Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-05-15
THE INDIAN OUTRAGES.
DR.. MeLean's Recent observations
In New MexIcU-Hts Idea of How
a Troublesome Problem May be
solved.
st. Louis Republican.

DR.. j. 81. Mclean arrived in the CITY
Yesterday from trip to New Mexico, where
be spent ten DAYS in travelling over the
country and inspecting the mining districts.
10 conversation with q Republican reporter
he said that the object of his trip was
simply to take vacation from business and
20 see for himself whether the reports about
'he mining Possibilities in New Mexico were
true.
''Dld you fud them soS" asked the re-
porter.
eyes. There are plenty of chances to
make money In mining out there-plenty of
them. But what interested me as much as
anything was the condition of Indian affairs
out there. tell you, SIR, the people here
and at Washington evidently do not under
stand the state OF affairs, or they would talk
and act differently. The people out there
think that these Indian outbreaks are out
RACES which might be prevented II the prop
er course was taken by the government.
Why we hear here OF bands of two or three
hundred out on the war path. That's all
nonsense. They 90 about in bands
Of six or seven. Fifty of them will start
out and divide up into small bands
and kill Unfortunately. The nature of
the country gives them opportunities that
she troops do not have. 1t is covered with
boulders and narrow canyons. The Indians
conceal themselves behind the bOulders
drivers, passengers, miners and troops at
will, without danger of being seen. People
sre shot down without knowing where the
shot comes from. Wagons or stages can
only pass through these canyons, and the
Indians lie in wait among the boulders,
where no man can go unless he is on foot.
They SQUAT themselves down there, eat
their beef and wait for human game to
come along"
"Wbat are the general characteristics of
the Indians f'
"They are decidedly sharp and shrewd,
much sharper than any Indians l ever saw.
T'll tell you an incident that will illustrate
this: A stage coach with four passengers
Wss going along a canyon, bound for Silver
City, when a party OF Indians concealed
among the boulders fred upon it, killing the
driver and two OF the passengers. The other
two could not see the Indians, but knew OF
course from which direction the balls came.
They quietly slipped out OF the opposite
side Of the coach and made their way up the
mountain among the boulders, where they
concealed themselves. One of them moved
one Of the bonlders and It rolled down the
mountain. The Indians saw this, fol-
lowed the track OF the stone, came
upon the white men before the latter were
aware Of It and shot them down. It is
not the old Indians who make all the
trouble, for, rs q rule, they stay on the re
servations 1t is the youpg and turbulent
spirits. They have sworn deadly hatred
coward the whites. They see the whites
coming in there and working and making
money. This excltes their hatred. They
won't work and they wantatO kill all who do
had talk with Governor Sheldon while
here, and he said that instead of sending
. troops after the Indians, the government
should have plenty of troops there tn keep
the Indians on the reservations. II they
are off Il means that they contemplate mis-
chief They should be made TO understand
that they must remain on the reservation or
be shot IL they come of"
"What do the people there think of the
efforts Of the government to keep the In-
dians in subjectionW
"They don't think much Of 1t, except that
sending troops after them is nonsense. II
you could see the country you would think
that q man was a jacksss who would go
after the Indians who were on the war path.
The government sends out scouting parties,
and the Indians quietly sit behind the rocks
and kill them of You can't get them, ard
IT'S all nonsense to send lot of troops out
20 catch them. They are after stage coaches
and soldiers. But they don't object to
miner or two now and thsn. Two-thirds of
the Indians are good, but the other third is
bad. II Is with them as 1t is with CON-
muuity. There are bad, turbulent people
in every community VINO plot against
the better portions. In winter the bad
Indians sit around and talk about their
grievances, and just as soon as the bear
comes out OF his hole in the spring and the
grass begins to grow they start out to kin
the whites. They have an idea that they
must have revenge. They see the whites
come 10 there and take out the silver and
the gold and encroach upon what the In
dams consider TO be their lands, and they
think the only way to be revenged is to kill
them"
"Then you think that the only way to 8
solution of the Indian question is to force
the Indians to remain on the reservations or
exterminate them entirelYp
ayes. these outrsges are committed by the
Young Indians. The Did ones are willing to
stay on the reservation. The only way is to
keep them all there, surround them by
troops and make them understand hat II
any of them come of without permission
they will be killed. They can be made to
understand this. There Is everything they
want on the reservations snd there is no ne
cessity Of their coming of. They have
ample opportunities for farming, mining.
huntiDg and fishing and need not come of
the reservation unless It is to dispose Of any
thing they may have to SELL"