Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-12
GEN. oUsTAR's EKPEDITION.
Important Work Soon to be Done
in the Black Hills
Country.

The GOyeFnn1en1 Looking 50 the Open
ing OF the Region to Bettlement-
why lis Hunting GrOunds are Not
Used by the Indians.
New York Sun.
aWhen am not soldering said Gen.
@. A. Custar, pleasantly, yesterday 81 am
hunting" And he went on TO recount an
adventure with grizzly bear, which he
Shot six times through the body before kill
ing him. sDO your men ever lasSO a
grizzly, General ?" inquired the reporter.
''NO, sir,n was the reply, s'that is yarn;
nobody ever goes near a grizzly. The from
tiersmen are afraid of them. They are very
savage and very hard to kill, being tena-
ciOus of life even when MORALLY wounded.
They viii often attack voluntarily and
without p.cYoeation." The General rides
a grandson of Lexington when hunting,
and is an admirer of thoroughbred stock.
He owns the Well-knoWn racer FrOgtOWn
that has the best recorded time at a mile
and three-quarters, and the best at three
miles ever made in Kentucky. he keeps
two packs of hounds, one a sight pack, and
the other of fox-hounds which be had from
Price McGrath, the well-knoWn Kentucky
sportsman, owner of Tom Bowling.
The General who is organizing another
expedition to the Black Hills, will stay in
New York only two or three days longer.
No one but the accredited officers and
agents Of the Government can be permitted
to accompany the troops, and the General
does not himself know who are to be scien-
tiic and civil members of the party. They
are to Join him in Washington. The OBJ
jet of the expedition is to examine and
develop the resources of the Black Hills
region thoroughly, especially its mineral re-
sources, with a view to determining the
advisability Of removing the Indians and
opening the country to settlement by
the whites. The Indians are willing
enough to dispose Of their claim, the Gen.
eral thinks, because they know the diff
Guilty they will have in keeping the white
gold seekers out.
The Government agents are getting to-
gether the chiefs, intending to take them
to Washington; and the General has no
doubt that these Indians will gladly negO-
tiate with the Government. The Indians
make little use Of the country, although it
is full of game. They are deferred by a
superstition from living in it, imagining it
to be haunted by evil spirits.
The Black Hills country is described by
Gen. Gustav as broken, wild and pic
turesque. Cliffs and canons alternate, and
the green and fertile valleys are intersected
by numerous streams Of pure water. The
forest growth is in parts very dense. Wagon |
roads had to be cut, or, as the General eX- |
pressed it, amOwed out" for miles by the |
axmen. The Indian guides told him before |
be started on the last expedition that he |
could not possibly get through the country |
with wagons; and he started with the in /
tentiOn Of going as far with the wagons as /
possible, and then taking TO horseback. He !
was, however, able to retain his wagons all /
the time. Besides having 10 SNOW out"
the roads through the dense timber at GER
tain points, the General had to let his wag-
ons down the face of the cliffs with ropes,
two hundred men banging TO a rope.
AS to gold, the General could make no
examination on account OF the
limited time TO which he was held by his
orders. He was therefore careful in his
official report not to OYerstate actual re-
suits obtained; but judging from his per-
5Onal observation and from such expert
mental Washings as were made, he thinks
here is a large amount Of gold in the
country. and some silver. The agricultu-
raj value Of the country is considerable,
that has not been thought of yet.
The Government strictly fOrbids the en-
crOachment Of whites upon the reservation
until the Indians give it up, and it will be
madness for any person to undertake the
Toll and hazard Of settling in this wild re-
zion until the officers and scientists to
whom this expedition is intrJsted report
upon the resources and general features Of
he country.