“Scarcely had my people reached the Ute village when we heard of a white preacher whom the Utes held in the highest esteem, who told a beautiful dream or vision of the coming of a great and good red man. This strange person was to set aright the wrongs of my people; he could restore to us our game and hunting grounds, was so powerful that every wish or word he gave utterance to became fulfilled.
“His teaching had a strange effect upon the Utes, and, in obedience to the commands of this man, they began a Messiah dance.”
Keeps-the-Battle further said that, immediately upon the arrival of the hunting-party at Pine Ridge, a small dance was held in imitation of the ones they had seen while among the Utes, but that until the medicine men began to superintend the ceremonies nothing unusual occurred. The dances were held every few days until the middle of August. Then, with scarcely any warning, a wild and general desire took possession of a large part of the nation to welcome the expected Messiah the moment he set foot upon earth. Mr. H. G. Galagher was then Agent, and, fearing that the enthusiasm of the Sioux under his charge might terminate in an outbreak, he visited White Bird’s camp accompanied by fourteen Indian police. As he approached the village, twenty warriors sprang out of the brush and, drawing their Winchesters, called upon him to halt. They would not permit him to advance, and compelled the party to turn about and retrace its footsteps to the agency.
The news of this bold action spread like wildfire through the country, and being heralded and exaggerated by the daily press, caused many an uneasy and timid settler to prepare to remove to the nearest point upon the railroad.
The news of the failure of the agent to stop the Messiah dance was carried by couriers to the Indians at Rosebud and Standing Rock reservations, and the more susceptible persons became infatuated with the new craze. Meetings and dances were arranged at points distant from the agency posts, in order that no employee might interfere. Of course, both the Sioux and the Whites were much excited. The former were ready and willing to throw off forever the odious yoke of oppression; the latter, fearful for the safety of their homes and families.
The white people became frantic from fear, houses were barricaded and all Indians viewed with suspicion. A sensational press magnified events, and settlers accused many friendly Indians, who had joined the dance for no other purpose than worship, of hostile intentions. This accusation, coupled with the arrival of some four or five times as many troops as were necessary to subdue the small number of lodgers which later fled into the borders of the Bad Lands, had the effect of turning the more timid toward the agency, while the braver middle-aged and young men fled to the northward.
SIOUX FARMING. WHITE CLAY CREEK, PINE RIDGE, 1909
But to return to the mission of Agent Galagher last summer. It is quite natural to suppose that the Agent was not a little frightened at his reception near “White Bird’s” camp, and, as subsequent events would seem to indicate, he feared to assert his authority and compel the Sioux to discontinue their dance. He hoped that in time the craze would die out without interference on his part. But instead of ceasing, the number participating increased, and really things began to assume a very threatening aspect. Then came the change of Agents and Dr. D. F. Royer, of Alpina, South Dakota, succeeded Mr. Galagher. Royer was not the man for so trying a post, and as both the Agents were political appointees, trouble was certain to follow. And no sooner did Indians begin to dance than Royer bombarded Washington with requests for troops. He sent a letter or telegram every day.
The dancers were not slow to take advantage of Galagher’s or Royer’s non-interference, and a report gained wide circulation to the effect that their Agent was afraid to command the police to arrest the principals in the dance. The medicine men and Indians of the same stamp as the late Sitting Bull, addressed the young men somewhat after the following manner: