A Brief History of South Dakota/Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV
A FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION
Despite the fact that nearly fifty years had passed since the Declaration of Independence, and ten years since the last peace treaty with England, nevertheless in 1825 the matter of trade on the western frontier was still unsettled, and there was a constant conflict between American and English interests there. For many reasons the Indians preferred the British trade. The chief of these was that England placed no restriction upon the use of intoxicating liquors in the Indian country, while it was entirely prohibited by American law and could be carried into the wilderness by American traders only at great hazard. The British traders naturally were very reluctant to give up the rich American field, and they constantly came in by way of Canada and the Lakes and across from the Hudson Bay country by way of the Assiniboine to the Missouri. Colonel Leavenworth was clearly of the opinion that the Rees had been incited to the massacre of General Ashley's men by English influence. This long-continued friction, and the Ree trouble, led the government to undertake once for all to keep the Englishmen out of our territory, and to secure all of the Indian trade for our merchants.
To this end, in the summer of 1825, General Atkinson and Dr. Benjamin O'Fallon, of St. Louis, were appointed special commissioners to visit all of the Indian tribes on the Missouri River, to secure from them trade and intercourse treaties which would be solely for the advantage of the American merchants. The expedition traveled in a fleet of eight keel boats, which in addition to the usual oars, sails, and cordelles, were equipped each with a set of paddle wheels operated by hand power. They were accompanied by four hundred and seventy-six soldiers, with Colonel Leavenworth in command. They reached the Dakota country early in June, and on the 18th held a great council near Chamberlain with the Yanktons, Yanktonais, and some of the Teton bands, and after a grand military exhibition which greatly impressed the Indians, secured a treaty precisely in the terms desired by the government. They went on to Fort Pierre, where they arrived on the 2d of July, and there met several other bands of Tetons and waited several days for the Oglalas and some of the distant bands to come in.
When the 4th of July arrived, the officers determined to give the Indians the benefit of a genuine Fourth of July celebration, and this is the first recorded celebration of the Fourth within South Dakota. Colonel Leavenworth was made officer of the day, cannon were fired at sunrise, there was a flag raising, and General Atkinson and Dr. O'Fallon delivered orations, which were interpreted to the Indians. Lieutenant W. S. Harney, who thirty years later rendered distinguished service upon that very soil, read the Declaration of Independence, which was duly interpreted to the Sioux. At noon the Oglalas made a feast of the "flesh of thirteen dogs, boiled in seven kettles, much done," to which the officers were invited. The remainder of the day was spent in games, races, etc., and in the evening there was a fine display of fireworks. The festivities were continued over the 5th and 6th; a grand military review took place on the 5th, which "struck the Indians with great awe, and on the 6th, after the treaties had been signed, Lieutenant Holmes threw six shells from the howitzer which exploded handsomely and made a deep impression upon the savages." Among those present who took part in the Fourth of July celebration and festivities and who signed the treaty was Chief Waneta, the English captain.
When passing the mouth of the Little Cheyenne River, near the site of the present village of Forest City, the commissioners visited and examined the now celebrated footprints in a rock there.
The expedition went on to the Rees and secured a similar treaty from those people, with an additional clause in which the Indians expressed deep regret for the occurrences of 1823. The treaties secured by this expedition had the desired effect. The British traders were excluded from the American field and there was no further friction on this account.