Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1874-03-13
THE NEW NORTHWEST.
To the Editor of the Ne,o York Tribune.

Government have been among the frs
to appreciate the capabilities CT TIN
! ever Westwarl-moyinG frontier alon.
which they have been stationed, it i
strange fact that III every successive
age Of our cOuntry's progress there
have been found few Officers wht
could see 10 good in the new countr,
i'll which they were doing duty, an(
who condemned eveIyS-o.ep of thai
progress as Il foolish stride into :
worthless, sickly, or an uninhabita
BILE land. These statements were not
often born Of malice or mendacity, bu1
generally were conceived in the pecll
liar fancicS of dissatisfied men wIit
regarded their term Of service on the
frontier as All exile from the Joys OF
civilization, and who naturally hated
the country the defense of which re-
quircd them to be absent from the easy
life ard social enjoyment Of garrisoned
towns or the forts which guard our
Eastern cities. AS these maledictions
have successfully been uttered over
every spot in the new, wealthy and
blooming States of Ohio, Indiana, H.
linOis, Wisconsin and Minnesota, it is
not strange that these dismal croak-
ings, although forever refuted by the
successful march of emigration and
empire, should still family ecio from
the Ecw frontier which now faces our
new Northwest, and that we should
still find one of the germs alive in the
person of General William B. Hazen,
coninandant of the melancholy, Sioux
surrounded and Sitting -Bull-besieged
Fort BHf0rd, on the plateau which di-
vides the most northerly portion of the
Missouri river from the Saskatchewan,
in the middle Of the wind-swept plains
and the centre of the arid belt. If he
had confined his remarks in late
number Of the Tribune to the vicinity
Of his unhappy domicile, neither to
which nor to any place i'll the vicinity
(which does anybody propose to build
railroad, he might peacefully vent
his spleen, nourished as it is by exclu
sion from an Eastern home, where
wealth might make life enjoyable, and
deepcncd by the disgustwhich he feels
at having General Crook put over his
head fer herOism and activity among
the Apachcs, which General Haaen
might with credit to himself initiate
among the Sioux.
But our doughty warrior, who has
not been over successful in shifting the
heather with the sword, appeals to the
pen as a mightier weapon with which
! he can demOlish the whole country.
from the Red river west to the Pacific
Indians, whites and all-and more
especially slay those who are endeav-
o,ing to develop its capabilities by the
construction of the Northern Pacific
Railroad. So far as General Hazen's
letter III the Tribune is concerned, we
might refute it from the facts recorded
in its files by its faithful correspond
ent Ric 1artlson, who also could scarcely
in his book find words to express his
admiration of the larger part of the
country which Col. Hazen condemns
as a whole; or from the correspOn-
dence and tie book Of Col. Alex. II.
Mcclure, of Philadelphia, or from the
reports Of the Governors and Survey
Ors- General Of Montana, Washington
and Idaho Territories, or the records
of the Land Office in Washington
City, or from the tax lists of the Ter
ritOries named, or from the census re-
turns; but as this martial asservator
announces in advance that all who
dare to contradict him are liars, per-
haps we had better leave ont all the
testimony of civilians, and merely
quote military witnesses in rebuttal.
Leaving out Stevens, whom he classes
as an enthusiast unworthy the atten-
ton of any sOber-minded man, let us
refer to the opinion of U. S. Grant,
and of Phil. Sherid;n; of Gen. Han
cock, late cOmlDaD ler Of that depart
ment; Of Gen. q ,son, District Com
nlander of Mont, a, and of Gen. Sui
ley, late Superb .emlent Of Indian AT
fairs, and of Generals Ingalls, and
Hartlee, all of whom have placed them
selves on record in direct and positive
oppOsitiOn to the statements now made
by the infallible Hazen. True, these
gentlemen travelled over and knew the
country which Gen. Hazen does not
for he admits even his ignorance Of
the vicinity of his own fort by quoting
as authority the letter of hay con-
tractor, who plays on the General the
nearly worn out frontier trick of com
planning of the scarcity Of hay in or
der to enhance the value Of what he
delivers at the post. So far as Mon
tana, which he is pleased to include in
his denuhciatiOns, is concerned, any
OF his grOtesquely alb
surd statements is unneeded by the
informed.
A Territory that has in the ten years
of it's existence produced S1GO,OOO,O 900
in gold, nearly enough to redeem one
half of all our greenbacks; that has
paid into the National Treasury nearly
of million in Internal
Revenue taxes; that has a. taxable
of Sl5, GOO, 900 in goods, lands,
houses and cattle-the mining prop
erty is not taxed-where in the year
lust passed 6oO, 600 acres of the public
domain are reported by the Governor,
from the Land Office records, as hav
ing been taken up; where 15O, 900 head
Of horses, cattle and mules, and 10000
sheep are now in the mlddle OF this