University of Oklahoma College of Law University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 2-1-1897 Amendment to Indian appropriation bill. Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/indianserialset Part of the Indigenous, Indian, and Aboriginal Law Commons Recommended Citation S. Rep. No. 1362, 54th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1897) This Senate Report is brought to you for free and open access by University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 by an authorized administrator of University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact darinfox@ou.edu. 54TH CONGRESS, l 2d ession. S £EN ATE. { REPO!tt No.1362. AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. FEBRUARY 1, 1897.-Ordered to be printed. Mr . .ALLEN, from the Committee on Indian .Affairs, submitted the · following REPORT. [To accompany Mr. Allen's amendment to H. R. 10002.] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred tbe amend-ment inten n f 11filling he e requirem nt th yr ceived tbefr patent of cer-ifi ·, fi r th am Jm. makin g hem liorne tead and 11ot allotments. her re nly ,90 .01 acre an tt d t the Santee ioux of ebraska, 4 AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION HILL. according to Special Agent Reuben Sear's Report on Indian Census of 1890 (p. 379). . . The Flandreau Sioux Indians left the Santee Agency, Nebr., in 1869, and took up lands ·near Flan~reau, Moody County, S. Dak., under the act of Congress of May 20, 1862. . · . _ The total al~otments at this time amount to 38,908.01 acres, the rema1i:1-der having been thrown open to settlement _by white settlers, and 1s now principally occupied by them. For that portion thrown open to settlement by white settlers the Santees have received nothing. In addition to this your committee find that a very large portion of the present reservation is not tillable land. Perhaps one-half, if not more, is incapable of cultivation, owing to the fact that it is composed of Missouri River bluffs, and is intersected and cut up by deep gulches and ravines, and is adapted to sheep industry and limited cattle grazing only, and is incapable, owing to its peculiar formation, of cultivation. That portion of the lands that are not allotted to the Indians and that are thrown open to settlement by white settlers was opened by virtue of an Executive order, dated February 9, 1885. We embrace herein as a part of this report the various Executive orders and official documents: NEBRASKA, Niobrm·a Reserve. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, D. G., li'ebruary 26, 1866. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith a letter addressecl to this Depa,rtment hy tbe ommi. sion r of Indian Affairs, requesting the reservation. from pre roption or sale of townships 31 and 32 north, range 5 we t, and townships 31 and 32 north, ~·an lY . 6 w t of the prin _ipal sixth meridian, in braska T rritory, until tbe action_ of ongr b had, with a view to th s ttinrr apart of these townships as a r servat1on f~r th an tee ioux Indians now at 'ro; reek, Dakota; and recommend that yon dir t tho elands to be withdrawn from market and held in reserve for the purpo e indicated. I am, air, very r p ctfully, your obedient servant, The PRE lDENT OFT~ NITED TA.TE . JAMES HARLAN, Secretary. XRCUTIVE MA ION, Februa1·y t7, 1866. L t b land within nam be withdrawn from the market and re ·erved f< r th purp indicate • A DRE\ J TTN, ' Pr aid nt of the nited tat s. ly t') l( 7t 11 nl , 11 rth hip:•:. ' II hip AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. 5 dated, re pectively, the 7th and 13th instant, I ~~;e the hon:o'r {o recom~e~d that you order the withdrawal from sale and the settmg apa!t for ~~e use of the Santee , ioux Inrinciple that all participation in the outbreak was worthy of death, acted upon by the commission, was a very wrong one." Four hundred men were imprisoned at Mankato and later at Davenport, Iowa, for the term of four years. Under the hard treatment over 160 died at the prison, while the women and children of the prisoners were transported to various places. Oue misaionary writes the following words about them: "Starvation was followed by disease, and in the three years of their residence at 'row Creek over three hundred died. The women made themselves hewers of wood and drawers of wat r for all the white settlements in the territory. The trenches of th army and the cellars of the farmers were dug with their hands. The wood yard of the steamboat, the sawmill, the cornfield, and the kitchen were all familiar to the 'an tee women. As places for the morals of our fellow-countrymen, we may adu that to many of them the soldiers' barracks were, alas, too familiar." .,early one million and a half of their money which was intrusted to our good overnment was turned over to those who claimed loss of property. uch is the outcome of the outbreak and consequences that the 1>eople of Santees were made to suffer. But in spite of thes cruelties these poor undefeuded people b· d come out civilized Christians and law-abiding citizens in the State of Nebraska to-d y. ow, Honorable Commissioner, brief and incomplete as is the past history of those bands of dewaka.ntonwan and Wahpekute, we endea;vor to set before you the tru~ fa , nd present to you furth r fa ts cone ruing the said bands. Ever sjnce the outbr a.k these people were in their unfavorable state of affairs; they made rn,pid advan~t 00th in their civil a.nd religious condition. When they were located AMENDMENT 'l'O INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. at tbe present agency) they again took hold with their hands and hearts to comply with the wis1:tes of the Government, and to make themselves useful and live by the sw_eat of their_ brows. This they were capable of doing in a prosperous _state of thmgs and while the rain was abundant. They have done away with. rat10ns for over :fifteen years of their own accord. When the bard times and drout~ c~me they were compelled to receive aid of rations from the Government, only at limited times. And furthermore, they have not only taken bold to make a living for tb(:)mselves, but se~ ~he exam_ple of taking land in severalty under the Dawes A~t; all the beads of families and srngle young men and women, and even childreu, takmg allotment m the year 1885. But what is more noticeable in the way of setting an exa~ple, t~~re h~s been at, different times over thirty-five young Christian men wi~h then f3:milies of Santees, who went out as missionaries to the wild West reservatwns to qtnet the wild Sioux at these said reservations. This work has been successfully done, not only_ saving lives and blood and great expense to the National Gover?rneD;t, but makmg the country possible for settlement. And where you once heard wild, hideous war cries, you will hear the gospel songs peal out in love, peace, and joy. Moreover, at different times various commanders, like Generals Crooks and Su~y, have called out our own tribe of Sautees to suppress the wild West. T;."~ compames of over seventy young men of this agency have served nuder the Umted ~tates. Many have lost their lives by exposure and left widows and orphans who are m 0 !1r mid. _t very poor and needy. A.nd, furthermore, the Honorable Commissioner will consider the fact tbat more than half of the outside scouts who were enrolled to share in tho payment of the annuity money which was renewed were Mdewakantonwan a.ml Wahpekutes. They have periled1their lives and were ioyal to the Unitetl tates and fought against their own friem1s and tribe. And not these only, but many who also endangeretl their lives to rescue white people and these saicl loyal people who are livino- arnong us to-day never have been compensate(l for their heroic deeds. l<'urtbermore, we have among us over one hundred Sissetons and Wahpetonwans wbo ar nrollod here by intermarriao-es and are members of the tribe, who never parlicipaied in the r newed annuities. Government recognizes tbe Sissetons aud Wa.bpetonwans a loyal people, except thoso who are enrolled here. . ow, Honorable ommission r, wo leave with you those facts and t stimome , and also the_fact t_bat_ t~lO e of u who ar living to-day are innocent of the outl>r ak, 0X;C pt m 21 md1v1duals who am memb rs of Md wakanionwan and Walip kut tnh ·, ~vbo are parti ipators in tbe outbreak tha,t are alive to-day. But wonld o~ir g ou ,ov~nnn nt coud nm u all for the few who are guilty We repr :ent h re 10 p<>r on to rnform you that we have been wrongfully and brutally treat d and con-cl mne!l and d. pnved of all of our :~nnuities and moneys whi •h we called our , by tl1e tlm1 which wear innoc nt of . . A. th wrong of tho Intlian ar admitted by all and thou ands of the b st men !11 h. l~ ctiully ubruitl d. ·n f JAB. AR IE, cl h ' rpo. ·, uni t AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. 11 . an accident. It was the act of starving men. It was precipitate~ by a few yo~ug men from a bancl of Indians who never obeyed the will of the chiefs. They hve~ by tbemselve at the time on a creek called Rice. _ThA fir~t mm~e!s were committed while they were out on a hunt to provide for their starvmg families, ~nd when t1?-ey returned home by night they made an attack upon the agep.cy early m the mornmg without the knowledge of the chiefs .. 'l~he_ be~ter class of th_e peo~le were at once thrown int o confusion, partly by the mt1m1dat1on of th• hos~1le In~ians and partly by the fear of the whites. They were forced to take up_ ~1ght with t~em up ~he 1inne ota. River. On April 20, 1866, D. N. Cooley, C~mm.1ss1~ner of Indian A!1'~1!s, r l)Orted the following: "Many of those who felt no mclmat10n toward J:iost1hties feared that the vengeance of the whites would_ fall upon them as a portion ?f the tri lie and fled to the northward, leaving their homes; but when they received a ommunication from Gen. H. H. Sibley they at once agreed to return-to their homes." Tbi fact alone would show that they were friendly and had no intenti~nof hostili~y. They had already taken from the hostile bands more. than 200 captives of. white worn n and children, whom they returned to General Sibley. In the proceedmgs of th Mohawk conference, in 1895, Bishop Whipple, of Minnesota, made this statement of these Indians: "You know the history that these men and their fathers at the risk of life saved more t han 200 white men and children." It will be observed from the accompanying affidavits that not all of the Indians present at the outbreak were hostile to the Government. On the contrary, there were many who quite willingly risked their lives for the salvation of the helpless white women and children. Thir ty-eight of their number were executed and many died while in prison. feanwhHe their wives and children were kept under guard near Fort Snelling. Tbey suffered much from the want of food and from the inclemency of the weather, and as a result many died, while the band which was the real cause of the out-break fled into the British province. The report of Commissioner D. N. Cooley on fay 18, 1866, clearly shows the fact in the following words: " The prisoners from Davenport, some 200 in number, men, women, and children, haYe, at the instance of the Department, upon the concurrent recommendation of the military authorities who have had them in charge, and of their mission-ary teacher, Rev. Mr. Riggs, who was chaplain during General Sibley's campaign, been 11:udoned by the President and turned over to their Department and sent to the ' iobrara Reservation to begin the work of preparing farms there. On the occasion of reporting, in the fall of 1865, in favor of their pardon, this office forwarded a series of cer tificates, petitions, and letters showing the excellent disposition and entire submission of these prisoners, together with statements showing that many of them were absolutely guiltless of any act of hostility, and not only this but deserving of reward fo r t he rescue of white captives. These papers have been mislaid in their pas. age through the various Departments and can not now be found." "By the fli ght to the far North of the most guilty of these bands who escaped; by the great suffering of the upper Sioux who have gathered about Fort Wadsworth, in northeast Dakota., for the past two years, many of whom have protested their inno-cence; by the execution of 39 of their numbers; by the long confinement at Daven-port by others · by the suffering of the people taken to Crow Creek, of whom fnll 300 have died, and by the utter lose of their lands and property, it is thought that this people has atoned for the crime of a part of its number as no people ever before made atonement, and t hat it wonld be a disgrace to the American people if the poor and humble remains of these tribes are not allowed a small tract of land." The , antee and F landreau bands of Sioux have been compelled to suffer for the sins of others who have fled to Canada, and are remainin~ there; others have amply ato11ed for t heir crime by their own lives. N otwithstandmg these facts, the annuities, l· nds, and property belonging to these two bands have been declared forfeited, and they were forced to undergo every degree and kind of hardshi.p in consequence of the unfortunate outbreak. They were moved from place to place, very much to their di couragement. It was t hi state of their condition that inr1nced some of the Santee bands of the 'ionx to leave their agency in Tel>raska. in 1869 to take up lands in South Dakota, under he nited States homestead l aw, near Flandreau, . Dak., and since that time they have be n known as t he Flanclroan ioux Indians. They took this action because there a an effort mad to take them t o Ioclia.n Territory, and because they conld e cape thecalamiti and disa8tars of r eservat ion life ; and although they hacl taken an advanc d t p of tb remainiug tr ibes of th tiir hands, and in accordance with the purpo e of th ir government, the nitecl tates Indian agent took from them their i 11 d f' rming implements and refns d to allow them annuities during the years 1 , 1 70, 1 71, 1 72, 1 73 and 1 74. Thus they were further compelled to suffer. b t' de hav not cl1 onrag d th rn, and for twenty-seven years that these people baY been full-fledged citizens of t he nited States I can say that I have yet to see one S.R p.2- 20 12 AMENDMENT TO INDIAN .A PPROPRIA'rION BILL. of them convicted of crime of a State offense · but they have proved in every respcc t worthy citizens. Moreover, many of these Santee and Flandreau bands of Sioux. h~ve been large~y the instruments in bringing the host~le bands of t}1e West~rn Sioux to treat with the United States. Also they have given very efficient service as Christian missionaries. Many of them ar~ still engaged in this sort of good wtrk among their less advanced bands. There are now 8 churches, lQ ordain~d n~ ~ve ministers, and 15 missionaries. These are the evidences of the excellent dispositiin to improve their immediate bands as well as those of the other bands. These are e works of these two bands of Indians. · In view of these facts, viz, the good behavior from the very year of their calamity to the present, and their consistent effort to better their condition as well ~s th0se of their brother tribes, they are worthy of respect and recognition, and it see:;is that_ they have abundantly atoned for the crime of the bad men 0f thes~ ban s. Their sins, if any committed should be foro-iven. It will be an act of JUSt c_on-sidera_tion, and recognition 'of their rema~kable conduct under a mos_t _tryIDg exper10nce to restore to them the declared forfeited and confiscated annmties. ~t is a fact that in the history of the Government dealing with Indian tribes the~e i~ not another case in which the Indian annuities and lands were declared forfeite and confiscated, although outbreaks frequently occurred, and since 1862 t1:1ere have been other outbreaks among the other bands of the Sioux Indians. Besides ~he Go~ernment has executed all those men who were found to be guilty ~f ID:Urder-rng whites during said outbreak, except those who fled to 'Canada, and impr~soned those who took any part for four years at Davenport. Nearly half of them drncl .. No law of the Unitecl Stat es gives authority to hang a criminal a1;1d to take his property away fr?m his wife and children. 'rhese ignorant Indiant>, 1gnor ~ntly a~d by the aggravation of st ar vation, committed mury the act of Con~r.es~, l!ebruary 16, 1863. I will refer you to a petition sent Deceml>er, 1863, to th~ l 10 i-dent of the Unit ed States by t he chiefs of the Meclawa1cauton, Wabpakoota, isseton, and Wa_hpeton bands of Sioux Indians, in which they declared that they were n~t respons1_ble !or th_e mnnlers and depreclations of the outl>reak, but tha,t they di1oner o~ Indian Affair , and . ecretary of the Interior. . Ihus from the testimony of tho chi fa of the aid bands of Indians from the te tt-mon_y of ~he ov rnm nt ollicials in who e charge thoy, re at that time, and_ froJU te timonies of the mi ionari s among them, that th maj rity allll he~tor por~10n of th 1dewakanton and Wahp koota bands of ioux Indians w r and did rema1? tru · nger any doubt or thoir loyalty althouo-h it ha t · · m on account of the outbr ak. hem. May th ir patiei~c acts of their fid hty tL Inc · of outh annni nd laud r ak , and by e d tat_ r f , . • :! 11 AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. _ l3 if decided in favor of by the Senate, shall be made un~er and according to !egulations to be pre cribecl by the Secretary of th_e Interior, an~ m sue~ manne,~ as will secure to them the largest sum it may be practicable to obtam for said la?-d. . ◄ roro arti cle 2 of the treaty of 1858 it appears that the Indians were to !'ece1ve the proceeds of t he sale of the said lands or that the Secretary of the Interior was authorized to -prescribe the manner of the sale by which he might s~~ure the la!gest um practi<"able to obtain. The same lands have been sold as high as $1.20 per a.ere. It follows that the Government owes to the Indians the total amount received from the said lands. V ry resp ctfully, JOHN EASTMAN, lion. W I LLIAM v. ALLEN, nited tales Sellale, Washington, D. O. AFFIDA VI'l' OF JORN MOORE, John Moore, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is 68 years of age and r ides at Tyler, Minn.; that he is a member of the Medawakantonwan tribe of ioux Indian!!, who formerly, and during the outbreak of 1862, resided at Redwood Falls, Minn. , and was a scout under General Sibley at the time of the outbreak of 1 6:J. During the year 1868, together with others, left the Santee Reservation in Tebraska, in order to take up land under the United States homestead law at Flandreau, , . Dak., near where I have been living since that time. The understand-in, of t he Indians was that by virtue of the provisions made in their treaty with tl1 nited tates in 1837 their annual payment was $15,000, and by the treaty of 1 51 ent it led them to another annual payment of $61,000; also, by the treaty of 1858 they had ceded to the United States Government that portion of their reservation which lies nort h of the Minnesota River, which was 320,000 acres, exclusive of the land ceded by the Si seton and Wahpetonwan bands of Sioux Indians. Thus, from these assurances made to them by the United States Government, and in view of tl..Je treaties above referred to, they thought they would be comfortably taken care of, but the fulfillment of these treaties was delayed for several months, although all the Indiaus came to the agency to receive their payments at the appointed time. While thus wait inn- t he Indians snffered severely on account of lack of food; but the Indian t rader refused credit, and the United States Indian agent did not give satis-faction as lio how soon the annuities would be issued. 1eau w bile the people were without food. These facts caused much dissatisfaction among them, and many were compelled to nndertake hunting expeditions from the agency in order t o majntain t hemselves until their Government dues would be paid to them. I can not clescribe all of the suffering that the Indians were compelled to endure on account of the delay of the payments. It was during one of these hunting expedition r eferred to the :fir t killing of the white people occurred. It was com-mitted by four young men from the dissatisfi ed and hostile element who had their villa~ on the Rice Creek, above Redwood F alls, Minn. After killing the whites at Aeton Minn., they r eturned by night to Rice Village and incited them to make th attack at once upon th e Government employees and the Indian traders at the a en ·y. They proceeded t hat very night on which the murderers returned and m· d the assault very early in the moruing at the lower agency. This was on the 1 th of ugust, 1 62 . Thus our chiefs were powerless. It was impossible for them to top it. They hacl no opportunity. They knew it when it was too late. The murdering of the whites at both of the agencies was accomplished before they ·arcely realizecl what happened to t heir people. When it was once started it was impo · ihle t o check it immediately. As we were forced along the Minnesota River by th { 'nit d tates solcliers, thoi:;e of us who desired for peace and were friendly to th· 'o,·ernm ni stopped and put up our t ents, and sent t wo mix.rd bloods, Thomas olJin on and ' boroas A. Rob rtson, who were Mdewakantonwans by uirth, to make I ac with the n ited ta.tea officer . ;\Th n this w u ·c afnlly accomplish ed, we gave ourselves up into the hands of ,en. 11. II. , 'ihle . Ho brought us to Iankato, Minn., where 38 of our men, in dne 111·0 • of military lu.w, were nten ed to death anu. were executed. All t hose who r no s n t need i dea h w re s nt o Dav nport, Iowa, for four years' imprison-ment. urin r the four y ars impri oumen t 150 of them diod. I believe that the r 1n ind r of th ho tiles who tnally parti ipated in the outbreak fl ed into British m rica andar th r now. ince th utbrnn.k in 1 62 we have never received any 1, nefit fr m h proYi ion made in our fav r in the treaties of 1837, 1851, and 1858. 1 11 h m t f n. nr inn •n of th mnrcl r committed during the outbreak, we Ii ·,, 1, •P. n romp 11 d to 11 ff r the r sults, and al c1evrived of our just dnes which b tip tlat tr a i s gnarant ed to us. Also, when we left Santee Agency, ebr., 14 AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL . . for the purpose of taking land under tbe United States homestead law, the Govern-ment did not give us for :five years our share of the annuities provided for all the Santee Sioux Indians in the treaty of 1868. Witnesses to mark: GEO. A. PE'ITIGREW, JOHN EASTMAN, . JOHN (his X mark) MOORE, Subscribed a.nd sworn to before me this 21st day of December, 1896. fSEA.L.] GEO. A. PETTIGREW, Notary Publio. AFFIDAVIT OF .ROBERT HAKEW ASTB. THE STATE OF NEBRASKA, COUNTY OF KNox, - Santee Sioux A.genC'IJ, BB: Robert Hakew~flte, being :first duly sworn, deposes and says that he ie 67 years of age and resides at the Santee Sioux A.gency, Nebraska; that he is a member of the Mdewakantonwan tribe of Sioux Indians, who formerly resided at Redwood Falls, Minn., before the Sioux outbreak of 1862; that he recollects the treaty of 1851 that was entered into between the United States Government and the tribe of Mdewa.-kantonwau Sioux Indians in which he was a party to the agreement. After the agree-ment or treaty was ratified, he recollects having received an annuity of $20 per annum and which was paid to all members of the Mdewakantonwan and Wahpekute Sioux Indians for eight years until the outbreak occurred. According to the best of his knowledge and belief, the ontbreak waa ca.used by four young men. One of these young men, who was a distant relative of affiant, Kaomdeniyeyeda.n by name, made the following statement regarding the cause of the outbreak: There were eleven of UIS who started out to trap about the lake regions in Minne-sota. A.a we were going along we came to a farmhouse where by the roadside a hen was setting. A young man by the name of Pazaiyapa said be was going to take the hen and e gs to eat, which Nagiwicakte did not think was right, as there was not a. very friendly feeling between the Indiana a.nu the whites, at which Pazaiyapa '!as enr ed and said that agiwicakte was a coward and there was a hot conversation b tween them, and tinally tbey were divided hlto two compnnies-Nagiwicakt~, Kaomdeui, ey dan, ungigidan, and Waste formed one party, and Pazaiyapa and six oth r made_ th:e other party. They part d, calling ach other cowa:<1 , aI?d left each o~her. afl'twica.kte, who took pains to prevent Pnzaiyapa. from d1sturbrng the et-me to a farm and with hil'I friends sat uown by the road to smoke. As moking they h a.rd rapid ftring of guns in the direction which Pa.zaiyap_a. ich agiwi a.kte grunted f r disappointment and thinking that Pazai-arged upon some white I?eople. This was d just as the succe s1ve reports of the "1ut of th woods, each with an ax ?n hi companions. The white men. s:ud ju t as they passed us Kaomdeniyeye-sbot him cl ad, and shot the other also ward the barn and took some hors . ight. ch< rg d upon so pl r iri hi ·k ns r bo Ka.om e t e 0 • AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. 15 w i tb the 1 ni te1l ta.t.es officers. As we were in the ban els of General Sibley we were brono-ht bnck to Mankato Minn., aml 38 men were sentenced to death at Mankato, linu~; antl I remember that there were some Wahpetonwans among those who were hung but do not remember just how many, and all those who were not condemned _ to d ~th were sentenced to be imprisoned at Davenport, Iowa_, for a term of four years. There were 400 pers?ns i?1prisoned, and ~any were ~1ssetons and Wahpe-tonwans. After the term of unpnsonment had expned the pnsoners were returned to their re pectiYe agencies and are there to-da.y as living monuments, and are tb:ere tot tify that the Si setom/ and Wah1)etonwans are just as guilty as the Md~wakan-tonwa.ns and Wahpekutes were; and to the best of my knowledge ancl b~hef there w r only 22 men who participated in the massacre of 1862 or were eyewitnesses to th outl,r,ak, living at the Santee Agency, And further affiant saith not. ROBERT (his x mark) HAKEWASTE.' nbscribed in my presence and sworn to before me this 3d day of January, A. D. 1 9G. [ JUL.] B. J. YOUNG, Nota1·y Public. (Expiration of my commission, January 9, A, D. 1900, in and for Knox County, Nebr.) AFFIDAVIT OF JOHN C. REDWING, John C. Redwing, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is 63 years of age, and resides at Flandreau, S. Dak.; that he is a member of the Mdewakanton-wan tribe of 'ioux Indians, who formerly resided at Redwood Falls, Minn., before the outbreak of 1862, and at the time he was one of the chief's brothers of aforesaid band of Sioux Indians. The understanding of the Indians was that according to the provisions made by the treaty of 1837 their annual payment was $15,000, and by the treaty of 1851 entitled them to another annual payment of $61,450. Thus from the e assurances they were to be well cared for; also, by the tr~aty of 1858 they had ceded to the United States Government that portion of their reservation which lies north of the Minnesota River, which was 320,000 acres, exclusive of the land ceded by the isseton and Wahpeton bands of Sioux Indians. In view of these treaties, they thought they would be comfortably taken care of; but the payments referred to above were delayed several months, and the Indian traders refused to give them credit. These facts caut1ed much dissatisfaction among them, and many were com-pelled to hunt in order to maintain themselves while waiting for the annual payment. It wa during one of these hunting expeditfons the first killing of the white people occurred. After killing the whites they returned by night to the village of Rice Creek. That village was composed of the hostile elements, therefore they lost no time in inflaming their people at once to make attack upon the employees of the Government and the Indian traders. They proceeded that very night on which the mnrderers returned, and by daybreak they had made an attack upon the whites of the lower agency at Hedwood Falls, Minn., on the morning of August 18, 1862. Thus our chiefs were powerless. It was impossible for us to stop it. We had no opportunity. We knew it when it was too late. We could not stop and pacify the oong and the ho tile old braves. The murdering of the whites at both agencies and the whites of tbe vicinity was brought upon us before we realized what bad happened. When it was once started it was imposRible to check it immediately. As we were forced along the Minnesota River by the United States soldiers, those of us ho clesired peace and were friendly to the Government stopped and put up our tents and sent two mixed bloods-Thomas A. Robertson and Thomas Robinson, who vere .fl wa.ka.ntonwans by birth-to make peace with the United States officers. ·when this wa successfully a complished, we gave ourselves up into the hands of 'en. H. H., ibley. He brought us to Mankato, Minn., where 38 of our men were f und guilty, and in due process of military law were sentenced to death, and were xecuted. All tho e who were not sentenced to death were sent to Davenport, Iowa, for imprisonm nt for four yea.rs. During the four years of imprisonment 150 of them died. I believe that the remainder of the hostiles who actually participated in the outbr ak fled into British America. and are there now. Through starvation and disappointment, the ho til and nonprogressive Indians brought upon ou.rpeace-fol and w 11-intended people a dreadful calamity. Most of the murderers had a w r for th ir crim immediately after the vent, and the remainder have cap d punishment by 1 aving the United States, while we, although well-behaved an complied with every part of our treaties, have been compelled to give up our land, homes, and all our treaty rights on account of a, few unmanageable wild men. 16 AMEND:-.IENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIA'rION BILL. • On account of that outbreak of Angust 18, 1862, by the act of Congress all onr dnes from the United States by virtue of the treaties of 1837, 1851, and 1858 b::we been taken from us. :Before the treaty of 1868 was ratified, and during that year, I left the Santee Reser-vation at Santee Agency, Nebr., to take up land under the United States bo_rnestead law at Flandreau, S. Da.k., anu for five years following we were not ass1ste~ ~y the United States Government. We received none of our share of the annmties which we had been given every year previous to our removal to South Dakota. JOHN c. R1mw1NG, Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22d day of December, 1896. [SEAL.] GEO. A. PETTIGREW, Notary I'ttblic. ·we also incorporate herein copy of a petition of the chiefs and head-men of the Medawakanton and Wahpakoota Sioux Indians, Ceupymr-, territ ry all alonrr tlle Misshisip11i all(]. mouth of the ~m11esota R1ver, o: m tbe east •utrnl part of the onntry known as the State of ~1111_wsota, aml the S1ss~tons ~nd \ al1p to11 wer occupying the west central part of Mmnesot.a1 or the region ly1f-g 1 nreak occurred, nuder a severe strain produced by iotrutling whites of all classes anle, and be tried to keep aw, y from the tronl)le and take no l)art in it, and as he could n t e him elf loo from them be sobb u liko a child; that an of the chiefs of the 1 dawalrn.nton aDll Wabpalrnotas wero Ol)pos d to an outbreak except one, Little Crow, o ofton 11am d iu history, and hi follow rs. Thi tn.t m nt ca.u b onlirm cl by onsulting tho Commis iouer's report of 1862 (p. 3H) wit r : tati ti cal report will be found, made by one of the army officers, ho ·ing that ov r br -fourths of the Medawakantons aud Wahpakootas, wiLh tlwir •hi fi, volunta.ril · ~a.v th m elves up to G neral 'ibley. Out of that number th r w r only 3 , ' i . · ons. ' h 'P opl topped, though they knew the troops ,· r,· :i ft •r th m, a.11d · n ·lud l to rna.k )l a ·e, which was accomplished by a letter o ud by owe of be m •rob rs of the Medawakauton and Sisseton bands, who went AMENDMENT TO INDIAN APPROPRIATION BILL. to the camp of General Sibley near Yellow Medicine. This party, who went ont to investigate matters in the rear of the place of the trouble, found a letter in a tleserte

Indian appropriations

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Indian appropriations

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