, 1875-07-19

CHIC
stirl IN camp tbsse, hut on orosaing the
tv.r th my p':t iSss tha1 tGF.y 'odgis
afl these wose OEallallsB, belonging TO Had
Clouds band. Duftne tho next tan days, more
oyer, I repeatedly oEossed tho great northern
trails leading 70 tho Black Hills. and a*oerta'ned
beyond doubt that no considerable body of IL.
diana had roconty passed over them. For these
reAsonB. and othorH which I deem equally COLI
cl,1slye, ] boltavo the thouAAnds OF northern In
diana officially reported At this Agency to be =
myth.
Tho number Of Indians actually ss Rcd Cloud
Agency, when I WAS thero. ia November Last,
could not have been moro than l,2o0 iodges, OF
&, 400 individuals.
,11.-1ssrx or ANNUITY GOODS,
tvas present ss thu Rcd Cloud Agency At tho
annual ,snuo Of snpuitY goods, Nor. II. 1874,
and personally observed nearty Ill That were tlo-
1ivercd Iaa~ tho entire iesua Of blankets. and
carefully eramined tbo quality Of those deIit.
not count as they wero issued but, soon sttor I'll
Nere gtVen out, my attention waa called 10 the
numosr Of thnea BY tho Chief Rod Dog, who
stood neaf me Ia tho warehouse during Tho is
suo. Ho strongly assorted that tho issuc WIS
fraudulent And that tho nutDbcr Of blanketa
WAS much 1ess than tho Indlsns wero entitled 10
md That tho number lesued to him for bin own
laod waa not mora than hhlf ~hat 1.o shoud
| bare bad. This earnest proscst on tho part of
the Chief, who is noxt In rang to Red Cloud,
called my attention Particularly to thu amount
| Issued and on recalling tho exact circttnstarccs
o. the delivery, Which had Witnessed few
oct moro lhad twenty bales wtro trsaod and tist
tho number conld nos possibly haYo exceeded
twenty-five bales. Ono Of tho pefsons whom
| ! then naw .snstihK tho hsons In ssauiug tho
olankets VA Louis Richard for, - tho nsfne Ii
FAE nd zHFtfl ~ &+ht
Lonts ReslawJ, whom I knew personally, mud
subsequently employed ~ interpreter by The ad-
vice Of Con. Il. +. Nradloy, Who had previously
emIloyed him as guilds. aud smoke In high ternns
1nontly mot Louis RichRra In Washington With
j. s. Co'fine, EBn.. OF Fort Laramie, non Score
tarT Of tho epccial Sioux Commission, who Ind
bronCnt him on from tho Red Cioud Agency as =
Of h,b truthfu!nhha, On converting with Mt,
IiiclArd about the Affairs Of Tod Cloud Agency
eith which NO ssesc both couversant, learned
Incidentally that DO had carefully counted all tho
1874. when he asslsted In tie distribution which
Witnessed. lis assured mo that the numbor
Of nales Of hlsnkatA then taaued wsa eightoeu.
each bAfo coniAining fifty psisa OF blankets, Aod
h. gayo tno tho folIorinR AnldaTit:
WARRINGTON D. T., Juus L. ls75,--I berehy certify
That At hs Issue Of snuui!ea 1t Red Cloud Agency iu
November, lB74. asslsted tho Agent, Dr. j. j. Sssie
only eighteen baes Of blankets issued Zach taa
containing nfly Pairs. va. present It lbs rhoa
iesue, md asw suttho annuity good. delivered. No
baca woro left In tho warehouse iflet the regular
issue.
Tua braud Q, 8, L D. an these blankets injured tho
sloh 20 that atses short wear holes feplseed the
Misuess. J. MeRenaey, r. ". Hague.
.ry ruIe in and foF sne District aforosaa, cersiiy
that Lou!s nesha, wnose signature IL se1cd to Ia
within sladavlt came before me and made oath that
hla knowledge and belief.
Wltne. whereof, bars hess,nto set my hand No:a-
J. Mak.sNEr, Notary Public.
That no ba1aa OF blankets remained ~ tho
Agency after tho sssle of NOV. II, l674 il shown
BY ME. richards hllid Ayis abovo quoted, md by
Agent sa*alle'a properts-roturns now on fio 10
personal observation, - ! Was several lmes iu
Tho warehouse afser tho Issue, and sa~ TINT nous
were there.
On subsequently, examining tho property-ro-
tnrua of ARenL SAylIle sor shn fourth Quarter,
1874 at Red Cio1d Agency, which 10 had renlet-
ed to tho fudiau Bureau, aud wcre on flo In the
Interior Defnria1ont. was sarpnsed to dt,d that
hc had certified to tho Issue. on Nov. Il, 1878, Of
90 leaa than ss bales Of blankcts, sud had
Furnished paper .pnrporting to 10 . roco,pt Ct
tho lpd'an Chiefs for that nn.nbcT. In recent
communication from tuo Indian Bureau, learn
; that tho true number Of of balea shipped to Ted
lairs, Hence Il would appear That tho 1ndisu q
1t 1t!s Agouoy received loss than one half thu
number Of blankets for which tho Government
pud.
lbs BLANKETS actually iasutd wssa bitterly oona-
planned Of by the 1ndlauB, for two reasons-ths ,
t)fat bring their small nizes which more lot
adaptod for moD 40 largo as tho .bioux bzavea,
and nero only fitted for women aud children.
Thc neropd and most sc11ot.s objection, however,
Was tho fact that tho brand U. B. I. u. On eacl,
blanket had bosn put on with some material
Hhtch rotted or burned th4 cloth, and after q
shoit wear tho braud waa replaced BY holcR. AZ
stated nhoyo In tho affidavit OF llr. Richard.
This facs Ia nur well known to ercry one 1t tho
Agoucy. These blankets Ncro ful u1stca BY J. d
J. Dobaon, Of rh,ladelphla.
Tho contract for furnishing cattle to this End
other Sioux Agencies for tua 1ast fiscal year waa
given to j.. X, Foremsn, Of Omaha, aud vas
II, 1874 Tho cattle delisered Wero ro-
Arat dix nontha. aud |, 600 pouuds for tho last
s,x moushs, hod the price wls SaSo t-s0 per 100
press'y ssspnlated list 'saN tho bcet offered for
Aoeeptancs under this contract shall DO eubject
70 thorough inspection, aud II, on auch inspeo-
tiou, any Of 1t falls to conform to tho scqutro-
mants Of this coutlsct, the anna shall be ro1eck-
ID By tho partisa making tho ,nspecton." Tho
inspectors werc authorized, ia such case, to
require tho contractor to toplaco the rejected
cattle within i've days BY proper beef. r net.
tho right was reserved to pui chase tho cattle fc
Of Alo0,o0O With tHo good md sufficient necuri-
ties, was required to he gveu to ueuro tue faith
ful fulhllmont OF tho contract.
There 10 abundant evidence that this contract
w*a not made in good faith. The contract was
not f',ea bY tho parry 10 whom II was given. but
(like too many Indian ront1acts) wan traas-
teErrd for - valuaota conssderstlon few
dAya after It was signed. TO ". A. Paxton, Of
onsh.. "A this asslgnment could mt take
plaoe by tho terms of The contract 'wi.hout tho
written consent of the Secretary OF tho Interior"
Tho full responsibility OF this transfer rests with
him. This contract was nominally IN force at
tho t.rne OF mr. visit to Rad Cloud Agency. Tho
real boef contractor, however, whom l found
aupp1Jng this Agency was the wcli-known Bos-
les, notorious for frtuds In previous contracts,
and fot this ssasou excluded by tho published
regulations from any participation III future
coutfaots. This second virtual transfer Of tho
contract 10 him wsa woll known to oysry one It
tho Agsnoy And in that region and naust hAYc
boon equally ~el-kpown 10 tho Interior Depart
mont.
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