The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-07-22


poor Hour, and was issued about the time OF
my visit. and he thought the -four L saw
there was part of this lot" This
testimony, from observers whose off.
0al duty 1t was to examine the char
acter of the flour for Red Cloud Agency.
effectually disposes of the statement
which the Indian commissioner gave to the
Associated Press in contradiction OF nv
first presentation of the case at Washington,
Inc explanation OF the commissioner wnicn
was published May 3, was as follows: alt is
stated at the Indian Bureau, with reference
to the complaints concerning supplies fur
nlshed TO the Indians at the Red Cloud
Agency. that all the -four sent there was in
specGed at Cheyenne, by Major Long, COM
missary OF subsistence of the United States
army, and passed by BIN as equal to the ac-
cepted sample. 1t is therefore claimed that
the samples of inferior -four brought here by
Prof. Marsh at the request of Red Cloud
were of some old issue, or, like the speci-
mems OF sugar aud tobacco, had been dam
aged by exposure to the weather while in
the Indians possession" Essentially the
same statement was previously made TO me
by Commissioner Smith, and this dis
couraged me from giving him further in
formation about mismanagement in Indian
affairs. The supplies OF
SUGAR AND COFFEE
at this agency l know comparatively little
about. Red Cloud gave me sample of each,
which he said were such as he was then
using, and Red Dog stated essentially the
same thing. 1 saw both OF these articles is
sued to the Indians November 10, 1874, but
only noticed the sugar particularly. It was
dark In color, moist, and of low grade. /
did not compare this directly with tue SAM
pie Red Cloud had given me, but have no
doub the two were from the same lot, and
virtually of the same quality. The coffee
n mot i'm fnllr haf 4 l. Z.
prepared at feast in one of the
lodges. TITS was certainly very
inferior Coffee and not unlike
such as imagined Red Clouds sample
would make. The character of the tobacco
furnished the indians at this agency has
been matter of considerable discussion,
and justly so. as this article is regarded by
the Indians as an important part of their
rations. Both Red Cloud and Red Dog COM
planned on this point at the first council held
with them, and one OF the samples Red
Cloud gave me was a specimen OF the to
DaccO he Was then using. This specimen at
tracted much attention among the officers in
our camp, and led us to observe the quality
in use among the Indians. All the tobacco
we saw was vile stuff, dark in color, and
much OF it was saturated with a dark,
yiscogs liquid; L saw the tobacco
Is. but only noticed that it was dark
in color. l subsequently the tobacco
used by Red Cloud, Red Dog, and Man
afraid of-his-horses, and in one council
smoked the tobacco placed by Red Cloud in
his own pipe. All OF this agreed apparently
with the sample he gave me, and [ have no
doubt this sample fairly represented the to-
bacco issued to the Indians during my visit.
Some f the officers who were with me at
the agency looked into this subject with still
more care, and their opinion on this point
comedies with my own. None of the to-
h-oo IS L
Indians, who uss the article only for smok-
Jag. The
SUFFERING AMONG THE INDIANS
at Red Cloud Agency during the past winter
was very great. No small part of it could
have been prevented by good management,
while the greater portion must have bsep
the result of the direct dishonesty which
have shown to exist. The Indians had
already suffered from colo before the an
nuity goods were issued, November II, 1874.
In consequences OF this late delivery, they
had no time to supplement the small num-
Der of blankets issued with buffalo robes
before the winter set in. In less than
week after the issue. just as 1 started from
the agency on my expedition, the weather
b came extremely cold, the thermome-
many of the Indians received no
blankets at all, and those who did receive
them found them too small to protect them
from cold, the suffering was great. One OF
the chiefs whom had engaged before the
issue to accompany me, informed me after
the delivery that he could not 60, being COM
pellsd on account of the insuficiency of
blankets to hunt for buffalo, as otherwise
his family would suffer greatly during the
hard winter be said was coming. During
the extremely cold winter that followed
many of these Indians, as is now well
l. lrv f.no 1iun
suffering for the want of 1ood during the
past winter and spring is known to have
been general among the Indians at this
agency. 1 have evidence on this point from
several sources, among others from Col. i.
n. Stanton, paymaster OF the army, whose
duties called him to the agency. Another
army officer who has given me information
on this subject is Lieut.. w. L. Carpenter,
who was stationed there all winter. In a
letter written at the agency, in April last, he
SAYS: "The Indians are all quiet now. The
poor wretches have been several times this
winter on the verge of starvation, through
the rascality of the Indian ring They have
been compelled to eat dogs, wolves and
ponies" The supply of food purchased by
the government. carefully and honestly
delivered, would have prevented all this
suffering. The goods and supplies for Red
Cloud agency all are transported by wagon
from Cheyenne, on the Union Pacific rail-
road, and hence
THE FREIGHT CONTRACT
for this route is very important one. Mr..
D. J. Mccain, a we'll known member of the
Indian ring, has had this contract since the
present agency was establi he'd, and the
official distance from Cheyenne to this point,
as allowed by the interior department, is 212
miles. The price paid for freight during the
last fiscal year was 81 10 per hundred pounds
for each hundred miles, and the previous
year 81 70 per hundred pounds was paid.
This allowed distance of 2l2 miles was well
known to be largely in excess of the true
distance, and yet no effort seems to have
been made by the interior department. to as
certain the correct distance, although its at
tention had been called to the subject in
1873. In the meantime, the land office of
the interior department has been surveying
this same region, and had the Indian bureau
OF the same department desired to know the
exact or even approximate. distance. il