New-York tribune., 1867-05-25
4 TOUR THROUGH TIE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
No. III
r.,m On. e-~,.al Cer-s?oal-a,


l, .-..r- uyG.r.t lire Of the causes. progress.
ca ..-...'I,rearl-. oil thc present Indian wax. 1t
,...i l.e.,n natural sat the officer commanding"
l-.,.f.-,sl should j. h,-t informed aud two days
NO. ocu. AuguI, who kindly allowed mo access /"
f.. ,sats da,a o. the various Tribes reports o. INC
Irdiar Commission and OF scouts, gave me- rs sup
posed .ta ,onably accurate idea OF the coiu'uoh VI
ac r,t After leaving Omaha, made II pOi-' ~
gather all the information / couu nom wy
avail Dis source without regard 10 'He pi,y"
,,,.s. ,.,,i.h ,ujobt ra.tialy or wholly neuuai4e
a.. +-.u Poncbnen drivers, staton-keepers
1r,.,-l,D and freigh.cTs have after an, inc OeSU
c,;,o1 ifc,s Of Indians and probable Indian oPei-
;ions and it is remarkable how u.TeIsu Is ,i tnCn
contempt for military caLlflELS' n H.1o no ~
ntn,, ~ Conner" The answer tO at questions as 10
I,y, Toaee may be attained aad have not found
INC ,e,;dcat OF habitUal Traveller OF the plains who
does Eqt demand cHt,lIIi,.O'u, - - ] w fiif
f,arfully concurrent that there can De no peace WINE
ttc Government NcgotiateS VIII the INDIANS anu
treats their prisoners n accordance WIN the uslgo
Oi civilized warfare Next to the means tne Fy1i t
dents :;d a0Ourers O. the Platte Valley west OF the
railroad, have the most contempt for SOldleIs
Of IRE Regular ,, Amy iyy rn5is5ys i5fiGy ana a Viii
not hght them. They have 10 private, wrongs
{, ayenge. They have had 10 friends b9tGherGu. no
wlr,s on children Scalpcd or tortured ana they snow
fb1t n Lry are exposed 10 all the atrocities pracced
bv th, Ird.aus while they are Compelled 10 Hglit
them 2S if tnty We're humane and chyafouS Is 1t
liot natural that soldiers of the Regular Army VINO
iight mechaucailr. should bc lneitclcnt III cam
pagu against Indians! however eNtiaNaght may
he the view, o. tht Platte valley residents as 10 lhe
fo'ly Cf regular military campaigns II must be con
fcsScd that thc~OGic l. more easy to oVeIlue tlai
e. an.wcr no one here doubts that Grls' AuguI aiiu
H,ac0rs atr doing. and iii do, all that Is IN their
Iov.pr ,,udcr thttr orders: but the convection lS
just q, uuu,ual that they cannot even pro
ieof ttr great tlO,CughiaTes 10 the west
sHuch less briHe fne SaYaSes 10 10 l pe.vy w.
l,y la..i,ary s-cco.s. They might PLotGct me lMo
great inutos aUos' thc Continent il 'ney were ~
st,ucted To- 90 not .uc e.se but when they arc u-
rect,i 10 divide tht.r iOrccs and make onehs'Nt
movements n0rtl aHG south OF the rate. IhGl h,;I
f,il 4, Urotcct the routes behind them. and also f
10 t,,Ll any decided success in the field. Every
day Lave spent Ia The Indian country has but con-
fynrd the opinion expressed IN my first letter IRON
On;gua-.hat there Sll not be a decisive battle
f,urbt this season bY 'hcr Gen. Augur OF zen RAN
cock auI that thc sO-caCd Indian war VIII be put
warOn the sdc OF the laOias by nett panus o. ml
iiors against weak posts and isolated S99mlhahdS;
and do not hesitate TO add, that there VIII he TO- or
more likely, 20 whites buteheIed Tor every lhul''n
DO not understand mo rs intending to reflect upon
the capacity efforts 81 orr military Gomlnanders.
They cannot do impossible things, and assure your
,eadc~s tho, What ls expected of them generally III
the East and [ presume by the Government Is ~
impossible under existing circumstances rs NOUiu
be a campaign against the denizens OF Inc moon. IL
il concealed that there are hunCIcCs ana prom
ably over 4 thousand hostile Indians on ihe hepu9H-
can Fork II is the central line between the Hloey
Hill and the Platte routes, ana an eNCc!cht nl'c 10
oqpe ia every direction against thr lines OF taFeI
and AGAINST the settlers. They can strike the FIatte
rorte for several hundred miles IN one day llde ana
Tho Sro;v Hin is equally accessible OF their move
ments no one can I've advised They will burn
station on Smoky Hill one day. ana the
pevt sfrikc tbc Platte Within the last week they
have made two raids on the Platte. and two OF more
on the smoky Hill. The country theE ocenN. Is
held solely by hostile tribes spotted Ian ana SWlIt
Bear with their followers, crossed the Ilatte hoft
ward on Friday, few miles below JuIes0urg' SO that
the Republican region Is now eMtlIey ~ possGSIioh Ti
and his followers were located there but monh ago
by Cen Sally, but the incurSion OF the hostile tribes
compelled him TO leave as nc reports or allow aIi
his vc,iup warrior, To he SeduCcd INTO war. lie mas
therefore left for the North, and not entirely pleased
bnco,Is, the Government agents commanders
would not allow his young warriors to iight the
Pa,gnces a little Occasionally for fun hnd that
the residents all along the rOute, aS well as tc people
of Denver have no faith whatever III Spotted
Tail and they predict that he Will bc on
tho war path, or at least part Of his tnhe
with his consent, before another month. 1t
ia not questioned that in his lodges quite num-
Der who were concerned in the Fort Phil keaTney
massacre and yet no efort has been ma9e 10 nave
them surrendered to justice lest II might force all OF
them INTO war. Inust aglee with the general opinion
OF tic Western people, 50 far, at least aS to demand
the summary and relentless punishment Oh az ln'tla
who have c0uutenanccd Participated Ill the butch
ery OF captives and if il should make thousant
more warriors for time, hundreds OF lives would b
saved IN the end.
system OF warfare against Indians, are not confined to
the opinion and pIeudiccs of the settlers. saw for
800 miles along the route, from North Platte TO Den
YER the mute but terribly eloquent monuments of
savage warfare. But little more than two years
ago in January 1865 the Indians Taidcd the entire
Platte line from Denycralmo to Atchison and they
not three ranches between this and North
Platte that ,eScaped-indeed l know OF but
one portion Of the ran Ta9chmen and sta sta
fell into their hands lived to tell the story of his cap
ture. His scalp graced the belt OF some brave, and
was carried home TO win the favor of some duSky
daughter of the forest. Every ranch and station be-
tween this and JulesbuTg was captured and burned,
the men. women. and children who did not escape,
were inhumanly butchered and nothing left To show
that the country had been inhabited nj all, but the
Clarred walls of the mud novels. At JueSburg they
lin af
the guns of Fort Sedgwick, in open day. and not a
gun fired effort made to arrest the appall
ing atrocities which traced their line Of march.
How much the garrison OF the tort could nave
effected. had they tried, | do not pretend 10 say;
but that they did not try, lest they might
provoke an attack by largely superior numbers on
the fort is the truth of history. In sublime contrast
with the action of the military was the herOiSm OF
several Tanchemen some 30 miles east of JnesbuIg.
The Indians had passed all the military on The route
without losing man, and had left no haDtatOn or
resident behind them except the troops, until they
cncircied the rancho of Hallen Godfrey native of
Western NewYOTk, but an old resident OF the In
dian country. / supped with HIM few nights ago,
and had his story from himself. He gave il with
degree of modesty and candor that stripped the
popular history of the affair of some of its romance
but that he gave it truthtully there could
be no doubt lie is an intelligent, keen
eyed and brawDy-aTned man OF over 90
and makes pretenSions 10 the heroic but he does
pretend to protect his little store of whisky tobacco
canned fruits. and notions ami hls wife and children
and more than that, he does u. lie has sod fOTtt
cation running along the south and west sides of his
rancho, and extending ont some six feet front and
rear 40 as 10 protect two sides of the building and
command the other two. His fort is but sod wall,
six feet high, with lOOpholes but 1t Is an infinitely
better fortcaton than the sceneed officers OF Fort
Sedgwick have TO protect that post. One hundred
and sixty warriors attacked the Godfrey Rancho, but
rs it was defended, they exhausted Indian strategy
to reduce it. There Mere h but tSS four bad men eI ad
The fGe' Indians flSn' first fcfmed circle about
the rancho AT distance of 400 yards and endeavOred
tn frpV