PIONEER'S DIARY LISTS TALE OF INDIAN MURDERS
Lurid Descriptions Fund in Old Book; Made in '70's by S. D. Settler
Rapid City, S.D. - Succinctly lurid descriptions of 19th century Indian raids and scalpings and comical antics of hilarious cowboys are intermingled in the newly-discovered notebook of John R. Brennan, one of the founders of Rapid City.
Mrs. Jennie Brennan, widow of John Brennan, who died in 1919, found the notebook in a dusty desk drawer. Methodically set down were accounts of the murders of early settlers by Indians, civic activities of the town and the first big social event - a dance with women present.
Dance - But No Women
The dance occurred in the Allen
and Closson store on February 22, 1877, according to Brennan's notes. The
only woman in town was ill. Brennan said:
"The boys, dancing with each other, tripped the light fantastic until daylight and went home with 'heads' in the morning. The affair was long remembered as one of the greatest social events of the year 1877."
Describing the scalping of a minister, Brennan commented:
"Indians got away with his scalp and Bible."
Other random excerpts from the notebook are:
Ears Cut Off
"May 4, 1876 - Wm. Cogan of Watertown,
Wis. was murdered by Indians three miles from Rapid City off the Pierre
road. He is buried where he fell. He was scalped and his ears cut off.
"May 6, 1876 - Edwin Saddler, W. H. Gardner, St. Clair Ellis, Texas, Jack and John Harris. These four were murdered by Indians on the Fort Pierre road at the head of Bad River. They were in the employ of John Dillon. Were all scalped. Buried where they were murdered.
"August 15, 1876 - A mail carrier from Ft. Pierre was killed and scalped eight miles south from Crook City. His home was in Indiana. Same day, Charles Holland from Sioux City, (Iowa), was murdered near Spearfish."
In a similar manner, Brennan recorded the deaths of a score of others, pausing at one point to remark that "the country is full of Indians today."
Lost in Blizzard
He recounted his experience, making
a rough survey for a road with one companion, and lost "in one of the worst
blizzards ever experienced in this section of the country."
"We ran short of provisions and went 24 hours without anything to eat except snow. On our arrival at Pierre we found 100 men waiting there. Gen. Campbell came up from Yankton with a party of about 100 men also headed for the hills."
Brennan piloted one party back. His
notes indicated that it took him about two and a half months to make the
340-mile round-trip starting in February 1876.