The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-08-31
STALWART STUART.
An Exposition Of His Views on tht
Indian Question.

An Exposition Of His Views on the
Indian Question.
It is High Time we Should Assert and
Back Up the Doctrine that White
Man is as Good as an
~ 'E&ss Indian
The River Press Corrected and the People
Of Benton Hauled Over the Goals In
g, Vigorous Manner.
The following red hot letter was received
from Hon. Granville Stuart last week, but o
few hours too late for publication. Mr.
Stuart handles the ssbreech-clouted pets of
the government without buckskins, as the
reader will discover before he has half done
TO acknowledge its errors, but it strikes us
mr. s. bears down a little too hard on the
citizens of Benton. Ii stolen horses have
passed through our town Shy the hundred,
the fact is not generally known in this quar-
ter. Our people would be quick to stop that
kind of work if they knew it was going on.
The epistle runs as follows:
Fort MAG1NNIs, August II, 1881,
TO the River Press: s:e-s.1,as--
In your issue of the 10Th appears an arti-
Gle headed .sThe 10 Family" which, in al
dition to drawing the evils of these Indian
.incursions in too mild manner, also con-
Etaias several erroneous statements. For in
stance, you say, 'sThe Judith and Mussel-
shell country, where game is abundant, is
enticing, and thither many are moving.
Now, every one living in the region men
toned knows that game is not abundant,
In rounding up our cattle, if we had killed
all the game of every kind that We saw, it
would not have sufficed to feed our party of
IA men, and we secured the whole country
SO you can see what chance there is for
whole villages of Indians to live on game
here. And il is fact known to all in this
region that these Indians do not come on the
ranges to hunt game, which they know to be
scarce, but that they come here to gnzzle the
unlimited quantity Of Indian whisky that is
peddled out TO them by some dozens of white
men, and some hundreds Of half-breeds, and
this, too, without molestation or hindrance
from the officers of Choteau and Meagher
counties. How many persons have been
prosecuted for this accursed traffic in the last
two years !? Not one, so far as | am aware.
Another incentive to these Indians coming
on the ranges is the entire immunity they
enjoy while stealing hundreds of horses,
from the Y Yellowstone to the British line It
should bring the blush of shame to the cheek
OF every citizen of Benton to reflect that
,, there was crossed during the past spring, on
tie ferries at your city, from the best inform
j alton [ can obtain, fully one hundred horses
in the possession of Blood and Piegan In
! dians, that bore unmistakeable evidence in
/ the shape Of brands, trace and collar marks,
and in being shod, that they were the prop
erty of whitemen, and had been stolen south
of the river. Sheriff Healy, to his credit be
it said, did take few horses from them Is
it any wonder that the Indians steal, when
towns of the size of Benton stand apethetic-
ally by and see bands of horses driven
through their streets that they know have
been stolen from white men? Why did they
not take the horses and snatch the id
thieves bald-headed, like men2 Does any
one suppose that white thieves could thus
boldly fill town with horses known to be
stolen and not get into trouble? Certainly
not, and should like to know why the In
dian should be privileged character in this
respect.
To return to the article which put me on
the war path. You say again, 1'The stock
men, remembering what losses they suffered
last season, are little apprehensiye Of these
movements, etc. A ''little apprehensive, y
indeed why they are scared like hell and
well they may be, for they know that there
is still less game than last year (although the
amount of available whisky has much IN.
creased), and that the Indians cannot live on
air, consequently the losses in cattle must be
greater year by year, if these lazy brutes
are allowed to roam at will over our ranges.
Why should not all Indians work for living
| the same as whites? Can anybody tell
7 Are they to be considered privileged class,
with full liberty Gas in the past) to prey upon
/ those who work ?
Again, you say, '.The air of Choteau and
/ Meagher counties can be made yerT IN.
| healthy for bad Indians this fall and winter !,
Now, has it ever occurred TO you that all In.
dams are bad when on stock range where
there is no game: that they must eat cattle
from sheer necessity and that the only nos.
sible way to remedy the evil is to confine the
Indians to their reservations, and unless this
| is done war will be inevitable, for it is i'm
possible as rule to catch them ia the act 81
butchering cattle upon widely extended
ranges, and the stock men will be compelled
to drive them off By force Of arms.
And now, fellow citizens of Meapher anf
Choteau, let US send petition after petition tt
| Congress, and to the Hon. Secretary Of th.
Interior, and to the President, setting fortt
our wrongs, and asking that the Indians b,
{ 1rarh ~. tho; irn ~ an az -.