The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-06-10
Red Clouds Speecl-Injustice 10 the
= Indians.

day In BIS fhteF' VI" "i'n Wy hiiiehs
officials in Washington is an interest
inc curiosity in its way. Though not
SO eloquent as that handed down to us
from the celebrated Indian Chief,
LOGAN, it nevertheless contains some
touches of true eloquence and pathos,
and some forcibly put arguments which
should set to blush those who manage
the Indian affairs of our Government.
Look at mel" said he, seated on the
carpet. Al was raised where the sun
rises, and now /. come from where he
sets-the nation which has the bow and
arrow. The red men and the whites
were raised together on this land.
Whose voice was first heard on this
land? 1t was the red people, who
used the bow. The Great Father may
be good and kind, but l can't sect it. |
am good and kind to the white people,
and have given my lands, and now
have come from where the sun sets to
see you. The Great Father has sent
his people out there, and left me nothing
but an island. Our nation is melting
away like the snow on the side OF the
hills where the sun Is warm, whlle
your people are like the blades OF grass
in spring, when summer is coming |
don't want to see the white people
making roads in our country. Now
that | have come into my Great
Fathers land, see if | have any blood
when ! return to my home. The white
people have sprinkled blood on the
blades of grass about the line Of Fort
Fetterman. Tell the Great Father to
remove that fort. Then we will be
peaceable, and there will be no more
trouble. ! have got two mountains in
that country, Black Hill and Big Horn.
| want no roads there. There have
been stakes driven in that country, and
want them removed
There is something very touching
and forcible in this. portion of the In
dian's speech. Though the voice OF
the red man was the first heard Gin
this land" he has been driven back by
hewhite man from time to time, until his
whole race has been crowded into a
very small island in the mountains
of the far west where the sun sets; and
for all the lands out Of which they
have been robbed and cheated, and for
all the wrongs perpetrated upon them
by cruel white men, they have re-
ceived little recompense and little sym
pathy from their Great Father" or his
people. At least, if the "Grcat
Father has done much Of anything for
them in the fulfllment of solemn
treaties like RED CLOUD, We cant see
it" nor can anybody else see it. The
bill of indictment against the Govern
mentof the United States is drawn by
RED CLOUD in the following eloquent
and unanswerable language:
II have told these things three times,
and have now come here to tell them
for the fourth time. ! have made up
my mind to talk that way don't
want my reservation on the Missouri.
Some of these people here are from
there and know what | say. What
hear is that my children and old men
are dying off like sheep. The country
does not suit them. | was born at the
forks of the Platte. Ny father and
mother told Inc that the land there he.
longed to me- From the North and the
West the red nation has come into the
Great Fathers house. We are the last
of the Ogallalas. We have come to
know the facts from our Great Father
why the promises which have been
made to us have not been kept. At
the mouth of Horse creek, in 1862,
there was a treaty made, and the man
who made that treaty (alluding to Gen
eral Mitchell, who performed that ser
vice for the Government is the only
one who told me the truth. Goods
which have been sent out to me
have been stolen all along the
road, and only a handful would
reach me to go among my nation.
Look at me here; | am poor and ma
ked. Twas not raised with arms; ! al,
ways want to be peaceable. The Great
Spirit has raised YOU to read and write,
and has put papers before YOU; but he
has not raised me in that style The
men whom the President sends us, sol,
diers and all, have no sense and no
heart. ! know it to-day. What has
been done in my country | did not ask.
The whites are going through my coun-
try and killing game, and it is the
Great Fathers fault. You are the peo-
pie who should keep peace, For the
railroads You are passing through my
country ! have not received even so
much as brass ring for the land they
occupy | wish you to tell that to my
Great Father You whites make all
the ammu1ition-what is the reason
Won don't give tito me2 Are Won afraid
I am going to war? You are great and
powerful, and | am only handful !
do not want it for that purpose, but to
kill game with. | suppose must at
some time 90 to farming, but cannot
do it right away" "
This explains the secret of all our
Indian troubles. The President sends
out among them as his agents a swarm
of soldiers and men who have no heart
and little sense, and they rob and cheat
the poar SAVAGE ont of his lands and