The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1877-01-12
OUR INDIAN POLICY.
A Wen-Pessed Correspondents Ides ei
What 1t Ought to Be.

tfF ~
FORT FETTERMAN, Dec. 81, ZIG.
TO the Editor oftte Leader:
The policy of the General Govern
ment in regard to the Sioux Indians is
subject of great interest to all the
people of this Territory A large por-
tiop of the more entefprising Of our citi-
zens have inevsted all their property
in cattle and ranches, which are pecu-
liarly exposed to Indian depredations.
They look to the General Government
for protection, and it is the first duty of
the Government to protect its subjects
in all their rights of life and property,
wherever they may be-in the territor-
les as well as in the great metropolis.
The welfare of the people of Wyo-
ming, the prosperity of this and all the
adjacent territories, depends in great
degree upon the final settlement of the
Indian qustion. Various remedies have
been proposed-numerous treaties have
been drawn up, signed and broken;
frequent wars have desolated the from
tier, and still the Indian commits muir
der and theft, and now as before the
life and property of the frontier citizen
remains insecure. Government should
not allow hostile element withinits bor-
ders. If there be such it should be re-
moved, at whatever cost. If necessary
all the force and power of the Execu-
tive should be employed until the gov
erning power is supreme within state
limits. Our Government should carry
out this fundamental principle of law,
and cause its power to be respected all
over the land-in Wyoming as well as
New England-by the red as well as
the white subject, so that property
should be equally secure on the Pacific
Coast the Atlantic shore, or the Cen
tral Plains. 1t appears to me that in
stead of sending out mere scouting par
ties against the savages, and establish
ing them at numerous agencies, a hum
dred here and a thousand there, that it
should remove all Indians to the
Indian Territory-all the tribes between
Mexico and the British line, and if
necessary employ an army of fifty thous-
and men to place them there. Then
employ regular force onguard duty to
keep them there until all propensity to
wander and steal dies nut.
The advantage of this course to the
western people is so obvious that 1 will
not dwell upon it. Although it would
involve the Government in great .ex-
pense, at:the time, the safety then guar
anteed to private property and the pre-
vention of all Indian wars in the future
would eventually prove an advantage
to the State.
The Indian Territory is large enough
to furnish home to all the tribes and
then allow much greater amount of
land per head than belongs on the aver
age to white man. It is fertile,
well watered, beautiful Territory, af-
fording opportunity for hunting, fishing
and if they can be instructed, farming.
The Cherokees and Creeks have sue
ceeded well with their farming, raising
crops that will compare well with the
harvests of any community, though
produced under the skill and energy of
our Middle States and New England
farmers.
This appears to me to be the easiest
solution of the Indian problem. The
simple question is: Shall one hundred
and eighty thousand savages be scatter
ed all over our western Territories, com
mitting depredations at pleasure, or
shall they be confined to ones place,
where they can be watched by the au-
thorities, kept under proper restraint,
their wild and lawless license curbed
and still their rights respected and
their existenceas race prolonged?
Y ~ w. N. F.