New-York tribune., 1874-08-26
THE INDIAN TROUBLES.

1t is not easy to arrive at inc lHlmeolate
causes of the present disturbances on the
frontier; the sources of information are so
few, and the stories SO warped by the preju'
a1ices of the Peace men on the one hand and
the War men on the other, that there is little
prospect of getting at the right and the
wrong of the matter. 1t is apparent, however,
that from the Black Hills to the Amassas OF
Texas the Indians are in hostile mood, which
has been already evinced by thieving and
murder, and which may at any moment find
vent in general Indian War. The disafected
tribes, or the most important of them, are
the Arapahoes, the Cheyenncs, the Kiowas,
the Comanches, struggling Osages, and some of
the subdivisions of the great Sioux Nation.
The grievances of these Indians, as reported,
are as numerous as the names of their chiefs
and about as hard to understand but in general
their hostile disposition is ascribed by Indian
agents to the treachery and aggressiOns of
the white settlers, while the settlers attribute
| it to the Peace policy of the Government,
which they allege has fostered idleness and
bad habits among the Indians, and given them
the idea that the United States troops are
afraid to meet their warriors in battle. The
Sioux and the Osages, although savage In war,
have until recently shown a peaceable inclina-
ton, and there is reason to believe that they
at least are not without cause for prOvOcatiOn.
The other tribes have been marauding, with
short intervals of deceptive quiet, for months,
and their raids have been accompanied by so
many Outrages that they undoubtedly deserve
severe punishment and will not behave them
selves without it.
of fbo
breaks that have occurred, and partly, no
doubt in pursuance of a determination to
remind the Indians of the power of the Gov
erDment that several military expeditions were
dispatched into the Indian country about
month ago. One, comprising the Tenth Cavalry,
moved from Texas nOrthward toward Fort
Sill; a second, under command of Col. Nelson
A. Miles and consisting of five hundred ef-
fectiye men from the Fifth Infantry and Sixth
Cavalry, concentrated at Fort Dodge and
marched southwark toward Fort Sill; while
detachment of the Eighth Cavalry was ordered
to remove eastward from Fort Union, New
Mexico, for active duty, the exact nature
of which has not yet been announced
About the same time seven companies of the
Fourth Cavalry were concentrated at Fort
Concho under Col Mckenzie, and still another
expedition was fitted out under Col. ADson
Mills, its base being Rawlins, on the Union
Pacific Railroad, and its supply camp Whisky
Gap, from which point the valleys OF the
Wind River, Sweetwater, and Big Horn may
be easily swept as occasion requires. BY
these means it was hoped that the COmanches,
Kiowas, and Cheyennes might be reduced to
order and the Sioux restrained from hostile
alliances with tribes apparently already deter
mined upon war.
The Sioux have q show of right in their
dissatisfaction, and if the expedition OF Gen.
Custer returns unmOlested from the Black Hills
their forbearance must be apDlauded. When
the Government decided to send that expedi-
ton it may or may not have meant TO indicate
thereby change in its Indian policy; but
whatever the intention, 1t seems to have been
looked upon by the Sioux as a sort OF declara-
ton of war. Such construction OF the
movement is not surprising when we remem-
Der that only five years ago treaty was
entered into by the United States and the
Sioux Nation, whereby the two powers were
bound to perpetual peace, one OF the conditions
of the treaty being that large tract of country, in
which the Black Hills are included, should be
set apart for the occupation and exclusive use
of the Sioux. In the same treaty there were
incidental stipulatiOns that the United States
troops should be withdrawn from the reserva-
ton, the roads leading through it closed, and
no person allowed to enter it without permis-
sion of the Indians. The fact that this treaty
has been boldly violated, and the reservation
virtually thrown open to the whites, will ac-
count for the discomfort and outbreaks of the
Sioux, even without taking into account the
attempt now making to force Spotted Tail
and his Brules into new home, which alone
would be cause for war.
Advices from Dakota, Montana, New
Mexico, and Kansas show that the whole
border is excited. The whites in advanced
settlements and exposed places are full of
apprehension. The influx of immigrants into
the new Gold Country, with the lawless-
ness invariably attendant upon such cOlOni-
zatOn, will add to the dangers of the situ-
alton. and the Indians cannot be expected
to give up the Black Hills, which they
have heretofore 81 jealOusly guarded, without
a determined struggle. Under these circum-
stances it Is plainly the duty of the Govern
ment to see that the military force at the seat
of war shall be strong, well distributed. aud
kept in light marching order. The lives of
settlers must be protected at any cost. AS to