Naturally, the Dakota
or Sioux Indian, the most powerful of all of the Indian races native to
the American continent, has, during the two hundred fifty years of
contact with white people, been the subject of a vast deal of writing,
but it is somewhat remarkable that until this late date no one has
attempted a comprehensive history of this people, and yet it may be
early enough to attempt this task. The course of the Sioux as a tribe is
now completed. He has fought his last war, he has discarded the blanket
and donned the habiliments of civilization; he has put his hand to the
plow, his herds feed where formerly roamed the buffalo; his children are
in school; he contributes to the support of the missionary who brings to
him the comforts of the Christian gospel, and while he is in his present
stage of transition which marks the revolution in his customs from those
of the barbarian to those of civilization, it is probably the most
propitious time to set down consecutively and comprehensively the story
of his past. The discriminating reader will readily discover that the
following pages are little more than a compilation. The compiler’s aim
has been to gather and sort from the voluminous writings upon the topic
enough to give a connected outline of the story of these people,
together with something of their habits and customs. It has written
neither as the admirer and advocate of the Indian nor as the defender of
the practices of the whites, but with the aim to recite the facts
precisely as he has found them to be, giving credit to those who deserve
it, be they white or red. and placing blame upon the blameworthy. This
much is very manifest to the compiler, and will doubtless be made to so
appear to the reader: The Sioux Indian is very human. Me is neither all
good nor all had. Among them arc men of high ideals and very
performance, as well as men of low and brutal instincts, who have given
fiendish license to their propensities. Their standards are not our
standards, and at all times they have been misapprehended by the whites.
As a rule, in their wars with the whites they have been moved by a high
and patriotic impulse creditable to any people. This fact the whites,
and particularly the military, have lost sight of at the critical
periods Xo people are more attached to the land of their birth and to
the graves of their kindred than are these Indians, and they have
willingly sacrificed their lives in the defense of their homes or in the
protection of what they deemed their rights. They are a reasonable
people of great intelligence, and most of the wars might have been
averted by negotiations creditable alike to the government and to the
Indians.
The compiler is under
great obligations to many persons for assistance and information. Rev.
John P. Williamson has placed his life long experience and vast
information constantly at the service of the writer and has diligently
responded to every call for help; likewise have Rev. Thomas L. Riggs,
Thomas A. Robertson and Samuel J. Brown contributed freely from their
wide information upon the history of the Dakotas. The war department and
the Indian department have spared no effort to afford all possible
official information, and the Canadian government has laboriously copied
out many rare and extensive manuscripts, affording information not
otherwise obtainable.
Mr. Robert E. McDowell
has been tireless in his efforts to dig out of the musty records of the
various departments at Washington documents which throw light upon
northwestern history and the relations of white men with the Dakotas.
Dr. DeLorme W.
Robinson, Mr. Charles E. DeLand. Colonel Charles P. Jordan and Mr. Ford
J. Goodfellow have each contributed much assistance, and to them the
editor gives sincere thanks.
