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[[underlined]] Bright Eyes' letter to Mr. Tibbles [[/underlined]]   3.
told them that the Omaha tribe were to be taken down, too, very soon, & that it would be of no use for them to go there. The chiefs then said that rather than go, they would break up the tribe and live with the Sioux, with whom they had made peace some time before. This was also refused them.
We were powerless to help them, and they returned to their own reserve, only to find the soldiers already there. We next heard that the soldiers were taking them down. My father & I started for Columbus, Nebraska, so that we might catch then on their way & bid good-by to my uncle. We arrived there before they did, and saw the soldiers pitch their tents. The whole camp remained at Columbus for two or three days. I remember being once awakened during the night by the wailing of a man p. 4 for the land which had been taken from them. And so they passed back & forth through through the camp all the night. I saw many scenes and passed through such experiences as I shall never forget. After the Poncas reached the Territory, we received many letters from my uncle. Of course he could not write for himself, and had to depend on the agent & others to write for him. These letters are curious contrasts. The letters written for him by the agent would contain an account of the good progress & satisfaction of the tribe. In another, written for him by some one else, there would be a list of the dying & dead. Solitary refugees who had fled from the deadly climate came to us bringing sorrowful tidings of the despair [[left margin]] (1879) [[/left margin]] & anguish of all. In May last my father & I were sent to the Territ. by Mr. T. H. Tibbles to find out the true condition of the tribe.
The first objects we say in the far distance were the many graves which we were told had been made there since July (1878). When they went to that particular tract. Then came in sight the tents gleaming white on the prairie. There were scarcely any roads or paths. All looked as though the tents had been pitched only for the night, & that every moment we might expect to see them on the move. The only buildings we saw were six little houses, interspersed here & there among the tents, which were scattered for apart in groups of twos & threes, and the agency buildings. The agent's

Transcription Notes:
The date (1879)? is written in the left margin adjacent to the sentence "In May last . . ."