Nebraska advertiser., 1867-08-08

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surveyor in chief Of the party on the line
Of the Union Pacific railroad fromOmaha.
while surveying the line Of the route.
while caorying cut the provisions of The
very act Of Congress for which my friend
from Maine voted, was waylaid by a party
Of Indians and sssallhily murdered. lie
was engaged il carrying forward that
great enterprise which this Congress.
which this Government which this nation
demands, aye, which the world demands,
for it is continental; it is the worlds high
way. You have ordered il TO be built
If there is a Rfong IN its being carried
out, let the wrong come home 10 those
who voted for i, and my frieDd from
Maine among others
The Chairman a the committee on
Indian Affairs i uistaken ia one respect
The Indians arebppOsed to the building
Of these roads. There is no mistake
about it. / have heard it form them nv
self. The reason they object is that il
cuts in tvs their buffalo range. The
buffalo range in certain seasons Of The
year from away north Of Nebraska down
toward Red river, and they think the
roads will interfere with that. One In
dian chief expressed his objection in this
way I'VE do not object to the horse GO
ing through our country that goes so"
Initiating in his manner the g~alloping OF
a horse; "but," be added, i've do object
TO the horse that goes So" initiating the
noise Of the steam engine. That was
his expressive way Of giving uttsTance to
his objection.
The difficulty is that the Indians do
not like these roads, and hence ! have
favored this bill which proposes to open
these two lines of road by taking the
Indians away aud putting them on res
erVaIions 20 the north and to the south !;
not that ] want to put them so far north
that my friend from Minnesota TMr.
Ramsey will be in any danger. l
would do nothing and favor nothing that
would Interfere with the Northern Pa
cifc railroad. ] am willing to put any
reconstrtclions in the bill WI ich will pre-
vent interserance with that line. | am
willing to put in a clause declaring that
il the treaty 20 be made The right way
seall be granted TO any railroad north Of
a certain parallel. The proposed res
ervation for the northern Indians, the
Sioux nation, lies north OF Nebraska, l
do not object to their being on the bor-
der of our State, and our people do not
object h it,. l have come TO the conClu-
sion that there must be a final disposition
of the Indian question, and you may as
well meet it to day as TO put it off for n
year or two years. You cannot evade il
much longer.
Why, sir, the policy has been to move
the tribes westward from reservation TO
reservation in order to give way to the
march of empire to which nay friend
from Maine has so. beautifully alluded
with a little vein of sarcasm After the
settlers advance and surround a reserva-
ton, then the Indians have to 60 farther
of. Now we have arrived at this con-
dition Of things wherein you can move
them no further. You have got to find
a permanent settlement for them.
/ am mol for the determination bat l
might answer lhe.honorable Senator from
Maine, when he alluded to the argument
of the Senator from Michigan, what has
been the result Of two hundred years ex-
periance2 Has it not led almost to their
extinction ? You may take the fact as
you please; whether you like it or not,
whether, the white race has done WONG
or not, the fact stands out that the Indian
race has dwindled from millions to about
three hundred thousand. Reasoning
from that, what will be their fate? It is
clear what will be the result.
l repeat. | am not in favor Of extermi-
nation, bat I am in favor Of a policy
which shall bring to a close, and forever,
our Indian difficulties. If you mean a
war, say so, and provide the means for
a quick, short, incisive and decisive cam
paign, and end it. That is the sentiment
of the people Of the border. If the Gov
eminent means TO accomplish this thing
by war then call eui the men who have
been bred and raised upon the frontier,
who are familiar with Indian habits, and
mount them on Indian ponies, and they
can accomplish the purpose. Give = few
regiments of that character to General
Sherman and be will end it. Your
American horses will wilt down in one
days pursuit oVer those Plains after In
dams. You must have the grass-fed hor.
ses Of the prairie or Indian ponies in or.
der TO accomplish anything.
The Senator from Massachusetts, the
chairman of the Committee on Military
Affairs, said the other day that General
Sherman had been tested into reeommans
ding the raising of four regiments Of vol.
unteers. That was a mistake. General
Sherman is not ia the habit Of being ties
Ted into doing anything against his judg.
ment. He Is a man NhO can say yes or
no and / know these are his views. His
report Of September 1866, is quoted
here as authority to-day, The report
does not apply TO the present state Of
things. He did travel over that region
in September, 1866, with a small escort
and without danger. Al that particular
time there was comparative quiet. But
that report does not represent the con-
ditiOn of things to-day. There is the
difference. It is hardly ingenious to
quote that report of September. 1866, as
representing the condition of the border
and Of the Plains at the present time. /
deny the fact, and l say General Sher.
man has different views on the question
to-day.
l desire to say a word in regard to the
amendment offered by the Senator from
Wisconsin. He proposes to strike out the
sacnnL s-aclinn and send I'll 49, In.