The Kansas herald of freedom. [volume] (Wakarusa, Kan. Territory) 1854-1860, 1855-05-19
MisceIiaqeops.
From tie NationaE Late7ligencer
Letter from Col. Benton.
C. STREET, April Is, 1855

G STREET, April 10, 1865.
Messrs. GALES Il SEAToN, GENrLEMES:-
l made speech (that is to say, spoke by
snatches at broken intervals, and then
consolidated the whole into one piece for
publication in the last days and nights
(not counting Sundays) of the late ses-
sion of Congress on the subject of our
Indian relations and the war with the
Upper Missouri tribes, for the prosecution
of which the four new regular regiments
were required. In that speech | averred
that we had no tDar with these tribes;- =
that the killing of Lieutenant Grattan
and his command at Fort Laramie was
the effect of great misconduct on the
part of the Lieutenant and that the dep
relations committed upon our travelling
citizens were chiefly individual acts of
retaliation, induced by previous wrong,
which any western man acquainted with
Indians could settle Immediately and
that some one of these men, not an army,
should be sent out to do the business
This is what l said in relation to the
Upper Missouri and North Platte tribes.
In relation to the New Mexican Indians
] admitted there was irdr, and had been
for FIVE years and affirmed and proved
that it was brought on by the dreadful
misconduct of our own officers. In that
same speech, and in the absence of-cause
for these regiments for Indian service,
and for which | proposed mounted ran
gers as the true species OF force, ex-
pressed my opinion that the real destina-
ton of these new regiments and the new
ships of war was Cuba and in that | do
not think | was wide of the mark, the
proofs accumulated in your paper of yes
terday, showing to be now meditated
what believed then and long before, to
be premeditated.
But let that pass for the present. My
business now is with the new Indian war
on the Upper Missouri and the North
Platte, and of which war there is no exis-
tence, except in the imagination of our
administration. | had staked myself
publicly on the non-existence of this war
at the time it was SO imposingiy commu-
nicated to Congress, and felt sure of what
] said /; but wishing to verify my opin
ions, in my late visit to Missouri [ made
inquiry among the citizens, and especially
among those best qualified to know the
truth, most interested in knowing it, and
bound under the peril of life and property
to make no mistake mean the fur ira
ders, of whom there are many in Mis-
souri,, and of the first respectabiiity, and
with large capitals embarked in the trade.
They answered me with one voice that
there was no par on the Upper Missouri
or North Platte that they had been Car
rying on their trade as usual during the
winter with the Sioux and other tribes in
that quarter, except in the articles pro-
hibited by the United States officers, and
were now fitting out for the trade for the
present year without the least apprehen-
sion Of Indian hostilities. This is what
they all told me, from the largest compa-
nies, with their hundreds of thousands
permanently invested and hundreds of
men employed, down to the Individual
traders, with their temporary outfit of a
few wagons and half dozen men. l
viii name one of each class, the firm OF
Chouteau & Cots as old, father and son,
rs the foundation of st. Louis in 1894,
always carrying on the trade on large
scale, and still engaged IN it as a perma-
nent pursuit. Iasked them what amount
ftav haJ x,>,.,- .,x,acta1 Q rxhak x-cc tho
state of their trade at present and what
effect the proposed Indian war would
have upon it They directed their clerks
to make out from their books their answer
to my first inquiry. and gave it to me,
which | have in writing with me now
S57o.0o0. The state of their trade at
present was the same as it has always
been, with the exception of the articles
prohibited By the United States officers,
peaceful and prosperous, aud that they
had suffered no losses, except some SI2,-
QUO at the time of the bloodshed at Fort
Laramie. The effect of the war upon
their trade, they said, would be TO para
lyze all the capital invested. to stop their
operations, and bring great losses upon
them, rendering six fortified establish
meats and three hundred men, now in the
Indian country. a useless and expensive
incuHfbrance on their hands. This was
the answer of Sarpy and Chouteau, the
son, active partners of the firm, and besl
qualified to answer my questions.