Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-10-22
GENERAL CROOK

Great things were predicted of the return of General Crook to this Territo- ". The way he has taken hold of mat ters and the practical directions he has given indicate that these predictions are coming true. There IS about the orders issued by the new commandant of this department a consciousness of power to cope with the difficulties. This cannot fail to impress the savages who have not forgotten General Crooks past record in this Territory. We have not she pleasure of personal acquaint- ance with General Crook. but the steps he has taken commend him tO the con- fdence of all citizens of Arizona who are interested in the vast mineral, agri- cultural and grazing interests of the Territory. We know from past e1pe- rience that fear of punishment rather than hope of reward inspires the savage breast, and General Crook evidently un- derstsnds the character of the Indians he is dealing with.
 When the Indian outbreak occurred little more than year ago, the Alta California, which usually takes very correct view of Arizona affairs, e1- pressed the opinion that General Will COX wRs not competent to cope with the situation. We reproduce from the same paper the following comments upon General Crook:
 The great common sense embodied in General Crooks directions for the care and training of the Indians must commend itself to every one who yester- day read the plan he has mapped out for governing and protecting the redskins. The Indian scouts are to be employed as a temporary police force anI to perform as well as to inspect the various indus tries demanded of the Indiaus by the Department. If any one can clvilize an Indian General Crook Is the man, for be Is paying considerable attention to the pecularions of the Agents and their treatment of the Indians on theIr sever al reservations. General Crook under stands perfectly that the terms Indian Agent" and "petty larcenisf' are some times synonymous, and he does not desire to see the Apache and the Ute die out In the dirt of igI. rance while there ls a ehnce of retaining them and mak- them industrious.
 The commanding officers are to show the Indians the advantage of civilized government as contrHsted with their own oRrbaric customs. There IS a heap of sense in General Crook, and we must all hope that his Indian policy may be successful. He has seen them killed by the hundred and carried his life m his hand for months together. His long experience seems to have convinced him that they are to be treated as being in ignorance, and it Is our duty, as people, to try and elevate them.
 Of course this will make the Indian ring very sick, at which every honest American will rejoIce exceedingly. The Agent who has been robbing the h. dians and cultivsting their natural laziness; who has given them gin and robbed them of their blankets, is not very likely to admire General Crook mode of procedure. That officer tells us that after thorough and exhaustive examination of the Reservations, he finds a perfect, we may add, a rational distrust of the whites. America has been cursed by a great many evil cor porations; no national man would de- fend Boss Tweed, the StRr-route people or hundreds of other hotbeds of crime, but all of the rings that ever circled round this great country the Indian ring is 1. probably the vilest. General Crook IS trying to break # up. If he succeeds he will have done as much good as the Father of his Country" did