Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1882-05-20
Cost of Indian Wars of the Last Ten Years

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Cost of Indian Wars of the Last Ten Years
If anybody thinks that the Indian,
"the ward of the nation" is not an ex-
pensive luxury, he should direct his at
tention to report made by the secretary
of war of the cost to the government of
Indian wars during the last ten years.
This information was called for by the
senate, and the officers of the war de-
partment have transmitted to congress,
through Secretary Lincoln, an array of
figures so prodigious as almost to take
away ones breath. The wars" strictly
speaking, have not been very expensive.
The Modoc war OF 1872 cost only $3.50
0O9. The war in Texas, in 1875, cost
S6,G41. A more expensive trouble was
that with the Sioux, i'm 1S7G.77, which
ran up bill Of 81 ,S04, ,36l. In 1877 there
was difficulty with the Nez Perces, cost
ing 1915, ,0S2, and the next year 500 ,57l
were spent in the Bannock war. The
conflict with the Northern Cheyennes,
in 1873, cost So, ,209, while the at
tempt in 1879 to subdue the Utes in
volvcd an expenditure of$l, ,l926S2 In
the same year $9,4ll were spent in
controlling the Sheep Eaters, and in
1881, with the Apache difficulty not over
come the expenses reached $43S, 800
The total cost of these active attempts
to control the aboriginees was - 5,05S ,S2l,
but this is a mere fraction Of the cost to
the government Of watching the Indian
tribes that were not travelling abroad in
war.paint, but which had TO be watched
to keep them quiet,
The aggregate cost of all kinds of ser
vice by the United States army west of
the Mississippi, in which part of the
country there was no proper occupation
FOR the soldiers but fighting or police
duty on Indian occount, was, for the last
ten years, S205, ,474,75o. This has been
the cost oftroops, and does not take into
account the peace offering, annuities
and other inducements to prevent the
use of the tomahawk and scalpng- knife,
which have been provided at very large
expense by the government One must
decide from the report that the Indians
are almost the only excuse the govern
ment has for maintaining an army.
During the last ten years the troops
have been distributed as follows: The
number employed each year in observa-
ton or control Of Indians has ranged
| from 1900 to 2l,000, and the number
otherwise employed from 5000 to 5000.
| The total force has fallen from 2S,lS3 in
1872 to 25,1S3 in 1881. The average
| number used IA the Indian country has
been little more than 70 per cent of
| the whole force. While the cost of these
troops is given at S205, ,474 ,759, Adjutant
General Drum decides that this is not
all the expenses which can be chalged
to them and furnishes tables, with items
additional, to be charged on appropria-
tons for supplies, incidental expenses,
transportation, purchase Of horses, and
other trifes which make the grand total
of 1923 3.S9l .264. According TO General
Sherman, the army now consists of 23,-
| 785 enlisted men and about 1900 officers.
OF these, all the cavalry, all the Indian
scouts, twenty-four out Of TWENTY-FIVE
regiments of infantry, and an entire
regiment and three companies Of artil-
lery, numbering 1889 men, are west of
the Mississippi, while the total number
east Of the Mississippi is 5,256. His
general conclusion is, without examin-
ing the figures closely, that four-fitths of
the expenditures of the annual appro-
priations had been made on Indian ac-
count during the ten years between 1872
and 1882.