, 1875-07-19

the herd. Thsse uatts saw and carefully c1-
amtued. hsJ. A. 3. Burt Of tho Ninth Infantry,
who commanded tho eecort u my expedition.
Nss With mo at the lima and also erAnined
them wish csre. They woro Tho poorest lot u
Ie1aa cattle | have ever hosn dur1uG all my ex-
petiopoo IN TIM West, where bave seeu msuy
hundreds of l,onls II sa!saas PoIots between thia
Agency A1d B"uthern ksusas, aud hAvo msscif
oltiona. h1s tl!n cattle in tbis herd were wretch
cdlY gAant and thin. and tho majority OF them
wore small. many bang JeArIingu. A large hun1-
Der were Of The kind fnoxn among cassie-znen
decrcl u. noticed the character Of shess catt.o
particularly, because tho bosf lasted 1t thiB
Agency had boon tho subject OF several conyo..
sassons bet~eon Rcd Cloud, Geu. bradley. aud
nJsolf, AID wAa desirous Of knowing
rith certainty whether tho statements Of the
Chiof oo thls point vcro true. In tho afternoon
of tho samo dsy that tho eatt3e were rocaised.
Nov. Il. Witnessed, IN company with Isj. 4. y.
Butt. tho taaut Of beef Wien large poztion Of
denVerl wAa made from tho Agency corral, and
tho cattle "ere turned out, = snAil number At
SINE, to Tho Chiefs oF hesd moo who wefo wait
ing With ehe.r mounted yoang Warriors to pulsus
and xiii tlIen. watched thin issns with mncln
Interest from frat TO last, aud saw every one Of
the catt1e that wAs turned over 70 tho fpd,Aus
~ we'll os tho remainder OF tho held. retained
for 4 subsequent issuo. ! am confident that the
average weight OF this herd was not more than
7so pounds, aud this regard as liberal esti-
mats.
Mai. Burt vas By my uido during the issuo,
and SAW all OF thchs oh.tlo. uia IesEitnnny 10
especially important - 10 has long teoh sta
tsoued III tho Weet. and ta perfectly familiar With
tho subject Of which be speaks. Ills otfnion Of
the cattle ws examined can b. learned from the
following extract. from 4 certificate relating to
si1airn At He'd Cloud Agency:
FeaI ,1. L4ssa1f wyom.ns Territory 1aas T. Is75;
AesncY when iroi, o. 9. alrsh was lure ,as. Os VI
together went tho corral 10 saus oi c7te 10
w 1udiaas that ths eale At tlat tsns vsro
Esas The indians could not Gold thou out VI walk
Tic esstio ~cro - rule ans. sn aizs:
lh this region tho cattle should bo N good
conuilspn a. this season Uf tho yenT, II eier, vet
the cattle Of tb!n hard were 80 chsdly puo1
thss even the contractor, Mr. Dos'er, deoinot 1t
usoosssry to apologies for than. fu explanation
OF tne!t ccnIltlo1, he tnfortne1 ne t1At 10 LAa
boen obliged 10 oycr1r.ve thom, TO A 10 selch
tho Agency In tno for tbs tasue. subsequently,
learned tilat this MAS = standing excuse, ohtn
pesnons not directly Interested 10 Indian affairs
~ltaesred csltle detlsery.
AGENT aAvILI4Aa nkPHK6EITAT1oxs.
Essentially the ~ 10 oxcuze tor tue inferior
character VI theso cattle nas made BY Agent ba-
vile 10 Washington Juue l, 1876, waen ques.
tsoned 3! Bsbop ". II. Hate, IN mY presouea,
then stated, "tha: lhe poor condilinp OF tncso
cattle vaa owing to hard driving souc forty-etght
hours with Little grass or Sleep to hurry them
through, ~ tho Indians had htd no hoef tor
soma time, he having kept bacx 1atons to in-
duce thcm to be couuted,, These Cattle arrived
10 the morning, aud he Weighed nnoet Of them
tho same Afternoon. Some tow that wero mild
he did not weigh. hut estimated. Tho iesoe was
tnAin on tho same afternoo1 Of tho receipt
Among tue catt:e then lssuod wore forty or uore
Was coufldent that these cattle, thin ~ they
#ero. would Weigh 80 pounds ou ~ ay-
craKo." On NV Questioning th,s, he unlisted
tbAs "thoso liz weighed cana up to that aver
ago, aud that those estimated wero iLlly ~ largo
to, htu,aeti, Weighed Ill Of tho hesd that were
oTauda ss theso statements Of Agent 6Ayilio
Horo tsknn down at tho time by both Bishop
Hare aud myself. and 1t subsequent coufet-
euce weIo fouud to agreo.
- Was coutfdent that tho weight Of this herd
Of cattle dld not exceed $50 pounds arerago thls
posItlYo ssaseucn1 az Agdas GasHle 10 Bishop
tlafo that tie actual glt OF tue cattle reached
an svorago Of 630 pounds each, a. weighed By
him, Increased my susI icion that tho whole
transaction was fraudulent. I WA not pro-
pa1cd. howeyor, for tho evidoneo which found
IN the eecond Auditors ottiee ot the Treasury De-.
paHutcut. whctc the .ecctpta fad 10 vouc1le "a
for tho payment to lhe contractor. thero &s-
certAinea that Agent BsYille had given a roceipt
cattls, III which he certified that thoit actual
nsIgtt Is weighed by him Wns 7J1,4 ,415 pounds,
which would u!aae tho average exceeo 1.04J
pouHoa per Lead. More tuan this, found that,
according to Agena 6a7sllo'a receipts, III the
tie received during the Same quarter of 1874 had
reached neaFiy tits same average, or moro than
l.940 pounds each. IA tina il = matter OF great
impor&auca, here give tho o.Nc.ai statement ~
furnished BY the ItsasurJ Department:
Schedule OF beef cattle delivered thu leI Cloud In
dun ARenry. dnrlnG ths fourth quaEtss la14, ap-
pears W sesouAA ct ". a. Paxton, on nls III tlls
oaice: