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THE INDIANS.

MISSIONARY LIFE AMONG THE DAKOTA INDIANS.

BY MRS. J.F. CROSS.


It is hard to get the most interesting experiences of a missionary's
life, because they belong to the daily routine and so are often
unmentioned. But here is a description of life and travel among the
Indians, by the wife of a missionary just going to the Dakotas:

The land of the Dakotas--what a distance! How long the miles seemed from
my home! How frightful the land seemed to me, from the tales of
blizzards and cyclones! How strange to go to live among the Sioux
Indians, known to me principally for the Minnesota, Fort Fetterman and
Custer massacres; to be a friend to Sitting Bull, Brave Bull, Gall,
Grass, Swift Bear, Red Cloud and many others with names no less
picturesque! With such impressions I left my home to accompany my
husband to his home and work at Rosebud Agency, South Dakota.

I was soon relieved of the idea of the distance, for only a few hours
took us across Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota to the
border of Dakota. Here we left the railroad to attend the general
conference of the Dakota Mission at Flandreau. How quickly all the
impressions of years can be changed, when the impressions are wrong and
we see the true state of affairs. In this case, seeing hundreds of
bronzed faces, lighted up with joy, as they sung "I hear Thy welcome