The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1874-06-18

Kansas and NebraSka,
Beautiful valleys, and limpid streams
whose margins We're tringed with 4 dense
growth of timber under the shadows of
which the clear water rippled along ryth-
mically toward the Great River fields
rich in their golden cereals. and primitive
homes peepng plcturcsquely out of the
dark foliage OF their surroundings. mark
cd that fair region whose peaceful inhahi-
tantS were inhlmanly bntchered during
the raids of those Indians, who devastated
the whole line of settlements from the Re
publican to the Arkansas.
Men, women, and children were s!augh-
tered with pitilessness possible only to
the Indian, their simple little dwellings
consigned to the torch, and young girls
alone saved from the keen edge Of the
scalping knife for the horrors of n captivi-
ty infinitely greater than death
The dark sky was Illuminated night af-
ter night by the glare OF burning ranches
and the red glow on the horizon, az the
flames died out, carried the terrible It'd
ings 10 tine pa!ld watchers along the bor
der that the savages We're clrcling nearer
to them in their tendish travels. Often
Young mothers had only time to snatch
their little ones from the cradle, and drag
ging an older child by the hand. hurried
" hide in the thick brush on the creek
bottoms, while the husband. jumping on
his horse. alarmed the neighborS, who re-
turning with him, sometimes We're sue
cesstul in driving off the Indians. But this
was of rare occurrence, for families 50
widely separated as they were IN that new
country could afford but little mutual pro-
lection. their houses being frequently
twenty miles apart, and before the news
strong log-cabin for defence, the Indians
wind, numbering and destroying whole
That lovely belt of country between the
two rivers was consequently abandoned,
and the few settlers who escaped the fury
of the Indians We're driven into the mill
tary posts of Harker and Riley, houseless,
homeless and starving. There they were
kindly sheltered, clothed and ted, until it
was safe for them to return to their aban-
doned claims and commence the settle
mcnt of the country over.
They found nothing of course but the
bare land A little mound of ashes alone
indicated the spot where their houses had
stood: their fences and cattle were all
gone. sometimes wife and children, too
tortured and then murdered, or miserable
slaves In the power OF the Indians. But
with Il determination to surmount obstacles
that any other than our noble army of
pioneers would shrink from, they took up
the axe again and cut their way to the
peace and thrift that has gradually in
creased to what is to-day in that region.
The condition OF affairs on that verge OF
civilization in Kansas during the year re-
terred to. was much more terrible than
the mere outline above attempted. The
horrible truths and outrageous brutalities
inflicted can never appear in type to shock
the sensibilities of refined people, and the
very impossbility of this fact has done
much towards creating false sympathy
for the Indian, who if his diabolical facts
We're known universally las they are known
to the comparative few, would be declar-
ed beyond the pale of the slightest mercy
or leniency in his swift punishment that
would be sure to follow.
The middle Of September, 1868, brought
General Sheridan to the immediate com
mand of the Department of the Missouri,
who at once organized Il winter campaign
against the hostile tribes The idea of a
successful campaign against the Indians of
the Great Plains in mid-winter, was some
thing entirely novel, and had its origin in
the wonderful perceptive faculties and
power to overcome difficulties inherent in
General Sheridan.
Heretofore il had been considered al
most beyond the limit of possibilities, on
account of the apparently insuperable OBJ
stacles that interposcd themselves, and the
undertaking was regarded as purely vision
ary by many old officers who had been
stationed for years on the frontier, and by
plains men rs experimental at least, with
the probabilities of its accomplishment
strongly on the side of the negative.
In almost every instance where eXpedi-
tions had been sent against the Indians in
the spring or summer, the only time of
year which they themselves select for the
operation Of their implacable hatred of the
whites, the result had been invariably dis
astrous to the army, or the effect upon the
Indian unsubstantial.
General Sheridan perceived at once that
a termination Of the warfare raging along
the border every summer, could effectu-
ally be reached only by q severe and de-
cisivc blow to the savage in their winter
quarters.
10 that end he commanded the eNpcdi-
ton in person. and the country knows
how completely he succeeded in prevent
ing any further trouble with the Indians
mentioned, and brought q peace to the
region described, that will never again be
broken by their sanguinary excursions
In the organization of that expedition,
all the available troops. friendly Indians Of
other tribes, andlthe services Of celebrated
frontier-mcn We're brought into requisition
Desperate duties were often required of
these latter, who under the general name
Of "Scouts'' We're employed with the army
to carry dispatches, hang en- the trail Of
the Indians, and As carriers keep open
communication between Fort Dodge and
the troops operating in that memorable
winter campaign of 1869
These "Scouts' We're almost invariably
picked men. They We're carefully selected
with special reference to their knowledge
of the Indian character, and perfectdamili-
arity with the locality of the proposed
field of operations, and in the last named
capacity guided the troops through the un-
broken wilderness of the central plains
Many OF these men had passed eyentful
lives from boyhood among the Arrapa-
hoes, kiowas and Cheyennes, had married
in those tribes, and not only understood
their language perfectly, but possessed all
the original astuteness and strategy Of
the Indians themselves
Nearly all Of them were identified with
the early struggles Of the border, and their
names belong to that roll of heroes in the
unwritten record of those troublous times
who may some day yet, grace the fair
pages Of our popular magazines, or figure
conspicuously in the annals of the country
when all the facts in its history are collat-
ed by an unpre]udiced generation.
But they have another history too, which