The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-05-01
Our Indian Folly.


Florida is being repeated in the lava beds of
California. The willy and treacherous Semi
mole finds his counterpart in the subtle and
murderous Modoc. Scarcely has the country
recovered from the shock of the brutal assas-
sination of General Candy and Mr.. Thomas,
when another and still more fatal blunder,
with all its horrors, is forced upon u.s. All
the experience of the past all our knowledge
of the Indian, his habits, his mode of life, his
wicked and disgusting propensities, seem
lost upon those who have the direction OF
affairs, and we are stupidity laundering on
and into long and expensive war. There is
not the least doubt in the world that this really
brilliant success of General Jack and his
dusky warriors will incite all the uneasy
spirits of the Western tribes, and before the
Summer is over we shall have to record per-
haps hundred bloody massacres. Now, what
is the government going to do about it (?
What is it doing2 Shall we continue to fight
the Indians with batteries of artillery and
with Uptons tactics? Shall the troops con-
tinue to march out to ambush and death, with
'their bayonets glittering in the sum-" Or
to the country and suited to the foe? The
leading traits of the Indian character are
| those which he shares in common with the
| fox and the wolf, his prototypes Of the Plains.
In the fastness of his caves and crevices he
has but to wait and watch. The signals from
| hundred hills tell him any movement Of
the troops, which is made with all the osten-
i 81. of hof
folly! What madness thus to sacrifice the
lives Of brave men! Every soldier and
officer who has ever had any experience
in Indian fighting knows that the tao
| tics of civilized warfare never have
succeeded and never will succeed in over
coming a determined band of savages en-
boldened by success and made more brutal by
the taste of blood. If the bitter experience Of
the Florida Seminole war is not to be repeated,
if we would make short and decisive work
with this terrible business, we must provide
! expedients suited to the emergency. Troops,
or rather men, must be selected for this duty
who are fitted for the especial purpose, and
accustomed to life on the Plains, as the sailor
| is fitted for the sea.
| The government should at once, without an
hours delay, organize several regiments of
guides or frontier scouts, selected from all the
different regiments of the service. both off,
GERS and men, adventurous, hardy, cour-
ageous spirits with strong Municipalities,
who can readily adapt themselves to Indian
habits and Indian ways; dressed in buckskin
and mounted on hardy Indian ponies, each
man adapted to sustain himself without COM
missariat; lurking, like the Indian, in secure
retreats, ready at an unexpected moment to
pounce upon the foe; coming together and
separating by signals known only to them
selves; differed by men whose marked deter
mination and skill can readily contrive the plans
best adapted to outwit the savage. Let these
men receive double the pay of the regular SER
vice and let all their exploits be made public.
We would soon have the ranks filed up by
adventurous spirits from all nations, who will
establish with the Indian tribes throughout
the entire West character which will keep
them in wholesome and permanent fear. I'm
less force like this, organized on the princ-
Piles we have laid down, is put into the field, it
would be wise to abandon the Indians to their
own devices, and save ourselves the mortifica-
ton and disgrace which, under the present
absurd mode of warfare, is inevitable. The
offer of liberal premium for the scalps Of
these hostile Modocs would extirpate the tribe
III o month, saving the lives of the soldiers
and settlers. This suggestion is one which
the government may well consider and adopt.
It ought to be part of the incentive to the
organization of the scout system Of warfare SO
imperatively demanded It seems cruel pro-
position but this war with the Modocs is
war Of determination.
And just here we would suggest that the
| government exercise great caution in regard to
the conduct of the Warm Spring Indians.
Their actions are, to say the least suspicious,
and it is not impossible that they may be in
collision with the Modocs. Their achieve
ments have fallen for below expectation, and
they have not even shown themselves to be
efficient scouts. Want of knowledge Of the
whereabouts of Captain Jacks band led to the
latest massacre, and such knowledge the Warm
Spring Indians should have supplied if they
were properly used and are not unfaithful to
the whites. Careful watch must be kept over
them, SO that if they should entertain any in
tention or make any effort to betray the
troops it may be prevented and punished
And, besides, hanging must be the method Of
punishment whenever false or hostile savage.
is captured. Nothing SO deters the Indian
from the commission Of outrages as the proba-
bility that hanging will be the penalty Of his
crimes. Wisdom teaches us to adopt every
method of curbing and controlling the Mo-
docs and other hostile tribes which experience
has shown to be effective, and this mode of
punishment is one of the most effective ever
adopted. Unfortunately, il is necessary to