Presented in this lot is a Collection of Letters from Standing Rock Indian Service Agent James McLaughlin, circa 1883 and 1890, authorization to arrest Sitting Bull. Provenance: From the John Kleinschmidt collection which was on loan to the C.M. Russell Museum from 1987 to 1993 and included in the "The Cowboy West: 100 Years of Photography 1992-1993 exhibit. These letters are a powerful collection of history of the Great Sioux Nation at the end of the 19th century. These letters (photocopies from the originals) are attributed to Colonel Alfred Burton Welch who was well known for his extensive artifact collection and lifelong association with the Sioux nations. The Welch Dakota Papers include thousands of pages of oral interviews, writings, newspaper articles and photographs of the Sioux, Arikara, Hidatsa and Mandan peoples. Welch is credited as the first white man adopted into the Yanktonai Sioux, a separate band from the Yankton Sioux; both are considered Western Dakota people. The first letter dated September 15, 1883 was addressed to Philip Wells, interpreter and chief of Indian police of the Standing Rock Agency, Dakota Territory and sent from James McLaughlin Indian Agent. This letter gave Wells instructions to accompany Sioux Indians on a buffalo hunt and prevent them from"molesting" any persons trespassing on the reservation. Wells supervised one of the last great buffalo hunts in which 2,800 Indians took part. Three letters (photocopies from the originals) are associated to Indian Agent James McLaughlin's ordering the arrest of Sitting Bull on December 14, 1890. One letter with a handwritten time of 12:30 A. M. December 14, 1890, is written in the Dakotah language and translated into English, from Indian police Lt. Bull Head who advised Sitting Bull was preparing to go to the Pine Ridge Reservation where the Ghost Dance movement was strong. McLaughlin's arrest authorization letter has a handwritten time of 4:40 P.M., December 14, 1890. The following day, Sitting Bull was shot and killed by Indian police during the arrest attempt. The letters each measure 8"W x 10"L approximately.