Braves of All Colors: the Story of Isaiah Dorman, Killed at the Little

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Braves of All Colors: the Story of Isaiah Dorman, Killed at the Little Braves of all Colors The Story of ISAIAH DORMAN, ( Killed at the Little Big Hom by ROBERT J. EGE KI T b n WINTER 1 66 35 still more wounds in his lower leg and foot. Sitting Bull waved away the enraged squaws. The famed Sioux knelt beside the dying Negro. As their eyes met they conversed briefly in the gutteral Sioux tongue. Sitting Bull ordered one of the squaws to the river for water. She re­ turned quickly with a dripping shawl and squeezed water into the medicine leader's horn cup. The Negro drank a small amount, smiled faintly at Sitting Bull, and slumped over dead. Sitting Bull explained to the curious group which now surrounded them: "This is Azimpi. I do not know why he is here with the soldiers. He was al­ ways one of us. I knew him as a friend and once he was afraid of the white SITTING BULL soldiers. His woman is Sioux. When she learns that he has gone to the Sand Hills -as well as spoils of the victory-that she will mourn as the women of our might be there for the taking. The lodges also mourn for their braves killed squaws were very adept at this maneu­ today." ver. A short distance behind them, but Following Sitting Bull's departure, for a different reason, rode the great squaws quickly stripped the bloody buck­ Hunkpapa medicine leader, Sitting Bull. skins from the man's body. One old In­ He was there to appraise the progress dian suddenly became the owner of a of the fight. His Hunkpapa camp circle white straw hat worn by the dead Negro. was located at the southern end of the His watch and a few other possessions huge village and his lodges had already were stolen, but the desecration ended borne the brunt of Reno's short-lived, on this note. Out of respect for Sitting futile ambuscade. That proximity had Bull's friendly gesture to the dying man, also resulted in Sitting Bull's young they did not scalp or otherwise mutilate men being the first to return the fire. his corpse. Instead, they vented their Upon his approach to a dense growth pent-up fury by viciously hacking the of timber, the great Medicine Man was bodies of other soldiers found nearby. brought quickly to attention by a In Sioux history and lore, there are squaw's excited cry. many stories of a large "black white "AI-eeee-Come quickly, a wasicitn man" who roamed their lands, and who sapa, and he is still alive!" The italicized was welcome in their villages as early Sioux word, interpreted, means "black as 1850. He was known as Azimpi or white man." Sitting Bull quickly dis­ "Teat." In the spoken Sioux dialects, mounted. There on the ground, clad in Azimpi, meaning teat or nipple, also bloody buckskins, was indeed a wasicum sounds like Isaiah. This frontiersman sapa-one of the few Negroes he had had sustained himself by small-scale ever seen. The big, elderly colored man trapping and trading, the story went. seemed mortally wounded. One bullet He traveled "'\\ith a horse and also a had entered near his right shoulder. mule. He seemed to prefer the hospital­ Upon emerging, the slug had also torn a ity of the isolated and roving bands of gaping wound in his dark chest. Sitting Plains Indians to that of white settlers. Bull also noticed that one of the man's This gives birth to the thought that pos­ boots was missing and that there were sibly Azimpi was hiding from something 36 -or at least was content to cast his lot Major Charles E. Galpin at the Standing away from the white man. Rock Agency. Little is know of Azimpi. One finds On April 22, 1867, Isaiah was rehired veiled references to the loss of several as a mail carrier by Lieut. F. E. Par­ male slaves by the D'Orman family of sons, then serving as quartermaster at Louisiana and Alabama in the late 1840s. �,ort Rice. He again made the ,vads­ A search for old "wanted" posters indi­ worth trip when Indian troubles made cates that a Negro named Isaiah was it unsafe for a soldier to attempt the one of these. But other leads were in journey. Subsequent trips to James vain. It is notable, however, that Dor­ River and other military installations man first appeared at a white settlement were made by Dorman during this hectic in 1865, following the cessation of hos­ period. His income averaged perhaps tilities between the North and South, $50 per month. Yet these wages were which brought automatic reprieve for comparable to those of a lieutenant in many runaway slaves, North and South. the army and were supplemented by By this time, Dorman had definitely extra earnings as a wood cutter. Isaiah married a young woman of Inkpaduta' s Dorman fared rather well as an emanci­ band of Santee Sioux. Perhaps weary pated wage-earning employee of the of the roving life, and surely safe from white man. those who sought his bounty, he built a As a result of his now proven ability small cabin at Fort Rice, D. T., near Dorman, on September 9, 1871, was present-day Bismarck, North Dakota. hired by Capt. Henry Inman to serve as He supported himself and his Indian guide and interpreter in the field for an bride by cutting wood for the fort. Soon army column escorting a party of en­ gineers participating in the Northern he became known to the officers of that Pacific Railroad Survey. He was paid garrison as a jovial, sober and trust­ $100 per month. Inclement weather cut worthy individual. Inordinately fond of short the duration of the project. Dor­ tobacco, Dorman abstained from the jug man was scheduled to be out of a job that ruined so many civilian employees on October 20, 1871. on the frontier. In the early fall of 1865, On the day prior to the termination of he was hired as a wood cutter by the his services, or October 19, 1871, the trading firm of Durfee & Peck. Due to Commanding General of the Military his size and strength, it was said that Department of the Dakotas issued "Old Teat" could cut a cord Qf wood Special Order No. 149, whereby Isaiah faster than a helper could stack it. Dorman was to be hired as post inter­ When the post commander and his preter at Fort Rice and paid at the rate quartermaster learned of Dorman's abil­ of $75 per month. His immediate supe­ ity with the difficult Sioux language, as rior was Lieut. William Van Horne. In well as his vast knowledge of the land, February, 187 4, a reduction in budget he was promptly destined for better caused all civilian employees of the army things. to be reduced in pay. The interpreter's On November 11, 1865, according to salary was cut to $50 per month. By all military records, Dorman . was hired by existing standards, Dorman was still Lieut. J. M. Marshall to carry the mail very well fixed. Lieut. Van Horne left between Fort Rice and Fort Wadsworth. Fort Rice in 1872 and from that time He made th@ 360-mile round-trip only until he assumed his duties with Gen­ once that year. But his reputation for eral Custer, Dorman served under Capt. dependability was established. His terms J. W. Scully. He continued to be a valu­ of employment were of short duration able employee whose understanding of and he was hired when needed. Between the Indians and their language helped trips he continued employment with avert many incidents at Fort Rice. Dor­ Durfee & Peck, and occasionally by man's service record is impressive; 37 there are no notations of any displi­ would accompany the military. The fol­ nary action ever taken against him. lowing order was issued: The trading firm of E. H. (Hicks) Hq. Middle Dist. Durfee and Campbell K. Peck, with Dept. Dak. headquarters at Leavenworth, Kansas, Ft. A. Lincoln, D.T. enjoyed virtually a monopoly in the In­ May 14, 1876 dian and military trade in large sectors /EXTRACT/ of the Dakotas and Montana during the Special Order years of 1870-74. They were contrac­ No. 2 turally obligated to supply cattle, wood, IV. The commanding office Ft. Rice, D.T. lumber and hay for the military installa­ will order Isaiah Dorman, Post Inter­ tions and Indian agencies in the terri­ preter to proceed to this post and report tory. The firm, however, was bankrupt for duty to accompany the expedition as Interpreter - During his absence he and apparently dissolved in 1876, when will still be borne on the rolls of the the government refused them a license Post Quartermaster at FortRice. to continue their operations. By order of Refusal of the government to re­ Brevet Major General Custer. license Isaiah Dorman's former employ­ (Signed) W. W. Cooke ers was not a result of failure to fulfill 1st Lt. Adjt. 7th Cavalry obligations to the Interior Department. AAA Gen. It was necessary for a trading firm to Pursuant to this special order, Isaiah post a $5,000 bond with the Secretary of was officially hired as interpreter for Interior in order to do business. Colum­ the regiment by Lieut. Henry J. Nowlan. bus Delano occupied the office at the Regimental Quartermaster of the Sev­ time. Delano and President Grant's enth. He was to assume his duties on younger brother, Orvil, were reputedly May 15, 1876 at the rate of $75 a month.
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