The William F. Cody Archive: Documenting the life and times of Buffalo Bill

 

LOW NECK, THE POOR INDIAN.

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He Couldn't Re-Enter the Land of his Fathers Without Red Tape.

Low Neck was one of the 193 saloon passengers landed to-day from the Bremen steamship Kaiser Wilhelm II. He is a Sioux Indian, 44 years of age, tall and muscular, and in the enjoyment of good health.

The Indian had been with Buffalo Bill's troupe in Europe, and is now returning to visit his people in the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Sioux country. Contrary to the custom of permitting cabin passengers to land at the steamship dock, Low Neck had to travel with the steerage passengers to the Barge office, and thence be permitted to re-enter the land of his fathers.

He was met at the Landing Bureau by Assistant Inspector of Immigration, Gen. O'Beirne, the Indian Missioner, Father Crouch, [1] and an interpreter.

A reporter asked the interpreter and also Father Crouch to inquire of Low Neck if the Indians in the employ of Buffalo Bill had been ill-used, but they both refused to put the question. So did Gen. O'Beirne.

It is understood that Low Neck has come here to refute the stories circulated about the ill-usage of Indians in the Wild West show. The appearance of Low Neck would indicate that he was well treated by his employers.

Herr Haver Schwenka, director of the Berlin Conservatory of Music, was also a traveller on the Kaiser Wilhelm.

Banner image: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, U.S.A.; Original Buffalo Bill Museum Collection, P.69.118