Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/466

 offence in itself, but having been committed by a man whose skin was wrinkled and red, and whose people had for generations been the consistent friends of the white race, it was tantamount to felony.

To make a long story short, some people in Omaha began talking about the peculiarities presented in this case of the Omahas, and wondering why they had been arrested by the military authorities. Lieutenant W. L. Carpenter, Ninth Infantry, had them under his charge at Fort Omaha, and gave them an excellent character for sobriety and good behavior of every kind. Public sympathy became aroused; meetings were held, one of the first, if not the first, being that in the Presbyterian Church, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Harsha and Rev. Mr. Sherrill, and it was determined to bring the matter before the United States court upon a writ of habeas corpus to ascertain by what right these people were restrained of their liberty. Competent lawyers were enlisted, and the case was taken up by the Hon. A. J. Poppleton and Hon. J. L. Webster, two of the most prominent members of the bar in Nebraska. Dr. George L. Miller, in the Herald, and Mr. Edward Rosewater, in the Bee, and such citizens as the late Judge Savage, Bishop O'Connor, Rev. John Williams, and Bishop Clarkson brought much influence to bear; and by the time that Judge Dundy's court had convened the attention of the people of the United States was to some extent converged upon the trial, which was simply to determine the momentous question whether or not an American Indian who had never been upon the war-path could sever his tribal relations and go to work for his own living. Judge Dundy's decision was to the effect that he could; and the path of citizenship was opened for the Indian.

Mrs. "Bright Eyes" Tibbles, an Omaha Indian lady of excellent attainments and bright intellect, and her husband, Mr. J. H. Tibbles, editor of the Omaha Republican, took up the cudgels, and travelled through the Eastern and Middle States, addressing large concourses in all the principal towns and cities, and awakening an intelligent and potent interest in the advancement of the native tribes which has not yet abated. President Hayes appointed a commission, to consist of General George Crook, General Nelson A. Miles, Messrs. Stickney and Walter Allen, and the Rev. J. Owen Dorsey, to look into the general sub