sue out this high prerogative writ in any of the federal 
 courts. I have not examined the English laws regu 
 lating the suing out of the writ, nor have I ihought it 
 necessary so to do. Of this I will only observe tfcat if 
 the laws of England are as they are claimed to be, they 
 will appear at a disadvantage when compared with our 
 own. This only proves that the laws of a limited mon 
 archy are sometimes less wise and humane than the 
 laws of our own good republic that whilst the Parlia 
 ment of Great Britain was legislating in behalf of the 
 favored few, the Congress of the United States was 
 legislating in behalf of all mankind who come within 
 our jurisdiction. 
 
 " Section 751 of the ' Revised Statutes' declares that 
 ' the supreme court and the circuit and district courts 
 shall have power to issue writs of habeas corpus.' 
 Section 752 confers the power to issue writs on tho 
 judges of said courts within their jurisdiction, and de- 
 
112 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 clares this to be ' for the purpose of inquiry into the 
 cause of restraint of liberty.' Section 753 restricts the 
 power, limits the jurisdiction, and defines the cases 
 where the writ may properly issue. That inky be done 
 under this section where the prisoner ' is in custody 
 under or by color of authority of the United States, * 
 * * or is in custody for an act done or omitted in 
 pursuance of a law of the United States, * * * or 
 in custody in violation of the constitution or of a law 
 or treaty of the United States.' Thus it will be seen 
 that when a person is in custody or deprived of his 
 liberty, under color of authority of the United States, 
 or in violation of the constitution or laws or treaties 
 of the United States, the federal judges have j urisdiction, 
 and the writ can properly issue. I take it that the true 
 construction to be placed upon this act is this: That 
 in all cases where federal officers, civil or military, 
 have the custody and control of a person, claimed to 
 be unlawfully restrained of liberty, that they are then 
 restrained of liberty under color of authority of the 
 United States, the federal courts can properly proceed 
 to determine the question of unlawful restraint because 
 no other courts can properly do so. In the other in 
 stance, the federal courts and judges can properly is 
 sue the writ in all cases where the person is alleged to 
 be in custody in violation of the constitution or a law 
 or treaty of the United States. In such a case it is 
 wholly immaterial what officer, state or federal, has 
 custody of the person seeking the relief. These re- 
 lators may be entitled to the writ in either case. Under 
 the first paragraph they certainly are, that is, if an 
 Indian can be entitled to it at all, because they are in 
 custody of a federal officer under color of authority of 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. H3 
 
 the United States, and they may be entitled to the writ 
 under the other paragraph before recited, for the reason, 
 as they allege, tha,t they are restrained of liberty in vio 
 lation of a provision of their treaty before referred to. 
 Now, it must be borne in mind that the habeas corpus 
 act describes applicants for the writ as 'persons' or 
 'parties,' who may be entitled thereto. It nowhere 
 describes them as citizens, nor is citizenship in any 
 way or place made a qualification for sueing out the 
 writ, and in the absence of express provision or necesary 
 implication, which would require the interpretation 
 contended for by the district attorney, I should not 
 feel justified in giving the words person and party such" 
 a narrow construction. The most natural, and there 
 fore most reasonable way, is to attach the same mean 
 ing to -words and phrases when found in a statute that 
 is attached to them when and where found in general 
 use. If we do so in this instance, then the question 
 cannot be open to serious doubt. Webster describes 
 a person as 'a living soul: a self conscious being; a 
 moral agent; especially a living human being; a 
 man, woman or child; an individual of the human 
 race.' This is comprehensive enough, it would 
 seem, to include even an 'Indian. In describing and 
 defining generic terms, the first section of the revised 
 statutes declares that the word person includes co-part 
 nerships and corporations. On the whole it seems to 
 me quite evident that the comprehensive language 
 used in this section is intended to apply to all mankind, 
 ns well tlie relators a? the more favored white race. 
 This will be doing no violence to language, nor to the 
 spirit or letter of the law, nor to the intention, as it is 
 believed, of the law-making power of the government. 
 
114 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 "I must liold, then, that Indians, and consequently 
 the relators, are persons, such as are described by and 
 included within the laws before quoted. It is said, 
 however, that this is the first instance on record in 
 which an Indian has beeji permitted to sue out and 
 maintain a writ of habeas corpus in a federal court, and 
 therefore, the court must be without jurisdiction in the 
 premises. This is a non sequitur. I confess I do not 
 know of another instance where this has been done, but 
 I can also say that the occasion for it perhaps has never 
 before been so great. It may be that the Indians think 
 it wiser and better in the end to resort to this peaceful 
 process than it would be to undertake the hopeless task 
 of redressing their own alleged wrongs by force of 
 arms. Returning reason, and the sad experience of 
 others similarly situated, has taught them the folly 
 and madness of the arbitrament of the sword. They 
 can readily see that any serious resistance on their part 
 would be the signal for their utter extermination. Have 
 they not then chosen the wiser part, by resort ing to the 
 very tribunal erected by those they claim have wronged 
 and oppressed them? This, however, is not the tribunal 
 of their own choice, but it is the only one into which 
 they can lawfully go for deliverance. It cannot there 
 fore be fairly said that because no Indian ever before 
 invoked the aid of this writ in a federal court, that the 
 rightful authority to issue it does not exist. Power 
 and authority rightfully conferred does not necessarily 
 cease to exist in consequence of long non-nser. Though 
 much time has elapsed, and many generations have 
 passed away since the passage of the original habeas 
 corpus act from which I have quoted, it will not do to 
 say that these Indians cannot avail themselves of its 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. H5 
 
 beneficent provisions simply because none of their 
 ancestors ever sought relief thereunder. 
 
 " Every person who comes within our jurisdiction, 
 whether he be European, Asiatic, African, or 'native 
 to the manor born,' must obey the laws of the United 
 States. Every one who violates them incurs the penalty 
 provided thereby. When a person is charged, in a 
 proper way, with the commission of crime, we do not 
 inquire upon the trial in what country the accused 
 was born, nor to what sovereign or government alle 
 giance is due, nor to what race he belongs. The ques 
 tions of guilt and innocence only form the subjects of 
 inquiry. An Indian then, especially off from his res-* 
 eryation, is amenable to the criminal laws of the United 
 States the same as all other persons. They being sub 
 ject to arrest for the violation of our criminal laws 
 and being Arsons such as the law contemplates and in 
 cludes in the description of parties who may sue out 
 the writ, it would, indeed, be a sad commentary on the 
 justice and impartiality of our laws, to hold that In 
 dians, though natives of our own country, cannot test 
 the validity of an alleged illegal imprisonment in this 
 manner, as well as a subject of a foreign government 
 who may happen to be sojourning in this country but 
 owing it no sort of allegiance. I cannot doubt that 
 Congress intended to give to every person who might be 
 unlawfully restrained of liberty undercolor of authority 
 of the United States the right to the writ and a discharge 
 thereon. I conclude then, that so far as the issuing of 
 the writ is concerned, it was properly issued, and that 
 the relators are within the jurisdiction conferred by the 
 habeas corpus act. 
 " A question of much greater importance remains for 
 
116 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 consideration, which, when determined, will be decisive 
 of this whole controversy. This relates to the right of 
 the government to arrest and Hold the relators for a time 
 for the purpose of being returned to a point in the In 
 dian Territory, from which it is alleged the Indians es 
 caped. I am not vain enough to think that I can do full 
 justice to a question like the one under consideration. 
 But as the matter furnishes so much valuable material 
 for discussion, and so much food for reflection, I shall 
 try to present it as viewed from my own stand-point, 
 without reference to consequences or criticisms which, 
 though not specially invited, will be sure to follow. 
 
 " A review of the policy of the government adopted 
 in its dealing with the friendly tribe of Poncas, to 
 which thejelators at one time belonged, seems not 
 only appropriate, but almost indispensable to a correct 
 understanding of this controversy. The Ponca In 
 dians have been at peace with the government, and 
 Lave remained the steadfast friends of the whites for 
 many years. They lived peaceably upon the land and 
 in the country they claimed arid called their own. 
 
 " On the 12th of March, 1858, they made a treaty with 
 the United States by which they cedecl all claims to 
 lands except the following tract: 'Beginning at a 
 point on the NiObrara river and running due north so 
 as to intersect the Ponca river twenty five miles from its 
 mouth, thence from said point of intersection up and 
 along tbe Ponca river twenty miles, thence due south 
 to the Niobrara river, and thence down and along said 
 river to the place of beginning, which tract is hereby 
 reserved for the future homes of said Indians.' In 
 consideration of this cession the government agreed ' to 
 protect the Poncas in the possession of the tract of land 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. H7 
 
 reserved for their future homes, and their persons and 
 property thereon, during good behavior on their part.' 
 Annuities were to be paid them for thirty years, houses 
 were to be built, and schools were to be established, 
 and other things were to be done by the government in 
 consideration of said cession. (See page 997, 12, Stat. 
 at large.) On the 10th of March, 1865, another treaty 
 was made, and a part of the other reservation was 
 ceded to the government. Other lands, however, were, 
 to some extent, substituted therefor, and ' by way of 
 rewarding them for their constant fidelity to the gov 
 ernment and citizens thereof, and with a view of re 
 turning to the said tribe of Ponca Indians their old 
 burying grounds and corn fields.' This treaty also 
 provides for paying $15,080 for spoliations committed 
 on the Indians. 
 
 " (See page 675, 14 vol., Stat. at large.) 
 
 " On the 29th day of April, 1868, the government made 
 a treaty with the several bands of Sioux Indians, which 
 treaty was ratified by the Senate on the 16th of the fol 
 lowing February, in and by which the reservations 
 set apart for the Poncas under the former treaties were 
 completely absolved. (15 Statutes at large, page 635.) 
 This was done without consultation with, or knowledge 
 or consent on the part of, the Ponca tribe of Indians. 
 " On the 15th of August, 1876, Congress passed the 
 general Indian approproation bill, and in it we find a 
 provision authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to 
 use $25,000 for the removal of the Poncas to the In 
 dian Territory, and providing them a home therein, 
 with consent of the tribe. (See page 192, 19 vol., 
 Statues at large.) 
 "In the Indian appropriation bill passed by Congress 
 
118 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 on the 27th day of May, 1878, we find a provision au 
 thorizing the Secretary of the Interior to expend the 
 sum of $30,000 for the purpose of removing and locat 
 ing the Ponca Indians on a new reservation near the 
 Kaw river. 
 
 "No reference has been made to any other treaties or 
 laws, under which the right to arrest and remove tho 
 Indians is claimed to exist. 
 
 " The Poncas lived upon their reservation in Southern 
 Dakota and cultivated a portion of the same until two 
 or three years ago, when they removed therefrom, but 
 whether by force or otherwise, does not appear. At 
 all events, we find a portion of them, including the 
 relators, located at some point in the Indian Territory. 
 There, the testimony seems to show, is where the 
 trouble commenced. Standing Bear, the principal wit 
 ness, states that out of 710 Indians who went from the 
 reservation in Dakota to the Indian Territory 158 died 
 within a year or so, and a great proportion of the others 
 were sick and disabled, caused in a great measure, no 
 doubt, from change of climate, and to save himself 
 and the survivors of his wasted family, and the feeble 
 remnant of his little band of followers, he determined 
 to leave the Indian Territory and return to his old home, 
 where, to use his own language, ' he might live and 
 die in peace, and be buried with his fathers.' He also 
 states that he informed the agent of their final purpose 
 to leave, never to return, and that he and his followers 
 had finally, fully, and forever severed his and their 
 connection with the Ponca tribe of Indians, and had 
 resolved to disband as a tribe, or band, of Indians, and 
 to cut loose from the government, go to work, become 
 self-sustaining, and adopt the habits and customs of a 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. H9 
 
 higher civilization. To accomplish what would seem 
 to be a desirable and laudable purpose, all who were 
 able so to do went to work to earn a living. The 
 Omaha Indians, who speak the same language, and 
 with whom many of the Poncas have long since con 
 tinued to intermarry, gave them employment and 
 ground to cultivate so as to make them self-sustaining. 
 And it was when at the Omaha reservation, and when 
 thus employed, that they were arrested by order of the 
 government for the purpose of being taken back to the 
 Indian Territory. They claim to be unable to see the 
 justice, or reason, or wisdom, or necessity of removing 
 them by force from their own native plains and blood 
 relations to a far off country in which they can see little 
 but new made graves opening for their reception. The 
 land from which they fled in fear has no attractions for 
 them. The love of home and native land was strong 
 enough in the minds of these people to induce them to 
 brave every peril to return and live and die where they 
 had been reared. The bones of the dead son of Stand 
 ing Bear were not to repose in the land they hoped to 
 be leaving forever, but were carefully preserved and 
 protected, and formed a part of what was to them a 
 melancholy procession homeward. Such instances of 
 parental affection, and such love of home and native 
 land may be heathen in origin, but it seems to me that 
 they are not unlike cliristian in principle. 
 
 "What is here stated in this connection is mainly 
 for the purpose of showing that the relators did all 
 they could to separate themselves from their tribe, and 
 to sever their tribal relations, for the purpose of be 
 coming self-sustaining, and living without support 
 from, the government. This being so, presents the 
 
120 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 question as to whether or not an Indian can withdraw 
 from his tribe, sever his tribal relation therewith, and 
 terminate his allegiance thereto, for the purpose of mak 
 ing an independent living, and adopting our own civili 
 zation. 
 
 " If Indian tribes are to be regarded and treated as 
 separate but dependent nations, there can be no serious 
 difficulty about the question. If they are not to be 
 regarded and treated as separate, dependent nations, 
 then no allegiance is owing from an individual Indian 
 to his tribe, and he could, therefore, withdraw there 
 from at any time. The question of expatriation has 
 engaged the attention of our government from the 
 time of its very foundation. Many heated discussions 
 have been carried on between our own and foreign 
 governments on this great question, until diplomacy 
 has triumphantly secured the right to every person 
 found within our jurisdiction. This right has always 
 been claimed and admitted by our government, and it 
 is now no longer an open question. It can make but 
 little difference then whether we accord to the Indian 
 tribes a national character or not, as in either case I 
 think the individual Indian possesses the clear and 
 God-given right to withdraw from his tribe and for 
 ever live away from it, as though it had no further 
 existence. If the right of expatriation was open to 
 doubt in this country down to the year 1868, certainly 
 since that time no sort of question as to the right can 
 now exist. On the 27th of July, of that year, Con 
 gress passed an act, now appearing as sec. 1,999 of 
 the revised statutes, which declares that: 
 
 " ' Whereas, the right of expatriation is a natural and 
 inherent right of all people, indisputable to the enjoy- 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 
 
 ment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness; and, whereas, in the recognition of this 
 principle the government has freely received emigrants 
 from all nations, and invested them with the rights 
 of citizenship. * * * * Therefore any declaration, 
 instruction, opinion, order, or decision of any officer of 
 the United States which denies, restricts, impairs, or 
 questions the right of expatriation, is declared incon 
 sistent with the fundamental principles of the republic.' 
 This declaration must forever settle the question until 
 it is re-opened by other legislation upon the same sub 
 ject. This is, however, only re-affirming in the most 
 solemn and authoritative manner a principle well set 
 tled and understood in this country for many years past. 
 
 "In most, if not all, instances in which treaties have 
 been made with the several Indian tribes, where re 
 servations have been set apart for their occupancy, 
 the government has either reserved the right or bound 
 itself to protect the Indians thereon. Many of the 
 treaties expressly prohibit white persons being on the 
 reservations unless especially authorized by the treat 
 ies or acts of Congress for the purpose of carrying out 
 treaty stipulations. 
 
 "Laws passed for the government of the Indian 
 country, and for the purpose of regulating trade and 
 intercourse with the Indian tribes, confer upon cer 
 tain officers of the government almost unlimited power 
 over the persons who go upon the reservations with 
 out lawful authority. Sec. 2,149 of the revised statutes, 
 authorizes and requires the Commissioner of Indian 
 Affairs, with the approval of the Secretary of the In 
 terior, to remove from any * tribal reservation' any 
 person being thereon without authority of law, or 
 
122 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 whose presence \vitliin the limits of the reservation 
 may, in the judgment of the Commissioner, be detri 
 mental to the peace and welfare of the Indians; the au 
 thority here conferred upon the Commissioner fully 
 justifies him in causing to be removed from Indian 
 reservations all persons thereon in violation of law, or 
 whose presence thereon may be detrimental to the 
 peace and welfare of the Indians upon the reserva 
 tions. This applies as well to an Indian as to a white 
 person, and manifestly for the same reason, the object 
 of the law being to prevent unwarranted interference 
 between the Indians and the agent representing the 
 government. Whether such an extensive discretion 
 ary power is wisely vested in the Commissioner of In 
 dian Affairs or not, need not be questioned. It is 
 enough to know that the power rightfully exists, and 
 where existing, the exercise of the power must be up 
 held. If, then, the Commissioner has the right to 
 cause the expulsion from the Omaha Indian reserva 
 tion of all persons thereon who are there in violation 
 of law, or whose presence may be detrimental to the 
 peace and welfare of the Indian, then he must of ne 
 cessity be authorized to use the necessary force to 
 accomplish his purpose. Where, then, is he to look 
 for this necessary force? The military arm of the 
 government is the most natural and most potent force 
 to be used on such occasions, and sec. 2,150 of the re 
 vised statutes especially authorizes the use of the army 
 for this service. The army, then, it seems, is the 
 proper force to employ when intruders and trespassers 
 who go upon the reservations are to be ejected there 
 from. 
 
 " The first sub-division of the revised statutes last 
 
STANDING BEAK RELEASED. 123 
 
 referred to provides that 'the military forces of the 
 United States may be employed in such manner, and 
 under such regulations as the president may direct: 
 
 " 'First In the apprehension of every person who 
 may be in the Indian country in violation of law, and 
 in conveying him immediately from the Indian coun 
 try, by the nearest conveyance and safe route, to the 
 civil authority of the Territory or judicial district in 
 which such person shall be found, to be proceeded 
 against in due course of law.' * * * This is the 
 authority under which the military can be lawfully 
 employed to remove intruders from an Indian reserva 
 tion. What may be done by the troops in such cases 
 is here fully and clearly stated, and it is this authority, 
 it is believed, under which the respondent acted. 
 
 "All Indian reservations held under treaty stipula 
 tions with the government must be deemed, and taken 
 to be part of the Indian country, within the meaning of 
 our laws on that subject. The relators were found 
 upon the Omaha Indian reservation, that being a part 
 of the Indian country, and not being a part of the 
 Omaha tribe of Indians, they were there without law 
 ful authority, and if the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
 deemed their presence detrimental to the peace and 
 welfare of the Omaha Indians, he had lawful warrant 
 to remove them from the reservation, and to employ 
 the necessary military force to effect this object in 
 safety. General Crook had the rightful authority to 
 remove the relators from the reservation, nnd mu c t 
 stand justified in removing them therefrom. But when 
 the troops are thus employed they must exercise the 
 authority in the manner provided by the section of the 
 law just read. This law makes it the duty of the 
 
124 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 troops to convey the parties arrested by the nearest 
 convenient and safe route to the civil authority of the 
 Territory or judicial district in which such person shall be 
 found, to be proceeded against in due course of law. The 
 duty of the military authorities is here very clearly and 
 sharply defined, and no one can be justified in depart 
 ing therefrom, especially in time of peace. As Gen 
 eral Crook had the right to arrest and remove the re- 
 lators from the Omaha Indian reservation, it follows 
 from what has been stated that the law re quired him 
 to convey them to this city, and turn them over to the 
 marshal and United States attorney, to be proceeded 
 against in due course of law. Then proceedings could 
 be instituted against them in either the circuit or dis 
 trict court, and if the relators had incurred a penalty 
 under the law, punishment would follow. Otherwise 
 they would be discharged from custody. But this 
 course was not pursued in this case, neither was it in 
 tended to observe the laws in that regard, for General 
 Crook's orders, emanating from higher authority, ex 
 pressly required him to apprehend the relators, and 
 remove them by force to the Indian Territory, from 
 which it is alleged they escaped. But in what General 
 Crook has done in the premises no fault can be im 
 puted to him. He was simply obeying the orders of 
 his superior officers as a good soldier ought to do, but 
 the orders, as we think, lack the necessary authority 
 of law, and are, therefore, not binding on the relators. 
 "I think I have shown pretty clearly the rightful 
 authority vested in the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
 in cases like the one under consideration that he may 
 call on the troops to assist in carrying out his lawful 
 orders, and just how and for what purpose the author- 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 125 
 
 ity is vested in him to remove trespassers and intru 
 ders from the Indian country. 
 
 I have searched in vain for the semblance of any au 
 thority justifying the Commissioner in attempting to 
 remove by force any Indians, whether belonging to a 
 tribe or not, to any place, or for any other purpose 
 than what has been stated. Certainly, without some 
 specific authority found in an act of Congress, or in a 
 treaty with the Ponca tribe of Indians, he could not 
 lawfully force the relators back to the Indian Territory 
 to remain and die in that country against their will. In 
 the absence of all treaty stipulations or laws of the 
 United States authorizing such removal, I must con 
 clude that no such arbitrary authority exists. It is 
 true, if the relators are to be regarded as a part of the 
 great nation of Ponca Indians, the government might, 
 in time of war, remove them to any place of safety so 
 long as the war should last, but perhaps no longer un 
 less they were charged with the commission of some 
 crime. This is a war power merely, and exists in time 
 of war only. Every nation exercises the right to ar 
 rest and detain an alien euQjny, during the existence of 
 a war, and all subjects or citizens of the hostile nations 
 are subject to be dealt with under this rule. But it is 
 not claimed that the Ponca tribe of Indians are at war 
 with the United States so that this war power might 
 be used against them. In fact they are amongst the 
 most peaceable and friendly of all the Indian tribes, and 
 have at times received from the government unmistaka 
 ble and substantial recognition of their long continued 
 friendship for the whites. In time of peace the war 
 power remains in abeyance, and must be subservient to 
 the civil authority of the government until something 
 
126 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 occurs to justify its exercise. No fact exists, and noth 
 ing has occurred, so far as the Delators are concerned, 
 to make it necessary or lawful to exercise such an au- 
 thorit3 r over them. If they could be removed to the 
 Indian Territory by force, and kept there in the same 
 wa} r , I can see no good reason why they might not be 
 taken and kept by force in the penitentiaiy at Lincoln, 
 or Leavenworth, or Jefferson City, or any other place 
 which the commander of the forces might, in his judg 
 ment, see proper to designate. I cannot think, and 
 will not believe, that any such arbitrary authority ex 
 ists in this country, and until the highest judicial 
 tribunal in this land shall otherwise determine, I shall 
 not be convinced that my conclusions are erroneous. 
 
 "I have not thought it necessary to consider tho 
 question of citizenship so ably presented on both sides, 
 and therefore express no opinion thereon. 
 
 " The reasoning advanced in support of my views, 
 leads me to conclude : 
 
 "First. That an Indian is a PERSON within the mean 
 ing of the laws of the United States, and has therefore 
 the right to sue out a writ of habeas corpus in a federal 
 court or before a federal judge, in all cases where he 
 may be confined, or in custody under color of authority 
 of the United States, or where he is restrained of lib 
 erty in violation of the constitution or laws of the Uni 
 ted States. 
 
 " Second. That General George Crook, the respondent, 
 being the commander of the military department of 
 the Platte, has the custody of the relators under color 
 of authority of the United States, and in violation of 
 the laws thereof. 
 
 " Third. That no rightful authority exists for remov-. 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 127 
 
 ing by force any of the relators to the Indian Territory, 
 as the respondent lias been directed'to do. 
 
 " Fourth. That the Indians possess the inherent right 
 of expatriation as well as the more fortunate white 
 race, and have the inalienable right to ' life, liberty and 
 the pursuit of happiness,' so long as they obey the laws 
 and do not trespass on forbidden ground. And 
 
 "Fifth. Being restrained of liberty under color of 
 authority of the United States, and in violation of the 
 laws thereof, the relators must be discharged from cus 
 tody, and it is so ordered." 
 
128 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE OEDEB OF EELEASE STANDING BEAE ? S FAEE- 
 
 WELL ADDEESSES. 
 
 A few days after the decision, Gen. Crook 
 received an order from the Secretary of War 
 ordering the discharge of Standing Bear and 
 his companions. The day before he was to 
 leave, the editor went out to bid him good-bye. 
 The old chief said he had something to say that 
 he did not wish anybody to hear. The editor, 
 Standing Bear and the interpreter went out on 
 a little hill to one side. There he spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 " When I was brought here a prisoner, my heart was 
 broken. I was in despair. I had no friend in all the 
 big world. Then you came. I told you the story of 
 my wrongs. From that time until now you have not 
 ceased to work for me. Sometimes, in the long days 
 while I have been here a prisoner, I have come out 
 here, and stood on this hill and looked towards the city. 
 I thought there is one man there who is writing or 
 speaking for me and my people. I remember the dark 
 day when you first came to speak to me. I know if it 
 
STANDING BEAR'S ADDRESSES. 129 
 
 had not been for what you have done for me I would 
 now be a prisoner in the Indian Territory, and many 
 of these who are with me here would have been in 
 their graves. It is only the kind treatment they have 
 received from the soldiers, and the medicine which the 
 army doctor has given them, which has saved their 
 lives. I owe all this to you. I can never pay you 
 for it. 
 
 "I have traveled around a good deal. I have noticed 
 that there are many changes in this world. You have 
 a good house now to live in. A little while ago I had 
 a house and land and stock. Now I have nothing. 
 It may be that some time you may have trouble. You 
 might lose your Louse. If you ever want a home 
 come to me or my tribe. You shall never want as 
 long as we have anything. All the tribe in the Indian 
 Territory will soon know what you have done. 
 While there is one Ponca alive you will never be 
 without a friend. Mr. Poppleton and Mr. Webster 
 are my friends. You are my brother." 
 
 The old chief then led the way to his lodge, 
 and opening a trunk, he took out a war-bonnet, 
 a tomahawk, and a pair of beaded buckskin 
 leggings. He said, "These leggings are for you, 
 the tomahawk for Mr. Webster, and the war- 
 bonnet for Mr. Poppleton. I wish you to take 
 them and tell them I sent them to them." 
 
 The editor suggested that he should go 
 down to the city and present them himself, which 
 he consented to do. The following is the ac- 
 
130 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 count of the presentation, published at the 
 time in the daily papers: 
 
 The decision of Judge Dundy, releasing Standing 
 Bear and his band to civilization went into effect on 
 Monday, May 19th, 1879, and they forthwith took their 
 departure for the locality which they have selected on 
 United States territory. On Sunday, the now liberated 
 chief visited the city, and called at Hie residences of 
 Hon. J. L. Webster, and Hon. A. J. Poppleton, to 
 whose vindication in the courts he owes his enfran 
 chisement, to express his gratitude by word and by deed. 
 Out of the poverty of his wordly possessions he gave 
 such visible token of his appreciation as he could, 
 while out of the wealth of his human soul, and out of 
 the fulness of his manly heart, he uttered sentiments 
 and expressed purposes which distinguish him as a 
 chief among ten thousand, and as a character dark 
 though his skin may be, " altogether lovely." He first 
 visited the residence of Mr. Webster, and to that gen 
 tleman he presented his tomahawk, bearing his 
 name. After shaking hands with all present, begin 
 ning with the ladies, to whom he said he wished first 
 to pay respect, he said, addressing Gen. Webster: 
 
 STANDING BEAR TO WEBSTER. 
 
 " You and I are here. Our skins are of a different 
 color, but God made us both. A little while ago, when 
 I was young, I was wild. I knew nothing of the ways 
 of the white people. 
 
 " I see you have nice houses here. 1 look at these 
 beautiful rooms ; I would like to have a house too, and 
 
STANDING BEAR'S ADDRESSES. 131 
 
 it may be after a while that I can get one, but not so 
 nice a house as this. That is what I want to do. 
 
 " For a great many years a hundred years or more 
 the white men have been driving us out. They :ire 
 shrewd, sharp and know how to cheat; but since I 
 have been here I have found them different. They 
 have all treated me kindly. I am very thankful for it. 
 
 "Hitherto, when we have been wronged we went to 
 war to assert our rights and avenge our wrongs. We 
 took the tomahawk. We had no law to punish those 
 who did wrong; so we took our tomahawks and went 
 to kill. If they had guns and could kill us first it was 
 the fate of war. 
 
 " But you have found a better way. You have gone 
 into the court for us, and I find that our wrongs can 
 be righted there. Now I have no more use for Hie toma 
 hawk. 1 want to lay it down forever." 
 
 Uttering these words with eloquent impressiveness, 
 the old chief stooping down, placed the tomahawk on 
 the floor at his feet then standing erect he folded his 
 arms with native dignity and continued: 
 
 "Hay it down; I have no more use for it; Iliave 
 found a better way." 
 
 Stooping again and taking up the weapon he placed 
 it in Mr. Webster's hands and said: 
 
 " I present it to you as a token of my gratitude. I 
 want you to keep it in remembrance of this great vic 
 tory which you have gained. 1 have no further use 
 for it; 1 can now seek the ways of peace." 
 
 " STANDING BEAK, I rejoice to know that you and 
 
132 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 those who are with you desire to become civilized, 
 and like the white people of America. We know that 
 for the last hundred years your tribe has always been 
 the friend and protector of the white people. The 
 ways of the whites may seem to you to be difficult, 
 and hard to learn. Our ancestors were born white, 
 while yours were born red; but a thousand years ago, 
 when they inhabited the central and northern portions 
 of Europe, they followed the same manner of life that 
 you have led. We have progressed slowly from that 
 time until we are now as you see us. I think it is the 
 duty of the government and all the people to aid the 
 friendly and peaceful Indians in every way possible to 
 acquire the arts of civilization. 
 
 "When the whites landed on these shores, they 
 found heve at least four millions of your people, and 
 now you are reduced to 250,000, and we have ab 
 sorbed nearly all your lands. I think it a duty we 
 owe to humanity and to God to extend to your people 
 the benefit and protection of our laws. What I have 
 done to relieve you from imprisonment and captivity 
 in the Indian Territory where, if you had returned 
 your whole band would have been exterminated 
 was from principle, and as a matter of justice. I 
 shall continue to fight your battles as long as it is 
 necessary to give you the protection of the laws, and I 
 rejoice to know that you have come to believe the 
 tomahawk is of no further service to you, and that 
 you have resolved to seek the ways of peace. I ac 
 cept the weapon from your hands, and shall preserve 
 it through the years to come, in memovy of the effort I 
 have made to prevent the extermination of your peo 
 ple. What I have done has been a labor of pleasure. 
 
STANDING BEAR RELEASED. 133 
 
 I hope you and those who are with you will live to 
 become happy and prosperous, and that any habits of 
 wild life which may still cling to you may drop off as 
 the blighted fruit falls from the trees when shaken by 
 the winds, and that ere long I may hear that you are 
 surrounded with all the comforts and blessings of civ 
 ilized life." 
 
 Leaving Mr. Webster's residence, Standing Bear 
 visited Mr. Poppleton's rooms. He informed Mr. 
 Poppleton that he was about to leave for the north, and 
 he thought he would call and bid him good-bye. 
 
 STANDING BEAR TO POPPLETON. 
 
 He said: "I believe I told you in the court room 
 that God made me and that I was a man. 
 
 "For many years we have been chased about as a 
 dog chases a wild beast. God sent you to help me. I 
 thank you for what you have done. 
 
 "I want to get my land back. That is what I long 
 for all the time. I wish to live there and be buried 
 with my fathers. 
 
 " When you were speaking in the court room of course 
 I could not understand, but I could sec that you were 
 trying very hard to release me. I think you are doing 
 for me and my people something, that never has been 
 done before. 
 
 " If I had to pay you for it, I could never get enough 
 to do it. I have here a relic which has come down to my 
 people through a great many generations. I do not 
 know how old it is; it may be two or three hundred 
 years old. I desire to present it to you for what you 
 have done for me." 
 
134 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 Mr. Poppleton, accepting the gift, said to Standing 
 Bear that he was more than repaid for what he may 
 have done, in the satisfaction he felt in having rescued 
 him and his people, and secured their rights to them; 
 and his satisfaction would be all the deeper should 
 they succeed in maintaining themselves in their new 
 relations and achieving the arts and the freedom and 
 peace of civilized life. 
 
 The keepsake given by the chief to the great attorney 
 is a rare gift, being esteemed the most sacred, as it is 
 the most venerable object in the possession of the 
 tribe. It resembles a wig, and was worn by the head 
 chief at their most weighty councils. Curiosity-hun 
 ters have often sought to secure it at any price in 
 money, but he has to one and all said that money could 
 not buy it. Among occasions on which it has been 
 worn was that of the first treaty in 1817, we believe 
 made between the Poncas and the government of the 
 United States. Standing Bear, who is himself sixty 
 years of age, informed us that when he was a little 
 boy his father told him that no one in the tribe knew 
 how old it was, and that it had come into their posses 
 sion in generations long past. 
 
THE PONCA CHIEFS. 135 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 SHORTLY after the habeas corpus case was 
 brought in Omaha, to secure the release of 
 Standing Bear and his associates, Bright Eyes, 
 and her father, Iron Eye, head chief for some 
 years of the Omaha tribe, were sent to the In 
 dian Territory to ascertain the condition of 
 the remainder of the Ponca tribe, who were 
 still held as prisoners in that land. While 
 there, Ke-tha-ska (White Eagle), head chief 
 of the tribe, dictated a letter to the people of 
 the United States, which has been pronounced 
 by Rev. Joseph Cook to be, in many passages, 
 as eloquent as the historic speech of Logan. The 
 letter is very long. The following are the 
 closing paragraphs: 
 
 " He had related at great length the dealings of the 
 chiefs with the agents of the government who came to 
 remove them from their lands in Dakota, and had 
 come to the point where the last peremptory order for 
 their departure had been given : 
 
136 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 THE STORY OF WHITE EAGLE. 
 
 "We then separated, and calling all the men of our 
 tribe together, I said to them, ' My people, we, your 
 chiefs, have worked hard to save you from this. We 
 have resisted until we are worn out, and now we know 
 not what more we can do. We leave the matter into 
 your hands to decide. If you say that we fight and 
 die on our lands, so be it.' There was utter silence. 
 Not a word more was spoken. We all arose and started 
 for our homes, and there we found that in our absence 
 the soldiers had collected all our women and children 
 together, and were standing guard over them. The 
 soldiers got on their horses, went to all the houses, 
 broke open our doors, took our household utensils, put 
 them in their wagons, and, pointing their bayonets at 
 our people, ordered them to move. They took all our 
 plows, mowers, hayforks, grindstones, farming imple 
 ments of all kinds, and everything too heavy to be 
 taken on a journey, and locked them up in a large 
 house. We never knew what became of them after 
 wards. Many of these things of which we were robbed 
 we had bought with money earned by the work of our 
 hands. They promised us more when we should get 
 down here, but we have never received anything in 
 place of them. 
 
 "We left in our own land two hundred and thirty-six 
 houses which we had built with our own hands. We 
 cut the logs, hauled them, and built them ourselves. 
 We have now, in place of them, six little shanties, 
 built for us by the government. These are one story 
 high, with two doors and two windows. They are full 
 of holes and cracks, and let in the wind and rain. We 
 
APPENDIX. 137 
 
 hear that our own houses which we left in Dakota 
 have all been pulled down. To show how much tho 
 tribe have been robbed of we will count the household 
 possessions of a single one of our families in Dakota 
 before we came down. Two stoves, one a kitchen 
 stove and the other a parlor stove, with all the accom 
 panying utensils, two bedsteads, two plows and one 
 double plow, one harrow, one spade, two hayforks, 
 one hand-saw, and one large two-handled saw, one 
 grindstone, one hay rake, a cupboard and four chairs. 
 We have now no stoves, chairs, or bedsteads. We 
 have nothing but our tents, and their contents, com 
 posed mostly of clothing. The tribe owned two reap 
 ers, eight mowers, a flour and saw mill. They are 
 gone from us also. We brought with us twenty-five 
 yoke of oxen. They all died when we got here, partly 
 from the effects of the toiisome journey, and partly by 
 disease. We have not one left. We brought with us 
 five hundred horses, and bought at different times 
 after we arrived two hundred more. We have now 
 been here about two years, and during that time we 
 have lost over six hundred, mostly by death; some 
 were stolen by bad men. We have now not one hun 
 dred left of the seven hundred. Our horses died either 
 from the effects of poisonous weeds or disease. The 
 tribe numbered seven hundred when we started. Since 
 we have been here over one hundred and fifty of my 
 people have died. 
 
 " When people lose what they hold dear to them the 
 heart cries all the time. I speak now to you lawyers 
 who have helped Standing Bear, and to those of you 
 who profess to be God's people. We had thought that 
 there were none to take pity on us and none to help 
 
138 THE PONCA CHIEFS 
 
 us. We thought all the white men hated us, but now 
 we have seen you take pity on Standing Bear when 
 you heard his story. It may be that you knew noth 
 ing of our wrongs, and, therefore, did not help us. I 
 thank you in the name of our people for what you 
 have done for us through your kindness to Standing 
 Bear, and I ask of you to go still further in your kind 
 ness and help us to regain our land and our rights. 
 You cannot bring our dead back to life, but you can 
 yet save the living. My heart thinks all the time of 
 our dead. I cry day and night for the men, women, 
 and children who have been killed by this land. My 
 eyes were heavy with weeping, but when I heard of 
 your kindness to some of my people I felt as if I might 
 raise my head and open my eyes to see the coming 
 light. I want to save the remainder of my people, 
 and I look to you for help. They cry for their land, 
 and I want to give them back that of which they were 
 robbed. 
 
 "When I went to see the President, and told him 
 how we had been wronged, he said that those who did 
 the deed were gone, and it was among the things of the 
 past. I now ask the President once again through this 
 message, which I send to all the white people of this 
 land, to rectify his mistake. When a man desires to 
 do what is right, he does not say to himself, 'It does 
 not matter/ when he commits a wrong. 
 
 his 
 
 " KHE-THA-SKA, X (White Eagle)." 
 mark. 
 
 EVIDENCE FROM OFFICIAL RECORDS. 
 
 All the statements of fact contained in this 
 
APPENDIX. 139 
 
 book are fully corroborated by the official re 
 ports of the Department of the Interior. The 
 following extracts give a condensed history of 
 the whole transaction. It is hardly likely that 
 any will be so bold as to say this evidence is 
 impeachable, whatever they may say of the 
 statements of the Indians themselves. 
 
 WHAT KIND OF INDIANS ABE THE PONCAST 
 
 "The Poncas are good Indians. In mental endow 
 ment, moral character, physical strength and cleanli 
 ness of person they are superior to any tribe I have 
 ever met." [Report of Indian Commissioner, 1878, 
 p. 65.J 
 
 THE PONCA TITLE. 
 
 "Article I. The Ponca tribe of Indians hereby cede 
 and relinquish to the United States all that portion of 
 their present reservation as described in the first article 
 of the treaty of March 12, 1858, lying west of the 
 range line between townships numbers thirty-two (32) 
 and thirty-three (33) north, ranges ten (10) and eleven 
 (11) west of the sixth (6) principal meridian, according 
 to the Kansas and Nebraska survey, estimated to con 
 tain thirty thousand acres, be the same more or less. 
 
 "Article II. In consideration of the cession or release 
 of that portion of the reservation above described by 
 the Ponca tribe of Indians to the government of the 
 United States, the government of the United States, 
 by way of rewarding them for their constant, fidelity 
 to the government and citizens thereof, and with a 
 view of returning to the said tribe of Ponca Indians 
 
140 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 their old burying-grounds and corn-fields, hereby cede 
 and relinquish to the tribe of Ponca Indians the follow 
 ing described fractional townships, to wit: (townships 
 described in treaty). But it is expressly understood 
 and agreed that the United States shall not be called 
 upon to satisfy or pay the claims of any settlers for 
 improvements upon the lands above ceded by the 
 United States to the Poncas, but the Ponca tribe of 
 Indians shall, out of their own funds, and at their own 
 expense, satisfy said claimants, should any be found 
 upon said lands above ceded by the United States to 
 the Ponca tribe of Indians." [United States Statutes at 
 large, vol. xiv, page 675.] 
 
 HOW THE PONCAS WERE REMOVED. 
 
 11 Steps are being taken for the removal of the Poncas 
 from their present location in Southeastern Dakota to 
 the Indian Territory. For this removal, conditioned 
 on the consent of the Poncas, Congress at its last 
 session appropriated $25,000." [Report of Indian 
 Commissioner, 1876, pp. 16, 17.] 
 
 DID THE PONCAS CONSENT? 
 
 "The title of the old Ponca reservation in Dakota 
 still remains in the Poncas, they having signed no pa 
 pers relinquishing their title, nor having violated any 
 of the provisions of the treaty by which it was ceded 
 to them by the government. These Indians claim that 
 the government had no right to remove them from 
 their reservation without first obtaining from them by 
 treaty or purchase the title which they have acquired 
 from the government, and for which they had rendered 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 a valuable consideration." [Report of Indian Commis 
 sioner, 1877, p. 101.] 
 
 " More than three-fourths of the tribe refused to 
 leave their old reservation in Dakota, stating, as re 
 ported to me, that they preferred to remain and die on 
 their native heath in defence of their homes, and what 
 they claimed to be their rights in the land composing 
 the reservation on which they were living, than to 
 leave there and die by disease in the unhealthy mias 
 matic country which they claimed had been selected 
 for them in the Indian Territory." [Report of Indian 
 Commissioner, 1877, p. 96.] 
 
 FATE OF NORTHERN INDIANS SENT TO INDIAN 
 TERRITORY. 
 
 " The effect of a radical change of climate is disas 
 trous, as this (the. Pawnee) tribe alone, in the first two 
 years, lost by death over 800 out of its number of 2,376. 
 The northern Cheyennes have suffered severely, and 
 the Poncas, who arrived there in July last, have al 
 ready lost 36 by death, which, by an ordinary compu 
 tation, would be the death rate for the entire tribe for 
 a period of four years. In this connection, I recom 
 mend the removal of all the Indians in Colorado and 
 Arizona to the Indian Territory. "^[E. A. Hayt, in In 
 dian Commissioner's Report, 1877, pp. 5, 6.] 
 
 WERE THE PONCAS WRONGED? 
 
 " In this removal, I am sorry to be compelled to say, 
 the Poncas were wronged. They gave up lands, houses, 
 and agricultural implements. But the removal inflicted 
 a far greater injury upon the Poncas, for which no 
 
142 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 reparation can be made the loss by death of many of 
 their number by change of climate." [Report of In 
 dian Commissioner, 1878, pp. xxxvi. and xxxvii.] 
 
 WHY IT WAS POSSIBLE TO COMMIT THIS WRONG. 
 
 " My predecessors have frequently called attention to 
 the startling fact that we have within our midst 275,000 
 people for whom we provide no law. " [Report of In 
 dian Commissioner, 1876, p. 9.] 
 
 THE COMMISSIONER'S CLAIMS TO ABSOLUTE POWEB 
 OVER INDIANS REGARDLESS OP COURTS. 
 
 i 
 
 " The Commissioner of Indian Affairs says with refer 
 ence to the habeas corpus case at Omaha, M'here a writ 
 was served on General Crook, commanding him to show 
 cause why he holds Standing Bear and other Ponca In 
 dians as prisoners, that the United States district-at 
 torney has been directed to appear for the United 
 States and endeavor to have the writ dismissed. He 
 takes the ground that under the law, and according to 
 repeated decisions of the Supreme Court, the Indians 
 stand as wards of the government, and are under the 
 same relations to the government as minors to their 
 parents or guardians; that the law forbids them to make 
 contracts, and such contracts if made by them are void. 
 No attorney has the right or can appear for an Indiao, 
 until authorized to do so by the Indian Department." 
 [Associated Press telegram, April 10, 1879.] 
 
APPENDX. . 143 
 
 INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 The Indians have been so long and so con 
 stantly misrepresented by those whose interest 
 it has been to rob them, and have had special 
 facilities for disseminating falsehoods concern 
 ing them, that it seems only appropriate to close 
 this little volume with some general statements 
 which are known to be true by all those ac 
 quainted with them. 
 
 In the first place there never was such a thing 
 as a nomadic tribe of American Indians. The 
 Indian is more strongly attached to the spot 
 where is located his village and graveyard than 
 any other human being. They have fought al 
 most to utter extermination, time and again, in 
 the hope of retaining their lands. 
 
 The idea that an Indian is naturally blood 
 thirsty and delights only in torture and 
 cruelty, is almost too absurd to deserve con 
 tradiction. When at peace there are no more 
 generous, kindly and sympathizing people on 
 the earth. It is, however, a fact that when they 
 go to war, they seek to exterminate their ene 
 mies, and in the rage of battle seldom spare age 
 or sex. 
 
144 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 It is also a fact, which no person desiring 
 the truth to be known will question, that for 
 the last fifteen or twenty years, in nearly 
 every prominent council which has been held 
 with the western Indians, they have earnestly 
 petitioned for schools and farming implements, 
 and many speeches are on record in the gov 
 ernment reports protesting against the issue 
 of rations. 
 
 Their leading and most intelligent chiefs 
 have said time and again, that as long as 
 rations and clothing were issued to a people 
 they would not work, and they desired the 
 rations stopped, and farming implements 
 issued and schools established in their stead. 
 Any one can arrive at a just conception of the 
 Indian who will take for his first premise, that 
 an Indian is a human being, subject to like pas 
 sions, desires and ambitions, and adopting the 
 same mode of reasoning, as the other por 
 tions of the human race would under similar 
 circumstances. 
 
 The prominent traits of Indian character 
 are honesty, generosity, gratitude, attachment 
 to home and country, and love of family and 
 friends. In speaking of one of their traits of 
 character, Gen. George Crook, Commander of 
 the Department of the Platte, says, " The Indian 
 
APPENDIX. 145 
 
 in his nature is in one respect the opposite of 
 the Chinaman. The latter is frugal, even to 
 abstemiousness, and economical to the verge of 
 parsimoniousness; the former frequently at 
 feasts and dances gives away the bulk of his 
 possessions to needy friends and relatives."* 
 The cause of all our troubles with them 
 
 s* 
 
 may be summed up in the words of the 
 closing paragraph of the above letter. These 
 words should command the attention of the 
 American people. Gen. Crook has been among 
 the Indians for nearly thirty years. He has 
 by force of character and honesty of purpose 
 in all his transactions risen from the rank of 
 Brevet Second Lieutenant to that of Brigadier- 
 General in the Army of the United States. 
 There is no man in America so well qualified 
 to speak upon the subject, and he says of the 
 Indian: 
 
 " When his horses and cattle arc big enough 
 to be of service, they are driven off in herds 
 by white renegades; when his wheat and corn 
 and vegetables are almost ready for the market, 
 his reservation is changed, and sometimes, as 
 in the case of the Poncas, he is compelled to 
 abandon everything. Were we to treat some 
 of our foreign immigrants in such a manner, 
 
 * See letter in New York Triirune, Oct. 16th, 1879. 
 
146 
 
 THE PONCA CHIEFS. 
 
 it would not take long to turn them into 
 prowling vagabonds, living by robbery and as 
 sassination." 
 
 Therefore the solution of the Indian prob 
 lem lies in these propositions: Acknowledge 
 their manhood and humanity, give them titles 
 in fee simple to their lands, non-transferraMe 
 for say twenty years, that tlfeir children may 
 become accustomed to their new life; stop the 
 issue of rations, issue to them farming imple 
 ments, live stock and seeds; extend over them 
 the common school system; protect them from 
 wrong by the regular processes of law; punish 
 the individuals among them who commit crime, 
 after fair trials in the courts, and not hold the 
 tribe responsible, make war and kill innocent 
 persons for the crimes of others; abolish the 
 traderships; let them sell their products where 
 they can get the best prices, and buy where 
 they can buy the cheapest. Then, being equal 
 before the Jaw, and their lives and property 
 protected by it, they will rapidly* advance, and 
 the Indian Bureau can close its accounts. 
 
 THE END. 
 
OPINION OF BOSTON^ MERCHANTS. 
 
 At a meeting held in the Merchants' Exchange, November 
 25, 1879, Mr. Edward Atkinson presented the following pre 
 amble and resolutions, which were unanimonsly adopted : 
 
 Whereas, The Ponca Indians, a civilized and peaceful tribe, 
 appear to have been unlawfully and unjustly deprived of their 
 lands, their houses, and their property, and have been banished 
 from their homes, where they were living in peace, in quiet, 
 in happiness and prosperity, to a distant land, unfitted to their 
 wants and unhealthy in its climate ; and 
 
 Whereas, This action on the part of our government is 
 unworthy of a Christian people, and merits the reprobation of 
 all who love justice and liberty and who hate oppression and 
 wrong, it is hereby 
 
 Resolved, That it is the duty of the government to accord to 
 these Indians their just and equal rights, and to restore to 
 them their homes and property. 
 
 Resolved, That, in the name of humanity and the high civili 
 zation that marks this age and ought to characterize this 
 people, we protest against the policy that has been adopted in 
 regard to the treatment of the Indian tribes ; a treatment alike 
 condemned by the justice of God and the laws and sentiments 
 of a Christian commonwealth. 
 
 Resolved, That, while expressing our abhorrence of the 
 cruelties to which the Ponca Indians have been subjected, im 
 mediate measures should be taken to secure for them their 
 legal rights and protection in their persons and property. 
 
 Resolved, That the Indians are persons, and, in accordance 
 with the fundamental provisions of the Constitution of the 
 United States, that no person within their limits shall be 
 deprived of l|fe, liberty, or property without due process of 
 law, should be recognized as such ; that they should be amen 
 able to law, and possess the rights that are accorded those of 
 every nationality, race, or color, residing in our land. 
 
All the profits accruing from the sale of 
 this book at public meetings, held in belialf of 
 the Indians, will be devoted to securing, 
 through the regular processes of the courts, 
 the recovery of the lands taken by force from 
 the Ponca Indians, and to settling the question, 
 by a decision of the highest legal tribunal of 
 the country, whether the life and property of 
 an Indian can be protected by law.