History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 89

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

USA > South Dakota > History of Dakota Territory, volume I > Part 89

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

511

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

and no further effort was even made to revive the ignoble and unpatriotic measure.

In connection with this bill for the abolition of Dakota Territory, the follow- ing remarks on the subject of the integrity of territorial governments, Dakota in particular, were submitted to the House on the 22d of February, 1869, by Hon. Walter .A. Burleigh, who was the delegate from Dakota Territory at that time :

Mr. Speaker: In presenting the memorials and remonstrances of the citizens of Dakota against the passage of the bill reported to this House by the chairman of the Committee on Territories, which provides for the immediate destruction of Dakota and contemplates the annihilation of Utah at an early day, I will say that, in my judgment, it is one of the most unjust and impolitic measures that has ever been reported by a committee for the considera- tion of Congress. Unwise in its inception, as it will be found cruel and oppressive in its operation towards the people of the territories, I think this House cannot fail to see-what I know to be true-that its inevitable tendency will be the destruction of all confidence in the future action of Congress, by rendering insecure the rights and privileges of our citizens after having been guaranteed by organic laws. None of the rights and immunities which Congress guaranteed to the people of Dakota when it gave to them a territorial organiza- tion: none of the privileges which they acquired under their organic law, or which have been conferred upon them by local legislation had in conformity to that law, are by this bill respected in the slightest degree : on the contrary, they are utterly ignored, while the honor- able chairman of the Committee on Territories, for himself and his colleagues, in the blandest and most deliberate manner, proposes to reduce to a state of vassalage the whole population of a great territory, in extent four times as large as the State of Ohio, by this most extraordinary and despotic act. Ilas it really come to this, that Congress will allow any one man to arrogate to himself and exercise the high prerogative of devising schemes for changing the boundaries of sovereign states and annihilating the great territorial organi- zations of the country at his own imperious will and pleasure? When before in the history of our national legislation has anything of this character been undertaken or thought of even ? Never. So far from it. the boast of the American citizen has ever been that the safeguards of liberty are the common inheritance of all, the weak as well as the strong, the poor as well as the rich.

In 1861 the Territory of Dakota was organized by a solemn act of Congress. Emi- gration was invited there by that act. From almost every state in the Union people flocked to that new territory, settled upon its fertile lands, established their homes, and became law-abiding citizens. The Government guaranteed them protection ; they in return rendered to the Government a loyal obedience. Owing to the distracted condition of the country and to the almost continuous Indian wars which raged within our borders, our growth was slow. but steady and permanent. Our Legislature met, and in strict conformity with the organic law which Congress gave us, we established our courts of justice. located our capital. and erected our public buildings by private enterprise, for Congress refused to build them for us as had been done for other territories, we believing that the plighted faith of this Gov- ernment was a reality and not a mere myth. But, sir, how great is our disappointment! We are met here today, after having removed to these territories with our families and property. after having spent years of toil there, and suffered privation and want, and are stunned by the heartless proposition of the gentleman from Ohio, which proposes nothing less than the utter annihilation of our territorial organizations, the bankruptcy of our most enterprising citizens, and blasting of all our bright hopes of the future. These will be the inevitable consequences of the passage of this bill so far as Dakota is concerned.

By the organic act of March 2. 1861, creating the territorial government of Dakota, Congress provided for a republican form of government, having all the guarantees of the Federal Constitution and of said organic act. The Legislative Assembly had power under the twelfth section of said act "to locate and establish the seat of government for said territory." and it was located and established at Yankton in the spring of 1861-a point most eligible for such purpose. The government for the territory thus authorized became fully organized in the year 1861. and the citizens of other states emigrated to the new territory in large numbers upon the faith of the organic act. Then they purchased lands and erected build ings, imported flocks and herds, put up large and valuable improvements at Yankton. the capital, for the use of the federal officers and the Legislative Assembly. The people who came into the territory established their homes and made improvements with especial refer- ence to the location of the capital. the establishment of the territorial roads and highways. and the location of a railroad from Yankton to Sioux City, connecting with all the lines north of the Ohio River leading to the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The population of Dakota has now reached more than twenty thousand souls, and the vahic of their improve- ments and property of all kinds amounts to many millions of dollars. The value of the buildings and much of the real estate depends upon the continuance and preservation of the territorial government under its organic act until the people shall apply to become a state : and all the improvements in the territory were made upon the faith of the express declara- tion and promise on the part of the Federal Government that the people should be guaran- leed a republican form of government, with a fixed capital, established roads, highways,

512

IHISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

schools, and other advantages arising from a government of the people under said organic act and the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Whether it be considered by this House good law or not, I accept as good common sense the principle that this organic act, connected with the settlement of a considerable portion of the territory and the full organization of the government under it, creates a sol- emn compact between the United States and the people of Dakota that they shall be protected in the peaceful enjoyment of that government so established until Dakota becomes a state of this Union. To destroy that government and annihilate Dakota by attaching a portion of its lands and people to Nebraska, and another portion of its lands and people to Minne- sota, would be as great a political outrage as the partition of Poland. Pass this bill, and at one blow 50 per cent in value of all their improvements would be lost, and the people would be subjected to state taxation by two states for debts which they had no voice in contracting. To what end had these pioneers on the outposts of civilization fought the savages, the wild beasts, and endured all the hardships of such a life, if the plighted faith of the Government is to be broken, as this bill proposes, and they are to be transferred as vassals and serfs to other state governments without their consent ?

When Congress passed that organic act and opened up Dakota's broad prairies to settle- ment, it extended a free and general invitation to the people of all the states and territories "to go in and possess the land." With that invitation the Federal Government guaranteed full and ample protection of life, liberty and property to every law-abiding citizen who should go there. There was an implied and an express contract entered into on the part of the United States with the citizens of Dakota that they should be protected in the enjoyment of every privilege, in the free exercise of every civil and political right, among the chief of which was the form of government created by the organic law. The people of Dakota have performed and fulfilled all the duties and conditions imposed upon them by this organic act ; their rights have become vested and perfected under the common assent of all departments of the Government, and ever since the creation of the Federal Constitution there is not to be found a single instance of the destruction of an organized territorial government by act of Congress. From these territorial governments all of our states, except the original thir- teen, have sprung, and the assent of all administrations for eighty-five years past, and of every Congress since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, in this uniform process of creating territorial governments that afterward became states, is conclusive against the nefarious object and design of this bill, to inaugurate a plan for the destruction of govern- ments without the consent of the people, who are the only true source of political power. What necessity is there for this assault upon the people of Dakota? Who asks for it? No one except the Committee on Territories in this house. No one is to be benefited by it. Why, then, is the national faith to be broken, this Congress to be dishonored, and the people of that territory to be beggared, as will be the case if this bill becomes a law? The people of the territories which this bill seeks to destroy do not ask for this unprecedented legisla- tion, nor do the states to which the dissevered and mutilated fragments are to be attached ask for it. It comes in here upon the sole motion of the honorable chairman of the Com- mittee on Territories, who insists that the sins of the inhabitants of Utah, like the blood of murdered Abel, "cryeth unto him from the ground" for vengeance, and that Utah must be wiped out from the map of the nation on account of the sinful practices of its people and the anti-republican teachings of its prophets. But, sir, the destruction of Utah is not a sufficient sacrifice ; it is too small a sin offering for the cause and the occasion. The close of the gentleman's term of most valuable and meritorious service in this House is too important an event to be allowed to pass unnoticed and unchronicled. With Utah, Dakota also is marked for destruction, for annihilation. This great territory of more than one hundred and seventy thousand square miles is to be blotted from the map of the nation. Not, how- ever, for sins committed or sins conceived, not for anti-republican teachings or anti-republi- can tendencies, but for the all-important and vital purpose of making a prettier national map, just to please the scholars, and perhaps for the further purpose of turning over to Nebraska that portion of the territory lying south of the Missouri River which has recently been set apart for the use of the Sioux Indians, whose presence will require large supplies and heavy disbursements of money. It is not to be suspected that the remote prospect of a seat in the United States Senate from an adjacent territory has had anything to do with this plan to destroy Dakota and enlarge the boundaries of Montana and Wyoming. But wherein is the beauty of the national map improved even? Look at it and you will find its boundary lines extended, with all the angles, triangles and distortions that the science of geometry can devise. The sutures of a monkey's cranium are symmetrical when compared with them, while its improvement is as difficult to comprehend as is the wisdom or justice of the measure here proposed. What a luminous ideal. How pregnant with every principle of profound statesmanship is his wonderful conception of territorial reform. Does any person regard the necessity of a pretty map with beautiful lines and multitudinous angles as paramount to the maintenance of national faith in standing by the guarantees of protection to life, liberty, and property which this Government has pledged to the citizens, or for a moment suppose that by congressional action vice can be eradicated from the nation, or from a state, or from a territory even? As well might you attempt to legislate the sun from the heavens or banish from the hearts of men by legislative power their natural fondness for the fair sex-a slight excess of which appears to be the sole cause of Utah's present discomfiture. There must be

----

513

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

some other cause for this extraordinary proceeding, although I am compelled to admit that I have failed to discover it. It cannot be supposed that political combinations are being made by which new capitals are to supersede old ones regardless of the interests and without a word of consultation with the parties for whom Congress has already conceded this right.

But, sir, if the reasons which have been urged by the gentleman for the dismemberment of Dakota are valid and worthy the consideration of this Congress, why, I ask, have they been allowed to slumber so long? Why were they not urged at the time of its territorial organization? If they really exist now with our rapidly increasing population, accumulated wealth and multitudinous interests, how much more did they exist then? With how much more force and propriety might they have been pressed before the Congress of the nation breathed into its organization the breath of political life? Why this strange and unparalleled neglect in the discharge of this great public duty by the honorable chairman of the Committee oni Territories ? Hlas it not been his special province for many years past, rather, to care for the feeble, uphold the weak, and wait upon the great mother of territories and states, to sit by her bedside during the tedious hours of travail and administer to her his own favorite "maternal relief" as she brought forth these children of promise, two of whom the venerable accoucheur now desires Congress to slaughter, cut up, and throw their mutilated remains to two older and two younger members of the same family.

Is there any good reason for the extraordinary action here proposed? Is there anything unnatural? Is there any deformity in the case of these two offsprings of one common parent, both of whom have grown up under the scrutinizing eye and nursing care of the gentleman from Ohio? Does their vigorous youth in any way threaten the safety of our national family, its prosperity, or the extension of its power? Nothing of the kind is pre- tended, and I entreat him to exercise those parental virtues, patience, forbearance and nurs- ing care which will do much toward removing the evils complained of, to abandon his rash design, to stay his "uplifted hand and outstretched arm," and not strike the murderous blow which he has so deliberately aimed at these two children of the great mother of states.

But, sir, if the inhabitants of Utah have sinned by adopting the patriarchal custom of polygamy, which is in opposition to the civilized and Christian system of monogamy, and if this alleged sin can only be expiated by depriving that territory of political life, I must solemnly protest, in the name of the loyal and free people of Dakota, in the name of my country, whose honor it seeks to destroy, against the right of this Congress or any other power beneath God's shining sun, to impute to them the crimes of the polygamists of which they are not guilty, or to punish them for transgressions which they have never committed. A more loyal, patriotic and law-abiding people than my constituents of Dakota cannot be found in the Union. During the late war they gave as large a proportion of their male population to the Union cause as any other territory. They organized their own troops to protect the inhab- itants of Dakota and the frontiers of Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota, from Indian depreda- tions. They pursued a policy so wise and conciliatory toward the Indian tribes as to enable them to organize and equip a considerable Indian force that has always proved faithful and efficient in defense of the inhabitants of that territory against the hostile Indian tribes sur- rounding it. They challenge the scrutiny of the Committee on Territories in regard to the faithful manner in which the territorial government of Dakota has been administered. For economy, efficiency, and just policy, I know of no better example in the republic. While the whole southwestern and southern portion of our domain is in a blaze of Indian war that is costing the nation at the rate of $40,000,000 a year, peace and tranquillity reign uninterruptedly throughout Dakota under the wise and conciliatory policy pursued by her people in their dealings with the savages.

And now, sir, I appeal to this honorable body and ask if you will sanction, by your approval, a measure so fraught with injustice, bad faith, illegal and unconstitutional oppres- sion and wrong as this bill? If the principles of justice and equity yet linger within this legislative hall, where the representatives of the people meet and exercise the sovereign power of this nation; if the binding force of the official oath still retains its solemn obliga- tions ; if, while so much time is spent in reconstructing states, it would be unwise to inaugurate a system for the destruction of organized territories, I ask that you will withhold your approval from this measure, so fraught with ruin, disaster and oppression to the loyal people of Dakota, whose vested rights and political existence it aims to destroy.

BURLEIGHt'S VIEWS ON THE CONDUCT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

The reader of this book has become somewhat acquainted with Hon. Walter A. Burleigh, the most prominent and for a time the most influential citizen in the affairs of the territory. He has been seen as an Indian agent. a citizen, a man of affairs, a politician, a philanthropist, and a delegate in Congress, but he has not revealed himself in his public addresses. Mr. Burleigh, while he did not excel as an orator, was an interesting speaker and spoke frequently during the political campaigns of his day at the different centers of population in the territory, but no record was made of his speeches. He never failed to have a numerous audience. Vol. 1-33

514

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

An occasion, however, when he was at liberty to express his views on the Indian policy of the Government, while holding his seat as delegate to Congress in the closing days of the session of 1868-69, came up in the House on February 9th, the Indian appropriation bill being under consideration, and the contest outside as well as inside of Congress, at that time being between the advocates of the "peace policy," so-called, and their opponents, the army policy defenders (though both factions were the avowed friends of peace, but differed radically in their methods of securing it ).

Mr. Burleigh was entitled from experience and from study to speak somewhat authoritatively on this subject. It is due to him and to the untutored people whose welfare he was untiring in promoting that his views regarding the Indian policy should be understood by the people of Dakota whom he represented. His remarks on this subject were made in the House, February 27, 1869, and are here given in part, the purpose being to show his position with reference to the general policy of the government and the manner in which its stewardship of the Indian's interest had been discharged. This was his farewell speech in Congress.

Mr. Burleigh opened his remarks by showing that the Government had 110 well defined policy for the government of Indians; he then contrasted the national solicitude for the imported African with its oppression and cruelty towards the aboriginal inhabitants of our country, and speaking of the wrong inflicted on the Indian, he said :

We have driven the Indians from their homes without compensation and without mercy. We have wrested from them the title to their lands by pretended, or at least, ostensible pur- chase. We have withheld the payments until they were comparatively valueless, or refused them altogether on unfounded pretexts. We have paid them in depreciated currency when we agreed by solemn treaty to pay them in gold and silver; we have paid them in worthless trash when we promised them the money for their lands; we have defrauded the Indians in the fulfillment of our stipulations for their clothing and food and their agricultural, mechanical and educational advancement; we have failed to afford them our promised pro- tection against the worse than barbarous whites which infest their settlements; we have hunted them down and murdered them like wild beasts of the forest; and what is worse than all these, our people have polluted every tribe in the land by poisoning the fountain of life from which the Indian springs with the most loathsome of diseases, more poisonous and destructive to the race than the sting of the scorpion, the bite of the serpent, or the leprosy of old; we have, in a word, violated every feature of our plighted faith in regard to them, and have seen them degenerate, suffer, and perish under our positive oppression or cruel neglect, while we have held them to the severest accountability for all the pledges of obedience and good behavior which we have extorted from them in our treaty negotiations. Our official records will fully substantiate all these allegations, disgraceful and humiliating as they are to our national pride and honor.

The speaker then reviewed the treaties which had been made with the Creeks, Cherokees, Delawares, and other tribes during the early days of our republic, showing in nearly every instance fraud and deceit on the part of the agents of the Government, both in securing the treaties and in carrying out their stipulations, and the record proved further that the Government itself had violated ils pledges to the Indians in almost every instance. A striking example of the faithlessness of the Government toward the Delawares was then related, as follows :

In the darkest hour of our Revolutionary war with Great Britain, when our forefathers were struggling for life against the gigantic power and vast resources of the mother country, the proud mistress of the ocean, a flickering ray of hope was shed on the gloom over- shadowing their cause by two treaties of alliance made with the United States, one on the part of France and the other on the part of the Delaware Nation, both of them concluded with great solemnity and ratified by acts of Congress in 1778. Great Britain had subsidized the six nations, the Mohawks, the Iroquois, and other tribes, and armed them to aid the troops of the crown in their efforts to defeat the Colonial forces. The emissaries of George 11I had circulated reports among the Indian tribes that the United States designed to extirpate the Indians and take possession of their country ; and it was necessary to pledge the faith of the Government to the Delawares by that solemn treaty so as to arrest the dis- asters of the war and secure the aid and cooperation of that powerful nation. On the 17th of September, 1778, said treaty was concluded at Fort Pitt under the title

515

HISTORY OF DAKOTA TERRITORY

of "Articles of Agreement and Confederation," made and entered into by Andrew and Thomas Lewis. Esqrs., commissioners for and in behalf of the United States of one part. and Captain White Eyes, Capt. John Killbuck, Jr., and Captain Pipe, deputies and chief men of the Delaware Nation of the other part. By this treaty all former offenses were mutually forgiven, and perpetual peace and friendship declared to subsist between the United States and the Delaware Nation from therceforth through all succeeding generations; a perpetual alliance, offensive and defensive, declared ; an engagement on the part of the Delawares to aid the United States by furnishing their best and most expert warriors, to permit the United States troops to pass through the lands of the Delaware Nation; to supply the Colonial troops with corn, meat, horses, and everything else within their power. And in order that the old men, women and children should be protected while their warriors were battling for their own liberties and the liberties of our fathers, the United States agreed to build a fort to shelter and defend them against the dreaded attacks of the Mohawks and the Six Nations, and garrison with United States troops, if any could be spared.

The fourth article provides for the administration of justice by impartial trials before judges or juries of both parties, according to the laws, customs, and usages of the con- tracting parties, and for the surrender and delivery of criminal fugitives, servants and slaves escaping from the respective states of the Delaware Nation and the United States.

The fifth article declares that the confederation entered into by the Delaware Nation and the United States renders the Indians dependent on us for clothing, equipments and munitions of war : to provide for which an Indian trading agent is to be appointed by the United States, with an adequate salary, whose chief aim is to be the advancement of the mmutual interests of the confederating parties.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 89

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198