The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-08-12
NEWS FROM THE PLAINS GEN. H4RNEl"S
"TALK'' WITH THE INDIANS
prom the s. Louis Democral, August !. !


day afternoon, on the steamer Ben Lewis Major Buell.
Assistant Adutant General took the cars at jefferson
city, but hardly got in before the General
ON the 18th ult,, Gen Harvey had .'talk with the
Cheyennes at Cottonwood SPRING About noon that
day delegation of twenty of them arrived in camp Tho
General had sent Capt Pleasanton on kind Of embassy
to them ten days previously The Captain accom-,
panied by guide and by the ''Good Bear, Cheyenne
chief who had presented himself to the General tho
village Of the Ogaallas with overtures Of peace When
'Good Bear had let his people 90 his mission to tho
General they encamped ON the Republican Fork
tributary of the Kansas Before the arrival Of Captain
Pleasanton amongst them they had gone elsewhere The
General had agreed TO wait only ten days so Captain
Pleasanton under the direction of the guide altered
his course for Cottonwood Spring the appointed place Of
rendezvous, while 'sGood Bear followed the trail Of
his tribe On the tenth day the Captain and the guide
got into the camp we the Cheyennes but at aaer
hour.
Captain Peasanton describes the country between the
Platte river and the Republican fork as rough desote
and barren There is neither wood water nor grass
that broad ridge The sparse and stunted herbage docs
not the naked clay Nothing in the shape OF ta
Der is visible except cotton wood tree hc and there
in of the deeper raynes, The only wild animals
which he during the ten days four horses and
colt, buffalo, and two antelopcs He and his animals
would have suffered for water II timely shower had
not enabled him to get by the aid OF India rubber
blankets, which were 50 placed to collect the rain
and convey it into the vessels As 1t was the soldiers
who accompanied him, and who had improvidcnty VN
up their supply, had TO endure the pangs OF thirst A
several hours. fi apuNs
The termination of this range when seen from the road
along the Platte river, is called the .saud hills, and
these hills actually look like long mountain range,
peaked and pinnaced On reaching them from the river
you find the highest of them Is merely on level with
the background The ravncs penetrate the ridge for
a mile or two from the valley of the Platte, into
which they open and these alternate with the hills,
the escarpment of which is almost perpendicular.
AS fine meadow grass as ever grew--rich, green,
and flowing it the bottoms of the
vines which is enriched by the superadded soil which
every shower washes down The steep heights al,
most barren and the country beyond them is the most
unpromising pasturage that can be seen The uxuant
grass of the valleys does not detn the buffalo his
journey southwark for he prefers tho short heritage Of
the highlands and tic trails he has lett behind him
as numerous the lines on the palm OF the hand In
this region you frequently rouse the wolf from his lair
and the hawk with which Is populous, seems TO have
finished his upward flight when he has risen from below
to the level of the plain. Looking down and abroad
the valley of the Platte the river loses its turbd char
aoer and tawny hue, and seems to wear metallic So
ldity and lnstre and you rrcssbly impressed with
the idea that the entire valley must have been its bed Mt
day perhaps distant to be anterior to all chro
nology but that of the biologists. Indeed the opinion
is maintained by those convesant with the country, that
the Platte is contracting its bed and deepening its
channel, and that it will yet be navigable but mar
row stream The theory regarding the formation Of the
ravnes and sand hills is that the buffalo paths became
channels for the water that came from above and that
in countless ages the earth has been washed out and the
existing formation is the resulta formation Which pre-
SCENTS aspect il the everlasting hills had been snit
ten with fercer thunderbots than those which were
hurled against the 1ftans.
Ten days the term which Gen. Harvey had agreed
to wait for the Cheyennes, and the tenth day they
made their appearance, having travelled desperately to
keep the appointment
They have the reputation Of being the bravest tribe
this side of the mountains and the appearance and bear
ing of the delegation did not belle the reputation They
tall war, conducted in the same style and with the
same etiquette they talk with the ogaallas They
came up one by one in manly manner, each shaking
hands with the General who sat in the shade OF tree
and those whites who were with him. They seated
themselves in circle, and proceeded to light their pipes
The orator of the occasion faithful to the rules OF
his art if he had studied in the schools. He com
menced by saying that the fame Of General Harvey
chief known to them and that they were all exceed
ingy glad to him. The substance Of the discourse
that they DESTROYS Of being ut peace with tho
whites that the of the mission OF Great Bear
brought happiness and peace Of mind to the whole tribe
that they also DESTROYS of being at peace with other
Indian tribes but that the Pawnees always robbng
them. -
/ thought Gen. Harvey counsel to them judicous and
humane. He reminded them Of their outrages upon the
whites but told them il henccorth they acted right he
would ask the great father at Washington to forgive
them. He had not to make treaty with them, as
his business to chastse white children Of the great
father who had been acting badly but that these white
knowing the power that arraycd against
them, had submitted. The General aim to impress
them with the idea that If they transgesed they could
tico if whites committed any outrages upon them He
promised to be their friend If their conduct continued
good but that otherwise they would find him ''deyil
In the progress of the talk it learned that war
party had gone out against the Pawneess before the
turn of Good Bear and this the warriors present regret
ted the counsel of their grandfather $50 they call Gen
eral Harney inclined them to peace with Indians well
as whites
The talk protracted for considerable time, OF,
rather there two talks their arrival and
the other in the evcnngthe latter the important
They treated Hospitality and in addition to bread
and meat got weak grog to drink and tobacco TO smoke
but the condition OF the commssarat and the crcum-
stances of the meeting did not warrant the giving to
them OF presents. From what TRANSFERRED 1t is
tain that they will not modest tho whites this year. at
least and that they have sautary dread Of Gen llar
ney. 1t was noticed that the old chiefs laid the blame
of past matters upon the young men, just Brigham
Young and the apologists of Kansas rascaes lay the
blame Of all misdeeds upon the "boys'
Next day the 18Th Gen. Harvey resumed the home
ward march, He had been within sight of the crossing
of the South Fork of the Platte four hundred aud sixty
miles west of Leayenworth when the despatch notifying
him Of the restoration Of pcace in Utah and the
disposition Of the forces consequent thereon reached
him On the 2lst we reached Fort Kearny, and when
approaching that uncomfortable place. heard that battle
raging between the Sioux and the Pawnees. 1t turned
out that it the Cheyenncs the war party which had
gone out from the Republican Fork not the Sioux
who had the audacity to attack their enemy within sight
of the flag Of tho United States The Cheyenncs who
had been lowering in the vicinity for two three days
swooped down the PGwnces, while branch of Their
nation, called the Loup plwnees, were charging
their camp. The assailants succeeded in stamped
ing three four hundred horses and the contest
then was really for tho spoils. The pawnees Though
taken by surprise, mounted and in pursuit
If thp WIKI than EDr II