The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1852-10-05
by FRANCOIS DEs MoYrATeNEs.

Iadois or Indians was term sufficiently spe-
ci6c for manv purposes. TO DESIGNATE the Amer
lean Aborigines, until time and circumstances
convinced the enlightened discoverers and con-
querors of the New World. that, though its in
habitants might all be Indians. there existed
material differences among them not only with
respect TO language, but in manners and dispo-
sition-a knowledge of which would prove al
most as servieeable. as full account of their
much coveted wealth in precious stones and
metals. Thus tho Spaniards fonnd MANY
tribes far different from tho easily conquered
Aztecs. Our forefathers discovered Peqhods
and Iroquis, then Shawnees and Choctaws: sf-
terwards. we discovered that there existed
Sacs and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Seminoles and
Backfee,. and carrying our illustration still fur
ther, the British army found that thero wore
sings in India.
II is quite subject of ofas'onishment to many
of the pious explorers and discovercrs of the
olden times. when exhibiting their natents to
find that there were anv so hereticallv inclined
as to doubt the Sovereign's right TO the whole
country and all il contained, and it was not
surprising that the sword should be so frequent
ly made the arbiter in the derision.
The precedent once established, became
law, and from being faithfully observed during
a couple of centuries has now settled down in
fixed and regular system Of lawful spoilaton.
When the Pilgrims of Plymouth bought home
OF the savages it was not understood that tho
terms of the deed called FIR the Mississippi
river az bonndarv-and it is equally certain.
thar when William Penn purchased the site of
Philadelphia. from the Indians, that the latter
were mt granting. bargaining and selling the
vast hunting grounds between the Father Of
Rivers and the Rocky Mountains.
Whilst the Osaues sit in council, and grant
the right of wav through their territory TO the
Santa Fe tradcrs-'he Apaches, Camanches
and others, consider their right to pundrr the
same, un'ouched bv any such treaty. and con-
tinue their deprndations without re'pect either
70 merchants or Osares. Whilst we move the
Cherokees. tho Choctaws. the Semin les. the
Shawnees and others. from their old haunts
to our western frontiers, the Sioux Blackfeet.
Crows Snakes &c.. rome over their wide do
mains as free as the Bison Of the plains. or tho
bio-horned Ahsahtah Of mountains around
them.
How long these nations and their rights will
remain thus urmolested. is ano'her matter: for
civilization with her legions oftraders and sol
diers. is rapidlv closing the Gordon around
them. and already we see in perspective. the
red men hemmed in like a deer bv the hounds
soon to he wiped ont forever. with barely his
name IF his tribe left on record.
Where for instance are the cunning masons
whose chisels produce those magnificent works
the ruins of which. stupendous in the duet.
now monlder in Yucatan? Where the archi-
tects and laborers who reared those pyramids
Of Mexco-'he an"ieut tcocallis: Where the
workman who raised the heavy tumut wo ser
around MS? Where are the Natchez with their
sacred fret and their ncighbors. the Tnnses
and the Uchees? the once powerful Tuscaro-
ras and the Catawabas-the Hnrons and the
Wyandots-the Great Lenni-Lenapc, whose
IaI c-1.x L. ,1. 81.
10 the Mississippi? Do thew exist in the Della
ware and Shawnee on our borders? Where
are the Miamis, the Illinois? Where in fact
are all The countll IS nations AMI confedpr'cies
of red men who haunted from the Ocean N
the Prairie? Where are the banls of the bold
warriors who yelled in tho depths of the Ale
CHEN ies-who guided the war canoe down the
Ohio and hunted the hear a the panther in
the forests of Kentucky and Tenncssee?-
Where arc the people of Uncns-of Philip
ofPowhaftan7 the fierce warriors of Tecumseh
and of Hawk.
White man. look around See the smiling
villages and The wealthy cities sprinkled over
the great valley: see the broad fields of wheat
and corn, ofhemp and tobacco. the plantations
of sugar and cotton: mark tho endless track of
the rail car. rafting end wheezino through the
land. realizing tho fable Of the HYDRA. to which
the earth gave strencth hear th~ shrill whistle
echo"ing tho las war-whoop ofthe Indian. md
the deep puff OF the many steamboats, rs they
plough the streams.
But the Tndians-where are they? Here
are one million of square miles and moro. in
a single notwithstanding from the SHOWS
and lakes Of the north IN the orange groves Of
the south and from the sea-board to the verv
edge Of the great plains. entirely depnpula'ed
of the original occupants and owners. and tee
ming with millions cfa rev and different race
of strange occupations religion manners
and nations, and in numbers like tho waves Of
the lake
But the Indans-where are thevl In the
West. Civilization now marches westward;
the rout Of the railroad. the turnpike and rhe
steamboat is westward: the emigrant guides
his toilinC team towards the west and the red
man camps beneath the setting sun-ft em-
blcm of his destiny. Yes, the name perhaps
the lone mound-the grave upon the lofty
buff-the arrowhead found by the p'oughman
are the ruins Of the hundred tribes, Kingdoms
or empires which once existed here: and when
you ask for the home as the red man, civilian
tion still points with her victorious hand far
ther, still farther towards the West, and bids
you seek him there.
And that West? It once was America
then far-off mountains and sterile plains.--
When those last retreats Of the hurted Indian
snail nave Dcen surveved, sold. entered. settled,
ploughed and manufactured into States Of de-
cent size, affording throe or four square miles
TO each inhabiant. then there will be no West
and no Indians. They will pass away before
the picture have drawn, like tho dessolving
views in a camera. and the towns and cities of
the white man will occupy the site IF the red
mans camp, and orchards and meadows will
spring from the ancient battlefield and hunt
ing grounds, This is amournful picture tn be
sure but casting our glance over the mao, and
making acomparison between the limited tracts
(for they cannot be considered territories.) as
signed by the government to each individual
tribe, and the wide regions over which they
wandered ut will in The days of Columbus and
Cortex, we cannot but admit its force. Add to
TINS DEGRADED condi ION to which they have