The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-08-07

deed, the whole scene il picturesque in It's bril-
liant color, and the pose, which is scarcely dis
turbed by the curiosity OF the Indians to see,
they know we are the warpath. and therefore,
nave special interest In movements, for the
Indians always give respectful attention TO the
warrior. They evidently not easy
In their minds to the intentions OF
the white man, but they seemed to be confident
that the death ofsCuster and his gallant command Is
TO be suitably avenged. In order not to be mis-
taken for enemies the agency Indians encoun-
tered along the river had hung out everywhere
small white flags to Indicate that they friendly
This device them from attack. but IL is by
no means certain that those who bring out nag OF
peace are always friendly or peaceably disposed.
The Indian is naturally subtle and dcceitfu, and
wherever small bands OF hostiles are encountered
In tight place they pretty to declare that
they are and always have been peaceable
DEALING WITH THE INDIANS.
The only way to deal with this war Is to treat all
Indians found outside their reservations enc
mics and to make prisoners OF all who return TO
the agencies from the hostile camp. IL Is delight
fnl piece Of absurdity to allow the young bucks To
carry on a war during the summer and then retire
to the agency to be fed during the winter by the
government with the certainty that
mer comes they will again take the field and make
war on the people who have kept them from star
walton. The advocates of the present policy say
that 1t is much easier feed the Indian than fight
HIM, but IT. certainly Is not cheap to fight
him during summer and provide for him during the
winter and the best way to put an end to this
absurd system Is to disown all Indians returning
ito the agency and eventually disarming all of them.
For this purpose sufficient force should be thc
agencies and the sale Of powder and guns to Indians
he strictly forbidden. Foolish philanthropsts IN
sist on giving the Indians TO Kill game, but
every one who knows anything of Indian life prac
t:cally knows that the Indians do their fire.
arms In the chase The buffalo, on which the tribes
OF the Plains depend almost wholly for food and
shelter, are invariably killed with the bow and
arrow, which is better adapted to the purpose and
much cheaper than wasting powder and ball and
frightening the herd unnecessarily. In dcpriving
them OF firearms they are simply deprived OF the
power to make war, which in the end would be a
blessing to themselves and would relieve the coun
try from the necessity OF carrying an expensive
and ingorous The
ABOLITION OF THE INDIAN BUREAU
and the transfer Of the Indians to the War Depart
ment could not fail to produce the best results,
both for the Indian and the country. The Indian
respects the army officer, who is in his eyes chief,
q warrior, q man with power to punish and who
can fulfil his promises as well as his threats. 1t
may be safely affirmed that the army officers
the only class OF American citizens for whom the
Indian has the slightest respect. Strong as 1t may
sound there Is no doubt that the meancst loa1ng
Indian despises the white man and his civilization
even while he begs from him. His code of morality
is to be great warrior He despises every
one who Is not brave. The peace
policy has proved and will continue to
prove an absurd failure The Indian will
| not lay down his tomahawk and his rifle
unless he is compelled to do so by force and all pre-
| tended success in inducing him to is either the
result OF diocy OF knavery. The smaller tribes who
| have gathered into the agencies would 60 on the
| warpath tomorrow If they dared. 1t is only the
conviction that without the protecting arm of the
| white man they you'd be annihlatcd by stronger
hostile tribes that keeps them loanng around
agencies and forts, gratifying, from time to time,
| their
| TASTE FOR MURDER,
| or robbng by raids on the agency where some hos
tile tribe is gathered under the protecting arm Of
| the government. The present gives Congress
and the government an opportunity to deal In a
sensible, practical manner with the Indian
question, and set 1t at rest forever
| The Indian should no longer be treated
| as privileged person, he should be made
| responsible to the law for his acts, punished or
rewarded according to his deserts. General Sheri.
dan long ago asked to have the control OF Red
| Cloud, Spotted Tail and Standing Rock agencies
handed to the military authorities to enable
him to deal with the hostile Sioux 1t Is notorious
that 1t is through these agencies they obtained the
rifles and bullets which killed Custer and his gallant
comrades; yet. this reasonable demand has never
been attended to- 1t has been treated with con-
tempt by the powerful Indian Ring, that most cor
rupt and infamous outcome OF our political system.
1t Is customary to ascribe to the office rs OF the
army fOndness for bringing on Indian campaigns
but one has only to listen to the conversation Of
these gentlemen who have to undergo the fatigue OF
these inglorious marchngs and countermarchings,
to which those who pursue the willy savages arc
subject, to feel that II the army could decide the
questions OF war or peace war would only be had
recourse to when all other means had failed. Moth
ing further OF interest presented itself until our
ARRIVAL AT FORT BUFORD.
this was the point where we were to leave the Mis-
souri,, and, changing our direction from a north.
westerly course, strike almost due south for some
time and then southwest, with a course running
south through two degrees Of latitude and west
through three and half degrees OF longitude For
our companions OF the Twcnty-second regiment the
fort full OF associations They had built and oc-
cupied 1t in years passed Here they had adven-
lures with the Indians and had been beseigcd by
the red man. Graves were here where rested
the comrades who had fallen victims by the
red mans treachery, and lie now still unavcngcd.
But for us new the chief interest lay In the
fact that we were about to enter the romantic
valley OF the Yellowstone and enjoy the wonders OF
its beauty. On the morning Of the 18th OF July we
leave Fort Buford and enter the mouth OF the
Yellowstone.
THE ASPECT OF THE RIVER
for some miles from its mouth does not differ ma
terially from that OF the Missouri. There is more
wood in the bottoms, perhaps, and the distant hills
are grecncr Clumps OF cedar trees with dark green
foliage seen In the deprcssions, and
ravnes along the hillsides. Owing to the swiftness
of its current, navigation the Yellowstone is slow
and the number OF rapids increase the difficulty.
Although the Carol only draws three feet of water
considerable backing, hauling and lodging is neccs
sary make our way. Sometimes, even, we arc