The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-01-04
INDIAN TROUBLES.
THE SMEyENNEs. sI1Ux AND NEE
vERCEs ON THE WAR rATH.
sitting RuII Coming te the Front what
He rrepsses 10 1s0 This Winter.

/
IN. Y. Heraldl
BozFMAN. y. r.. Dec. It,-Jherc is great ax-
titnment at present IN army circles through
out the West over the prospect of winter
campaign. The conquest ii the hostile tribes
| Of It,liaiis on the plains does not seem tu he
| by any means eotleie. aud the hopes IF
peace SO freely in,l,lged in q few weeks ago
have completely vanished. The Cheyein'ns.
Sioux aud Nez Petces are again on the war
path and FROM all directions we hear of tribes
preparing for war. Sitting Bull will, snduult-
edlY. try hs luck again, aud. It Is feared by
many. will be far more successful than
heratofptr. While The army has been
suits Of small bodies, Sitting full,
with tile main force of Indians. has been a,-
etIy resting. forming. alliances with lisaffeet-
ed tribes and preparing for war WIN We
| early spring will come the great chief at The
head Of q Thousand Uncpapa warriors. and
during his raids he will probably he joihelhy
ono or two thousand more hostlles from Fari-
| Gus tribes The arly officers admit they have
not the force tp resist this overwhelming
body Of savages. For two years they have
been constantly fighting and marching, and
both men and animals arc worn out Vt is not
generally known. hut is nevertheless fact.
that our Indian army has lost more officers
and men. in proportion to the numbers en-
gagged. than any army in modern times, not
even excepting the present bloody conflicts
between the Turks and Russians,
CONDITION OF THE ARMY.
our officers say they are In no condition to
| make winter campaign should the Indians
he troublesome. The men have been out all
! summer and tho horses are broken down. For
want Of money to carry ON the army there
are no equipments on hand, no new army
mules on wagons can hn bought. and the old
mules are worn out and the wagons broken
~. An officer of experience said the other
day. 1--WE arc very likely on the eve of q great
Indian war, aud are entirely uhprepared
fur it; The cavalry is broken down by, two
years campaigning, and we have neither
men. animals nor material to begin q new
war. Infantry companies cannot muster
twenty-five men for field service. aud the
cavalry companies could not raise or mount
fifty soldiers each. Do its best, the govern
ment could not place on the frontier an army
OF 5000 lighting men. while the Indians cal,
muster GDnD warriors and II Red Cloud and
Spotted Tails bands join the hostilHs 10000
The dissatisfaction existing In many friendly
tribes will lead them to join the hostilss
: should any chief even for q time. appear to
be successful The condition Of affairs is
such that the whole West may at any mo
ment he ptecipitated into general Indian
war, and settlements and civilization checked
| for three years.
When asked what could be done to avert
these disasters. the officer replied
Turn over at once to the War Department
the Indian Bureau. recruit all the cavalry
, companies to 100 men each buy nlttss. horses
and wagons and put the whole army in com
plete order for war. Let the Governors Of
Wyoming Utah. Montana, Idaho and Dako-
| tab each organize 900 good rangers. to be
! ready whenever called upon tp support the
regulars, and hurry forward food to the
Indian camps. with regular officers tp dis
tribute 1t, and assure the Indians in future
. they will be well taken care Of II they bshaye.
aud shot down like dogs whenever caught ii
. they go 10 war
OPERATIONS or THE uOsTILEs
Campbell. n Yellowstone SCOTT. has arrived
, at this place with dispatches from Dol. Buell.,
, and brings intelligence uf the continued
!. depredations of the hostiles. Communlea.
. tion between Deadwood and tho river had
been cut off and large bodies Of Indians were
seen In all directions. A report was current
and believed that the bands of Red Cloud haf
disarmed and set on foot the cavalry escort
ing them to their new agency on the Mtssout
: river. A small mining camp on the Belle
= Fourche. forty miles from Deadwood. hat
been suddenly surrounded and all the miners
: shut up. Two hundred warriors attacked
: tho miners, and a battle lasting all day On
sued. In the night the miners retfeated. leav
. ing their horses. mules and camp In thu
! hands Of the Indians Six men from this
= camp. nil suffering from exposure and wan
- of food had arrived at Crook City. A rumo
. said Madden's ranch. Mt the crossing OF th
Cheyenne river on the Fort Pierre route, hat
> been attacked and all the stock taken Th'
= tral previously reported as crossing tht
: BISMARCK road was followed for some dis
: ! tance and found TO be heavy At ono plae
4
= ana white man shaking hands. with thrs
I. stars over them, but no one could read TIN
= sign or tell what it meant. ] he Sidney rout
- ranch was entirely destroyed and the prop
= erty carried away, the inmates escaping t.
, the hills.
q WAR IN THE BLACK HILLS.
Major Burcharlt writes here to his mercan
!. tile friends that heavy war Is going on |
u the Black Hills between the whites and tn
o Indians, and that the Sioux have the best {
f. it. all the time. herd Of ono hundred hea
y of beef cattle had just been stolen from fot
7 Custer.
l. The following Is n copy of n dispatch re
o ceived by the Independent, u newspaper puf
+ ilshed ut Helena:
y "Tbe reported capture and disarming OF
u company Of United States troops in the BlhG
d Hills by Indians rs confirmed. 1t was nc
{. credited at the time. but the soldiers have NJ
d rived Mt Standing Rock. The lieutenant con
y mantling the soldiers says they were scoutin
= few struggling Indians and disarmed then
" Soon afterward they came upon the maj
IL Indian camp, and were In turn captured an
n daarmed The Indians did them no harm
70 further than taking away their arms and tel
10 ing them to go home rs quickly as possible
The Bozeman Courier has the following
J. "The driver just in from Fort Custt
N brought the news that Indians, supposed
N be tho remnant of the Nez Perces. with a fe
81 Sioux, had corralled Tingley's outfit at Littl
re Porcupine One of his.men ran the gauntl
I'd and got to Fort Keogh. The mail rider wei
3 around them In the night
" WHAT SITTING BULL IS DOING.
r. A letter from Cow Island says:
t. Sitting Bull is undoubtedly preparing I
y. war, and his scouts have already crossed Il
% Missouri. He will probably not move h
IN main camp until spring, but small stealth
as parties will be kept out to stir the Indians,
le Is believed nearly all tho robberies now goiI
lie on are committed in the interest OF the gre
is Uncpapa chief, and that many OF them
of instigated by him"
O. -> . -
III The Dead of the Year.
~ list OF the dead Of 1877 shows that dea
''' has been busy among the prominent, al
even among the great Science and art, I