North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1867-10-09
Corre espondence. r"r.E aH
.-..... npCou CoDk On 1907

correspondence. -"raE aa s
DEBORAH, Sept. 80, 1867.
DEAR Col :-Humbugs of some sort or
another seem to be the order of the day.
Here we have sanative pills, extract of bu-
chu, condition powders, poor whiskey,
musty tobacco, coarse hash and vegetable
soup, on one hand, and on the other, Ia
little farther west) we have had the Indian
Peace Commission. We can stand all for
mer humbugs, (Rump Congress excepted
but from another Indian Peace Commits
sion" Lord deliver US! After years of In
dian deprepations, millions upon millions
of money squandcred; after allowing hun
dreds of innocent lives to be taken, our
wise heads at Washington have finally
agreed to do-nothing. A very pious and
a very good idea. The great plains of the
West have been, for the past three years,
the scene of one of the most horrible In
dian wars that the country has ever wit
messed, and yet Gen. Sherman, and few
Government pimps and satellites, have WIS.,
tied the principal Chiefs of the various
tribes and provided them with ammunition
necessary to last them until the lst of Nov,
when another Council will be held and
more ammunition distributed In the
mean time they are to rob and plundcr,
kill and scalp, until sSeh time as Uncle
Sam shall see fit to call another Council.
If one-tenth part of the money that has
been squandered upon the ''noble red
men, had been invested in arms and am
munition, and equally distributed among
the pioneers of the Far West, we would
have no PeaGG rncils and but precious
few Indians e peace with. This
would not be beHyM4eeping with the g. God
and Humanity" party; but it would be
in keeping with the spirit Of the age.
In the spring of 1865, the writer visited
the various military posts, forts, &C., on
the Platte and Republican rivers, and in al
most every instance the hostile Indians
had free and uninterrupted communica-
ton with suffers, quartermasters, &c. In
fact, everything went to show that the va
rious commanders Of posts and forts were
in partnership with Mr.. "Lo." Shortly
after the massacre of Plum Creek. in
May 1865, Lieutenant, with a squad,
was sent in pursuit of hostile Indians
| Iyo Fxnv &C
hours and half" and informed the Com
mander that he had lost no Indians, and if
he (the Commander) had, the best thing
he could do would be to 80 and hunt them.
There are, presume, thousands of simi-
lar instances. IF there was more powder
issued to the whites on the frontiers, and
less Government officers, then venture to
say that our Indian war would be of short
duration.
| AT the Council which is to be held in
November, all the Chiefs of the hostile
tribes will be present, treaty of peace
will be agreed upon, ammunition and arms
will be issued to every red devil, from
Loupe Fork to the Foot Hills they will
remain at peace during the winter, and
when spring opens-stand from under
Any man who has lived on the frontier
any length of time, knows that an Indian
war prosecuted during the summertime is
almost nonsense. One battle and one de-
feat with the Indians in the winter or ear
ly in the spring-say March-is worth a
dozen in the middle of the summer. If
we are to have war every summer for the
next ten years, the best way to hasten it
is to have "Peace Commissions"
The most formidable of all the smaller
tribes have lately taken the war path-the
Crovs. 1t has always been their boast
that none of their number ever shed white
blood and this added with the other hos
tile tribes, will make sad havoc during
the present Fall, with the frontiers.
The people of the West want no more
treaties of peace made by kid-gloved Gen.
erals, or public officials of any Sort Let
the Government call in the paper-collar
Indian-6ghters and give the people there
to understand that they must look out for
themselves, and will wager my life that
before next spring opens, that every hos
tile tribe Of Indians on the plains, will be
glad to sue for peace. If there were three
more CUsrARs on the plains, we would all
be driven to the eastern bank of the Mis-
sissippi. One CHIvNIcToN is worth all the
Shermans, Custars and Popes that ever
came into existence. One regiment of
Westean frontiersmen are worth inst ten
regiments Of Regulars in an Indian cam
paign, and every Indian chief that has ever
been brought in contact with them will say
the same thing. The writer spent three
years among the Yanckton Sioux and
Blackfeet of Dacotah, and in many instan-
ces white trappers and hunters were be-
friended through fear, while regular SOL
diers were regarded among them as mere
"blue-legged squaws." They all seem to
have mortal dread of froptiersmen-and
we'll they may. J.B.B.
The Keokuk Gate City is responsible for
telling the truth, the whole truth, and