Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-11-25

Aole 20 90 without troops the post ut Gram
river had to be mo ,ed there. The post q
Fort Sully vas established to control q
Ysacto.ais and N~inneconjos Sioux, but ID
agency was moved Up the river 70 1t ava,
NON it, and ia = little while q new post Ast
70 b established there. The pnst at "A.
Lower Brule agency was snbjected 70 ane
followed the came conditions.
The post of Fort Stevenson was established
to control the Gros Ventres, whose agency
was at Fort Berthold, and subsequently ths
Gros Ventres agency was moved up to ole
Fort Union, and Fort Berlhold had to be
established and enlarged in the vicinity. and
then the Gros Ventres agency was moved ul
TO Fort Peck, and the troops had To follow
there, and, then the agency was moved down
TO Poplar creek, so that it will be seen that
this matter of moving .ageneier about wa
we'll understood. Now these removals,
which have absorbed millions Of our appro-
priations in the last ten years, would natur-
ally suggest the inquiry: What were the
reasons which influenced them? 1t could
not be to have better soil or less expenses,
because the soil wat no better and the ex-
penss of supply was greater.
These changes and the reports of army
Officers, from the highest to-the lowest (and
which are tn 10 found in the office of the
general of the army, on the subject Of bad
management, frauds, and %corruptione, will
furnish the best and most reliable evidence
to sustain the remark made. In addition, I
have bad, by visits to agencies and military
posts, opportunity 10 get the views and i'm
pressi0ns Of people there, and I an led to
the conclusion that the main causes for
these removals was hostility tn army officers,
account OF their reports, which come in
the wav Of their official duties aud after
the removals were made from place to place
1t was found that the Indians could not be
controlled. and troops had to follow. first
one company and then a post. During the
six aad . half years of my service on the
Pacific coast before the war, most Of which
time / was on Indian reservations, l obsery.
ed the same jssIousies and arising from the
same causes.
The changes named are only some of the
instances OF the expensive conditions Ut.
tending the administration Of Indian affairs
which have to be borne by the army, and
which cry out loudly for reform. II can
scarcely be possible that the honorable the
secretary of the interior means to take up
the defense of Indian management for
the last quarter of cen.
tury. Then why should he have used Ian.
guage toward me as he has in his commu.
nication to the honorable secretary Of war?
There can be no excuse tor his want of
knowledge on the subject, aud that does
not excuse the stilted tone and the language
used!
To come down to the las, in point, 10
which q general remark is sought 10 he ap-
piled. ! wish To state that / established the
post at Fort Sill in person after The agency
of the Comanches, Kiowss, and Apaches.
Comanches had been located at that point
that spent several months there
that l have been at the Wichita
agency before and since it was
established where it now is; thatI have
travelled all over that country in every di.
reclion that l have visited both agencies
since, and that, when the secretary, of the
interior says that the water at Fort Sill i,
bad, he forgets that Medicine Bluff creek
on which the largest number of the Indian.
we're located when l was last there, is 6
bold mountain stream, coming down from
the Wichita mountains, and 10 the larges,
stream OF pure water in that whole country
for over a hundred miles in any direction
and that this was one of the reasons for the
establishment Of the agency there. Thi!
creek unltes with Cache creek Just abov,
the agency. The country is beautiful. th,
soil is rich, and | have myself collected six
teen different kinds Of grasses in the We'll,
ity of the agency However, of the char
acter of the country the general of TIT
army knows we'll from personal inspection
The difference between the q 2 of the
buildings at Fort Sill and those. at Wich,rs
is no SO great rs to cause much difference
in the condition of the timber of the build.
ings. -
1t is true the Indian bureau may have saved
the expense of an agent, but the wardepart.
ment is put to ten times the expense in
erecting new quarters. and in additional
transportation and the expenses Ola new
establishment.
Ny only object in making The indorse-
ment to which objections have been taken
was to put a stop If possible, to- the appall-
ing waste of our appropriations.
fully understand tho relations of the
military to the civil administration of the
government, certainly as we'll as the secre-
tary of the interior, and know nothing in
those relations which should prevent me
from calling the attention of my superiors
to unnecessary waste Of the public money
through the bad administration of the In
dian bureau. P. d. SHERIDAN,
Lieutenant General United States Army.
The SOLID SOUTH SCARED.