Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1856-09-17

route. He delivered to agent Barbour,
and took his receipts therefor, one mil.
lion two hundred and twenty five thou
sand and FIVE hundred pounds of beef on
the hoof, (1 .s25, 500 lbs. and accepted
in payment drafts drawn by agent Bar
bour on the Secretary of the Interior,
amounting to one hundred and eighty
three thousand eight hundred and twen-
tysfve dollars, s1S3, ,895.) These drafts
were protested on presentation; no ap-
preparation having been made by Con-
gress from which they could be paid.
Subsequently the treaties were reject
ed by the Senate, for reasons which have
not yet been made public, and the In
disns of California have been driven from
their lands and homes. and havereceived
no com pensatien from the government
save the beef furnished by Col. Fremont,
and which he now asks the government
to pay him for. The beef went into the
hands of the agent of the government /:
whether it was all faithfully distributed
among the Indians by the sub-agents, is
not question that is 10 effect the justice
and equity of the claiIn of Col. Free
mont. He furnished the agents of the
government with large quantity of beef.
Most, if not all of it, was used in feed
ing the Indians; it was TO comply with
treaty stipulations it stopped the war
and restored peace to the country; and
will the government now shield itself
from the payment Of this claim and de-
volye a ruinous loss upon one of its own
citizens, upon the technical pre;ext that
the agent had no specific authority to
make the contrfct =? We have received
the advantages and benefit of the con-
tract, and your committee believe that
it is just that we should pay for it. They
according report bill for the amount,
and recommend the payment of interest
at the rate of ten per cent, California
interest) ,,--z.
WASHINGTON CIrY, June 80.
SIR: In reply to your inquiry as TO
the condition OF the Indians in Califor-
MIA at the time Of the arrival there Of
the Indian commissioners sen. to rego-
tate treaties in 1851, we have to say,
that in the spring of 1851, the time re-
ferred to in the inquiry. the Indians gen.
orally throughout the State were at war
with the whites. i7 @0-
The gold fields comprehended the
heart of the Indian country, and their
sudden occupation by the whites depriy-
ed the Indians abruptly of all their or
dinary means of subsistence. The state
of starvation drove the Indians into acts
of aggression, and brought on a gene
raj frontier war, attended with great loss
of property and life, and characterized
by the usual Indian barbarilies.
The first measure adopted by the COM
missionefs was to furnish the Indians
with food and stop the war by removing
the cause. ld7s+ .Et 10 H7f-71
The undersigned are acquainted as a
matter of general nOtoriety, with the fact
that supplies of cattle for this purpose
we're furnished by Col. Fremont TO the
commissioner for the southern district.
Colonel Barbour. These supplies were
intended for the support of the Indians
in the San Joaquin valley, where at this
time the State was maintaining battal-
ion in active service against the Indians,
in addition to the government force EN-
ployed in the same district. This supply
of food contributed largely towards put
ting a stop to the war, and opening the
country 10 the labor of miners.
Throughout all this section, extending
southBard from the Stanislaus river
about two hundred and fifty miles, and
occupied by many tribes of Indians,
peace has been uninterrupted since the
period in question when they were fur
nished with food. On the contrary, the
north and northwestern frontiers, as
shown by the journals of the day, have
been constantly engaged in hostilities
with the Indians, the frequent robberies
and murders on the part of the Indians,
provoking the whites to severe retalia-
ton, and rendering frequent expeditions
necessary, which have cost the State
more than million of dollars. e0-s
JOHN B. WELLER.
r-.t W. NJ. GWIN. 80
-a J. A. M'DOUGALL.
e. MILTON S. LATHAM.
70 the Chairman Of the Committee on
Indian 4!6dirs, House Of Representatives..
eJ The following resolution was
unanimously adopted at Fillmore meet
ing, held at Greenyille, Butler county,
on the 9th of August, as re-
ported in The Claiborne American of the
2lst of that month: |a -'H --fa -s5ti-'-saot
"Rssolued, That the Territories OF the
United States are the common property
'f all the States alike, and as such, each
State has the right 10 settle The same; and
neither Congress, the Territorial Legisla.
u7e, NOR THE PEOPLE OF The TERRIFIC
sIEs during their Territorial existence, !
nave the right TO exclude slaves, or any |
',her property from tho same.