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OO-MA-HA TA-WA-THA 
 
 (OMAHA CITY) 
 
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Oo-Mah-Ha Ta-Wa-Tha 
 
 (OMAHA CITY 
 
 FANNIE REED GIFFEN 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 SUSETTE LA FLESCHE TIBBLES 
 (bright eyes) 
 
 1854-1898 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHORS 
 , c , LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 
 
71 
 
 Copyright by 
 FANNIE REED GIFFEN 
 
 AND 
 
 SUSETTE I.A FLESCHE TIBBLES 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 1'KESS OF , 
 r . B. FBSTNER 
 
 OMA.HA 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Tre\ty with the Omahas in 1S54 11 
 
 Biographies of Chiefs who signed the treaty in 
 1854: 
 
 Shon-ga-ska. or Logan Fontenelle 24 
 
 E-sta-mah-za, or Joseph La Flesche 27 
 
 Gra-tah-nah-je, or Standing Hawk 41 
 
 Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, or Little Chief 42 
 
 Tah-wah-gah-ha, or Village Maker 44 
 
 Wah-no-ke-ga, or Noise 45 
 
 So-da-nah-ze. or Yellow Smoke 46 
 
 To the Driving Cloud 18 
 
 Henry W. Longfellow's Apostrophe to the Omaha Chief. 
 
 Chief Big Elk §1 
 
 Waj apa's Letter , 53 
 
 During the winter of 1879-80, the chiefs and head men 
 of that part of the Omaha tribe who wished to become 
 citizens of the United States, and own land in severalty, 
 held a council in a mud lodge, to talk over the matter. 
 1 he result was. a letter was sent by VVa-ja-pa I an Omaha 
 Indian) to citizens in the eastern states, who were try- 
 ing to create a public interest in favor of Indian citizen- 
 ship and ownership of land in severalty The translation 
 of this letter is literal, and only those familiar with the 
 Indian idiom can feel the full force of it. 
 
 Twelfth Article of Treaty 57 
 
 Translated into the Omaha Indian language by Inshta 
 Theumba, or Bright Eyes. 
 
 A Dream Woman 58 
 
 This story is told by Waoo-winchtcha, wife of Iron Eye. 
 and translated by her daughter. Dr. Susan Picotte, who 
 is a graduate of the Woman's Medical College, of Phila- 
 delphia, and is a physician in the Omaha tribe. The 
 interpretation has been singularly fulfilled. Waoo- 
 winchtcha is still living, and is loved and respected by 
 all who know her. 
 
 Omaha Children's Play Song 63 
 
Page 
 
 Louis — Iron Eye's Son .* 64 
 
 The short account of his death, as remembered by his 
 oldest sister. 
 
 The Captive's Song 68 
 
 A story of Chief Big Elk, as told by Waoo-winchtcha to 
 her children. 
 
 Indian Picture Writing 77 
 
 Indian Folk Lore Story — The Rabbit and the 
 
 Turtle 79 
 
 At the request of a white friend, E-sta-mah-za, nine- 
 teen years ago, consented to relate one of the Omaha 
 Indian folk lore stories. At that time he was the prin- 
 cipal chief of the Omaha tribe. The story was told near 
 the old Mission building, which was located on the bank 
 of the Missouri river, some ten miles north of Decatur, 
 Nebraska. 
 
 Omaha in 1898 88 
 
 Nebraska 91 
 
 The Cuban Mother 92 
 
 Our Boys in Cuba 94 
 
 The translations of the stories are as literal as possible. 
 To get an Indian to relate a tribal legend to a white 
 man is not a small undertaking. Their legends are 
 sacred matters with them 
 
 1 hrough the kindness of Mr. Julius Meyer, of Omaha, 
 who has the largest and finest Indian relic collection in 
 the west, and also of Henry Fontenelle and Louis Neil — 
 two Omaha Indians— we obtained several photographs 
 of chiefs which otherwise could not have been procured. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Omaha in 1854 , , 
 
 Shon-ga-ska, or Logan Fontenelle 25 
 
 E-STA-MAH-ZA, OR JOSEPH La FLESCHE 28 
 
 Gra-tah-nah-je, or Standing Hawk 4j 
 
 Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, or Little Chief 49 
 
 Wah-no-ke-ga, or Noise 4c 
 
 So-da-nah ze, or Yellow Smoke 46-47 
 
 Driving Cloud (Colored Plate) between 4S-49 
 
 Big Thunder Canoe . . c n 
 
 OU 
 
 Big Elk cn 
 
 * ol 
 
 Wa-ja-pa ... - r 
 
 DO 
 
 Inshta Theamba, or Bright Eyes 57 
 
 A Dream Woman (Colored Plate). .. between 58-59 
 
 HlN - NA " GI 59 
 
 Waoo-winchtcha, or Mary La Flesche (>! 
 
 Louis .... „. 
 60 
 
 Shing ga-zing-ga (Baby) fi6 
 
 Mud Lodge fifi 
 
 Indian Picture Writing 77 
 
 E-sta-mah-za, relating Folk Lore Story 78 
 
 Omaha in 1898 88 
 
In remembrance of the Omahas, the tribe 
 of Indians after which Omaha city is named, 
 and who, less than fifty years ago, held an 
 uncontested title to the land where Omaha 
 city and the great Trans-Mississippi Exposi- 
 tion is located, this book is dedicated, that 
 the memory of the tribe, its chieftains, its 
 warriors and its maidens might be preserved. 
 The book is edited by one who was herself 
 born on Nebraska soil, and at whose father's 
 house the chiefs of several Nebraska tribes 
 were always received with a welcome, and 
 given hospitable entertainment. 
 
 Most of the illustrations are the produc- 
 tions and reproductions of the brush and pencil 
 of the daughter of E-sta-mah-za (Iron Eye), 
 noted chief of the Omahas, pronounced by 
 the tribe, Oo-mah-ha. The book also con- 
 
tains a copy of the treaty with the Omahas 
 by which instrument the title of the land 
 upon which Omaha city and the Trans-Mis- 
 sissippi Exposition is located passed to the 
 United States government in 1854. Repro- 
 ductions of the photographs of all, except 
 one, of the chiefs ( Tah-wah-gah-ha, or Village 
 Maker, feared the camera, therefore his picture 
 was never taken ) who signed the treaty, with 
 a short character sketch of each. The illus- 
 trations by Inshta Theumba (Bright Eyes) 
 are believed to be the first artistic work by 
 an American Indian ever published; and the 
 book will be entertaining on that account 
 alone. It is hoped that a souvenir of this 
 kind will not only recall the wonderful prog- 
 ress made by the white people who have 
 found homes in the valley of the Mississippi, 
 but create and forever perpetuate a kindly 
 feeling for the remnant of the Indian people 
 still remaining, and who are slowly struggling 
 upward toward a higher civilization. 
 
 'wh 
 
TREATY WITH THE INDIANS 
 MARCH 16TH, 1854 
 
OMAHA INDIAN GIRL 
 
 (hin-na-gi) 
 
TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
 March, 16, 1854. 
 
 Franklin Pierce, President of the United States 
 of America, to all and singular to whom 
 these presents shall come, Greeting: 
 
 Whereas a Treaty was made and concluded 
 at the City of Washington, on the sixteenth 
 day of March, one thousand eight hundred 
 and fifty-four, by George W. Manypenny, 
 Commissioner on the part of the United 
 States, and the Omaha tribe of Indians, which 
 treaty is in the words following, to wit: 
 
 Articles of agreement and convention made 
 and concluded at the City of Washington this 
 
sixteenth day of March, one thousand eight 
 hundred and fifty-four, by George W. Many- 
 penny, as Commissioner on the part of the 
 United States, and the following named chiefs 
 of the Omaha tribe of Indians, viz: Shon-ga- 
 ska, or Logan Fontenelle; E-sta-mah-za, or 
 Joseph Le Flesche; Gra-tah-nah-je, or Stand- 
 ing Hawk; Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, or Little Chief; 
 Tah-wah-gah-ha, or Village Maker; Wah-no- 
 ke-ga, or Noise; So-da-nah-ze, or Yellow 
 Smoke: they being thereto duly authorized 
 by said tribe. 
 
 Article i. The Omaha Indians cede to 
 the United States all their lands west of the 
 Missouri river, and south of a line drawn due 
 west from a point in the center of the main 
 channel of said Missouri river due east of 
 where the Ayoway river disembogues out of 
 the bluffs, to the western boundary of the 
 Omaha country, and forever relinquish all 
 right and title to the country south of said 
 line. Provided, however, that if the country 
 north of the said due west line, which is re- 
 served by the Omahas for their future home, 
 should not on exploration prove to be a satis- 
 factory and suitable location for said Indians, 
 the President may, with the consent of said 
 Indians, set apart and assign to them, within 
 or outside of the ceded country, a residence 
 suited for and acceptable to them. And for 
 the purpose of determining at once and 
 
definitely, it is agreed that a delegation of 
 said Indians, in company with their agent, 
 shall, immediately after the ratification of 
 this instrument, proceed to examine the 
 country hereby reserved, and if it please the 
 delegation, and the Indians in counsel express 
 themselves satisfied, then it shall be deemed 
 and taken for their future home; but if other- 
 wise, on the fact being reported to the 
 President, he is authorized to cause a new 
 location, of suitable extent, to be made for 
 the future home of said Indians, and which 
 shall not be more in extent than three hun- 
 dred thousand acres, and then in that case, 
 all the country belonging to the said Indians 
 north of a said due west line, shall be and is 
 hereby ceded to the United States by the 
 said Indians, they to receive the same rate per 
 acre for it, less the number of acres assigned 
 in lieu of it for a home, as now paid for the 
 land south of said line. 
 
 Article 2. The Omahas agree, that so 
 soon after the United States shall make the 
 necessary provision for fulfilling the stipula- 
 tions of this instrument, as they can conven- 
 iently arrange their affairs, and not to exceed 
 one year from its ratification, they will vacate 
 the ceded country, and remove to the lands 
 reserved herein by them, or to the other lands 
 provided for in lieu thereof, in the preceding 
 article, as the case may be. 
 
 11 
 
 L.of c 
 
Article 3. The Omahas relinquish to the 
 United States all claims, for money or other 
 thing, under former treaties, and likewise 
 all claim which they may have heretofore, 
 at any time, set up, to any land on the 
 east side of the Missouri river: Provided, The 
 Omahas shall still be entitled to and receive 
 from the Government, the unpaid balance of 
 the twenty-five thousand dollars appropri- 
 ated for their use, by the act of thirtieth of 
 August, 1851. 
 
 Article 4. In consideration of and pay- 
 ment for the country herein ceded, and the 
 relinquishments herein made, the United 
 States agree to pay to the Omaha Indians 
 the several sums of money following, to wit: 
 
 1 st. Forty thousand dollars per annum, 
 for the term of three years, commencing on 
 the first day of January, eighteen hundred 
 and fifty-five. 
 
 2nd. Thirty thousand dollars per annum, 
 for the term of ten years, next succeeding 
 the three years. 
 
 3rd. Twenty thousand dollars per annum, 
 for the term of fifteen years, next succeeding 
 the ten years. 
 
 4th. Ten thousand dollars per annum, for 
 the term of twelve years, next succeeding the 
 fifteen years. 
 
 All which several sums of money shall be 
 paid to the Omahas, or expended for their 
 
 14 
 
use and benefit, under the direction of the 
 President of the United States, who may 
 from time to time determine, at his discretion, 
 what proportion of the annual payments, in 
 this article provided for, if any, shall be paid 
 to them in money, and what proportion 
 shall be applied to and expended for their 
 moral improvement and education; for such 
 beneficial objects as in his judgment will be 
 calculated to advance them in civilization; 
 for buildings, opening farms, fencing, break- 
 ing land, providing stock, agricultural imple- 
 ments, seeds, etc. ; for clothing, provisions, 
 and merchandise; for iron, steel, arms and 
 ammunition; for mechanics, and tools; and 
 for medical purposes. 
 
 Articte 5. In order to enable the said 
 Indians to settle their affairs and to remove 
 and subsist themselves for one year at their 
 new home, and which they agree to do without 
 further expense to the United States, and 
 also to pay the expenses of the delegation 
 who may be appointed to make the explora- 
 tion provided for in article first, and to fence 
 and break up two hundred acres of land at 
 their new home, they shall receive from the 
 United States, the further sum of for*y-one 
 thousand dollars, to be paid out and expended 
 under the directions of the President, and in 
 such manner as he shall approve. 
 
 Article 6. The President may, from time 
 
to time, at his discretion, cause the whole or 
 such portion of the land hereby reserved, as 
 he may think proper, or of such other land 
 as may be selected in lieu thereof, as provided 
 for in article first, to be surveyed into lots, 
 and to assign to such Indian or Indians of 
 said tribe as are willing to avail of the 
 privilege, and who will locate on the same as 
 a permanent home, if a single person over 
 twenty-one years of age, one eighth of a sec- 
 tion ; to each family of two, one quarter section ;. 
 to each family of three and not exceeding 
 five, one-half section; to each family of six 
 and not exceeding ten, one section; and to 
 each family over ten in number, one-quarter 
 section for every additional five members. 
 And he may prescribe such rules and regula- 
 tions as will insure to the family, in case of 
 death of the head thereof, the possession and 
 enjoyment of such permanent home and the 
 improvements thereon. And the President 
 may, at any time, in his discretion, after such 
 person or family has made a location on the 
 land assigned for a permanent home, issue a 
 patent to such person or family for such 
 assigned land, conditioned that the tract shall 
 not be aliened or leased for a longer term 
 than two years; and shall be exempt from levy, 
 sale, or forfeiture, which conditions shall con- 
 tinue in force, until a State constitution, em- 
 bracing such lands within its boundaries,. 
 
 1(5 
 
shall have been formed, and the legislature 
 of the state shall remove the restrictions. 
 And if any such person or family shall at any 
 time neglect or refuse to occupy and till a 
 portion of the lands assigned, and on which 
 they have located, or shall rove from place to 
 place, the President may, if the patent shall 
 have been issued, cancel the assignment, and 
 may also withhold from such person or family, 
 their proportion of the annuities or other 
 moneys due them, until they shall have re- 
 turned to such permanent home, and resumed 
 the pursuits of industry; and in default of 
 their return the tract may be declared aban- 
 doned, and thereafter assigned to some other 
 person or family of such tribe, or disposed of 
 as provided for the disposition of the excess 
 of said land. And the residue of the land 
 hereby reserved, or of that which may be se- 
 lected in lieu thereof, after all of the Indian 
 persons or families shall have had assigned 
 to them permanent homes, may be sold for 
 their benefit, under such laws, rules or regu- 
 lations, as may hereafter be prescribed by 
 the Congress or President of the United 
 States. No State legislature shall remove 
 the restrictions herein provided for, without 
 the consent of Congress. 
 
 Article 7. Should the Omahas determine 
 to make their permanent home north of the 
 due west line named in the first article, the 
 
 17 
 
United States agree to protect them from the 
 Sioux and all other hostile tribes, as long as 
 the President may deem such protection 
 necessary; and if other lands be assigned 
 them, the same protection is guaranteed. 
 
 Article 8. The United States agree to 
 erect for the Omahas at their new home, a 
 grist and saw mill, and keep the same in 
 repair, and provide a miller for ten years; 
 also to erect a good blacksmith shop, supply 
 the same with tools, and keep it in repair for 
 ten years; and provide a good blacksmith for 
 a like period; and to employ an experienced 
 farmer for the term of ten years, to instruct 
 the Indians in agriculture. 
 
 Article 9. The annuities of the Indians 
 shall not be taken to pay the debts of indi- 
 viduals. 
 
 Article 10. The Omahas acknowledge 
 their dependence on the government of the 
 United States, and promise to be friendly 
 with all the citizens thereof, and pledge them- 
 selves to commit no depredations on the 
 property of such citizens. And should any 
 one or more of them violate this pledge, and 
 the fact be satisfactorily proven before the 
 agent, the property taken shall be returned, 
 or in default thereof, or if injured or de- 
 stroyed, compensation may be made by the 
 government out of their annuities. Nor will 
 they make war on any other tribe, except in 
 
 18 
 
self-defense, but will submit all matters of 
 difference between them and other Indians to 
 _ ; the government of the United States, or its 
 agent, for decision, and abide thereby. And 
 if any of the said Omahas commit any depre- 
 dations on any other Indians, the same rule 
 
 • shall prevail as that prescribed in this article 
 in case of depredations against citizens. 
 
 Article ii. The Omahas acknowledge 
 
 . themselves indebted to Lewis Saunsoci, a 
 
 half-breed, for services, the sum of one 
 
 thousand dollars, which debt they have not 
 
 been able to pay, and the United States agree 
 
 f to pay the same. 
 
 Article 12. The Omahas are desirous to 
 exclude from their country the use of ardent 
 spirits, and to prevent their people from 
 
 • drinking the same, and therefore it is pro- 
 vided that any Omaha who is guilty of bring- 
 ing liquor into their country, or who drinks 
 
 v liquor, may have his or her proportion of the 
 annuities withheld from him or her for such 
 time as the President may determine. 
 
 Article 13. The board of foreign missions 
 
 f of the Presbyterian church have on the lands 
 of the Omahas a manual labor boarding school, 
 for the education of the Omaha, Otoe, and 
 other Indian youth, which is now in successful 
 
 j operation, and as it will be some time before 
 the necessary buildings can be erected on the 
 reservation, and [it is] desirable that the 
 
 19 
 
school should not be suspended, it is agreed 
 that the said board shall have four adjoining 
 quarter sections of land, so as to include as 
 near as may be all the improvements hereto- 
 fore made by them, and the President is au- 
 thorized to issue to the proper authority of 
 said board, a patent in fee simple for such 
 quarter sections. 
 
 Article 14. The Omahas agree that all 
 the necessary roads, highways and railroads, 
 which may be constructed as the country im- 
 proves, and the lines of which may run 
 through such tract as may be reserved for 
 their permanent home, shall have a right of 
 way through the reservation, a just compen- 
 sation being paid therefor in money. 
 
 Article 15. This treaty shall be obliga- 
 tory on the contracting parties as soon as the 
 same shall be ratified by the President and 
 Senate of the United States. 
 
 In testimony whereof, the said George W. 
 Manypenny, commissioner as aforesaid, and 
 the undersigned chiefs, of the Omaha tribe of 
 Indians, have hereunto set their hands and 
 seals, at the place and on the day and year 
 hereinbefore written. 
 
 George W. Manypenny, 
 [l. s.] Commissioner. 
 
s. 
 
 Shon-ga-ska, or Logan Fontenelle, 
 
 his x mark. [l. 
 
 E-sta-mah-za, or Joseph LeFlesche, 
 
 his x mark. 
 Gra-tah-nah-je, or Standing Hawk, 
 
 his x mark. [l. s. 
 
 Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, or Little Chief, 
 
 his x mark. [l.s. 
 
 Tah-wah-gah-ha, or Milage Maker, 
 
 his x mark. [l.s. 
 
 Wah-no-ke-ga, or Noise, 
 
 his x mark. [l.s. 
 
 So-da-nah-ze, or Yellow Smoke, 
 
 his x mark. [l.s. 
 
 Executed in the presence of us: 
 
 James M. Gatewood, Indian Agent. 
 
 James Goszler. 
 
 Charles Calvert. 
 
 James D. Kerr. 
 
 Henry Beard. 
 
 Alfred Chapman. 
 
 Louis Saunsoci, Interpreter. 
 
 And whereas the said Treaty having been 
 submitted to the Senate of the United States 
 for its constitutional action thereon, the Sen- 
 ate did, on the seventeenth day of April, one 
 thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, amend 
 the same by a resolution in the words and 
 figures following, to-wit: 
 
In Executive Session, ) 
 
 Senate of the United States, > 
 April 17th, 1854. ) 
 Resolved, ( two-thirds of the senators presen t 
 concurring), That the Senate advise and 
 consent to the ratification of the articles of 
 agreement and convention made and con- 
 cluded at the City of Washington this [the] 
 sixteenth day of March, one thousand eight 
 hundred and fifty-four, by George W. Many- 
 penny as Commissioner on the part of the 
 United States, and the following named 
 chiefs of the Omaha tribe of Indians, viz: 
 Shon-ga-ska, or Logan Fontenelle; E-sta- 
 mah-za, or Joseph La Flesche; Gra-tah-nah- 
 je, or Standing Hawk; Gah-he-ga-gin-gah, 
 or Little Chief; Tah-wah-gah-ha, or Village 
 Maker; Wah-no-ke-ga, or Noise; So-da-nah- 
 ze, or Yellow Smoke, they being thereto duly 
 authorized by said tribe; with the following 
 amendment, — Article 3, line 3, strike out 
 "1851" and insert 1852. 
 Attest: 
 
 Ashurv Dickens, Secreta^. 
 
 Now, therefore, be it known, that I. 
 Franklin Pierce, President of the United 
 States of America, do, in pursuance of the 
 advice and consent of the Senate, as ex- 
 pressed in their resolution of the seventeenth 
 day of April, one thousand eight hundred 
 
and fifty-four, accept, ratify, and confirm the 
 
 said treaty as amended. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have caused the 
 
 seal of the United States to be hereunto 
 
 affixed, having signed the same with my hand. 
 
 Done at the City of Washington, 
 
 this twenty-first day of June, in the year 
 
 [l. s. ] of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
 and fifty-four, and of the Independence 
 of the United States the seventy-eighth- 
 
 Franklin Pierce. 
 By the President: 
 
 W. L. Marcy, Secretary of State. 
 
 2:5 
 
HON-GA-SKA, OR 
 
 LOGAN FONTENELLE. 
 
 Of the chiefs who signed the treaty 
 ^n conveying the title of the land to the 
 
 tUi&L I United States, where Omaha and the 
 
 Trans-Mississippi Exposition now 
 stand, the first was Logan Fontenelle. He 
 was the only one among them who could 
 read, write or speak English. He was elected 
 chief for the express purpose of helping the 
 Indians to make the treaty with the United 
 States. 
 
 Mr. Fontenelle was tall, of courtly bearing, 
 pleasing manners, and universally respected 
 by the white people as well as by the Indians. 
 He was a great personal friend of Iron Eye 
 (Joseph La Flesche), and was a well edu- 
 cated man, being one-half French. 
 
 He accompanied the chiefs to Washington, 
 and although he had formerly acted as their 
 interpreter, on this occasion another inter- 
 preter was taken, and Shon-ga-ska made his 
 speeches to the President and Commissioner 
 in the Omaha language; and they were inter- 
 preted into English by Louis Saunsoci, who 
 was official interpreter upon this visit. 
 
 After his return from Washington, and the 
 Omahas were ordered to move to their new 
 reservation, where they still reside, about 
 
 24 
 
seventy miles north of Omaha on' the Mis- 
 souri river. Fontenelle is said to have made 
 a vigorous protest against the removal, until 
 the government fulfilled its part of the agree- 
 ment. 
 
 The treaty provided that the government 
 of the United States would protect the 
 Omahas against the Sioux, who were at that 
 time roaming all over the northern part of 
 Nebraska, and were the old enemies of the 
 Omahas. 
 
 When the Indians were ordered to go to 
 the reservation, no provisions were made for 
 their protection, and Fontenelle is said to have 
 made a speech at Bellevue, before they started. 
 Some fragments of this speech have been pre- 
 served by the State Historical Society. 
 
 He declared it was murder, and nothing 
 but murder, to place the unarmed and defense- 
 less Omahas right in the path of their heredi- 
 tary enemies. He finally placed his hand on 
 his revolver and said, "This 
 is good for six Sioux. We 
 will go and meet our fate." 
 
 It was but a short time after, 
 when on a hunt (for the Oma- 
 has were forced to hunt or 
 starve), that an overwhelm- 
 ing number of the Sioux made 
 onslaught on the Omaha hunt- 
 ing party. Logan Fontenelle 
 
 25 
 
fought as long as he could raise his hand. He 
 did not quite make his assertion good, but 
 three dead Sioux were found near his body. 
 
 Some days after the fight, his body was re- 
 covered and brought back to the camp of the 
 Omahas. The whole tribe went into mourn- 
 ing. Strange stories are told in the tents of 
 the Omahas to-day about the ceremonies that 
 were performed by the club or secret society, 
 among the Indians, to which he belonged. 
 
 Col. Sarpy sent to St. Joseph, Missouri, and 
 hired a Protestant Episcopal minister to come 
 to Bellevue and read the Episcopal services 
 over the remains. The white people in all 
 that region of the country, being mostly 
 French traders, assembled the day that he 
 was buried. 
 
 Logan Fontenelle's name, among all classes 
 of the Omahas, is to this day held in great 
 reverence. 
 
STA-MAH-ZA, OR JOSEPH 
 LA FLESCHE, 
 
 Iron Eye, the second signer of the 
 treaty, is known to the whites as 
 Joseph La Flesche. He was a man 
 of very great natural ability. He had 
 no education, could not read, write, 
 or speak English, but he always impressed 
 one as a man of thought and good judgment. 
 He was an unlearned, natural philosopher. 
 How he obtained his vast store of knowledge, 
 when he could not read, and had no associa- 
 tion with men of learning, was always a mys- 
 tery. When the great Indian habeas corpus 
 case was first stated to him, he instantly re- 
 plied with a clear statement of the funda- 
 mental and underlying principles upon which 
 the case should be fought in the courts. 
 When his views were submitted to the attor- 
 neys, Messrs. Poppleton and Webster, the}' 
 immediately admitted their force and sound- 
 ness, and acted upon them. 
 
 Early in life the abilities of Iron Eye were 
 recognized by the wise and statesman-like old 
 head chief, Big Elk, who foresaw the changes 
 that were coming, and desired a wise and pru- 
 dent ruler to follow him. Big Elk had a son 
 who, according to Indian custom, would in- 
 herit the head chieftainship, but he was a 
 child, and had a weak physical constitution. 
 
The old chief knew that the great transfor- 
 mation which was bound to overthrow the 
 customs of Indian life, would come before 
 his boy would arrive at mature years, and he 
 resolved that Iron Eye should take the head 
 chieftainship and pilot the tribe through that 
 dangerous period. 
 
 Big Elk took every precaution to impress 
 upon the tribe that Iron Eye should inherit 
 from him the full authority which he himself 
 enjoyed, and was very careful to observe all 
 the forms and ceremonies which the customs 
 of the tribe required in such cases. He there- 
 fore sent by the officer, whose duty it was to 
 carry it, the tobacco bag to Iron Eye, who 
 received it with all the formalities prescribed 
 on such occasions. 
 
 Then Big Elk "pipe danced" Iron Eye's 
 wife (this occurred two years after her mar- 
 riage). By this ceremony, Big Elk adopted 
 Iron Eye as his son, and announced by the 
 /^^""N public crier that he had done 
 
 / \ so. Then in public, in the 
 
 ». ** * presence of Iron Eye, Big Elk 
 
 |/Sr further declared, so that there 
 
 %1 could be no possibility of mis- 
 
 •^T^^^ understanding, that Iron Eye 
 '^*^> R was his "oldest" son and that 
 he wished Iron Eye to inherit 
 the chieftainship from him. 
 After that he caused Iron 
 
 28 
 
Eye to give four ceremonial feasts, which the 
 Indian customs required when one was de- 
 clared the inheritor of the chieftainship. 
 
 At these feasts all the chiefs and all the 
 members of the tribe assented, for they all 
 loved Iron Eye for his generosity and kind- 
 ness to the tribe, respected his ability and 
 feared his power. Four times these cere- 
 monies were repeated,* and ever after during 
 Big Elk's life, on all proper occasions, Iron 
 Eye was recognized as their chief. 
 
 Several years later the Indians were having 
 a feast. One afternoon Big Elk went out 
 hunting and killed a deer with a tomahawk. 
 A few hours later he was stricken with a 
 fever then epidemic among the Indians. Big 
 Elk called for Iron Eye, and said: " My son, 
 give me some medicine." An Indian runner 
 was sent to Bellevue for medicine, but it was a 
 three days' journey, and when the carrier re- 
 turned it was too late. Just before the old 
 chief died he sent for Iron Eye, and said: 
 "My son, I give you all my papers from 
 Washington, and I make you head chief. 
 You will occupy my place. When your brother 
 is of age (meaning his own young son) you 
 can do for him as is best. I leave him in 
 your charge." 
 
 When dying, seeing Louis, the young son 
 of Iron Eye, he raised his hand, and said: "My 
 
 *Everything has to be repeated four times in an Indian tribe 
 before it has validity. 
 
 29 
 
grandchild — " attempted to speak further, but 
 could not. 
 
 Iron Eye then assumed the chieftainship of 
 the tribe, all the chiefs consenting. The 
 action of the tribe was approved by the com- 
 missioner of Indian affairs, Manypenny, and 
 other authorities at Washington. Iron Eye's 
 papers were sent to him, bearing the great seal 
 from Washington. They are now in posses- 
 sion of his son, Frank La Flesche, who is 
 employed in the Indian Department at Wash- 
 ington, D. C. 
 
 It was impossible that a man of Iron Eye's 
 character, determined as he was that the 
 tribe should be brought as soon as possible to 
 abandon the Indian mode of life, go to farm- 
 ing and send their children to school, should 
 not meet with fierce opposition among his 
 own people. It did, and the result was, that 
 the tribe was divided into two parties. The one 
 called the ''Chief's party", being opposed to 
 the education of their children and to farm- 
 ing, and the other called the " Young Men's 
 party," who favored education, desired to 
 adopt the customs of the whites, and go to 
 farming. 
 
 Of the latter party Iron Eye was the head, 
 and a political warfare of the greatest bitter- 
 ness was waged. Iron Eye found that he had 
 not only half of the tribe arrayed against him, 
 but often the agent, the agent's employes and 
 
the authorities at Washington. It was not 
 to the interest of this class of white men that 
 the Indians should become intelligent, self- 
 supporting farmers. 
 
 Iron Eye employed every means he could 
 command in the contest. He did not believe 
 in Indian superstitions; but he used them to 
 aid him in this dispute, for he thoroughly be- 
 lieved that upon the success of the principles 
 he advocated depended the future existence 
 of his people. He often said to them: "It 
 is either civilization or extermination." 
 
 Father Hamilton related a story of the way 
 Iron Eye would appeal to their superstitions. 
 On returning from a trip to Washington, Iron 
 Eye brought home with him a small electric 
 battery and a patent cork leg (for some years 
 before he had lost a leg, and always walked 
 around on an old-fashioned substitute). 
 
 He made a feast, and invited all the chiefs 
 and head men of the tribe. When they were 
 assembled, and had eaten, he made them a 
 speech something after this fashion: 
 
 "You all believe in the power of your 
 medicine men. However much power they 
 may have, it is nothing compared with that 
 of the whites. Your medicine is but as a 
 breath that vanishes, when compared with 
 theirs. You cannot resist them; it is useless 
 to try. Now I will show you something of 
 the power of the white man's medicine." 
 
 31 
 
He then had the chiefs join hands and take 
 hold of the handles of the battery. Then 
 suddenly he turned it on full force, and stood 
 gravely to one side and watched their contor- 
 tions. He finally turned the battery off, and 
 while the chiefs were trying to recover their 
 dignity, he stepped aside, and came walking 
 in, to all appearance having in a minute or 
 two grown a new leg. 
 
 The astonishment of the chiefs and medi- 
 cine men were beyond description. Iron Eye 
 sat down on a box, crossed his legs, moved 
 his wooden foot up and down, then got up 
 and walked around. By this time the chiefs 
 and medicine men were so frightened that 
 they were about to flee from his presence. 
 
 He commanded them all to be seated. 
 Everyone immediately obeyed. There was a 
 power in that white man's medicine of which 
 they were all afraid. Then he made a long 
 speech to them, showed them his wooden leg, 
 explained the working of the electric battery, 
 and told them there was no such thing as 
 " big medicine," either among the Indians or 
 the whites, and impressed upon them the fact 
 that the whites were not great and powerful 
 because of any magic power, but because they 
 all worked and sent their children to school. 
 
 While one or two were converted, the re- 
 sult of the performance was that the opposi- 
 
tion chiefs and medicine men hated him worse 
 than ever. 
 
 During these years there was a furor in all 
 the Indian tribes. The Otoe Indians sent a 
 delegation to the Omaha tribe to aid those 
 Indians who were opposed to civilization. 
 Iron Eye had a brother who was a chief in 
 the Ponca tribe, and he was anxious that 
 they, too, should advance. In May, 1876, 
 he dictated the following letter, and sent it to 
 his brother, White Swan. It will give an 
 idea of the way he tried to instruct the In- 
 dians. The letter read as follows: 
 
 "Omaha Agency, May, 1876: 
 "Dear Brother: 
 
 "I have some news to send you, but it is 
 not good news. The Otoes came up here to 
 visit us. Instantly, upon their arrival, the 
 whole tribe got together and had a council. I 
 did not hear all that was done, but I know that 
 it is the same thing that I have been hearing for 
 the last ten years. The Otoes told them that 
 all the Indians where they came from, sent 
 word to the Omahas that trying to be like the 
 white people was very bad; that all who had 
 tried to do it were badly off, but that those 
 who had staid in the Indian customs were do- 
 ing well. They had been sent to say that all 
 who attempted to do like the white people, 
 had given it up, and should go back to their 
 old ways. It was too hard. 
 
 33 
 
"The chief's party believed what they said, 
 and they are more determined than ever to 
 resist any step toward advancement. I think, 
 however, that all of the Young men's party 
 turned their backs on them. 
 
 "There are some good things by which we 
 live. 
 
 "First — The God above made this world 
 and gave it to us to live in. 
 
 "Second — The white men have been sent 
 to teach us how to live. 
 
 "Third — God has made the earth to yield 
 her fruit to us. 
 
 "Fourth — God has given us hands with 
 which we can work. 
 
 "Look back on the lives of your fathers 
 and grandfathers; then look at yourselves, 
 and see how far you have gone ahead, and 
 seeing this, do not stop and turn back to 
 them, but go forward. Look ahead and you 
 will see nothing but the white man. The 
 future is full of the white man, and we shall 
 be as nothing before them. 
 
 "Do not think that if anyone cheats you 
 or does you wrong, that you will do the same 
 to him. Look out for yourselves. Take care 
 of yourselves." 
 
 " From your brother, 
 
 "Joseph La Flesche." 
 
 Iron Eye always gave the missionaries 
 among the Omahas his sympathy and earnest 
 
 34 
 
support. He was among the first to unite 
 with the church after Father Hamilton came 
 to the tribe, and was the life-long friend of 
 this patient man of God. 
 
 The next Sunday after Iron Eye united 
 with the church, the room in which public 
 services were held would not hold one-fifth 
 of the Indians that attended. For several 
 Sundays the same Indians were always there. 
 This constant church-going on the part of 
 the Indians, many of whom had never before 
 been seen at the church services, was a 
 mystery to Father Hamilton. It was winter, 
 and some of the days on which they came 
 were exceedingly cold and stormy. But that 
 made no difference; when Sunday came, the 
 Indians assembled — men, women and chil- 
 dren, dogs and ponies, by the hundreds. 
 
 Finally Father Hamilton asked Iron Eye 
 what made the Indians all at once take a 
 notion to go to church in such large numbers. 
 
 Said Iron Eye, " It is good for the Indians 
 to go to church. I want them to learn to be 
 Christians, so I ordered them to go." 
 
 Father Hamilton undertook to explain to 
 him that the Christian religion could not be 
 propagated in that way. But Iron Eye would 
 not agree, and said: 
 
 "This new way that you teach us is good. 
 You have read to me the words of the Son of 
 God, from the book God gave to you, and 
 
the words were good. The words of that 
 book are not like what the old men have 
 taught us. What they have taught us is fool- 
 ishness. When you read God's book to the 
 Indians, and explain to them what it means, 
 it teaches them to walk in the right way. 
 Therefore, I ordered them to go every Sun- 
 day and hear you read from God's book, and 
 listen to you while you explain it." 
 
 A long,argument followed, and the subject 
 was discussed several hours a day for three 
 days. At last Iron Eye said that Father 
 Hamilton must take God's book, read it all 
 through, and then tell him what the book 
 said about it. 
 
 Father Hamilton hunted up a great many 
 scriptural texts which he thought bore upon 
 the question, but none of them convinced 
 Iron Eye, until he read to him the following: 
 
 ''My kingdom is not of this world; if my 
 kingdom were of this world, then would my 
 servants fight." 
 
 Iron Eye sat still in deep thought for a 
 long time. At last he arose, and said he 
 must think over the subject more, and went 
 away. 
 
 When Iron Eye returned two or three days 
 afterwards, he seemed to be a changed man. 
 His manner, always fascinating and attractive, 
 was now more kindly than ever. 
 
 "My friend," he said, "you have often 
 
 3fi 
 
read to me out of God's book, and I thought 
 that I understood the meaning of it, but I 
 did not. Now it seems to me that that book 
 tells us about two things instead of one thing. 
 It tells us how to do, that we may get 
 things to eat and drink, so that we may live 
 here on the earth that God gave us. That 
 refers only to the body. About such things 
 as that, if I know a better way I may 
 give orders. But there is a something, dif- 
 ferent from this. It does not pertain to the 
 body — what we shall eat, drink or wear — but 
 to the heart and soul. I cannot make a man 
 good by issuing an order. I can say to a 
 man, ' You build a house and live in it, and 
 no longer live in a tent.' He will go and 
 do it. But I cannot say to a man, 'Your 
 heart is bad, have a good heart hereafter.' 
 There is a something over which no man, how- 
 ever great his authority — even if it is as great 
 as that of the Great Father at Washington — 
 can have control. Over that God alone can 
 rule." 
 
 The next Sunday, Iron Eye made an ad- 
 dress to the Indians. Father Hamilton said, 
 that at no Synod or General Assembly did he 
 ever here a more profound and philosophical 
 discourse on the invisible kingdom of God. 
 The order was revoked, and from that time 
 on the little Indian church built up its mem- 
 
bership from those who, of their own free will, 
 chose to attend. 
 
 As soon as the Indians obtained titles to 
 lands in severalty, Iron Eye selected a loca- 
 tion out on the Logan river, near the town 
 of Bancroft, Nebraska. He built a good two- 
 story house and barn, bought a supply of the 
 latest improved farm machinery, and opened 
 up a large farm. 
 
 There were many sides to Iron Eye's char- 
 acter. He was a great hunter, and, in defense 
 of his tribe, he was a fierce warrior. Many a 
 Sioux, in the series of battles between them 
 and the Omahas, started on his long journey 
 to the happy hunting ground through the un- 
 erring aim of his bow or rifle. He was a trader, 
 and at one time had accumulated a large for- 
 tune, several thousand dollars of which he loan- 
 ed a white man, who refused to pay, and then 
 Iron Eye felt the full force of the old Indian 
 system, when he learned that an Indian could 
 not sue or be sued in the white man's courts 
 of law. So his creditor could not be made to 
 pay, and Iron Eye lost all his money. 
 
 Still another side of his character is illus- 
 trated by an incident related by his 
 daughter, Inshta Theumba. 
 
 "We were out on the buffalo hunt. I was 
 a little bit of a thing when it happened, long 
 before I could speak English, but the impres- 
 sion it made on me seems to grow stronger as 
 
I grow older. Father could neither read, 
 write or speak English; and this little in- 
 sight into his character shows plainly that 
 moral worth of the very highest can exist, 
 aside from all white civilization and education. 
 
 " It was evening; the tents had been pitched 
 for the night, the camp-fire had been made, 
 and mother and the other women were cook- 
 ing supper over it. It was a soft, yellow sun- 
 set, with scarcely any wind. I was playing 
 near my father, when a little Indian boy, a 
 playmate, came up and gave me a little bird 
 he had found. I was very much pleased, and 
 showed it to father and mother, and tried to 
 feed it and make it drink. After I had 
 amused myself with it for a time, my father 
 said to me, ' My daughter, bring your bird to 
 me.' When I took it to him, he held it in 
 his hand a moment, smoothed its feathers 
 gently, and then said, 'Daughter, I will tell 
 you what you might do with it. Take it care- 
 fully in your hand, out yonder where there 
 are no tents, where the high grass is, put it 
 softly down on the ground, and say as you 
 put it down: God, I give you back your little 
 bird. Have pity on me, as I have pity on vour 
 bird.' 
 
 "I said, 'Does it belong to God?' He 
 said, 'Yes, and he will be pleased if you do 
 not hurt it, but give it back to him to take 
 care of.' I was very much impressed, and 
 
 39 
 
carefully followed out his directions, saying 
 over the little prayer he had told me to say. 
 Whenever I think of my father in connec- 
 tion with this incident, Tennyson's lines come 
 into my mind: 
 
 " ' He prayeth best, who loveth best, 
 All things both great and small, 
 For the dear God who loveth us, 
 He made and loveth all.' " 
 
 After a hard day's labor he took a severe 
 cold, and died very suddenly, September 23, 
 1888. 
 
 The white people came from miles around 
 to attend his funeral. It is said to have been 
 the largest funeral procession ever seen in 
 that part of the state. He is buried in the 
 cemetery just south of Bancroft, where a mod- 
 est marble shaft marks the last resting-place 
 of this most remarkable man. 
 
RA-TAH-NAH-JE, OR STANDING 
 HAWK. 
 
 Standing Hawk was one of the 
 hereditary chiefs of the Omaha tribe. 
 He lived for many years after the 
 treaty was made, near the Omaha 
 Mission, in a two-story frame house, which 
 had been built by Iron Eye, in the early 
 years of his residence there, and used partly 
 for a trading post. Standing Hawk was a 
 thorough Indian, and believed in all the 
 Indian superstitions, and 
 practiced them until the 
 day of his death. He 
 was a man of good char- 
 acter; and farmed so far as 
 he was able to do so. But 
 to change from the Indian 
 mode of living to that of 
 civilization came to him too 
 late in life. 
 
 He believed in owning 
 lands in severalty, and often 
 said that while he was too 
 old to learn the white peo- 
 ple's ways, his children 
 should learn them. 
 
 41 
 
AH-HE-GA-GIN-GAH, OR 
 LITTLE CHIEF. 
 
 Little Chief died shortly after the 
 treaty was made. He was a man 
 highly respected by all who knew 
 him. He made one variation from the Indian 
 customs. He treated his wife as if she were 
 a queen. He never allowed 
 her to work more than was 
 absolutely necessary. She 
 was a woman of the highest 
 character. 
 
 This marked difference of 
 Little Chief's treatment of 
 his wife to that of the other 
 Indians is still remembered 
 in the tribe. 
 
 His wife is still living, and 
 preserves all the dignity of 
 her former years. Among the 
 Indian customs to which she 
 adheres, is the practice of mak- 
 ing a formal visit once a year, 
 to all the members of the tribe 
 
 42 
 
who (under the old Indian customs) were of 
 equal rank with herself. She is always treated 
 with the greatest consideration by all mem- 
 bers of the tribe. 
 
 At Little Chief's funeral a large concourse 
 of people, including missionaries, agents and 
 employes, assembled. The Indian burial 
 ceremonies were observed in full, for the last 
 time, in the Omaha tribe. His horse, led to 
 the grave, covered with blankets and other per- 
 sonal belongings of the chief, was strangled; 
 also his favorite dog was killed, that they 
 might accompany him on his long journey to 
 the happy hunting grounds. 
 
AH-WAH-GAH-HA, OR VILLAGE 
 MAKER. 
 
 Village Maker was a very old man 
 at the time the treaty was made, and 
 died a short time afterwards. 
 
 But few traditions concerning him 
 are preserved by the Indians. Among them 
 is one which declares that Village Maker 
 was a great hunter, always providing plenty 
 for his family and the entertainment of visit- 
 ing chiefs. It is said that he was a good 
 man, and that very early in life he told the 
 Indians that the white people would finally fill 
 all the land, and that the Indians must turn 
 from hunting to farming. His descendants 
 are quite numerous in the tribe to-day; and 
 the)- always speak with the greatest reverence 
 of old Village Maker. 
 
 41 
 
AH-NO-KE GA, OR NOISE. 
 
 Noise was one of the signers of 
 the treaty, but like Village Maker, 
 he was an old man at that time, 
 and died soon afterwards. But 
 little is known about him, as his 
 band was not as numerous as some 
 others in the tribe. 
 He had met but a few 
 white people, or "the big — , _ 
 knives," as they were called r> .^ 
 
 at that time by the Omahas. 
 The first people with whom 
 they came in familiar con- 
 tact were the French trad- 
 ers. The Indians called 
 them white natives, in 
 contra-distinction from all 
 other white foreigners. 
 
 Noise was a thorough 
 believer in all the Indian 
 customs, and lived in ac- 
 cordance with them until 
 his death. 
 
ODA-NAH-ZE, OR YELLOW 
 SMOKE. 
 
 Yellow Smoke, the last signer of 
 the treaty, lived to a good old age. 
 He was one of the first Indians who made 
 a profession of the Christian religion, and 
 for years was an elder in the Presbyterian 
 church, established by Father Hamilton. 
 
 Y'ellow Smoke was what would be called, 
 among the white people, "a. pillar of the 
 church." He never failed to be present at 
 any public service, and every prayer meeting, 
 when it was at all possible for him to do so. 
 
 When he was in Washington, some one 
 made him a present of a silk hat. 
 Y'ellow Smoke preserved this to the 
 day of his death, and always, when 
 attending church, when the weather 
 was fair, would wear that hat. He 
 had another silk hat that he wore 
 on other occasions, but this one 
 he always kept for church. 
 
 To see Y'ellow Smoke walk into 
 church with his silk hat and blanket 
 
 46 
 
on, to one who did not know him, would 
 cause a smile, but if one waited until it came 
 his turn to speak, he would always hear some- 
 thing well worth remembering. 
 
 An educated white man who often attended 
 the church, said that he never heard, any- 
 where, finer religious addresses than he had 
 heard delivered in that church by Yellow 
 Smoke. 
 
 Being a thorough Christian, he abandoned 
 all the Indian customs, and adopted those, as 
 far as he could, of 
 the whites. It may be 
 said of him that he 
 was a conscientious 
 believer and follower 
 of the Lowly Naz- 
 arene. He and Big 
 Elk, who is a de- 
 scendant of the old 
 chief Big Elk, were, 
 for years, the leaders 
 of the Indian Presby- 
 terian church on the 
 reservation, and have 
 had the confidence 
 and respect of all the 
 missionaries and min- 
 isters who knew them. 
 
 hJr 
 
O THE DRIVING CLOUD. 
 
 By H. W. Longfellow. 
 
 Gloomy and dark art thou, O chief 
 
 of the mighty Omawhaws; 
 Gloomy and dark as the driving 
 cloud, whose name thou hast 
 taken. 
 Wrapt in the scarlet blanket, I see thee stalk 
 
 through the city's 
 Narrow and populous streets, as once by the 
 
 margin of rivers, 
 Stalked those birds unknown, that have left 
 
 us only their footprints. 
 What, in a few short years, will remain of 
 thy race but the footprints? 
 
 How canst thou walk in these streets, who 
 hast trod the green turf of the prairies? 
 
 How canst thou breathe in this air, who hast 
 breathed the sweet air of the mountains? 
 
 Ah! 'Tis vain that with lordly looks of dis- 
 dain thou dost challenge 
 
 Looks of dislike in return, and question these 
 walls and these pavements, 
 
 Claiming the soil for thy hunting-grounds, 
 while down-trodden millions 
 
 Starve in the garrets of Europe, and cry from 
 its caverns that they, too, 
 
 Have been created heirs of the earth, and 
 claim its division! 
 
 48 
 
Back, then; back to thy woods in the regions 
 
 west of the Wabash! 
 There, as a monarch thou reignest. In 
 
 autumn the leaves of the maple 
 Pave the floors of thy palace-halls with gold, 
 
 and in the summer 
 Pine trees waft through its chambers the 
 
 odorous breath of their branches. 
 There thou art strong and great, a hero, a 
 
 tamer of horses! 
 There thou chasest the stately stag on the 
 
 banks of the Elkhorn, 
 Or by the roar of the Running Water, or 
 
 where the Omawhaw 
 Calls thee, and leaps through the wild ravine 
 
 like a brave of the Blackfeet! 
 
 Lo! the big thunder canoe, that steadily 
 
 breasts the Missouri's 
 Merciless current! And yonder, afar on the 
 
 prairies, the camp-fires 
 Gleam through the night; and the cloud of 
 
 dust in the gray of the daybreak 
 Marks not the buffalo's track, nor the Man- 
 dan's dexterous horse race; 
 It is a caravan, whitening the desert where 
 
 dwell the Comanches! 
 Ha! how the breath of these Saxons and Celts, 
 
 like the blast of the east wind, 
 Drifts evermore to the west the scanty 
 
 smokes of the wigwams! 
 
 49 
 
50 
 
 i 
 
IG ELK. 
 
 After Black Bird,* who was given 
 a national reputation, and very un- 
 fairly so, by Washington Irving, the 
 next most noted chief in the history 
 of the Omahas was Big Elk, of whom 
 a great deal has been said in the biography 
 of Iron Eye. 
 
 Big Elk, on the other hand, was noted for 
 his kindness of heart and general good judg- 
 ment, an instance of which may be found in 
 another part of this souvenir, in the story of 
 the French Captives. 
 
 Some twenty years ago, an old Omaha 
 Indian told a white friend that the memory of 
 Big Elk in his family would never die. He 
 said that all the members of 
 his father's family were poor, 
 that they had never owned a 
 horse, and when they were 
 out on long buffalo hunts, they 
 had to travel on foot and carry 
 their baggage on their backs, 
 and when returning, whatever 
 robes, furs, or meat they pro- 
 cured, had to be carried in 
 the same way. 
 
 * The reputation of Black Bird in his tribe was, that he was a 
 cruel and very unjust ruler of his people. 
 
One day his father, almost worn out from 
 carrying a heavy pack, sat down by the way 
 to rest, when Big Elk came by, and seeing 
 the old man was nearly exhausted, he took 
 pity on him and gave him his own horse. 
 "That," said the old Omaha, "was the only 
 horse my father ever owned. And he was no 
 relation to Big Elk." 
 
 He succeeded Black Bird as head chief of 
 the tribe, but he only lived a little past middle 
 age, and died of an epidemic fever, prevalent 
 at that time among the Omaha Indians. He 
 died near the river, just below the bluff where 
 Black Bird was buried. 
 
 He was buried on one of the hills south of 
 where the Omaha agency building now stand. 
 
 So universally loved and respected was 
 Big Elk by all the members of the Omaha 
 tribe, that it is said that no member of that 
 tribe has ever been heard to say anything 
 other than that Big Elk was a great and good 
 chief. 
 
A-JA-PA'S LETTER. 
 
 "My Friend: As I am thinking 
 (jff of you to-day, I send you a letter ot 
 a few words. My friend, what I 
 speak I hope you understand. The 
 one thing that I wrote last winter to tell 
 you about, last winter's words continue; but 
 I shall tell you again. As to our being in 
 this land, God put us here, and so we are 
 here. Before the white people came hither, 
 we thought it was our land. But when the 
 Great Father* said the land was to be sold, 
 it was sold, and a very small part remains 
 to us of all that used to be ours. And 
 now the white people wish to take that 
 from us! They wish to send us to a far-off 
 land. It is very hard for us. To take our 
 land from us is very much like killing us. 
 
 "We wish to live, so I send you this letter. 
 We tell you that we think of becoming citi- 
 zens, because you ( whites ) have a bad opinion 
 of the life and customs of Indians. Most 
 truly do we tell you what is said. And when 
 we become citizens we wish to keep our own 
 land, therefore we wish to become citizens. 
 I wish to tell you all this is hard for us. M) t 
 friend, white people, Americans, those who 
 
 * The President. Referring to the white people generally, or 
 the government. 
 
 53 
 
have seen the Indians, and know them, when 
 they tell you anything, they tell you straight 
 truth. But those who have not seen us at 
 all, say: 'Indians are bad.' Or when they 
 have talked very little with us, they tell how 
 very bad the Indians are. 
 
 "And, my friend, we hope that you all will 
 open your hearts and think of God, and have 
 pity on us Indians. For, by night and by 
 day, we are in constant dread of some unseen 
 evil. 
 
 " My friend, again another matter, in a very 
 few words, I wish to speak about. It has been 
 said: 'You are to have white soldiers reside 
 among us.' But we know the soldiers, we 
 know them, so we fear them. We do not 
 want them, and all the Indians do not want 
 the soldiers. From the days of the former 
 Indians we have had them, so we know them. 
 They act as if they were the only human be- 
 ings. And whatever Indian woman they wish 
 to dishonor, without taking her at all for a 
 wife, they dishonor her, and they treat us 
 just as if we were hogs and dogs. Therefore, 
 we do not want them. The Indians are not 
 the first to do what is bad. The soldiers first 
 cover up their own bad deeds, and having 
 covered up their own, they show to the Great 
 Father the bad deeds of an Indian. 
 
 "Although I shall repeat something, still 
 I will say it again. The Indians called Sioux 
 
 54 
 
hate us Indians, who, having sold our lands to 
 the Great Father, are now farming. You 
 think that all the Indians are alike, but we 
 are not alike. Some desire to be on the side 
 of the white people, and some, who are called 
 Sioux, are not so, and yet you think that we 
 are exactly alike, when we are not so. We 
 are not like them. We are all of different 
 nations; you whites, too, are of different na- 
 tions, and so are we. If the Sioux hate us, 
 and if you, too, hate us, how can we live? 
 We wish to live, we wish to go towards you. 
 Even if we should fail, still we wish to get 
 something for ourselves — that is, to become 
 citizens. For only in that way can it be 
 good for us. 
 
 "I have told you enough about that. And 
 now I will tell you another thing. As we 
 wish to live, we are working for ourselves. 
 And we do so because we know very well 
 that it will be good for us, and yet we have 
 fared very hard this year. The 
 heat was so great that our 
 wheat was withered, and did 
 not bring more than from 
 thirty to forty cents a bushel. 
 Therefore, we are just as if 
 we had not made anything at 
 all for ourselves; though we |g|| 
 have corn, potatoes, and dif- 
 ferent kinds of vegetables. 
 
 55 
 
" When we see these white-skin people, we 
 think they are prospering, so we desire it 
 (civilization). We know that all your agri- 
 cultural implements, and other machines, are 
 useful in getting one's living, and for the last 
 three years we have had some tools. 
 
 "We have tried working, and know very 
 well that it is good, so we desire it. As we 
 write this letter to you, God is sitting with 
 us, as it were; therefore, we hope that the 
 white people will stop talking about our land 
 (or against us). 
 
 "We wish to keep what is ours, so we 
 petition you, and your people, too, who are 
 helping us, we pray to you, and you who are 
 on the other side, we pray to you also: Have 
 pity on us Omaha Indians. We do not mean 
 all the other tribes — ourselves alone, do we 
 mean. 
 
 " Wa-ja-pa." 
 
 56 
 
V^T 
 
 OriJUk*, dLfc,-(k»<r-L. 
 
 /Q/Q~ / /ClA^l^ - /WA/ X&^-sL^sx*., Art*; - 
 
 iJ&huSKM^ /0uOcuw_s / 4yn^Mei_yv\_y /Q~ - 
 fry. Ib^^iJ^tu^^ AJUL, ya^tUJL It ^ IaJIaL 
 
r~%i 
 
 DREAM WOMAN. 
 
 ^■^F^ " It was over sixty years ago, when 
 
 ^^ >V I was a little girl, that we camped 
 
 Y>J*7 near the Nishnabotna, at a place the 
 
 \/<jt Indians called Wa-a-hi-da O-thu- 
 * cump-pi (Beautiful in the Distance), 
 opposite where Bellevue now stands. The 
 place was thickly wooded, and in the beauti- 
 ful grove the tents were set up. 
 
 "There were the tents of my brothers, 
 Long Wing and Walking in the Rain; rny 
 uncle, Wi-thu-gun, as well as my father and 
 mother, who had a tent of their own. The 
 little girls with whom I dearly loved to play 
 all day long, were Hin-na-gi (The Chief 
 Woman), Gun-tha-i (The Wanted One) and 
 Ha-sa-gii. 
 
 ' ' One evening I cried for some deer marrow, 
 and my uncle said, < Do not cry any more, 
 Hin-ua-sun,* tomorrow you shall have what 
 you want.' Before the break of day, while 
 we were still asleep, my uncle went away to 
 look for deer. 
 
 "It was always a treat for us children, 
 when the hunter brought home the venison, 
 to have our mothers break the leg-bones of 
 the deer and give us the marrow. 
 
 "After we had our breakfast, Hin-na-gi, 
 Gun-tha-i and Ha-sa-gii came running from 
 
 * Means a Relative. 
 
 58 
 
the tents, and said: 'Come on, Hin-ua-sun, 
 bring your little pail, and we will go and look 
 for wild beans, so we can cook them. Be 
 sure and bring your knife, too, so we can 
 make some dishes.' 
 
 "Holding my little short, red-handled 
 knife in one hand, and my little pail in the 
 other, I ran on into the woods with my com- 
 panions. 
 
 "The great cottonwood trees that lay de- 
 caying on the ground were our especial 
 delight, for out of their thick bark, which we 
 pulled off, we made dishes, pails and tents, 
 which we used in our play. 
 
 " We went to the larger logs which lay here 
 and there, and putting in our hands we 
 scraped out great handfuls of wild beans, 
 which the little mice had stored away for 
 their winter's living. After we had washed 
 the wild beans clean and white, we put them 
 in our little pail. Hin-na-gii 
 planted a thick, round stick 
 in the ground, and taking a 
 stick with a notch in it, she 
 tied it to the upright one, and 
 then put the little pail on the 
 notched stick, and our beans 
 were ready to be cooked. 
 
 "We'built our fire and then 
 sat down to make our bark 
 dishes. We hollowed out the 
 
thick cottonwood bark and trimmed them 
 into round shapes, like dishes of wood our 
 mothers had. My dish was crooked, and I 
 could not get it round like the other girls, 
 which made me feel bad. 
 
 " 'The beans are not boiling yet, so let us 
 make a tent,' said Hin-na-gii, who was the 
 oldest. ' We can go in and lie down while 
 we are waiting for them.' 
 
 " We selected the tent-poles we wanted, and 
 tying four together at the top, we set them 
 on the ground so they would form a pyramid. 
 We placed the rest of the poles in place, and 
 then took great sheets of the cottonwood bark 
 for our tent-cloth, and our bark house was 
 ready. 
 
 "I put my little dish at my head, near my 
 pillow of bark, and we all laid down. I went 
 sound asleep, but the other girls did not go 
 to sleep. They ate the beans, when they 
 were done, and then, without waking me, 
 they went home and left me alone in the tent. 
 
 " If I had dreamed it when I slept, I should 
 have said it was a dream; but I awoke very 
 suddenly, and looking around found the tent 
 empty. Sleeping opposite the tent door, I 
 raised my eyes, and there stood a most beau- 
 tiful Indian woman, in a magnificent Indian 
 dress. Looking at me, she gave me such a 
 beautiful smile that I can never forget it. I 
 turned around, and taking my little pail in 
 
one hand, and grasping my shawl in the other, 
 I looked again towards the door, but the 
 beautiful woman with the lovely smile had 
 gone. 
 
 ''As I ran home to the tents, I looked 
 everywhere, but I saw nothing on the way. 
 Raising the door-flap, I knelt down to enter 
 the tent, where my uncle, who had the leg- 
 bones of the deer ready for me, threw them 
 toward me. 
 
 "'Uncle!' I said, and laughed in delight; 
 but my uncle said, 'Sister, see; her mouth is 
 crooked,' and mother said, 'My poor child.' 
 
 "Then we heard the voice of my brother 
 from his tent, as he said, sternly: 
 
 " ''.It must be their work' (meaning ghosts). 
 < Treat your niece with the medicines that 
 you know how to make, and do your best for 
 her.' 
 
 "So my uncle went out, and brought in 
 two roots, one of which he used as a wash, 
 and the other I had to hold pieces of in my 
 mouth all the time. 
 
 "Four is the magic number 
 of the Indians, so for four days 
 he treated me, and my mouth 
 was straight again, although I 
 do not remember the exact num- 
 ber of days this took. 
 
 "When my uncle went out to 
 hunt, he examined the place 
 
 61 
 
where our bark tent stood, and there he found 
 a great many very old graves of Indians, 
 that had been buried many, many years before. 
 
 "They all said it was a ghost I saw, but I 
 never thought so. My uncle, who was much 
 gifted, was an interpreter of dreams, and this 
 was the interpretation of my vision: 
 
 " 'That women of all ranks or stations, and 
 of all races, would smile on me.' 
 
 "I never used to tell this, because I 
 thought it was a vision sent to me, and I was 
 gifted to see visions, and so should not tell 
 it, for it was the custom of my people, but 
 since I have become a believer in the true 
 God, and know there is nothing in the world 
 beside Him, I have told this to show that I 
 have put all such things away as not fitting a 
 believer in the true Son of God." 
 
 m 
 

 (&st: •?, /. 
 
 /jjjt 
 
ouis. 
 
 "My mother must be over seventy 
 years of age, as near as we can make 
 out, and yet to this day she cannot 
 speak of my brother Louis' death 
 without her eyes filling with tears. He was 
 older than myself, and I am probably the 
 only one of her children now living who 
 can remember him. As young as I was at 
 the time of his death, his individuality 
 made such a strong impression on me, that 
 I can, even now, at times, hear his merry 
 laugh and shout, as he played with the other 
 Indian boys at his games, and his sunny face, 
 like a gleam of sunshine, flashes before my 
 memory. My father had placed him at the 
 Omaha Mission School, as he placed all of 
 his children, one after the other, as they 
 grew old enough to attend. His desire to 
 have his children learn to speak English, and 
 educate them as the white people were edu- 
 cated, was very strong. 
 
 " At the time of Louis' death, he was prob- 
 ably nine or ten years old. Father and 
 mother had gone on a visit to the Pawnees, 
 leaving him at the Mission. . My grandmother 
 had been left at home, at the Indian village, 
 about three miles from the Mission. In the 
 
Mission building was a very large room in the 
 third story which had been set aside as a 
 bed-room for the little Indian boys who at- 
 tended the school. One day, Kaghaumba, a 
 family friend, went to visit the Mission. He 
 heard from the other boys that Louis was 
 sick, and going up into the bed-room, found 
 little Louis in this great, bare room, without 
 any attendance whatever, the teacher prob- 
 ably thinking that he was sick with some 
 childish ailment. Kaghaumba, who could 
 not speak a word of English, was so indig- 
 nant that he wrapped the boy up in his blanket 
 and carried him home to his grandmother, 
 without informing the teacher. In two or 
 three days Louis died, and father and mother 
 were met by a runner, while still a day's 
 journey from home, and told that their beau- 
 tiful boy, whom they had left so full of life 
 and vitality, was dead. On reaching home, 
 mother says that father lay all night with his 
 dead boy in his arms; that he was a changed 
 man from that time, and never seemed the 
 same as he was before. 
 
 "The most vivid impression that 
 remains in my memory of that sad 
 time is, that during one of the in- 
 tervals when there was stillness and 
 quiet, because the wailing of the 
 Indians had ceased for a time, as I 
 looked out on a reach of prairie. 
 
 65 
 
at about the distance of a mile away, some 
 men emerged from the hillsides. They seemed 
 to be advancing in a line, and in regular 
 order. Then I heard what seemed to be a 
 far-off singing. They were singing a dirge. 
 The sound came nearer and nearer, and the 
 singers showed more and more plainly. There 
 was something peculiar about their appear- 
 ance. They came half walking, half running, 
 up the slope toward our house, singing the 
 dirge as they came. Each of them was drag- 
 ging an unstripped willow-branch, which 
 trailed on the ground. 
 
 "When they came close enough to be 
 recognized, I saw the blood 
 streaming from the left arm 
 of each of them. The broken 
 end of the willow-branch was 
 thrust through the thick flesh 
 of the upper-arm of each one, 
 while the tops and the boughs, 
 leaves and all, trailed on the 
 ground. They ^had walked 
 the distance of a mile, singing 
 the death-dirge, in honor of 
 my dead brother. 
 
 "The impression it made 
 on me is almost as vivid to- 
 day as it was then — this re- 
 membrance of my brother's 
 death. I think it will please 
 
 66 
 
my mother to know that the memory of 
 him still lives, and she will like to know 
 that the baby's sketch, which accompanies 
 this article, has been published. It is a hasty 
 sketch, taken of Louis when he was a baby, 
 by some wandering artist, at the time of the 
 Mormon emigration to Utah. She says she 
 was standing, with Louis in her arms, by the 
 Missouri river, when the artist got off the 
 steamboat, while it was unloading its passen- 
 gers, and that he made the sketch, took the 
 leaf out of the book, and handed it to her as 
 he stood on the gang-plank, while the whistle 
 sounded." 
 
HE CAPTIVE'S SONG. 
 
 Many years ago, before the Omaha 
 Indians sold to the government the 
 land on which Omaha now stands, I 
 heard an Indian captive sing a song which I 
 can never forget. 
 
 We were living then at Bellevue, although 
 the rest of the Omahas were living in mud 
 lodges over seventy-eight miles up the river, 
 where Homer now stands, and a few that 
 were scattered along the banks of the river 
 between Homer and Bellevue. There was 
 not even a single house where Omaha now 
 stands. 
 
 The Pawnees were on the war-path, and 
 knowing the Spaniards had many horses, they 
 
 W 
 
 68 
 
Lad gone far west and made a raid, bringing 
 home many horses and five young Spanish 
 boys as captives, whom they had found herd- 
 ing horses. 
 
 They brought the captives home without 
 any trouble, for the Spaniards did not know 
 of their loss for some time, as the herds were 
 a long way from their homes, and the herders 
 had provisions with them. There were no 
 English people here at all then — only French- 
 men, mostly traders. Some of them came 
 up here from St. Louis, and told our agent 
 that the Pawnees had five Spanish captives. 
 Our agent went down, and the Pawnees gave 
 up the captives to him, and he brought them 
 back with him to the Omahas. While wait- 
 ing for the Omahas to come down to Bellevue, 
 they stayed at our house, and I saw the cap- 
 tives. There were two about sixteen or 
 eighteen years old, one about ten, and the 
 youngest eight years old. The youngest one 
 held on to the coat of the agent, for he was 
 afraid ol the new Indian tribe. 
 
 Just before the Spanish captives arrived at 
 Bellevue, an event occurred among the In- 
 dians who were camped along the river. 
 
 An . Indian named Nettle ( Sha-nug-a-hi ) 
 had built a straw r hut among the bluffs, close 
 to the river, and in this abandoned hut a 
 Frenchman, coming from the Sioux country, 
 had taken refuge. It seems his feet had been 
 
 69 
 
frozen, and unable to walk farther, he was 
 resting in the hut when found by an Omaha 
 Indian, who had been hunting deer. 
 
 Why he committed the crime we do not 
 know, but he shot the poor Frenchman. He 
 then told every Indian hunter whom he met 
 he had killed a white man, because No Heart, 
 an Omaha Indian, had been killed by an Iowa 
 Indian. Happening to meet his brother, who 
 was also out hunting, he took him back to the 
 straw hut to see the white man he had killed. 
 Wa-o-ga, the brother, seeing the Frenchman 
 was still alive, and suffering, although mortally 
 wounded, said that out of pity he put an end 
 to his sufferings. 
 
 Big Elk was then our head chief. He was 
 a very good man, and one of the greatest 
 chiefs the Omahas ever had. He was well 
 known by the French and Spaniards, and 
 respected by both white people and Indians. 
 
 It was before I was married to Iron Eye, 
 and he and his father had just returned from 
 hunting, near Homer, when the old chief 
 came into the tent and whispered a few words 
 to your grandfather. Your father knew it 
 must be something important that Big Elk 
 was telling. So when the old chief had gone, 
 he asked him what it was. 
 
 "He has sent the following message to the 
 authorities at St. Louis, " your grandfather said, 
 "which he wishes me to deliver. Wa-o-ga's 
 
brother has killed a white man, and he is 
 afraid not only that the white men may be- 
 come incensed at the tribe, but that the 
 Omahas may be tempted to repeat the crime 
 some day, and Big Elk wishes the authorities 
 to take the crime in hand and punish the 
 offender, as an example for the rest." 
 
 As our agent was then at Bellevue, your 
 father and grandfather came down to Bellevue, 
 on their way to St. Louis, and gave the mes- 
 sage sent by the head chief. 
 
 The agent sent Village Maker up after the 
 murderer, and he was brought down to Belle- 
 vue with Big Elk and Wa-nun-sun-da. 
 
 The captive was guarded, but on the second 
 day he made his escape. They followed him 
 up to the mud lodge village at Homer, and 
 watched for him and searched his tent, but 
 they did not find him, and it was only after 
 close watching that near midnight they caught 
 him as he was stealing into his tent. 
 
 Village Maker and Chief Big Elk again 
 brought him down to Bellevue, and he was 
 going to be taken down to St. Louis with the 
 Spanish captives, who were to be returned to 
 their Spanish friends. This time the mur- 
 derer's brother, Wa-o-ga, was also to be 
 taken down. 
 
 Two boats, hollowed out of great cotton- 
 wood logs, were laid along side of each other, 
 and fastened together by nailing boards across, 
 
and thus forming a platform on which the 
 passengers were to sit. There were to be 
 fourteen passengers, besides bedding and pro- 
 visions, for it was a long trip in those days 
 from Bellevue to St. Louis. 
 
 It was a beautiful day in early spring that 
 the captives were to be taken down, the 
 Spaniards to find freedom, the Indians to find 
 captivity. 
 
 Our house was two stories high, and had a 
 balcony, and I stood looking down at the 
 beautiful green yard below, when I saw the 
 Indian captive come out of the employes' 
 quarters. He was dressed in buckskin 
 leggins and buffalo robe, and his long, black 
 hair hung down below his shoulders. He 
 took his place in the middle of the green yard, 
 and cast a long, searching look around, with 
 perfect despair on his face. He seemed to 
 realize the hopelessness of his captivity. His 
 wild, free life was over; what mattered else? 
 Then he sang his song: 
 
 Un winwata bltha dan, 
 Gunata ha hata dan ? 
 Un winwata bltha dan, 
 Gunata hata dan? 
 Inshaga wanunkcha shanun; 
 Winwata bltha dan 
 Gunatun hata dan? 
 [Where can I go 
 That I might live forever? 
 Where can I go 
 That I might live forevei ? 
 
The old fathers have gone to the spirii-land, 
 Where can I go 
 That we might live together?] 
 
 The song thrilled me through and through, 
 and I thought, how true it is, for he meant 
 that wherever we go, we will always have 
 death before us — we cannot avoid it — that no 
 matter what he did nor where he went, he 
 could not live forever, that all his forefathers 
 had gone to the spirit land, and how could he 
 expect to escape death. When he finished 
 his song he returned to the quarters from 
 whence he had come. There was perfect 
 silence, and no one spoke; they only felt that 
 he had sung the truth. 
 
 They started down the river: Big Elk, the 
 agent, your father and your grandfather, the 
 two Indian captives, the young Spaniards, 
 Village Maker, Wa-nun-sun-da and Joe Rou- 
 bridaux, all in the boat I told you about. 
 They were only a few days' travel from St. 
 Louis, when a storm came up. As long as 
 they kept close to the bank they were safe, 
 but the agent ordered them to cross the river, 
 in hopes of finding a steam-boat landing. 
 They could see the big white-capped waves, 
 and the water was so much rougher near the 
 middle of the river. 
 
 Your father said, "No, the boat will sink 
 if we cross; keep where you are." But the 
 agent insisting, the rash attempt was made. 
 
When they were in the middle of the river, 
 the boat began to sink, and the agent was 
 the first to jump into the water and swim for 
 the shore. How he ever had the strength to 
 reach it, they did not know, for he had on a 
 heavy fur coat and heavy boots. Big Elk, 
 Wa-nun-sun-da and Village Maker also struck 
 out for the shore, and safely reached it, as 
 well as Joe Roubrideaux. 
 
 Your father told the young Spaniards to 
 cling to the boat, but the three older ones 
 struck out for the shore, and soon sank. The 
 two little ones obeyed, and he heard them 
 both praying as they clung to the boat. 
 Through all their captivity, the little Spaniards 
 never forgot to say their prayers, and every 
 night knelt down, and now, in time of great 
 peril, they turned to God for help, and He 
 heard them, for they were both saved, and 
 later returned to their Spanish friends. 
 
 Imitating the cry of a bear, the Indian 
 captive, when he saw the others jump from 
 the boat, made one great effort and broke his 
 handcuffs. With his free hands he took the 
 heavy log chain that bound his feet together 
 and threw it over his shoulder, ready to jump 
 into the water. 
 
 "The iron will make you sink," your father 
 shouted, but the captive jumped. As he was 
 sinking, your father, with one hand, grasped 
 him by the hair, and pulled him up onto the 
 
platform. Perhaps the captive remembered 
 his song; anywa)', he made one long jump, 
 and sank straight down, never to rise again. 
 
 Wa-o-ga, clinging to the boat, was also 
 saved. 
 
 Your father and grandfather stayed in the 
 boat, and drifted safely to land with the two 
 Spanish boys. The others who had swum 
 ashore had run along the bank, keeping the 
 boat in sight. 
 
 Just then a steamboat, on its way to the 
 Yellowstone, made a timely appearance, for 
 the party had lost provisions and bedding, 
 and those who had swum ashore were cold. 
 The agent told them of their predicament, 
 and without stopping, the men on the steam- 
 boat threw them a ham, a box of crackers, 
 clothing and blankets. They would have had 
 a hard time reaching St. Louis otherwise, for 
 at that time there were no settlements, and 
 not a house between Bellevue and St. Louis, 
 except a few log huts where St. Joe now is. 
 
 On reaching St. Louis, Wa-o-ga was put in 
 jail for three days. He was put under guard, 
 and the Omahas told to furnish him with dry 
 bread and water. Your father pitied him, 
 and would take a loaf of bread, and hollow- 
 ing one end, would put in a piece of meat 
 and close it up again. At the end of the 
 three days Wa-o-ga was led out to his trial. 
 
 It was long before the day when Judge 
 
Dandy, of Omaha, rendered his famous de- 
 cision that "an Indian is a man," and had 
 the same privilege a white man had in a 
 court of law. In those days, an Indian could 
 be taken up for any crime, but he could not 
 have any white man punished in a court of 
 law, no matter what crime the white man had 
 committed against an Indian. Since Judge 
 Dundy's decision, we have found, as one of 
 our own race has said, "Law is liberty." 
 
 Wa-o-ga's anxiety was ended, and he was 
 a free man, for he told the authorities that 
 out of mercy for the poor man's suffering he 
 had ended his life, after his brother had mor- 
 tally wounded him. 
 
 The party had to walk home from St. Louis, 
 but they brought many things home, which 
 they had carried all that distance. 
 
 76 
 
INDIAN PICTURE WRITING. 
 £. ^ Buffalo very plenty. 
 
 Buffalo very plenty. 
 
 Many horses die of starvation. 
 
 Great abundance of buffalo meat. 
 
 White soldiers make their first ap- 
 pearance in the country. 
 
 ttf A French-Canadian built 
 
 store of dry timber. 
 The comet appeared. 
 
 The stars fell. 
 
 a trading 
 
 An eclipse of the sun. 
 
NDIAN FOLK LORE STORY. 
 
 "There was an old woman who 
 lived all alone, the Rabbit was her 
 son and the old woman was Mother 
 Earth. Rabbit had a magic skin, 
 by which he exercised all his powers. 
 It was a rabbit skin, the perfect image of 
 himself. Rabbit lived with the old woman, 
 and brought her game. The old woman was 
 the mother of all living creatures, feeding 
 them on things which grew up out of her- 
 self. Grandmother Mazhun* said to her 
 grandson, < All the people are my children, 
 all the men are your fathers, all the women 
 your mothers, and all the children your uncles 
 and aunts.' 
 
 " And God made a man and put him on the 
 earth to take care of the people, but the man 
 God sent hated the people, and looked on 
 them as his property. This man took all the 
 buffalo and deer and put them in herds, and 
 made the people take care of them, but did 
 not allow them to kill any to eat, so the peo- 
 ple were nearly starved. 
 
 "Grandmother Mazhun said to Rabbit: 
 ' I thought I told you to be kind to your 
 fathers and mothers.' 
 
 Mazhun— The Earth. 
 
" That was all she said, and spoke no more. 
 
 " ' I will see about this, said Rabbit.' 
 
 "Then Rabbit went on a journey to see 
 this man, and took his magic skin with him. 
 He said nothing to Grandmother Mazhun 
 about his project. As he was going along, 
 he passed a handsome man. 
 
 "'I have been waiting a longtime,' said 
 the man. 'You have been slow in coming.' 
 
 "'I hurried,' replied Rabbit, 'but I was 
 slow, after all,' and in an instant he was 
 transformed into a handsome young man, 
 himself. 
 
 "This splendid young brave whom Rabbit 
 met was Umba. * They traveled on together, 
 and soon overtook another handsome man. 
 He had a war club and a tobacco bag. This 
 was Ka.f 
 
 "'I have been waiting a long time, ' said 
 he, 'and you did not come.' 
 
 "The three walked on together, until they 
 came to where the herders were taking care 
 of the buffalo and deer. A little fawn had 
 been neglected by the herders, or escaped by 
 accident, and Rabbit said, ' I will take this 
 fawn with me.' 
 
 "The fawn followed, and the four went on 
 until they came to the place where the man 
 was whom God had placed on the earth to 
 take care of the people. 
 
 * Umba— Light of the Sun. 
 t Ka— Turtle. 
 
 80 
 
"'You have come to challenge me, have 
 you?' said he to Rabbit. 'What have you 
 brought Ka along with you for? He is al- 
 ways inventing tricks and devices to deceive. ' 
 
 "'I have come to challenge you,' said 
 Rabbit. 'Let us fix upon the wager. What 
 will you bet?' 
 
 " 'I will throw all the people over whom 1 1 
 rule,' said the man, 'for that seems to be 
 what you want. If you win, you shall have 
 them.' 
 
 "Then they sat down to gamble with 
 reeds.* Rabbit won every time. He won 
 the buffalo, and turned them out of the 
 herds to roam at will. He won the deer and 
 elk, and all the people, and told them to go 
 where they pleased. 
 
 "At last the man said, 'Let us try some- 
 thing else besides these reeds.' 
 
 " 'What do you want to try now?' asked 
 Rabbit. 
 
 " 'W 7 e will wager on walking in the same 
 tracks,' said the man. 
 
 " 'All right,' said Rabbit. 
 
 "'What animal will you use?' asked the 
 man. 
 
 " ' My little fawn,' said Rabbit. ' And what 
 animal will you use?' 
 
 * The game is played by throwing a bundle of reeds, some- 
 thing over a foot long, on the ground, and then grasping as many 
 as possible in the hands at once. He who grasps an even number 
 wins. 
 
 81 
 
" ' The wild cat,' he replied. 
 
 "There was a clump of wild goosberry 
 bushes near by. It was agreed that around 
 it the track should be made. Rabbit caused 
 a snow to fall, and the trial began. 
 
 "The fawn made his own trail, and the 
 wild cat his, and they went around and 
 around in their circles for a long time. 
 
 " Ka got out of patience, and whispered to 
 Umba, 'That's enough.' 
 
 "'Wah! let us do everything fair,' said 
 Umba. 
 
 "Ka wanted to win by a trick, but Umba 
 would not listen to him. Finally, after the 
 thing had gone on for a long time, each ani- 
 mal always stepping exactly in the former 
 tracks, Ka lost his patience altogether, and 
 said: 
 
 " ' Come, make an end of this.' 
 
 "The man who was sitting near by gave a 
 little puff, Ka caught the puff and turned it 
 into a great hurricane. The wild cat fell over 
 and put his foot out of the track. 
 
 " 'You did that,' said the man to Ka, and 
 he struck Ka on the head. The blow mashed 
 all the bones, and the brains all ran out. 
 
 "That is the reason the turtle's head is 
 full of little bones and no brains. 
 
 "At the conclusion of this game, Rabbit 
 turned loose the bears and all the animals 
 
 82 
 
with fur, and gave the man the name of 
 'Cinidawagithe'.* 
 
 " Rabbit thought he would go through the 
 country a little and see how the people liked 
 all this, so he took up his magic skin, and 
 said to Ka, 'You watch Cinidawagithe while 
 I am gone.' As Rabbit took up the skin, it 
 was so transformed that it looked exactly like 
 him, so he put it down and left it there. 
 
 "Rabbit noticed that Cinidawagithe did 
 not have his soul with him,f and he said: 'If 
 we kill him, his soul will not be dead, but 
 will take some other form, and live on.' 
 
 "Rabbit then went to the place where 
 Cinidawagithe's wife was, to inquire of her 
 where he had hidden his soul. 
 
 " The magic skin was there in the place 
 where the contest was made, and Cinidawa- 
 githe, not knowing Rabbit was gone, said to 
 Ka: 'We will play another game.' 
 
 " ' What? ' asked Ka. 
 
 " 'We will see who can keep his eyes open 
 the longest without winking.' 
 
 " 'I will have the eagle play for me,' said 
 Cinidawagithe. 
 
 " ' Rabbit will play on our side,' said Ka. 
 
 "Then he put two acorns in the place for 
 eyes in the magic skin, and the eagle sat 
 
 * Muskrat. 
 
 r A. belief of universal acceptance among Indians is that it 
 possible for the body to live without the soul. 
 
 83 
 
down by the side of it, with eyes wide open, 
 to make the trial, while he and Umba sat 
 watching. 
 
 " Meanwhile, Rabbit went to Cinidwagithe's 
 wife's tent, having on the way transformed 
 himself to look exactly like her husband. 
 
 '''I have come, wife,' he said, 'to rest 
 awhile.' 
 
 '"No, no, Rabbit,' she replied, I know 
 you.' 
 
 "'I am myself, and I have come to rest; 
 give me some dinner.' 
 
 "Finally the woman was persuaded to be- 
 lieve Rabbit was her husband, and gave him 
 his dinner and supper; but being in such fear 
 of her husband, she again insisted in great 
 earnestness that he was Rabbit. 
 
 "'Yes, it is I,' said Rabbit. 'Your hus- 
 band is very bad; if he knew I staid here, he 
 would kill you. If you keep still I will save 
 you alive. Now tell me, where did your 
 husband hide his soul?' 
 
 " ' There is a very large lake,' said the wo- 
 man, ' by it there is a loon, and this loon has 
 my husband's soul in charge.' 
 
 " The woman was very much afraid of both 
 Cinidawagithe and Rabbit, so she insisted 
 that the Rabbit must use all his power and 
 exercise all his strategy to kill the loon. 
 
 " 'You can only kill it,' she said, ' by tak- 
 
 84 
 
ing out its heart. No one has been able to 
 get near it.' 
 
 " Rabbit started out to hunt the loon. He 
 soon came across an old beaver woman. 
 
 " 'I have been hunting,' he said to her. 
 
 " 'What are you hunting?' she asked. 
 
 "'I want to know of you something.' 
 
 "'What have I got that you want?' she 
 asked, somewhat surprised. 
 
 " 'If you will lend me what I want,' Rabbit 
 replied, ' I will pay you well.' 
 
 " 'Well, tell me what it is that you want,' 
 she said. 
 
 " Rabbit, without further ado, said plainly: 
 •' I want your heart, lend it to me. ' 
 
 "The beaver woman took out her heart 
 and gave it to Rabbit, and Rabbit said: 
 
 "'To pay you for this I will give you a 
 tomahawk to cut down trees with, and the 
 work you do with it shall be better than man 
 can do.' And he gave her her teeth. 
 
 " This is how beavers get their sharp teeth. 
 
 "All this time Cinidawagithe did not know 
 that Rabbit had gone. He thought the magic 
 skin was the real Rabbit. 
 
 "After awhile Rabbit came near the lake, 
 and called the loon. It answered. 
 
 " 'Rabbit, I know you,' said the loon, and 
 then went further away. 
 
 " Rabbit called it again and again, and at 
 last said: 
 
 85 
 
" 'It is I; I have come to see how my soul 
 is getting along.' 
 
 "The loon was finally deceived and gave 
 Rabbit the soul of Cinidawagithe. He kept 
 it, and then gave back to the loon the heart 
 the Beaver woman had given him. 
 
 " 'This does not look like the same thing 
 I gave you,' said the loon. 
 
 "Rabbit assured the loon that it was, and 
 then went straight to Cinidawagithe's wife. 
 
 "'I have accomplished it,' he said. 'It 
 was a hard task, but I succeeded.' 
 
 "Then he sat down right in front of her 
 and cut the soul into small pieces. 
 
 "'Now,' said he, 'You are safe. If Cin- 
 idawagithe tries to kill you, he can't.' 
 
 "Rabbit went back where Umba, Ka and 
 Cinidawagithe were making the trial between 
 the eagle and the magic skin with acorns for 
 eyes, and there the eagle sat, gazing, not 
 having winked even once. 
 
 " Ka had gotten entirely out of patience 
 again, and as Rabbit came up, said to Umba: 
 
 " 'Let us finish this; I am tired of it.' 
 
 "'Let us wait,' Umba quietly replied. 
 'This is the last trial; we have nearly finished 
 all we came to do.' 
 
 "But Ka wouldn't wait any longer; his 
 patience was all gone, and he replied: 
 
 " 'Let us end it.' 
 
 " 'All right,' said Umba, and blew a breath 
 
in Ka's mouth, Ka blew it out again, and then 
 fell a great rain. The water ran down in the 
 eagle's eyes and made him wink. 
 
 "Ka jumped up and shouted: 
 
 " 'We have won! We have won! Wa, we 
 have won !' 
 
 "This made Cinidawagithe very angry, and 
 he pounded Ka's head until it was flat. 
 
 "That is how the turtles came to have flat 
 heads. 
 
 "Then Rabbit spoke in his proper person 
 to Cinidawagithe, and said: 
 
 " 'Wakanda* put you here to take care of 
 the people, but you had a bad heart, and 
 were selfish. I might kill you, but I will 
 turn you into a muskrat. You shall have no 
 soul, and must always live among the fishes.' " 
 
 * God— Sacred One. 
 

 mmm 
 
 OMAHA IN 1898. 
 
 Omaha city, the metropolis of Nebraska, 
 is situated midway between the oceans, and 
 is the center of the greatest agricultural 
 region on the globe. After the purchase of 
 the land from the Indians, Omaha has grad- 
 ually grown from the Indian wigwams of 1854 
 to the now populous city of 154,000 inhabi- 
 tants. Her churches and schools are among 
 the finest and best. Her manufacturing and 
 jobbing houses, smelting and refining works, 
 Jinseed oil mills and white lead works all have 
 an extensive trade. 
 
 Omaha is one of the greatest live stock 
 
markets in the world, and that accounts for 
 her immense packing houses. This, and the 
 enormous amount of agricultural productions 
 in the surrounding fertile country, has made 
 for her a great railroad center, her systems of 
 transportation reaching far into the British 
 territory on the north, to the Gulf of Mexico 
 on the south, to the Atlantic Ocean on the 
 east, and the Pacific on the west. Only those 
 who visit the city can judge correctly con- 
 cerning what faithful and energetic citizens 
 can accomplish in a few short years. It is 
 probably true to say that on no spot on the 
 face of the whole earth could such advance- 
 ment be shown in the last fifty years. Then 
 a wilderness inhabited only by native tribes, 
 now a city in the front rank of modern civil- 
 ization. 
 
 Not only on its commercial side has Omaha 
 prospered. While its citizens have sought 
 after wealth with the eagerness that every- 
 where characterizes the American citizen, 
 they have not forgotten the far more real, 
 though immaterial things, which lie at the 
 foundation of all human progress and all real 
 happiness. Very many persons have risen 
 to distinction in literature, whose first at- 
 tempts were made in Omaha. The votaries 
 of art, for art's sake, can be found all over 
 these plains, while in Omaha there is an art 
 gallery not equalled in any city of the same 
 
size in the United States. Several successful 
 novels have been written, and the scenes laid 
 in this city. Some writers of humor, whose 
 reputations are now as wide as the nation, 
 and one who gained a world-wide audience, 
 first attracted attention through work done 
 on Nebraska publications. 
 
NEBRASKA. 
 
 The citizenship of Nebraska is noted for 
 its quick adaptation to the needs of every 
 occasion as it arises. Whether it is famine 
 or war, drouth or flood, the men of Nebraska 
 know what to do, and do it without hesita- 
 tion. When the call was made for food for 
 the starving women and children of Cuba, a 
 Nebraska newspaper collected and forwarded 
 a whole train load of supplies within ten days. 
 The state was one of the first to furnish its 
 full quota of troops, and has ever since been 
 begging the government to allow it to send 
 more than its quota. A newspaper man, as 
 part of his daily work, on the day the call for 
 troops was made, wrote and printed the two 
 poems reproduced in this booklet, descriptive 
 of a Cuban mother and child and the landing 
 of our troops on Cuban soil. 
 
 91 
 
THE CUBAN MOTHER. 
 
 • Mother, why look all day at the sea? 
 Come to the hut and sit thou with me. 
 Hunger has gone and all of the pain, 
 Come, mother, come, you look but in vain " 
 
 •' Not so, my child, not so, 
 A faint, dark line I see. 
 'Tis dim, and dull and low, 
 Far on' upon the sea. 
 Oh! God, Oh! can it be 
 The ships from northern lands, 
 With food for you, for me? 
 Gathered with loving hands — 
 Oh! can it be, can it be?" 
 
 Mother, why look all day at the sea? 
 Come to the hut and sit thou by me, 
 No one is here since baby has died. 
 Come to the hut and sit by my side." 
 
 " Be brave, my child, be brave. 
 The ships I plainly see. 
 They come! they come to save! 
 With food for you, for me. 
 The northern mother told 
 Of baby's dying cry. 
 I see the flag unfold 
 And gleam against the sky." 
 
 Mother, why look all day at the sea? 
 Come to the hut and sit thou with me. 
 May I not lay my head on your knee? 
 Mother, you dream, there's naught on the sea. 
 
 " I dream not. Now I see 
 The red, the white, the blue— 
 The flag of liberty. 
 They come! they come! It's true, 
 Be brave, my child, be brave, 
 They heard the children's cry, 
 They come, they come to save, 
 Praise be to God on high." 
 
 92 
 
While the citizenship of the state is made 
 up of various nationalities, including Eng- 
 lish, Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, Poles, 
 Frenchmen, Russians, Swiss, Austrians, Bo- 
 hemians, Cubans, Spaniards, Indians, Armen- 
 ians, Greeks and Negroes, we all live in 
 peace together, and there are no race prob- 
 lems to trouble society. At the same time, 
 the United States census shows that Ne- 
 braska has less illiteracy than any other 
 state in the Union. It has statesmen and 
 scientists whose names are household words 
 in every civilized land. 
 
 Its great university, located at Lincoln, open 
 and free to all, gives a liberal education to 
 2,000 students every year. Four tribes of 
 Indians are permanently located in the state, 
 and all of them are making commendable 
 progress in the arts of civilization. Fifty 
 years ago Nebraska was a trackless wilder- 
 ness. Today it is dotted with cities, grid- 
 ironed with railroads, and filled with schools, 
 churches and higher institutions of learning. 
 Men of every race and of every country have 
 found a home here, where we live in peace, 
 and if one suffers, it is the concern of all. 
 
 "X^- 
 
 9a 
 
OUR BOYS IN CUBA. 
 
 Well, Cuban mothers, they have come, | 
 
 That is, what's left of them, 
 Through fire and smoke and bursting bomb, 
 
 'Cross fields of blood, by dying men, 
 Where bullets rained, and the fierce scream / 
 
 Of shell — a bloody track. 
 Now drink, drink from my canteen, 
 
 Eat from my haversack. 
 
 What? Don't hesitate. It's for you. 
 
 (How pale she is and wan, 
 And that strange talk to me is new, 
 
 The language of the Don. 
 How ill she is, and thin and lean. 
 
 Those eyes! How large and black ) 
 Don't weep! Drink from my canteen, 
 
 Eat from my haversack. 
 
 What? (The voice is strange and low, 
 
 A wailing, full of fears, 
 But there's one language all men know. 
 
 It speaks through woman's tears.) 
 You heard our shou's and saw the gleam 
 
 Of bayonets. The Dons ran back. 
 We've come. Drink from my canteen, 
 
 Eat from my haversack. 
 
 "Senor." Oh, don't call me senor, 
 
 I'm but a farmer lad, 
 Who left his plow to go to war. 
 
 V\ e just got fighting mad 
 'Bout starving women, children's screams 
 
 And Weyler's bloody track. 
 So drink, drink from our canteens, 
 
 Eat from the haversack. 
 
 BB 14 8 
 
■ ' 
 
JUN 1 1904 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS