St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-09-10

water runs. Brothers, will not our
great father come there also? He loves
his red children, and his tongue is not
forked.
In 1885 began the Seminole war in
Florida. 1t was the same story, an at
tempt to remove the Indians "beyond
the Mississippi" while their king was
opposed to the removal, and Osceola,
their most noted chief, said be "wished
to rest in the land of his fathers and
his children to rest by his side" Osce-
ola, by his proud bearing and his resis-
lance, so displeased the government
agent, Gen. Thompson, that he "put
him in irons.n Then the Indians dis
sembled, with the usual weapons of
the weak against the strong; and then
there succeeded attacks and ambushes
and massacres, and so forth. The
Creeks had joined the Seminoles-and
-and-"during the summer several
thousand of them were transported be-
yond the Mississippi" And, strange to
say, these tribes won't die out. Some
of them are even more numerous than
thew were. But still enough remained
to fight, and in June, 1889, the Govern
ment offered a reward of 1.-TWO hundred
dollars for every Indian killed or ia
ken.n In 1910 Col. Harvey captured
band of forty, 'nine of whom he caused
to be executed for some previous mas
sacre in which they lUere supposed to be
engaged" How like Afghanistan |!
Everywhere, as we read the history,
there are tales of white aggression and
Indian revenge. Can we blame them
And there were noble men among them,
as there may be now. Logan was an
Iroquois chief, and noted for ''magna-
nimity in war and greatness of soul in
peace" 81 had thought to have lived
with you but for the injuries of one
man. Col. Cresap, the last spring, in
cold blood and unprovoked, murdered
all the relations of Logan, not even
sparing my women and children.
There runs not drop of my blood in
the veins of any living creature" She
nandoab was Christian man. In his
early life he had learned to drink. The
fire water" has been the curse of the
Indian. One night he went to Albany
on some of the affairs of his tribe, be-
came intoxicated, and in the morning
found himself in the street, stripped of
all his ornaments and nearly all his
clothing. His sense of duty and the re-
volt of his pride against such degreda-
ton saved him, and he never drank
more. There were other chiefs whose
eloquent speeches our school boys re-
cite to this day. There was a Chicka-
saw chief, Moncatchtape, who traversed
the country to the north and northwest
for years, in order to trace out the ORR
gin of his people.
Examples might be multiplied, but
we have already exceeded our limits.
1t may he said that these are eXcep-
tional cases, but the rulers are not sure
to be so very much better than their
people. If SO, what of this nation If
contact with white men has led to their
degradation, who is to blame? Surely
not the Indian. "Tribes differ, so do
white men, or men of any color. Are
they men? We have noticed that
those who meet them at the West,
speak or write of them as "bucks" i'll
almost all cases. This of itself is de-
grading, and if we pursue them rs ami
mails, and talk of them as beasts, who
shall persuade them to be men We
in this nation are always solving prob
lens, and this is one of the great prob
lens of the day. What shall we do a.?
Surely oppression makes Il wise man
mad, how much more the simple red
man and the evils reflect even more
disastrOusly on US the OppressOrs. The
way grows darker. Heaven send US
light.-COIreS. AdUance.