﻿FLETCHER-LA 
  FLESCHE] 
  RECENT 
  HISTORY 
  619 
  

  

  and 
  morality 
  so 
  impressed 
  him 
  that 
  he 
  then 
  and 
  there 
  registered 
  

   a 
  vow 
  that 
  if 
  he 
  ever 
  rose 
  (<> 
  a 
  position 
  of 
  power 
  in 
  the 
  tribe 
  lie 
  

   would 
  use 
  his 
  authority 
  to 
  break 
  up 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  drinking. 
  Years 
  

   passed, 
  and 
  tins 
  young 
  clerk, 
  who 
  was 
  Joseph 
  La 
  Flesche, 
  became 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  principal 
  chiefs 
  of 
  the. 
  tribe. 
  True 
  to 
  his 
  vow, 
  he 
  issued 
  

   an 
  order 
  that 
  men 
  who 
  drank 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  flogged. 
  a 
  During 
  the 
  

   time 
  that 
  Chief 
  La 
  Flesche 
  remained 
  in 
  power 
  drunkenness 
  was 
  

   practically 
  checked 
  in 
  the 
  tribe. 
  Unfortunately 
  cabals 
  arose. 
  The 
  

   right 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  to 
  inflict 
  such 
  severe 
  penalties 
  was 
  questioned 
  by 
  

   men 
  who 
  were 
  not 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  moral 
  welfare 
  of 
  the 
  people. 
  

   Other 
  authorities 
  were 
  invoked 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  liquor 
  found 
  its 
  way 
  

   surreptitiously 
  among 
  the 
  people. 
  But 
  the 
  drastic 
  measures 
  of 
  (he 
  

   chief 
  were 
  not 
  soon 
  forgotten 
  and 
  years 
  elapsed 
  before 
  their 
  effect 
  

   was 
  wholly 
  lost. 
  

  

  Government 
  Control 
  of 
  Traders 
  

  

  In 
  accordance 
  with 
  the 
  English 
  policy, 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  Crown 
  had 
  the 
  

   right 
  to 
  regulate 
  trade 
  and 
  to 
  license 
  traders, 
  the 
  Articles 
  of 
  Confed- 
  

   eration 
  reserved 
  that 
  right 
  to 
  Congress. 
  An 
  act 
  of 
  1786 
  required 
  

   Indian 
  traders 
  to 
  be 
  citizens 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  An 
  act 
  of 
  1790 
  

   vested 
  the 
  power 
  to 
  appoint 
  traders 
  in 
  the 
  President 
  or 
  an 
  officer 
  

   appointed 
  by 
  him. 
  When, 
  by 
  virtue 
  of 
  the 
  Louisiana 
  Purchase, 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  country 
  became 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  domain 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   trading 
  with 
  the 
  tribe 
  came 
  under 
  the 
  restrictions 
  of 
  the 
  laws 
  mentioned. 
  

   After 
  the 
  tribe 
  passed 
  under 
  the 
  control 
  of 
  the 
  "Agency 
  system" 
  

   resident 
  traders 
  were 
  licensed 
  by 
  the 
  Indian 
  Bureau. 
  These 
  traders 
  

   opened 
  stores 
  on 
  the 
  reservation 
  and 
  absorbed 
  the 
  trade 
  of 
  the 
  tribe. 
  

   The 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  herds 
  in 
  the 
  seventh 
  decade 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  

   century, 
  the 
  rapid 
  increase 
  of 
  white 
  settlements, 
  and 
  Anally 
  the 
  open- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  by 
  railroads, 
  all 
  produced 
  marked 
  and 
  lasting 
  

   effects 
  on 
  the 
  life 
  and 
  avocations 
  of 
  the 
  people, 
  bringing 
  the 
  industry 
  

   of 
  hunting 
  to 
  a 
  close 
  and 
  diminishing 
  greatly 
  the 
  influence 
  and 
  the 
  

   business 
  of 
  the 
  trailer. 
  

  

  a 
  It 
  happened 
  that 
  a 
  prominent 
  man, 
  whose 
  reputation 
  for 
  bravery 
  was 
  second 
  to 
  none, 
  yielded 
  to 
  temp- 
  

   tation 
  and 
  became 
  drunk. 
  He 
  was 
  a 
  very 
  close 
  friend 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  and 
  everyone 
  thought 
  thai 
  the 
  chief 
  

   would 
  not 
  order 
  this 
  friend, 
  a 
  man 
  honored 
  by 
  the 
  tribe, 
  to 
  be 
  flogged 
  like 
  a 
  common 
  offender. 
  But 
  

   the 
  order 
  was 
  given 
  and 
  the 
  •'soldiers" 
  who 
  were 
  commanded 
  to 
  execute 
  the 
  punish 
  incni 
  advanced 
  to 
  

   the 
  warrior's 
  tent, 
  not 
  without 
  serious 
  questionings 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  they 
  might 
  not 
  have 
  to 
  fight 
  the 
  

   offender, 
  who 
  had 
  never 
  been 
  defeated 
  in 
  battle. 
  The 
  warrior 
  was 
  in 
  his 
  tent; 
  he 
  heard 
  the 
  ''soldiers" 
  

   approaching 
  and 
  knewtheirerrand. 
  Hestepped 
  out 
  tomeet 
  them. 
  As 
  he 
  appeared, 
  I 
  he 
  "soldiers" 
  hailed; 
  

   looking 
  at 
  them 
  he 
  said: 
  "Do 
  your 
  duty. 
  I 
  broke 
  the 
  order 
  of 
  the 
  chief 
  and 
  must 
  take 
  my 
  punishment." 
  

   He 
  was 
  duly 
  flogged; 
  no 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  "soldiers" 
  dared 
  to 
  abate 
  his 
  strokes. 
  As 
  a 
  result 
  of 
  this 
  warrior's 
  act, 
  

   he 
  not 
  only 
  rose 
  higher 
  in 
  the 
  esteem 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  because 
  of 
  his 
  manly 
  recognition 
  of 
  his 
  fault 
  but 
  his 
  

   action 
  strengthened 
  the 
  chief 
  in 
  his 
  effort 
  to 
  put 
  a 
  stop 
  to 
  drinking. 
  Until 
  his 
  death, 
  which 
  took 
  place 
  

   toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century, 
  this 
  warrior 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  respected 
  and 
  influential 
  men 
  in 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  tribe. 
  

  

  