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Otherday,
Wahpeton Indian Chief
Otherday, John (Aagpetu-tokecha) A
Wahpeton Sioux, son of Zitkaduta, or Red Bird, and nephew of Big Curly,
chief of the Wahpeton at Lac qui Parle, Minn.; born at Swan lake, Minn.,
in 1801. It is said that when a young man he was "passionate and
revengeful, and withal addicted to intemperance, and he lived to lament
that he had slain three or four of his fellows in his drunken orgies"
(Sibley). Yet at times he manifested the same devotion to his tribesmen as
he afterward showed to the whites, on one occasion, in a battle with the
Chippewa at St Croix river, bearing from the field "Onelegged Jim," who
had been severely wounded, and, during the same action, saving the life of
another Indian called Fresniere's Son. But he early became desirous of
following the ways of the white men, adopting their dress, later becoming
a devoted member of Dr Williamson's church, and abandoning his intemperate
habits. When in 1857 the wily Inkpaduta, "too vile to be even countenanced
by the Sioux," fell upon and massacred the settlers at Spirit lake, in the
present South Dakota, and carried Miss Abigail Gardner and Mrs Noble into
captivity, Otherday and Paul Mazakutemani volunteered to follow the
outlaw's trail, rescuing Miss Gardner, but arriving too late to save the
life of the other captive. At the time of the Sioux outbreak of 1862,
Otherday, who had married a white woman, resided on the reservation near
Minnesota river, in a comfortable dwelling built for him by the agent.
When he learned that hostilities were imminent, he hastened to the upper
agency and there gathered 62 of the whites, whom he guided in safety
through the wilderness to St Paul, then hastened back to the frontier to
save other lives and to aid in bringing the murderers to justice. To him
and the other Christian Indians who aided in the rescue the missionary
party of 43 were indebted for their escape to an extent not then known
(Riggs). In the military campaign organized to quell the outbreak Otherday
was employed by Gen. Sibley as a scout, in which capacity he rendered
valued service. He participated in the battles of Birch Coolie and Wood
lake, taking with his own hands two horses from the enemy and slaying
their riders. "He was often in their midst and so far in advance of our
own men that they fired many shots at him in the belief that he was one of
the foe. No person on the field compared with him in the exhibition of
reckless bravery. He was clothed entirely in white: a belt around his
waist, in which was placed his knife; a handkerchief was knotted about his
head, and in his hand he lightly grasped his rifle" (Heard). Otherday
signed the Sisseton and Wahpeton treaty at Washington, Feb. 19, 1867.
Congress granted him $2,500, with which he purchased a farm near
Henderson, Sibley co., Minn.; here he resided for three or four years, but
not being successful as a farmer he sold his land at a sacrifice and
removed to the Sisseton and Wahpeton reservation, South Dakota, where the
agent built a house for him.
He died of tuberculosis in 1871, and was buried in a
pasture on the north side of Big Coule creek, 75 ft from the stream, about
12 miles north west of Wilmot, Roberts county, South Dakota.
Consult Heard, Hist. Sioux War, 1863;
Riggs in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii, 1880; Doane Robinson (1) in Monthly
South Dakotan, iii, Oct. 1900, (2) in S. Dak. Hist. Coll., n, 1904; De
Lorme W. Robinson in S. Dak. Hist. Coll., 1, 1902; Bryant and Murch, Hist.
Massacre by Sioux Inds., 1872.
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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