'‘And Thus It Was That Tatanka i-Yotanka,
(Sitting Bull) Chief of the Sioux, Died77
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
»R*lea»fd by Western Newspaper l1nlo».I
r | ’’HE scene was Soldier
I Field on Chicago’s lake
front, but on this partic
ular occasion that huge sta
dium had been temporarily
transformed into the “circus
let.”
We sat in the shade of a
dressing tent a little distance
away from the “big top”
while all around us surged
and eddied the multifarious
activities of the “world’s
greatest show” getting ready
for an afternoon perform
ance. And in that setting—
which in time, distance and
atmosphere was far, far re
moved from the Indian fight
ing days of the old Wild West
—I took part in one of the
most unusual interviews in
all my experience as a news
paper man.
It was an interview with an
Indian, and all of my questions
and all of his answers were trans
lated through the medium of that
universal language of the Plains
tribes, the “sign talk.” The In
dian was John Sitting Bull, the
deaf-mute son of Tatanka i-Yo
tanka (Sitting Bull), famous chief
of the Hunkpapa Sioux, and my
finger - flipping, hand - waving
“translator" was Col. Tim Mc
Coy, adopted member of the
Arapaho tribe and protege of
Gen. Hugh L. Scott (in his time
the white man best versed in the
sign language). Today McCoy is
one of the few white men who
can carry on an extended con
versation in that language.
I had brought with me a num
ber of photographs, taken back in
the eighties and nineties by D. F.
Barry, famous for his pictures of
the old-time Sioux. The eyes of
John Sitting Bull lighted up when
I showed him the picture of the
four women standing in front of
the log cabin, for one of these
women was his mother. I asked
him many questions about them
and about his early life and one
of these questions was answered
in a singularly dramatic fashion.
“Do you have any recollection
of the big fight on the Greasy
Grass (Little Big Horn river in
Montana) when Long Hair (Gen
eral Custer) attacked your fa
ther’s camp and he and all of his
pony soldiers were killed?”
With a grim smile on his face,
John Sitting Bull reached down
and pulled up one of his buck
John Sitting Bull "sign talks" with Col. Tim McCoy.
flin company in 1932) comments
on that particular one as follows:
They Raid he was making medicine
during the battle, "skulking In the hills"
. . They said he ran away from the
fight . , . that he was so excited that
he forgot to take his small son with him,
and that the child was therefore named
The One Who-Was-Left All this is poppy
cock.
The boy's name, properly translated,
means Left-on the-Battle-Fleld It was
given him by Four Horns. Sitting Bull s
uncle, In commemoration of the time
when he himself had been left for dead
on the field during a fight with the
Crows, an event so famous that It was
used to mark the year 1843 in the Hunk
papa calet.iar.
The One-Who-Was-Loft grew up
to bear the name of his father,
Sitting Bull. According to his sto
ry, told in the sign talk and trans
lated for me by Tim McCoy, it
was the "men with red coats"
(Royal North-West Mounted Po
lice of Canada), who "live north
of the boundary line" (indicated
by reaching down as though put
ting stones on the ground at regu
Irr intervals, i. e., boundary
stones) who conferred his father's
name upon him. Later someone
added "John” to that name, so
he is now commonly known as
John Sitting Bull.
Willing as he was to "talk
about his childhood days with his
brother, Crowfoot, and his sis
ter, Standing Holy, his attitude
quickly changed when one event
in his life was mentioned. His
reluctance to recall it is quite un
derstandable. For that event was
the death of his father which took
place just 50 years ago.
So one must turn to the pages
of Stanley Vestal’s biography of
Sitting Bull for the true story of
that tragic affair. It is told by
a historian free from the usual
white man’s prejudices against
the Indian, especially those preju
dices which existed while Sitting
Bull was alive. It is the story of
an Indian patriot, made distrust
The Indian women pictured above are (left to right): Has-Many
Klorses (or Captures Horses), Sitting Bull’s daughter; Good Heart, his
younger wife; Four Times, his older wife, mother of John Sitting Bull;
and Standing Holy, John Sitting Bull’s sister. This photograph was
taken by D. F. Barry in front of Sitting Bull’s cabin on the Grand
river, North Dakota, in 1890, and the women in it were identified
<possibly for the first time in history) by John Sitting Bull in an in
terview with the author of this article in 1936.
skin leggings. Just above the an
kle was a long white scar.
"That's why he remembers the
Custer battle, although he was
only four y ars old at the time,”
McCoy explained quickly. “When
Reno's detachment of Custer’s
command struck the Hunkpapa
lodges at the lower end of the
village, the Indians were thrown
into a panic at first. In all the
confusion the little boy became
separated from his mother. A
bullet broke his leg. so he was
unable to flee with the other chil
dren and their mothers. He
crawled into some bushes and
was found there after Reno’s men
had been driven across the river
and taken refuge on the bluffs
above. That scar is his reminder
of the Battle of the Little Big
Horn.”
it might be mentioned in pass
fog that the scar is more than
John Sitting Bull’s reminder of
that famous frontier fight. It also
helps refute one of the many lies
which the white men have told
about his father in relation to the
battle. Stanley Vestal in his “Sit
ting Bull, Champion of the Sioux”
*nublished by the Houghton Mif
ful of the whites by broken trea
ties and unfulfilled promises, de
termined to maintair his authori
ty as a chief of his people and to
save them from losing all of their
ancestral homes to the land-hun
gry whites.
The climax of this struggle
came early in the winter of 1890.
The Ghost Dance excitement
which had swept the Sioux pro
vided a convenient excuse for the
government authorities to act.
Professing to believe that Sitting
Bull was about ready to lead an
uprising of the fanatical Ghost
Dancers, Lieut.-Col. W. F. Drum,
commander at Fort Yates, was
ordered to arrest the old chief at
his home near the Grand river on
the Standing Rock reservation.
But Maj. James McLaughlin,
agent at Standing Rock and the
chief instrument of the Indian Bu
reau in its contest with Sitting
Bull, persuaded the army officers
to let him make the arrest with a
force of his Indian police (among
whom were some of Sitting Bull’s
bitterest enemies), with the
troops in reserve, to be called
upon if needed.
So on the night of December
14, 1890, a detachment of Indian
police, led by Lieutenant Bull
head and Sergeants Eagle Man,
Shave Head and Red Tomahawk,
quietly entered Sitting Bull’s
camp and surrounded the log cab
in in which he, his wife and his
son, The One-Who-Was-Left, were
sleeping. Just before dawn they
forced open the door, dragged the
chief, npked, out of his bed and,
none too gently, tried to help him
get dressed.
At first Sitting Bull made no
effort to resist. But he soon be
came angry at the indignities he
was suffering and refused to
budge from the cabin, whereupon
the policemen picked him up and,
half-carrying, half-pushing, start
ed him toward the door. By this
time the whole camp had been
alarmed and an angry throng of
Sitting Bu.'l’s warriors came run
ning from iheir tents with guns
in their hands to resist the at
tempt of the “Metal Breasts’’ (po
lice) to take their chief away. Of
the scene outside the door Vestal
writes:
Sergeant Eagle Man, unusually noisy
that night, kept shouting "Stand back I
Make way! Get out of here!” and shov
ing against Sitting Bull's deaf-mute son,
who—very much excited—pulled and
shoved Eagle Man, making horrible
noises In the darkness. And as the po
lice forged Blowly forward, the terrible
walling of women was mingled with the
deaf-mute's unearthly gtbberlngs.
A moment later Sitting Bull
shouted to his followers, “Come
on! Come on! Take action! Let’s
go!” Instantly Catch-the-Bear,
chief soldier of the camp and
commander of Sitting Bull’s
bodyguard, threw up his rifle and
shot Lieutenant Bullhead in the
leg. As the policeman went down,
he twisted around and shot up
ward at Sitting Bull, who was try
ing to pull loose from his captors.
As the chief reeled from the im
pact of the bullet, Sergeant Red
Tomahawk shot him from behind
and Sitting Bull dropped dead in
his tracks.
For a little while there was a
fierce melee of hand-to-hand fight
ing between the police and Sit
ting Bull’s warriors. Then the fire
of the “Metal Breasts” drove the
warriors back into the timber and
the police took refuge in Sitting
Bull's cabin, bringing their dead
and wounded with them.
Then, writes Vestal:
While they were moving the mattress
to make a bed for Bullhead, the police
found Crowfoot, Sitting Bull's son, hid
den there. Crowfoot was a schoolboy of
17 winters. A Metal Breast called out,
"There's another one tn here.” The boy
sprang up. crying. "Uncle, I want to
live! You have killed my father! Let me
go!”
They called to Bullhead where he lay,
covered with blood, mortally wounded.
"What shall we do with him?" Bullhead
answered. "Kill him, they have killed
me " Red Tomahawk struck Crowfoot:
the blow sent the boy sprawling through
the door. Those outside shot him dead.
They showed no mercy: their hearts
were hot that day.
A short time later, the troops,
which had been sent from Fort
Yates under the command of
Capt. E. G. Fechet to support
the Indian Police if needed, ar
rived on the scene and rescued
the survivors in Sitting Bull's
cabin.
Otter Robe . . . acted as Interpreter
for some of the soldiers. He heard Sit
ting Hull’s wives crying, went into the
smaller cabin, and found them and some
other women seated in a row on the
bed They would not get up. and so the
soldiers pulled them off Under that
bed they found Sitting Bull's deaf-mute
son and another lad The soldiers
searched these lads to disarm them,
found that one of them had a jack-knife
with a broken blade, and took that. It
made Otter Robe laugh . .
When the police and soldiers started
back to the fort, there was a dispute
among the Metal Breasts They did not
wish to put Sitting Bull's body in the
same wagon with their own dead But
Sergeant Red Tomahawk had strict or
ders to bring tn the chief dead or alive,
and he said they must do It; there was
only one wagon for the dead Then the
policeman decided to throw the chief in
first, and lay their dead comrades on
top of him. This was done . And
thus Sitting Bull was carted like a dead
dog toward the stronghold of his ene
mies, with four dead men riding his man
gled. blood-soaked body over the prairie
ruts.
Perhaps, even though half a
century has elapsed since that
cold winter morning, John Sit
ting Bull still remembers the
scene in the log cabin as the
“Metal Breasts” dragged Chief
Tatanka i-Yotanka toward the
door; perhaps he has an all-too
vivid recollection of his brother,
Crowfoot, with hands uplifted,
begging for mercy; perhaps he
sees again in memory his fa
ther’s last journey “over the prai
rie ruts.”
So his reluctance to “talk”
about the events of December 15,
1890, is quite understandable!
I ~ I
Selerotlierapy
And Its Field
Of Usefulness
_
By DR. JAMES W. BARTON
'Released by Western Newspape' Union.' |
AS YOU read new words in
iV medicine, and particu-i
larly of the new kinds of spe-1
cialists, you may wonder
whether divid
ing the medical
profession into
so many differ
ent specialists
is really of help
to patients.
TODAY’S
HEALTH
COLUMN
As a matter of fact, there is so i
much that is new being discovered j
Or. Barton
and tested in medi
cine, that no one
man could be profi
cient in all this new
knowledge and how
to apply it The fam
ily or general prac
titioner in these days
can usually look aft
er the majority of
ailments, but be
cause he keeps up to
date he knows, for
his patients’ sake,
there are times
wnen a specialist should be con
sulted.
Perhaps the latest specialty is
that of Sclerotherapy. "Sclero”
means hardening and “therapy”
means treatment, so sclerotherapy
is treating various ailments by us
ing hardening substances which
harden or destroy the unwanted or
imperfect tissues. This method of
treatment was discredited years ago
principally because of the fact that
the hardening substances were at
fault.
Conditions Which Can Be Helped.
Dr. H. I. Biegeleisen. in Clinical
Medicine and Surgery, gives an out
line of the various conditions of the
body which can now be helped by
the skillful surgeon or physician who
has given sclerotherapy close study.
These conditions are:
1. Disorders of the veins: vari
cose veins, varicocele, piles or hem
orrhoids, vein tumors.
2. Disorders of the arteries. En
larged arteries such as aneurysms.
3. Cystic (bladder) enlargements:
hydrocele, bursitis—bag of water at
the joint—knee, elbow, shoulder.
4. Ruptures or hernias.
5. Growth—warts.
6. Miscellaneous: fissures or little
cuts, goiter, enlarged turbinates in
nose, joints with too much motion.
• • •
Shock Needs Prompt
And Efficient Care
ONE of the sayings of years ago,
"The operation was a success
but the patient died,” is not used
often now because it is so definitely
known that the shock of operation,
shock of any kind in fact, can bring
one very close to death.
In my student days we did not
know much about shock but the
treatment was to get the patient's
head low, body warm, and give a
stimulant of some kind. v
As time passed and more and
more was learned of the damage
done to the body by shock and its
danger to life itself, new methods
of treatment were gradually applied
until today shock gets prompt and
efficient treatment.
One of the first of the newer treat
ments was the injection of fluids into
the body to add pressure to the blood
circulation so that it could be car
ried to all parts of the body in in
creased amounts. This tightening
up of the blood vessels causing
shock, a condition found in Asiatic
cholera for which sodium salts is
used, led physicians to use these
salts in shock cases with good re
sults.
Transfusions Beneficial.
Dr John Scudder, department of
surgery, Presbyterian hospital. New
York, states in Digest of Treatment
that even sodium salts and the use
of oxygen to increase the amount of
oxygen in the blood did not give j
complete results, as the rate at
which the body processes worked
still needed to be increased, the
storage of sugar in the liver and
muscles was still low, and the blood
j and tissues were still too near an
acid condition for safety.
It was then discovered that these
! three needs could be supplied by the
juice or extract of the adrenal and
pancreatic gland. Despite all these
helps another step in fighting shock
was found when transfusions of
whole blood or the liquid part of
the blood (plasma) were given.
Blood transfusion, in addition to sup
plying plasma proteins (a food) and
j red blood cells, supplies certain oth
er substances whose beneficial ef
fects can be measured.
• • •
QUESTION BOX
Q.—Recently I had a metabolism
! test made which revealed a basal
metabolism of plus 13.35 oxygen util
ized minus 15.8 litres per hour. Does
this mean 1 have a goitre? Kindly
suggest a diet for me.
A.—A metabolism test of plus 13.5
is considered within normal Mmits
which are plus 15, down to minus
85. However, as you are near the
borderline, you should ask your
i physician about rest and diet.
Fur Cape Comes Into Vogue
With Hats and Muffs to Match
By CHERIE NICHOLAS
CAPES! Fur capes have come out
in spectacular array this win
ter. Some are wrist length, while
others go elbow deep. Among the
“little furs” worn separately with
a cloth coat, cunning shoulder capes
are especially chic.
To add to the romance of this in
triguing fur cape vogue come muffs
to match, which together with hats
of the same fur complete a very at
tractive ensemble.
Fur capes included in mid-winter
collections are so versatile they in
terpret the casual and sporty or the
regal and stately. They qualify for
not only smart daytime wear but
also for gala night occasions.
Your presence will add greatly to
the grandstand scene this season if
you flaunt a dashing spectator sports
cape or leopard or ocelot fur. The
tremendous demand for these spot
ted furs is so great that many deal
ers are finding it difficult to keep
them in stock. The cape to the left
in the picture is typical of what’s
“the latest” in fur fashions for cas
ual daytime wear.
Speaking of the popular spotted
furs, stores are showing perfectly
charming accessory collar, belt and
muff "sets” to wear with furless
cloth coats or suits. Outdoor girls
find special appeal in the stunning
capes made of raccoon with hats
and muffs to match.
With the smart wool daytime
frocks and the ever-voguish blacs
gown, the new fur capes make per
fectly stunning wraps. See the cape
shown to the right for evidence of
its high-style appearance. This par
ticular model is in gray. It can be
interpreted to your own liking in
such furs as krimmer, gray kidskin,
squirrel to wear with your gray out
fits. If you favor the very smart
new cereal tones, order this cape
made up in beaver, golden seal,
mink, brown caracul or natural. All
these pelts yield gracefully to the
cape silhouette.
Brown furs are particularly good
this season. Stress is placed on
brown furs with black. Women of
discriminating taste are topping
their chic afternoon black dresses
and suits with capes of marten,
mink, dyed fox and sealskin hats,
capes and muffs. These handsome
brown pelts look good with any cos
tume, whatever its color scheme.
Among the most attractive fashions
of the season is the costume that
tops a gay plaid wool dress (made
very simply with a seal wrist
length cape and a jaunty seal tur
ban to match—plus a muff of course.
Ermine evening fur capes are
very young looking with their bright
red linings. Another fur luxury is
the sable cape, and mink rates ace
high for evening capes and jackets
with muffs and other accessories to
match.
By way of a suggestion, if you
are olanning to have your last win
ter fur coat “done over,” why not
have it made into a fashionable
cape? Many women are doing just
that. Of course if your budget per
mits buying a spic and span new
cape you couldn’t make a better
purchase.
(Released by Western Newspaper Union.)
Dinner Shirt
If you are abreast with the times
in matter of modern fashion par
lance, “dinner shirt” is exactly
what you will call the new dressy
blouse shown here which can be
worn to informal dine and dance
parties. This attractive dinner shirt
with waistband and pleated front is
fashioned of rose-colored silk triple
sheer. It is a very much up-to-date
affair. It takes on a glitter-embroi
dery accent across its yoke where
a horizontal floral motif is done in
sparkle-sparkle paillettes and tiny
beads. The sprightly black velvet
calot on the model's pretty head
gives chic accent to this charming
! ensemble.
Dude Ranch Clothes Add
'Dash' to Sports Wear
Campus girls are thrilled with the
, idea of dude ranch clothes for sport
wear. They especially like plaid
flannel shirts, studded belts and
fringed suits for roughing it and the
latest is to wear riding boots to ra
; place galoshes.
|
Long-Haired Fur-Felts
Stage New ‘Comeback’
Often a fashion that has dropped
out of the picture for many a sea
son stages a revival that makes old
fashion become new fashion. This
is especially true in the case of the
long-hair fur felt hat which is again
becoming popular.
These big picturesque noncha
lant furry shaggy felts feature high
in the fashion “picture.” They come
in fascinating colors and all they
need is a quill jauntily positioned
and a deft turn here and there to
the brim to give the dash required.
Amusing, and chic to the utter
most are the new little hats of rac
coon.
South American Clothes
Influence New Fashions
South American costumes are in- j
spiration for modern clothes. The
vidid colors and startling combina
tions of color sound a gay note in
contrast to the vogue i„r black that
has prevailed so long and is still
holding its own. The South Ameri
can trends also make lavish use of
braids, embroideries and fringe.
Old Chinese Costumes
Enter Fashion Picture
Fashion is in a mood for borrow
ing ideas from the rich costumes of
Chinese origin. Mandarin tunics,
dragons embroidered on yellow wool
dresses, sleek straight silhouettes,
pompadours lacquered smooth and
high, chrysanthemums for coiffure
adornment, all of which are enter
ing the winter fashion picture.
Pastel Felts
A most charming fashion has been
launched in a way of pastel felt
hats trimmed in flowers. The possi
bilities are endless with promise of
headgear that will flatter to the
point of achieving a new high in
glamour and allure.
Our Existence
Existence is not to be measured
by mere duration. An oak lives
in centuries, generation after gen
eration of mortals the meanwhile
passing away; but who would ex
change for the life of a plant,
though protracted for ager, a sin
gle day of the existence of a liv
ing, conscious, thinking man?—
Caird.
Fun When In OMAHA, stop! Food
At the GYI'SY Tea Shop.
Your Fortune FREE. Licensed Readers.
Second Floor Curtney Bldg.
17th and Douglas S'/eet
Love Is Sight
Love is not blind. It is an extra
eye which shows us what is most
worthy of regard.—J. M. Barrie.
;COLDS
quickly u,lc
LIQUID
TABLETS
SALVE
NOSE DROPS
COUGH DROPS
Use of Riches
Riches are a blessing only to
those who make them a blessing
to others.
t
THE SMOKE OF
SLOWER-BURNING
CAMELS
GIVES YOU NOT
ONLY
BUT ALSO
i
LESS NICOTINE
than the average of the
4 other of the largest
selling cigarettes tes
ted—less than any of
them—according to inde
pendent scientific tests
of the smoke itself.