National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-19

attempted to do so, but <as nravented nv the
severity Of the weather md the drifted sncws.
requested by the Int .rior Department to cause
the distance to be me assured.
Inc evidence "a zen by us as to the distance
upon the basis # the time occupied in riding or
urNlng from me point 10 the other. NO actual or
reIaoie me Isurement has ever been made; A
route was measured by ]. w. Hammond, Of
Cheyenn e by direction Of the county authorities,
but the. evidence shows that the route measured
pile are freighted, and is equally satisfactory
II at II is entirely impracticabe for heavilyloaded
Ssgons. Mr.. Hammond reports the distance
of the country is such that extensive detours are
often required to be made in the roads to avoid
steep declivities and the extensive and deep de-
At period of time which we have not ascer-
tanned with certainty, but before the removal of
the Red Cloud agency, Mccain opened new
route from Cheyenne to the old agency, by which
the distance was materially shortened SO as not
to exceed ninety miles. This is the route now
travelled by his freight trains to the new agency:
In the opinion of the commission, based upon all
the trustworthy Information we have been able to
gather, the real distance from Cheyenne to Red
the teams engaged in freighting goods and sup
plies does not exceed one hundred and eighty
miles.
This distance may at times be increased by the
necessity of going TO ferry when the Platte river
is too much swollen to be fordable Mt the usual
place of crossing. The contract for the current
the whole distance. This is the proper method,
in the opinion of the commission, of letting such
contracts rather than per 100 pounds per 100 miles,
as was heretofore the custom.
1t is certain that during portion Of the time
before the removal of the agency from the Platte
Mccain transported the freight over the new
route, which is universally conceded not to be
more than ninety miles, and yet he charged and
received pay from the Government at the rate Of
one hundred and tmhiTtytWG miles TBS is not
our attention. He seems to have been employed
in the removal Of the supplies, camp and office
furniture and Indians from the old Red Cloud
agency on the Platte river in July and August,
1873 The removal took place about the time that
]. W. Daniels, subsequently, an inspector,
about the time that DR.. Savilie OG assumed
the duties of agent As this removal had been
accomplished by Mr.. Daniels, he made out a GER
tifcate the 9th of August, 1873, for the guild
ance Of his successor in settling the accounts for
that transportation, and set forth in this certit
cate the number Of OK teams, and Of two and four
teams, and the number Of days that each had
been employed with the work commencing the
18th Of July and ending the 18th Of August; He
makes the number of evoke OK teams to be 30,
2 mule teams and two-horse teams, making
Il vehicles altogether employed in the Transports
tion. He fixes the time Of each team, varying
from five to sixteen days. (See PIP. 627 and e2s.)
Assuming this certificate to be fair presentation
of the account for transportation performed under
ms as ORDERS ana ado%bg ninSsd Per
for each two-horse team, and SO per day for each
four-horse team, and o. so per day. which seems to
have been allowed to Mr.. Jones, the whole bill
should have amounted to not more than s5,ll7.5O.
This was about the sum, as we learned, which
Jules Ecofe and F. o. Yates proposed in advance
10th of January, 1874. Mccain makes out an ae-
count for the service of nifty teams Of hye yoke OF
cattle each, for twentythree days from July Is to
August 10, 1873, both days inclusive, ut ESQ per
day for each yoke of cattle, amounting to sl43I5.
The correctness of this account is certified by DR..
Saville, and paid from the public Treasury, al
. hn,rar tod hxrf ha nf In1f
sioners.
Whatever may have been the means used by
the property and effects from the old agency to the
new; whatever he may have done to procure DIR.
Saville's approval Of that extraordinary voucher,
whether fraudulently obtained or not, the charge
for the service rendered is SO exOrbitant and un-
as to shock the moral sense Of any man
who looks into the transaction. The papers in
evidence before us bear upon their face such un-
mistakable evidences Of fraud that we recommend
the reference of this subject to the Department OF
Justice, that measures may be taken to have re-
stored to the Government what seems to have
been so unjustly and fraudulently taken from
If the Red Cloud and MILESTONE agencies shall
be continued at their present location, then we re-
that the contract for treighting goods
and supplies from the railroads to the agencies be
let on bids to be received at Cheyenne or Sidney
by the stOrekeeper Of Indian goods and supplies,
under the direction Of the Commissioner Of Indian
fairs; and, in order to determine the best point
to ship TO on the railroad, that the bids be invited
and cheyenne per one hundred pounds for the
whole distance.
Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies is utterly
inconsistent with any sound views Of economy or
policy in subsisting or cvilizng the bands fed and
clothed there.
The buffalo has disappeared almost entfrly; the
small game has become SO scared that not one of
all the different lands of the Sioux, Cheyennes or
ArapahOes could subsist for thirty days without
the supplies furnished by the Government. If
ratiOns are withheld from them they starve. They
know this full well. The time has passed when
the Government is compelled to pay any exOrbi-
price for peace. They should not be abandoned to
starve or to prey upon the herds of the stock
raisers Of the plains but their caprices and exact
ing unreasonable whims need not longer govern
the terms on which they shall be subsisted, what
ever may have been the reasons controlling the
Indian bureau in the location of the Red Cloud
and Spotted Tail agencies at the time, certainly
they no longer exist. Red Cloud agency is dis
tant from Cheyenne, on the Union Pacific rail-
road, about one hundred and eighty miles by the
nearest practicable route for freightng supplies.
The distance from the Spotted Tall or milestone
agency to Fort Randall, the nearest landing on
the Missouri river, is two hundred and sixty-three
miles. Both these agencies are located in q ster-
lie, barren region, aflOrding grazing for stock,
but untitled 10 any other of the occupations of
civilized life. If the Indian is to be taught to till
the soil, his lessons there would be hard indeed,
and his discOuragements such as utterly to dis
gust him. If they had all the arts of the white man
ana the aids of all his science they could not subsst
by agricultural pursuits in that region. The cost
Of transp of goods and supplies for the In
dams tothe Red Cloud agency from Cheyenne for
me year 1874 was s9 and the cost OF trans
to Spotted Tail agency, in the same year, was
81, so5.07; making in the aggregate sl2s, 35267-
some Of the supplies costing for their Transports
ton from the railroad to the agency a sum almost
equal to their original cost in the produce markets
Of the West. The maintenance Of garrisons of
troops at Camp Robinson and at Camp Sher-
ldan for the protection of these agencies, rem
ders necessary the transportation by wagons of
all the quartermaster stores and commissary
supplies Tor the forces kept there. This trans
pOrtation from Cheyenne, or Sidney, or Fort Ran
dali involves endless expense to the Government,
which, added to the cost Of transporting the In
dian goods and supplies amounts TO SO large q sum
that the continued expenditure oft for the mere
of whim Of the Indians, would be
utterly inexcusable.
that these Indians should be located on the Mis-
souri, river, and at least portion of them were To-
Gated there for time. The reasons for the re-
moval OF their agencies so far inland, as well as
the reasons for the removal of the Red Cloud
Agency from the North Platte to its present lOca-
tiOn, about eighty-hye miles farther away from
The railroad, and likewise for the removal of the
Spotted Tail Agency to point twelve miles fur
her from the railroad than its first location,
not apparent to the commission. If the Govern
ment must feed these Indians, land there is no
treaty obligation TO do SOL let it feed them where
they can be fed and clothed most cheaply. At any
point on the Missouri river on their reservation
they can be furnished with supplies at the price
Of those articles in the grain and produce markets
Of the West. Besides, neither Of these agencies
are situated on the SIOUX reservation as required
by the treaty. A depot Of supplies should be 10
gated on the Missouri and q military force suffi-
GENTLY large should be stationed there for its pro-
lection, and all the bands Of Red Cloud and Spot
ted Tail be compelled to move into that vicinity.
We suggest that If no suitable location for the
Sioux exists on the Missouri river on the present
set apart to Them that the small tribe
Of Poneas be removed to the Indian Territory, and
the Sioux be put upon the reservation now occu-
pied by them. The Cheyennes and Arapahoes
now fed at Red Cloud Agency number together
less than three thousand. They have had q re-
seryatiOn set apart to them in the Indian Terri
tory, and have since agreed, under the forms
heretofore called treaty" to go to their reserya
lion.
They should be compelled to 90 there at once,
not alone because they are bound by treaty" to
DO but because it is for their good. The older
men among the Sioux realize the inability OF their
tribe TO war successfully against the whites, but
hey have been accustomed to be humored in their
caprices, and hired by presents to do
even what is for their sole good. The young men
see all this, and believing that they are more
numerous than the whites, attribute the munih-
cence Of the Government to fear on its part.
We suggest that n display of force, sufficient to
correct all these false impressions on the minds
Of the young men, and 10 carry the conviction
home TO them that the time for their arrogant
1ctation of the place where they will be fed upon
The bounty of the Government has passed, would
prove a measure Of economy.
THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
Having now disposed Of the ten specific heads
under which Professor Marsh has arraigned the
Agent, contractors and other subordinate persons
with the Red Cloud Agency, It is proper
that we should proceed to notice the grounds upon
which he excuses himself in making his direct ap-
peal to the President Of the United States to In
yestigate the alleged abuses in the Indian De-