, 1870-03-30
THE PIEGAN AFFAIR,
E,cttcr from General I9nrdir.

E,cttcr from General I9nrdir.
Washington Na,eh ss, Des,ateh h' The .sae Fax
The following rrivato lcttcrwas received here
to-dny from General Hazaie:
uEApVrAETEHs MILITARY DirLsrox oF 7nK}
Missouri, lSsrEc1oR e GgSkKALs s,as ofrIsE,
DEAR -: The reason Why there il anv
blame reelected cn sherman. Sheridan, ami il
YOU r!ease, On nayself, about this Piegan atfar
il because people don't understand the position
which we occupy. Certain events had ocs1.srti
ia Montana, whicI. rendered it Necessary, in
the opinion OF the Indian Department. tha
Military Department, aud the citizens, ami Of
pretty much the general public. that sole,hiu.
must he done to etop the 1iefS;ans Or thrz,
would be serious troubles On the frontier, which
would involve the safety Of nuca lille an1
Nr,pertv. While all this has bceu in tho
papers, yet nobody took exception. General
Sheridan proposed plan Of attion to General
Sherman: be approved il. That correspond
erce n1rst have gone to the Indian Depart
mcnt, yet no protest appears against it, The
plan was to stEke the liegaus in the winter.
before the plan Waa executed, General Sheri-
dan, finding there were liAaa,reemeuis. Ac,
between the Indian Department. represented
By Sully, and the Military, BY De 1robsiau,i,
sent me to ascertain the real requirements OF
the occasion. found that the whole Black
fe.t were not. it is truc, 'n arms Oh tho Tar-
path, Int that bands OF 1feEaus wera out
actually to plumber: that they had committed
ontrage4 Witch showed-when taken III con-
nectlon with their utter l1wfessnesa
and freedom from control. and their
conviction that TIC troops would NOT fight and
cou11 not catch them--a very bad DISPOSITION
at present on their part and threatening of
Danger to the settlements l. after much
shonght, concluded that the Iiegans ought to
he punished to check them. hat submitted
the whole casc to my clucf and took lis
orders: these communicated to Baker. and
1.,ff &o
| details Of BAKERS tight as reported by Lieu
tenant reaee dent know the mode Of at
| tack that Baker nSed further than it is very
| generally described ly hiu,Eeif s1,n't know
anything more than De Tr'rsiand teltgrarhes1
| to me-tlat Baker gavc quarter to al women
Killed women and children wansonlr. no
certainly cannot ind any such thing re-
quired or hin, in Sheritlan's md Sher-
mans orders. There is no occasion, that
sec. 10 iud fault with Sheridan for Bakers
actions at all Why does Sheridan stand By
il condemned, officers will be afraid
on the frontier to take vigorous measures
against Intfians-1e afraid to strike them
Our great tronhle. before Sheridan went to
work in Lis way, wae that officers were too apt,
in thciI Affairs with hostile Indians. mot to
light How not to do it. il what Sheridan
don't know. Wow wc are threatened with Indian
difficulties continually. and mik-aud-watcr
won't meet tho case. Unless the Indians
learn to keep their fingers OF white
mems property, and their 1it1es pointed
at other things than white persons, you will SEQ
trouble. Take the Sioux; il they can do as
ttey r1esse With iupuni,y, you will very soon
zee tronlle such az you have not seen yet. The
Sioux can, II they Ill take tho war-rath. break
up all traus-contincntal travel There il dan
ger Of their taking trains and rn.,rlcsiug pas
eenge1s. On the Kansas Pacific, all iast gum
mes. the trims were furnished with alzzns, and
we Ind to place troops in monitors or dug outs,
at water stations and bridges. Now, if officers
arc going to be visited with general obloquy,
they certainly will not strike she Indians when
necersary. The consequence will be that
the Indian disturbance will 10 rrotracse1,
and the Indians become douhly dangerous
Did haker kill any women and children
otherwise than was incidental to Al attack?
Did he wanton1y kill women and chjliren7
Did he refusc quarter to anybody? That docs
not appear. A strong appeal to the fee1ingsis
made by q recital Of she rex. age. and conai-
tinn OF the people killed: but ii they were not
really Intentionally hllet!-if they met their
death from the accidents Ut the attack-theu
Baker cannot be ceusured. Baker has boon
called uPon to report iii detail. Let as REQ
wha. ic sayR. The account publeheI comes
from the Indians themselves. Lieutenant
rease SAYS go; General sully says it is only
one side, and that not reliable. Sincerely
yours, JAMES L. II,8p1E-