CIA a ca 1 A yr vak 5 w W Z zt n 1 V R 2 k T 4 p 1 K i op 41 M P ae A I 1 I 1 1 13 7 A by ELMO SCOTT WATSON T LIES before me as I 1 walte a little old fasli V toned book elih the word autograph stamped its frayed P and stained green cloth 3 cover you know the ae kind of book it Is and can easily guess its contents page a f t e r on 1110 nue erfan handwriting of the elp eie gant eighties aoma such sentiment as in the present bregent a age ge boys hav grand erand opportunities may you improve yours youra that no regress shall roar mar your manhood your teacher elizabeth or in a sprawling school gi girl rl hand and h signed jennie or minnie innie M or addle Is the declaration that my pen pan Is poor my ink Is pale my love for you shall never fall faill tf such were adt fiat this auto ceaph book contained it would be no different from tile the thousands of others which were once cherished by our fathers and ana mothers and which how and then come chind to light again as we ire ransack an attic or delve into an old trunk but this particular boole book contains tin an autograph or perlia perhaps ps I 1 should ray r ay an which makes it unique on one oile of its pages Is a penell pencil sketch colored colored with bright purples und and reds and bides and signed by the indian who drew it brave brae bear and to eo us as Amerl american dun indian day september 28 23 this jear year draws near and as I 1 look at tills little autograph with its unique portrait of the artist by himself I 1 am minded to tell again the story of brave bear a 1 warrIor of the sioux it if there be left any who once knew brave brae bear perhaps it way may riot not seem quite appropriate to make american indian lay day which Is observed in many states in recognition of the contribution of the american indian to our national trudi tradition atlon the occasion for retelling the story of an all indian who was notorious rather than fal famous lious for frota from the point of view of if the white ft lute nian man brave bear was a had bad Ind indian lain but there were in him filid some of those qualities characteristic of tile the american indian which no one whether lie he bo be white or red can belp kielp adin fring brave bear or tile rear fear less lebs bear was a member of the cut lied lu d 1 wd of the Yunk tonal tribe of the sioux tn in orth north dakota lie ile birst alil lears in history as the boon corn panion of the famous w arriol kiili ln 1111 face popularly und tind erroneously known as the slayer of general ouster custer nt lit the of little big horn clorn in ills iraln ln lii lije faw face told toldie flie story of ills life to dr charles Clin ries A eastman an educated sioux und tind it Is in doctor is book indian felixs and ireat chieftains published dished by little brown broan company that kaan lu ln tb the face tells how be brave bear and llo iloray liay tile assiff balne captive of sitting bull marle a during daring attack on fort totten N D in the hie summer of 1800 alere Is s the as iraln ln in the face told it Wa paypay the fearless near who vas aa Rt erward hatigee hadeed at yank yankton ton was wn tha bravest man anions us ua lie he dared iloray to make the charge hobay accepted the challenge and in iii turn dared the other ather to ride with ill him m through the and right blehl under the walls walla of the ton aorl which iras waa well garrisoned and strong Wa paypay and I 1 in those days daya called f each a c h other brother friend it was a life and a id death vow what one does the other must do and that meant that 1 I must be in the forefront of the charge chame and if he Is killed I 1 must fight unell u I 1 die alsol I 1 prepared for death I 1 painted as aa usual like an eclipse of the sun half black and half red now the signal for the charge was given I 1 started even with Wa paypay but hla his horse was faster than mine so 0 o he left me a little behind as we neared the he fort this was bad tor me for by r that time the soldiers had somewhat ke recovered covered irom roro the surprise and were aiming better their big gun talked very loud but my y Wa paypay was leading on leaning m forward on hla his fleat pony like a flying squirrel rin on a smooth log lie ile held his rawhide shield on the right side a little to the front and so did L our w whoop hoop was like the coyotes singing in the evening eveni tig when they smell emell blood the soldiers guns talked fast but few wore hurt their big gun was like a toothless old dog who only makes himself hotter the more noise he makes how much harm we did I 1 do not know but we made things thang lively tor for a time and the white men acted as people do when a swarm of bees get into camp amp L we made a successful retreat b but ut some of the reservation indians followed us yelling until hobay told to id them that he did not wish to fight with the captives of the white man for thero there would be no honor in that there was blood binning rinning down my leg and I 1 found that both rny my horse borse and I 1 were slightly lightly wounded after that daredevil feat brave boar bear drops out of sight at least denst so fur far us history records any of ills his doings the next written record of lafin la Is in the book 1 my ly 1 friend the indian published by houghton Ilou gliton millin com coin pany and written by the lie late maj james who as indian agent on oil the devils uke ake and staily ing rock reservations in ID north dakota had occasion in both places to know brave bear in 1873 brave bear and a companion named the only one entered the stable of a settler named De delorma lornie near pel itilia N D for the purpose of stealing horses will when iwo I 1 wo of tile owners approached the stable the two indians cliot and killed hilled both und inor mortally tallY wounded a third man then they entered the lie delorme delorine house shot phot mild and seriously wounded two women there and after rilling rifling the und and taking several horses escaped into the missouri river country passing through the devils lake reservation ns as they did so but keeping away croul the agency As soon as major me mc caughlin who was then indian agent at devils like lake heard of the crime lie reported it to the civil authorities of dakota dahoma territory but they were unable to capture the murderers five years later in the winter of major ln learned bhat brave bear and the only one lind hud returned to devils lake and were living among their people the cut heads in the western part of the reservation er A accordingly lie he arranged to lo capture them in the early spring before their ponies were ivere in condition to start out on their usual balds against white valte settlements ile he called a council of their band feeling sure bare that they would not dare absent themselves from the council and asked capt james M bell who was stationed with two troops of the seventh cavalry at fort totten to be on hand for the council and make the arrest ilia his plan worked well for or as soon as the two indians had bad entered the council room aleut herbert J slocum with a file of soldiers surrounded them As they passed butof out of the build ing under guard the only one made a desperate attempt to escape lie ha was shot by the sold soldiers lers as lie bound ed across the prairie but when they approached app broached lie he sprang up with a knife in ili his hand and died fighting brave bear was taken io to pembina for trial but escaped from the jail there and made his way to the pine ridge ludge reservation fearing arrest if lie he stayed there he stole a horse and started north near kear fort sully lie he waylaid a settler hamod johnson killed him and taking tile mans rifle escaped into canada where he joined sitting bulls bulla band of fugitives in the summer of 1881 sitting bull retura returned cd to the united states will and surrendered and brave bear had bad no choice but to return with him and take ills his chances cli ances of escaping punishment for ills his crime sitting bulls build band was settled on the standing ibok reservation that fall major Al cLaughlin tool took charge at af standing rock and brave bear knowing that the major would be sure to have him filin arrested again agatia laid his plans to escape rut but lie he delayed too long A white man who had agreed to help him escape betrayed him blui and brave bear was made a captive for the last tillie ile he was sent to Yan yankton klon then the capitani of dakota territory placed on n trial for the murder of johnson found guilty and sentenced to be hanged title lie he was in the jail at yankton awaiting execution lie wils tile object of considerable interest for white visitors who had heard much of the indian despe desperado rildo one of them it rancher named payne took lita stai fon on whit payne with him to zt ci brave bear and when the boy asked the indian to write ills name in his hl autograph book brave bear not only did that but also drew the picture which Is reproduced above tile end of the story of brave bear Is told tn in major book as follows when brave bear was hanged banged for his hi crime hla his lather father on an old indian of the th cut head band of sioux canie came and sought roe ins at the agency sols la my iny son dedda asked the tb father lie ile la in dead I 1 answered are you sure eure lie be Is deada persisted per stated the be old roan man 11 1 have a telegram saying baying that he ha was wa hanged banged yesterday said ald 1 I it la is well rejoined the old man we are glad his mother and myself fol foi he was a bad son aon anti tills thle frightful declaration dedal atlon was wan as an near eul as aa was vaa evet ever pronounced incel 01 brave bear