The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-08-24
Letter from tho Far West.
Correspondence of the Journal. I

| -' : .(SiAesNS
has been a long time in that region. 1t
is written from Clark's Fork of the Yel-
lowstone, near the Great National Park
to a relative in the East:
WYOMING TERRITORY, July IA, 1876.
l have just received your letter dated June
18th, it having been brought out here by Il
party of miners by whom this returns TO Boze-
man We are so fur out of the world that to
get letter is both JOY and a surprise, and
need not tell you now welcome yours was.
Nlh the letters We're a few newspapers, the
| hl>t we have seen since we left Bozeman. and
| by them we learn the result of the Cincinnati
| Convention, all the Centennial new, and also
the melancholy story of the massacre of Gen.
Custer and 50 many Of his gallant men.
O how criminal has been the course pursued
by the government in its management Of the
Indians, and how much bloodshed might have
been averted, how many valuable lives saved,
but for the vacilIating policy which ina, led to
Il succession of cruel wars, follow ed by as MANY
| treaties OF peace, which have never been look
ed upon by the Indian in any oihcr light than
that Of Il temporary ariniStic, OF which he glad
| ly awaits himself to strengthen nd prepare for
future drpredations and Slaughter, alI in
which he is always kindly a>.l,tcd bv Uncle
Samuel, or by those who represent him.
The greatest evil of this sy, en- of peace
policy in which government undertakes to sup
| port and defend the Indian, establishing reser-
vallons and agencies for that purpose, is that it
| places the entire and absolute control in tine
! hands OF who m, :, I IN ntp
for the manner in which they administer affairs
in the little prncipaIiles over which they ho,d
! dominion. The consequence is that un>crupu
| louS and designing men use the power thus
| given them to promote their own selfish inter
csts, and the result il dissatisfaction among the
| ans,who know perfectly well when they are
| robbed and cheated, and the good ends of the
/ system (which is all right in principle through
incapable of b ing carri ] out i'll practice) are
| thus perverted, and much more harm done
| than good. What other nation on earth WAS
| ever known to furnish lis foes with arms,
| equipments and nl the necessary munitions Of
war to be used against itself: Would it not
seem ridiculous but toy the terrible results
| which lOW from it, results which have cuInin-
ated ut last in The death of one of the braye>t
officers who ever laid down his life in the
service Of his country, together with more than
three hundred Of hi, gallant followers.
| This may have rs >alutaly an effect aS did
the murder Of Candy and the Commits ~ioners
| by the Modocs three years ago, leading 10 the
| defamation of that tribe, and the cOndign pun
ishment of its leaders, and hope the country
may ut last aWahe TO the true nature of the
~ituaton and that before another wiuter comes
I that those bloodthirSty red devils may be swept
| from the face Of the earth. The country owes
them not ING; they have never respected Il
treaty, never hi,ye confined themselves to the
reservation al otted them. but have made raid
after raid upon the settlers here in this VALLEY,
who are more than one hundred miles north
Of the country thcy claim IL their htntin.
grounds,
| There i, one Thing that thi, campaign de-
non>trate@ at least to tte satisfaction of tue
men in this country W Who probably know more
about Indians than ull the wi,eacres of Con-
! grcss put together, and that is lhat government
| viii never whip the Sioux with il. amy. Dis
/ cipIinod troops who can only he handled in
action R'coriing to the regulations und tactics
OF cN iHZed warfare can never contend >uacess-
! fully with Indians, and the only way to con-
4u@r thcm is to call out Il volunteer force Of
I incn Of the frontier, who have passed HE great
i tr part OF their lives among Indians. and who
understand and know how to fight them. At
least two thousand men in these two Ter
ritories of Montana and Wyoming, would
respond to the call. | am sure | would for
! one.
u. ti..
| this. but il il 4 question which interests ua out
here more nearly than it does You who live 50
/ tr from the theatre Of the terrible scenes So
( lately enacted, aud who realize so little of the
| truth. We are mere within forty miles of the
Wind River Mountain in which the retrcatiny
Sioux are supposed 10 have entrcnrhed them
selves, but an almost insurmountabc mountain
range intprVcne-, so there j. little danger of
their paying lis Visit.
From the mountain tops here we can see the
country into which they are supposed TO have
He'd, quite distinctly with the unaidcd eye.
Many of The men who tell with Custer knew
quite WELL As we lad Il Part Of his regiment
with Us, you know, on the Boundary Line
Survey.
CnpI. Keo4h, who fell covered with wounds,
50 brivrly lighting that his body was lmlouch-
ed by the Indians (1S indeed was Gen. Clusters,
and some otherS.) was with our party all the
summer of 1873, and he wa, a thorough and
accomplished gentleman, and one OF the best
officers in the service. lie was IL personal friend
ot !Ey#ry NnYea'. If the government does not
| be>ir itself to avenge the lives cruelty sacri-
feed .nanv will feel convinced that Brlknap
was not the oniy one in the administration
who has made II fat thin. out of the Indian
| ring.
We have been here now over Il month, and
have made considerable progress in our work.
| though we have not got along quite a. fast as
we anticipated, rs we have met with some un-
looked for delays and difficulties. but | feel con-
lidont we shall be able TO do Il little smelling
this season, at least enough to demonstrate
whether the enterprise is TO be success.
This is most wonderful country, and will
one day be the greatest resort of the world.
After we left Bozemau we crossed range of
mountains on which the snow had lain but
| few days before to the depth of six feet. and
the road of course was very bad, but we sue
ceedcd in reaching the valley of the Yellow
|
some most beautiful and picturesque spots in
| that mountain range natural parks and
| glndes, abounding in which the grass attains
a height of two feet, and flowers of inlirite
variety bloom, filling the air with fragrance.
| There are some settlements here rs we'll as
in part of the valley of the Yellowstone, but
most Of the ranch-nen are engaged in stock
raising. One man (Nelson Story, of whom
you have probably read in the papers lately i,s
connected with the Crow Agency frauds has
nearly two thousand head of horses running
in the mountains. The Yellowstone Valley is
not the paradise that it has been represented
in IN agricultural point of view. Nearly all
the way from the mouth of Trail Creek. where
we entered it, to point little beyond Gardi-
ner's River, it is generally of bad land char
actcr, there being but very little vegetation.
| 1t looks much like the NIarias country where |