The American Indian In The United States, Period 1850-1914

THE AMERICAN INDIAN IN THE UNITED STATES PERIOD 1850–1914

RED CLOUD (MAKH-PIYA-LUTA) War Chief of all the Sioux....

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Additional Comments

With some diffidence I present a history of the American Indian during the transition period. Excepting two or three bulletins, and some public addresses, all my publications have dealt with archaeological subjects, and the Indian of the past. [1] A study of the Indian of this country, during recent years, seems to indicate that at no time in his history has he faced a more critical situation than that which confronts him today. A helpful understanding of him and his needs is vastly more importa

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Indian Art and Old Industries

The arts and industries of the Indians (barring a few exceptions) have been modified by contact with the Whites. As an illustration, the beadwork of the Ojibwa, Malecite, Penobscot, Iroquois and others is very different from the art of two centuries ago. Basketry still obtains, but except on the Pacific coast and in the Southwest, much of the textile work is influenced by European culture, and I have therefore omitted a consideration of Indian art in general. In the chapter on the Navaho there w

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A Prophecy Verified

Events have moved rapidly of late, and as the Introduction proofs come back from my publishers, the press dispatches from Washington announce the appointment of Honorable Gabe E. Parker as Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes in Oklahoma. Mr. Parker is one of the brightest of our educated Indians. Miss Barnard has just informed me that her successor in the Department of Charities and Corrections has been named. With these changes, Mr. Mott’s remarkable prophecy of last February ( See p. 163

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are many persons, and a number of governmental Departments, to whom I am especially indebted. When I began the preparation of this manuscript nearly a year ago, I explained to officials in the United States Indian Office, Department of Justice, Smithsonian Institution, Indian Rights Association, and other organizations that I intended to prepare a history of the Indian of the transition period. It was made clear that a history must contain both the good and the bad; that a mere description

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A General Bibliography Omitted

It is difficult, if not almost impossible, to compile a satisfactory bibliography relating to Indians and Indian affairs between the years 1850 and 1914. Aside from reports emanating from officials and Departments, the largest body of literature is that dealing with the ethnology of existing tribes. Under the term ethnology would be included several divisions of the science. Most of the ethnologic works, reports and papers fall within no specified dates. Hence, a paper may cover one or two centu

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Corrections

After [Chapters I-XXX] had been printed, Commissioner Sells notified me that through a typographical error on [page 27 ], the 600,000 acres of irrigable lands had become 6,000,000! It would be exceedingly gratifying could we claim that the Indians had under cultivation 6,000,000 acres, but as the sum total is but 600,000, I cite the correction. On [page 25 ], last paragraph, fourth line, “under the Chiefs of Divisions”; should be, “in the various Divisions”. [Page 112 ], second paragraph from bo

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CHAPTER I. TWO POINTS OF VIEW

The American Indian may be regarded from two wide and divergent points of view; that of the scientist, and that of the humanitarian. Under the former should be grouped all study of the Indian, past and present, falling under the general science of anthropology, and its various divisions and sub-divisions. This includes the study of the Indian as a primitive man belonging to the Red Race, and different from all other races on the face of the earth. This view comprises archaeology, physical anthro

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CHAPTER II—THE U.S. INDIAN OFFICE IN 1913

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was organized in 1824, and was under the War Department. On March 3, 1849, the Interior Department took over the management of the Indians. Since 1832, there have been 31 Commissioners of Indian Affairs. The longest tenure of office was that held by Honorable Wm. A. Jones. The present Commissioner is Honorable Cato Sells of Texas, who took charge June 4, 1913. Mr. Sells has already inaugurated a new and progressive policy and his work is highly commended by every per

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CHAPTER III. THE INDIANS TODAY AND HON. E. E. AYER’S REPORT

We have seen in the preceding chapter that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, his assistants, Supervisors, Inspectors and Special Agents stand at the head of a very great Bureau; and that under them are thousands of employees. The diagram on the following page is an outline plan of the entire Indian Service, beginning with that great body, the Congress of the United States, and passing through its various ramifications down to the amalgamation of the educated, competent Indian into the body of

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CHAPTER IV. THE OJIBWA OF MINNESOTA

The Ojibwa commonly known as Chippewa, constitute one of the great divisions of the Algonkin stock. We shall have much to say concerning their ethnology, in a subsequent volume. But following the scope accepted for this book, we shall treat of the Ojibwa as one of the great Indian tribes (numerically), at the present time and one much “advanced” along the white man’s trail. The year 1850 found the Ojibwa, or Chippewa, Indians located as they are at the present time, with some exceptions. A few i

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CHAPTER V. THE LEGAL COMPLICATIONS AT WHITE EARTH—THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Judge Marsden C. Burch, representing the Attorney General of the United States (Department of Justice) before the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department, House of Representatives, went into modern Ojibwa history at great length. The hearings began July 25, 1911, and continued through March 27, 1912. The testimony lies before me, and it fills 2,759 pages. It would be well nigh impossible for readers to consult this enormous bulk of evidence submitted by several hundred witnesses. He

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CHAPTER VI. THE WHITE EARTH SCANDAL

Judge Burch’s research led him to conclude that the Indians were in vastly better shape forty years ago than at the present time. The reading of Warren’s book, Gilfillan’s testimony, and other evidence establishes it beyond question that the Indian does not seem to have suffered to any great extent in either health or morals prior to 1880. The older men of the tribe, who were keen mentally in spite of great age, when I visited those Indians in 1909, told me much regarding their past. I visited t

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CHAPTER VII. SOME INDIAN TESTIMONY AND AFFIDAVITS. SICKNESS.

During the height of the pine and land purchases, crowds of Indians at White Earth were persuaded to visit Detroit and Park Rapids and Ogema. Contrary to the law, whiskey was frequently sold them. They tell how at Park Rapids, in the little square in the centre of the village, drunken Indians were lying on the grass in numbers, and at Ogema a saloon keeper was passing liquor in a bucket, and handing it out by the dipperful to Indians. After the buyers had used persuasion to get the Indians to gi

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BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WHITE EARTH

Omitting ethnological reports and Warren’s book (see page 45 ) those who desire to study conditions at White Earth, Leech Lake, Red Lake, and Cass Lake, are referred to the reports of the Secretary of the Interior, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and the Board of Indian Commissioners the past twenty years. These contain all administrative details. The legal aspect of the prosecution will be found in pamphlets issued by the Department of Justice, and the U. S. Court of Claims. White Earth has bee

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CHAPTER IX. THE SIOUX AND THE MESSIAH CRAZE

The Sioux is one of our most famous Indian nations. As the Iroquois activities two centuries ago placed them in the forerank of American aborigines, so the Sioux from the days of Lewis and Clark down to the present have been much in evidence. They are primarily a strong, hearty race possessed of dominant spirit. Their reservations at Standing Rock, Rosebud, Pine Ridge, etc., contain most of the 28,000 natives of this stock. Reference to Major Powell’s linguistic map will acquaint readers with th

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CHAPTER X. THE DANCE

Several sweat-houses are erected in order to prepare the young men for the dance. When a good number of young men, say fifty or sixty, have taken the sweat-bath, and prepared themselves, the high priest and his assistants come forward. The high priest wears eagle-feathers in his hair, and a shirt reaching nearly to his knees. The assistants are dressed in similar manner, but wear no ornaments other than the eagle-feathers. The dancers wear no ornaments whatsoever, and enter the circle without th

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CHAPTER XI. LOUIS SHANGRAUX AND THE TROOPS

About December 8th Louis Shangraux and some prominent Indians were sent out by the military to persuade the dancers to come in. December 15th we heard singing, and running out of our quarters, beheld thirty horsemen advancing upon the agency. Following them were large numbers of the “hostiles”. Every man was superbly mounted and well armed. Six-shooters were hung at their sides, while the gun-cases, neatly beaded and ornamented, were strapped and hung along the saddles. The warriors drew up in f

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CHAPTER XII: THE DEATH OF SITTING BULL, AND A TRAGEDY AT WOUNDED KNEE

It seems that the Indian police brought Major McLaughlin information as to the intentions of the famous medicine man. The Major became convinced that Sitting Bull must be arrested and confined, and he therefore sent a squad of police under Lieutenant Bull Head. Among the thirty-nine Indian policemen who made the arrest were four relatives. Aside from the officer in charge, Bull Head, Red Tomahawk and Shave Head seem to have been the most prominent. Sitting Bull’s settlement consisted of a number

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The Crisis in Oklahoma

Whenever a crisis arises in the affairs of the Nation, there are always men to meet it, and while the forces of evil have conspired against the Indian, there have arisen a few champions, and we should not forget the service such persons have rendered. Some of them have gone down to honorable defeat induced by hatred, treachery, malice and the love of gain. Others continue in office, escaping the wiles of the enemy, not through a miracle, but through the arousing of the public conscience. Today t

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CHAPTER XIV. CAPTAIN GRAYSON’S VIEWS; MISS BARNARD’S WORK; THE MINORS’ ESTATES

Captain G. W. Grayson of Eufaula, who has served many years as official interpreter to the Creeks, and who is frequently employed by the Smithsonian savants in their studies of Indians, read my Oklahoma manuscript and commented as follows:— “It is proper to state that in the Creek Nation, excluding negroes, some degree of protection and supervision should be extended over two-thirds of the people. Some time since, the inquiry was propounded to Mr. Kelsey as to why the Government officials found

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CHAPTER XV. WHAT IS LEFT OF INDIAN PROPERTY IN OKLAHOMA

We have looked upon the dark side of Oklahoma Affairs, let us look on the bright side for a moment. From last year’s report of J. George Wright, Commissioner to the Five Civilized Tribes, it is learned that there are 32,939 restricted Indians. These are still protected by the Government, and all own homesteads. Notwithstanding the thousands of Indians who have been swindled out of their property, or sold same at ridiculously low prices, a great deal remains—sufficient to provide every Indian of

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Recommendations

Except a few persons, everybody agrees that affairs in Oklahoma are in a bad shape. The Indian Office is doing all that it can through Mr. Sells’ attorneys to bring about desired reforms and protection, but it is exceedingly slow work. We must adopt Miss Barnard’s plan if we desire to save the remaining Indian peoples in Oklahoma. That is, briefly, to arouse the conscience in hundreds of thousands of good citizens in Oklahoma and persuade them to take a firm stand against further despoilation of

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PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ON OKLAHOMA

Lengthy discussion of Indian Affairs. Both branches of Congress. Congressional Record for 1914. Jan., 22; Feb., 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 16, 17, 19, 20, 26, 28; March, 10, 11, 12, 21, 26, 27, 28, 31; Apr., 24, 28, 29; May 4; also Dec., 20, 1913. Detailed reviews of satisfactory conditions of Five Civilized Tribes; statistics of some; need of protection; legislation recommended. Board of Indian Commissioners reports to President and Secretary of Interior. 1869–1890 Letters expressing the favorable coo

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CHAPTER XVII. RED CLOUD. THE GREATEST INDIAN OF MODERN TIMES

He belonged to the Oglala division of Teton Sioux. He was born at the forks of the Platte River and died at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, 1909. It is said that he counted coups—that is, he touched the bodies of enemies—eighty times with his coup-stick. The band of the Sioux to which he belonged is known as Iteshicha. As no comprehensive account of his life has ever been published, I intend to devote this entire chapter to him and his activities. He first comes into prominence in 1865, when the Gover

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CHAPTER XVIII. RED CLOUD’S LATER YEARS

It is no secret that Red Cloud’s ponies were looked upon as legitimate prey by the Whites living near the reservation. One man told me he had seen a bunch of cattle driven around the beef corral twice in order to figure in a double count, and corn and provisions had been passed twice through a certain building in order that some one might make just 100 per cent off the Indians. During the early ’70’s horse-stealing was carried on to a surprising extent, and Indian ponies were openly sold in fron

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CHAPTER XIX. SITTING BULL—THE IRRECONCILABLE

Among other prominent Indians, this man presents a stern and dramatic figure. He has been praised and censured, flattered and abhorred; called brave by some, cowardly by others. He is an anomaly if we judge him by Departmental standards. More properly, he typifies the Plains spirit of 1840, and he was out of place in the reservation life of 1880–1890. He bluntly told white people they lied; he refused to accept substitutes for solemn treaties; he met falsehoods with trickery of his own. He lived

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CHAPTER XX. EDUCATION

Shortly after 1850, it became apparent to our authorities that education of Indians was the most important service that our Government could render them. Pursuing this policy, schools and appropriations, both governmental and sectarian (as well as nonsectarian) have increased until most of the Indians have been, or are, in school. I have referred on page 25 to the Honorable Commissioner’s report in which there are but 17,500 Indian children listed as out of school. Naturally, this tremendous act

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CHAPTER XXI. WHY SOME INDIANS OBJECT TO SENDING CHILDREN TO SCHOOL, AND FURTHER COMMENTS ON EDUCATION

There is not a white parent of intelligence in America who would send children to school if in that school there was danger from disease. When Cornell had a small epidemic of typhoid fever, the institution was closed; the same is true of Milton Academy when a few pupils were taken with scarlet fever. Phillips Academy, at Andover, closed its doors some years ago when less than four per cent of the student body became affected with measles. Yet in past years these Indian schools have continued in

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CHAPTER XXII. THE APACHES, PAPAGO AND PUEBLO. THE DESERT INDIANS

Arizona, New Mexico and southern California, together with portions of Nevada and Texas, were inhabited by the Yuman, Piman and Athapascan stocks. I have devoted an entire chapter to the Navaho, and shall confine this to the Pima, Papago, Pueblo and Apache. The past fifty years the population of these Indians has not varied to any appreciable extent. The enumeration of 1906 indicates that there are about as many Pimas and Apaches as at the present time, although the Papago have increased. These

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CHAPTER XXIII. THE CAREER OF GERONIMO

This fighting man was for many years feared and hated. He was not a docile person, and his tribe did not tamely submit to kicks and curses—the treatment meted out to his more gentle red brothers in California and Arizona. They were despised, trodden under foot, cast aside; not so with the Apaches and Geronimo. It required more than two years’ labor on the part of hundreds of our cavalry to catch him, and when he surrendered there were but seventy-four in his band. Now that everything regarding t

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CHAPTER XXIV. THE NAVAHO

The great Shoshonean and Athapascan stocks extended from the Northwest down into the Southwest. The States of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, western Texas and southern California prior to 1860 were known as the “Great American Desert.” The Yuman, Piman and Athapascan, together with a few lesser stocks, inhabited this great region. Chief of the desert tribes is the Navaho. Doctor Washington Matthews has presented considerable literature in the American Anthropologist an

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CHAPTER XXV. INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST

The Indians of the great Northwest, are today of many diversified and small bands, chief among which are the Crows, Utes, Nez Perces, Paiutes, Northern Cheyennes, Blackfeet, and Yakimas, and various Columbia River bands. Linguistically they are Athapascan, Salishan and Shoshonean stocks with remnants of other stocks along the Pacific coast. Practically all of them live on reservations. As in the case of the other tribes described in this volume, the children have been educated, allotments have b

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CHAPTER XXVI. HEALTH OF THE INDIANS 1880 TO 1912

That the Indians of the present time are in a deplorable condition as to health, no person familiar with Indian affairs will deny. It is incomprehensible to me that the appropriations for combatting disease are so meagre, and the appropriations for allotting and education so lavish. As a western friend of mine, who had observed Indians for more than thirty years says, “Of what use is education to an Indian with consumption? An Indian child learns to read and write, contracts trachoma, is sent ho

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CHAPTER XXVII. THE INDIAN’S RELIGION; HIS CHARACTER; PHILANTHROPIC ORGANIZATIONS

Since 1850, the Indian’s belief in the hereafter has undergone a very marked change. It is extremely difficult to find individuals, among most of our tribes, who can give us any clear conception of the Indian’s religious belief. The Navaho preserve much of their original religion, for the reason that these Indians have been remote from contact with the Whites. As has been stated in this book, the greater part of the 28,000 Navaho do not speak English and continue in the faith of their fathers. T

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CHAPTER XXVIII. IRRIGATION PROJECTS

The Indians of the Southwest in both ancient and modern times built dams, dug irrigation canals and watered certain tracts more or less extensive in area. The subject of agriculture as conducted in arid regions by the Indians is an exceedingly interesting one and has been treated briefly by Doctor Hodge in the Handbook of American Indians. Many of the modern canals in Arizona, New Mexico and California follow the old ditches dug by the Cliff Dwellers, Pueblos and other tribes. Excepting the Apac

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CHAPTER XXIX. THE BUFFALO

The American bison, commonly called the buffalo, occupied an extended area of the United States in ancient times. About 1850, the range of the buffalo extended from the Red River valley, Manitoba, to central Texas; through western and central Minnesota and as far west as the arid plains of Colorado, and to near the headwaters of the Missouri River in the Northwest. As settlers pushed west of the Mississippi, the buffalo disappeared from eastern Nebraska, Missouri and western Arkansas. The animal

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The Plains Indians of Today

Desiring to present a contrast between the past and present, in all its details, I wrote to numbers of missionaries among Indians, selecting those who had served for a long time. One of the missionaries on a large reservation where are located thousands of Sioux, answered me at length, and I present some of his recommendations. He speaks Sioux fluently. I have taken the liberty of changing a few expressions. His suggestions are brief, but contain much sound common sense. His letter was written i

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Mr. Kelsey’s Brief History of the California Indians

The aboriginal population of California was large, possibly equal to that of all the rest of the United States. Powers, in his “Indians of California,” 1877, a work which has been liberally quoted by about everyone who has since written of the California Indians, estimates the number at 750,000. Barbour and Wozencraft, who traveled over the State in 1851 as members of the California Indian Commission, estimated the native population to be between 200,000 and 300,000. C. Hart Merriam [60] estimat

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CHAPTER XXXIII. FARMING AND STOCK-RAISING INDIAN FAIRS

Commissioner Sells has made the “gospel of work” the chief aim of his administration. That is, he has emphasized and encouraged farming and stock-raising. Before quoting from the Commissioner’s reports and circulars on this subject, it should not be taken amiss if the statement is made that during the administrations of Commissioners Morgan and Jones, this important feature of Indian education was not sufficiently emphasized. Many of the central, northern and mountain Indians took naturally to s

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CHAPTER XXXIV. FOUR IMPORTANT BOOKS

As I write this page there lie before me four important Indian books, and I would that every reader possessed them in his library, for the very good reason that all of them treat of the Indian of today. Two of them are strictly historical, and the other two sufficiently accurate to be included in that category. These books are: Helen Hunt Jackson’s “Century of Dishonor,” published in 1886; Seth K. Humphrey’s “The Indian Dispossessed,” published in 1906; Honorable Francis E. Leupp’s “The Indian a

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Past Commissioners’ Views

Honorable T. J. Morgan, appointed Indian Commissioner in June, 1889, might be said to have crystalized the policy having as its chief aim, the allotting, and the educating of Indians. He was followed by Honorable D. M. Browning, who served for four years. Honorable W. A. Jones, appointed in May, 1897, served until December, 1904, when Mr. Leupp succeeded to the office. We may dismiss the careers of the Commissioners preceding Mr. Leupp, with a blanket statement that they did not foresee that a p

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CHAPTER XXXVI. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FROM FIELD WORKERS

Of the many correspondents who aided in the preparation of the table of statistics, there were large numbers who made most excellent recommendations. I have selected some thirty of these and herewith present them in order that they may be preserved. The writers are all persons of experience in Indian affairs. It will be observed that in many details, they do not agree, and yet they suggest, for the most part, sensible reforms. Practically every one of the entire correspondents had no criticisms

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Indian Men and Women

Of those representing the olden days, there were a large number who achieved more or less prominence. I am very sorry that space forbids a consideration of their careers in this book. I present a partial list of their names, and if readers will consult the Handbook of American Indians , short biographical sketches of most of these will be found. The negro has produced far fewer great men than the Indian, yet the negro has always vastly outnumbered the former. During forty years there has been pr

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Indian Morality

On page 380 , Mrs. Elsie E. Newton stated that morality was a relative term, or depended on one’s point of view. This is entirely true. The oldtime Indians were not immoral, although some of them were unmoral. Immorality came with the white man. There was an abundance of cruelty among Indians, and I have alluded to it elsewhere. Many Indians would not do things which we consider proper, or at least do not forbid in our moral code. As against this, some Indian customs are considered by us to be i

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Ojibwa’s Story

“When I was young, long ago, there were three Sioux who went into a home and assaulted a white woman, near Fort Snelling. The white woman screamed, and her husband ran up, took one of the three guns left outside the door by the Indians, shot one of the Indians, and the other two killed the white man. During this summer the soldiers tried to get the two Sioux who did this and could not find them. “About a year afterwards, while at war, I killed a Sioux myself, and about the middle of the winter w

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The Story of Mah-een-gonce

Mah-een-gonce, or Little Wolf, was a rather small Ojibwa Indian about fifty years of age. He was an inmate of the Indian boarding-house at White Earth, Minnesota, in 1909. I observed that this Indian had lost both legs at the knee, and walked about with great difficulty. On Sundays, he arrayed himself in his best garments and strapped to his knees two cork legs, on the feet of which he wore laced shoes. He managed to walk fairly well when he had on what he called his “white man’s legs”. I asked

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Unwise Purchases

The educated Indians should take a more positive stand in the matter of protecting their more unfortunate brethren. Far be it from me to cast reflections on these persons, but truth compels the statement that a number who should have been foremost in safeguarding the interests of ignorant aborigines availed themselves of close association with their fellowmen to secure property. At White Earth, of the thirty-seven men and women mentioned in the Government affidavits as securing lands, at least a

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Lake Mohonk Conference, Wednesday evening, October 14, 1914

“Immediately subsequent to the removal of the restrictions act of 1908 a veritable Saturnalia of deed-taking from the unrestricted allottees was carried on by the hungry land-buyers, white, red, and black. The man who has secured a prior deed from the now unrestricted allottee had the best chance to secure a new one, and he did so in thousands of cases. Many such had been secured by Senator Owen of Oklahoma, or by his agents for him. There are today pending in these bills 154 so-called cases aga

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CHAPTER XXXIX. GENERAL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS

There are some general observations which I desire to make prior to my conclusions. Any one of these might be expanded into an entire chapter, but since that is impracticable, it is necessary in the following pages to refer to a number of subjects both related and unrelated. An illuminating comment as to affairs on the Great Plains between 1850 and 1880 is found in the Mormon records of their great migration from the East to Salt Lake City. There is no authentic narrative indicating a serious cl

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Two Plans for Indian Administration Reform

On page 26 I have referred to the great and efficient machinery of the United States Indian Office. This tremendous institution is composed of many and complicated parts, and they run smoothly. Frequently certain parts are replaced. But is this great machine operated in the best interests of the Indian and of the public? The brain responsible for the guidance, or management of this plant, and the officers in charge of its various Departments desire to produce a finished product of real value to

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