Mary and I: Forty Years with the SiouxRiggs, Stephen Return
History
Mary and I: Forty Years with the Sioux
Riggs, Stephen Return
Dakota Indians -- Missions; Riggs, Stephen Return, 1812-1883
In the meantime, the thought that our good friend Eagle Help should
lead out a war party to kill and mangle Ojibwa women and children
greatly troubled us. We argued and entreated, but our words were not
heeded. Among other things, we said we would pray that the war party
might not be successful. That was too much of a menace. Added to this,
they came and asked Mr. Huggins to grind corn for them on our little
ox-power mill, which he refused to do. They were greatly enraged, and,
just before they started out, they killed and ate two of the mission
cows. After a rather long and difficult tramp they returned without
having seen an Ojibwa. Their failure they attributed entirely to our
prayers, and so, as they returned ashamed, they took off the edge of
their disgrace by killing another of our unoffending animals.
After this, it was some months before Eagle Help would again be our
friend and helper. In the meantime, Dr. Williamson and his family
returned from Ohio, bringing with them Miss Fanny Huggins, to be a
teacher in the place of Mrs. Pond. Miss Huggins afterward became Mrs.
Jonas Pettijohn, and both she and her husband were for many years
valuable helpers in the mission work. Also this summer brought to
Lac-qui-parle such distinguished scientific gentlemen as M. Jean
Nicollet and J. C. Fremont. M. Nicollet took an interest in our war
difficulty, and of his own motion made arrangements in behalf of the
Indians to pay for the mission cattle destroyed. And so that glory and
that shame were alike forgotten. In after years Eagle Help affirmed
that his power of communicating with the spirit world as a war prophet
was destroyed by his knowledge of letters and the religion of the
Bible. Shall we accept that as true? And, if so, what shall we say of
modern spiritism? Is it in accord with living a true Christian life?
Thus events succeeded each other rapidly. But Mary and I and the baby
boy, "Good Bird," lived still in the "upper chamber," and were not
ashamed to invite the French savant, Jean Nicollet, to come and take
tea with us.
During these first years of missionary work at Lac-qui-parle, the
school was well attended. It was only once in a while that the voice
of opposition was raised against the children. Occasionally some one
would come up from below and tell about the fight that was going on
there _against_ the Treaty appropriation for Education.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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