The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 13, 1896, Page 26

THE S Rlack Fawk, the | /. ficero; and His Wars Ohe Famous Sac Indian’s Story From Fis 0 wn Some time during the early part of the 1 Jast century, probably, a wandering tribe | of Indians, of whom history is silent, ieft | the black shores of the Upper St. Lawrence | for a more congenial climate. The sources from which the first part of | this sketch is taken are chiefly lggendary; | but, such as they , it is given as it was | taken from the iips of one who is charac- | terized by the editor of a small volume | called “The Autobiography of Black Hawk,” as a warrior, a riot and subse- quently & prisoner, Ma me-she-kia- | kiak, or Black Hawk. Toward (he lutter | part.of his life, says the American Field, | place to plage, till they reached Green Bay, or what is now called Sauk River. There they held council with the tribe or nation of Foxes, who abandoned their vil- iages and joined the Sacs. A party of Young men had been on an expedition southward as far as Rock River, and the young braves returned to Green Bay full of the great news of the beautiful region they had just left; and soon after the tribes were en route for the promised land. | They were joined by the Foxes, and from that time the history of the two tribes seems to be ciosely entwined. For more than a hundred years they BLACK HAWK. thishero of many battles, when old, poor 1 obscure, became desirous of giving bis | rv to his white friends, “that the | ople of the United States might know | the cause which 1mpelled bim to act as he | lind"done and the principies by which he | was governed.” Thiswasfaithfully trans- lated by Antoine Le Claire, 3 half-breed of French and Indian parentage, whose de- sceridants live in Davenport, lowa. Itmust be remembered that, although | ack Hawk’s story is intermingled with ends, it is probably true as regards the emigration of the tribes—the Sacs, as they were called—from place to place to their inal destination, the Rock River country, Hlivois. The tradition of the causes which led to this great event in their Bl bistory was handed down to Black Hawk as coming from - his great- grandfatter, Nana-ma-kee, who, by blackening his face, fasting and in- vocation to the Great Spirit, appeared to | the chief in dreams, telling him to fast | one year more, and then to take his brother chiefiains and travel to the leit of the sun rising till they could hear certain souiids, when they would meet a white man who would be a father to this people. The sounds were heard 2nd the white man appeared. He announced himself to be the son of the King of France and said‘\ that he also had fasted four years; that the Great Spirit had visited him in dreams, tetling him he would meet his children, the Indians, and their chief. They returned to their nation. Theold chief, when he learned of their meeting the white man, presented the great medicine-bag to his son, Nana-ma-kee, saying it was tho soul of their nation, that it never had been disgraced and he hoped it. never’ would be. Nana-ma-kee was a young man, and there were some dissen- sions among the people on account of so much power being civen to one so young, but when the “talk” was at its height a violent thunderstorm appeared and the lichtning struck a tree, setting fire to it. Young Nana-ma-kee seized a burning | branch, made a fire in the lodge, seated the people around it, who were awed by what seemed to be a miracle, and addressed them: “Iam young, but the Great Spirit has called me to take the rank I hold. While | my father, the chief, nved I had no wish to take his place. You have seen the | power given by the Great Spirit in causing | that fire. I wish tbat the chiefs, my | prothers, may never let it go out. | saw that the Great Spirit had spoken and confirmed his words by the burning tree. In the legend of the burning tree one is | reminded of the burning bush out of which God spake to Moses regarding the children of Israel. Inall accountsof the religion of the Indians I know of no record where they are represented as wor- shiping the Great Spirit in any material | form or wood or stone. The Great Spirit | was immortal and invisible. After a long absence the French father returned, ana a trade was kept up for some time with the tribe, exchanging | varions commodities for their furs and otherarticles. The British, who were then at war with the French, at last overpow- ered them and gained possession of Quebec. ‘wme of the different tribes joined in the war, and afterward united their forces against the Sacs gnd drove them to Mon- treal and thence to Mackinaw. They met the British Father, as Black Hawk. calls *| ficient in dates. All were satisfied when they heard and | Nana-makee, his father was Tyesa,and he | | was born on.the shores of Rock River, held undisputed possession of the Mississ- ippi Valley, from the Ounisconsin to the Portage des Sioux, near the mouth of the Missouri, about 700 miles in length. At that time they had little intercourse with the whites, except with the traders who came to their villages for their peltries. At that time intoxicating liquors were un known among them, although afterward introduced by the traders. Black Hawk was bitterly opposed to this, and some- times, as said by aa eye-witness, “drove { in the kegs of whisky or rum which were furnished them by traders.” They held their lands by their prowess as warriors. In 1804 an event occurred which gave rise to all their troubles with the whites. One of their number had killed an American, for which he was im- prisoned. Four or five Indians went down to St. Louis, where he was confined, to | secure his release and his return to his family by offering a compensation for the life of the murdered man, according to the Indian custom. General William Clarke, the companion of Lewis, at that time was the general superintendent of Western Indians and their affairs. The Government, through Clarke, re- fused the compensation, but demanded lands. Black Hawk and the other In- dians, who were informed of the circum- stances, were bitterly ‘opposed to parting with their lands, as these men had no authority for this, but went simply to res- cue the prisoner. It is said that the men were made drunk, and while in that condition the sale of the lands was consummated; the pris- oner was set at liberty, but as he was run- ning from the jail he was shot dead by one of the men on guard. All their lands on the east side of the Mississippi River were sold, Black Hawk says, for §1000 a year; other accounts say $2000. I think Judge Spencer, in his “Reminiscences,’’ says the latter. He was one of the old settlers of Rock Island. He speaks of Black Hawk as an honoratle and just man. Black Hawk says: “1leave it to the people of the United States to =ay whether our nation was properly represented in that treaty, or whether we received justcompensation for the extent of country ceded by these four individuals.” A clause in the sale said that the Indi- ans might occupy the lands while they belonged to the Government. Black Hawk’s narrative is singularly de- He was the grandson of near where it empties into the Mississippi. There he remained till he was 15 years old, when he won honorable distinction by wounding an enemy. This was the first event of his life which he considers of importance enough to record. He was in battle with the Osages, where he saw his father kill a man and tear off his scalp. This fired his ambition, and he attacked and killed and scaiped his enemy. There were several.expeditions against this trive. In one of these bis father was mortally wounded, and after his death Black Hawk fell heir to the great medicine bag of his forefathers. 1In all his successes in battle he recognizes the aid of the Great Spirit, Finaily there was peace among the tribes and they settled quietly down in their villages. It appears that the tribes occupying the land in what is now Iii- nois, fowa and Wisconsin had been con- stantly av war With each other. The him, who helped them and furnished them with goods, Thev were troubled by -their enemies, who drove them from Indians found the Rock River and Missis- sippi country exceedingly attractive. The island of Rock Island was a favorite re- sort for the young people of the tribes. It was there they had their games and dances. They felt that they had found the most beautiful and desirable spot they had ever seen, and determined never to leave it. After their harvests had been secured and the bunters had returned laden with the spoils of the chase they gave themsclves up to their favorite amusements. They raised corns, beans, squashes and other vegetables, and cached them for winter use. A deep hole was dug in the ground, the vegetables were placed therein and covered with earth and bark. Frequently the contents of the cache were stolen by their enemies by piercing the ground with their spears. Black Hawk was 35 years old when the firsy American appeared. The Americans | had taken possession of the country about St. Louis. The news of this filled the tribe with apprehension, for, as Black Hawk naively says, “We had always had accounts of the Americans who lived near the Indians.”” The tribes frequently visited St. Louils to see a person in umhoK'n.y whom he calls *‘our Spanish father,” wio always treated them well and gave them provisions. As this account is taken from Black Hawk’s narrative, it is not known who was the ‘“ Spanish father " referred to. Subse- quently he refers to “‘our American father” at St. Louis. The possessions of the Sacs and Foxes extended as far as Peoria, and thence to strike Quiscorsin River eighty miles from its mouth down the river to the Missis- sippi. They owned the whole of Iowa. Colonel Davenport, who was an English trader with the Indians, says: ‘'As near- ly as I could ascertain these tribes came from Canada—{rom a region near Mon- treal.”” Tley were governed by two sets of chiefs—civil and war chiefs. The civil chiefs settied troubles between tribes. Black Hawk and Keokuk were the promi- nent war chiefs. Black Hawk was determined to stay in his village notwithstanding all the land bad been ceded to the Government of the United States by the treaty of 18J4. But as the white people were coming in great numbers, seeing the beauty and desirableness of this land so fair and so fertile, they were continually encroaching upon the domain of the Indians., It will be remembered that there was a clause in tbe treaty which allowed the tribes to remain in their homes as long as the land was in the possession of the Government; but as the white people came they settled wherever they pleased, plowing up the fields which the Indians had planted and appropriating the land to their own uses. It was determined to move the Indians, but Black Hawk, profoundly impressed with the injustice of the whites, deter- mincd to await the arrival of the soldiers, which had been threatened, with tneir “great war cuief’” Accordingly, when this personage arrived, a great council was held. Black Hawk and his chiefs lis- tened to thie speech made by General Gains, “the war chief,” warning them that they had been told to leave the coun- try and go west of the Mississippi. Black Hawk replied: “We have never sold our country; we bave never received any annuities from our American father, and we are deter- mined to hold on to our village.”” The war chief exclaimed: “Who is Black Hawk? Who is Black Hawk?” He replied: “Iam a Sac! My forefather was a Sac! All the nations call me a Sac!” This sav- age nobleman of the forest thought this enough, but was told that the general neither came to beg nor to hire them to leave their viilage. “I will remove you peaceably if I can, forcibly if I must! I wili give you two days in which to remove,’” said the gen- eral. The council broke up in confusion. The daughter of an old chief was sent to the fort to ask that her people could re- main long enough to gather their crops in the fields, and another deputation was sent with the same request, but it was de- nied. Then a steamboat was anchored near them full of soldiers. The Indians crossed the river in the night. To com- pensate them for their crops, corn was promised them, which, however, was en- tirely inadequate to their wants. The women and children lamented being de- prived of the vegetables and in the night a party went across the river to secure vegetables from the fields which they had vlanted.” The whites had no regard fora flag of truce, frequently shooting down the bearer. The war which terminated with the bat- tle of Bad Ax, in 1832, was then at an end, after a greav reduction of the war- riors of Black Hawk’s band. The Ameri- can forces were in command of General Scott. It has been said that Black Hawk’s nar- rative is think it is in the main true. It is a very sad story. Antomne Le Claire, to whom it was dictated, was a respectable citizen of Davenport, held in equal esteem by whites and Indians. In his affidavit appended to the narrative, he says: “In accordance with Black Hawk’s re- quest 1 acted as his interpreter. I was particularly cautious to understand the narrative throughout, and have no hesi- tation in pronouncing it true in every par- ticular.” Black Hawk's dedication of the work to his captor, General Atkinson, is pathetic, and a translation is hera given. He wasa priconer at Jefferson barracks, and at the time he wus 67 years old. He says to Gen- eral Atkinsoa: “8ir! The changes of fortune have made you my conqueror. ‘The story of my life isintimately connected with a part of the history of your own. I have, there- fore, dedicated it to you. Before I set out on my journey to the land of my fathers I have determined to give my motives and reasons for my former hostilities to the whites, and to vindicate my character from misrepresentation. I am now an obscure member of a nation that formerly honored and respected my opinions. May you never experience the humility that the power of the American Government has reduced me to is the wish of him who in his native forests was once as proud and bold as yourself. Black Hawk, tenth moon, 1833.”" This sketch 13 not a history of the war, but more of a character tketch. That in- nate nobility and religious feeling of the Sac as a nation is exemplified by an inci- dent which occurred in 1841, It is told in the souvenirs of the Princs de Joinville, when be made the descent of the Mis- sissippi. The Territory of Iowa, which belonged to the Sacs and Foxes, was in dispute between the whites and Indizns The Prince says in his book: “A party of Indians came on board at St. Louis. They were on their way to Washington to lay their grievances before the President. They had the most reso- lute and impussive countenances and be- haved with the greatest dignity, never showing any excitement, except when we passed the confluence of the Mississippi with the Missouri River. There was a splendid sunset. The Indians assembled in the stern of the boat and repeated a kind of invocatory prayer. It wasa per- fect picture.” The history of the wrongs inflicted on the Indians of the Rock River country is only a repetition of those inflicted on the tribes eisewhere. Itis the testimony of thosa who have tived among the Lat they ate, w en in a siate of nai Tes markably free from the vices usually at- tributed to savages. ¥ Life in a oc{'y/}i- - House oy the Sea Wrs. full‘ar_ ?Ji/[izmé& and Fer Life Oale in Santa Barbara The lighthouse at Santa Barbara is a disapyointment when you first see it. You are quite sure that it shouid be very tall ant dreary looking, ani tbat,the bleax, rough winds shonld tear about you an | that the broad ocean should look threat- ening and gloumy. But the air is soft and warm, and the salt sea breeze quick- | ens the blood 1n your veins and your heart feeis glad. ¢ On the wayside as you journey toward the beacon-tower the scarlet geraniums, tossed by tbis brisk breeze, nod brightly and seem to enjov the sport. And the fragrant white roses are shedding their sweetest perfume from the trellised arch somewhat apocryphal, but I FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1896. over the pathway, and behind the build- ing pre:t waving green trees are dense with foliage. The house is square and white, with green blinds and caretfully set curtains, The door opens into a narrow hallway, and you ascend the winding staircase'up into the tower. There you find a little woman. She is frail and slightly bent, and with very white hair. “‘Thirty-two years at this one place!"” You pause in climbing the tiresome stairs and you marvel while your breath comes back. There is a smile on the sweet, motherly face and the little woman’s eyes seem making fun of you. Had she been first in the ascent she would have reached the top floor more speedily. Up in the round tower the wind is fiercer. It howls quite dismally and the broad Pa- cific reflecting back the sunlight betrays more clearly its underlying power of treachery. To the accompaniment of the faint roaringof the breakers that is borne up by the telitale breeze Mrs. Julia F. Williams tells how for thirty-two years, never missing ‘a single day, she has been agkrou_y/z Evenin this day of railroad wonders, with engines that can spurt at the rate of 112 miles an hour, it seems a remarkable idea that provides for passengers chang- ing cars on trains that run at the rate of sixty miles an hour without the slightest cessatiun of speed. It is just this that the C’/}anyiny Oraino at a Wfile a Winute Fow Wey Qa:senyers Way HAvai of the Cxpress and on the transfer-car of the express is a I similar arrangemeant." Presently, when | the cars are running even and even, the | nuliiy _of she invention is displayed. | From apertures in the side of each of the | transfer-cars steel bar< appear—that is & | steel bar eme ges from the right socket of A @z § ‘gmp)m\wa%wflmwmf’k‘fl" i TRANSFERRING PASSENGERS ON FLYING TRAINS, constant to ber trust. Her birtkplace was in Maine and she is over 60 vears oid. The greater portion of her life has been spent in California, though, and she loves that clime dearly. “I go up the stairs in the early even- ing,”” he said, ‘‘and ight the lamps. I love to watch the beams flash out over the waters. Itis wonderful how bright it will be on a stormy night when the clouds almost seem to be resting .on the crests of thiose tossing waves. “Tnen, again, at mianight, always, I come up again to'see that all is well. It is'then that I love best to stand and watch the sea. When it is caim and peaceful under the light of the moon, or just the stars, the silence and majesty of it is in- spirinz. And when a storm is raging, and a lonely ship is struiggling along, aided by my light, I fancy that it is like a soul in the sea of life, buffeted but guided by the light of the sea of Bethlehem!” There is fescination in such a lifein a lighthouse by the sea JEAN MoRRIs. SANTA BARBARA LIGHTHOUSE. Rl Ny T VR AN Wil u’v ,l\ WA i invention of Charles E. Dosser, a well- known Syracuse man, makes possible of accomplishment. He has designed a wonderful traveling railroad station in the form of a car with a vestibuled bridge at the side. Mr. Dosser’s business takes him about the country a great deal. In fact, he makes his home largely on railroad trains. Slow time and long waits have often Been hislot, and it was in trying to endure these discomforts of the traveler's life that the remarkable plan he proposes to have executed arose in his brain. If only some invention could Le conceived by which unfortunate passengers who long for an express train but are fated to miss it because they were at way stationscould gain their object humanity would be ben- efited. Then came the thought as to how a change of cars could be effected without delaying the express train; that is, a change from the local to the limited. After studying the subject for more than a year, Mr. Dosser has just evolved an in- vention which he hopes to see tried. It provides for a limited train, or an express that is unlimited, that shall run through from New York to Chicago, for example, without making a single stop, traveling steadily at the rate of sixty miles an hour. To bring this about he would have aux- iliary trains, each of which shoula pick up passengers along 100 miles of territory. Every train would be scheduled to be ata certain station at the time the express was due. By an arrangement with the tele- graph operator at the station beyond which the auxiliary train was waiting, the conductor thereof would receive notice from the telegraph operator about five minutes before the express arrived. Then the auxiliary would pull out on the track next to the one used by the éx- press and proceed to make time. The time that it would try to make would be sixty miles an hour, which would not be a difficult task, because the engine of each auxiliary train would be of the very best class and capable o! making high speed. By the time the express was near the auxiliary train the latter would be making close to the desired speed, and both engi- neers would regulate the time they were making so as to run neck and neck. Now comes the change of passengers. The transfer-car of the auxiliary has on its side a door which opens inward. Folded close to the side of the car. just outside this door, is what seems to be the ordin- ary accordion-like coupling of a vestibule train. ‘There is, however, this difference, it has no platform on which the passen- re to walk, The vestibule counling is not directly on a line with the bottom of the door, but about a foot above it, fastened to two powerful arms of steel | which move upand down. The express train, that stops for nothing but accidents, also has a transier-car in its make-up. There is a door in the side of this car, just as in the transfer-car of the auxiliary. Outside, too, is the same ac- cordion-like vestibule, but in addition, outside the vestibule and fastened to the side of the car, the lower end resting upon a stout arrangement of steel, is what re- sembles the gangway of a big passenger steamer, minus the railing. Looking again at the transfer-car of the auxiliary it will be noticed that just below the door are two heavy sockets. A little aistance on each side of the door and be- 4 low the threshold are two more sockets the express-car and from the left socket of the auxiiiary. These bars are pushed at an angle, flat wise, so that when fitted in the sockets on the two cars they are in the form of the letter X and form most sub~ stantial basis for a bridge. This done the bridge is lowered from the express trans- fer-car until its outer edge fits firmly into the socket just below the threshold of the door of the auxiliary car. Then the vesti- bule coupling shoots out from each side directly over the bridge and fits down firmly upon it. This isdone in farless time than it takes to relate the method of the invention and now the tranfer of passengers from the auxiliary to the express occurs. Both trains are running at sixty miles an hour all this while and the passengers walk across from the auxiliary to the express just as easily and comfortably as if they were passing from one car to another in a vestibule train. The transie: complete, it is an easy matter to replace the apparatus as it was before the transfer took place. Another necessary proceeding which Mr. Dosser’s invention provides for is the transfer of baggage, and this takes place 1n a similar manuer to the transfer of pas- sengers. The vestibule is not quite so elegant, but it is constructed from the standpoint of strength rather than ap- pearance. The baggage is wheeled from one train to another in the same manner as it is hustled about a railroad station, and as the time for the transfer of passen- gers and baggage is limited in each case to ten minutes there is no time to waste. The equipment of the trains under these circumstances must be the very best, and it will be an absolute necessity that the roadbea be aimost faultless, for any un- usual variation in motion or an ugly jump wou'd be apt to have a bad effect on the trains and result in disaster. The feat of running a train.960 miles without a change of engine has rarely if ever been accomplished. Add to this the fact that no stoppage is to be made for either coal or water, and it can readily be seen that Mr. Dosser’s invention verges on the marvelous. He proposes to have an engine built with a tender that is like nothing ever constructed of its sort in the matter of size. Of course the fact that there would be no stop and hardly any slackening of speed would, in a measure, reduce the usual consumption of coal by the locomotives that are ordinarily re- quired to pull a train the distance men- tioned. It is proposed, however, that this new tender shall be of sufficient size and capacity to contain all the coal necessary for the mammoth run. Water will be taken from tanks beside the track stretch- ing along some distance, after the fashion of the Pennsylvauia fast trains. This train tbat Mr. Dosser proposes to have all records distanced by will of necessity have improyements that genius has still to conceive. For instance, the engine must have especially constructed journals on which provision is made to avoid heating. Mr. Dosser proposes that they shall be heavier and provided with automatic oil cups, from which is to flow a steady supply of oil. By a system of pipes it is proposed to have these oil cups constantly replenished from the cab of the engine, an ordinary stop cork regula- ting the flow. i Mry Dosser is very enthusiastic over his - invention, and believes there is no doubt of its success if it is given a fair trial,