The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1881-03-25

A Serious Mistake.

by reporter of the New York Tribune
recently at the Breevort house, was ASKED
about the condition Of the Ponca and
other Indians. He said:
IT was appointed as one of the com.
missioners to investigate the condition Of
the Poncas. found part of them living
very comfortably in the Indian Territory
on their grant of $53 ,000-about the
same as those Indians receiving aid from
the government. Those who had re-
manned in Dakota, or gone back to it, /
found, were earning their own living by
cutting wood, farming and working in
various ways. They were receiving no
support from the government only little
aid from benevolent people in the vicin-
ity.'
s'Were those on the Indian reserva-
tion anxious to return to Dakota?"
''They did not so express themselvess'
They had been repeatedly told that they
could not return, and they considered
their title null and void
did they seem to feel embittered
against the government"
"a portion of them seemed to be. It
appeared to me that the treatment of the
Poncas was mistake, resulting from in
competency and selfish motives. They
were wronged. The removal of any por-
ton of our peaceable population to
distant part of the country and holding
them there are contrary to justice and our
system of government. and are inexcus-
able. I know of no good or substantial
reason for their removal, nor have ever
heard of any"
s:.Will the government policy toward
the Poncas affect the other tribes ?"
- L.
especially with the friendly tribes, as it
has created the idea in their minds that
the government disregards its treaty
obligations, and that it is disposed to
move the tribes on to the Indian reserva-
fion. The northern Indians look upon
the reservation as sort of Botany Bay
or Siberia, and think that the govern.
ment will pick up tribe whenever it
can put them there and let them die off. .
'sWhy die OFF,
Because the Indian Territory has
great deal of malaria at times, and if q
man lives there long enough he is sure
to be attacked. have had command of
men and horses in that section for q
good many years, and know something
about it..
eff that is the case, why does the gov
ernment continue to put Indians on the
s'T can see no good reason for it. Let
the government protect them where they
are. Tney are much more attached to
the country where they are born than we
are. In my judgement it would be bet
ter to give them small allotment of
into one territory. because of this pecu-
,.;% ;,,% ,o,, o&1,ro ond hono1Ioo fhoro
is no Justice in removing them any more
than there would be in putting the
or Chinese into one State and
keeping them there. There is no longer
any frontier east of the Rocky mountains.
have sprung up beyond the
Indian reservation, and are surrounding
them on every side; so that the Indians
must become part of our population,
the law-abiding to be protected by the
same authority, and the evil-disposed to
be governed by the same laws that
govern white people. I think that as
soon as the people understand the
Indian question, popular opinion will be
SO strong that the putting of portion of
our population under the control of one
irresponsible, inexperienced man, and
them with Chinese wall,
as it were, 80 that they cannot commune
cate with the outside world, will be an
Then the Indians will
be treated Justly. When they are they
will give the government very little trou-
BILE"
.'How does the army look upon the
Indian question:"
under the present system the army
is very much em barrassed from the fact
that it is required to stand aloof ana have
nothing whatever to do with the manage
ment of the Indians until they break
out, although the officers are undoubt-
edly better informed about the matter
than any other officials of the country.
They know the character of the Indians;
their way, mode OF reasoning, and by
long years of service on the plains they
become acquainted with the different
men Of the tribes, and know who can be
trusted and who are treacherous. Yet
when at outbreak occurs, or an Indian
agent has something to accomplish, the
army is called upon to do the disagree
able work, to endure all the hardships of
q campaign, to engage in the most dam
gerous enterprises, and then has to bear
all the odium Of any transaction that
may not be founded on law or prompted
by good Judgment. If the government
would but try the experiment. of letting
the War Department manage the In
dams, 7 think much good would result.
Let it turn over some of the widest,
most warlike and most troublesome
Indians to the care of the army,
and see whether or not an i'm
provement would not be made. A good
illustration of what might be done Is
seen in the great success of Capt. Platt.
After the war of 1874 we picked out
seventy-five of the greatest robbers, ,mur-
derers and cut-throats and he took them
down to Florida. They were the worst
men in the Cheyenne, Kiowa and Co
manche tribes. The change in those In
dians have been marvellous, and out OF
that, partly, have grown the Indian IN
stitutions at Hampton, Va, and Carlisle,
Penn, which might have been very sue
cessful. This proves that when In charge
of army officers the Indians have made
more progress than they have under 9TH
er control at any time during the history
of the conutry. Let the peaceable tribes
remain where they are, and be under
the control Of the civil authorities in the
States where they live. There will be
more or less trouble, until the Govern
ment, the State, Territorial and county
authorities. and the white settlers re-
spect the rights of the Indian the same
as those Of the white man As to any se-
rious disturbance, there is less likeiI-
hood Of that now than there has been Tor
wears. because those INDIANS living east
- Az. <.nI,xv 10 ~ uflar con-