Show HOW A WARRIOR DIED God Almighty Made Me God Almighty Did not Make MeAN Me-AN INDIAN AND ILL FIGHT And Die Fighting Before any White Man Can Make Me an Agency Indian Was Sitting Bulls Declaration to General Miles LSpeclal to TiE HERVLD Examiner Dispatch STANDING ROCK AGANCT Dec 17God Almighty made me God Almighty did not make me an agency Indian and Ill fight and die fighting before any white man make me an agency Indian This was the declaration made by Sitting Bull to General Miles and the detailed reports of the great medicine mans death which began be-gan arriving at the agency yesterday give to the declaration the full force of a prophecy All the eye witnesses agree as to the facts that every circumstance considered con-sidered make the final tragedy involving the extermination of probably the brainiest Indian that ever lived one of the most picturesque pic-turesque and characteristic incidents of American history That the government authorities civil as well as military from President Harrison and General Miles down preferred the death of the famous old savage to his capture wholeskinned few persons here Indian or white have a doubt It was felt that Sitting Bulls presence anywhere even behind an iron door was a menace The expedition which started from this agency for Sitting Bulls lonely camp forty miles distant to take him dead or alive with the chances ten to one of his death was no haphazard foray of semisavage Indian police and illadvised army subordinates There is every reason t believe th whole affair was a carefully planned military maneuver originating with no less a person than General Miles himself sanctioned in the war department at Washington and authorized before President Pres-ident Harrisons cabinet I is conceded that the operation against Sitting Bulls personality was suggested by th3 effectual quelling produced by the removal of Medicine Medi-cine Arrow the great Cheyenne leader when the Cheycnnes threatened an unprecedented unpre-cedented uprising The promise to die fighting quoted above and made oy Sitting Bull personally to General Miles on the occasion of their first meeting had much to do also in shaping the determination determina-tion for a sudden decisive assault as well as tho old chiefs ottexpressed wish to be remembered re-membered as the last Indian on the conti cont nent to give up his rifle When General Miles left Chicago headed in this direction it was the beginning of the end Simultaneous with the general stepping quietly aboard tho train at the big railroad depot in Chicago the expedition expedi-tion which had been with equal quietude under preparation at Fort Yates which forms part of the agency was also ready n n n < < I General Miles car glided out for the northwest north-west the members of his little command here like so many automatons guided by his will silently took tbolr departure and were quickly lost in the inky darkness that enveloped the wilderness stretching to the camp of Sitting Bull on the banks of the Grand river ryer The van was led by men of Sitting Bulls own blood superbly mounted and ac coutred and everyone wearing the bright brazen buttons and showy blue cloth uniforms uni-forms of Uncle hams service This was no mere coincidence I was to be part of the great objectlesson to the ghostdan cers and a demonstration of the value of General Miles new method of solving the Indian problem by turning the Indians by wholesale into soldiers One thing is certain cer-tain the band of wellfed warmly clad copperfaced athletes that led the way for the white soldiery bent on a mission of utility were a striking contrast to the starving starv-ing ragged crazy wretches that with such a cunning leader as Sitting Bull formed such a menace in the Grand river camp Close behind the blue > coated Indian horse mens hardy ponies but taking a slower pace on tee frozen trail came Captain Fouchets cavalry command The cavalry were encumbered with two pieces of modern mod-ern light artillery machine guns similar to those which so speedily settled the fate Louis Riels bal breed followers when his notea lieutenant Gabriel Dumout made a stand against General Middloton in the British nortnwest outbreak To the rear of Fouchets cavalry and at times taking a doublequick to keep warm for the night was bitterly cold the infantry command of Colonel Drum swung along in the darkness A weary difficult march it was too tho depressing monotony broken at intervals by an infan trymans curses as ho stumbled over an obstacle in the road or awkwardly tripped against a nearly benumbed comrade The distance and the capabilities of the troops to withstand the fatigues of such a journey had been figured out to a nicety and when the first faint light of dawn appeared the expedition was within easy distance of its destination The broken order of a triple separation of forces had been carefully preserved pre-served and the Indian police were the first to sight the huddled cluster of ugly looking tepees on the riverbank Despite the early nour an was astir m me village wnere on every hand was evidence that a hurried exodus was contemplated The ponies of the police were pushed now for all they were worth and before Sitting Bulls dazed adherents had half a chance to realize tho situation a dozen of the police had pulled their panting animals up short on all sides of the chiefs abode No time was wasted in ceremony The proud old medicine man was hustled out hoisted on a waiting pony and in a trice faced toward civilization Ho raged and sputtered in a fury of rage for a moment then straightened up shouted hoarsely not for help buta command to his followers Despite the threatening of the police Winchesters alternately directed polce at his nead and those of his kinsmen the old medicine man retained his medicno presence pres-ence of mind and with powerful voice continued to direct his own rescue Suddenly there wis a puff of smoke beside a tepee and the sharp crack of a Winchester Winches-ter The nolionian at Sitting Bulls right grasping the chiefs bridle reeled in the saddle and toppling over was trampled under the hoofs of the ponies Now all were in the mad helter skelter retreat from the village The shot was instantly answered an-swered by a volley from the police at their blanketed tribesmen many of whom were already mounted and in frenzied pursuit The police volley told with deadly effect and the firing in a moment was general on both sides Sitting Bull could be heard in the confusion still attempting though cap fitrn trt direct thin ficrht Rnieinr hia rrnnrif tve n O u uu form he was beckoning his sons and t warriors war-riors on when without warning his body straightened rigidly then dropped iaip on the hard prairie The police baited round the corpse not knowing for the moment but it was a trick of the wily old chief This sudden movement and the fall of Sitting Bull disconcerted the pursuers who remaining at a distance sullenly fred atintervals toward the police Tho latter held their ground knowing the cavalry under Captain Fouchet would soon be at hand To the surprise of all however how-ever the bostiles who had been consulting among themselves began a movement to close in from all sides The rattle of Winchesters Win-chesters was now redoubled frrm both parties the police using their own ponies as a protection It was at this critical juncture that Captain Fouchets men dashed up and the machine guns which it t had been put in position osened upon the redskins The latter were too dismayed at this unexpected onslaught to sCind oven tf for a moment and all bolted for thb river The cavalry followed only I a short distunes deeming it better policy not to drive to desperation the now leaderless mob In the village excitement reigned supreme during the fight the squaws running run-ning hither and thither wildly preparing ammunition From the izoment the police first struck the camp the women had taken an active hand An unearthly screech froia one of Sitting Bulls wives was the signal that brought the braves tlironsring around the old chiefs tepee when he was seized by the officers The stolid despair of the women and children after the battle when they fell into the hands of the troops was pitiful tiThe soldiers and Indian police commented with awe on the peculiar circumstance that the mystic number thirteen marked tho number of deaths accompanying the demise of the noted medicine man None disputed that no matter what controversy there had been as to his status during his j long stormy career he had died like a big I chief a man among men who had the misfortune I mis-fortune to be on the losing side in probably the last great struggle between the two I races |