The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-10-21
{Eerninr Staf- and Catholic Mas&4oger.
UTw oRLEANs, sUNDAY, OCTOBER 81. ls77
END or NEZ PIERCE WAR.
WHAT 1T COSTS AND WHAT IT COMES TO.
New York sun }

WHAT 1T COSTS AND WHAT 1T COMES TO.
(New York sunl
1t ia customary nj the close of a war, TO
reckon up what 1t has cost ana "hnI =
comes to- We trust that the people "h"
undertake to manage Indian affairs VIII not
consider the Nez Perez war too s@s!4 10
merit this usual proceas of ofiiclat couiPu'
tation. We already krow that " has coht
heavily in tho lives of brave ofncers anu
r1en. and that many citizens have ALEC
fallen victims t. it. Indeed, when we re-
fleet on the small number of Indians who
were engaged in these hostiities, aud then
on the terrible Losses they intlcted, IL must
rank among the bloodieet of lpdian strug-
giles. There were killed and wounded In
Sorwood's fight at Camas creek Ia soldiers
and citizens; in the early raids on the
Cottonwood and in Peny's and Whipple's
fights, 6l; in Howard's battle on the
Clearwater, 81; in Gibbons, at Big Hole,
60; in Sturgiss, at Yellowstone mountain,
25; in the first day of Mlles's battle ut
Snake creek, e. Here alone we have an
aggregate of nearly three hundred killed
aud wounded, of whom very IHrge pro-
portion are dead. But besides theee there
were other casualties not included In the
list we have just given, and there were
victims to hard marches and to exposure.
But though this terrible loss is the sever
eat part of the account, it is net the only
one. The cost of the summers expedition
in money has been very heavy. In adoi-
ton to the ordinary expenses of campaign
-fnp-the provisions ammunition. the
horses killed or captured or worn out, the
hiring of teams and teamsters, and 80 on
there have been extra sums for volunteers,
and there have also been very large ex-
penses for the transportation of troops
long distances, as, Tor example, from
Georgia to Idaho.
Now, at the end of the war, we have to
chow for it eight score Nez Perez warriors,
with their wives aud children imprisone ed
in Miles's camp. A good many others have
been killed, though it Is evident that the
Indian Losses have been exaggerated, as
Joseph was always able to take oil his
wounded. and no prisoners fell into our
hands. But the true condemnation OF the
war WAS fl xed upon 1t as it's outset 1t was
a war of injustice, of wrong, and hence a
crime.
The war sprang from a combination of
the cupidity and the wrong doing of the
white settlers with the folly and obstinacy
of the Government officers. Joseph lived
with his band in the Wallowa valley, on
which white settlers had for some years
been intrudug. The Government was
persuaded to order him to go upon the
reservation set apart for the remainder OF
Che Nez Psrce tribe, under Chief Lenoyer
1t WAS urged that Joseph was bound by hi
fathers treaty to go upon the reservation
and that he and his father had only beer
left outside so many years on sufferance
Even supposing this to be true, JOSEPH
maintained and believed that his father
consent to the treaty had been extoFted D.
misrepresentation. Were this so, it woul'
be good ground for revising the case, a
in contract between white men,. But q
Indian has no rights, apparently, whic
greedy settlers are bound to respect. WIT
Ghis disputed title to his lands penang
troops were put under arms to enforce TIL
mandetes of the In dian Department, and
Al, from IA hOT0A
El.s had passed bis whole life. To add Z
his grievances, great outrages had recent
been committed against hls banu ny "hit
men, for which he had IN vain s"ushC fe
dress in the courts. , here Is no m"nner
doubt that this powerful Indian, who ma
never raised HIS hand against the whlte
whose past record was clear, ard Wi
firmly believed that the lit patch OF ian
he lived on was his own, was driven ln'
war by The folly, ignorance, Incompetence
and recklessness of the il-grnsplng whlte
DesIairirg of Justice, after lorg hesltAu'
he began war which, though brave
carried by our troops II ultimate trump
forms IA niot upon our national chaTact
and q crimo against clvllIZAuon.
Tho Nez Perces crowned their last stra
gle with some striking instances OF geno
osity aud humanity which make
ashamed to talk of the superiority OF CT
ilized over savage warfare. All alor
they have refused to scalp OF mutiiate o
dead soldiers, or to kill the wounded W
fell into their hands, though our lndl
allies have scalped their dead. They ha
alec released women and children. 81
diers now relate that in Micss last liz
tho Neg P,.1ces spared the wound
throughout the battle. They roamed oV
the battle fed at right where our woundt
unrescued, still lay, and told them
broken English to fear nothiDg-that tn
never shot men who did not resist. In O
case blanket was put by them, it is ga
under a wounded lads head and Lieute
ant Jerome, who was captured the first dt
Gays they gave him deep rife pit to at
in, 80 that he might be protected from
bullets of his friends. These are tho pt
pie we call savages.