THE CELEBRATED CASE
THAT WON CIVIL
RIGHTS FOR INDIANS
Order Issued by Carl Schurz,While Secretary of the Interior,
Brought Long-Standing Trouble to a Crisis.
SPLENDID ORATION MADE BY INDIAN CHIEE
Eloquence of Standing Bear, Pleading for His Own and His People's Rights,
ihe Cause of An Ovation in Crowded Nebraska Court Room —
Judge Dundy's Famous Decision.
Omaha. —The late Carl Schurz Is best
remembered lu Omaha as the cause of
the American Indiana being admitted
to lull citizenship in this country—not
through his taking the side of the red
men in the long struggle, but because
lie, as secretary of the interior, issued
an order which so aroused the west to
the wrongs of the Indian that, a cru
sade was started in Omaha which
reached to all portions of the United
States, lasted seven years, and ended
toy supreme court decisions and legisla
tive enactments making the Indian as
Jfres as a white man if he choose to be
so, and to accept the conditions of
'Civilization.
Schurz had the order issued to Cen.
Crook, then stationed at Omaha and
■commanding this department of the
army, and immediately the cause of
the Indian was taken up by Thomas
H. Tibbies, late vice presidential can
didate on the populist ticket; Cen.
•Crook, John L. Webster, Judge Dundy,
ard a score of other men prominent in
the west.
Previous to the light spoken of here
•e>ery Indian in the United States was
subject to the orders of the secretary
of the interior. The government was
an absolute autocrat over the destiny
•of the red man in the entire country.
Pitiful Funeral Procession.
Back in 1879 a pitiful procession
wended its slow way northward from
Indian territory, bound for the prairies
ol Nebraska. There were !J0 Indians
on foot and one old wagon, drawn by
two wornout horses. In the wagon
was the dead body of a child —an In
•dian boy. The leader of the little par
ty was the father of the dead child;
the famous Ponca Indian chief, Stand
ing Bear, a few years later to be the
best-known Indian in the entire world
—and to speak in every city in the
•country in behalf of his people.
Standing Bear's party was cn route
to iho Niobrara country. 11l northern
Nebraska, to bury the child in the an
cient burying grounds of the tribe.
They had started on the long trip, al
though permission to leave the reser
vation in Indian Territory, on which
they had been settled against their
"Will, had been refused.
Formerly the Poncas lived in north
General Crook Intercepted and Arrested Standing Bear.
ern Nebraska, along the Niobrara riv- i
er. They had fought the Sioux, in be-!
hall of the white men, for years, and \
had lost 700 braves in the white man's j
behalf. For this a previous secretary j
of the interior haJ given them, in fee !
simple, full title to their reservation
and lands.
Lands Taken from Poncas.
Then Mr. Schurz was made secre
tary. and at the point of the bayohet
had driven the Poncas down into In
dian Territory, depriving them of the
lauds for which they held government
deeds. The Poncas were left months
without rations in the new country,
and more than one-third of them died'
while there.
And among those who died was the
son of the old chief, Standing Hear, j
The chie.? jilted to have the little !
oody buried in the strange country,
but instead, gathering a few members
of his tribe, he started tyr the ancient
hunting grounds of his tribe, intend
ing to bury the child where genera
tions of Ponca chiefs lay.
Schurz heard of the runaways, and
through the war department tele
graphed Gen. Crook, in Omaha, to ar
test the Indians and return them to
Indian Territory.
But the chief of the Omahas, Iron ,
Eye, went to meet the Poncas and of- j
fered them a haven of refuge on the
Omaha reservation.
"We have all the land Standing Bear J
and his people wish for; we have corn '
and meat in plenty; come live with j
us." said Iron Eye.
But the government, through Schurz, j
said "No."
So Crook arrested the old chief and j
brought him and his followers down j
to Omaha. And with them came the !
wagon bearing the dead child.
Standing Bear told Crook his indi
vidual story. The great Indian lighter
knew the general history of the In
dians and was already indignant at
their treatment, but the treatment ac
corded Standing Bear was too much,
and even the stern warrior rebelled.
Campaign Mapped Out.
That night Crook came into Omaha
and had an all-night's conference with
Tibbies, then an editorial writer on a
newspaper. A campaign of Indians'
rights was mapped out, and both men
started out the next day to carry out
their parts.
Crook was to delay returning the In
dians to Indian Territory until a writ
of habeas corpus could be asked for
from the United States court on the
ground that the constitution, in the
fourteenth amendment, guaranteed to l
ail persons born in the United States '
equal protection of the law.
Tibbies looked out for the legal end
of the deal. Ho went to John U Web
ster, then a struggling, unknown young
lawyer, laid his case before him, and
asKed him to defend the rights of the
Indian.
"There is no money In it, but there
is fame, honor and glory," said Tib
bies.
Webster took the case, and asked
Judge A. J. Poppleton, then general
counsel for the Union Pacific, to assist,
him and make the argument.. Popple
tun agreed, and then a writ was ap- ;
plied for in the United States court at
Omaha, over which Judge Dundy pre
sided.
Made Thousands of Citizens.
The case came to trial. It was the
must notable trial ever brought in the
weal, and, in fact, the scope was as
wide as any ever tried in the United !
States, for by its decision ')0,0U0 peo
ple were made citizens.
Thomas H. Tibbies attended every
session of that court. In his own
words he describes it this way:
"The courtroom was orowded with 1
fashionably dressed women, and the
ciergy, which had been greatly stirred ,
by the incident; was there in force. \
CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, JUNE 2:, igc6.
lawyers, every one IT Nebraska an<f
many from the big eastern cities; busi
ness men, Gen. Crook and his full staff,
in their dress uniforms (this was one
or the few times in his life that Crook
wore his full dress in public), and the
Indians themselves, in their gaudy col
ors. The courtroom was a galaxy of
brilliancy.
"On one side stood the army officers,
the brilliantly dressed women, and the
white people; on the other was Stand
ing Bear, in his official robes as chief
of the Poncas, and with him were his
leading men.
"Far back in the audience, shrink
ing from observation, was an Indian
girl who afterward became famous as
a lecturer in England and America.
She was later known on both conti
nents by a translation of her Indian
name, In-sta-the-am-ba, Bright Eyes.
Long and Able Arguments.
"Attorney Poppleton's argument was
Tha ' Listened to St ending Bee
carefully prepared, and consumed 10
hours; in the delivering, occupying the
attention of the court for two days. On
the third day Mr. Webster spoke for
six hours. And during all tne pro
ceedings the courtroom was packed
w:;h the beauty and culture of the
city.
"Towards the close of the trial the
situation became ter.se. As the wrongs
indicted on the Indians were described
by the attorneys indignation was often
at u white heat, and the judge made no
attempt at suppressing the applause
which broke out from time to time.
"For the department Mr. Lambert
son made a short address, but was lis
tened to in silence.
"it was late in the afternoon when
the trial drew to a close. The excite
ment had been increasing, but u
reached a height not before felt when
Judge Dundy announced that Chief
Standing Bear would be allowed to
make a speech in his own behalf.
"Not one in that audience besides
the army officers and Mr. Tibbies had
ever heard an oration by an Indian
chief. All of them had read of the elo
quence of Red Jacket and Logan, and
thev sat there wondering whether the
mild-looking old man, with the lines of
suffering and sorrow on his furrowed
brow and cheek, dressed in the full
robe:' of an Indian chief, could make
a speech at all.
"It happened that there was a good
interpreter present—the son of Father
Hamilton, a well-known missionary.
Standing 1 Bear's Address.
"Standing Bear arose. Haif-facing
the audience he held out his right hand
ard stood motionless so long that the
stillness of death which had settled
down on the audience became almost
unbearable. At lust, looking up at the
judge, he said:
" 'That hand Is not the color of
yours, but if I prick it, the blood will
flow and I shall feel pain. The blood
is ot the same color as yours. God
made me, and I am a man. I never
committed a-crime. If I had, 1 would
not stand here to make a defense. 1
would suffer the punishment and make
no complaint.'
"Still standing, half-facing the audi
ence, he looked past the judge out of a
window as if gazing upon something
far in the distance, and continued:
"'I seem to be standing on the high
bank of a great river, with my wife
and little girl by my side. I cannot
cross tl>e river, and impassable cliffs
arise behind me. I hear the noise of
great waters; I look and see a flood
coming. The waters rise to our feet
and then to our knees. My little girl
stietches her hands toward me and
says-, "Save me!"
"'I stand where no member or my
race ever stood before. There is no J
tradition to guide me. 'Hie chiefs who !
preceded me knew nothing of the cir- j
cuinstances that surround me. I hear \
only my little girl say, "Save me!"
Reached Heights of liloquence.
" 'lu despair 1 look toward the cliffs I
behind me, and I seem to see a dim
trail that may lead to a way of life.
But 110 Indian ev®r passed over that
troll. It looks to be impassable. I
| make flie attempt, t take mr child by
| the hand and my wife follows after me.
Our hands and our feet are toru by
i sharp rocks and our trail is marked by
our blood. At last I see a rift in the
rocks. A little way beyond there are
green prairies. The swift running wa
ter, the Niobrara, pours down between
the green hills. There are the graves
jof my fathers. There agr.in we will
pitch our tepee and build our tires. I
see the light of the world and of lib
erty just ahead.' *
"The old chief became silent again,
| and, after an appreciable pause, ho
turned toward the "judge with such a
look of pathos and suffering on his
face that none who saw it will forget,
j and said;
" 'But in the center or the path there
; stands a man. Behind him I see sol
| diern in number like the leaves of the
! trees If that man gives me permis
' sion I may pass onto life and liberty.
If he refuses, I must go back and slak
beneath the flood.'
"Then, in a lower tone:
"'You are that man.'
"There was silence in the court as
tho chief sat down. Some tears ran
down over the judge's face. Gen.
Crook leaned forward and covered his
lace with his hands. Some of the ladies
sob Led.
Orator Given Ovation.
"All at once that audience by one
common impulse rose to its feet and
such a shout went up as was never
haard in a Nebraska courtroom. No
one heard Judge Dundy say 'Court is
adjourned.' There was a rush for
Standing Bear. The first to reach him
was Gen. Crook. I was second. The
Indies llocKed toward him, and for an
hour Standing hear held a reception.
"A few days afterward Judge Dunijj
I handed down his famous decision 'in
i which lie announced that an Indian
j was a 'person' and was entitled to the
I protection of the law. Standing Bear
and his followers were set t>ee, and
with his old wagon and the body of his
dead child he went back to the hunt
ing grounds of his fathers and buried
the boy with tribal honors. It was the
very first time an Indian was ever per
mitted to appear in court and have his
rights tried."
Up at the Ponca reservation there Is
an eld white-headed Indian (he is the
only known really white-headed In
dian, too). It is old Standing Bear
old and decrepit. But he remembers
Carl Scliurz, and still blames him for
mich of the hardships through which
the western Indians passed.
When told of the death of Schurz,
the old .man smoked a full minute be
fore answering the one word of Eng
lish which he ever uses:
"Good."
Duke of Wellington's Vanity.
Among the portraits at the Koyal
academy, London, there are some
which could tell stories; some with
little touches of idiosyncrasies of sub
jects no less than or painters. Is the
story of Lawrence's portrait or the
Duke of Wellington commonly known?
The duke had only one vanity— his
wrist was like steel. Now, when he
was given the sword of state to carry
it was his infinite delight that ho was
able to carry it upright; all his prede
cessors had to slope it toward the
Fhoulder. He would go down to pos
terity, he resolved, gloriiled by the
power of his wrist.
In vain Sir Thomas Lawrence point
ed out that, as a matter of art, it
would never do; that the sight of a
man perennially carrying a sword from
Mifc wrist would fatigue those who
looked at his picture. The duke in
sisted upon having bis way. Lawrence
did manage to smuggle in a cushion
upon which the duke seemed to rest
his elbow, but close examination shows
that arm and cushion do not meet.
Shifting the Bills.
"If you will give me your daughter,
sir, we will always live with you."
"Nope; you marry her and I will al»
ways 1 live with you."—Houston fot»l,
j Balcom & Lloyd. j
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* mm mmhtm
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the largest line of Car- ~ | |J
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li Dining Chaire, I ran sali o* I |j«
|| Rockers and GEO. J. LaBAR, **
jkjj High Chairs. Bole Agent for Cameron County.
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M UTCDBRTABLmo.
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