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Renew online by choosing the My Library Account option at: http://www. library. illinois.edu/catalog/ UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAICN 200KSTACKS ot Nel 4 YOR ; ie | a, Nila t KOs ons Srint DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE with Reproductions of Life-size Bust Portraits of Famous Indian Chiefs Great Medicine Men and Notable Indian ey Warriors = . Renowned Explorers, Scouts & Guides RICKER LIBRARY “MAY 1 6.1961 DEPT, ARCHITECTURE Exhibited im the Minnesota Pioneers’ Portrait Galleries State Fair Gesunde dea n authentie Biogranhis ais ptese sy arg eam a brief H of the Ind whi ch thes dtesstimny, LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS , , 8 SEPI9I4 Descriptive atalogue with Reproductions of Life-size Bust Portraits of Famous Indian Chiefs, Great Medias Men, Notable Indian Warriors and Renowned Explorers, Scouts and Guides With an authentic Biographical Sketch of each Subject and a brief History of the Indian Tribes which they represent. Exhibited in the Minnesota Pioneers Portrait Galleries State Fair Grounds THE thirty life-size bust portraits herein described, were painted by the greatest of all Indian portrait painters, Mr. H. H. CRoss, and are loaned to the State Fair Management by THOMAS B. WALKER, Muinneapolis, Minn. painter, H. H. Cross, is now a resi- dent of Avalon, Santa Catalina Island, California. Mr. Cross is ‘~~ about seventy years of age and be- 4 gan painting animals in 1854, when but fifteen years old. Only a few years later he began to paint Indian portraits from life. These he retained for his own gratification it being his hobby or desire from the beginning of his art career to produce a splendid collection cf those most inter- esting and historic portraits. He studied his art in both Europe and America and has produced suc- cessful and meritorious pictures for many notable people, including Leland Stanford, Cornelius Van- derbilt, J. B. Hogen, Marcus Daly, Frank Work, Robert Bonner, H. M. Flagler, The Prince of Wales (now King Edward), “Buffalo Bill,’ The Duke of Chester, General Grant (picture sent by him to the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid 2d), Emperor of Japan, James J. Hill, and others. He painted the portrait of the King of the Hawaiian Islands and of President Diaz of Mexico. Aside from George Catlin, who during the years 1832 to 1838 lived among the Indians and painted 470 full length portraits, all of which now hang in the National Museum at Washington, Mr. Cross stands pre- eminent in Indian portraiture. And while he has 3] not preduced so profusely, his work in this line has never been surpassed, as he is a realist as well as an artist. Farny, Lundgren, Couse and Deming have been admitted to membership in several notable tribes of American Indians, but no one of them pro- duced many portraits. Mr. Cross kept the wolf from the door and succeeded in laying by a snug fortune by painting pictures of cattle and horses by appointment for such persons as those named above. His last commission only recently com- pleted was for the late “Lucky Ealdwin,” amounting to $35,000. He therefore spent much time with Generals Reno, Crook and Miles among the Indians of the West and South. He was a frontiersman in the early days and studied the character of the various tribes, and especially that of the Chiefs and their principal medicine men and warriors. Thus | we see in his Indian portraits not only the brilliant colors and the great war bonnets, but the tribal features, and peculiar characteristics of every indi- vidual chief, medicine man or warrior depicted true to life and set in proper and appropriate environ- ments. Mr. Cross was well and personally ac- quainted with all the great scouts, and was probably more richly endowed with proper talent and tem- perament to paint the portraits of these noted frontiersmen than any person who ever knew them, as the portraits themselves amply prove. A\I- though his work is bold and his colors brilliant, as is necessary in Indian portraiture, yet there is not a discordant note in his composition, his color or his design. Mr. Cross painted the picture of Mr. A. Allen, first president of the State Fair Association, which hangs in the Minnesota Pioneers’ Portrait Gallery on the state fair grounds. [4 The following letter from “Buffalo Bill’ makes plain his appreciation of Mr. Cross’ splendid work done for him. The letter is interesting in that the great scout’s compliments are given in true western style without frills or embellishments, but with a frank earnestness that carries conviction. BUFFALO BILL’S WILD WEST New York City, April 20, 1901. My dear old and tried friend Cross: It is my great pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of the two paintings of Indian and buffalo you have sent me. The Indian portrait of John Grass. I have seen several pictures which have been painted from him, but none of them compare with this cne you have just fin- ished, both in color and likeness. It looks as though he was going to say to me “Haw-Coola-Alla, Bill.” You have represented in the likeness that peculiar expression he used to have in his eyes when he was thinking of some deviltry to play on someone he liked; and the buf- falo picture is so true to life, it puts me back forty years. I almost want to take up my Winchester, just to see how the old thing would work and stir them up a little, I begin to think you are part Indian and part buffalo. You put so much life in everything you do. Your early experience in the western life affords you a greater knowl- edge and opportunity to put the Indian and buffalo on canvas as no other artist can do at the present day, for your sketches and pictures were all made from life when they were there. Your Indians are not of the tobacco tribe, such as we see trying to tempt one with a wooden cigar, and the buffalo you paint are not of the Central Park breed. They all have that wild look about them, full of action and life. You have executed these pictures to suit me and I feel very proud of them and I know the Prince of Wales will appreciate them as much, if not more, than I do myself when he receives them. I shall send them to him this week.. He had some English painter paint some buffalo from the animals we had in the show, also some of our Indians we had with us there, but he did not like them. He took a great fancy to John Grass and was anxious to get a good picture from him. He was taken sick and I sent him to the agency in Dakota. The prince was very nice to me and these pictures will just hit the spot with him. I have heen looking at your picture “Perils of the Chase,” as it was my good luck to witness 5] its completion under your hand, and I do not hesitate to tell you I think it is the greatest picture of the wild life of the plains I have ever seen. I should have owned that myself, as it represents the situation as but few of us knew them. You should have sent it to England, as it would have given you a great prestige there; as an artist, you could make dollars there to dimes in America. Well, old Pard, how I do wish we could be placed back once more in the sagebrush, rock and alkali, before the railroad and telegraph. There is some of it I know you, as well as my- self, would like to live over again, and some of it, well! we draw the line at that. I will make a proposition to you: We go to Europe with the Wild West show for the season of 1903-4. Why can you not go over with us and make your studio and headquarters with the show, we make from two days to six days stands; put on your buckskins once more and paint, you will be before the people all the time and you will meet the best of them. It will not cost you anything for transportation or grub. Live right with me on the grounds, I will see that you have good quarters in our cars. I would like to have you with me, as you and I are about the only ones left out of all the old boys now. I want you to join my party on our annual hunt in the Big Home country. General Miles has made up his mind to go along. I will say goodbye for now, and good luck to you and yours. Your friend, Wat CODY: (“Buffalo Bill.”) [6 Reproductions of Paintings and Biographical Sketches LITTLE CROW. LITTLE CROW (Ta-oyati-doota) Chief of the Sioux Village, known as “Little Crow’s Vil- lage,” or Kaposia. The chief in 1837 was Wande-tanka (Big Eagle), whose father’s name was Chatan-wakoowa- mani (who walks pursuing a hawk), from which the title “Little Crow” seems to have been taken. The dynasty came to an end in Little Crow, who led the outbreak in Minnesota in 1862. Little Crow was a notable Indian, not only among his people, but among the white people long before the Indian outbreak of Monday, Aug. 18, 1862. Although he claimed to have been driven into making war by the young men of his tribe and especially by the murders committed by four young Indians of Shakopee’s band, yet it is well known that he had planned that inasmuch as all ablebodied men had gone to the war of the Rebellion, that this was the time to wreak vengeance on the helpless whites remaining in the sparsely settled country. But he wished to delay the attack until the Indians had been paid their allot- ments by the government. So the murderous band from Shakopee’s tribe only precipitated matters earlier than Little Crow had planned. On July 3, 1863, while on a horse stealing expedition with seventeen other Indians, Little Crow was killed by a Mr. Lampson, residing near Hutchinson, Minn. His body was taken into Hutchinson and when positively identified was literally torn to pieces by the infuriated settlers, many of whom had lost friends and relations in the massacres instigated by this Indian. The skull and a part of the skeleton are now in the rooms of the State Historical Society at St. Paul. 9] LITTLE SHAKOPEE LITTLE SHAKOPEE (Little Six) Chief of the Dakotahs or Sioux. He was the son of old Chief Shakopee, who with Wabasha, Red Wing, Black Dog, Lake Calhoun and Good Road ceded all the lands of the Dakotahs east of the Mississippi river to the United States June 15, 1838. Old Shakopee died at the Red Wood Agency of typhoid fever, refusing medical aid, depending upon the antics of the medicine man. The name of the younger Shakopee was Ea-to-ka (Another Language). But when he became chief he was known as Little Shako- pee. He was very unfriendly to the whites. He took part in the Indian Massacre in 1862-3, murdering women and children, but was never seen in a battle. He was captured in Manitoba and hanged in 1864. Medicine Bottle, the brother of Chief Big Eagle, was hanged with him. Chief Shakopee’s camp was six miles above Red Wood Agency, on the Minnesota river. Four young Indians from Shakopee’s band began the massacre by killing sev- eral white people near Acton in Meeker county. Those Indians were named Sungigidan (Brown Wing), Ka-on- de-i-ye-ye-dan (Breaking Up), Nagi-wi-cak-te (Killing Ghost), and Pa-zo-i-yo-pa (Runs against something when crawling),. These young men dared each other to go to the house of Robinson Jones and kill him and his family simply to prove to each other who was brave. They did kill him and two other men and two women. They then returned to Shakopee’s camp and told him what they had done. Shakopee at once took the young men to Little Crow’s house, two miles above the Agency. He sat up in bed and heard their story and said “war is now declared,” etc. So he and Shakopee arranged to attack the Indian Agency at Red Wood the next morning, which they did, killing nearly every white person residing there, and then in marauding bands spread out among the frontier settle- ments killing men, women and children, burning their homes and appropriating their goods. Another narrator says there was six of the Indians from Shakopee’s camp called on Robinson Jones, who kept the public house at Acton, demanding food. Jones refused, but fearing the Indians, he went to his neighbors, Howard Baker, whence his wife had already gone. The Indians followed and killed all but Mrs. Baker and the children. 11] CUT NOSE. CUT NOSE Sioux brave who took an active part in the Sioux upris- ing and massacre in Minnesota, 1862. When painted for war he was a most hideous looking monster. He had sworn to kill every white man, woman or child that he was able to kill. He would ride up and down by struggling captives as the squaws forced them along, and try with all sorts of hideous antics to scare women and children. Immediately following the sacking of the Red Wood Agency, a band of Indians with this fiend at their head tomahawked twenty-five helpless people within an area of as many rods, Cut Nose himself dispatching eleven who had taken refuge in a wagon. He was among the thirty-eight Indians that were hanged at Mankato, Dec. 26, 1862. Three hundred and three had been sentenced to death, but Abraham Lincoln commuted the sentence of two hundred and sixty-five to imprisonment. He was the father of “Yellow Hand,” the chief killed in a duel with Buffalo Bill at Hot Creek, North Dakota, July 17, 1876. The Siouan, or Sioux, seem to have derived their name from an Algonquin word, signifying “snake like ones.” They call themselves Dakota, or Lakota. The tribe con- sists of the following bands or divisions: Santee, Sisse- ton, Wahpeton, Yankton, Yanktonnai and Teton. The Tetons, whose name signifies “dwellers on the prairies,” are again subdivided into Brule, Sans Aves, Blackfeet, Winneconjou, Doonopaw, Ogalalla and Unkapapa. The two last named subdivisions of the Teton Sioux were the Sioux of Minnesota and North Dakota. The Assiniboines, of British North America, are also a branch of the Siouan. All branches of the Sioux have been very warlike, resent- ing with vicious obstinacy the aggression of the whites. The Siouan tribes of the east, which were not crushed out in conflict with the early settlers, retreated to the north- west, at each succeeding stand waging a fierce warfare be- fore moving further. The last of these being the Custer Massacre, June 25, 1876, and the several conflicts immedi- ately following. 13] MEDICINE BOTTLE. MEDICINE BOTTLE Chief of the Sioux, brother of Chief “Big Eagle” and son of Chief “Gray Iron,” both deceased. At the break- ing up of the Indian massacre in Minnesota in the autumn of 1862, several hundred of the warring Sioux escaped into Dakota. Among these were at least six chiefs, the most prominent being “Little Shakopee,” “Little Leaf,” and “Medicine Bottle.” An Expedition under Major Hatch was sent to Pembina during the winter of 1863-4. The Indians, however, had taken refuge within British terri- tory. Nevertheless, in December, 1863, several Indians were killed along the border and a few days later some two hundred surrendered to Major Hatch and others kept coming until about four hundred had surrendered. The Chiefs would not surrender, however, for fear of the punishment which they so richly deserved. But in January, 1864, Shakopee and Medicine Bottle were captured and delivered at Pembina. In May they were sent to Fort Snelling where they were tried and found guilty of mur- dering many white settlers and sentenced to death by hanging, which order was duly executed at Fort Snelling in October, 1865. All the other Indians had been taken to Fort Snelling in February, owing to a lack of provisions at Pembina. This service was performed by Major Joseph R. Brown, Chief of Scouts, and about sixty friendly In- dians who had operated with him during the campaign. 15] SITTING BULL. SITTING BULL ( Tatonka-I- Yotanka) He was an Uncapapa Sioux, born on the Missouri river near the mouth of Grand river, Dakota, in 1831. In early life he was noted as a warrior and hunter and later gained prestige as a medicine man and counsellor. Although without hereditary claim to chieftainship, yet he gained both influence and followers; while his bitter hostility to the whites earned him great notoriety, not only among the Indians, but all through the United States. This brought him great commendation from the great chiefs of the Sioux or Dakotahs, and they made him Honorary High Chief. Sitting Bull was the consulting head of over five thousand warriors. After the battle of the Little Big Horn (June 25, 1876), in which General Custer and his whole command were massacred, Sitting Bull broke camp, and he with upwards of a thousand braves continued on their journey to Canada, whence they were journeying when Custer made his attack. Here they remained until 1881, when he and one hundred and sixty followers sur- rendered to Lieut. Col. Brotherton, at Fort Buford. Bull remained here until 1883, when he was released and sent to Standing Rock Agency. He slipped away, however, and took part in the ghost dances at Pine Ridge Agency. When the government undertook to force the Indians back to their agencies, there ensued the “Battle of Pine Ridge.” Sitting Bull, with his son and three cther chiefs, departed for the Bad Lands. Here the Indian police overtook them and killed Sitting Bull, his son Black Bird and the three other chiefs near Sitting Bull’s tent. He had four wives and seven children. There has been some bitter criticism of the “Battle of Pine Ridge” and the killing of Sitting Bull. Possibly some of this is deserved, yet it cannot be doubted but that Sitting Bull was ever a disturbing element among his peo- ple and that the elevation of such a man as Black Heart would have brought greater honors and more lasting peace to this unfortunate nation. 17] RED TOMAHAWK. RED TOMAHAWK Sioux chief and warrior. He was captain of the Indian police who were sent to capture Sitting Bull and his band, who after the Custer massacre was making his way north into British American territory. When the Indian police, under Red Tomahawk, entered Sitting Bull’s tent de- manding his surrender, the old chief went outside and mounted his horse, one of the Indian police named Bull Head standing on one side of him and another police on the other, Red Tomahawk immediately behind him in order that the old man should not get away. Sitting Bull called upon his warriors to kill the Indians surrounding him and appealed to his people not to let the Indian police take him. One of Bull’s Indians mortally wounded Bull Head, who immediately shot Sitting Bull, while the police on the opposite side of Sitting Bull shot the Indian who had wounded Bull Head, and it is asserted that all three of them fell at once. After this there were many shots exchanged, several Indians being killed on each side. There has been some bitter criticism of Red Tomahawk and his Indian police and even of the government’s action in the killing of Sitting Bull. But this chief was ever a disturbing element, restive on the reservation and ever endeavoring to induce not only his own people, but mem- bers of other tribes, to make trouble for the whites. The picture is pronounced a splendid likeness and is done in Mr. Cross’ usual pleasing manner. 19] “YELLOW HAND.” “YELLOW HAND” (Nape-Zi) Chief of the Ogallala Sioux, Red Cloud Band. (Nape-Zi) Chief of the Ogallala Sioux, Red Cloud Band. Painted from life by H. H. Cross, 1873. This famous Indian was killed in a duel at Hot Creek about 100 miles north and a little west of Fort Robinson, Dakota, July 17th, 1876, by Col. Wm. F. Cody, “Buffalo Bill,” who was the scout for Gen. Eugene A. Carr, of the U. S. army and his command against the Sioux Indians. The troops were camped in the valley, while the Indians had taken up a safe retreat by falling back into the foot-hills. One day Chief Yellow Hand came out mounted on the back of a yellow or clay bank pony, well out of rifle range on the top of a high butte. He signalled a bold challenge for the leader of the command to fight a duel to settle their difficulty for the country. As the Indians were fighting for that particular locality at that time and as an enlisted man could not accept the challenge to go out and fight, “Buffalo Bill” took it upon himself to answer the chal- lenge, he being a scout and not enrolled could accept such a proposition. Cody was very much wrought up, having only heard of the fate of Gen. Custer and his brave men the day before. All arrangements made, Yellow Hand won the choice of weapons, which was rifles. The battle was to be fought on horseback, the field being laid out in a triangular shape, the troops on one corner and the Indians on the other, about one mile apart. At the signal to start they both left at top speed, headed for the lower end of the triangle, shooting at each other going away from the troops and Indians. Cody began to play with Yellow Hand by shooting a feather now and then out of Yellow Hand’s war bonnet. This so confused Yellow Hand that he shot all his ammunition away without effect, and as they came nearer to each other Bill shot Yellow Hand’s horse from under him and as the horse did not fall, Cody charged his horse against Nape-Zi and his horse, knocking them both down. Once on the ground the Indian threw his gun away and took to his knife. Cody dismounted, abandoning his horse and gun, taking his bowie knife and dispatched Yellow Hand, it being one cf the most thrilling hand to hand combats ever fought in the history of the west. The Indians began firing at the soldiers and it became a running fight for thirty-five miles, all the way into the Red Cloud Agency. The next day the Squaw of Yellow Hand went over into the sol- diers’ quarters, she having cut off the third finger of her right hand, this being a great sacrifice and custom of the Indian women as an act of mourning for the dead. When she saw Col. Cody, she threw herself at his feet, grasping him around his lower limbs, sending forth such a wail as none but a squaw can tongue as an exhibition of admira- tion for a brave man and a big chief. Yellow Hand was a son of the notorious “Cut Nose.” 21] Uomeage BEA 2 pareinn Shaw tase oon Hae < “BLACK HEART.” “BLACK HEART” Chief of the Ogallala Sioux. He possessed a very com- manding appearance and moved about with great dignity. He possessed a gentle, kindly disposition, genial and courteous. He had a kind word for all, whether Indian or white man, looking upon the bright side of everything, he studiously endeavored to avoid all difficulty. He was neither impulsive nor demonstrative. So whatever he did was done in a gentle but deliberate manner. At times, when his people felt that they had a grievance, he would endeavor in a learned argument to dissuade them from hasty action, but once he became convinced of a wilful wrong to his tribe, he would assume an immovable stand and insist that the injustice be satisfactorily settled or that his people be avenged. Black Heart had two wives and a small family of children to whom he was very much attached. As one of his wives belonged to the Cree na- tion in Northwest Territory, Canada, he often took his whole family on a long journey to visit her people. At one time, on their return journey, they ran short of provi- sions. He selected a secluded place for his camp where he left his family to be gone several days tiunting. Upon his return to his wigwam he found that some Chippewa outlaws had visited his home in his absence and so mal- treated his family that one wife died from her injuries; they also carried away nearly all his belongings, includ- ing two freak buffalo skins and one white and one silk buffalo robe. He then took his family to the home of the tribe in the states and went on a long hunt for the wretch- es who had despoiled his home. He finally found them and dispatched all four, taking their belongings with him back to his family. A great feast of white dog was given in his honor on his triumphant return, but Black Heart remained in his tepee where he continued mourning and fasting for thirty days. In many instances the home ties of the Indian are as sacred and dear as to the most re- fined and civilized of our own race. 23] FLAT IRON. “FLAT IRON” (Che-kee-Ja- tuna) Grand old man of the Ogallala Sioux. He was chief and Medicine Man; was always in the lead of every Indian movement; a very genial old fellow, always asking ques- tions in order to acquaint himself with what was going on, but was very careful to impart no information himself. He lived to be over one hundred years old, but even at that advanced age could mount or alight from his horse with the agility of a young athlete. His opinions had much weight and influence with his people. In his declining years he possessed to a marked degree a trait common among most old Indians—that of forgiving everyone for actual or imagined wrongs, thus preparing himself for a life in the “happy hunting grounds.” One of his sayings was “the harder you fight me in time of war, the more I love you in time of peace.” Chie-kee-la-tuna had nine wives and seventy-five chil- dren. The number of children by each wife respectively being eleven, twelve, nine, twelve, six, ten, five, eight and two. He took great pride in each and all of his wives and children and the old chief was wont to say they had no time to quarrel, as it kept them busy making clothing for the children, and that if every Indian had raised as large families as he, they could have driven the white man from their country and restored the buffalo. He had in his possession a black war bonnet, which had been handed down for over three hundred years. The black war bon- net is now extremely scarce, as the Indians say “Wan- cantanka (Great Spirit) has called Black Bird home heap many moons ago,” Flat Iron also had in his possession an Egyptian stone bird and a scarab. These antiquities the old chief and his tribe held in great veneration, and it is a question for the historian and the antiquarian how those very ancient objects from far away Egypt came into the possession of this tribe of American Indians. 25] RAIN IN THE FACE. RAIN IN THE FACE Chief of the Uncapapa Sioux, Standing Rock Agency. Rain in the Face, as a young man, was known among his people for his daring and bravery. He had a villain- ous temper when angered; he would never brook an in- sult from man or woman. His people never understood him; his movements were always very mysterious; at times he would disappear and’ remain away from his tribe for months at a time. He never forgave or forgot a wrong. He was one of Sitting Bull’s truest men, while, at the same time, he never liked Sitting Bull. He was once arrested on the order of General Custer by his brother, Tom Custer, in western Dakota, for murder. He was placed in a government prison, where he remained for several months, where he suffered great hardship, being half clad and without fire during the winter time when the snow blew through the cracks in drifts. All this was done to make him confess, but he finally made his escape, leaving threats to kill—“I will kill you all and cut your hearts out and eat them,” meaning Tom Custer and the whole Custer family. They were warned by friendly guides and Indians that Rain in the Face was the most formidable and dangerous man in the entire Sioux tribes and would surely do all in his power to carry out his threats of vengeance to the Cus- ters. They, however, were inclined to scoff at the In- dian’s power to fulfill his oath. After his escape he joined Sitting Bull and his braves. It is a curious fact that, al- though associated with Sitting Bull in many desperate battles, he never liked Sitting Bull. It was a year and a half after he made his escape that General Custer and some three hundred men of the Seventh Cavalry started on the hunt for Sitting Bull. Rain in the Face had thrown cut scouts to keep him thoroughly posted on Custer’s movements for more than a week before the opposing forces came in sight of one another. It was Rain in the Face who led the final charge against the knoll, where Custer and the survivors stood and gallantly defended themselves as best they could. It was General Custer, his sword shattered, his revolvers empty, the last member of the Custer family, at the mercy of Rain in the Face; the General’s brother having already been killed. There was silence for a moment and the Indians ceased to fire or advance, then came a puff of smoke, a single shot, and General Custer fell dead beside his troops, notwithstand- ing it was Sitting Bull’s order not to kill Custer, but to take him prisoner: Rain in the Face kept his word. Rain in the Face was shot through the knee in this battle and was crippled for the balance of his life. He died at Stand- ing Rock, Dakota, on September 12, 1905, thus closing a long life of one of the most dangerous and revengeful Indians that ever lived. 27] CHIEF IRON TAIL. CHIEF IRON TAIL Ogallala Sioux Iron Tail is a grand specimen of Indian manhood and was much trusted by the government and army officers after he had been convinced that the Indian sun had set and that they had lost their prestige and their country. He was one of the leaders in the Sitting Bull and Custer Battle. He was also a great dancing master and taught all the different dances from a wedding chant and march to the weird and stoical sun dance, which was one of the most cruel of self-inflicted tortures known to man. It was indulged in to try out their courage and endurance as great braves. This practice has been stopped by the gov- ernment. He was not a believer in the ghost dance that brought about the Indian battle at Wounded Knee, 1891, after the Custer battle. Col. W. F. Cody, “Buffalo Bill,” applied to the Government Indian Department for about one hundred Indians and Iron Tail was one of the first chosen to join “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show,” and has been with him for more than nineteen years. During this time he has visited all the large cities and towns in Amer- ica and Europe. When the Indians left their reservation to attend the Ghost Dance in North Dakota, he and other members of his tribe hurried home from Europe to pre- vent trouble for the Indians and did all he could to pre- vent the battle of Wounded Knee. “Buffalo Bill’ esteems him very highly and has put him as head chief of all his Indians. Iron Tail is uncommonly endowed for one of his nation, and his wisdom gives him power and influence. 29] CHIEF RED HORN BULL. , CHIEF RED HORN BULL Ogallala Sioux This little Indian was a big man with his people. He was known for being a great scout and runner during the time of war. While on signal journeys to communicate the news to neighboring tribes, he always traveled under war paint and flying feathers. Flying or loose feathers are to indicate that the Indians are on the war path and that war has ben declared by them. So look out for trouble. Red Horn Bull was one who led a charge with his warriors against Reno’s machine guns. Reno was stationed some four miles above Custer’s men. He was shot through the lower jaw, going in one side of his face and passing out the other side and tearing away part of the lower jaw. Another shot entered the right breast, passing through the lung and out through the back under the shoulder blade. Another ball passed through the right thigh, breaking the bone. He remained in the swamp for twenty-four hours, hidden by the high grass and water. When he was rescued by the Indians after Reno had fallen back, he was taken on that long journey by Sitting Bull and his followers, some four hun- dred miles to Fort Walsh, or Wood Mountain, Northwest Territory, Canada, where he fully recovered through the aid of the Indian Medicine Men of his tribe and lived to return to his native home with the rest of his people at the Pine Ridge Agency, North Dakota. 31] CHIEF JOHN GRASS. CHIEF JOHN GRASS Uncapapa Sioux John Grass was a great and very popular Indian. He was known as the Daniel Webster of all the Sioux. He spoke all of the different tribal languages and was the greatest interpreter of the Indian sign language which is universal amongst the dark skinned races. As an orator he had no equal. He was a stubborn fighter, was one of the chief advisers of Sitting Bull in their counsels of war, a great power with the different tribes and smoothed over all their political jealousy and tribe hatred and brought together the best equipped and strongest Indian army ever known in America and consisting of some seven thousand warriors. They were equipped with mod- ern guns, both in infantry and cavalry. He had the ad- vantage of travel and saw for himself that it was suicidal for the Indians to attempt to fight the government troops. He advised his people to get wisdom and receive the white man’s education and learn to till the soil and be- come farmers and citizens, not only themselves, but their children, as it was only a question of time when their allotments would be cut off by the government and they and their families would suffer in consequence. 33] GERONIMO. GERONIMO Apache chief and warrior of the Chiricahua band. In 1884-6 he became noted as the ringleader in the harrying of Arizona and New Mexico. On March 25, 1886, Gen. Crook forced Geronimo to stand, but he refused to sur- render except for two years, the band to be sent east with their families and then replaced on their reservation. Crook accepted the surrender under these terms and start- ed for Fort Bowie, but on the march the entire band slipped away to the mountains and began their same old tactics. For this Gen. Crook was replaced by Gen. Nelson A. Miles, who gave the Indians no rest until Geronimo once more surrendered, this time on condition of being sent out of Arizona. Miles ordered them sent to St. Augustine, Florida, but Geronimo and fourteen others were sent to Fort Pickins, Florida, instead. Mr. Cross, the artist, says “when we remember that it took six such men as Crook, Gatewood, Lauton, Chaffee, Wilcox and Miles, the most successful Indian fighters the United States could boast of, and some ten years of al- most incessant fighting, to conquer this savage chief and his Indian hordes, there can be no doubt that Geronimo was the Napoleon of all Indians.” Geronimo’s own story, given to S. M. Bennett, at Fort Sill, reveals the reason for his intense hatred for the white people. He said, “In 1858, being at peace with the Mexicans, we went south into Old Mexico to trade. Having located temporarily near the town of Kas-ki-yeh, we left our camp to go into the town, leaving our arms, supplies and our wives and children under a small guard. Returning in the direction of our encampment, we met a few of our women and children who told us that the Mexican troops from some neighboring town had attacked our defenseless families. I found my aged mother, my young wife and my children were among the slain. From that moment there was born in my heart a desire for revenge.” Geronimo was after- wards held as a military prisoner at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he died during the present year (1909). The Apaches are of the Athapascan stock, kindred to the Navajo, and originally occupying the region from Cen- tral Texas to the Colorado river in Arizona. When the United States acquired this territory by the Gadsden Purchase they numbered about 10,000. They gave the Americans very little trouble until 1860, when the whole tribe went on the warpath. The next year (1861) the troops were withdrawn on account of the Civil War so the Apaches in a short time had murdered or driven out every white inhabitant from Arizona, except a few who took refuge in Tucson. For ten years this Territory was the scene of one of the most awful Indian wars in history, in fact there was little cessation until the surrender of Geronimo to General Miles in 1886. There only remained of the tribe about 5,200 in 1904. 35] a Morley, Cray J fetes Wie Ca ves OS YO-GO-A-VOITEY. YO-GO-A-VOITEY (The Coyote) High Chief of the Utes. His father was a full blood Ute, his mother a Cyotero Apache. He is a man of strong character, tenacious, firm, and well balanced. He is highly esteemed by all the white settlers near his reservation. He has gained prestige and a powerful influence over his people, since Chief Ignacio is very old and his former power over the tribe has vanished. Yo- go-a-voitey, when a young man, acted as a scout for the Government in several expeditions against the hostile Indians of the plains. He has a ranch on the Rio de las Pinos (Pine River) in Colorado, a few miles north of the New Mexico border line, and is highly respected by the General Government at Washington, D. C. The Utes belong to the important Shoshonean tribe of North Amer- ican Indians, which formerly occupied a large part of the great interior basin of the United States. The Com- anche, Tukurika, Washaki, Peneteka, Chemehuevi, Kai- babs, Shivwits and Kwaiantiwoket (Paiute), were also members of the Shoshoni tribe. The Utes originally oc- cupied nearly the entire mountainous part of Colorado, including the northern drainage of the San Juan in the southeast and extending into northeastern New Mexico. The Utes were hunting Indians, living in Tipis or Tepes, and subsisting almost entirely on large game in- cluding the buffalo, although only the Comanches were essentially “Buffalo Indians.” Mr. F. W. Hodge, of the Smithsonian Institution, gives the number of Utes in 1904 as follows: 940 Capote, Moache and Wiminerchi combined, 457 Uinta, 820 Un- compahgre, and 371 White River Ute, or a total of 2,589. 37] SAKES CEREURCORe KD eR RRR IN ae WALKS-IN-SLEEP. WALKS-IN-SLEEP Chief of the Navahos. He was a great scout, and by reason of his subtle and mysterious movements against hostile enemies, was of great service to the Government. He accomplished nearly all his work as a scout and spy during the dark hours of the night, keeping out of sight during the day time, and although the Navaho and the Apachees are closely related, he rendered notable and almost invaluable service in the campaigns against Ger- onimo and his savage hordes in Arizona and New Mexico. The Navajos (Navaho) are an important tribe of the Athapascan or Tinne stock of Indians, now occupying a reservation of about 9,442,240 acres situated in northeast- ern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico and southern Utah, and numbering about 16,000. One might travel for days over this vast arid region, without getting sight of a single Indian, but let it be announced that a Medicine dance will be held at a certain lodge, or that there will be competitive games at a trading post, and Navajos seem to spring out of the ground and swarm out of the val- leys and over the mountains. Walk-in-Sleep is an expert silver smith, and with rude tools and appliances gathered on the outskirts of civiliza- tion he and his people convert Mexican money into beads, rosettes, buckles, earrings, wristlets and finger rings. Along the Rio San Juan farming is carried on quite exten- sively, but their principal livelihood is their flocks. In 1902 they had 380,000 sheep, 6,700 goats, 50,000 horses and mules, and 8,000 cattle, which in addition to furnishing the chief food supply netted $150,000 in wool and blankets. These blankets which have become celebrated, are woven by women on simple looms, and in pleasing and some- times intricate and vari-colored designs. Formerly native dyes of rare delicate tones were employed, but in recent years, in order to meet the increasing demands they are using glaring aniline colors. Although the Navajos are more closely related in language to the Apachees than to any other tribe, they are very much mixed with Pueblo, Shoshonean, Yuma, and even Spanish blood. 39] ee RE OF PS * ; * LONE WOLF. LONE WOLF Head Chief of the Kiowas. He was known as one of the most crafty, and cruel warriors of his tribe. In 1868, he made a most cruel and extensive raid through Texas and the Indian Territory. Generals Sheridan and Custer were put upon his trail, with California Joe as scout, and after an extended campaign, succeeded in forcing the In- dians to surrender. Lone Wolf carried a tomahawk which is shown in the painting, and he often boasted that wiht this particular war implement he had killed upwards of fifty persons. The Kiowas (properly Kai-gwu) are now located prin- cipally in Oklahoma (Beautiful Land). They number about 1,100 and their numerical strength has varied but little in the last century. Their language forms a distinct stock, who have resisted with unusual virility the physical decay so common among the tribes. In dress and dwell- ings they are civilized, but otherwise tenacious of their customs, of which the most prominent were the sun dance, and devotion to a stone image called the Taime, a sort of guardian deity. According to their own traditions they lived originally in the Montana Rockies along the head waters of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, they followed the retreating buffalo herds southward along the plains allying themselves with the Crows. In 1790, they formed a confederacy with the Comanches, and finally making peace with the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, they became one of the most formidable scourges of the plains, harrying the frontiers of the United States and Mexico. The treaty of Medicine Lodge, Kansas, in 1867, enforced by Gen. Cus- ter’s troops, placed them with the Comanches, Cheyennes and Arapahoes upon reservations in Oklahoma. They broke loose in 1874, and Mackenzie was obliged to kill their horses and deport their chief men to Florida, after which they remained quiet. In 1901, their reservation was thrown open to settlement, and they became American citizens. In the spring of 1868, General Custer, with Captain Payne as scout, and a volunteer force of 150 men, started out from Fort Hays after a band of Cheyennes and Kio- was, who, under Tall Bull, had committed several murders near the Republican River. On March 13, they overtook the band and the Indians becoming frightened, sent ten of their number to treat with Custer, among whom were Roman Nose (the Head Chief), Lone Wolf, Cross Timber, Eagle Chief, and Yellow Rose, five whose names were especially loathsome to the western settlers. Custer held them as hostages for the safe return of Mrs. Morgan and Miss White. The ladies were finally released, but all the Indians slipped away except the ten, which were taken to Fort Hays and held prisoners. In the summer of 1869, they attempted to escape. In the fight ensuing several soldiers were killed and all ten Chiefs were mortally wounded. 41] WASHAKIE. WASHAKIE Chief of the Washaki band of Shoshonean Indians oc- cupying southwestern Wyoming. Washakie was known as the “Great Peace Chief.” He is here represented bearing the white bird or wand of peace. He rendered valuable assistance to the Government at Washington. Being a very moral man, he had great influence over his people, politically, religiously and morally. Ue died a devout Christian, and the Government caused his remains to be taken east where they were interred in one of the Na- tional Cemeteries. Fort Washakie was named in his honor. The narrative of Lewis and Clark asserts that the Shoshoni bands encountered on Jefferson River, whose summer home was on the head waters of the Columbia, formerly lived within their own recollection in the plains east of the Rocky Mountains, whence they were driven to their mountain retreats by the Minitari (Atsina), who had obtained firearms, and much of whose territory was formerly occupied by Shoshonean tribes. The Washakie are about the only band of this great tribe who retain the tribal name, being known as Shoshone or Shoshoni Indians. They, like their kinsmen, the Bannock, Com- anche and the Ute, were hunters, living in tepes, but having been driven from the buffalo country, were obliged to subsist on other game and fish. They numbered in 1902 about 1,327, as follows: 900 at Fort Hall agency, 300 at Leinhi Idaho agency, 223 at Western Shoshoni agency, Nevada, and 804 at Shoshoni agency, Wyoming. The portrait is painted in Mr. Cross’ usual boldness, while using the brilliant colors necessary in Indian por- traiture, yet he invariably succeeds not only in producing a splendid portrait of his subject, but faithfully portrays the character and tribal features, as well. 43] BLACK WOLF. BLACK WOLF Chief of the Piutes, of Nevada, from a sketch from life made in 1861. Black Wolf and his tribe wrought great havoc from 1849 to 1861, during the gold excitement in California. There was scarcely a trip made by the “Pony Express” riders where Black Wolf and his Indians did not ambush the lone rider. He attacked many trains of emigrants as they crossed the plains in the great rush for the gold fields of Cali- fornia, killing many white pople and stealing their horses. The Piute (Pi-ut) is a name given to various small tribes of American Indians of the Shoshone family, resid- ing in southwestern Utah, Nevada, Arizona and south- eastern California. There are about 5,000 of them, about two-thirds of whom are beyond the jurisdiction of the Indian Agencies. The Piutes in different localities are known as Pavi- otos, Chemehuevis, Pautis, and Namus. The Shoshones have, from the remotest times, occupied the plateau and summits and valleys of the Rocky Moun- tains. Louis and Clark found them to possess its sum- mits in latitude 48 degrees north in 1805. Fremont found them spread over practically all the territory from 42 io 45 degrees in 1840. These Piutes are no doubt descendants of the Ute branch of the Shoshonian family. Schoolcraft in his history of the Indian tribes gives as the five great fam- ilies of American Indians the Algonquins, Iriquois, Appa- lachains, Dakotahs and Shoshones. Besides those he mames several minor tribes—Natchez, Utchees, Corees, Chicoras, Carolinas, Eries, Andastes, Mundwas, Attuck- apas, Mascotius and the Allegans. This comprised all the bands and tribes of Indians in North America and alto- gether they are known as “Vesperic,” a term geographi- cally limited to the exact era of the United States. TALL BULL. TALL BULL Chief of the Cheyenne. He was the leader of the renegade Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux Indians, known as “Dog Soldiers,’ who, during the winter and early spring of 1869, committed many atrocities and spread terror among the settlers of Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, especially those living on the exposed frontier. Early in May, 1869, the Republican River Expedition under Brevet Major General E. A. Carr, consisting of sev- en troops of the 5th Cavalry and a battalion of friendly Pawnee Indians, left Fort McPherson, Neb., to operate against these marauders. Col. W. F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) was selected as scout and guide. After careful prepara- tion they struck the trail of the Indians, and after a few days Buffalo Bill had located their camp and the Indians were surprised in broad day light by the attacking party, something almost unprecedented in Indian warfare, and especially on the plains. In the unexpected charge which followed, the Indians became more or less disorganized and scattered, and in consequence there was many hand to hand conflicts which continued for some time in the village and over the prairie, ending in a complete victory for the troops. Tall Bull was mounted on a white horse and rode madly back and forth in front of his disorganized warriors in an endeavor to rally them into line of battle. At this critical moment, Buffalo Bill rode fearlessly out in front of the Indians and shot Tall Bull from his white horse and retreating killed several others of his warriors. Cody captured Tall Bull’s horse and named it after the chief. This horse developed into a racer and Buffalo Bill won many races with him. The Cheyenne (Shi-en) with the exception of the Black Feet, are the westernmost member of the great Algonquin stock. In the 18th Century they lived on the Cheyenne River in Eastern North Dakota, but were gradually driven southwest by the Sioux to the forks of the Big Cheyenne near the Black Hills, where Lewis and Clark found them in 1803. They were originally agriculturists, but the acquisition of horses turned them into nomad raiders and led to their foraying even to Mexico and claiming lands as far apart as Montana to the forks of the Platte, though they numbered but 3,000. The tribe divided from the Black Hills County, part of them fraternizing with the Ogalalla Sioux, while another part moved South and formed a confederacy with their Algonquin kinsmen, the Arapaho on the Arkansas. They now number about 2,100 and are governed by a council of five chiefs. The Chey- enne are a tall finely built race, the best physically of all the plains Indians, except the Osages, but rather dull intellectually. Their language is one of the most diff- cult of even Indian tongues. 47] oe Oe »: ROMAN NOSE ROMAN NOSE War Chief of the Southern Cheyenne. The only pic- ture of the kind ever made of this noted Indian. General Frye thus graphically describes him in his valuable work “Army Sacrifice,” “A veritable man of war, the battle and scenes of carnage and cruelty were as the breath of his nostrils; about thirty years of age, standing six feet six inches high, he towered giant like above his compan- ions; a grand head. with strongly marked features, lighted by a pair of fierce black eyes, a large mouth with thin lips, through which gleamed rows of white teeth; a Ro- man nose with dilated nostrils like those of a thorough bred horse, a broad chest and symmetrical limbs, on which the muscles under the bronze of his skin stood out like twisted wire, were some of the points of this splendid animal. Clad in buckskin leggings and moccasins elabor- ately embroidered with beads, a white buffalo skin beau- tifully tanned and as soft as cashmere thrown over his naked shoulders, he stood forth the war chief of the Cheyennes.” He was a fanatic in every sense of the word. Very proud and vain. He would boast of his hair, which he al- ways allowed to hang loose. He maintained that he was sent into the world as a special messenger of the “Great Spirit” to lead his people against the pale faces. He claimed that the white buffalo skin was given him by the Great Spirit and with it the Spirit covered him at night. He would not shake hands with even his best friend, claim- ing that this would detract from his magnetism. He would sometimes shake the sleeve of a friend’s coat, but would not clasp the hand. He carried a red sash which had been presented him, also a large cavalry sabre. He fell in the terrible battle of Beechers Island, Colorado, in the autumn of 1868, when he and his Indian hordes fought the United States troops under Gen. Forsythe. The first treaty made with the Cheyennes by the United States was in 1825, while they were near the Black Hills. In 1851, another treaty was made with the Northern band at Fort Laramie. A number of treaties were made with the Southern branch, but it is alleged that the commission- ers neither made them intelligible nor executed them fairly. The Indians retaliated by the usual atrocities. The settlers wished them exterminated, the military wished to cow them by severe punishment, the Indian Depart- ment blamed both. The Indian Commissioners in 1864 sent some 400 Cheyennes and Arapahos to a camp at Sand Creek, Colorado; Col. Chivington fell upon them Nov. 29, 1864, and butchered 131 men, women and children. A bloody and costly war naturally followed, ending only with the killing of Chief Black Kettle, by Custer and his troops, Nov. 27, 1871, and compelling the Indians to re- turn to their reservation. 49] CHIEF JOSEPH “CHIEF JOSEPH” “Mut-too-yah-lat-lat” (Thunder traveling over the mountains). Chief of the Wal-lam-wat-kin, band of Chute- pa-he or Nez-Perces (nose pierced) Indians. Joseph was born in Eastern Oregon about 1830. The Nez Perces belong to the Sahaptin family. Lewis and Clark styled them Chopunnish, while they call themselves Numepo. The tribe have always been friendly to the whites. Chief Joseph’s father counselled him to coin- tinue this friendliness. The Government took away a large portion of their reservations, to this there was very emphatic objection by the Indians, yet Chief Joseph coun- selled peace and meek submission. Very soon, however, nearly the whole of the remaining reservation was taken, and while the Indians were preparing to move, they were as they believed mistreated by the army, and quite a num- ber of them were killed. Chief Joseph, however, with but about three hundred followers, showed himself a great warrior, a strategist and a statesman, as it required forty companies of United States troops, together with a small army of Volunteers, over two months to hunt down and capture this little band, and although he lacked the warriors, yet in prowess and cunning he stands in a class with Tecumseh, Black Hawk and Pontiac. Joseph died September 22, 1904, at the Calville Indian Reserva- tion, Miles, Washington. In the death of this noted chief, the United States lost its most celebrated Indian since the death of Red Cloud. In Chief Joseph’s own story, after enumerating many wrongs which he believed had been perpetuated upon his people, he concluded: “Let me be a free man,—free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose. Free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to think, talk and act for myself, and I will obey every law or submit to the penalty. Whenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat each other, then we shall have no more wars. We shall be alike—Brothers of One Father, with one sky above us, and one country around us, and one government for all. Then the Great Spirit who rules above will smile upon this land and send rain to wash out the bloody spots made by brothers’ hands upon the face of the earth.” The Shahaptin stock is noteworthy on account of the Nez Perces and this famous chief, probably one of the most remarkable Indians of any age whose “retreat” in 1877 has often been compared to the celebrated “March of the Ten Thousand” of old. During this two months retreat Joseph forbade his men to interfere with any white non-combatants. 51] BOONARK. BOONARK Chief of the Boonarks, Clucksuk and the Bloodtongues. These Indians were once very strong. They lived on the border of Oregon and British America. They were a very fine type of the American Indian. The average height was six feet. In earlier times they were very war- like, constantly making raids on other and weaker tribes, robbing them of their furs and disposing of them to traders on the Pacific Coast. They had a peculiar custom of biting their tongues until they would bleed, then spitting it on the people they did not like as a way of showing their contempt. They were very savage and fierce toward their prisoners. In taking the scalp of a Chief who might fall in their hands, they would take the skin off the whole face and head, preserving them by stretching them in a circle or hoop made of wood, and preserving the war paint the victim might have on his face. Many of them would decorate themselves by wearing bone rings through their noses, in fact, anything to make them look fierce and hideous. They have become very much diminished in num- bers, so much so they have lost all their tribe customs and relations. There is not more than a half hundred left and they have taken up their homes with other friendly tribes. The Boonarks (Bannacks) and kindred tribes are de- scendants from the Shoshonean or Uto-Aztecan stock. This great family offers the most wonderful of any Amer- indian stock. Not only is this true as to language, but as further evidence we find the Civilized Aztecs whom Cortes found in Mexico, and the “Root Diggers” prob- ably the most wretched Indians in North America kith and kin. A diligent search reveals nothing but Savagery in the lower tribes while to the Aztecs of Mexi- co we are indebted for a number of interesting and valJu- able words as Axoloti, chocolate, coyote, cocoa, tomato, ocelot, chilli, copal, jalap, etc. The Moqui group of the Pueblos belong also to the Shoshonean stock. 53] WILD BILL. WILD BILL James Butler Hickok was born in La Salle County, IIl., near Troy Grove, May 27th, 1837. In 1855, with but a rudimental education, but an expert with firearms, he lef\ his old home, going first to St. Louis and thence to Leav- enworth, Kansas. He joined Jim Lane’s “Red Legs,” or anti-slavery forces, who nicknamed him “Shanghai Bill,’ by reason of his being six feet tall and very slim and willowy. In 1857, he accepted a position as driver for the Overland Stage Company, and in 1860, he was sent by the Company as watchman at Rock Creek Station, forty miles west of Topeka. While holding this important position, the McCandlas Brothers gang of outlaws attacked Hickok in his dug-out, and although alone, he dispatched six of their number, while the other four rode away badly wounded. For this daring he was nicknamed “Wild Bill.” The encounter, however, came near costing him his life. When he had fully recovered, General John C. Fremont made him Brigade Wagon Master at Leavenworth, Kan- sas, which position he filled until the spring of 1863, when he engaged under General Curtis as a federal spy. After the close of the war, he spent about two years hunting and trapping in Niobrara. After a visit to his old home, and a trip as guide with Henry M. Stanley and others, he was elected City Marshal of Hays City, Neb., Sept. 8th, 1869, in which capacity he had many remarkable ex- periences. He also served as Marshal of Abilene and United States Marshal of Hays City. Early in 1875, he went to Cheyenne, but the Indians burned his cabin and killed his companions, while he was absent, so he went again to Kansas City, but returned to Cheyenne again in 1876. Here on March 6, 1875, Bill was married to Mrs. Agnes Luke Thatcher, widow of the one time famous clown and showman, Wm. Luke. After taking his wife to her home in Cincinnati, Ohio, Hickok went to Dead- wood, S. D., and here on Aug. 2nd, 1876, Wild Bill was assassinated by a notorious gambler named Jack McCall, for which crime the latter was hanged at Yankton, S. D. At the time at which Bill was appointed Marshal at Hay Center and at Abilene, that country was a hot bed of murderers, outlaws and nearly every class of desperate characters, and it took but a short time for Hickok to convince those worthies that he was master of the situa- tion, as ke never failed to arrest any of their members, either dead or alive. General Custer said, “He was a plains- man in every sense of the word, whether on foot or on horseback he was one of the most perfect types of physi- cal manhood I ever saw. His manner was entirely free from bluster or bravado. He never spoke of himself un- less requested to do so. His word was law, and his in- fluence among the frontiersmen was unbounded. He was not quarrelsome and seldom spoke of his daring conflicts.” 55] KIT CARSON. KIT CARSON American Trapper, Mountaineer and Guide. Christopher Carson was born in Madison County, Ken- tucky, December 24, 1809. While yet an infant his parents emigrated to what is now Howard County, Mo. At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to a saddler with whom he continued two years when he joined a hunting expedi tion. The next eight years of his life he spent as trapper, when he engaged as hunter to Bent’s Ford where he re- mained eight years more. About 1842, he chanced to meet John C. Fremont, who was getting together an expedi- tion for the purpose of exploring the country between the Missouri River and the British frontier. Carson was engaged as guide and was with Fremont through South Pass, California, Oregon, scaled the sum- mit of South Pass, deflecting to Great Salt Lake over the wilderness to the Rocky Mountains, over the Sierra Ne- vada and through the valleys of San Joaquin and Sacra- mento. In 1847, he was sent to Washington with dispatches and received an appointment as lieutenant in the rifle corps of the United States Army. In 1853, he successfully drove 6,500 sheep through to California and on his return to Taos was appointed In- dian agent in New Mexico. He served in the Federal Army during the Civil War, attaining the rank of brevet- brigadier general. It is well known, however, that before guiding Fre- mont the “Pathfinder” through the great west this intrepid little blue eyed scout and guide had traversed many times the vast country, or a greater portion of it, over which the Fremont expedition traversed in 1842-5, so this sturdy five feet six inch scout was in reality the pathfinder, and is richly entitled to be called the greatest of American travelers. For before Carson could become a guide he must of necessity familiarize himself with the geography of the vast and almost unknown west. In 1826, he ran away from home and made the journey across the plains with a party of traders. Through years of hardships he traversed the Big Horn, the Three Forks of the Missouri, and the Snake and Humboldt Rivers.. He was acquainted with Henry Lake, Brown’s Hole, the Black Hills, the territory of the Columbia, Green, Platte, Colorado, Ar- kansas, and Missouri Rivers, and their tributaries. He had penetrated the Rocky Mountain Ranges, and was capable as a guide through all this vast region before maps or geographies were dreamed of. The Navaho “Ya-pa- ya” represented in the picture was a life long companion and servant of Kit Carson. Carson died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, May 23, 1868. 57] $ a DE Se ese Neady Deeds ae os £ CURLEY. CURLEY The great Indian scout who guided Gen. George A. Custer and his command to the Sitting Bull battlefield. Antoin Curley was a halfblood. His father was a Cana- dian Frenchman while his mother was a full blooded Crow Squaw. She was educated by the French Catholic sisters. Curley could read and write English. He was generally liked by all who knew him, being a man who could be trusted. He rendered great service to the Government. He was a good fighter and an enemy of the Sioux, as there has always existed a tribal hatred between the Crows and the Sioux. He was chosen by Gen. Terry to scout his command while in pursuit of the Sitting Bull band. Gen. Terry had divided his men into three divisions. Gen. Terry had gone in one direction, Gen. Custer and Reno had gone another. Curley had taken the advance. He located the Sitting Bull camp and returned to Gen. Custer and made his report on the strength of the Indians, saying that he would not go into battle with Custer as there were Indians enough to keep Terry, Custer and Reno’s combined forces fighting for four days. General Custer did not like Curley’s report. Curley not being an enlisted man could do as he pleased in the matter and chose a retreat. He was some five miles in the rear when he heard the report of their guns. He being the only survivor of the Custer division, Curley was killed by lightning while guiding H. B. Claflen, Jr., and friends through the Yellowstone National Park in 1894. His body was re- covered after two days’ search. He had fallen off a high cliff some one hundred and fifty feet. The body was very much mutilated and burned. Mr. Claflen gave him a Chris- tian burial. 59] BUFFALO BILL. “BUFFALO BILL” American Scout, Hunter and Showman. William Fred- erick Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa, Feb. 26, 1846. His parents went to Weston, Mo., in 1852, the father, Isaac Cody, establishing a trading post near the Kicka- poo Agency, moving his family to his trading post in 1853. The pro-slavery sentiment was very strong in this neighborhood and Mr. Cody being an abolitionist was stabbed by a rough desperado, from which he never fully recovered. When only about eleven years of age, Bill was employed by the Overland Stage Company, first as rider, afterwards as driver, and finally as scout. He be- came a fearless scout and guide, as well as a trained hunter. In 1868-9, he was made chief of scouts by Gen. Sheridan and was a very valuable man to the armies oper- ating against the Indians. He is the last of the six great scouts of America—Boone, Crockett, Carson, Bridger, Wild Bill and Buffalo Bill. During the construction of the Kansas-Pacific Railway, Bill contracted to furnish the thousands of employees with meat. In this one sea- son he killed 4,864 buffaloes, his hest one day’s record being 69 buffaloes. For this remarkable showing, the officials of the railroad nicknamed him “Buffalo Bill.” He continued in the frontier life many years, killing the Cheyenne Chief “Yellow Hand,” in a hand to hand conflict during the Sioux War of 1876. About 1882, he began to gather about him some of the remaining elements which went to make up a frontier life, as it was his cherished idea to exhibit such an aggregation in the Eastern States and in Europe. He presently accomplished his idea for what has been known the world over as “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show.” Mr. Cody is a unique character, the connecting link between the rough frontier of our brave fathers and these days of automobiles, airships and wireless telegraphy. Daniel Boone and “Davy” Crockett were intrepid fron- tiersmen in their day, but their field of operations was limited to a comparatively small territory. -Wild Bill, while doing some scouting, was engaged more as a civilizer of outlaws and “bad men” generally, in which he was a pronounced success. Carson and Bridger both being great scouts and guides were in reality explorers and in this line they deserved much credit that was vouchsafed others, who simply followed the blazed paths of these two great Americans, and took to themselves credit for dis- covering country already well known to either one or the other of these noted guides. But Buffalo Bill, the last of the great sextet, was pre-eminently the greatest hunter and scout, being entirely at home in the saddle he was more nomadic, of a more sociable disposition, he gained a larger circle of acquaintances, and being the best marks- man the world has ever produced, his services were ever in demand, not only by the military branch of the gov- ernment, but by private hunting parties from the east and from all parts of Europe. 61] BRIGHAM YOUNG. BRIGHAM YOUNG Mormon leader. Born at Whittingham, Vermont, June lst, 1801. He learned the trade of painter and glazier and worked at his trade in Mendon, N. Y. Early in life he joined the Baptist church, but in 1831 was converted to Mormonism and joined this sect at Kistland, Ohio, in 1832. In 1835 he was ordained an elder and sent tothe New England states as one of the twelve apostles. On the death of Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism) in 1844, Young was unanimously chosen president and proph- et. When the sect was forcibly expelled from Nau- ‘voo, Ill., in 1846, he led them through great trials ‘and dangers with untiring energy over the plains and into the heart of the Rocky mountains, where in 1847 he founded the present Salt Lake City. His followers formed a nucleus and others poured into the “Promised Land,” and in 1849 an attempt was made to organize a state. The govern- ment refused to do this, but did organize it as the territory of Utah, and President Filmore appointed Brigham Young as governor. In 1854 a “Gentile” governor was appointed and the Mormons stirred up so much trouble that the gov- ernment was obliged in 1857 to send 2,500 troops to en- force its authority. Young was the founder of polygamy as an institution and was the first to practice it. In 1852 he promulgated the “celestial law of marriage” which he claimed had been revealed to Joseph Smith nine years be- fore. However, Smith’s widow and son declared the reve- lation a forgery, but Young’s influence carried the measure through. He himself had about 18 wives, besides many spiritual wives. The courts exonerated Brigham Young from complicity in the Mountain Meadow Massacre (1858), in which 136 emigrants were practically extermi- nated in a collision with the Mormon settlers. Young was a great power in the church until the date of his death, August 29th, 1877. 63] HOLE-IN-THE-DAY, HOLE-IN-THE-DAY Head Chief of the Ojibways. He was the son and successor of Hole-in-the-Day, Sr., who in the fall of 1837, smoked the pipe of peace with the Dakotahs, prom- ising to meet them the next spring and make them pres- ents for the privilege of hunting on the Dakotahs’ lands. The promise was fulfilled, but after they had traveled to- gether a few days, the hunting party separated, the Da- kotahs going on in advance. That same evening, how- ever, eleven Ojibways came to the advance lodges of the Dakotahs and were received as friends, and after a feast and much hilarity the unsuspecting Dakotahs retired for the night. As soon as they were asleep, however, the Ojibways arose and killed and scalped men, women and children, only a few escaping. This was the beginning of a bitter and lasting enmity between the two nations. The old chief was succeeded by his son a few years prior to 1850. On May 15th, 1850, this young and warlike head chief of the Ojibways, with two or three associates, crossed the Mississippi River and scalped a Dakotah In- dian almost in sight of Little Crow’s Village, Kaposia, and escaped. About this time, Governor Ramsey sent runners to the different bands of Ojibways and Dakotahs, called them together at Fort Snelling for counsel, hoping by this means to bring lasting peace between the warring nations. The Indians in great numbers assembled on the morning of June 11, 1850. Gov. Ramsey addressed the assembled braves, closing with these words: “I recom- mend that each nation appoint a committee of three or five men to assist—submitting it afterwards to yourselves to decide upon.” MHole-in-the-Day immediately replied: “All men that live have minds of their own, and had better settle their own affairs.” After some parley the commit- tees were agreed upon, but suddenly the Sioux (Dakotahs) withdrew because there were ladies present. Hole-in- the-Day adroitly turned the matter to his advantage, say- ing very politely, “I am happy to see so many sweet wo- men here. They are all welcome vith their angelic smiles to a seat on our side of the council.” The ladies, how- ever, withdrew, Hole-in-the-Day shaking each one cor- dially by the hand. After two days a treaty was agreed upon and Hole-in-the-Day appeared in St. Paul the next day dressed in a coat of the United States Infantry, he and his associates taking the steamer Ramsey at St. An- thony for Sauk Rapids to their homes on the upper Mis- Sissippi. Hole-in-the-Day persuaded his band (the Pil- lagers) not to take part in the Indian uprising in 1862. By this action he gained the illwill of a notorious family of Pillagers, consisting of a father and nine sons. These men were very bad Indians, always fomenting trouble. In 1864, while Hole-in-the-Day was riding in a buggy 65] near Gull Lake Mission, three of these brothers ambushed him with double barreled shot guns loaded with buck shot and emptied all six barrels into the noted chief’s body. The Chippewas or Ojibways are of the Algonkian stock, tall, active and well formed. They are distributed in bands around both sides of the basin of Lake Superior, where they once owned vast tracts of land. They subsist chiefly by hunting and fishing and number about 18,000. The tribes of the Algonquin family comprise, the Ojib- ways, Nashkopi, Crees, Mismacs, Lenape, Nanticokes, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, Arapalios, etc. Some of the greatest Indians of history belonged to the Algonquin stock. Poca- hontas, King Philip, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Black Hawk, etc. 166 JAMES BRIDGER Hunter, Scout and Guide. Bridger himself claimed that he was born near the Mississippi River in Missouri, just across from the mouth of the Ohio River, and spent the first twenty years of his life in Missouri and Kentucky. He became acquainted with Daniel Boone, the great Kentucky Pioneer, and from his frontier life young Bridg- er was inspired with a spirit of adventure, and as both his parents had been killed by the Indians, he longed to depart from the old home with its sad recollections, so in 1820 he went to St. Louis, and from there to Santa Fe, from whence he joined a trapping expedition into the Recky Mountains. Some historians give his birthplace as Richmond, Va., and the time of this event as in 1804. He was very successful as a hunter and trapper, and became a partner in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, which he supplied with pelts secured by himself and other mountaineers, whom he interested. Impelled by the spirit of adventure, and in quest of game, he explored nearly the whole region which is now the States of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas and Utah. He was the pioneer discoverer of the wonderful features of Yellow- stone Park and was the first white man to discover Great Salt Lake. He was wont to tell tales to travelers of the wonderful geysers and other natural wonders he had dis- covered, and these were long known as “Jim Bridger’s lies,” all newspapers refusing to publish his interesting accounts, looking upon them as the tales of a Munchau- sen trapper, but investigation proved them to be remark- ably accurate, even to the smallest details. He was fa- mous as a topographer. He often said he “could smell his way where he could not see it,” and with a piece of coal he would map out on the flesh side of a buffalo skin any portion of the immense region west of the Missouri, delineating streams, lakes, mountains, etc., almost as ac- curate as the present day maps. Early in life he married a Shoshone Indian girl, built a stockade and residence at a point on the black fork of Green River in Uintah County, Wyoming, and this place is still known as Fort Bridger. Here he lived many years with his Indian wife, respected and trusted alike by whites and Indians, and always treated the latter with the ut- most fairness and consideration. In 1832-35, he was guide to Capt. Benjamin Bonneville’s exploring expedition, an account of which is given in Bonneville’s Journal, as edited by Washington Irving. In 1862, he was guide to the military escort, sent with two judges to Utah, and in 1868 (his last notable public serv- ice) he gave valuable advice to General Sheridan regard- ing a campaign against hostile Indians. Wm. S. Brackett, of the historical society of Montana, says, “James Bridger 67] JAMES BRIDGER was the Daniel Boone of the Rocky Mountains.” For half a century he was a prominent figure in important histori- cal events, and yet partly through his own taciturn habits, and partly through the carelessness of the many prominent persons who knew him, most of his life’s history is lost to us. We obtain glimpses of him here and there, but the many eventful scenes of his life are forever lost. His memory is preserved, however, by Bridgers Peak, Mon- tana, Bridgers Pass in Southwestern Wyoming, and the towns of Bridger and Fort Bridger in Wyoming on the Union Pacific Railway. He was of great assistance to the surveyors of the Union Pacific, guiding them to the most accessible passes, where today the great railway follows the trail of Old Joe Bridger. 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