A new Indian policy was inaugurated with the coming in of President Grant’s administration in 1869.  Henceforth it was intended to rely primarily on peaceful diplomacy and ample rations available at all times.  The government was to maintain peaceful relations not only between the Indians and whites, but between the various Indian nations as well.

The first step in the new departure was a practical divorce of the Indian bureau from party politics.  The religious denominations were recognized and became more involved in their assistance with the various agencies.  The important agencies in Dakota Territory were placed under charge of the Protestant Episcopal Church.  The Indians at Whetstone were under the chieftainship of the renowned Spotted Tail, who was the leader of the peaceful Sioux for more than twenty years.

It was about 1870 that Whetstone Landing at the mouth of Whetstone Creek, about fifty miles below the mouth of the White River was established and called the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies.  Substantial buildings were erected and supplies for a large part, if not all of the two tribes of Brules and Oglala were deposited by the steamboats at this landing.  Native Americans were employed to haul the supplies to the agencies which were located away from the Missouri.

On the east side of the Missouri River, opposite the mouth of Whetstone Creek, was Harney City, a frontier trading point and steamboat landing.  It had a post office and an average population of 200.  They included mostly cattlemen, herdsmen, “wood-hawks,” and a few merchants, restaurant keepers and others.

Harney City was spoken of by those who visited the place as the wildest frontier town in the country.  This is the primary reason that Spotted Tail and Red Cloud did not want to be located at the mouth of Whetstone Creek.  Spotted Tail was concerned about protecting his folks from the extensive liquor traffic carried on along the Missouri River.  He was very definite in his opinion and expressed it often to government officials.

The location of the Spotted Tail Agency at the mouth of Whetstone Creek on the west side of the river about forty-five miles above Yankton was not a favorable location where permanent buildings would be erected.  The land was what is known as bottom land, low, flat, and without any drainage.

Consequently during rainy weather, or when the frost was leaving the ground, it was a bottomless pit of mud.  As a mud-hole, no improvements needed to be made.  It was perfect!

Gumbo was the primary soil in the area.   For the early settlers, this was their first experience with the pesky sludge.  Its stickiness resulted in their feet doubling in size.

The Native Americans moving to the mouth of Whetstone Creek reached the site during the extraordinary rainy and warm weather in December when gumbo mud abounded in its perfection.  Walking was difficult, nasty, and at times impossible.  Riding a horse was nearly impossible and it was impossible to travel by wagon.

It was not possible for an individual to travel over 160 feet without needing to stop and clean the mud from the wheels.  To rid the wheels of the gumbo a weapon that was a cross between a hatchet and broadax was used.

No one should need to wonder why Spotted Tail and his followers were unfavorably impressed with their new location.  They were determined to hold President Hayes to his promise to allow them to select an agency more to their liking in the spring.  While they were all in favor of being relocated to a more desirable location, they were not united as to the best place to move to.

Some favored Wounded Knee Creek, a tributary of the White River, located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  Some preferred the Whetstone site and others favored a location on the White River where the Fort Randall road to the Black Hills crossed that stream.

Soon after arriving at the Spotted Tail Agency, Captain D. C. Poole began issuing rations from the agency store rooms.  This was done every five days.  Before the issue, each head of a family was required to procure a ticket at the agency office, upon which was stated the number of persons and the gross amount of each part of the ration due.

The Supply Department had fixed the daily ration for each person, irrespective of age, as follows:

“One and one-half pounds of fresh beef, one-quarter of a pound of corn or meal, one-half of a pound of flour, four pounds of sugar to one hundred persons, two pounds of coffee to one hundred persons, and one pound of salt and one pound of soap when necessary.  Four times each month, three-quarters of a pound of bacon to each person was issued in lieu of beef.”

Those individuals who were selected to serve as an agent at each location had to have a wide range of abilities and skills for them to be successful.  They were required to deal with many different individuals and circumstances, including the “gumbo” problem.

The Kimball Graphic on January 21, 1887 reported:

“Chamberlain has at last found a use for her gumbo hills – toboggan slides.”

 

Author Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on September 25, 2024