Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1863-01-31
.louv Citp Atgisttr
DAKOTA CORREsPONDE OF
THE REGISTER.
FORT PIERRE, Jan. 9th, 1868.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 90, 1863.

FORT PIERRE, Jan. 9th, 1863
FRIEND FRENEY Having promised to
write you on my arrival here, and as the
mail leaves to morrow, | improve the op.
portunity. | left Sioux City Novembe
22d, and arrived here Dec. Sth, making
the trip in eighteen days. The weather
was not very cold, but tie high wind
made our trip exceedingly disagreeable.
The country between Fort Randall and
this place is very poor, but very little
wood, water scarce, and bad at that. Some
days we were obliged to march hard all
day to make camp where we could get
wood and water; other days we could not
move more than five or six miles. Moth
ing worthy of note took place on the trip,
except our meeting with those prisoners,
women and children, who had been res
cued from captivity among the Sauntees,
and were on their way to Jin their friends
If they are living, Of which they were
entire y Ignorant.
We are very comfortably fixed for the
winter. The Fort is a stockale built of
hewed cottonwood logs set upright bed.
ded in the ground and pinned together at
the top. ! should guess it to be about Is
feet high. There are two bastions at the
angles which project outside of the stock,
ade, with port holes for cannon below and
musketry above--so we consider ourselves
Indian proof. We hear every day some.
thing new in regard to the S.n,ees. The
Indians about here are half scared to
death; they say the Santees will come
down and take the Fort, and unless tn ey
take part with them will fight them too
They do not go out to hunt for fear of
meeting them. 1t is u pity that this accur.
sed band of Sautees could not be dealt
With as their crimes deserve. Listen to
the heart rending accounts given by those
women rescued from them, and then ap-
prove if you can the mild policy which
hundreds of newspaper editors, and even
Government itself contemplates.
From the best information we can get
there is still about 80 Or 10 whites mostly
women and children held by them as pris-
oners-subj jected to all the wretchednyss,
brutality and disgracing serytude which
can be imposed by the most brutal, heath.
enish, deceitful and damnable race on the
face of the earth their person violated,
their children roasted alive before their
eyes, or left to perish on the prairie alone
women who have been accustomed to a
HE OF luxury and ease compelled to DO
the drudgery of an Indian camp,-aud
with all these facts before them the Gov
ernment looks quietly on, does nothing to
rescue these victims or punish the perpe.
traitors. Life in America has become too
cheap to be worth the saving unless poll
teal agrandlzement can be secured bv so
doing. If Presidential or Congressional
success could be acquired in this country
there is no doubt but the people would
have protection the country would be
overrun by soldiers, and the scalp of the
last Indian between the Mississippi and
the mountains would be dangling from the
dome of the Capitol. One thing is GER
must either send more
men into this country or abandon the ma
vigatiot. of the Missouri above Ft. Randall.
The weather is delightful. We spent
the Holidays quiet pleasantly the Quar-.
termaster's supply Of met groceries had
run out, but our old friend the Doctor verv
generously contributed something from
his medicine chest which certainly was
anything but bad to take. On New Years
night we had dance at which citizens,
soldiers, and the maids of the prairie all
took an active part. Send me The REG
lsuER regularly. l will get them some
time and they will be new to me. c.K.H.