Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/777

* WOVOKA. 603 WKASSE. to comnninicato to his people, with tlio promise that by strictly observiiij,' the doctrines and cere- monial they would be enaliled to rejoin their departed friemls in a now Indian earth which was rapidly approacliing from the west, stocked with game and everything of the old Indian life, and which would slide ov<'r the present earth, driving the whites before it to the land l)cyond the water from which they had originally- come. In the same comicction he was to preach the brother- hood of the Indian race, and the abolition of tril)al warfare, the war dance and all that savored of war; to forbid laceration, destruction of prop- erty, and excessive grief at funerals, and to per- mit the equality of women in ceremonial afl'airs. On his return from the s])irit world he at once began to preach the new dottrine. which, in spite of its proliibition of their cherished war and funeral customs. a])pealcd strongly to the Indians for the hope it held out of a happy future. The songs and dances of the ceremonial, popularly known as the Ghost Dance, soon became general among the Piute ( q.v. ), and the report spread to other tribes across the mountains, which sent delegations to interview and receive instructions from 'the Messiah' until the Ghost Dance had spread to nearly all the Indian tribes from the Sierras to the ^Missouri River, and from the Canadian frontier almost to the Mexican border. Among the Sioux (q.v.) the religious ferment intensified a feeling of dissatisfaction over cer- tain treaty grievances, resulting in the war of 1890-91. The dance reached its highest point about a year later, after which the excitement rapidly subsided, owing to the failure of the prophecies at the apjiointed time. It exists now only as a semi-social afTair. Consult Mooney, The Ghost Dance Religion (Washington, 1896). WRANGEL, vrang'el, Friedricii Heixricii Ernst, Count (1784-1877). A Prussian general. He was born at Stettin ; entered the Prussian Army as ensign, 1796; fought in the campaigns against Napoleon, rising to the rank of colonel, and was made major-general in 1823. and lieu- tenant-general in 1838. He was given command of the allied forces against Denmark in 1848. but in September he was summoned home, and in November suppressed a popular uprising in Berlin, for which service he was made general of cavalry. He was created a fleld-marshal in 18.56, upon the 60th anniversary of his entrance into the military service. He commanded the allied Austrian and Prussian forces against Denmark in 1864. but soon after the opening of the war retired from the command. WKANGEL, or WRANGELL. Ferdinand, Baron {c. 1794-1870) . A Russian explorer and naval oflieer. He was born in Livonia, and after graduating at the Imperial Naval Acad- emy at Saint Petersburg entered the Russian Navy. He sailed twice around the world and took part in several scientific expeditions. In 1820 he was placed in command of an expedition planned to explore the Polar regions north of Asiatic Russia. He advanced on sledges to 72° 2' north latitude, from which point he sighted the open sea beyond. The land known as 'rangel Land was not discovered by him, but was ex- plored and named after Inm by Long in 1867. He was Governor of Alaska from 1829 to 1834. dur- ing which time he organized and directed a com- mercial com])any for the development of the region. In 1849 he became a vice-admiral, and from 1833 to 1858 he held the post of minister of marine. He opposed the sale of Alaska to the United States. His own comiilete account of his Polar expedition was published in Russian (Saint Petersburg, 1844). A briefer account, being extracts from his diaries, was published in German in 1S39 and an English translation by Mrs. Sabine entitled WranyeU's Exjudition to the Polar Sea in 1820-23 (London, 1840). "WRANGEL, Karl Guktav. Count (lfil3-76). A Sw(Mli>h commander, born at Skokloster, near Upsahi. lie entered the military service in 1027, under Gustavus Adolphus. After the death of the King (1632) he served with Ucrnhard of Saxe-Weimar and Baner. At the death of Baner in 1641, though the command of the army was his by right, he consented to serve under Tors- tenson. In 1644 he took command of the Swedish fleet and defeated the Danes near the island of Fehmarn. At the close of the Danish ar in 1645 he was made count. an<l in the following year took command of the Sw-edish army in Germany. With Turenne he forced Maximilian of Bavaria to an armistice in 1647. He served against the Poles in 1655-56. and against the Danes in 1057-59, with much dis- tinction. In 1074 he led the Swedisli army against the Elector of Brandenburg, but was compelled by failing health to leave it, and re- turned to Sweden. WRANGELL, ran'grl. A village in the Southern District of Alaska, 100 miles south- east of Juneau, on Wrangell Island at the mouth of the Stikine River (Map: Alaska, J 4). It has salmon canneries and a hatchery, and exports fish and furs. A Presbyterian mission was found- ed here in 1877. Wrangell was settled by Rus- sians in 1833 and was of considerable importance as a distributing centre at the time of the ex- ploitation of the Cassiar gold fields. Popula- tion, in 1900. 868. WRANGEL (ran'gd) LAND. An island in the Arctic Ocean, in latitude 71 j N., longitude 178j W., about 4U0 miles northwest of Bering Strait (Map: Arctic Regions). It is about 70 miles long and 25 miles bi'oad, and consists chiefly of naked granite rocks over 2000 feet high. The island was first reported by natives of the Siberian coast early in the nineteenth century, and the Russian explorer Wrangel, after whom it was named, went in search of it in 1821. It was first sighted by the American explorer Long in 1867 and explored in 1881 by Hooper, who took possession of it for the .United States and called it "New Columbia." WRANGLER. A term ajiplicd to one who has attained a first class in the mathematical honor examination in the University of Cam- bridge. The word owes its origin to the public disputations formerly held as ])art of the exami- nations. The honor men, or tho.se reaching a certain rank, are divided into fliree classes ac- cording to merit, wranglers, senior optimes, and junior optimes, the highest of the first class be- ing known as senior wrangler. WRASSE (from Welsh .r7H-)Y(c;ipn). A spiny- rayed marine fish of the family Labridae. The form is somewhat perch-like, but the back is straighter. There is a single long dorsal fin. the spines of the anterior portion of which are sur-