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
The whole line of mission work was carefully reviewed. The result was
that we gave up our plan of rebuilding at Lac-qui-parle and sought a
new place. The reasons for this were: first, we had from the beginning
been widely separated in our work, spreading out our labors and
attempting to cultivate as much of the field as possible. This had
obviously had its disadvantages. We were too far apart to cheer and
help each other. Now, when we were reduced to two families, Mr. Treat
advised concentrating our forces. That was in accordance with our own
inclinations. And, secondly, the Yellow Medicine had been made the
headquarters of the Indian Agency for the four thousand Upper Indians.
The drift was down toward that point. It was found that we could take
with us almost all the Christian part of our community. The idea was
to commence a settlement of the civilized and Christianized Dakotas,
at some point within convenient distance from the Agency, to receive
the help which the government had by treaty pledged itself to give.
And so we got on our horses and rode down to Dr. Williamson's,
twenty-five or thirty miles; and Mr. Treat and Dr. Williamson and Miss
Spooner and Mary and I rode over the country above Pay-zhe-hoo-ta-ze,
which was selected as the site for the new station, afterward called
Hazelwood. At Dr. Williamson's, we had a memorable meeting, at which
Mr. Treat told our Dakota church members of a visit he had made to the
Choctaws and Cherokees. We also had consultations on various matters;
among which was that of getting out a new Dakota hymn-book, which
should contain the music as well as the hymns. A new departure was
thus inaugurated in our mission work, and, in after years, time was
often counted from this visit of Secretary Treat.
The building materials we had prepared at Lac-qui-parle were partly
hauled by land and partly floated down the river; and by the month of
September our house was so far finished that we removed the family
down. Also, we had erected a small frame which served for various
purposes, as school-room and dwelling. But, while the work was
progressing, Mary had quite a sudden and severe attack of sickness. It
was nearly sundown when the messenger arrived, and Dr. Williamson and
I had a night ride over the prairie. The shadows looked weird and
ghostly--perhaps tinged by the mental state of the beholder. At
midnight we reached the sufferer, who was, by wise doctoring and
skilful nursing, restored in a week....
The Dakotas entered at once into the idea of the new settlement; and
no sooner had we selected the spot for our building and set a
breaking-plough to work in making a mission field, than they were at
work in the same line. The desirable places were soon selected, and
log cabins went up, the most of which were replaced by frame buildings
or brick within a year or two. The frames were put up by themselves,
with the assistance we could give them,--the brick houses were built
by the government.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account