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Drum, with the companies of Captains Craigie and Haskell, marched in, bringing with them food, forage, and tents, all of which we needed sadly. The cold was intense and fuel so scarce that only very small fires could be made. Our stomachs were in a state of collapse, as we had had but one light meal since leaving the post, twenty-four hours before, during the first seventeen of which the entire command had ridden over sixty miles, and part of it nearly seventy miles. Supper was cooked in short order, and the infantry generously sharing their blankets with us, the balance of the night was passed comfortably.

After a long and anxious conference with Colonel Drum as to further operations, it was decided that pursuit might possibly do much harm, by causing many Indians to flee into the Bad Lands. Accordingly Colonel Drum ordered the command to Fort Yates, the movement to commence at daylight. Subsequent events proved the wisdom of Colonel Drum's decision, as, in response to the messages sent by Major McLaughlin by runners to those who had left the reservation, one hundred and sixty returned in a few days, and two weeks later eighty-eight more were added to the one hundred and sixty. Of those that had held their way to the south, one hundred and sixty-eight men, women, and children surrendered to Lieut. Harry E. Hale, Twelfth Infantry, on the 21st, near the mouth of Cherry Creek, a tributary of the Cheyenne River. Only about thirty-eight men, women, and children went to Big Foot's camp. Had pursuit been made, all the Indians of Sitting Bull's faction would undoubtedly have been forced into the band of Big Foot, thus swelling the force which met Colonel Forsyth at Wounded Knee.

The dead policemen were buried with military honors in the agency cemetery. The Indian police and their friends objected so strenuously to the interment of Sitting Bull among their dead that he was buried in the cemetery of the post.

In this account of the events which led up to and resulted in the death of Sitting Bull, I have in some cases merely alluded to incidents which were actually important, and which I would

have preferred to describe in greater detail. The principal of these is the courage and devotion to duty manifested by the Indian police while attempting to make the arrest; and I am forced to express all the admiration which I feel for these wellnigh unknown heroes. The service which they rendered was of the highest value and importance, and it has not, in my opinion, met with adequate appreciation. Liberal pensions are paid to the widows and orphans of those who lost their lives or were disabled in the civil war. I trust a similar liberality will be shown to the widows and orphans of Bull Head, Shave Head, Little Eagle, Afraid-of-Soldiers, John Armstrong, Hawkman, and Middle.

II.-PROCEEDINGS.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY.

NINETEENTH ANNUAL MEETING.

UNIVERSITY CHAPEL, LINCOLN, NEBR.,
January 14, 1896.

The society was called to order by Hon. R. W. Furnas, in the enforced absence of the president of the society. After roll call, which disclosed a quorum present, the minutes of the meetings of January 15 and 16, 1895, were read by the secretary and approved. The first paper of the evening was read by Rev. William Murphy, of Tecumseh, entitled "A Brief Sketch of the Life of Captain P. S. Real, of Sherman's Army." Hon. J. Q. Goss, ́ of Bellevue, then gave a graphic account of "Bellevue: Its Past and Present;" after which Mr. I. A. Fort presented a carefully prepared paper on "Edward Morin, One of the Early Settlers of the Trans-Missouri Country." This ending the papers for the evening, the society went into business session. A telegram to ex-Governor Furnas, first vice-president of the society, from the president of the society, Hon. J. Sterling Morton, was read, as follows:

"WASHINGTON, D. C., January 10, 1896.

"Robert W. Furnas, Brownville, Nebr.:

"Impossible for me to attend Historical Society meeting this year, but hope they will not condemn me for my absence. Have sent a paper to Mrs. Sawyer to be read.

"J. STERLING MORTON."

The annual report of the secretary, containing some summaries from the librarian's report, was then read. An offer was made by Mr. Furnas, Mr. Stolley, and Mr. Harwood to contribute $5 each to purchase a bust of Hon. J. Sterling Morton, to be presented to the society.

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