The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-07-26
SPECULATING In DISEASE.
How Smallpox has been Spread Among the
Indfana.


How Smallpox has ; been Spread Among the
From time to time the telegraph has informed
us that the different tribes of Indians in Wyo-
ming and Dakotah have been generally pros
trated by smallpox, the ravages of which have
nearly destroyed some bands. A few days ago
the telegraph also reported the fearful rumor
that the spectators in those Territories are
sending east cargoes of buffalo robes and furs
which are undoubtedly infected, and through
which, in their thirst for gain, the traders do not
hesitate to send into every market almost GER
tain death to their purchasers. The Omaha
Herald thus explains how the contagion began
"Last summer the steamboat Utah piled be-
tween Sioux City and Fort Benton. During one
of her trips the smallpox broke out among the
passengers and crew, and one death occurred on
the trip. The boat landed short distance below
Milk river, and there the corpse was buried
The burial was witnessed by number of In
dians, of the Gros Ventres tribe, and the
boat resumed its course, the body was disinterred
and the clothing stripped from the remains and
distributed among the party who had perpe-
trated the act of desecration. The consequence
may be imagined. In proper course of time the
dreadful centagion broke out in its most viru-
lent form among the savages. The devastation
was so terrible that out of one thousand nine
hundred members of the tribe, seven hundred
and fifty died"
HOW THE sPECULAToRs OPERATED.
The Herald continues
''The Indian burial ceremony is not such as
prevails among the civilized world. 1t is GUS
tom, without deviation, to lay the dead upon
the ground in the robe which encased the body
while living, and cover up the remains with
blush. There are spectators in the Indian
country whose sole object in lite seems to be to
make money, without the slightest regard for
the manner in which they do it. The robes
which enclosed the dead bodies were valuable.
The spectators, aware of this determined to
profit by it, and with no compunctions of con-
science as to the consequences, not seeming to
care in the least for the terrible suffering which
ri WOull entail
many innocent Victims these men did not hesi-
tate to roam the country in quest of the infected
robes and to convey them for storage to q
warehouse in Fort Benton. BENJAMIN de
Roche, a workman in the warehouse was the
first victim, and 1t was but short time before
nearly every house in Fort Benton was q small
poX hospital. Many died, and the most agoniz-
ing suffering prevailed. In the house of De
Roche at one time there were ten persons in bed
afflicted with the contagion which prevailed.
The business houses were closed, and the city
seemed to be doomed to desolation and death.
In the face of this horrible visitation those who
had engaged in the unholy traffic did not de-
sist. They asserted that the place was alive with
smallpox, and that as it could be no worse, the
arrival and storage of robes could make no diffe-
renee. And thus, in the very midst of death
desoation and despair these human vultures
continued their pestiience-breeding death-deal-
ing occupation.
FIENDIsH ACT AND erich HARVEST"
''There is one incident connected with this
startling horror which places white victim in
an attitude which, though he may not have
known the full extent of the consequences of
his act, was certainly most fiendish one and
which was the cause of a greater destruction
of life than the circumstances we have men
toned. This man. while he was suffering with
the disease, obtained two yeast cans and filled
them both with scabs.
'As soon as he was able to do so, he took an
old shirt, rubbed it thoroughly with the contents
of the boxes, and then placed the infected gar
ment on the trail of the Piegans, on Highwood
creek, where the Indians would be sure to find
it. They did so, and in short time afterwards
the most frightful of calamties was visited upon
that tribe. 1t spread with wonderful rapidity
! among the Blackfeet, Bloods, and River Crows,
until the whole country within radius of one
hundred miles of Fort Benton and extending
! along the river for much greater distance was
infected with the disease, and deaths occurred by
! the thousand. From this awful source the
! spectators reaped rich harvest. Robes and
blankets were gathered in by the thousand
! and conveyed by boats down the river thus
conveying and scattering the disease broadcast
! over the land The Government was finally
! informed of the matter, and General Hancock
! was promptly ordered to prohibit the shipment
! of r0bes unless they were first inspected and
found to be in healthy condition. AS there
| were few in the country not infected, the abomi-
! nable traffic ceased, and the inhuman wretches
who were engaged in it were for time deprived
| of the benefits which their infamous trade had
| conferred upon them.
''But they did not despair. The ingenuity of
the villain is certainly as apt as that of honest
men. Cut off from shipping the diseased robes
! by river, they determined to take them overland,
and gain market by means of railroad COM
munication. Thanks to the vigilance of the
managers of the Union Pacific Railroad and to
the prompt assistance of the military, this lat
ter scheme has been throttled in its incipiency,
and no more robes can pass over that road with
out having been inspected by government
officer and pronounced to be in good condition.
| There are now at Uinta station thirteen hun
dred robes which have been detained for eX-
animation.
mot single robe will be permitted to pass
through Omaha that has not been examined by
a competent officer. 1t is thought by many that
! the recent visitation of the pestilence to this
city-which, thank God is now over-was
caused in this manner, and that the disease
originated in the BURIAL one year ago, of a soli-
| tary passenger on the banks of the Missouri,
hundreds of miles away. Could the horrible
consequences of that act be computed, and
the lives it has taken be enumerated, the record
would be frightful CHASTITY one."