New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-07-01
Custer.

General Custer is attracting more atten.
ton now than ever before. Every exchange
that comes to our table speaks of his pro-
posed expedition, and cOmmends it. It is
believed it will open to settlement q cOun-
try known to be we'll timbered aud watered,
and rich in Minerals vast country which
has never yet been trod by the foot Of white
man, but from which hundreds Of speci-
mems OF coarse gold, some Of them as large
as walnuts have been brought by the dusky
natives. -4- A =
General Clusters command will consist OF
ten companies cf the Seventh Cavalry, a
battery of Gatling guns, fifty scouts, and
three picked companies OF infantry, pre-
visioned for sixty days campaign. The
professor OF geology at Yale College, to-
gether with nlineralogist and other scien-
lists sent out by the government, and
several practical miners and explorers, Will
accompany the expedition.
The hills may be seen distance of sew.
enty-five miles, rising several hundred feet
above the level their sides covered with
dense forests of pine, which gives them
their black appearance, from which their
name is derived. The valleys at their feet
are known to be heavily timbered, with
here and there prairie; the soil is very
black and rich. A score or more Of streams
rise in the vicinity, leading into the
Cheyenne and other rivers. In the beds Of
all these streams gold is found, even within
ten miles of Bismarck, in the bed of the
Little Heart, which comes from that vicin.
ity:. ,o
marck; they can be reached from Bismarck
better than from any other point. From
Bismarck to the Black Hills is only five
days ride or ten days march. The route
is over splendid country, good grazing,
plenty of timber and water, and will be
well guarded by the military.
summer; the young men from all the tribes
in the country are gathering there, possibly
| to intercept and harass the expedition; pos
| sibly, as Of old, for their annual sun dance;
| possibly to offer up their alteration to the
God of the Indians, and lay plans for future
campaigns.
| The Indians are restless now, more go
| than ever before; they have been crowded
| from the Atlantic to the Mssissippi-and
beyond the Missouri; they have been
| driven from the Pacific eastward to the
fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains have
| witnessed the building of the Union
| Pacific, which is opening up vast belt
| through the center of their country, and
| now the Northern Pacific is encroaching
| upon them. Their villages have been laid
waste; their numbers deelmated by war and
disease; their hunting-grounds turned into
wheat fields, and now it is believed they are
| gathering to defend the hunting-ground Of
the Great Spirit, as Indian tradition styles
| the Black Hills-which may prove to be the
| red mans last ditch.
| This is Gods country. He peopled il
| with red men, and planted it with wild
grasses. and permitted the white man tt
| gain feOthOld: and as the wild grasses
| disappear when the white clover gains 9
| footing, so the Indians disappear before
| the advance of the white man.
| Humanitarians may weep for poor Lo
| and tell of the wrongs he has suffered, but
he is passing away. Their prayers, theiI
| entreaties, can not change the law o
| carrying them on to their ultimate destiny
! extinction.
The American people need the country
| the Indians now occupy; many of our peO
| pie are out of employment; the massei
need some new excitement. The war il
| ever, and the era Of railroad building hae
been brought to q termination by the greed
of the capitalists and the folly Of the
| Grangers, and depression prevails on every
hand. An Indian war would do no harm
| for it must come sooner or later. A gold
excitement will be, on the report of scien
I fists and officers sent out by the govern
ment, will give the restless spirits of oul
| land something to do, and all something tc
think OF. Then give us the construction Of
the Northern Pacific, and possibly the
| Southern Pacific, not to speak of the many
| roads whick will seek connection with them
and the canals designed to give the Wes,
| cheap connection with the East, and the
bone and sinew of the country will find EN-
| plOyment, and new era OF prosperity will
dawn upon our country.
Who does not recognize the necessity o
our people! They must have something te
do. Our cities are crowded with men Ou,
| of employment, our factories are closed
our rolling mills idle, the industries of th'
country paralyzed.
| Custer's expedition may be the pebble
which dropped in at an Opportune moment
will SGT the mighty sea of American
thought in motion, and produce not onl.
the results mentioned, but greater results
| Bismarck Tribune, Dakota Territory