Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-03-10

mulste . small store for the days when il
creasing years shall incapacitate them 70
the active duties of life. Through lon
seasons Of toll aud hardship most OF then
have succeeded 10 building homes toler'
ably comfortable In breaking up and fenc
in& lands of sufficient extent to grow many
Of the nece,saries OF life and in accumu
lating thrifty herds Of stock. All they
possess is there. With it they
can live in comfort and maintain their
families. Deprived Of it, they are thrown
upon the world, penniless and without =
vocation. There is perhaps no place outside
of the domain of the Indian department
where wrongs like this could be perpetrated
and acts like this go unquestioned. The
constitution of our country, which sacredly
guarantees equal rights to all men and to all
equal protection, reaches not to this remote
region where despotic power has implanted
itself and Aauuts defiance in the face Of
Justice.
A large proportion Of the individuals
affected by this order reside upon the east
side Of the Missouri river and in reality
outside the Indian reservation, though their
possessions lie within the supposed jurisdic-
tlon Of the Indian department By the
terms of the Sioux treaty the west bank Of
the Missouri river is made the eastern boun-
darv line of the Sion. reservation. In 1874,
and subsequent to the consummation Of ethe
treaty, for the purpose Of breaking up an
illicit liquor traffic along the border,
President Grant issued a proclamation at
taching to the Sioux country the territory
lying east Of the Missouri river, west Of the
goth meridian aad south Of the 4Gth paral-
lei. 1t is within the enclosure of these lines
that the people who are affected by this order
reside. Following the proclamation Of
President Grant was a circular from the in
terror department in which occupants Of
lands along the east side Of the Missouri
river were officially informed that they
we're not to be disturbed so long as they
violated none OF the Indian intercourse
laws. Upon this assurance they remained
securely within their homes. invested their
savings in Improvements and engaged in
the various industries peculiar to their
locality. They held their homes by squat
ters' rights, by presumption and by home.
stead filing. Their business has been to
supply steamboats, with wood and produce,
to labor under government wood and hay
contracts, to engage in stock raising and the
care of stage stock and to keep "open ranch
to all overland travellers who passed their
way and chose to avail themselves of the
u~npretentious fare afforded under their rude
facilities. As a class they have confined
themselves to strictly legitimate transac
tons. Bad men find Judgment among them
in the same proportion that bad men occur
among other communities-men who fol
speculation's sake would violate law as read
lily as would the outlaws of the east. Blu
that the whole should suffer for the acts O
the few is no more just than that a whole
city should be punished because it contain:
a thief or a murderer.
We do not know that confscation of prop-
erty is anywhere else recognized az the
right Of our government or any OF its co Or
dinate branches. Yet it is practiced in this
far away wilderness with an impunity to
which only arbitrary and unreasoning power
can attain. 1t is to the rights Of these hum
bic men THAT We desire to direct attention,
They are few in number and poor in purse,
yet they are entitled to the same protection
in person and in estate as is guaranteed tc
the balance of this nation. They could Sc
cure redress through the courts were they
possessed of the means to place their wrongs
before that tribunal. But of this they hav,
been robbed by the edict of Punishment and
are thus left at the mercy Of the govern
ment.