Chariton courier. (Keytesville, Chariton County, Mo.) 1878-current, 1878-11-16
DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI.
Gen. sheridan's Annual Report.

DIVISION OF THE MISSOURI.
Gen. Sherfdan's Annual Report.
The report of Gen. Sheridan concerning the
operations in the Military Division OF Mis-
aouri during the past year. is of considerable
length and mainly devoted TO the Indian
question.
camps I'm this division, embracing the coun-
try from British America to the Rio Grande,
there are four companies OF artillery, averag'
ing IS men each, eight regiments of cavalry,
averaging I65 men each, and Is regiments
of infantry, averaging 452 men each, which
IS figured out as being one man to 100 square
miles in the Department of Texas. and one
to every 20 square miles in the Department
of Dakota, and about the same ratio In
the Departments of the Platte and the
Missouri "when it is borne in mind tha'
this immense section of country has to be
constantly under surveillance against lndi-
ans and ra.jsnE parties from the
tie work ,bot has 70 be pgriormsd
hN thEt portion nt CuI army located Hlii.ls
tuis military division win be appreciated ay
sll military ueu Jut hy those who have grrr
lived Upor "1U frontier NJ ether army ,"
tns world has such q difficult iiuc 60 Seep in
yrt1f. and no army In iuutc"u tIfnrs mas laa
-.Ch ha amour - rrDI n fsf upon tar -allH
Huu'oer of men. Ia 1l u-EJr cuu-frIt- 3t is
, ~. custom % '.~iablla1 NtiIisH1s H. not Tess
t.Il1 aE1-1 rvIgut Hr q. brigade, EI!iu We aEyc
t'r th' performance ot similar duties only
one or ivn "pmp@nie-. Wan U.s. IrH,Ns.-'~
are rarely n ever, together thp posts ai-
generally GaTrj-aUgt 1y one. twp nr four
companies, wHo urc expected g. hr't and
nary toes III the world II space of land that
in any otner country would be held by brig
ade. To do this requires sleepless watchful,
ness, great activity and tireless energy. and
l am gratified to know that, as a general
thing, our officers possess those soldierly
qualities"
Gen. Sheridan regards the Indian situation
as being very unsatisfactory at the present
time. lie says: The Indian Department,
f oil
from wretched mfsmanagement, has given
to the settlements in the Western country
constant anxiety during the last year, and in
ed with dreadful crimes and cruelties. There
has been an insufiiciency of food at the Agen-
cies and, rs the game Is gone, hunger has
made the Indians I'm some cases desperate.
and almost any race of men Will fight rather
than starve. 1t seems to me, with wise man =
agement, that the amounts appropriated by
Congress ought to be sufficient, IL practically
applied to the exact purposes specified, and
II the supplies are regularly delivered,
but the reports of the Department Com
manders forwarded herewith would indicate
n different result, except in the case of the
Red Cloud and Spotted Tail bands of Sioux,
who, although threatening in their conduct,
have been the best supplied, and have been
humored until their increasing insolence
constantly threatens to bring about n breach
of the peace. had hoped that the agencies
of these Indians would have been retained
on the Missouri River, where they could have
small expense; but this would not have suit
ed the traders and contractors, who, l fear,
labored Systematically last summer and fall
to work up the result which has been obtain
ed, and now these Indians are on worse
ground than the Missouri bottom, and
located & ut points neyona tor tne rin in.
stance, Red Clouds band, where the expense
of feeding will be probably five times as great
as on the Missouri River. In addition, these
Indians are now located near the line of
travel to the Black Hills, and are on the ex.
treme western limit of their reservation, ana
.Harn ont xtyffh tph q
frequently occur. and doubt IL, in the pres
ent frame of mind of the Red Cloud Indians,
the two races can live SO closely togetheI ,el
now, and there never has been, much steadi,
ness in the management OF the Indians, ana
II it were not for The results which so severe
here.'
of the causes of our Indian wars. The first
cause was the inevitable crowding out OF the
Indians by the Westward tide of white emf
grafton, and this, while unavoidable, would
nave been accomplished with much less
trouble had not the military forces employ
ed in protecting the settlements and suDdu-
ing the savages been insufficient to intimi-
date or even punish them for their acts oil
hostility.
is caused in this way: After he has lost his
country he finds himself compelled to re-
main on reservations, his limits circnm-
sciibed, his opportunities of hunting abridg-
ed, his game disappearing; sickness in his
lodge from change oil life and food, and in
sufiiciency of the latter, and this
es5SS eominK TO ShhR"ef hum OF what What he he was, and
what he now is, and pincbed by hunger, Gre
ates a feeling of dissatisfaction, which, IN the
starts him out on the war-path again, ana
unarmed people are killed, settlements bro,
ken up, farms are abandoned, ana Senerai
confusion exists. This condition OF affairs Is
well illustrated by the recent outbreak OF the
Northern Cheyennes, who lately abandoned
their reservation ut Fort Reno. and the same
might be said of the outbreak OF the Nez
Perces last year, and certainly OF that ol
the Bannocks and ShoshoncS in this year
ofthe Cheyennes, kiowas and dComanches, ,ano
unless wiser measures prevail hereafter II
will go on. The Crows Will come in next, the
Assinaboines and Gros-Nentres and wild
tribes north of the Missouri Will be Obliged to
follow Spotted Tails and Red Clouds peo-
ple will be driven to the same conditions
eventually, and so on down to the tribes III
the Western part of the Indian Territory: To
prevent or even meet the calamity winch
may occur, we are entirely unprepared, for
without exposing other important points
we can collect together only few hundred
men," -,
quite lately have continued ahouttho same
AS tuev have been FOR years past nhh are IA
That border The RI" sruHlu ls tboni ~
F; mites ia length fruE Et tnsu io as Wuuth
and IurGuuie 3l'trMusJ any place, ana NcNl
cans and Indians cummtftin- lSN'nut'i"N'
II, T,,2,.- HEvs ,vrfyT--i@ i@si. - Co. ,1tsu
/ ing 10 the Mexican side. -l,5s
| nov that the MeNicHu GCvtruugH
Is making more vNuition 60 ~Hp1't-'
/ law tCSsncss than heretofore. il IL does i8
/ succeed, Z wCuld recommend that tonEIcS
J pass an net that, trom and after certain hA
Z ed tiWu, III Q gprC4Httnuo iu Texas are nos ais
certain points. and kept there 1Eiil "'p' -dA
ttara entirely cease. tH- moral tHtl- %
/ su,.I Do.s.C -sin-lsi action would. nm Hh "pln
| ion. prevent all future trouble"