The Word Carrier (Santee, Nebraska), 1926-07 - 1926-08

              the Word Carrier
OF
SANTEE NORMAL TRAINING SCHOOL.
VOLUME  LV
HELPING THE  RIGHT, EXPOSING THE WRONG
NUMBER 4
SANTEE, NEBRASKA.
July-August, 1926
FIFTY CENTS PER YEAR
Our   Platform
For Indians we want American Education! We
want American Homes! We want American Rights!
The result of which is American Citizenship! And the
Gospel is the Power of God for their Salvation!
A Great Bridge Dedicated to a Missionary
One of the five bridges across the Missouri
River that are being built by the state of
South Dakota was dedicated at Pierre, June
28, 1926, in memory of Stephen Return
Riggs. That so great a structure, costing
$450,000 should be dedicated to a humble
missionary is a marvelous event. This was
brought about by the appreciative interest,
wide influence, and perseverance of Hon.
Doane Robinson, LL.D., State Historian and
statesman.
Seventy-five years ago Rev. Stephen R.
Riggs, then missionary under the "American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions", visited the Fort Pierre trading
post on a missionary exploring expedition,
and incidentally preached the first Christian
sermon in the territory which was to become
South Dakota. Dr. Stephen R. Riggs gave
all his life to Christian missionary work,
especially with the Sioux, or as they .called
themselves, the Dakota Indians. He was
followed in this work by his children and
grandchildren.
Dr. Stephen Kiggs' son Alfred began the
first educational work for the Indians in all
the Northwest, and incidentally founded
Santee Normal Training School, at Santee,
Nebraska, which is now, under the direction
of Alfred Riggs' son, Frederick B. Riggs,
drawing its Indian students from all South
and North Dakota and Montana.
Dr. Stephen Riggs' son, Thomas Lawrence
Riggs, carried forward for more than fifty
years t lie work that his father began at Fort
Pierre, including all the Indians in South
and North Dakota west of the Missouri River. This missionary work prepared the way
for the settlement and civilization of all the
region west of the Missouri River, which
has now become western .South Dakota, with
population and interests, both commercial
and political, necessitating the erection of five
great bridges over the Missouri River, in order
that the great state of South Dakota may no
longer be separated, the east from the west.
The most important part of the dedication
program for the Riggs Memorial Bridge was
held at the north front of the Capitol Building. There were addresses by Hon. J. E.
Hippie, Mayor of Pierre: Hon. Carl Gunderson, Governor of South Dakota; Dr. J.
K. Kirkham, the State Engineer in charge of
tbe construction of this and the other state
bridges. These addresses were interspersed
b.y music from several hands, and last on the
program came an oration by Rev. Jesse P.
Williamson on the historical aspects of this
bridge.
Mr. Williamson is the grandson of Dr.
Thomas Williamson, M. D., D. D., who began missionary work with the Dakota Indians in Minnesota in 1835. Dr. Stephen R.
Riggs became associated with Dr. Thomas
Williamson, in the mission to the Dakota Indians in Minnesota and later in the Dakota
Territory, two years later. They were associated in this work to the end of their lives.
Dr. Thomas Williamson's son. Rev. John
P. Williamson D. D., succeeded him, and
now Rev. Jesse P. Williamson, the grandson, is general superintendent of the Presbyterian part of the missionary work that Dr.
Thomas Williamson and Dr. Stephen R.
Riggs began together ninety years ago.
Rev. Thomas L. Riggs, D.D., LL.D., son
of the first Dr. Riggs, and Frederick B.
Riggs, grandson, came to the speakers' platform   with  Rev.   Jesse  P.   Williamson.    It
was very appropriate that Dr. Doane Robinson, representing the bridge committee, had
appointed Rev. Jesse Williamson to deliver
the historical oration on this occasion, which
oration appears in full in another column.
This fittingly finished the most important
part of the dedicatory program. Then a
great procession was formed which passed for
hours over the new bridge.    F. B. Riggs.
Death of Dr. Wedge
At Santee we have delightful memories of
the visits of Dr. and Mrs. Wedge. They began their unique work in Indian schools at
Santee and made a good start.
"In 1911 Dr. Wedge began his work as the
field representative of the John Eliot Foundation (also known as the Society for the Propagation of the gospel among Indians) visiting
the Government Indian schools of the country.
This Society has been using the proceeds
from a fund, established many years ago, to
promote education in morals and right living. In this highly important work Dr.
Wedge was peculiarly fitted because of his
ability to adapt himself to the Indian students. He also used his remarkable gifts as
a story teller to good advantage. Very often
his talks were illustrated with pictures and
stereopticon slides. Dr. Wedge's stories
were always stimulating and eagerly listened
to by students and teachers alike. When appearing before civic organizations, such as the
Rotary, Kiwanis, and Lions Clubs, Dr. Wedge
was in his element and unexcelled in his line.
Dr. Wedge was an ordained clergyman of
the Baptist Church and prior to his work as
representative of the John Eliot Fund had
important charges in the East. In 1918 he
was acting pastor of the Baptist Church at
Albuquerque, N. Mexico, for several months.
During all his years in the field Dr. Wedge
has been accompanied by his faithful wife,
who has been under appointment as a matron
in the Indian Service.
Only a few weeks ago the writer had a letter from Dr. Wedge, written at Pawnee,
Okla., where he was completing his round
of the schools for this season. Evidently he
left at once for New England as.the telegram
was sent from Jamaica Plains. Haskell joins
with the many friends of Dr. Wedge throughout the entire Indian Service in expressing
deepest sympathy to Mrs. Wedge and daughter in their bereavement. God grant to
strengthen and uphold them in the hour of
sorrow! The home address of the Wedges is
58 South Bourne Road, Boston, Mass."—G.
E. E. L., The Indian Leader
Indians and Presidency
Question. I would like to know if an Indian
may become President of the United States.
Answer. In June, 1924, Congress passed
a law making all Indians citizens. This
means that all Indians born in the United States
after that date will be natural born citizens
and hence eligible to the presidency so far as
citizenship is concerned. It is not so easy to
determine what Indians who were born before the passage of the recent act are natural
born citizens. Citizenship, previously to
that time, had been conferred on about two-
thirds of the Indians in the United States.
Children born to citizen Indian parents were
of course natural born citizens and eligible
to the presidency. It is doubtful whether
an Indian born in the United States, who
was not a citizen by virtue of his birth, but
had citizenship conferred on him by act of
Congress, would be regarded as a natural born
citizen. The Office of Indian Affairs thinks
he would not. The question is purely speculative, for it has never been brought to a
test in a court of law.—The Pathfinder.
Stephen Return Riggs
TO WHOSE MEMORY
With   that  of  his  two   sons,   Alfred   Longley  and
Thomas Lawrence the State Highway Bridge
between Pierre and Ft. Pierre was
dedicated. June 28, 1926.
By Jesse P. Williamson, Wagner, S. D.
As we gather here today for the bridge dedication let us keenly appreciate that we are
on historic ground, that we stand not only at
the  geographical  center of  South   Dakota,
but at the place which is now recognized as
the historic center of our great state.    This
big winding valley of the Missouri and these
surrounding   hills  have  been  the   scene  of
more   significant  historic  events  than   any
other  spot within the borders of our commonwealth.
Here the once mighty nation of the Aric-
karee, semi-civilized and industrious, the ancestors of all who raise corn, built their
strongest villages and forts and made their
last stand against the less-civilized but more
ferocious Sioux.
Here on the two adjacent buttes the victorious Dakota warriors celebrated their victory with wild song and dance and gathered
boulders in piles or placed them in circles or
long serpentine figures in commemoration of
their conquest.
Here on the opposite bluff as early as 1743
the intrepid French explorer, Verendrye,
stood with his few companions and looking
out over this valley claimed the upper Missouri territory for his sovereign.
By a very remarkable coincidence the
renowned American explorers, Lewis and
Clark, as they worked their tedious way up
the River, had here what proved to be the
most thrilling experience of the trip, an encounter with a band of Oglala Sioux that
came near ending disastrously for the expedition.
Here too were located the most prominent
of the early fur trading posts of the first half
of the 19th century, and the names of Pierre
Choteau, Senior and Junior, of LaFramboise,
Major Galpin and others have become familiar to every student of early South Dakota
history.
Here on the Fourth of July, 1825, 101
years ago, was staged on the opposite valley
one of the grandest Independence Day celebrations known to early history, when Gen.
'. Atkinson and Col. O'Fallon with several
hundred troops so impressed the Indians
with the greatness and majesty of Uncle Sam
that the ancient prestige of John Bull could
no longer hold them.
This too was the scene about ninety years
. ago of visits by a number of men of national
' reputation, of Catlin the artist in 1832, of
1 Nicollet the historian in 1838, and the year
: following of Fremont the gallant soldier,
pathfinder and politician, and of Audobon
the naturalist in 1843, all having left charac-
i teristic records of their sojourn.
Then came the steamboating days and the
gold rush, when Ft. Pierre as the Gateway
1 to the Black Hills hecame the liveliest, wildest and most picturesque frontier village in
all this section.
; Passing on from what might be called medieval to modern history, what but the his-
; toric destiny of this already famous village
could have led the Chicago and Northwestern
Railway to spin it's thread of steel across the
200 miles of treeless prairie direct as the arrow flies to this same tiny settlement at the
crossing of the Missouri?
And thus came that hectic contest for the
location of the State Capitol when the same
Northwestern Railway gallantly entered the
fray and gave all the inhabitants of the new
state at least one grand long and tiresome
Continued on Third Page, First Column