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the army did what it liked with us and we had war and bloodshed.  Then the Indians were turned over to the politicians and they appointed our agents and rulers.  That was a hundred times worse and we had continual war.  then your great General who never talked, (U.S.Grant) turned us over to the churches and divided us up among them.  We still had war and bloodshed.  Then they turned us over to some man in Washington.  He came from a country beyond the great water where there never were any Indians (Secretary of Interior) and we have had war and bloodshed ever since.  Now I ask you to turn us over once more.  Turn us over to the ladies, and they will not murder us or drive us from our lands."

The cheering that followed lasted many minutes and Boston's most distinguished ladies pressed forward toward the platform to shake the old chief's hand.

After three months before an investigating committee in Washington, Standing Bear took the next train for his home far away in Nebraska on the Running Water, and never saw any more civilization, except as the country around him developed.  Thirty years afterward, he died in poverty among his people.