Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1756-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more
Image provided by: South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives
Newspaper Page Text
r. ,f •"''.* TffE oSt/itA LIGHT Indians !u the same way. Most of Major McLaughlin's time was served among the Sioux, for whom* tie has the greatest respect, not be cause h's wife is one-quarter Sioux. But because of the abmirable qualiti es he found among these Northwestern Indians. Indeed, of later years, since his appointment as agent twelve years ago, he has visited every tribe in the United States at least once, and some of them several times. He has nego* tlated all of the recent treaties betw een the Indians and the united States and has been uniformly successful in this work. Major McLaughlin does not idealize the Indian, he does not think it neces sary. He finds all classes of men amog the Indians, just as he does among the whites But he finds many Indians wi th admirable qualities. Some tribes, of course, he has found yastly superior intellectually morally and physically but he would have difficulty in singling out the tribe he likes best, for he is the friend He has had opportunities an his long years of service to study the evolution of the Indian as has no other man. Major McLaughlin has ma de use of his opportunities. It will ne ver again be possible for any man to see things he has seen, because "Poor Lo" has evolutedt and he has watched the evolution. Major McLaughlin is just now maki ng arrangements with New York pub lishers for the production of an histo ric novel which he has written, entit led, "My Friend, the Indian." This vo lume, which cannot fail to be absorb ingly interesting, coming as it does from one who has made a close ly dis criminating study, is dedicated to "My Fiend, the Indian, whose good points survive as a monument over the grav es of the vanishing race." Two chapters of Major McLaughlin^ book are devoted to the famous Custer *,„ ,-• ,-»• *, "V v ':t ,'"5E'- "The Pine Riuge Sioux, the Rose, buds and other tribes of Sioux are all about of the same class. The North ern Cheyennes and Arapahoes, the Poncas, the Chippewasthe Creeks and the Osages—so many of these well know tribes are estimable people Of course there are among them, women, too, who are not high cdass. This is 'true also of the white people. "Hundreds of years age the Osages, the richest people in the world per Capita, belonged to the Sioux tribe. *\ir •1. UP* ,v 29.1 fight. For fourteen years he served as agent to the erstwhile hostile Sioux at Standing Rock. All told, he served twenty four years as agent among the Sioux, at different points Having the entire confidence of the Indians, he got their side of the fight and has set it forth in his book in such a way at to give the Indians a square deal. "If I were asked to give my firm conviction, I would say that the better class of Indian are a sober people," said Major McLaughlin to a Staa ron resentative "Undoubtedly the whte man is largely responsible for whatever drunkenness one now finds among the Indians. This is especially true of the Northwestern Indians. Whether the climate has anything to do with it or not I am not prepared to say, dut the face remains that, as a rule, the North western Indians are a better olass. Nevertheless some tribes, even in the extreme Southwest, are splendid people. Notable among these are the Navajos, a most industrious people, who have managed to make a living where the whit man could not live They are a pastoral people, raising sheep, goats and some cattle, and made a good living where the ordi nary whit man could not live at all. 1 have every admiration for the Navajos. ..9 A \. 8