1858 Delegations

  

President in 1858:  James Buchanan

Commissioners of Indian Affairs in 1858: Charles E. Mix, James W. Denver

 

Jan. 1, 1858:  Alexandria Gazette:  [unid.]

            [Taken from the Washington Star, which article not yet found]

            A "Reception of Natives["]

            At noon to-day the delegation from Indian tribes, numbering with their attendants--agents, interpreters and half breeds-- perhaps 50 persons in all, visited the President at the Executive Mansion and were severally introduced to him.  We hear that they came away highly delighted with the dignity and frank cordiality of their reception by the Great Father of this great nation.--Wash. Star

 

Jan. 1, 1858:  Alexandria Gazette:  [Dakota:  Yankton]

            [Taken from the Washington Star, which article not yet found]

            More Indians.

            The Indian Bureau have advices that within a day or two there will arrive still another delegation of the red men of our western forests and prairies--Yancton-Sioux, eighteen in number including two half breeds and their interpreters.  Their arrival will make quite an army of real "native Americans" among us at this time.  As they will probably be quartered with the others at the hotel of our estimable neighbor, Mrs. Maher, a visit there will amply repay the stranger curious in the habits and characteristics of the real sons of the soil.---Wash. Star

 

Jan. 1, 1858:  Sun [Baltimore]:  [unid.]

            This morning the various Indian delegations, with their interpreters, agents, and other attendants--some fifty persons in all--made a formal visit to the President.  Each of the 'sons of the forest' was introduced to him, and on retiring expressed the high gratification they had experienced.

 

Jan. 2, 1858:  Sun [Baltimore]:  [Pawnee]

            [Reprint of Dec. 31, 1857 Daily Union article]

 

Jan. 6, 1858:  Evening Star:  [general/mixed]

            What the Indians Did at the Smithsonian.

            On Monday morning, about twenty of the Indian chiefs and warriors now in the city visited the Smithsonian Institution, and were conducted through the various departments, where they evinced their surprise and delight after their wild fashion.  In the picture gallery (Stanley's Indian paintings,) they were particularly interested by the representation of a war dance around two objectives--a woman and child.  They were much disappointed at not finding portraits of any of their own tribe in the gallery.

            In the apparatus room, a number of them were induced to join hands, and a severe galvanic shock was given them.  Some of them gave vent to the significant "Ugh," indicating their surprise, and turned fiercely about to discover the person they supposed had struck them; others rubbed their arms and elbows, and, from the general talk in their own language, one would suppose they had entered upon a scientific discussion of the nature of the singular manifestation.

            Afterwards several of them, took shocks singly, and it was curious to witness the grim determination with which these stoics of the wilderness undertook to assume that air of impassiveness which tradition asserts they maintain when undergoing torture as captives.  But it was no go; they had to knuckle to science, and, as one after the other of the astonished braves was doubled up, tumbled upon his knees, and knocked into a heap generally by the powerful battery, he was saluted by most uproarious jeers and laughter by his fellows.

            Some of the party mounted the high north tower of the Institute; but when at the top only one of them could be prevailed upon to approach the edge and look down the dizzy height--most of them squatting down as soon as they reached the summit.

            One of them was observed placing small pieces of tobacco on the parapet.  The interpreter explained that this was intended as an offering to the Great Spirit, as the Indians believed that at this height they were nearer the Deity than they had ever been before, and accordingly improved the opportunity to pay their worship.

            On descending the Indians had a grand war dance with singing, in the lecture room, and shortly after concluded this visit, most interesting to both the Indians and the "pale faces" present.

 

Jan. 6, 1858: Evening Star: [Wyandot]

            Another Indian Council.--This morning, the Wyandotte (civilized) Indian delegation, now in this city, had a protracted council with the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, on various topics touching the interests of their tribe under the charge of the Bureau.

 

Jan. 6, 1858: Washington Union; [mixed] 

            The Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs desires us to request the keepers of hotels and restaurants not to furnish the Indians now in this city with liquor.  The reasons for this request will readily suggest themselves to all thinking minds.

 

Jan. 7, 1858:  Washington Union; [mixed]

            The Indians now in the metropolis are indefatigable in "sight-seeing," and have visited most of the public buildings in a body.  At the Smithsonian Institution, (we learn from the Star, [Jan. 6]) they were conducted through the various apartments, and frequently evinced their delight after their wild fashion:

            In the picture gallery, (Stanley's Indian paintings,) they were particularly interested by the representation of a war dance around two captives--a woman and child.  They were much disappointed at not finding portraits of any of their own tribes in the gallery.

            In the apparatus-room a number of them were induced to join hands, and a severe galvanic shock was given them.  Some of them gave vent to the significant "Ugh," indicating their surprise, and turned fiercely about to discover the person they supposed had struck them; others rubbed their arms and elbows, and from the general talk in their own language, one would suppose they had entered upon a scientific discussion of the nature of the singular manifestation.

            Afterwards several of them took shocks singly, and it was curious to witness the grim determination with which these stoics of the wilderness undertook to assume that air of impassiveness which tradition asserts they maintain when undergoing torture as captives.  But it was no go; they had to knuckle to science, and, as one after the other of the astonished braves was doubled up, tumbled upon his knees, and knocked into a heap generally by the powerful battery, he was saluted by most uproarious jeers and laughter by his fellows.

            Some of the party mounted the high north tower of the Institute but when at the top only one of them could be prevailed upon to approach the edge and look down the dizzy height--most of them squatting down as soon as they reached the summit.

            One of them was observed placing small pieces of tobacco on the parapet.  The interpreter explained that this was intended as an offering to the Great Spirit, and the Indians believed that at this height they were nearer the Deity than they had ever been before, and accordingly improved the opportunity to pay their worship.

            On descending, the Indians had a grand war dance, with singing, int he lecture-room, and shortly after concluded their visit, most interesting to both the Indians and the "pale faces" present.

 

Jan. 7, 1858:   Alexandria Gazette:  [Wyandot]

            [Copy of Jan. 6 Star article]

 

Jan. 7, 1858:  Sun [Baltimore]:  [Wyandot]

            The Wyandotte Indian delegation this morning held a council with the acting commissioner of Indian affairs on various matters of interest to their tribe.

            Thirty-seven highly distinguished citizens addressed a letter to Chas. Mackay, Esq., soliciting him to prolong his stay and deliver his two remaining lectures on poetry and song.  Mr. Mackay* responds that other engagements permit him from complying with their request to the full extent, but will remain in the city until Saturday evening and deliver one other lecture on the "Popular Songs of England," in obedience to their requisition.

[*Charles Mackay was a reporter for the Illustrated London News, who collected photographs of some of the delegates which were published in the ILN and Ballous.  See below for more information]

 

Jan. 11, 1858:  Evening Star: [Dakota, Pawnee]

            An Indian "Talk."--The Indian tribes, the Pawnees and Sioux, have long been on unfriendly terms, and some most sanguinary engagements have taken place between them.  Delegations from each of these tribes are now in Washington on business with Government, and they have been adverse to meeting amicably, though several attempts have been made to that end.  Yesterday, however, the Sioux went to the quarters of the Pawnees, and they met for a friendly talk.  One of the Sioux, addressing the council, said that at the request of their Great Father, the President, they had come to offer the Pawnees the hand of friendship, set the right hand, for good terms with them here, and though the chiefs here could not be responsible for what was done during their absence from home, still they would have a talk when they returned, and hoped that peace would result, and the hatchet be laid aside.

            Another of the Sioux said he had a nephew killed by the Pawnees.  That nephew had gone to war without his consent and contrary to orders.  If the warrior who killed him was present, he would not only forgive him, but take him to his bosom as his own nephew.

            The peace pipe was passed around, whiffs were taken with gravity becoming the occasion, and they sat together for some time, apparently on the most kindly terms, detailing to each other the fights in which they had been engaged, even relating incidents connected with their mutual combats.

            After the talk was over the Sioux, at the invitation of Mrs. Maher, the kind landlady of the Pawnees, partook of a dinner provided for them.

 

Jan. 15, 1858:  Evening Star: [Dakota, Pawnee, Ponca, Pottawatomi, Winnebago]

            The Indians at the Arsenal and Navy Yard. -- The visiting Indians started from Maher's hotel at 10 o'clock this morning, on a visit, per invitation, to the Arsenal and Navy Yard.  They were conveyed in four or five large omnibuses, a mode of traveling that seemed to suite them amazingly, and they went off in high glee, singing Indian songs, and evincing their delight in various ways.  The party included delegations from the Sioux, Pawnees, Pottawottamies, Poncas and Winnebagoes.  They were received at the Arsenal by Major Bell, with a detachment of men from the yard.  A numerous company of ladies and gentlemen, including Cabinet Ministers, members of the Diplomatic Corps, were present.  The visiting party and spectators proceeded to the lawn, where they were treated to an exhibition of target-firing.  The Indians were delighted with the firing, and whenever the target in the river was struck there was a general chorus of "Ughs!" and other notes of admiration and surprise.  They were then shown the artillery, and from thence conducted to the Armory, and the long line of gun racks seemed to have especial fascination for the braves.  Afterwards they were ranged in a circle in the open air, and each of the Chiefs was presented with a gun by Gov. Floyd, Secretary of War.  The party then proceeded on their visit to the Navy Yard.

 

Jan. 15, 1858:  Baltimore Weekly Argus:  [mixed]

            GET COPY

            Indians visit Washington arsenal, US armory, Greenleaf point & navy yard.

 

Jan. 23, 1858: Washington Union: [mixed]

            The Indians now on a visit here continue to attract attention, and have recently been invited to attend several public halls.  They gaze with stoic indifference upon the gaily-dressed fashionables, and probably will carry back to their forest homes many curious stories of what they saw at the metropolis.

 

Jan. 27, 1858:  Evening Star: [general/mixed]

            The Indians.--We learn that the several delegations of Indians now on a visit to this city, proceeded to to [sic] the Navy Yard this morning, for the purpose of examining the remarkable (sic) features of that locality, and partaking of a .....  They are accompanied by Mr. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and several other gentlemen.  On to-morrow evening, the delegations will be present at the lecture of Mr. Copway, at Philharmonic Hall, where seats will be allotted them on the stand.

 

Jan. 28, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [unid.; Chippewa]

            A Lecture on the duty of the American People to the remains of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country will be delivered this evening, at half-past seven o'clock, at Philharmonic Hall, by an educated Indian, Mr. George Copway.  All the Indian delegations now in the city will be present.

 

Jan. 28, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [general, mixed]

            The Visit of the Indians now in the city to the Navy Yard yesterday drew a great concourse of citizens to that quarter. After being taken through the Navy Yard and shown the great guns, stores of ammunition, workshops, &c. &c., they were conducted to the Marine Barracks.  The marines were then paraded in the barrack-yard and passed through an unusual round of evolutions and exercises, with excellent firing in line, platoon, hollow square, oblong, &c. &c.  After this a portion of the Indians went through the Indian war dance, but not with the full spirit of some former occasions.  They were accompanied by Mr. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and other officers of the Bureau.

 

Jan. 28, 1858:  Evening Star: [Chippewa; unid.]

            To-night the lecture by Copway, the Indian Chief, at Philharmonic Hall, where the audience will have an opportunity to see representations (sic) from the dozen or so delegations of visiting Indians now in Washington.

 

Jan. 28, 1858:  Washington Union: [Dakota, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi, Sac & Fox] 

            Review and War Dance--Yesterday was a gala-day at the marine barracks in this city, where a spectacle of double interest was witnessed by a large concourse of Indians and gentlemen.  It has been the object of Mr. Mix, the experienced Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to show the numerous representatives of the Indians now on a visit to their "Great Father" every object of interest, especially those calculated to impress them with the power of the "pale faces."  The presence of a large number of marines at the headquarters of that force enabled their commander to exhibit the perfection of disciplined troops, and the officers availed themselves of the opportunity to invite a large number of friends to witness the interesting display.

            The Indians left their quarters at Mrs. Maher's hotel about ten o'clock, filling several omnibuses.  They were in full costume, "painted and plumed for battle array," several carrying their spears and tomahawks.  Stopping at the gate of the navy-yard, they were received in due form, and were escorted through the various mechanical departments.  The forging-shop and steam saw-mill seemed to attract their especial attention, eliciting "ughs" of satisfaction, but no marks of astonishment.  They also secured various souvenirs, such as Mini-bullets, strips of rolled copper and bits of brass sire, which they will doubtless exhibit in forest wigwams as illustrations of the wonders they will have to describe.  Some iron-boats, to be used for bell-buoys, also attracted their attention, and they seated themselves in the "big canoes" with great complacency.

            Meanwhile a large number of spectators were congregating at the barracks, where the invited guests were courteously received by Major Russel [sic], paymaster of the marines, who had seats provided for the ladies around the northern portion of the parade ground.  There was a full representation of the "beauty and the chivalry" now at the metropolis, the presence of officers of the army and navy, in uniform, with the gay toilettes of the ladies, introducing into the scene the element of richness and variety of color.  It was a spring-like day, and the bright sunshine, reflected back from bayonets, and gold lace, and rich gems, added to the coup d'oeil.

            At one o'clock the Indians came stalking in, following each other in single file--Pawnees, Poncas, Pottawatomies, Sioux, and Sacs and Foxes.  They were ranged along on one side of the parade-ground, and soon after the bugle-call gave the signal for a dress parade.  The marines paraded as a battalion of four companies under the command of Captain Henderson, aid-de-camp to the brigadier general commanding.  The companies were commanded by Lieuts. Graham, Tatnell, Fontenal, and Fendall.  There was a full band of music, with drums and fifes, and all (excepting the officers) were in full uniform, looking finely.

            It is but a few days since the men have been together, but they exhibited great proficiency in drill and manoeuvres, and they accomplished officer in command acquitted himself with his accustomed ability.  After a dress-parade and review, several battalion movements were executed with celerity and precision, followed by firing with blank cartridge, by company and by battalion.  The formation of a square was admirable, and subsequent deployments from line into column and from column into line excited a generally-expressed wish that the public may be advised when future drills are to take place.

            After the parade, the Indians were requested to entertain the ladies with a display of their saltatory [sic] skill, which they did with some reluctance, as several of them are troubled somewhat with colds and hoarseness.  They came forward, however, and squatted in a circle around one of their number who had been furnished with a drum, upon which he began to beat in a monotonous manner.  Soon one struck up a chant, in which others gradually joined, and then--one by one--they sprang up, and commenced their fantastic war-dance.  Such a shaking of scalps, such a brandishing of tomahawks, such uncouth attitudes, and such an eccentricity of movement as was promiscuously indulged in, cannot be so described as to be comprehended by those who have never witnessed one of these displays.  At times they would rest, and, squatting in a circle, favor the audience with vocal music of a most unearthly description.

            At the conclusion of the dance the Indians were taken into the mess-room of the marines, where a repast was provided for them, and the officers of the station entertained their guests with a handsome and bountiful collation at their quarters.  The Indians, before their departure, expressed through their interpreters their delight at what they had witnessed.  It was evident that they considered the imposing martial display, with the accompanying band, the ne plus ultra of civilization.  The officers of the Marine corps are entitled to high credit for their courtesy and hospitality.

 

Jan. 28, 1858:  Washington Union:  [Chippewa; unid./mixed]

            George Copway, renowned as an Indian chief who has attained a high degree of civilization, and is now devoting himself to the improvement of his people, will lecture this evening at Philharmonic Hall.  He will appear in full Indian costume, and the Indian delegations now in the metropolis will be on the platform with him, forming an interesting group.  Mr. Copway has the reputation of being an eloquent speaker, and we doubt not but that he will have a large audience.

 

 Jan. 29, 1858:  Evening Star:           [general/mixed; [Chippewa] ]

            Lecture by Mr. George Copway.--There was a full audience at Philharmonic hall last evening to listen to the discourse of Mr. Copway, the educated Indian.  The several delegations of Indians at present in the city, were on the stand with the speaker, and were objects of no little curiosity.  The lecture itself was full of interest, especially to those of the audience acquainted with the general history of North American Indians.  The intention of the lecturer was, apparently to awaken a desire in the minds of his hearers to attempt the civilization and preservation of his red brethren in a more effectual manner than has yet been adopted.

            He spoke of the hostilities between the two races, and urged that his race should not be so deeply censured on this account, as the antagonism arouse more by reason of the white man's cupidity, than from any savage principle inherent in the Indians.  To prove this, he urged that when the whites first came hither from Europe, they received kindness and hospitality at the hands of the red men.  More than this, when different nations of whites have gone to war for the supremacy in this Western world, they have each made use of the Indians as their auxiliaries.

            For the decline of the Indians he accounted by the introduction among them of deadly weapons by their engaging in the wars of the whites, with each other, by strange diseases, such as the smallpox &c.  One great reason why it has been found impossible to civilize the Indians, he said, was because of their being so frequently removed from one district or reservation to another.

            In conclusion, he suggested a plan for the civilization and christianization of the remaining tribes, by centralizing them in one reservation, where they should be permitted to remain, and where the transition from the savage state should be gradual, and with a view to their physical comfort.  By this means they would require fewer teachers, and could be governed by suitable laws.  Their children could be sent, to school, and ultimately they would become useful and good citizens.

 

Feb. 3, 1858:   Evening Star:  [Pawnee]

            Indians. -- At eleven o'clock this morning the various delegations of Indians paid a visit to the Mount Vernon cane factory, on the invitation of the proprietor, Mr. Crutchett.

            The Pawnees while waiting at the Exchange Hotel for another delegation, were interested by the appearance of Smith, the poor crippled German, who lives by peddling matches, blacking, &c., on the street.  Through their interpreter they inquired of Smith how he became so crippled, and he told them that his father and mother died when he was young, and he was treated badly.  They asked him how many children he had?  "Ah!" said Smith, "I got no wife yet."  He told the interpreter that he ought to preach to the Indians, and asked if they ever prayed.  "No," replied the interpreter, "they don't pray, but they often smoke a pipe to the Great Spirit."  "Poor fellows!" ejaculated Smith, as he hobbled away whistling cheerfully, and apparently happier then many a richer man.

 

Feb. 3, 1858:  Evening Star:  [general/mixed]

            Turtle Club Indian Society,--We learn that the various Indian delegations now in this city partook of a sumptuous entertainment last evening at a saloon on Four-and-a-half street, a few doors north of Pennsylvania avenue.  The entertainment was given by the above-named association for the purpose of creating a unity of action and reeling among the several delegations.  Speeches were made by Mr. McConnell, Fifth Auditor; Mr. Wall, of St. Louis; and Messrs. Conway, Defoir, Peters and Tessoun, Indians.  The affair passed off very pleasantly.

 

Feb. 5, 1858:  Alexandria Gazette:  [unid.]

            There are now some ten or eleven separate Indian delegations at Washington, on business with the government.

 

Feb. 13, 1858:  The Illustrated London News.  [Includes two line drawings from photographs,

            plus two of entire delegation being presented to the President. See Ballou Dec. 4 for

            images and further info. on original photos.  The Pawnee included Scalla-la-nar-sharo,

            "Only Chief"; and Qu-u-aek, "Buffalo Bull."  Mackay dispatched these photos to London

            along with his written report.  They were reproduced as steel engravings under heading

            "Transatlantic Sketches--Interview of Indians with the 'Great Father'."  Although both

            stories share the same title, the wording is different.]

            Transatlantic Sketches.--Interview of Indians with the 'Great Father.'

                                                            Washington, Jan. 14

            I was present a few days ago at a great ceremonial interview between the President of the United States and delegations from three tribes of Indians--the Poncas, the Pawnees, and the Pottowattamies.  Each delegation was totally unconnected with the other; and the Pawnees and Poncas were ancient and hereditary foes; but being in the presence of their "Great Father," as they term the President, they looked upon each other with as much polite unconcern as the same number of civilized "swells," not formally introduced, might have displayed at a fashionable assembly in London or Paris.   They did not appear to think of each other, but of their "Great Father," the splendour of his mansion, and the business which had brought some of them two thousand miles from their wildernesses to the head-quarters of American civilisation.   The interview was highly picturesque; and, although in some respects it might seem to the careless observer to partake of the ludicrous, its predominant character was that of pathos, if not of solemnity.  On one side was Civilisation, represented by the venerable and urbane President, "with his head as white as snow," and surrounded by his Secretaries and chiefs of departments, by the beauty and fashion of Washington, by senators and members of the House of Representatives, and by the Ministers of Foreign Powers.  On the other side was Barbarism, represented by the hostile tribes, in their wild and striking costume--their red and blue blankets wrapped closely around them; their long, straight, black locks stuck full of eagle plumes, bound together by uncouth head-gear of all shapes and colours and modes of manufacture; their ears overladen with ponderous rings; their necks adorned with necklaces of bears' claws, artistically wrought together; their breasts and shoulders with the scalps which they had taken from their enemies; their hands grasping the spear, the tomahawk, and the warclub; and their faces, and sometimes their hair, daubed over with masses of red, blue, green, and yellow paint, disposed in fantastic forms and patterns, in accordance with the rules of the only heraldry--for such it is--to which they are accustomed, and as much subject to law and ordinance of hereditary descent as the heraldry of the griffins, boars' heads, lions rampant and couchant, bloody hands, and other insignia of the Heralds' Colleges of Europe.

            The interview took place by appointment in the great or each room of the presidential mansion.  By eleven o'clock a considerable number of spectators had assembled, and at half-past eleven the Indians made their appearance, each delegation being accompanied by its interpreter  The Pawnees, sixteen in number, were first in the order of entrance,--a fine body of men, some of them naked to the waise, and some wearing buffalo robes or blankets, and all of them adorned with the full paraphernalia of paint and feathers which the red men like to display on great and solumn occasions.  They were preceded by a little white lady of twelve or thirteen years of age, the daughter of an American gentleman, who had charge of the delegation on behalf of the Government.  The Indians had adopted this little girl as the daughter of their tribe.  A sort of fille du regiment, she seemed quite proud of her position as the pet of the savages, and accompanied them as part of the show in all their public appearances.  Man remarks were made by the white spectators on the theatrical nature or bad taste of this display--not on the part of the Indians, but on that of the living parents of this child.  Had she been a foundling of the forest, the case would have had its noble and touching aspects; but at her age, with a living father able to take care of her, the propriety of this companionship was held to be more than questionable.  Next to the Pawnees followed the Poncas, six in number similarly accoutred and bedizened,--fine, stalwart, but melancholy men, with a dignity impressed on their features and gleaming from their eyes, which even the grotesque eccentricities of red and blue paint were unable to impair.  These, also, were accompanied by an interpreter--a border trader, of European blood, who had picked up their language in a long career of commercial intercourse, perhaps in the exchange of firewater for the spoils of the chase, or in other bargains as little to the advantage of the simple red men.  Last of all came the Pottowattamies, nine in number, dressed in shabby European costume.  This tribe claims to be wholly or half-civilised; but they seem to have received nothing from civilisation but its vices and defects, and to have lost the manly bearing, the stoical dignity, and the serene self-possession, as well as the costume and habits, of other Indian tribes.  They afforded a very marked contrast with the Pawnees and Poncas.  They had an air of cunning, servility, and meanness on every lineament of their countenances and motion of their bodies, as well defined and unmistakable as the seedy shabbiness and awkwardness of their costume.  A little red and blue paint would have added a positive grace to their sallow, baboon-like faces; would have made them look real instead of unreal; and shown them to be the savages which they actually were.  These poor Pottowattamies were somewhat out of favour.  They had a special grievance and wrong to detail to the President; but, having chosen to come to Washington without the permission of the official agent charged with the administration of Indian affairs, they were there at their own cost and risk.  Not so the Pawnees and Poncas, who had been specially invited by the proper authorities, and whose expenses were paid by the Government from the day they had left their own hunting-grounds, and would be paid back to their own homes in the same way, after they had seen all the sights and partaken of all the gaieties of the capital.

            At twelve o'clock precisely the President entered the east room, and took his position in the centre of a square, of which the Indians formed three sides and the spectators the fourth.  The Indians, who till this time had been silent and wondering spectators of the rich carpet, the curtained windows, and gilded cornices of the reception-room--no doubt the most magnificent specimens of the white man's wealth, power, and ingenuity which their eyes had till that moment beheld--turned their looks to the President, but made no motion or gesture, and uttered no sound, expressive either of their curiosity or the respect which they evidently felt.  The President's head leans slightly on his shoulder, and this little defect, added to his kindliness of expression and his venerable white hair, gives him the appearance of still greater beniguity [sic],--and as if he were bending his head purposely to listen to the complaints, the requests, or the felicitations of those who have occasion to address him.  The four chiefs of the Pawnees and the twelve men of the tribe were severally introduced to the President, who cordially shook hands with them, looking all the time as if he really felt that paternal interest in their character which his position commanded, but which he was not able to express to them in their own language.  On one Indian of this tribe, a short but well-formed man, about fifty years of age, and deeply pitted with the smallpox, and who wore human scalps after fhe fashion of epaulets, besides a whole breastplate of such ghastly adornments, and held in his hand a war-club thickly studded with brass nails, and who was introduced by the interpreter as the bravest of his people--"le plus brave des braves,: the Marshal Ney of his race--who had taken more scalps than any living Indian whom he knew, the President seemed to look with more than common interest.  The eyes of all present were directed towards this redoubtable chief; but there was nothing forbidding, nothing ferocious, in his appearance.  His face and bearing expressed stoical endurance and resolute self-reliance, but neither cruelty nor cunning.  The Poncas and their chief went through the same ceremony, and met with the same reception; and even the unbidden Pottowattamies were welcomed by their "Great Father" as kindly as if they had been regularly invited to his presence, Mr. Buchanan all the while wearing that good-humoured smile which seems natural to him.  It was obvious that he was quite as much interested in his red children as they were in their white father,--as none could help being who was a witness of the scene.

            The presentations over, the President made a short speech, welcoming the Indians to Washington, expressing his readiness to hear whatever they might have to say, and to redress any real grievances of which they might have to complain, if they came within the scope of the Government to redress, and were not solely due to their own faults and mismanagement.  This being three times translated by the three several interpreters--for no one of the tribes understood the language of the other--each tribe signified its approval:  the Poncas by an emphatic guttural sound, not unlike the peculiar "Oich! Oich!" of the Highlanders of Scotland; the Pawnees by the exclamation of "Lowar!" and the Pottowattamies by a short "Ugh! Ugh!"

            And now began the speech-making in reply to the President's invitation.  The four chiefs of the Pawnees, one chief of the Poncas, and one of the Pottowattamies expressed, one after the other, the object of their journey to Washington.  The Pawnees had come to ratify a treaty already made with the Government to see their "Great Father," to learn from him how to grow rich like white men and no longer to be "poor;"  the Poncas had come to make a treaty for the sale of their lands in Nebraska, to look with their own eyes upon their "Great Father," whom they judged by the splendour around him to be rich, and to be visibly favoured by the "Great Spirit;" and the Pottowattamies to request that an allowance, paid to them semi-annually by treaty, should be paid annually, to save trouble.  All the spokesmen dwelt upon their poverty and wretchedness.  Some of them held up their arms and exposed their bosoms, to show that they were naked.  They wanted to be taught how to be rich; to earn, like the white man, the favour of the Great Spirit, and no longer to be poor.  Poverty--extreme poverty--was the key-note of their lamentations, the mournful burden of their whole song.  "We are," said one of them, looking right into the eye of the President and approaching so near that his breath much have felt warm on Mr. Buchanan's cheek as he spoke, the children of the Great Spirit as much as you are.  We have travelled a long distance to see you.  At first we travelled slowly.  At every place we stopped we expected to find you.  We inquired of the people, and they told us you were a long way off.  We have found you at last, and we are glad.  We see by these things (pointing to the gilded walls, to the carpets, and the curtains) that you are rich.  We were rich in the days that are past.  We were once the favourites of the Great Spirit.  The very ground on which we now stand (and he stamped significantly with his feet upon the carpet as he spoke) once belonged to our fathers.  Now we are poor--we are very poor.  We have nothing to shelter us from the cold.  We are driven from our posssession [sc]s; and we are hungry.  We have come to you to help us.  The great Spirit, through the mouth of thee 'Great Father,' will speak to us, and tell us what we are to do.  Let us be rich, like the white men, and be poor no longer."

            Such was their melancholy and invariable supplication.  At every repetition of the word "poor"--when translated in the hardest, coldest, baldest manner by the interpreters--there was a laugh among a portion of the white spectators, who should have known better--a laugh that to be seemed grievously out of place, and which somewhat perplexed the poor Indians, as was evident by the surprise expressed upon their faces.  To them their poverty was no laughing matter.  They had come to Washington purposely to speak of it.  In their simplicity of heart, they believed that the President had it in his power to remove it, and they had lost faith in their own customs, manners, and mode of life, to keep them on a level with the white men; and why should they be laughted at?  The President gave them excellent advice.  He told them that they always would be poor as long as they subsisted by the chose; that the way to be wealthy was to imitate the industry of the white men--to plough the land to learn the arts of the blacksmith, the carpenter, the builder, and the miller; and, above all things, to cease their constant wars upon each other.  "I learn," he added, "that the Pawnees and Poncas now present are deadly enemies.  It is my wish, that of the Great Spirit who implanted it in my breast, that they should be enemies no more; that, in my presence, they should shake hands in token of peace and friendship."  This was explained to them be the interpreters.  The enemies made no sign of assent or dissent, beyond the usual guttural expression of their satisfaction.  "I wish, said the President," to join your hands together, and that the peace between you should be perpetual."  The chiefs of the hostile tribes advanced, and shook hands, first with the President, and then with each other.  One man only gave the left hand to his former enemy, but this was explained by the interpreter, who stated that the right hand was withheld by the Pawnee because it had slain the brother of the Ponca; but that the new friendship between the two would be equally as sacred as if the right had affirmed it.  "Will they keep the peace?" inquired a gentleman of the President.  "I firmly believe they will," replied Mr. Buchanan.  "A peace ratified in the presence of the 'Great Father' is more than usually sacred."  And in this opinion he was corroborated by each of the three interpreters.

            And so ended the ceremony.  I have seen much of the Indians during my stay in Washington--seen them at the theatre, looking intently and inquiringly at the pirouettes of Signora Teresa Rolla, a celebrated danseuse, how here--seen them at their home in the hotel where they are now staying where they pass their time in card-playing and smoking--and seen them at the Arsenal, receiving from the hands of General Floyd, the Secretary at War, the rifles and the muskets which are given to them as presents by the Government before they return to the wilderness, and been one ach occasion very much impressed with the native dignity and intelligence of these poor people.  But their doom is fixed.  Between them and the whites there is no possible fraternisation [sic].  The white men, who act as the pioneers of civilisation and push their way into the far wilderness, are ruder, rougher, and more ferocious than the Indians.  Between them there is constant animosity; and the red men, being the weaker of the two, stand no chance with their white assailants, who shoot them ruthlessly down for small offences, punish slight robbery with death, and bring whisky and rum to the service of destruction when readier means are found to be unattainable.  Only 314,622 red men, about half the number of the population of Philadelphia, remain in the territories of the United States; and these are rapidly diminishing from smallpox, internecine war, and the rifles and the whisky-bottles of the whites;--

            Slowly and sadly as they climb the western mountains,

               And read their doom in the departing sun.

    In Mexico and in South America they still thrive, or increase, and amalgamate and intermarry with the European races; but in the United states and Canada, wheree the Anglo-Saxon race predominates, they will be a few years disappear altogether from the land which was once their own and leave no trace behind them but the names of a few rivers and mountains, and here and there of a State that takes an Indian appellation in default of an Anglo-Saxon one--such as Minnesota, now claiming admission in the Union, and Wisconsin and Michigan, already admitted.  Their fate is inevitable, but is none the less sad.  The ancient Britons survive in their progeny; but the aborigines of North America are dying out, and their blood will form no portion of that great Republic which is so rapidly rising to overshadow the world.   C.M. [Charles Mackay]

            [The article contains four line drawings.  The captions are:

1.  "The President of the United States Inducing the Hostile Tribes of the Pawnees and Poncas to Shake Hands." P. 156

2.  "The Pawnee Chief, Scalla-la-na-Sharo, or 'Only Chief.'  From A Photograph" p. 157

3.  "The Pawnee Warrior, Qu-u-ark, or 'Buffalo Bull.'  From A Photograph"  p. 157

4.  "Presentation of Pawnees, Poncas, and Pottowattamies to the President of the United States, at the White House, Washington."  P.157

 

Feb. 20, 1858: Washington News: [Mixed]

            GET COPY - sev stories [HJV partial ms. Copies in Gen. 1858 file]

 

Feb. 26, 1858:  Washington Union:  [Pawnee]

            The Pawnee Indians now stopping at Mrs. Maher's appeared inspired by the spring-like weather yesterday afternoon, as they came out on the front porch and indulged in a famous war song.  It was composed last summer (as we learned from one of the braves through an interpreter,) when Colonel Sumner went to fight the horse thieves.  Quite a crowd of passers-by were attracted by the discordant sounds, and the urchins present understood and enjoyed the chant as well perhaps as some of our fashionables will enjoy and understand the Italian opera week after next.

 

March 1, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [Dakota, Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi,

                                                                        Winnebago]

            The Indians at Washington.  Correspondence of the Baltimore Argus.

            Messrs. Editors:  With the consent of C.E. Mix, Esq., Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, I send you the following description of the doings of the red men who are now on a visit to this city, at the Washington arsenal.  Your readers will find it full of interest.  It is from the pen of John Dowling, Esq. of the Indian Bureau.

            At 9 o'clock, the 15th of January, 1858, Mr. Mix, the Acting Commissioner of Indians Affairs, accompanied by Superintendent Cullen, of St. Paul, (M.T.) by the agents of the Pawnees, Poncas, Dacotah-Sioux, and the Pottawatomies of the Prairie, and a few other friends, took the delegates of those tribes now visiting this city and Battica Lasallier, a Winnebago Chief, to visit the United States armory at Greenleaf's Point and the Navy Yard; and as the forty-two or forty-three of those sons of the forest proceeded down Pennsylvania avenue and along 4 1/2 street, in omnibuses, their gay and variegated dresses, and their songs of joy in the language of their respective tribes, attracted much attention, and drew crowds of curious spectators to see them during a brief stop opposite the National Hotel.

            Soon after they had arrived within the arsenal enclosure the cortege was joined by the Secretaries of the Interior and War, several members of their families, besides other distinguished gentlemen belonging to the civil and military branches of the Government.  After spending some time in the quarters of Major Bell, the commandant, the Indians were conducted, in single file, in the rear of several pieces of brass ordinance, and there, surrounded by crowds of spectators, they witnessed, for upwards of an hour, volley after volley of shell shot fired across the Potomac, unmoved by noise or concussion, but apparently perfectly enraptured when, at the distance of half or quarter of a mile, they witnessed the effects, as one after another each shell exploded, rippling the face of the water, and sending up a dense cloud of smoke to mark the spot where it fell.

            In every instance they seemed to comment among one another upon the wonderful ingenuity of the pale faces in divising such an instrument of destruction, and the folly of making war upon a people so favored by the Great Spirit was understood to be an object of remark, and indelibly impressed upon all.

            After this exhibition they were taken to the armory, where they were marched around the various stacks of muskets with bayonets attached, amounting to the aggregate to tens of thousands; and as they walked around these forests of fire-arms they appeared, from their expressions, to be lost in wonder at the sight.  They gave vent to their excited feelings at every step, and seemed to think that there was in that single building a gun to arm every pale-faced warrior in the land.

            Being, of course, accustomed to this description of arms, their number astonished them more than the performance of the "Big Guns" which first attracted their attentions.  They were more portable, and they hence seemed to think were more practical and useful.  The neatness and brightness of the muskets, and the regularity and order in which they were placed upon the respective stands (the pieces being close together, and yet none seemed to touch,) excited their special wonder, and gave rise to constant manifestations of their surprise and admiration.

            After having satisfied their curiosity in reference to this branch of their visit, the Secretary of War made known his intention of presenting each chief with a rifle, and each brave and warrior with a shot-gun.  The delegates having been assembled in an open space north of the Armory, he addressed the chief of each tribe in succession, in explanation of the motives which governed him in making the proposed gifts. Secretary Floyd said he was very glad to see them there, and that, as a token of his confidence in their future good conduct and present peaceable intentions towards their white neighbors, he, as the chief who had charge of the guns and ordnance which they had that day seen, presented, in the name of their Great Father the President, a rifle to each chief and a gun to each warrior and brave then present; and he admonished them to so conduct themselves as to show that they were worthy of these tokens of confidence and regard.

            The delegates appeared to be much delighted with the gift, and many of them shook hands with and expressed their thanks to the Secretary.

            This ceremony being ended, the Indians and their agents, with Commissioner Mix and the distinguished company of ladies and gentlemen, were invited to the hospitable quarters of Major Bell, where a substantial dinner was prepared for the Indians in one room and a splendid repast and refreshments in the other for the numerous guests.  Every one seemed to enjoy himself amid the flow of hilarity and good humor which gave zest to the good things set before them; and about two o'clock, to gratify the wishes of the ladies, the Indians and the company adjourned to the South Arsenal buildings to witness the novely [sic] of an Indian war dance.

            The building was commodious and large and well adapted to the occasion.  The ladies and gentlemen seated round the room, and a drum being procured the Pawnees opened the dance.  After conversing or attuning their voices a short time together, they commenced singing louder and louder and by fits and starts; sometimes one and then two or three would jump up together, until at length the whole delegation "had taken the floor" as they say in Congress.  Then came the tug of war between the rival candidates for popular applause.  A Virginia hoe-down is no where in comparison.  Most of them dance as if they had the lumbago, which caused their heads and bodies to project forward, and in fact their lower extremities, with the exception of a slight motion of the hand in which they held their tomahawks, seemed at the commencement to do all the work.  Each performer commenced by chanting his low guttural and monotonous song, while his feet beat with great force upon the floor a response to the refrain as it acquired volume and strength from the excitement of the occasion.  Carusi doubtless understands "the poetry of motion" much better; but, in the energy with which they put down their licks, and their complete accord with the vocalization which produced them, no professor of the dancing art, indigenous or exotic, could surpass their performances.  Besides, they were, according to "Smutty Bear," cribbed and cabined in by the great difference in taste which unfortunately existed between themselves and the ladies who honored them by their presence; and in deference to the "etiquette of Washington" the performers were compelled to hamper themselves by their garments, which in the prairie saloons of the Indians is entirely inadmissible in an excited state of the dance, when the warrior, tomahawk flourishing in the air, gives a mimic representation of the strife and heat of battle.  No Indian is considered as "dressed" when the culminating point of the dance is reached, unless he has disencumbered himself of every article of drapery except the feathers and scalps on his head and neck and the "figleaf" in front.  Every step he takes in advance of that denouement is but a mere preparation for that high development of strength and intrepidty in the death struggle of war which is the crowning effort of an Indian war dancer.  It is then the Pawnee, dressed like a Georgia major in a dickey and pair of spurs, brandishes his tomahawk in the air, in unison with the accelerated motion of his feet, resulting from the shedding of every article of clothing which could impede or retard his agility.  Though much pleased with the ladies, they felt that on such an occasion their absence would have improved the force and quality of their performances.

            It is a well-known fact that no females were ever permitted to be present at the performances of the Olympian Games among the Greeks, and perhaps for the same reasons that made their presence on this occasion, circumscribe the exuberance of Pawnee dancing ability.  They were informed that, owing to the difference in taste, they must, in deference to the white ladies present, keep on their toggery, and hence it is they did not give a specimen of the highest perfection of their art.  Success at the Olympian Games was considered by the ancients as assimilating the victors with the gods; and among the Pawnees and other tribes strong and energetic dancing is almost as great a passport to popular favor as the taking of numerous scalps in time of war.  No wonder, then, they felt hampered at not being permitted on the occasion to dance themselves "out of their clothes."

            Battice Lasallier, the Winnebago Chief, acted a good deal like the Yankee during the Revolution, who belonged to no particular company, but "fought on his own hook."  Being the only delegate from his tribe, he pitched in occasionally during the performance of the Pawnees and their successors in the dance.  The occasional fits of dancing which he thus volunteered served as a sort of interlude between the more serious parts, and gave variety to the scene, and caused considerable laughter, as his lofty plume waved and his tall form moved through the mazes of the dance.  The beautiful red plume he wore was a present from Miss W----, of Baltimore; and being mounted in a military hat given him by Major Lewis, it added much to the prestige of his appearance.

            The Poncas and Sioux, being few in numbers, and speaking nearly the same language, joined their forces together and succeeded the Pawnees in the dance.  They commenced by sitting in a ring on the floor, and having chanted in a monotonous tone, after the manner of the Shaking Quakers, a low guttural song, gently moving their hands and waving their bodies to and fro, they jumped on the floor one after another like their predecessors, and acquitted themselves in a manner which reflected much credit on their energy and skill in the dance.  As, however, their motions and manner of dancing did not differ materially from the Pawnees, it is unnecessary to occupy space with a more particular description.

            Having now got through with the sights at the Arsenal, the Indians, accompanied by Commissioner Mix and other gentlemen accompanying the delegations, proceeded to the Navy Yard; but the rain which prevailed during the fore part of the day in a slight mist increased before the Indians had got through with the ceremonies at the Arsenal, and permited their reaching that place at as early an hour as was expected.  Gen. Henderson, who had prepared for their reception by the Marines, supposing from this that the idea of visiting the yard had been relinquished, dismissed the men under his command before the arrival of the Indians.  Commissioner Mix, however, determined as they were out to proceed to the Navy Yard, where Commodore Lavalette gave orders for their reception, and that gentleman and Capt. Dahlgren and the other officers attached to the yard and the Plymouth did every thing in their power to interest those sons of the forest by exhibiting to them the wonders and curiosities of the "Big Canoe."  The great gun, invented by Capt. Dahlgren, weighing upwards of 16,000 lbs., was a sight that gave them intense pleasure; and its performances, under the direction of skillful officers, in hitting repeatedly a target in the river a mile distant, threw the chiefs into ecstasies of wonder and delight.

            They watched every shot from the deck or through the portholes, and upon discovering  the unerring precision with which they passed through the target, and in one instance carrying part of it away, they seemed to think that nothing was impossible to the pale faces, and nothing could resist their power when aroused to arms either in attack or defense. One of the chiefs, in reply to some remarks of Capt. Dahlgren, admonishing himself and his tribe to cultivate the arts of peace, to quite the practice of war, to cultivate the earth for support, remarked that when he returned to his village he would tell the young men to bore their ears and listen to advice, and never again to think of making war upon the whites, for, they being evidently the favorites of the Great Spirit, nothing could resist them.  He also remarked that his own eyes were opened since he left home, and he would advise his people to live hereafter in peace with their Great Father and his children.  The manner in which the marines on board the Plymouth handled and limbered the gun, notwithstanding its great weight, also surprised and gave them much pleasure.

            It now being late, the Indians and their friends took their leave of Capt. Dahlgren, who, before parting, gave a book on gunnery to Baptiste Lessallier, and handsome engravings of the Plymouth to several of the chiefs, by way of a token of friendship and regard.  Agent Robertson and others explained to the Indians that the Plymouth, however, formidable in appearance to them, was one among the smallest of the war-canoes owned by their Great Father, the President, and that they had that day only seen a very small portion of the implements of war for land and sea services, owned by the great chief of the whites.

            Thus ended one day's sightseeing by the Indian delegates now in Washington; and there can be no doubt the events of the day will be long impressed upon their memories, and may show them (what nothing but ocular demonstration could do) the resources of the United States, and cause them long to hesitate before hereafter they provoke a war with our Government.

 

[March 12, 1858:  Treaty signed in Washington, D. C. with the Ponca]

 

March 15, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [Dakota]

            Arrival of a Sioux Delegation.--On Saturday evening there arrived from Northern Minnesota twenty six fine stalwart Indians of the Santee band of the great Dacotah or Sioux Nation, who inhabit about the headwaters of the Minnesota river.  They are come to treat for a cession of lands.  All along the route they excited great interest and attention, crowds having collected at the different relays and stopping-places to see them.  The whole party are quartered at Mrs. Maher's Union Hotel.

 

March 15, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Santee; Ponca, Pottawatomi, Sac & Fox]

            The Indians.--We understand that some of the Indian visitors, who have been objects of curiosity to our citizens and strangers stopping here, have returned to their Western homes.  The Pottowottamie delegation left on last Friday evening.  They were followed on Sunday evening by the Poncahs, and the Sacs and Foxes will leave this evening.  To make amends for their withdrawal from our population, however, a delegation of twenty-six Sioux arrived on Saturday evening, and the Pawnee and Yankton delegations still remain.  The Sioux are from northern Minnesota, and belong to the Santee band.  They have come to treat for a cession of lands.  All along the route they excited great interest and attention, crowds having collected at the different stopping places to see them.  The whole party are quartered at Mrs. Maher's Union Hotel.

 

March 15, 1858: Daily National Intelligencer:  [Dakota: Santee]

            Arrival of a Sioux Delegation.  On Saturday Evening there arrived from northern Minnesota 26 fine stalwart Indians of the Santee band of the great Dacotah or Sioux nation who occupy land around the head-waters of the Minnesota river.  They are come to treat for a cession of lands.  All along the route they excited great interest and attention, crowds having collected at the different relays and stopping places to see them.  The whole party are quartered at Mrs. Mahers Union Hotel.

 

March 17, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [DAKOTA: Santee]

            The Delegation from the Santee band of the Sioux nation paid their introductory visit to the acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs on Monday.  A second interview, when the business purposes of their mission will be opened, will take place in a day or two.

 

March 20, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota]  

            The Indians at the Penitentiary.--Yesterday, a portion of the Sioux delegation, desiring to see how "bad men" were treated by their white brethren, were conducted to the United States Penitentiary and shown the prisoners at work.  When told that the prisoners were kept within the walls hard at work for years without pay, they signified, by a variety of guttural exclamations, their notion of the severity of the punishment; but they were apparently impressed with horror on seeing an unruly convict confined in a dark, narrow cell.  This seemed to the red men the most frightful punishment conceivable; and such it no doubt would be to the native of the forest.

 

March 21, 1858: Washington Union: [Dakota]

            GET COPY

 

March 22, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota]

            The Indians.--The delegation of Sioux Indians, now visiting in this city, paid their respects to the Secretary of the Interior on Saturday.  The conference was mutually agreeable, and assurances of continued friendship were interchanged.  The Superintendent, Col. Cullom; Agent, Maj. Brown; and Interpreter, Joseph Campbell, under whose charge the delegation came to the city, were also present at the interview.  This delegation comprises several of those Indians who followed and punished the hostile Yanktons and Cut Heads, after the latter had committed the horrible massacre at Spirit Lake, Minnesota, last spring.  Our readers will remember that the perpetrators of that inhuman affair carried off several prisoners, among whom was Col. Cullom; and, also, that Little Crow, a Sioux Chief, and Joseph Campbell, the U. S. interpreter, immediately raised a force of one hundred and twenty-five braves from the Sissitones, Wahpatones, Medowacantones, and Watacontahs, and went in pursuit of the murderers.  On overtaking them they killed four, took three prisoners, and rescued Col. C. and his companions.  In this delegation, besides Little Crow, Good Road, a chief, and Iron Elk and Red Owl, warriors, with several others whose names we did not hear, were pointed out as having acted a conspicuous part in that expedition.  Two of the delegation, named Paul, or Ma-sa Ku-te-mai-ni, and Beautiful Voice, or Ho ton-wax-te, were designated as having risked their lives during the progress of the massacre at Spirit, and rescued Miss Gardiner and another lady from the savage fury of the hostile marauders.  All the tribes named above are represented in this delegation.

 

March 22, 1858:  Sun [Baltimore]:  [Dakota:  Santee; Dakota: unid.]

            The Secretary of the Interior yesterday had a visit from the delegations of Indians of the E'Santee [sic], Sioux of Minnesota or Sioux tribes of Mississippi, and representing about 6,500 souls.  The entire strength of the Sioux nation is 23,000.  There were twenty-six visitors, all in full costume, and bearing pipes, war clubs and tomahawks.  Eight of these stalwart red men were chiefs, and introduced as Wabashaw, La-watte-dutah, Wam-di-tunka or Black Dog; Shakopee or Six; Makate or Blue Earth; Hus-hasha or Red legs; Woh-kooth or the Shooter, and Wash-ir-pi-ya-ye-han or the Passing Seed.  The remainder were introduced as braves with names as interesting as the former.  Two of this company were over seventy years of age.  Secretary Thompson received the sons of the forest, shaking each by the hand and expressing his gratification at their total abstinence from the use of fire water.  He assured them that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs would attend to their wants as soon as he became acquainted with them.

 

March 27, 1858: Weekly Star: [Dakota]

            GET COPY

 

March 30, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [Pawnee]

            DEATHS.  In this city, on the 29th instant, TUCK-A-LIX-TAH, or "The man that has many horses;" son of Cha-hicks-siaca nasharo, or "The white man chief" who was noted as a brave of the Pawnee tribe of Indians."

            The deceased was with a number of his tribe in this city, upon business with the Government, in charge of Major W.W. Dennison.  The acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, with his characteristic kindness, directed every attention to his comfort during his illness.

            His remains will be interred in the Congressional Cemetery.  They will be taken from the hotel of Mr. Maher to-day at 12 o'clock.

 

March 30, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Pawnee]

            Death Of An Indian.--One of the Pawnee delegation of Indians, now in this city on a business errand, died yesterday at Mrs. Maher's hotel, where he had been lying ill for several days past.  He had received every attention from Mr. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and from Maj. Dennison, who had charge of the delegation.  The name of the deceased was Tuck-a-lix-tah, owner of many horses.

            As we go to press the very long and striking funeral procession of the deceased Indian is passing down the Avenue, on its way to the Congressional Cemetery.  The religious services at the house were performed by the Rev. John C. Smith of the 9th street Presbyterian Church.

 

March 31, 1858:  Washington Union:  [Dakota:  Mdewakanton, Wahpeton, Wahpekute,

                                                                                 Sisseton]

            Visit to the Arsenal.

            On Monday morning Vice Admiral Mohammed Pacha and suite, of the Turkish navy, visited the Washington Arsenal, by invitation of the Secretary of War, who accompanied them.  The party were received by Major Bell, commandant of the arsenal, and a salute was fired from the field battery.  The Secretary then escorted his distinguished guests around the arsenal, visiting the different workshops and depositories of arms, and explaining, (through an interpreter) whatever was novel and curious.  The Turkish officers examined every thing with apparent interest, and seemed especially pleased with the friction primers used for the discharge of cannon.

            By the time the Secretary and his party had "gone the grand rounds" of the arsenal he had in his suite Generals Jesup and Harney, Surgeon General Lawson, Colonels Cooper, Totten, Craig, and Larned, Col. Johnson, of the 1st dragoons, and a large number of other officers, in full or undress uniform.  With the Pacha's suite were Mr. J. Hosford Smith, Ottoman Counsul at New York, and Mr. Oscanyan, the interpreter.  The Turkish officers wore their magnificent uniforms, the collars, cuffs, and seams of which are covered with heavy gold embroidery and various "decorations" of honor.  Their sword belts and straps were of gold webbing, and they wore on their heads the scarlet felt fez or scull-cap, with a small gold circular plate on the top, and a pendant silken tassel.  One of them, Major Hassam Bey, speaks English with fluency, having served for some years in the British navy.

            Having visited the principal objects of interest, the Secretary escorted his guests to the eastern quay, where the pa...tees of the various fire-arms now being tested or re..ted on had been invited to display their weapons.  The Sharpe, the Colt, the Morse, and the Burnside rifles had been brought there, and they were duly tested, with more or less success.  Among those who shot at the target was Major McCullough, the celebrated, "Texas ranger" in the Mexican campaign.

            While the party was watching the shooting a large band of Indians appeared on the scene, having been also invited by the Secretary of War, who wished to give his visitors from the Bosphorus an opportunity to see the aboriginal inhabitants of the Yenia Dunia, or New World.  They were "annuity Sioux," belonging to the Med-a-way-kan-to-ans, the Wah-pa-en-tis, the Sis-se-tons, and the Wah-pt-tons, now here with Gen. W. J. Cullen, Superintendant of Indian Affairs.  Hon. Chas. E. Mix, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, directed their movements.

            The Secretary and his guests, with an array of ladies, took a position in front of the Commandant's quarters, in a grove on the bank of the Potomac, where a circle was formed by the ordinance soldiers.  Into this came the Indians, singing a war-song, and they seated themselves on the ground in a circle, presenting a most picturesque appearance.  Three of their number then commenced beating monotonously on drums, and singing an equally monotonous chant, varied by occasional cries from the others.  At last one old fellow jumped up and began dancing, or rather jumping, and soon the entire party (except the drummers) were joining in the war dance, brandishing their pipes and tomahawks and giving the war-whoop.

            After the dancing, and at the request of a lady whose wishes are laws to all who know her, "Little Crow" made a speech which Gen. Cullen translated.  He described the successful pursuit of the band under Ink-pa-du-tah, which last year killed forty-eight whites and took four ladies prisoners.  At first the Sioux refused to go in pursuit, but after the arrival of Major Sherman and his battery a party of one hundred and twenty-five started, led by himself and Interpreter Campbell, (who was present).  They killed eleven, and two ladies were rescued.  Among the Indians present were two who had brought in one of these ladies--Miss Gardner.  "Little Crow" delivered this narrative harangue with expressive gesticulation, and there was much regret that his own language was not understood.

            The two Indians who had rescued Miss Gardner were requested by the ladies to stand forward, and were applauded for their heroism.  Gen. Cullen then graphically described a scene prior to the departure of "Little Crow's" war party, when some twenty-five hundred warriors, armed and painted for war, surrounded the camp.  One soldier was stabbed by them, and Gen. Cullen wished to testify, before the Secretary of War and the officers present, to the coolness and the prudence of Major Sherman, which permited a massacre which must have resulted in a general Indian war.

            Major Bell afterwards invited those present to partake of a collation at his quarters, where the Indians were also entertained.  The Turkish officers expressed themselves highly pleased with what they had witnessed.

 

March 31, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Pawnee]

            Funeral of Tuck-A-Lix-Tah-- Yesterday, the funeral of Tuck-a-lix-tah, (the owner of many horses,) a promising brave of the Pawnees, who died, after a long illness, at Mrs. Maher's hotel, took place at one o'clock, p.m.  The coffin of fine mahogany was made by Mr. A. Boohly [?], undertaker, under whose management the funeral was placed.

            The body was placed in the coffin and beautifully decorated with flowers.  From an early hour until one o'clock, the house was crowded with visitors, who desired to see the corpse before it was interred.  Upon the arrival of the Rev. J. C. Smith, the minister selected for the occasion, the ceremony began with a short prayer.  After which Nasharo-lad-u-ho-he, (Big Chief) of the Teppah band of Pawnees, delivered a short address expressive of their affliction from the death of the young brave.  The coffin was placed in the hearse, and the Pawnees followed as mourners in coaches; after them the Siouxs and delegations of other tribes then came a long line of carriages containing ladies and gentlemen, who were invited to attend the funeral.

            Upon arriving at the Congressional cemetery, the procession was formed, headed by several citizens acting as pall-bearers, who bore the corpse to the grave; then followed the minister; Mr. Mix, Acting commissioner of Indian Affairs; Major Dennison, agent of the Pawnees; Mr. Allix, interpreter of the Pawnees; Rev. Mr. Williamson, as interpreter of the Sioux; then the Pawnees, Sioux and other delegations in line.  After the coffin was deposited in the grave, the tomahawk, war club, moccasins, and trinkets of the deceased were put in, and over all his buffalo robe.  Again the Rev. Mr. Smith addressed the throne of grace with a short prayer that the death of the stranger might open to the hearts of his brethren a way for the Holy Spirit which should result in their eternal good.  The prayer being concluded, Le-itz-a-nasharo (Sword Chief,) of the Loup band of Pawnees, spoke as follows:

            "I feel very poor now that my young man has died.  It makes me feel as if the Great Spirit is not pleased with us, but He has done it, and we are satisfied.  The Great Spirit has taken him.  We feel satisfied, too, with our Great Father, now that he has done all this for him, and buried our young brave like one of his own great chiefs; and we feel glad that all these white men and women are our friends, and feel so much for the poor Indian.  When we go back, our people will not understand this mysterious act of the Great Spirit.  But we are very tired now; we want to go home and tell our people that the Great Spirit took him; that while he came to do good business for them, he died, and he sleeps in our Great Father's burying ground.  We hope our Great Father will settle our business and let us go to our villages.  We will feel poor when we think that we have left our young man behind us; but, on our return, other scenes may make us forget this mourning."

            Rev. Mr. Smith here made some remarks expressive of sympathy for the Indians in the loss of their brave; and was followed by Mr. Mix; Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who said:

            "I wish to impress upon their minds that the death of their brave was the act of the Great Spirit, and it should make them better Indians, as it shows his great power.  The burying of their brave, and the sympathy of our people, and the kindness of their Great Father, I hope will induce them when in their villages to treat our people, men, women and children, kindly.  The Pawnees are a brave people, and the Great Father will set a mark on their grave, so that if any of their braves ever come here and wish to see the spot where the young brave sleeps they can find it."

            The remarks were interpreted by Mr. Allis, the worthy interpreter of the Pawnees, in whom they have great confidence, he having gone among them in 1833 as an assistant missionary, and lived among them till about four years ago, when he removed to Iowa.

            Rev. Mr. Williamson, who interpreted to the Sioux, in an Indian missionary.

            We are informed that the deceased requested Major Dennison, two days before his death, to have his grave dug and prepared for him immediately.

 

March 31, 1858: Washington Union: [Pawnee]

            Burial of an Indian--Tuck-a-lix-tah, or "The Owner of Many Horses," one of the delegation of Pawnees now in this city on official business, died on Monday at Mrs. Maher's Union Hotel.  He came there afflicted with a severe cold, and although every attention has been paid him by his kind hostess, he has gradually grown worse and worse, until his recovery was hopeless.  The Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs had the best medical attendance provided for him, but the poor fellow had little faith in the medicine of the white man because it did not cure him instantly.  Shortly before his death he expressed a regret that he could not have fallen in battle, and hoped that his Great Father (the government) would give his brother a horse as a memento of him.  He had his pipe, tomahawk, and jewelry placed in a box, and desired that they might be buried with him.  The remainder of the Pawnee delegation, especially a nephew of the deceased, appeared greatly afflicted at his death.

            The funeral took place yesterday morning.  The corpse was neatly dressed in a citizen's black suit, and laid on a new blanket in a handsome mahogany coffin, in which were strewed natural flowers from the public green-house.  After a few remarks at the hotel by the Rev. John C Smith, of the Ninth Street Presbyterian church, the coffin was placed in a hearse, and a long procession was formed, including twenty-seven carriages.  The acting-Commissioner of Indian Affair, several clerks of the Indian Bureau, the agents and interpreters, and the Indians now here followed the corpse to its last resting place, in the Congressional Burial Ground.

            After the coffin had been deposited in the grave, the Rev. Mr. Smith offered an impressive prayer, which was followed by a brief eulogy from "Loup," chief of the Pawnees now here, and a few appropriate remarks by Acting Commissioner Mix.  The interpreter then placed on the coffin the box containing the personal decorations of the deceased, with his club and tomahawk, and covered the whole with his buffalo robe.  The grace was then filled, and the large concourse of spectators dispersed.

 

April 1, 1858:  Alexandria Gazette:  [Pawnee; unid.]

            [References source as the Union]

            Burial of an Indian.

            Tuck-a-lix-tah, or 'The owner of Many Horses," one of the delegation of Pawnees now in this city on official business, died on Monday [March 29] at Mrs. Maher's Union Hotel.  He came there afflicted with a severe cold, and although every attention has been paid him by his kind hostess, he has gradually grown worse and worse, until his recovery was hopeless.  The Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs had the best medical attendance provided for him, but the poor fellow had little faith in the medicine of the white man because it did not cure him instantly.  Shortly before his death he expressed a regret that he could not have fallen in battle, and hoped that his Great Father (the government) would give his brother a horse as a memento of him.  He had his pipe, tomahawk, and jewelry placed in a box, and desired that they might be buried with him.  The remainder of the Pawnee delegation, especially a nephew of the deceased, appeared greatly afflicted at his death.

            The funeral took place yesterday morning.  The corpse was neatly dressed in a citizen's black suite, and laid on a new blanket in a handsome mahogany coffin in which were strewed natural flowers from the public green-house.  After a few remarks at the hotel by the Rev. John C. Smith, of the Ninth Street Presbyterian church, the coffin was placed in a hearse, and a long procession was formed, including twenty-seven carriages.--The Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, several clerks of the Indian Bureau, the agents and interpreters, and the Indians now here, followed the corpse to its last resting place, in the Congressional Burial Ground.

            After the coffin had been deposited in the grave, the Rev. Mr. Smith offered an impressive prayer, which was followed by a brief eulogy from "Loup," chief of the Pawnees now here, and a few appropriate remarks by Acting Commissioner Mix.  The interpreter then placed on the coffin the box containing the personal decorations of the deceased, with the club and tomahawk, and covered the whole with his buffalo robe.--The grave was then filled and the large concourse of spectators dispersed. --Union

 

April 3, 1858: Weekly/Evening? Star: [Pawnee]

            GET COPY - perhaps several stories?

            Funeral of Pawnee

..... Prayer said by Le-itz-a-nasharo (Sword Chief) of Loup band of Pawnee:

            " I feel very sorry now that my young man has died.  It makes me feel as if the Great Spirit is not pleased with us but He has done it, and we are satisfied.  The Great spirit has taken him.  We feel satisfied, too, with our Great Father, now that he has done all this for him, and buried our young brave like one of his own great chiefs; and we feel glad that all these white men and women are our friends, and feel so much for the poor Indian.  When we go back, our people will not understand this mysterious art of the Great Spirit.  But we are very tired now; we want to go home and tell our people that the Great Spirit took him; that while he came to do good business for them, he died, and he sleeps in our Great Father's burying ground."

 

April 7, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Pawnee; Dakota: Yankton; & unid.]

            The Indians.--A large delegation of our Indian visitors--the Pawnees--left the city this morning, for their homes, under charge of the Government agent, Maj. Dennison.  They will soon be followed by the delegation of Yanktons, a division of the Sioux nation, and also by others now in the city.  The Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr. Mix, has been assiduous in his efforts to dispatch the business which has called hither these several delegations; and we learn that he had protracted conferences with the Pawnees on Saturday night and last night, and with the Yanktons on Monday night.  The latter delegation were also present at the business conference this morning.

            The commissioner deprecates the complaints of a few of our citizens against the presence of these delegations, and calls attention to the fact that unless induced to become intoxicated by thoughtless white persons, they have behaved with remarkable propriety.  Their curiosity and unsophisticated ideas tend at times to make them somewhat indiscreet, but this he contends should not be urged as a ground of complaint.  Their kindness towards each other of different tribes, and towards all with whom they have been brought into contact, he deems especially praiseworthy.  It affords truly a most humiliating contrast with the outrageous proceedings of the civilized savages in our midst, who have such incomparably superior advantages over the "red men of the forest."

 

April 7, 1858:  Alexandria Gazette:  [Pawnee]

            [Reprint of April 7, Evening Star]

 

April 8, 1858: Washington Union: [Pawnee]

            GET COPY

 

April 8, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [Pawnee]

            The delegation of Pawnee Indians, who have been in the city for several weeks past, having had their treaty ratified by the Senate, and concluded all their business with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, left in a body yesterday morning for their homes in the prairies of the great Northwest.

 

April 12, 1858:  New York Times:  [Pawnee]

            Fifteen Pawnee warriors, who have been staying at the Astor House [New York] for some time past, in charge of Major Wm. N. Dennison, Indian Agent, danced in semi-nude costume for the edification of some two hundred persons, boarders at the house and invited guests, who assembled at the hotel to witness their performances, Saturday evening.  The Indians visited Niblo's Theatre Friday night.  They have ridden through the principal streets of the City in some of Adams & Co.'s Express wagons.  They leave this morning, via the Erie Railroad, for their homes in Nebraska.  They have ceded to the Government 12,000,000 acres of land, reserving for themselves only 12,000 acres, and are to receive in return an annuity of $40,000 for five years.

 

April 14, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer  [Pawnee]

            News from New York:

            Fifteen Pawnees, in charge of Major W. W. Dennison, United States Indian Agent, who have been several days in the city, gave a war-dance at the Astor on Saturday night.  They were painted and in full costume.  They left for the West this morning.  By the treaty stipulations the Indians of the Pawnee nation will receive $40,000 annually for five years and $30,000 per year thereafter.  Their children are to receive instruction in industrial schools, and the adults to be furnished with agricultural implements and the weapons employed in Christian warfare.

 

April 16, 1858:  Richmond Whig:  [Pawnee]

            [References source as the New York Express]

            A Pawnee War Dance at the Astor House [New York].--As our readers probably know, there have been for several days past a large delegation of Pawnee Indian Chiefs stopping at the Astor House, on their way home from Washington, where they have been to pay their respects to the "Great Father," from whom they received numerous tokens of kind affection and regard.  There were altogether fifteen of these children of the forest at the hotel under charge of Major Dennison, U.S.A., with a Mr. Allison as interpreter.  For the past day or two, eager throngs have congregated on Broadway, in sight of the rooms, where the chiefs sat by the open windows, gazing at the many wonders of what they are said to term "the city of the Great Spirit."  All the members of the party are large and well proportioned fellows, and nearly all are quite young,--though a couple are well advanced in years.  They have attracted much attention, and been the recipients of calls from many distinguished persons during their short stay in the city.

            On Saturday night, [April 10]something seldom witnessed in the city took place at the Astor House--nothing less than a war dance, in which all the Indians participated.  The large dining hall was thrown open for the accommodation of all those guests of the house who wished to witness the novel performance, and it hardly need be said that all the space allotted for spectators was filled,--the ladies vieing [sic] with the gentleman in their eagerness to be present.  After preliminaries had been arranged, the Indians marched in in single file, and a fashionably short delay having passed, the war dance was commenced.  They chiefly were all dressed in savage-costume, and were painted to their eyes, some of them wearing huge earrings and leather head dresses, as well as other ornaments, which gave them a remarkably picturesque appearance.  Each grasped, as though frenzied with delight, a barbarous tomahawk, the sight of which made may a fair lady tremble and shudder at the recollection of what befel [sc] Jane McCrea, as the thought would occur of how very disagreeable it would be if the Indians should take a notion to emulate that performance, for variety's sake, in the city of New York.

            But such feelings were groundless, for the poor Indians appeared to be quite as much pleased at astonishing a civilized audience as though they really were taking scalps, or indulging in their favorite pastime of making prisoners run the gauntlet.  Their dance might be called a sort of medley, which would tax all the ingenuity of a French dancing master to accomplish, or a French feuilletonist to describe.  But they danced away, seemingly strangers to fatigue, for some half an hour, when nature gave way and compelled them to retire.  During the dance their horrid yells resounded through the house, bringing up at one time a whole squad of Metropolitans, who supposed, it is fair to presume, that a regular night attack had been made upon the guests, and that a second Schenectady massacre had taken place.  With such a prospect the gallant fellows were not over anxious to enter, but, when assured of the utter falsity of their conception, they were not backward in making part of the audience to notice the performance.  It was about ten oclock when the Indians retired.--N.Y. Express

 

April 17, 1858:  Unid. paper -- CHECK Leslie's, London:  [Pawnee, Ponca, Potawatomi]

            Delegation of Chiefs From the Poncah Tribe of Nebraska Indians.

            There were in Washington, a short time since, three delegations [of] Indians--one from the Pawnees, one from the Pottowattamies, and one from the Poncahs, a tribe of Nebraska Indians.  Each delegation was totally unconnected with the other.  The Pawnees and Poncahs are ancient and hereditary enemies, but while in Washington they eyed each other with as much polite unconcern as the same number of civilized "swells" would accidentally meeting [sic] at a fashionable assembly.  Their appearance in the streets of the national metropolis and in these of our own city was picturesque, and suggested novel speculation.  On one side was civilization, represented by the passing, busy, thoughtful crowd; on the other side was barbarism, displayed in its grandest form, in the persons of hostile tribes decked out in their wild and striking costumes--their red and blue blankets wrapped closely around them; their long straight black locks stuck full of eagle plumes, board together by uncouth headgear of all shapes, colors and modes of manufacture; their ears over laden with ponderous rings' their necks adorned with necklaces of bears claws, artistically wrought together; their breasts and shoulders slashed with the scalps which they had taken from their enemies; their hands grasping the spear, tomahawk and the war club; and their faces, and sometimes their hair, daubed over with masses of red, blue, green and yellow paint, disposed in fantastic forms and patterns in accordance with the rules of the only heraldry--such as it is--to which they are accustomed, and which amongst them is as much subject to law and ordinance of hereditary descent as the heraldry of griffins, boars' heads, lions rampant and bloody hands so common in the coat of arms shops in Europe, and, we blush to say, not totally unknown in Republican America.

            The Poncah chiefs were five in number, fierce, stalwart, but melancholy-looking men, with natural dignity impressed upon their features and glancing from their eyes, which even the grotesque eccentricities of their dress and paint could not obliterate.  These men were accompanied by an able interpreter--a border trader of white blood, who had in a long career of commercial intercourse picked-up their language, so that he could act as a medium of word communication [sic] between them and their white friends.

 

April 17, 1858:  The Washington Union:  [Dakota]

            The Indians who have been here during the present session (some sixty, if we mistake not) have all sat for their photographs at McClees at No. 308 Pennsylvania Avenue, who has thus collected a curious gallery of portraits.  "Little Crow" had his portrait taken yesterday and after it had been "touched up" with the colors with which he was decked he expressed himself satisfied.  That photograph will probably be one of the most prized wonders of civilization which he will carry back to his "lodge" and will serve as a text for many a narrative of his winter in Washington."

 

[April 19, 1858:  Treaty signed in Washington, D. C. with the Yankton Dakota]

 

May 27, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota]

            The Indians.--Expecting to take their departure for home, in a short time, the Sioux appear to have grown happy; and the sound of their drum is frequently heard in the neighborhood of Maher's Hotel.  They will be detained but a few days to complete their business, when they will depart for their homes in Minnesota.

 

May 27, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [Dakota]

            [References the States newspaper]

            Novelty At Arlington.--The delegation of Sioux Indians will have a picnic at Arlington Springs on Friday, the 28th instant, at which time they intend to enjoy themselves in the peculiar customs of their nation.  The sports will occupy a considerable portion of the day.  The ladies and gentlemen of the District and surrounding country will have an opportunity of witnessing those wild and interesting sports of the Sioux warriors, without other expense than the transportation to and from the springs.  Boats will leave 14th street bridge every hour.  Fare each way ten cents.  The rules for preservation of order will be strictly enforced.--States

 

May 28, 1858:  Washington Union:  [Dakota]

            The Sioux now here have followed the example of the delegations which preceded them in the winter, and have sat for their photographs at the establishment of McClees, 308 Pennsylvania avenue, where that expert artist, Mr. Vannerson, has collected a large portfolio of these curious Indian portraits, which he proposes to publish.

 

May 28, 1858:  Alexandria Gazette:  [Dakota]

            The delegation of Sioux Indians will have a pic-nic at Arlington Springs, to-day, the 28th inst., at which time they intend to enjoy themselves in the peculiar customs of their nation.  The war dance, scalp dance, and other of their favorite sports, will occupy a considerable portion of the day.

 

May 29, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota]

            The Sioux at Arlington.--Yesterday the Sioux made a visit to Arlington Spring, the well known and popular resort of the District and Alexandria during the dull summer months.  It having been made public that they were to visit Arlington, a numerous body of citizens and strangers, probably six hundred, assembled at the pavilion to witness the sports of the red men.  The day was passed merrily, the Sioux enjoying themselves after their own fashion, much to the gratification of those who desired to witness the dances and hear the songs of the wild warriors.

            The place has been handsomely fitted up, and everything done to give satisfaction to the patron of Arlington, and the result was that good order was maintained during the entire day; and at a proper time the guests departed with a shout indicative of their pleasant associations that had been connected with their visit, and in compliment to the proprietors of the pavilion, whose hospitalities they had enjoyed.

 

May 29, 1858:  Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion:  [Dakota:  Yankton]

            [Includes lines drawing of Smutty Bear based on photograph taken by Vannerson / McClees, in Washington, D.C. during the visit of the delegation.  The original glass plate negative is in the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, which shows it was the source of this image, although reversed.  Ballou's incorrectly credits Masury, a Boston photographer.]

            Smutty Bear, a Chief of the Sioux.

            The accompanying portrait of an Indian chief of distinction, who lately paid a visit to president Buchannan, was drawn expressly for our paper from an excellent photography by Mr. S. Masury.  The original, "Smutty Bear" (neither a very poetical nor euphonious appellation, b the way), is a chief of the Lower Yankton Sioux Indians, about fifty-six years of age, and enjoys a high reputation as a warrior and huntsman.  He is also known as a steadfast and devoted friend of the whites; and while at Washington, declared that neither himself, nor any of his braves, had ever shed the blood of a pale-faced brother.  It is rarely that we at the Eat have an opportunity of seeing a vigorous, fine specimen of the Indian race.  The Indians of the East were never comparable to those of the west in stature and beauty; and the few we occasionally meet with are "fallen from their high estate."  The Indian who peddles baskets and moccasins, and who shoots at a mark for the lowest current coin of the country, is no more to be compared to the Indian of the prairie, whose vigorous arm sends an arrow through an through a buffalo, than one of the "Borneo children" is to the Apollo Belvidere.  To know the Indian as he is, he should be seen on the hunting trail, or the war-path, in all the glory of his war-paint and plumes, and inspired with the ardor of the battle and the chase.  Some twenty years ago, however, our citizens had a fair opportunity of judging of the Indian rave during the visit of a deputations of Sauks and Foxes to Boston.  There were some fine-looking men, who realized the description of poets and romancers.  The rapid fading away of the red race from the continent they once occupied exclusively, if not a matter of serious regret, at least appeals to our sensibilities; for the Indians are at least men, and certainly possess, in spirit or natural and acquired vices, many traits which command consideration.  They are brave as steel they exhibit the same fortitude under cruel suffering which distinguished the christian martyrs; an eloquence embodying the essentials of true poetry; a sagacity which shames the cultivated instincts of civilized men.  On the other hand, they are cruel, sensual, proud, idle, harsh in their treatment of women, and treacherous.  They readily assume the vices of civilization, and reject its teachings.  It is quite evident that it is impossible to civilize them, or at least to perpetuate and preserve them in a state of civilization.  Where the experiment has been fully and fairly tried, it has failed.  That the red race and the white cannot exist together is a fixed fact, however, unpleasant to the genial philanthropist, whose living-kindness is universal.  Of course this fact does not absolve as from the duty of continuing our efforts to ameliorate their condition, and to teach them and assist them a far as possible.  "Although the continent of America," says Edward Everett address delivered at Bloody Brook, "when discovered by the Europeans, was in the possession of the native tribes, it was obviously the purpose of Providence that it should become the abode of civilization, the arts and Christianity.  How shall these blessings be introduced?  Obviously by no other process--none other is practicable--than an emigration to the new-found continent from the civilized communities of Europe.  This is doubly necessary, not only as being the only process adequate to produce the desired end, but in order to effect another great purpose in the order of Providence, namely, the establishment of a place of refuge for the victims of persecution, and the opening of a new field of action, where principles of liberty and improvement could be developed, without the restraints imposed on the work of reform by long established and inveterate abuses.  There was, therefore, a moral necessity that the two races should be brought into contact in the newly discovered region; the one, ignorant, weak in everything that belongs to intellectual strength, feebly redeeming the imperfection of the savage by the stern and cheerless virtues of the wilderness; the other, strong in his powerful arts, in his weapons of destruction, in his capacity of combination; strong in the intellectual and moral elevation of his character and purpose--the two thus separated by a chasm which seems all but impossible!  A fearful approach--a perilous contiguity!  But how shall it be avoided?  Shall this fair continent, adequate to the support of civilized millions, on which nature has bestowed her richest bounties, lie waste, the exclusive domain of the savage and wild beast?  If not, how shall it be settled?  The age of miracles is past; the emigrants must ne brought hither, and sustained here, by the usual motives and impulses which operate on the minds of men.  If things are left to second causes, the passion for adventure, the thirst for gold, will spur on the remorseless bands of Pizarro and Cortez.  Prospects of political aggrandizement and commercial profit must actuate the planters of Virginia.  The arm of spiritual persecution must drive out the suffering Puritan in search of a place of rest.  In correspondence with the motives which prompt the separate expeditions, or the individual leaders will be the relations established with the natives.  In Spanish America, a wild and merciless crusade will be established against them they will be hunted by the war-horse and the bloodhoud, vast multitudes will perish, the residue will be enslaved, their labor made a source of profit, and they will thereby be preserved from annihilation.  In the Anglo-Saxon settlements, treaties will be entered into, mutual rights acknowledged, the artificial relations of independent and allied states will be established, and, as the civilized race rapidly multiplies, the native tribes will recede, sink into the wilderness, and disappear.  Millions of Mexicans, escaping the sword of the conquerors, subsist in a miserable vassalage to the present day' of the tribes that inhabited new England, not an individual of unmixed blood, and speaking the language of his fathers, remains.  Was this an unavoidable consequence?  However deplorable, there is too much reason to think it was.  The Indians of our northwest occupy still a fast tract of territory as their hunting and fishing grounds, for they cannot exist by the chase without a wide range.  Yet, instead of increasing, their numbers are diminishing.  They are decimated by the fierce wars they persist in waging against each other, by the hardships of a nomadic life, by epidemic diseases, which they have no skill in combating, and by their excessive use of ardent spirits.  The game on which they subsist yearly diminishes, and they will not resort to the cultivation of the soil as a substitute.  They cannot now go farther west, for civilization meets them in a long stretch on the Pacific shore, as impassable to them as a wall of circumvallation.  They are fading away, and very soon the places that knew them shall know them no more forever.  It is the great law of nature.

 

 

[June 19, 1858:  Treaty signed in Washington, D. C. with Mdewakanton & Wahpekute Dakota]

[June 19, 1858:  Treaty signed in Washington, D. C. with the Sisseton and Wahpeton Dakota]

 

June 21, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota]

            Indian Treaties.--There have been two treaties entered into at the Indian Bureau with the delegations of Upper and Lower tribes of Sioux Indians, resident in Minnesota, which have had for their object the confining of the tribes to a portion of the extensive reservation set apart for them under the treaty of 1851.  These treaties also make provision for settling land titles, and for insuring to the Indians the usual educational and industrial advantages which have been conferred on several other tribes.

 

June 22, 1858:  Evening Star:  [Dakota]

            Treaty With The Lower Sioux Indians.--The treaty which was concluded between Commissioner Mix and the delegation of Lower Sioux Indians, now visiting this city, on Saturday evening last, confines the tribe to that portion of the lands reserved to them by the treaty of 1851, south of the Minnesota river, and divides it among the heads of families so as to allow each 80 acres, and retains the residue as the common property of the tribe.

            For the part of the reservation lying north of the river, which they relinquish to the United States, they are to receive a price hereafter to be settled upon by the Senate.  The Government allowing them at present, however, $17,000, to pay their debts and supply present necessities.  Their debts amount to about $45,000.  The treaties also provide for their complete protection from speculators, as they are not allowed to sell their lands to the whites.

            The conference was protracted until nearly 12 o'clock p.m., and part of it was a very warm debate between Little Crow and the Commissioner.  The Indians eventually signed the treaty, however, and last evening they set out for home, accompanied by Interpreter Campbell and Agent Brown.  They paid the Commissioner a farewell visit last evening.

 

June 23, 1858:  Sun [Baltimore]:  [Dakota: unid.; Dakota: Mdewakanton]

            Lo' the Poor Indian.--The fact of the presence in our midst of a number of Sioux Indians was noticed yesterday  The delegation consists of a band of twenty-seven chiefs, under the care of the agents of the government, the Messrs. Robertus, with their interpreter, Mr. N. R. Brown.  They are most of stalworth [sic] frame, averaging a little below six feet, and their dress is that in which every body has been accustomed to picture them in their native wilds.  They kept close quarters yesterday at the Howard House, and the pavement below the windows of their apartments was occupied by throngs of juveniles, who passed the tie in catching glimpses of their flaunting feathers, and executing poor imitations of the war-whoop" through their fingers.  During the morning several of the chiefs called on Mayor Swann and had a "talk" with that official concerning their grievances, and asked that a special police be detailed to protect them from the violent curiosity of the boys in their sight-seeing around the city.  The delegation includes the principal chiefs and warriors of the Minnesota bands.  Among them is Wabchas [sic], the son of a celebrated Indian chief of the same name, who long ago held sway over all the tribes of the Mississippi.  He is the head chief.  The next in importance is the Little Crow, who, being a very shrewd and eloquent man, has been the most conspicuous at Washington.  His frame as one of the leading men in the war upon the Inkpedata tribe, has spread throughout the States, and his name has often figured in the newspapers.  Some of the younger chiefs are rather handsome specimens of their race, and while in Washington no little attention was paid them by the ladies.  Among the warrior there are two who deserve well of all feeling citizens of the United States.  They were employed in company with a third Indian also with the delegation, to attempt the rescue of Miss Gardner, who had been carried off from Spirit Lake and held captive by a war-like band in the Far West.  They accomplished their errand, at the risk of their lives, and appear to derive much gratification from the opportunity thus afforded them of showing their good will towards the white children of their Great Father.  The delegation will depart in a day or two, via Lancaster, Philadelphia and new York, on their way home to the head waters of the Minnesota.

 

June 24, 1858:  Sun [Baltimore]:  [Dakota]

            The Indian Delegation.--The delegation of Minnesota Chiefs yesterday morning visited the United States receiving ship Allegheny, off Canton, and spent some time on board.  They were conveyed to and from their quarters at the Howard House in omnibuses, and the sight attracted many persons to the streets through which they passed.  Last night they attended the Holliday street theatre in their war costume, and the fact of their presence was quite a card for the management.  On Monday [June 21] several of the chiefs with their interpreter ascended the Washington Monument, and took a dignified look at the city below.

 

June 25, 1858:  Sun  [Baltimore]:  [Dakota]

            Departure of the Indian Delegation.--The delegation of twenty-seven Minnesota chiefs, sojourning at the Howard House since Monday, departed yesterday afternoon over the Northern Central Railroad for their distant homes.  During the morning the chiefs spent some time "shopping."  Their purchases consisted mostly of weapons of warfare and the chase.  At Lancaster they will be presented with a number of rifles, at the instance of the government.  The delegation also intend visiting New York and other seaboard cities.

 

July 3, 1858:  Daily National Intelligencer:  [Dakota]

            From the City of New York.       New York, July 1, 1858

            The visit of the Sioux Indian chiefs and braves, twenty-six in number, has been one of interest to themselves and to the public.  The party made an excursion on Tuesday [June 29] to Jones's wood, in several carriages, furnished by Major Tiemann.  The famous chief Little Crow is among the delegation.  He is said to be one of the most astute and able of Indians, his innate acumen rising to the dignity of statesmanship, while his energy of action makes him one of the most formidable of warriors  yesterday morning the aborigines called upon mayor Tiemann in full dress, and excited much attention in the City Hall.  During the afternoon they visited High Bridge and Stryker's Bay, and in the evening they were taken to several laces of amusement.

 

Dec. 4, 1858:  Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion:  [Pawnee]

            [Illustrated with two line drawings based on photographs by unidentified photographer (poss. McClees/Vannerson, Brady or Whitehurst).  Original salt prints made from calotype negatives, from which these line drawings were made, were collected by Charles Mackay, a reporter with the Illustrated London News.  They were used to illustrate a Feb. 13, 1858 ILN story under the same title, but not the same wording.  The original prints Mackay collected were auctioned as lot 365, sale 1893, by Swann Galleries, New York on April 5, 2001]

            Indian Warriors.

            The portraits on this page are from photographs taken in Washington of two famous Pawnees, who visited the Federal city last winter with others of their tribes on business with the government.  The Pawnee chief, Scalla-na-sharo, or "Only Chief," has much of the supercilious air of one born to hereditary command, while the brave Qu-u-aek, or "Buffalo Bull," has the unmistakable lineaments of a desperate fighting-man, the hard, harsh, cruel expression of a genuine blood-thirsty savage.  It was understood at Washington that this latter gentleman was in possession of a huge number of scalps taken on various occasions, and on which he rested his claims to be considered the "bravest of the brave."  When these and other Indian warriors and delegates were presented to President Buchanan at the White House, the scene, though not an unusual one, was very striking.  We can imagine its effect on a stranger witnessing it for the first time--this contrast between the extremes of civilization and barbarism.  On one side stood the painted and plumed and blanketed warriors, as unmoved and calm as if within some forest aisle of the far West, on the other side, the president and members of the cabinet, with ladies sprinkled about among the company.  The chiefs of the red race thus met the one white chief who represented the people who had displaced the dusky warriors, driven them from their hunting-grounds, and obtained possession of the vast territory once the undisputed heritage of the savage.  Of the Indians who visited Washington at the time these photographs were taken, sixteen were Pawnees, from whom we selected the two most striking specimens.  When officially presented, they were of course decked out with a total disregard of the expense of feathers, buffalo robes, blankets, soot, yellow ochre, vermillion, and indigo blue.  Et they were altogether a fine looking set of men.  The same remark is applicable to the Poncas.  The Pottawatomies were not so striking in appearance--claiming to be half-civilized, and having the unequal, undecided aspect of the poor copper-colored wretches we see shuffling about our railroad stations selling slippers and bead bags.  During the visit Mr. Buchanan established a treaty of peace between the Pawnees and Poncas, but it is extremely doubtful whether it will be lasting.  The bad faith of the Indians is as proverbial as the Punica fides of the Carthaginians.  Indeed, the more we are acquainted with them, the less do we see to admire in them.  Experience strips them of the fantastic attributes with which poetry and romance have clothed them, and we behold them as they are, gluttonous, selfish, sensual, fierce, filthy, cruel and cowardly.  Yes--after all that has been said of the gallantry of the red man, our Indian is a cowardly foe.  He fights in ambush--never risking his person if he can possibly help it.  In their warlike expeditions they never, if they can help it, attack a superior or an equal foe.  They must have numbers on their side before they rush into battle.  Their victories are disgraced by the foulest cruelty--they war with women and infants even.  In domestic life their treatment of the women is brutal in the extreme.  Inextinguishable laziness is their curse--and all hope of bringing them within the pale of civilization is vain.  We are sorry that our faith in Mr. cooper is shaken--sorry to have our early dya-dreams of the "noble savage" dispersed, but we must look the fact steadily in the face.  We may mourn that the original occupants of the soil are fading away from it--but we must console ourselves with the Turkish exclamation--"Kismet!"  it is fate.  The destiny of the red race is to die out before the advances of the victorious Anglo-Saxon, the master of the world.  Yet the aborigines possess may traits which commend them to the artist and literary man; while to the philologist and the ethnologist they offer many interesting problems.  As time rolls on, their history and manners, softened and enhanced by distance, will suggest many a theme for the poet and story-teller.  When the places that now know them shall know them no more forever, the local traditions of the red men will be carefully sought after and treasured up.  Here and there, on the dark record of their career, one or two men will shire forth, such as Philip of Pokanoket, as types of Indian bravery and magnanimity of character, worthy of study and challenging esteem.

 

[NOTE:  Information about the Dakota, Omaha, Ottawa, Pawnee,  Ponca, Potawatomi, Sauk & Fox, Stockbridge and Winnebago visiting a cane manufacturing company while in Washington, D.C. is recorded in the Daily National Intelligencer, Aug. 15, 1859, which see