﻿FLETCHER-LA 
  FLESCIIE] 
  RECENT 
  HISTORY 
  633 
  

  

  the 
  two 
  Ni'kagahi 
  u'zhu, 
  or 
  principal 
  chiefs. 
  He 
  was 
  with 
  the 
  

   Omaha 
  delegation 
  that 
  went 
  to 
  Washington 
  to 
  complete 
  the 
  treaty 
  

   of 
  1854. 
  La 
  Flesche 
  argued 
  with 
  the 
  officials 
  against 
  payments 
  

   being 
  made 
  in 
  goods. 
  He 
  demanded 
  that 
  the 
  tribe 
  receive 
  money 
  

   for 
  their 
  land, 
  declaring 
  that 
  with 
  money 
  the 
  people 
  could 
  buy 
  what 
  

   they 
  needed 
  — 
  tools, 
  food, 
  clothing. 
  The 
  silver 
  dime 
  he 
  used 
  to 
  

   illustrate 
  his 
  contention 
  was 
  long 
  cherished 
  in 
  memory 
  of 
  the 
  victory 
  

   which 
  gave 
  to 
  the 
  Omaha 
  cash 
  payments 
  instead 
  of 
  merchandise 
  

   but 
  which 
  won 
  for 
  him 
  the 
  enmity 
  of 
  certain 
  trader 
  factions. 
  He 
  

   had 
  gathered 
  about 
  him 
  at 
  Bellevue 
  the 
  young, 
  active 
  men 
  of 
  pro- 
  

   gressive 
  spirit, 
  who 
  formed 
  the 
  nucleus 
  of 
  what 
  afterward 
  became 
  

   known 
  in 
  the 
  tribe 
  as 
  the 
  "young 
  men's 
  party." 
  When 
  the 
  tribe 
  

   occupied 
  their 
  new 
  reservation 
  and 
  were 
  settling 
  in 
  villages 
  Joseph 
  

   La 
  Flesche 
  selected 
  a 
  site 
  slightly 
  south 
  of 
  that 
  on 
  which 
  "The 
  Mis- 
  

   sion" 
  was 
  about 
  to 
  be 
  built 
  and 
  there 
  he 
  formed 
  a 
  village 
  which 
  he 
  

   planned 
  should 
  be 
  somewhat 
  similar 
  to 
  a 
  white 
  settlement. 
  

  

  "The 
  Village 
  of 
  the 
  'Make-believe' 
  White 
  Men" 
  

  

  For 
  this 
  new 
  enterprise 
  the 
  followers 
  of 
  Joseph 
  La 
  Flesche 
  cut 
  logs 
  

   and 
  hauled 
  them 
  to 
  a 
  sawmill, 
  where 
  they 
  were 
  prepared 
  for 
  use. 
  

   Joseph 
  hired 
  white 
  carpenters 
  to 
  construct 
  his 
  own 
  house 
  and 
  under 
  

   the 
  direction 
  of 
  these 
  mechanics 
  the 
  men 
  of 
  the 
  village 
  erected 
  

   small 
  frame 
  houses 
  for 
  themselves 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  lumber 
  secured 
  from 
  the 
  

   logs. 
  The 
  shingles 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  purchased. 
  Joseph's 
  house 
  was 
  a 
  large 
  

   building 
  two 
  stories 
  high 
  with 
  rooms 
  on 
  both 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  hall; 
  

   here 
  he 
  had 
  a 
  store 
  and 
  for 
  several 
  years 
  carried 
  on 
  considerable 
  

   trade. 
  He 
  laid 
  out 
  roads, 
  one 
  leading 
  to 
  the 
  agency, 
  one 
  to 
  the 
  

   steamboat 
  landing 
  and 
  Mission, 
  and 
  one 
  through 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  

   village. 
  On 
  this 
  last 
  road 
  and 
  branch 
  roads 
  stood 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   houses. 
  He 
  fenced 
  a 
  tract 
  of 
  100 
  acres 
  or 
  more 
  in 
  the 
  bottom 
  

   and 
  furnished 
  the 
  oxen 
  and 
  plow 
  to 
  break 
  this 
  land. 
  It 
  was 
  

   divided 
  into 
  separate 
  fields 
  so 
  that 
  each 
  man 
  in 
  the 
  village 
  could 
  

   have 
  a 
  tract 
  of 
  his 
  own 
  for 
  cultivation. 
  A 
  few 
  families 
  started 
  

   other 
  little 
  fields 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  village. 
  It 
  was 
  on 
  this 
  bottom 
  

   that 
  the 
  first 
  wheat 
  raised 
  on 
  the 
  reservation 
  was 
  planted. 
  Sorghum 
  

   and 
  large 
  crops 
  of 
  corn 
  were 
  also 
  harvested 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  winter 
  the 
  

   men 
  hauled 
  their 
  produce 
  on 
  the 
  ice 
  to 
  Sioux 
  City, 
  then 
  a 
  newly 
  

   formed 
  settlement 
  on 
  the 
  Iowa 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  river 
  to 
  the 
  north. 
  All 
  

   the 
  children 
  of 
  this 
  village 
  were 
  sent 
  by 
  their 
  parents 
  to 
  the 
  Mission 
  

   School. 
  The 
  conservatives 
  of 
  the 
  tribe 
  called 
  this 
  village 
  by 
  the 
  

   derisive 
  name, 
  "the 
  village 
  of 
  the 
  'make-believe' 
  white 
  men." 
  

  

  The 
  enterprise 
  shown 
  by 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  this 
  village 
  had 
  a 
  marked 
  

   influence 
  on 
  the 
  tribe 
  in 
  general. 
  La 
  Flesche's 
  action 
  in 
  reference 
  

   to 
  drunkenness 
  has 
  been 
  told 
  (p. 
  621). 
  Of 
  course 
  this 
  man 
  did 
  not 
  

  

  