Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1873-06-05
THE Is.siANs.


THE KsssGANs.
An Associatises wsl-.a Rcsieyes that 81
Proclamation fisa -,csiore Peace
with ti.e fess-siAins
lFrom sse saw ork giMssA
The American Iltlian A,d Associa-
tioi,.iil their appeal on behalf Of the
red men, Just .ssaed, points out the
wong winch the race has suffered at
the hands OF botn the military and Sci
,iers OF the iros,tiei, sho, it aileges,
had established the practice ofrobbins
and shooting the Indians to such an
extent that their determination seemed
almost at hand. The moral sense o1
the nation, it is said, had become SO
blunted that the undisputed massacre
of l50 lndians--men, women, and
children-besides an indefinite number
that was driven into and drowned in
the Platte river by order of Gen. Har.
ney, in 1858, excited no public disap.
probation.
The association hoped that the Pres
ident's peace policy would leave il NO
cause for further interference in Indian
affairs, but it was surprised to find
that the troubles on the Pacific slope
had again aroused old prejudices and
hostilities against the red men. In
presenting the wrongs OF the red men
to the public, the association takes the
case of the Modocs as illustrative OF
the general mode of dealing with the
Indians. That tribe owned and occu-
pied in 1851 a strip Of country in North
California about 100 miles long by &c
wide, diversified by rocky hills, fertile
valleys, lakes and streams, swarming
with fish, and abounding with all kinds
of game. They cultivated no land, yet
no tribe was more free from want
Although very brave people, Mr..
Cree, the Secretary of the Board OF
Indian Peace Commissioners. saws !.
. they were not thievish, or mischiev-
Gus, and gave no trouble to the people
SO long as they were allowed to remain
in peace" In 1852 the overland emil
grants began to pass through their
country, making it highway to South
ern Oregon, and the Modocs attacked
one OF these trains, on the border oi
Tulc lake, and massacred all but one
man. The whites have been exceed
ingly reticent as to the provocation oil
this act but as it was q custom with
some emigrants to shoot Indians and
wild animals alike for amusement, and
as the whites do not deny that they
gave provocation, it is morally certain,
the association says, that the attack ON
them was an act of retaliation, a
war custom practiced by both barbar-
ous aud civilized nations. The attack
made upon the Modocs by the volun-
teer force under Captains Wright and
Boss, during peace conference, in
which eighteen of the tribe, including
the father of the present Chieftains,
Captain Jack and Schonsin, were very
treacherously murdered, is given as a
sample of how the Indians were dealt
with, and the massacre of Candy and
DIR. Thomas under almost similar cir
cumstances is pointed out as q matter
of retaliation. The appeal then pro-
ceeds to give detailed account of the
subsequent events Of the Modoc diff
Guilty as already published in the col.
umns of the TINES. The policy adopt.
ed at Washington and that held by the
Commissioners and Generals was to.
tally opposite, the former urging in
vestigation and claiming jurisdiction
over Indian prisoners after surrender,
while the latter agreed with General
shcrnaa1i's c>sYreeecd declaration. 1fhat
the cause of the war was not the ques.
ton for consideration, and that the
true way to deal with the Indians was
to give them good drubbing and
then treat with them" The associa.
ton thinks its statement of the Mcdoc
difficulties furnished sufficient evi-
dence to prove that Captain Jack and
his band have not broken any treaty
and never killed the whites except in
self-defense or retaliation. Their kill
ing of Candy and Thomas under FLAG
Of truce was no worse treachefy than
that under Generals Jessup and Tay-
lor, when the Seminoles were hunted
by blood hounds. To exterminate the
Modocs under such circumstances, saws
the appeal, would be great crime, as
we'll as national disgrace.
Had the3overnment at first made il
rule to exclude all white men from
authority over, or license to deal with
Indians, except such as understood
their manners and customs, and espec-
tally their religion, it would have saved
much war and bloodshed. The associ-
alton asks the question, How shall
we prevent future Indian wars?" and
answers by suggesting that the Presi-
dent issue O proclamation ordering the
arrest OF all persons accused of MUIR
dering Indians, or raiding upon their
lands; to give the Modocs a reserya-
ton in Lost River Country, and estab-
lish military post to defend them
from border ruffians abolish the pres
ent arbitrary power of the military in
causing arrests exempt Indians from
taxation for over eighty years, and
from State authority; allow no squat
ters on their lands, or entry thereon
without a license, and Danish all who
have settled on Indian reservations.
The association thinks that such q
proclamation would satisfy the Indi-
ans, and produce peace throughout the
frontier borders.