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

matter. MT. ]. W. French, Of Cheyenne. who
saw the cattle weighed, and watched the issue to
the Indians, testified as follows:
was there; IL was on the 18th Of November
the same time that Prof. Marsh was there, sit
q. Did You see the cattle. A. I did, sir;I saw
them in the corral, and they LEFT the corral
and saw some Of them shot.
q. What could you say Of them! Al. 7. &c could
port in The New York papers, and the report that
Prof Marsh made Of the cattle being poor-a
time, while in the corral, lttle ragged nom the
fact IL was q stormy day. There was q good deal
Of rain and snow on them, and the hair was wet,
and their frames were more prominent than they
would have otherwise looked, and they did look q
little gaunt; but didn't consider that as any
thing particular; they had not had any water,
probably, for some hours, but the average condi-
q. What as to weight or size? Do you know
anything about the weight Of cattle? A am
moi Judge, particularly, not sufficiently to ay-
erage herd of cattle within nifty or hundred
pounds each head of cattle:
@. You say to average" them; do you under
stand that to be the system-that the cattle are
averaged? A. No, sir; you speak Of the whole as
O unit, as understand you.
@. Yes; 1 had asked you what their size was,
what was the heaviest OK you saw there, accord
ing TO your best Judgment: A. Twelve hundred
q. And what the Iightest2 A. should not
like to put my opinion against anything Of that
sort; didn't give 1t special attention; they were
regarded them as an average lot Of Texas cattle.
q. Do you know whether they were fat cattle
or lean? A; regarded them as an average lot
of cattle. 1 did not look upon them as stabilized
cattle or very poor; good average lot OF cattle
for that time of year; they naturally would be
at all especially poor lot of CATTLE that is poor
@. Did you have any conversation with Prof.
Marsh on that day? A. Yes, sir, considerable.
z. Upon the subject of these supplies? A. No,
sir, not on that subject We were talking bones
at that time; he was a bone sharp, and was In
Stad mn tfcnla ri in
for him.
O. But in reference to the distribution of sup
plies annuity goods, or anything else upon the
subject, did you have any conversation with him!
A. don't know that did, any more than he was
expressing himself with degree of surprise; II
was the first time he had ever seen anything 50
wonderful as what he was looking ut at that time
there.
button wrong or irregular? A. No, sir; not Il
me at that time. He didn't seem to express him
self that he was discovering any fraud or anything
of that sort at ALL
Jules Ecoffe, who Professor Marsh referred us
to a reliable man, testihes as follows:
Q. Do you remember Professor Marsh; did you
| ever see him? A. Yes, sir.
O. Did you meet him there? A Yes, sir.
q. Did you see any cattle issued at the time he
was there? A. Yes, sir.
@. What kind of cattle were they? A. They
were over the usual average.
q. Would those cattle you saw issued on thai
occasion average !, pounds all round? A. Well
they might, but don't believe they would. They
were larger than those they generally issued.
William Rowland, an interpreter for the Obey
enne Indians, testities:
@. Were you here in November, 1874: the tune
that Professor Marsh was here? A. Yes, sir.
q. We're you present at the issue of beef about
the Sth or l4th of November, 1874: A. Yes, sir;
have been at every beef issue; guess have not
missed enc since have been here. 1t Is part OF
my business to be here interpret for the Indians
in receiving their beef
@. AS you have seen all these issues of beef
generally, were the cattle issued at that time Of
similar quality TO those issued before and since!
A. Well, yes; don't think, the way the beef has
run, as general thing, Except about two issues
last winter, during that cold weather. when 1t was
little thin and pOOr,) that they have been any
different. Most Of the time we have what we cal
good beef here.
Louis Reshaw, the halEbreed, testihes as fol
lows:
q. Were you out at the corral? A. was moi
at the scales. They were weighed when 1 go
there, guess 1 guess they must have been, fol
they issued them right out.
q. Mr.. Reshaw, what kind Of cattle were thost
that were issued on that occasion? A. The,
were small cattle; the most Of them were not d
for beef
Q. Have you had experience in the weighing o
cattle, SO that you could give estimate Of thu
weight Of those cattle? A. could not do 1t, be
cause I have not been around when the cattle
have been weighed.
@. But have you seen other cattle weighed? A
have seen big beef cattle weighed.
q. Well, has your observation among cattle
been such that you could state something neal
what would be the probable average weight o.
those cattle? A. 1t would be pretty hard for ms
to say that; I could not very well tell; would
have to guess at it; but they were mighty small
cattle.
with the average weight Of such cattle as to b
able to say what those would probably weigh-tC
hazard an opinion on the subject A: No, sir.
Major A. s. Burt, Of the Ninth infantry
stationed at Fort Laramie, testifes:
Q. You belong to the Ninth infantry, believe
o. Major, were you present at the issue o
cattle by the Indian agent at Red Cloud Agenc,
on the fourteenth Of November last2 A. 1 dom
know the date, sir but was present at an issut
of cattle by DR.. Saville in November last. Pro
fessor Marsh was with me. He rode down there
with me.
you state that the cattle you saw at that time
were Texas CATTLE mserably poor, some Of then
so weak the Indians could not goad them out of q
walk, and the cattle were as a rule, small In
size. A. Yes, sir; remember such a certificate
as that.
q. Can you form any estimate of the number
of cattle in the herd? A. No, sir; The corral
was full there was barely room for man to &c
round and drive them out when they issued them
don't know how many, but enough to make
an issue ut that agency. 1 don't know anything
about the number so as to fix my mind. was moi
there as an investigating committee, but simply
went with Professor Marsh to see the issue as tC
how II was done. did not fix in my mind any
number, but remember the condition of the cattle
was poor.
q. What do YOU mean by saying that they
were in a miserable condition? A mean that
they were walking skin and bone. This Observa
tiOn applies to them generally. 1 could not say
:
eral observation of the cattle was that they were
skin and bones; that is, very poor.
q. Do you remember whether the majority
were steers or cows? A. No, sir; could not
tell whether they were or not.
q. You spoke of some of them being so weak
that the Indians could not run them. About how
many did you see in that condition? A. l could
not say; but that fact impressed itself upon my
mind, because, as you remember, the Indians
slaughter most of their cattle on the ground and
they drive them out and in order to get them to
run they would start them with their gOads and
in several cases they could not make the cattle 20
out of a walk, and the impression on my mind
was that it was because they were so poor 1 could
not say how many cases of this kind there were.
could not fix any number.
q. Do you know how far these cattle had been
driven the day before the issue? A. No, sir; i
don't know anything about these cattle, except
that went there with Professor Marsh, simply
to see them. l did not know how long they had
been without food and water. The weather was
not very severe-that is If you for the cattle
There was no snow on the ground that day There
might have been snow in the gullies.
q. Had it not been showing or raining one or
two days before? A. 1t could not have been bad
weather, or l should have noticed it, as 1 was in
tents. l did not see these cattle weighed; /
noticed no scales at the corral for weighing cattle
Q. Are you able to form any estimate of the
A. No. sir : / cannot Nobody can do that unless
he weighed the cattle. did not do that.
Major J; II. Stanton, who was also present, tes-
q. You are paymaster in the army, believe ?
A. Yes, sir,
". MINOR, were you Ut heu CtOuu agency last
November? A. Yes, sir.
q. Did you see the issue of beef made there
about the middle of November A. No, sir.
q. Well did you see the beef cattle that were
received there last November? A. saw some
cattle that were there. l saw the herd which
came up to be issued in November.
q. Well, did you observe that herd Of cattle ?
A. Not specially or particularly; no.
q. Could you say of the beef cattle that In any
way they were poor and thin? A. Well, they
looked, some Of them, thin, but in a fair con-
dtion.
q. What kind of weather was 1t Mt that time
A. Very severe cold weather. They had a severe
snow-stOrm while was there.
q. Did you see the cattle weighed or any OF
them? A. No, sir.
q. Could you be able to say whether those cattle
were Of average size or not? A. They were small,
thin cattle, that were issued to the tribes that
remember.
Q. Were they as large as those Of the ordinary
herds Of Texas beef cattle which they have in
this country? A. Yes, sir, should say they
were.
@. Was Major Burt present with you at the time
you saw the herd Of cattle driven in? A. think
he was. There was Major Burt General Brad
ley, some officers from the post and Professor
Marsh.
q. You described, some of these cattle rs thin in
flesh, but on the whole as fair in fair condition
A. Yes, sir.
@. Did you see any cattle in that herd which
tons A. No, sir.
Asagainst the testimony of the Fairbanks
scales, used to weigh the cattle on that day, the
conflicting testimony of these gentlemen-few, If
any Of whom ever saw a herd Of cattle weighed,
and all OF whom are now giving opinions formed