Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1876-10-05
The Indian War an Utter Failure.


Especial Correspondence of The Tribune
FoRT BUFoRD, Sept 13.-The great
Indian campaign is over. The army
Is disbanded. Gems. Terry, Crook
and Gibbon have retired from the
field, each in a different direction
Terry came back to ,Buford; Crook
has conducted his troops, or perhaps
is conducting, via the Black Hills, to
Wyoming; and Gibbon is vending
his way to Fort Shaw, in Montana;
and have yet to hear of single
Indian being killed, wounded or cap
tured, except two or three who fell
In an encounter with the steamer
@Fsr West in the whole campaign,
since Clusters ill-starred onslaught
on the 18th of June. The summary
OF 10 weeks campaign must be hu-
initiating to the country. It's cost
will never be known. One thousand
dollars day viii not pay steamboats,
here in the Yellowstone. without
speaking of the immense additional
cost OF transportation on the Nilsson
ri River, done at regular contract
rates by the Coulson line, which, in
order to accommodate the increased
demand, has had to double its fleet
by chartering some half dozen extra
vessels. Another small item is 500
per day for the use Of number of E.
G.. Maclay & Cos teams with Crooks
command. 1 could enumerate sew
eral other individual items which
would go to indicate simply the pos
sible amount that Uncle Sam will
have to pay for this wonderful, sure
ly plunderful, Indian war. 10
do not know what you in the
States will think of the result of
the campaign but / can tell you that
people here in the Territories are the
worst disguised communities you
could scare up. Here was an army,
admitted to number 1000 effective
men, led by two Brigadiers of the
regular United States army, in the
presence Of an enemy for 10 weeks,
and never fired single gun con-
fess am at a loss to account for
such supine behavior. Many of the
officers personally know to be tried
in many we'll fought battles. Terry.
Gibbon, Miles, Moore, and others
have often been tried amid storms Of
shot and shell, and never yet have
blenched; and the only explanation
we can conceive is, that it was never
intended that, for this season at all
events, Sitting Bull was to receive
punishment
And next seasonl There's the
rub. When the grass grows next
spring many brave man will tread
on that which will cover him ere the
snow flies. The victory of the Sioux
will be the winter theme OF the In
dian, and by next spring those ears
which were deaf to the appeals Of
Sitting Bulls emissaries, at the diff
ferent Agencies and in Canada will
be as quick to respond to similar
appeal as before they were sluggish.
Already how they regret being alb
sent from he great fight on the Big
Horn; and how much glory does such
victory-unpunished, unredeemed,
as it was-promise. My opinion Is,
that, il this campaign has cost mil
lions, the next will cost tens of mil
lions, and will show that the words OF
a distinguished Indian fighter, now a
resident of st. Paul are true: 1T
win take fifty millions to bring Sit
ting Bull in," said he. And again, il
hundreds Of hives have been sacri-
feed this summer, thousands will be
next The humiliation Of 1876 must
and will be wiped out in 1877, but the
cost in blood and treasure will be
proportionately heavier.