USA > North Dakota > Early history of North Dakota: essential outlines of American history > Part 31
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Father DeSmet, at a council, stated the object of his visit, and the Indians assured him they would provide for the "black gown" (priest) who might be sent to them. When he was yet a long distance off, the Flatheads sent an escort of warriors to protect him. They claimed that in a battle with the Blackfeet, in which sixty of their men were engaged five days, they killed fifty Blackfeet with- out losing one man; that the Great Spirit knew they were going to protect his messenger and so gave them power over their enemies.
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The trappers and traders had assembled in great numbers at the Green River rendezvous, where an altar was built on an elevation and surrounded with boughs and flowers, and mass was celebrated, a great number being present. After his address the Indians deliberated nearly an hour and then said, "Black Gown, the words of thy mouth have found their way to our hearts; they will never be for- gotten. Our country is open for thee. Teach us what we have to do to please the Great Spirit, and we will do according to your words."
On several occasions Father DeSmet visited the Dakota Indians, and the same cordial greeting was given him by all the tribes, regardless of their relations to each other. Their souls went out to him as the visible representative of the Great Spirit who had the power to quiet their troubled minds when in contact with them.
The story of the Shawnee prophet, an earlier Indian character, is told in a previous chapter in Part One and further information as to the christianizing of the Dakotas is related in connection with the Sioux massacre, after which the conquest of the Sioux was carried to Dakota soil.
Many of the missionary establishments that have spread and multiplied among the Sioux are the direct outgrowth of the labors of the pioneers, both men and women, herein mentioned. Alfred L. Riggs, the founder of the Santee Mission Training School at Santee, Nebraska, passed away on April 15, 1916, after forty-six years of successful work in the footsteps of his father, the noted translator.
From that inspiring hymn, "Onward, Christian Soldiers," written by S. Bar- ing-Gould (1865), the following lines are selected :
Like a mighty army Moves the Church of God; Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod; We are not divided, All one Body we, One in hope and doctrine, One in charity. Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before!
CHAPTER XVII
THE CONQUEST OF THE SIOUX-Continued
THE RELIGION OF THE DAKOTA INDIANS-THE GHOST DANCE-THE PROPHET OF THE DELAWARES-TAVIBO-SHORT BULL-KICKING BEAR-DEATH OF SITTING BULL-THE BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE-END OF THE GHOST DANCE CRAZE -- EVER PRESENT FEAR OF INDIANS AMONG THE PIONEERS-WOVOKA'S .GOLDEN RULE -FRONTIER HARDSHIPS-THE BLIZZARD-RED RIVER FLOODS-THE RODMAN WANAMAKER EXPEDITION.
"Thy spirit, Independence, let me share : Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye, Thy steps I follow with my bosom bare Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky." -Tobias Smollett (1721-1771), Ode to Independence.
"Hope springs eternal in the human breast." The Indians of America, no less than the white men of Europe, and the brown men of Asia, have had many prophets and messiahs, who have taught them in spiritual things.
Among the Indian teachers, one of the most noted was the prophet of the Delawares, who claimed to have visions in which he received instructions from the Master of Life, who taught a return to the simple life of the red man as the only avenue to Indian happiness. His followers were required to give up all they had acquired from the white men and return to the fire sticks and bows and arrows of their fathers, when it would be possible for them to organize and drive away the white men who were encroaching upon them.
The story of the Shawnee prophet has already been given in these pages.
Born during this period of excitement another Indian prophet appeared in Nevada, Tavibo, said to have been the father of the Indian messiah of 1890. He taught the resurrection of the dead and restoration of the game and the disap- pearance of the whites, leaving their effects and improvements to be enjoyed by the Indians.
To bring about these results it was taught that there must be obedience to the ten commandments, and in addition they must cease using intoxicating liquors and refrain from gambling and horse racing. The propaganda was carried on secretly, and it was accompanied by a dance, which was the forerunner of the ghost dance. Since 1871 there have been other messiahs, all teaching substan- tially the same thing, their highest hopes being centered on the return of the game, and the disappearance of the whites, when the Indian should again enter on the life enjoyed by their fathers.
When Tavibo died, in 1870, he left a son, Wovoka, then fourteen years of age, who had been reared in the land of his father, Mason Valley, Nevada, and who
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dreamed his dreams, and as he says when the sun died, meaning an eclipse, he went up into heaven and saw God and all of the people who died long ago, and returning from his sleep he told his people what he had seen and heard, and his fame went out to all Indian lands, and the tribes sent their wise men to see and know of him. Dakota sent its representatives and the delegates declared that each one, though of different tribes and language, heard Wovoka in his own tongue. And Wovoka told them that they must not hurt anyone or do any harm to any- one; that they must not fight and must always do right for it would give them much satisfaction ; that they must not tell any lies or refuse to work for the whites or make any trouble for them; that when their friends die they must not cry. He charged them that they must not tell the white people but that the son of God had returned to the earth; that the dead were alive and there would be no more sickness, and everyone would be young again; this might be in the fall or in the spring, he could not tell, but they must dance every six weeks, every night for four nights and the fifth night till morning. Then they must bathe in the river and go home, and when they danced they must make a feast and have food that everyone might eat. And he gave them some new food and some sacred paint, and promised that he would come to them sometime.
And thus equipped the wise men of the tribes returned to their people to teach the return of the ghosts and inaugurate the ghost dance. For the ghosts were coming and they were driving before them vast herds of antelope and buffalo and other game.
One of the Indians who was present at the Mason Valley conference with Wovoka said of the meeting :
"Heap talk all the time. Indians hear all about it everywhere, Indians come from long way off to hear him. They come from east; they make signs. All Indians must dance, everywhere keep on dancing. Pretty soon Big Man come. He bring back all game, of every kind, the game being thick everywhere. All dead Indians come back and live again. They all be strong, just like young Indians and have fine time. When Old Man come this way then all Indians go to the moutains, high up away from the whites. Whites can't hurt Indians then. Then while Indians go way up high big flood come and all white people get drowned. After that water go away, then nobody but Indians everywhere, all kinds of game thick. Indians who don't dance, who do not believe this word, will grow little, just about a foot high and stay that way. Some will be turned into wood and will be burned in fire."
The returning delegates brought this new religion to the Dakota Indians in the winter of 1889 and 1890. Sitting Bull was its chief exponent at Standing Rock. Kicking Bull and Big Foot were at the Sheyenne Agency and Short Bull was the demonstrator at the Rosebud. Short Bull had visited Wovoka; he had touched the hand of the Messiah; had received from him the holy bread and the sacred paint and had listened to his words; he had received messages through him from his friends in spirit-land and had been told of their homes and their employments, and of the vast herds of buffalo and other game and had been assured that the day was soon coming when there would no longer be any whites to make theni afraid. He told the Indians that they were living the sacred life; that the soldiers' guns were the only thing of which they were afraid, but these belonged to their father in heaven, and they should no longer fear the soldiers.
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He said: "If the soldiers surround you four deep, three of you on whom I have placed the holy shirt, shall sing a song which I have taught you, passing around them, when someone will fall dead. The others will start to run, but their horses will sink. The riders will jump from their horses and they will sink also. Then you can do to them as you desire. Now you must know this that all of the race will be dead, there will be only 5,000 living on earth." He urged that they should dance and be prepared for the time when these things should come.
And thus they were prepared for the events of 1890. The agent at Pine Ridge was frantic with fear. He telegraphed every day for troops. In August, 1890, 2,000 Indians met for the dance near Pine Ridge Agency and refused to give it up when ordered by the agent to stop. They leveled their guns, threaten- ing armed resistance to any interference. At the mere rumor of coming soldiers they fled to the Bad Lands, where they were joined by malcontents from other agencies. Short Bull at the Rosebud and Big Foot at the Sheyenne, also persisted in the dance.
October 9, 1890, a party of Indians under Kicking Bear left the Sheyenne Agency to visit Sitting Bull. He had invited them to visit him at his camp on the Grand River to inaugurate the ghost dance there. The dance had begun at Sheyenne River in September.
Sitting Bull's heart was bad. He had broken the pipe of peace which had hung on his cabin wall since his surrender in 1881, declaring that he wanted to fight, and that he wanted to die. He had ceased to visit the agency. As a young man he refused to live at the agencies. He had spent the summers on the plains and the winters in the Bad Lands, or mountains, or in the timber on the Mouse River. Though a medicine man rather than a warrior, he had great influence with the Indians, drawing them to him and wielding them and the malcontents of almost every tribe against the whites.
Agent James McLaughlin, of the Standing Rock Agency, visited Sitting Bull's camp to induce him to return to the agency but he failed and the dance went on. Col. William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) was employed by the Indian office at Wash- ington to go to his camp, in the hope that he could influence him, but without avail. Major McLaughlin, who had succeeded much better than the other agents in controlling the Indians under his charge, advised against Sitting Bull's arrest at that time, lest it should lead to an outbreak, but his arrest had been determined upon by the Indian office. It was known that he intended to join the malcontents at the Pine Ridge Agency and that he had been invited to come there for "God was about to appear." He had asked permission to go but had prepared to go without permission. So on September 14, 1890, it was determined to make the arrest without further delay. There were some forty Indian police available and two companies of military, by forced marching from Fort Yates, were placed in supporting distance.
Sitting Bull's arrest was made December 15, 1890, but the police were imme- diately surrounded by one hundred and fifty or more of his friends on whom he called to rescue him. Whereupon they rushed upon the police and engaged in a hand-to-hand battle. One of Sitting Bull's followers shot Lieut. Bull Head, the officer in command of the Indian police, in the side. Bull Head turned and shot Sitting Bull, who was also shot at the same time by Sergt. Red Tomahawk. Sergt. Shave Head was also shot. Catch the Bear, of Sitting Bull's party, who
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fired the first shot, was killed by Alone Man, one of the Indian police. There were eight of Sitting Bull's party killed, including himself and his seventeen-year- old son. The Indian police lost six killed or mortally wounded. Most of Sitting Bull's followers joined the Indians in the Bad Lands.
BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE
December 29, under the humane and fearless work of the military officers, most of the Indians who fled to the Bad Lands on the approach of the military had been induced to return to their agencies.
Big Foot's band and a few of Sitting Bull's Indians only remained in the field. Big Foot had agreed to surrender. He was ill with pneumonia, and the army physician had made him comfortable in his tepee. The pipe of peace hung on the center pole of his lodge. A white flag floated from the middle of his camp in token of his surrender. The women and children stood about the doors of the tepees, watching the soldiers in their camp, without thought of harm. The camps of the soldiers entirely surrounded the Indian camp. The military officers had demanded the surrender of the Indians' guns, in order to remove the tempta- tion of another uprising, and had promised food and clothing, and transporta- tion for their return to their respective agencies. A group of soldiers stood near the tepee of Big Foot. The Indians had been requested to come out of their tepees and deliver their arms. About twenty worthless pieces had been surrendered, while fully two hundred were known to be in their possession. A party of soldiers were searching the tepees for more arms. There was a growing feeling of anger among the Indians. Yellow Bird was circling about the camp, incessantly blow- ing a whistle made from an eagle bone, and urging the Indians to resist, possibly reminding them of the promise to Short Bull that someone should fall dead and the soldiers would be in their power. Presently he ceased blowing the eagle bone and threw a handful of dust into the air. At that moment Black Fox, a young Indian from the Sheyenne Agency, fired on the soldiers, who instantly responded with a volley at such close range that their guns almost touched the Indians, many of whom fell dead or wounded. Their survivors sprang to their assistance and a hand-to-hand struggle followed. Nearly all the Indians had knives, some warclubs, and many had guns hid under their blankets, prepared for just such an event. While the hand-to-hand struggle was going on about the tepee of Big Foot, the artillery opened on the Indian camp. There was the white puff of smoke, the roar of cannon, the shriek of shot and shell, the rattle of musketry, and the screams of women and children, as they fled to the prairie for safety, followed by volleys of musketry, and the dash of cavalry, cutting them down regardless of age or sex.
In but a few moments 200 Indians and sixty soldiers lay dead or wounded upon the battlefield. Big Foot lay dead in his tepee. The men were mostly killed about his skin covered tent, the women and children were nearly all killed in flight, their bodies being scattered over the prairies for a distance of two miles or more. After the battle a gentle snow fell, spreading a mantle of white over the bloody scene. Many of the Indians wounded were frozen or perished in the blizzard which followed. Two babes were found alive among the dead on the third day after the battle and were reared and educated by white officers.
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The Indian dead were buried in a single trench. The Indians built a fence around the grave, smearing the posts with sacred paint from the hand of the Messiah. Among the soldier dead were Capt. George D. Wallace and thirty-one of the gallant Seventh Cavalry. Lieut. Ernest A. Garlington and Lieut. Harry L. Hawthorne were among the wounded.
The first troops arrived at Pine Ridge November 19, 1890. Gen. Nelson A. Miles was in command of the campaign. Some three thousand troops were sta- tioned at various points in the Indian country. Upon the first approach of the troops most of the Indians fled to the Bad Lands, carrying away part of the agency herd of cattle, and destroying their own homes and the homes of those who were not in sympathy with them. Under the pacific work of General Miles and his officers, most of the Indians had been induced to return to their respective agencies, and in a few hours more, at most, it was expected the ghost dance uprising would be over without a single depredation upon the whites.
After the battle of Wounded Knee 4,000 Indians immediately took the war- path. The agency was attacked and serious loss was likely to result both to the whites and to the Indians, but wiser counsels prevailed and on January 12, 1891, the hostiles surrendered to General Miles and the ghost dance war was over. The Indians gave up their arms and returned to their agencies. Kicking Bear and Short Bull voluntarily surrendered and were sent to Camp Sheridan, until all fear of trouble was over.
There was nothing in the teachings of Wovoka that necessarily led to war. "Do right always and do no harm to any one" was the golden rule laid down by him, and it is quite equal to that of Jesus, "Do unto others as you would be done by," or the older rule of the Chinese teacher, "Do not unto others that which you would not have them do unto you." The Indians were doing no harm in their dances. True, they were expecting much and hoping for it soon, but when the spring time passed and the summer faded and the chilly blasts of autumn were again upon them and the ghosts and the game came not, their good sense would have returned and the excitement would have died out as the fires lighted under the inspiration of a former Messiah flickered and died.
Had the advice of Major McLaughlin and General Miles been accepted, or had the matter been left entirely in their hands, there would have been no blood- shed. It was the frantic appeals of the agent at Pine Ridge that brought the military. Their coming resulted in a stampede of the Indians to the Bad Lands. The foolish conduct of Yellow Bird and Black Fox brought on the wholly unpre- meditated battle of Wounded Knee. They struck the match that kindled the flame of battle.
But the surrender of January 12, 1891, came very near not being the end. The Indians were quiet in their homes near the agency. Their ponies, except a few held in camp for emergency, were grazing on the buffalo-grass-covered plains near by. There was activity in the military camp. The Indian sentinels signaled their chief and the Indian camp was in turmoil. There was instant preparation for battle and for fight. "Boots and saddles" and the "assembly" sounded in the military camp and cavalry and infantry moved into place for the march. General Miles had sent a messenger to the Indians to assure them; but still they were afraid, and the rumor flew that all of the women and children were to be mas- sacred, as those were who were at Wounded Knee. A single shot from foolish
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Indian or careless soldier there, would have added another bloody page. But there was none. The troops took up their line of march and the Indian country was again without soldiers to make the red men afraid.
In the hearts of the Indian the principles taught by Wovoka live. The hope that the dead and the game may return, no longer exists, at least they are not expected in the spring, nor when the prairie chicken begins to fly, nor when the berries are ripe in autumn. The pipe of peace hangs on the cabin wall, and emblazoned on their hearts is the motto: "Do not fight. Do right always and do no harm to anyone." Hungry sometimes. But they are learning that the Great Spirit will listen to the music of the plow and the hoe and supply their wants, and they know that the sunshine and grass never fail, and that the cattle can take the place of the buffalo.
FRONTIER HARDSHIPS
The hardships of frontier days were many. There was the constant dread of Indian attack, and the knowledge that the apparently friendly Indian was bound by the regulations of his tribe; that the soldier's lodge, or warriors in council, governed. There was no certain protection unless backed by force and a will to direct it.
There was lack of food for weeks and months at a time and lack of proper clothing. There was danger from wild animals and from storms. In the Red River Valley after the grasshopper raid of 1818 the country was left barren of seed, and Selkirk sent an expedition overland to Prairie du Chien to obtain a sup- ply at an expense of some six thousand dollars. The expedition left Prairie du Chien April 15, 1820, with three Mackinaws loaded with 200 bushels of wheat, 100 bushels of oats and 30 bushels of peas. They passed up the Mississippi River to the Minnesota, up the Minnesota to Big Stone Lake, and then by means of rollers under their boats made a portage of 11/2 miles into Lake Traverse, then into the Bois de Sioux and thence into the Red River, arriving at Pembina June 3d. all of the way from Prairie du Chien by water excepting 11/2 miles. Only that difference between the waters emptying into the Gulf of Mexico and those wending their way to Hudson Bay. There were five weeks in 1852 when there was uninterrupted canoe communication between the Red River and the Minne- sota, and boats actually made the trip from Pembina to St. Paul.
As to the conditions that year at Pembina we have the testimony of Charles Cavileer, the collector at Pembina. There were no herds of lowing kine and no fields of waving grain. There was the trader's store at Pembina, the United States Customs Office and some seven buildings pertaining to the trading post. There were several half-breed families in the vicinity.
Cavileer and a companion were in the cock-loft of the custom house where they were confined during the flood, excepting as they got out in boats. Cavileer said: "In this loft with one companion I spent over five weeks surrounded by water over five feet deep, extending from the River O'Maris to the Minnesota Ridge. There was thirty miles of open sea. One night it blew a furious gale. The waves rolled over the roof and every moment we expected the frail build- ing to go over, but we were saved by being in the lee of the Kittson buildings. There were seven of these arranged in an L shape made of heavy oak logs. Some- Vol. I-17
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times we went visiting, returning in our canoes the visits of the fair maidens to our bachelor quarters, and sometimes we went hunting ducks and geese by rowing around among the timber, and had much success in hunting duck eggs among the driftwood. Notwithstanding the flood, we literally feasted on the fat of the land." Cavileer insisted that he never had so much fun in his life as he had during those five weeks. Conditions had changed some, however, prior to the latest flood of 1897, when canoeing was not so pleasant a pastime in the streets of some of the Red River Valley cities. There were floods also in 1828, 1861, 1873 and 1882. Surveys have recently been made with a view to Government action toward relieving the valley from the disastrous effects of these floods, which are not as severe, however, as they were in the early days.
And there were blizzards, too, in those days. General Fremont speaks of one that came up during his explorations. The word blizzard was not used until after the war in connection with these storms. They were known as nor-westers. Rosecrans used to say "fire low, boys, give them a blizzard in the shins," when resisting the charge of the enemy. A shower of shot and shell might be more terrific to meet than a storm driving particles of ice at forty to sixty miles an hour, as the blizzard does, but the blizzard is bad enough.
Fortunately these storms were not frequent and are in a great measure dis- appearing before the development of the country, even though callow youths and tenderfeet are inclined to give the name to every winter storm. There was a blizzard which prevailed for three days in February, 1866. In December, 1867, there was another. Hon. Donald Stevenson had forty-five wagons drawn by oxen loaded with supplies for Fort Ransom. They had left St. Cloud and had reached their destination and were on their return trip. Stevenson followed them by stage. He was approaching Fort Abercrombie, or rather nearing the dinner sta- tion east of Abercrombie, when the storm came upon them. A fine mist came creeping over the prairie. They knew too well what was coming. Before they could button down the flaps on the stage the storm was upon them in all its fury. It was striking the driver and team fairly in the face, blinding them. It was with the utmost difficulty that the team could be kept facing the storm. Every few moments one from the stage would be obliged to get out and help remove the icicles which were closing the eyes of the driver. A building could not have been distinguished five feet ahead of the team or on either side of it. The beaten road was hard and by instinct the horses sprang back to that when their feet touched the soft snow. Finally the team stopped and refused to go any further. They were at the door of the dinner station. It was the third day before Mr. Stevenson was able to reach his train. Twenty-one of his oxen had perished. Several of the wagons were literally buried and five of them were left until spring. Several of the men had been fifty hours in the storm without food. On the way to the train Stevenson found two men from a Fort Ransom dog train carrying the mail, sitting against a tree, where they had taken refuge, frozen to death. A third was found unconscious in the snow. He was taken to the station and his life was saved, but not his fingers and toes. When Stevenson undertook to relieve the dogs on their sledge one of them in his frenzy sprang at his throat. There was another fearful blizzard in 1873. For three days there was no com- munication between St. Paul and Minneapolis. Not a soul passed between the two places. There were no telephones then and the telegraph wires were down
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