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Signs! A
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The Great Smoke
Historical Marker
Location
of sign - Located on the north side of US hwy 26 in Morrill,
Nebraska just before the Wyoming state line.
Photo
taken - July 2007
Photo
courtesy of Jimmy Wayne
Text
of sign:
From all directions they
came in late summer 1851--Plains Indian tribes, summoned by
government officials so their chiefs could
smoke the peace pipe and
sign a treaty with representatives of "The Great Father."
Never before had so many American Indians
assembled to parley with
the white man. (Estimates range from 8,000 to 12,000.) It was
perhaps history's most dramatic
demonstration of the
Plains tribes' desire to live at peace with the whites. The tribes
had been invited to assemble at Fort Laramie,
but a shortage of forage
for their thousands of horses caused the parley to be moved
downstream. Because some tribes had been
at war for generations,
most Indian camps were widely spaced to minimize contact. About 270
soldiers were present to help keep
the peace. However, a
spirit of friendliness prevailed.
Among those helping bring
the tribes together were mountain man and trailblazer Jim Bridger
and Jesuit Father Peter De Smet, the
beloved "Blackrobe"
who worked 50 years among the Indians.
Nebraska State Historical
Society
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