The Poncas resided for many years on a reservation near the mouth of the Niobrara River, in Dakota Territory. They were originally a branch of the Mahas or Omahas, and resided on the Red River of the North. Here they were attacked by the Sioux, and after losing greatly, removed to the opposite side of the Missouri and built a fortified village on the Ponca River. They united with the Omahas but have generally kept apart. Their constant pursuit by the Sioux kept them wandering until reduced to a wretched condition. At the beginning of this century their number was very small, but after the coming of Lewis and Clarke and the treaty of June 28, 1817, and June 9, 1825, they improved rapidly, and in 1832 they numbered 750, a large majority of which were women. On March 12,1858, they sold their lands to the Government and went on a reservation near the Yanktons, the compensation to be in installments of $185,000, with the support of schools and agricultural aid. But their crops failed and they were harassed and killed by the Sioux. A new treaty March 10th, 1865, gave them a reservation of 576,000 acres of bottom land near the junction of the Niobrara, in Dakota, where they formed three villages. In the distribution of Agents the Poncas were assigned to the Protestant Episcopal Church, and soldiers were sent in 1874 to protect them. They then numbered 730, and 132 half-breeds. They are an inoffensive, agriculturally disposed people, speaking the same language as the Omahas.
In 1877, the Poncas were removed to a reservation in the Indian Territory.
In 1879, thirty of these Indians, with Standing Bear, their Chief, left their Reservation, and returned to the Omaha Reservation, where they remained until a detachment of soldiers were ordered to take them back. On arriving at Omaha, under arrest, by order of the Interior Department, in charge of soldiers, a writ of habeas corpus was sued out, and heard before Judge Dundy, of the United States Court, where Hon. A. J. Poppleton and J. L. Webster, volunteered their services on behalf of the Indians, which came on in Court May 2d, and after a careful hearing, they were released from custody. They returned to the Omaha Reservation. The question, however, is still pending in the U. S. Courts.
On June 3d, U. S. Court, Prosecuting Attorney presented the case before Judge Miller, who decided he had no jurisdiction over the Ponca prisoners released by Judge Dundy, on a writ of habeas corpus, as they were not in Court, but would continue the case in order to give Prosecuting Attorney Lambertson time to investigate further. The Indians, however, are at liberty.