 |
|
|
|
| |
 |
McLaughlin Name
Early residents named this city for Col. James McLaughlin, a noted author and former inspector with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
McLaughlin Landmark
The Standing Rock Indian Reservation spans 2.3 million acres in North and South Dakota. The people on the reservation, commonly known as Sioux, are members of the Dakota and Lakota nations. Both names mean "allies" or "friends." The Dakota, or Yanktonai people, live primarily in the North Dakota part of the reservation. As the largest division of the Sioux, the Lakota are subdivided into Seven Tents. Two of those subdivisions reside at Standing Rock, the Hunkpapa, or "Campers at the Horn," and the Sihasapa, or "Blackfoot," who are unrelated to the Algonquian Blackfoot of Montana and Canada.
Prominent People in McLaughlin
James McLaughlin served under 12 U.S. presidents as an American Indian agent on the Standing Rock Reservation. He wrote an official government report covering the death of Sitting Bull at a camp near the reservation. Indian policemen, Henry Bull Head and Charles Shave Head, attempted to arrest the legendary war chief on charges that he was associated with the Ghost Dance phenomenon. At first, Sitting Bull consented to accompany the police contingent of some 43 men.
Things went south when Crow Foot, Sitting Bull's son, abruptly ridiculed his father for giving up without a fight. Roughly 150 Sioux Ghost Dancers surrounded the police and opened fire. Immediately wounded, Bull Head turned and fatally shot Sitting Bull. More fighting ensued, resulting in lethal casualties on both sides. In his official report on the episode, McLaughlin specifically noted the heroism of Bull Head and Shave Head, who both died during the conflict.
McLaughlin penned a book about his life on the reservation called My Friend, the Indian.
****
Sitting Bull is perhaps the best known chief of the Sioux, or Hunkpapa Lakota. In 1874, the federal government tried to coerce American Indian tribes to sell the Black Hills. When that sleazy ploy failed, the government issued a directive ordering all American Indians to relocate on designated reservations that just happened to be gold-free. Sitting Bull refused point-blank.
He guided 3,500 Sioux warriors against Gen. G.A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn and, with the help of Crazy Horse, another Sioux legend, scored a spectacular victory by annihilating Custer's command.
Also called Tatanka Yotanka, the chief took his followers to Canada for a time before returning to the U.S. He traveled with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a premier attraction. Often urged to address large audiences, he routinely cursed his listeners in his native Lakota, calling them "thieves" and "liars," to the sound of uproarious applause. Regarded by his people as a visionary, Sitting Bull once said, "Each man is good in His sight. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows."
Sitting Bull's nephew was called White Bull. As a warrior at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, White Bull is often credited as the Hunkpapa Lakota who did in Gen. Custer. He apparently never confirmed the killing personally, but sometimes admitted that he had engaged "Yellow Hair" in hand-to-hand combat.
****
Considered by many experts to be one of the toughest and smartest warriors ever produced by an American Indian society, Chief Gall of the Hunkpapa Lakota retired to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation to live out his life as a farmer. He fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn as Sitting Bull's military underboss, but later came to despise the more famous chief, calling him a "fraud" and "coward." One anonymous U.S. Army trooper who met Chief Gall on the battlefield described him as the "best soldier who ever wore paint and feathers, damn him." Gall later encouraged his people to embrace life on the reservation. During his combat days, Gall wielded a war hatchet as his weapon of choice.
James McLaughlin considered Chief Gall a personal friend and sized him up as one of the superior leaders of the Lakota nation on a level with Red Cloud. Sitting Bull regarded McLaughlin as an evil enemy of all American Indians.
****
Another successful participant at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Chief Rain-in-the-Face, aka Exa-ma-gozua, was a famous member of the Hunkpapa band of the Lakota Nation. Rain-in-the-Face, a terrifying warrior, is perhaps best remembered for cutting out the heart of Thomas Custer, the younger brother of George Armstrong Custer and a two-time Medal of Honor winner. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow captured the deed, which took place at the Little Bighorn, in his poem "The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face."
The warrior himself discounted the story, saying, "Many lies have been told of me. Some say that I killed the Chief, and others that I cut out the heart of his brother because he had caused me to be imprisoned. Why, in that fight the excitement was so great that we scarcely recognized our nearest friends. Everything was done like lightning. After the battle we young men were chasing horses all over the prairie, while the old men and women plundered the bodies; and if any mutilating was done, it was by the old men."
The amazing war chief eventually settled down and gave up combat on the high plains. "I have lived peaceably ever since we came upon the reservation," he once said. "No one can say that Rain-in-the-Face has broken the rules of the Great Father. I fought for my people and my country. When we were conquered I remained silent, as a warrior should. Rain-in-the-Face was killed when he put down his weapons before the Great Father. His spirit was gone then; only his poor body lived on, but now it is almost ready to lie down for the last time. Ho, hechetu!" The last two words translate as, "It is well."
General McLaughlin Trivia
City residents have reported numerous sightings of the McLaughlin Monster, a creature with strong similarities to the infamous Bigfoot, aka Sasquatch, of Canada and the Pacific Northwest. Towering, humanoid, and profusely hairy, the McLaughlin Monster leaves behind 18-inch footprints that denote a stride of nearly eight feet. A size 10 male human foot is roughly 10 inches long. NBA basketball center Shaquille O'Neal wears a size 22G.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
