Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1851-02-07
Passing nway OF the Indians.
By REV. S. N. IRWIN.

In the territory of the United States
lying west of the present emigrated
tribes Of Indians, and which is bounded
on the West by The Rocky Mountains,
on the North by the British Possess
ions, and on the South by the Mexican
country, we have district of about
360,OC0 square miles. Within these
limits i! appears from the best informa-
ton there are about 10000 Indians, in
tigenous tribes who have not been dis
turbed. This gives about one Indian TO
three square miles. Allowing the Uni.
ted States proper 10 contain 100000
square miles, and giving it the same rate
of population, j! must have contained
not far from 100000 original native in
hahi!ants ! But as This is the supposed
original number. it is fair to take into ac-
count, the succeeding generations. Al
lowing thirty years to generation, and
going no farther back than about the
time that Queen Anne, of England, de-
clared war against France, or little be-
fore the Indian wars of King Phillip,
and the missionary labors of Elliot, we
have at least FIVE generations, which will
give about 3,000 600 as the number of
This race which have passed away with.
in the limits Of tile United States. Large
as this amount may seem, yetit is prob
ably far short of the reality-for altho'
they have been constantly decreasing,
Yet we have not taken into account more
than one half the number Of generations,
and the district we have estimated from
is perhaps not near so densely popula-
ted as more timbered and congenial lati-
,udes. But let the original and progress
sive numbers be what they may, we
have only left, Of this vast multitude,
about 70,0OO-the emigrated tribes now
on our western frontier, besides few
remnants still remaining within the
States.
ttis, however, scarcely necessary to
go into such crude calculations, to show
the astonishing decrease of these people.
We know from the best evidence, that
many nations, once large and powerful,
are now entirely extinct. The tribe a
lnong whom the great missionary Apos-
tie Elliott labored, and into whose lam
guage he translated the whole Bible, is
now utterly lost. Nearly the same fate
has also happened TO those tribes among
whom Brainerd labored. Some of the
tribes are lost, while but remnant re-
mains Of the more powerful tribes. We
oil the present generation are familiar
with the fact that many of the tribes
once numerous and respectable for ma
tional character, have lost their distinc.
ton as nations and mixed with other
tribes. Such is the condition Of the
Missouri tribe, now amalgamated with
the Oltoes. and also the Foxes lately
merged into the Sac nation, and SO Of
other tribes. ...... ....
The history Of the little Iowa nation.
with which we are most familiar, is not
less TO the point. In the year 1897 they
numbered eight hundred and thirty, now
there are not over four hundred and six
~ living souls. Thus, in less than thir-
Teen years, there has been a loss of over
forty five to the hundred. If these esti-
mates be correct, and some of them we
cannot resist, is j, likely tina. on the face
Of tile whole earth, we can find class
of people diminishing SO fast !! Indeed
il would seem that the Canaanites, per-
ishing under the direct command and
displeasure of God, scarcely diminished
much faster! OF them il was said,
1.-The Canaanites were still in the land
but at this rate of decrease, the time will
soon be here when such cannot be said
of these people. And will not common
humanity feel and act over such state
of affairs! Are they not our brethren!
emana,ing from the same origin. and
shall we not feel for them! We mourn
TO see individuals die. and are distressed
and alarmed at seeing desolating pesli-
lence hanging over our land; unite in the
observance Of National fasts, and were
il accessory would aid in offering ''ihou-