17
PONCAS SAVED BY GIRL
I'LEA CAUSES SENATE TO CHANGE POLICY
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
ECENTlyY a dispatch of unusual interest appeared
in the press of the country from Ada, Oklahoma. As
a bit of history it is worthy of more than passing
thought, while a vein of romance permeates the epi
sode and adds to its heart interest. The article fol.
lows:
One of saddest chapters in the Government's deal
ing with the Indians, one which created a tremendous feeling at the time,
was the removal of the Poncas from their reservation in Nebraska, where
for many years they had lived, and from lands the Government had con
veyed to them in fee simple. The removal, as far as it affected the
Poncas, was equally as sad and heartrending as the famous "trek' ' from
North Carolina to Oklahoma by the Cherokees nearly a half century be
fore. The career of Standing Bear, the chief of the Poncas, together with
Bright Eyes, the daughter of Joseph L,a Flesche, former chief of the tribe,
changed the policy of the Government relative to the Indians; especially
the forcible taking from them of lands that were dear to them, sending
the Indians to sections with which they were unfamiliar and where cli
matic conditions were different from those to which they had been accus
tomed. For several years prior to the removal in 1878 the Sioux had waged a
relentless warfare on the Poncas. The tribe had been decimated in num
bers and all efforts of the Government had failed to bring about peace.
At last the Government forcibly required the tribe to go on a reservation
chosen for them in Oklahoma. The migration south cost many lives
and during the first year a third of them had perished, among them a
son of Standing Bear.
Conditions reaehed such a point however, that Standing Bear, taking
the bones of his son and accompanied by a few followers, made the jour
ney back to Nebraska. He went to the authorities and asked for seed
and to be permitted to cultivate a crop. . At first his request was
granted, but later the Government changed its plans, and Standing Bear
was arrested, to be returned to Oklahoma. On reaching Omaha several
prominent citizens became interested in the story of the Indian and a
writ of habeas corpus was sued out in the United States Court, the de
cision of the judge being favorable to Standing Bear. The matter had
reached the newspapers and had created a tremendous sensation.
Bright Eyes, who had received a splendid education and was at the