shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com June 13, 2017 • Page 9 69th Annual Czech Days A Link Of Frontier Justice: The Set For Tabor June 16-17 Handcuffs Worn By Brave Bear Museum Pieces TABOR — Merriam’s Midway Shows carnival on the midway and the Craft Fair in the school gym kick off the 69th annual Czech Days celebration beginning on Thursday, June 15. The 12th annual Rich Schild fireworks display after the Tabor Bluebirds baseball game with Lesterville at 7:30 p.m. in Leonard Cimpl Park will conclude the first day of the Czech Days celebration. Miss Morgan Rothschadl, 2016 Czech Days Queen, along with Princess Layne Schmidt and Prince Ryan Lammers, welcome all visitors to the 69th annual Czech Days celebration at Tabor on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Czech meals will only be served on Friday and Saturday. The Information Center will be open Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Kolace and Roll Baking demonstrations will be held both Friday and Saturday in the Information Center kitchen. On Friday the demonstrator will be Ann Beran and on Saturday the demonstrator will be Abby Kokesh. “Journey for Freedom,” this event is suitable for all ages. Peter Vodenka will be speaking vividly describing his escape from Communist Czechoslovakia with his wife, 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son on Friday, June 16 at 3:00 pm and on Saturday, June 17 at 12:30 pm in the Opsahl-Kostel Funeral Home. He will also be present from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day for selling and signing his book “Journey For Freedom”. stage following the Kiddie Parade. Boys and girls must be at least 8 years old and not yet 12 years old at the time of the drawing. The contestant should be living in the immediate area as there are parades and other events that they will be expected to participate in. Encore of Queen Candidates’ Talent follows the coronation. Master’s Corral Exotic Animals, River City Gymnastics and Cheer Competitive Teams, and clowns And balloons will all be in Sokol Park following the Kiddie Parade. The Sanctioned Pedal Tractor Pull Competition will take place at 1:30 p.m. on the street south of Sokol Park with the pull being run by Chad Stevicks and the C & D Pedal Pullers with Jason Kokes as director. A Heritage Presentation will be presented at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 17, in the park. Admission is $5 per person. Pioneers being featured are: Charles F. Blachnik, Frank Fejfar, Jerry Jarolim, Lou Koupal and Katherine Mudloff. Seating is limited. The Czech Polka Mass will take place at 4 p.m. (note time change) in St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church. A free concert will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Sokol Park by the Tabor 1890 Band concert followed by the Tabor Beseda Dancers at 7:30 p.m. and the crowning of the 2017 Czech Days Queen at 8 p.m. with Freddy’s Combo providing the music for the Coronation Ball in Beseda Hall. There will be a Pickup And Tractor Pull on Sunday, June 18th at noon south of the Tabor Co-op Fertilizer Plant on the south side of Tabor. For more information call (605) 660-3497. Merriam’s Midway Shows carnival will offer Wrist Band usage on Thursday evening only from 6-10 p.m. and Regular and Advance Tickets will be allowed anytime during the three days the Merriam’s Midway Shows will be set up. For additional information contact: • Tabor Area Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 21, Tabor, SD 57063-0021 • or Telephone: (605) 463-2478 • or visit: http://www. taborczechdays.com or www.facebook.com/TaborCzechDays • or e-mail: taborczechdays@yahoo.com Runaway Saws, chain saw carvings featuring artist Jeff Klatt, will take place both Friday and Saturday located just north of the Information Center with four projects being auctioned off to the public each day at 6 pm at the carving site. The Czech Days Craft Show located in the school gym north of St. Wenceslaus Church will be open on Thursday from 6:30-9 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. An authentic mini Czech Pioneer Village and Museum is open to the public both days. Walking tours may be taken in the village featuring the newly constructed brick paver Heritage Walk. Homemade noodles and playing cards featuring old Tabor pictures are available for sale. Adjacent to the park is the Blachnik Museum, which is also open to the public both days. • FRIDAY — Activities begin at 10:45 a.m. in Vancura Memorial Park with a Memorial Service for deceased members of the Czech Heritage Preservation Society that have passed away during the past year. The giant parade begins at 1 p.m. led by the 2017 Parade Marshals Dan and Jean Hunhoff and followed by the opening program in Sokol Park featuring dedication ceremonies to the late Roman Honner followed by free concerts by Bob Vrbsky, Gregory Polka Band, Nase Mala Kapela and Polka Dance-Off Contest with Erin Sedlacek as MC. The three young ladies competing for the title of 2017 Czech Days Queen are: Cheree Becvar, Jennifer Schmidt and Elyssa Walloch. The 2017 Czech Days Queen Talent Contest and Costume Judging will take place at 7 p.m. with the Tabor 1890 Band concert following and the performance by the 248-member famed Tabor Beseda Dancers, concludes the evening activities on Friday. • SATURDAY — The Kolache Krawl Fun Run/Walk will take place at Leonard Cimpl Park starting with registration at 7 a.m. Prizes will be awarded. This year there will be six Age Groups both male and female. The Kiddie Parade begins at 11 a.m. one block east of St. Wenceslaus Church. The route goes one block south and 1/2 block west and ends up in Sokol Park where all activities take place. Any child who is not yet 12 years of age may participate in the parade. Bring your entry to the start of the parade route by 10 a.m. for assignment of category and number. The categories are: Dolls, Bicycle, Pet and Miscellaneous. Parade entry forms may be downloaded from the Czech Days web site at www. taborczechdays.com. Any child interested in being selected for Czech Days Prince or Princess does not need to participate in the Kiddie parade but must be dressed in a Czech costume such as worn by the Beseda Dancers. The new Czech Days Prince and Princess will be selected by random drawing on the Sokol Park BY CRYSTAL NELSON Dakota Territorial Museum Some may agree that every extended family, of any ethnic background, has at least one bad apple. Sioux Indian Brave Bear’s own father, after hearing the news of his son’s hanging in Yankton, had reportedly said “We are glad, his mother and myself; he was a bad son.” His parents were not alone as when it was time to finally capture Brave Bear at a council meeting, none of his tribesman stood in his defense. So, what could he have possibly done to garner such dislike? According to Indian Agent John McLaughlin, Brave Bear was said to be the best dressed Sioux in the land. Nice clothes, hats, jewelry and the like was his style, and yet he didn’t work for wages anywhere, at least not in an honest way. Brave Bear and three other Cut Head tribesman were known to the Indian Agent for “petty” crimes of thievery, but in 1874, that all changed. Agent McLaughlin reported that during the robbery of a settlement in Pembina County, Dakota Territory, Brave Bear and the others were discovered by three men who owned the horses they were stealing. The settlers were shot dead and the thieves proceeded to their homes where their wives waited in terror. Both woman were shot and severely wounded from the strike of knives. Brave Bear and his accomplices escaped the scene with six horses and a sense that they had done a task that was necessary for the protection of their native lands, which they felt the settlers were encroaching upon. Soon after Brave Bear separated from the other three and proceeded alone across the prairie. He was captured by Tom Custer (the General’s brother) and taken to Fort Abraham Lincoln, where he soon escaped. Returning to his native tribe on the Spirit Lake Reservation, Brave Bear was reunited with his brother and fellow horse thief The Only One. The reunion would not last. Brave Bear and his brother’s behavior became unwanted with the local tribesman and their whereabouts were reported to officials. Indian Agent McLaughlin set a trap for the two brothers by luring them to a council in which their attendance would have been required. The Only One sensed something was up, and when the soldiers moved into the room, he moved out of it. Brave Bear was captured almost immediately. The Only One ran to his weapons and horse, but was shot in the leg before he could reach them. Insisting he fight to the death rather than be hanged, he was shot in the heart while making a charge at the soldiers. Brave Bear would again escape capture. He joined his family and went to the Standing Rock Reservation, where his family stayed and he continued to the Pine Ridge Agency. Brave Bear would travel from place to place alone making quick friends and by his actions would lose them just as fast. Eventually, Brave Bear would commit a crime he could not escape on the banks of today’s Okobojo Creek near Fort Pierre. An ex-military soldier by the name of Joseph Johnson was found dead along the creek stripped of his clothes and possessions which included $1,700 in cash. Not long after, Brave Bear, a son-in-law to Sitting Bull, was accompanying his tribesman during the surrender of Sitting Bull’s people. Brave Bear and the belongings he wore of Joseph Johnson were recognized by fellow tribesmen and government officials. While making a deal (he thought, of trust) for his freedom, Brave Bear was betrayed and arrested for his crimes. He was finally arrested, and a government official by the name of Edward Allison took no chances and wasted no time in having Brave Bear sent to the federal court offices in Yankton, Dakota Territory. Yankton is where the non-English speaking Brave Bear stood trial in an American court. He was appointed a translator, the only one available, Edward Allison. Sitting Bull pleaded for the life of his son-in-law, saying that his arrest was against the terms of his surrender, but he was overruled. No testimony was offered in Brave Bear’s defense regarding the murder of Johnson. Brave Bear is reported to have simply said, “I have too much brains to point my gun towards a white man.” Despite appeals to the Supreme Court, he was sentenced to hang in the courtyard of the Yankton County Courthouse, at that time on the corner of Fifth and Douglas, on Nov. 15, 1882. He would be the first Sioux Indian to be legally executed in Dakota Territory. One-half of the pair of handcuffs that bound Brave Bear’s hands as he awaited his evening hanging from a tree is currently on display at the Dakota Territorial Museum, Westside Park, Yankton. OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK MATT MOODY ALAN KEMP MATT SCHAA PAT HAWK Monday thru Friday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Saturday: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. • Sunday: Noon - 4:00 p.m. MOODY MOTOR CO. 1-800-745-5650 Niobrara, Nebraska Business? Phone?402-857-3711?•?1-800-745-5650 www.moodymotor.com