, 1877-07-21
THE Indian Wars.

Indian Bureau have been assuring tiis pc
p'a for some time past that the Indian
4 difficulties were nearly at a close and that
/ the capture Of four OF five hundred reds
under the command Of Sitting Bull would
4 ensure a permanent peace III sc were
f idle de,us.0Hs, as crery one familiar win
/ Indian character knew Gt the time. The
I Quaker policy advocates thought that
( when q lew came in and surrendered then
guns and brok T. dsTn ponies, that the
gast tribes of tie plains Lad been sub
Gued. and they gloried N the triumph
+ that they lad accomplished IA bringing
an Indian v;r % a close without sacrlhc-
/ ia- the lives e any Of The noble red men.
! j. was indeed Triumph hut II was trl-
mph Of Indian strategy over Quaker d.
plo1nacv, for the reds came 10 The Ieser-
vations and drew rations FOR those that
were st.ll outlaws, and enabled them %
renew the war upon the whites as soon as
ths disappearance Of the snow permitted
them 10 travel The Biacl, Hills, BIZ
Horn. Rosebud and Tongue river coun-
! tries are literally alive with Indians ar the
present moment, and they murder every
man that shows his head away from the
settlements q mile. They steal stock with
/ impuuiiy right under the noses Of soldiers,
aud in fact. neither life or property, is
safe in the very region'that was reported
conquered The success OF the Sioux IN
eiudng and whipping the soldiers, EN-
bo.dencd the tIibes at the north who Lave
( b en- comparatively peaceful for years,
and Is a result we see the terrible slaugh-
ter of men, women and innocent babes
on The plans cf Idaho. Savage fcrCcity
could 20 10 further. Neither age or sex
were spared by these demons in human
| form. and there WAS not the sliLhtest prov
ocation, at least not one worthy Of the
name.
The only alleged cause was an effort Of
the government 10 compel them tc live up
to their treaty and force them to stay up
on a reservation away from the whites.
But this is matter we do not now pro
pose to discuss. What is row wanted by
the people Is a radical change il the man
ner Of dealing with Indians. The plan
Of treating with them, and feeding, cloth
iug and mounting them in consideration
cf their surcrdeHng certain imaginary
rights has Icea tried and found wanting.
An Indian was never known to keep his
promise any longer than It suited his con
Yenience. But for this this the govern
ment is partly to blame, fer at the recur,
renee Of each crime committed by the In
dams, peace commissioners have rushed
TO the scene, formed a rev treaty, where
Ey the Indians got a new supply Of blan-
kets, guns, ammunition and provisions
thereby Offering iHducement TO the lndi
ans To commit fresh oUtrages, because
they we're assured that Whenever they
needed a new supply it was only neeessa
y 10 break the treaty, FiII few whit,
men, and along would come the peace
( commissioners with another stock Of good
things.
. II Is evident to al thinLmgpeop that
{ 1t Is quite time there WIS 2 change Of pro
gTunme, for there never viii be any safe
I ty TO- the frontier settler so long IS thi.
childish PoEcycf making treaties with In.
diaus Is preserved. There is hut one
method that offers a solution tn the Indi
az question that is alike Just to the Iudi
ans and the whites Set apart portion
of The public domain large enough for The
! purpose and place all the Indians thereon
give them 4 few agricultural implements
and seeds, SO that they may raise what
corn ana potatoes they need. and then
take The whole army and establish . coy
don Of forts around the reservation, and
notify the officers to cause to be shot any
lndiaH found outside Of the prescribed
limits, and also notifying al whites rot
to trespass upon the Indian lands, and il
they did 50 10 treat them in the same
manner as The Indians. This plan vculd
make the Indians support themselves OF
starye would IcnI / the frontier pcr.ccs-
iy secure wouid give employment to the
soldiers and would not cost the govern
mtnt a 1.-THE Of what it does under the
present system To say nothing cf the
valuable lives it would save each year. the
difference in The expenditure Of money
alone is certainly worth 4 trial Of tLe ex-
pcrimeIt,-Heieae IadPea5eaf