Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1863-12-05
Sioux City &tgisttr
SATURDAY, DECEMBER S, 1868.

No question more constantly engages
the attention Of the people Of the North.
West than the one involving our Indian
troubles-and what the General Govern.
ment proposes further to do in the pre-.
mises-whether The Expeditions which
were organized and partially carried out
the last season are to be the end Of the
whole Indian war, so far as the fighting
on the part Of the whites is concerned
and the prevailing impression now cur
rent among most Of the hostile Indian
tribes, that they may perpetrate their de.
predations on the white set.lem ents
and their savage barbarities upon the
people with impuuity, is to be confirmed
by an abandonment At the present juno.
ture Of all further operations against
them, thus measurably conceeding the
truth Of what they 80 vauntingly claim,
that Of the two Expeditions sent out
against them, the 6rst was whipped aud
driven from the country in dismay, while
the second, after one fight, departed
immediately -or whether the General
Government will not prosecute the war
against those Indians in such manner a.
forever to settle the question Of the right
OF supremacy and quiet occupancy BY
the whites in the States and Territories
Of the Northwest, when the soil has been
purchased from and ceeded by these very
Indians. and thereby do away with the
continuous and we'll grounded sppreh.u-
sion on the frontier arising from the IN.
friendly neighborhood Of hostile Indians.
Should the latter course be resolved upon
never was there = mo:e suspicious time
than the present to make an Expe.
petition against these Indians so success.
full aud effective. Most Of the men enpag.
ed in the one of last Summer from this
point, are here or in this neighborhood,
and accessible to an other call in the
same direction-and the experience Of
their previous campaign would necessarily
be Of great service in another of the same
character. The greater part of all those
munitions Of war necessary to an expe.
d'tion of this character and magnitude
are now at hand, and 10 position to be
made available as early in the Spring as
it would be safe for an Expedition to
move.
In addition to these facts, the simple
one of having q better stage Of water
which we have every reason to believe
will be the case-for transportation,
would of itself be sufficient to justify US
in concluding that an Expedition the next
season cannot but be attended with more
satisfactory and important results than
the one Of last Summer. As for the COM
mander, it is unnecessary for US to say
more than that We are fully satisfied we
could have no better,-but even to him we
apprehend the experience of last season
will not be entirely without benefit. how.
ever wide and extended his former expe.
Hence in military matters may have been
and hence we think We may safely claim
for him more peculiar fitness for the
position, tkan exists in any other General
in the field.
In view Of all these facts, and the furth.
er and important consideration, that what
has already been done will be much more
likely to fan the flame than to guard it.
We think We may safely conclude that it
Is not the intention Of the Government to
abandon all the advantages for striking
these savages such an effective blow as
shall crush GU. and obliterate them from
the entire face Of our prairies, and from
their secret haun,s 10 our woods and
swamps.
If such fortunate result can be con.
sunated, as we have every reason to be.
lieve it can by a Vigorous extension of our
arms into the very heart Of their hunting
grounds, i. will do away with the necessity
Of guarding our entire frontier from the
continuous invasions and depre dations of
those Indians, and thus save to the Cen
eral Government and TO the States and
Territories subject to these afil:,ions, an
immense amount in their yearly expenses
while the settler will have some assur.
ance that the crop he plants 10 the Spring
he may live to harvest in the Autumn,
and that the comfortable though homely
improvements which q kind Providence
has permitted him to make for the use of
his family, may be secured to him by
some more reliable tenure than the capri
cious will Of hostile savage. And above
all, he will be better assured that his own
and the lives of those dear to him have
some better protection than il usually
found in an implicit trust and confidence
in the tender mercy Of our Indian neigh.
bors.