The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-10-30
THE UNRELIABLE TIES.

The more that Is learned of the
White River Utes, the more unfayora-
BILE do they appear to the public gaze.
| When the outbreak and fight at Milk
creek were reported, the people were
led to believe that only a portion OF the
Utes at the upper agency were hostile,
and that the main body were trust
worthy friends of the whites. Later,
this opinion was modified, so as to lin
it the friendly Utes to Douglas n his
immediate followers But our DIS
patches of yesterday cut down the
friendly Indians to the minimum.
Mrs. Meeker states that Susan, the
sister Of Ouray, and wife Of Chief john
son, did most of all towards saving the
lives Of the women.
Agent Stanley, the modern Benedict
Arnold, asserted strongly a short time
since, that the white male employees Of
White river agency we've killed by
jacks bucks after the Milk Creek fight;
that the women were saved by Douglas,
who turned over the agents papers and
money to Mrs. Meeker. Agent Stanley
based his assertions upon the state
ment Of runners from White river to
Ouray's agency. But the runne were
nnmitigated liars, and Stanley was a
fool to place c~onhdsSce in the word OF
these Indians, as opposed to the testi-
mony Of white men.
/ Douglas did not save b women, &C
cording to Mrs. Meeker's evidence; he
did not turn over the agency papers
and money to the agents widow. On
the contrary, he burned the papers
and retained the money, and even rob-
bed Mrs. Meeker Of her private funds.
Douglas thus drops from a man OF sup
posed friendliness, with noble qualities,
TO II brutal savage, whose probable cow
ardice only prevented his m~assacreing
the Certainly, lie lacked the
courage to shoot Josephine Meeker af-
ter placing a gun ut her head.
There are no iedeeming features
about the White River Utes, Tor brutes).
They merit neither sympathy nor kind
ness. They rather deserve punishment.
swift and severe. The blood Of the
massacred men of Milk creek and the
agency cries out for vengeance, and
tue people say amen. There should be
no futile ~dalliance" in the matter.
An Indian campaign, with the troops
operating from the south and the north,
and the armed settlements of the noun
tain regions on the east, would result
in either the capture of the guilty hos
tiles, or their retreat westward, when
They could be exterminated at leisure.
They want peace, it is true. But
when Indians ask for peace they always
expect the advantage. The conditions
they cheekily propose-complete ain-
uesty, and restoration of White river
agency and buildings-are such that
tile government cannot, for a moment,
entertain. They must be taught effect
ually that they cannot balance matters
10y comparing the number Of their kill
ed aud wounded with those Of the
whites. And the only way to teach
them is to administer a sound thrash
ing, such as they never before received,
and will never again, for the reason thai
they will no longer be in the land of the
living. Object teaching only, reaches
and takes hold In the Indian mind.
Let them contemplate the spectacle of a
few hundred Indian corpses, just made
to order by Uncle Sans troops, and the
object lesson will have n magic effect,
for many years, at least.