Omaha daily bee., 1883-06-20
CROOK AND HIS CAMPAIGN.
An Interesting Chapter ON Indians
and an Indian Fighter Effect
of the Campaign.

Carl Schur1 in the Evening Post.
1t is reported that in 1885. when Gen
eral Scott conducted the wal against the
Seminoles in the junglcs and swamps of
Florida, his force was divided into sew.
eral columns, surrounding in n large cir
Gle the place i'll which the camp of the
hostile Indians was supposed to be, and
that as these columns made II concentric
advance, each one of them was to fire a
heavy gun every morning and evening, So
rs to let the Others know of its where
abouts. In this way the different col.
umns are said to have been well informed
about each others movements, but the
Indians were duly advised in the
same way. 1t turned out to
be not a good way to catch them.
General Crook carries ON Indian war
fare on an entirely different principle.
There is no firing of morning and even
ing guns, no beating of drums, no sound
ing of the truinpets, and no waving of
banners in his method. There is II COM
plete absence of dress parade, of military
style, and of all those things which con-
stitute the pomp and circumstance of
war. He goes about it in an exceedingly
sober business-like way, and his success is
in a great measure owing to the fact that
he carries on an Indian wal in the Indian
way; in other words, that he looks for
victory less through gallant charges than
through the means of rapid marching,
stealthy approach, and sudden surprise.
Those who are acquainted with Gen.
Crook know that, with regard to Indian
warfare, he is i'll II certain sense a ''theo-
rist.' His theory is that, man against
man, the Indian possesses certain i'm
portant advantages over our soldiers i'll u
campaign; that he is a better and more
untiring horseman, is Il better marksman
if well armed, usually bet
ter acquainted with the thea
tire of operations, and more skillful in
a~vailing himself of the accidents of the
ground. The Indians have also the adj
vantage of being able to dispense when
hard pressed, while the soldiers moving
against them must remain together unless
their numerical superiority is very great.
Gen. Crook concludes, therefore, that it
is always best to fight Indians with In
dams, as much as it can be done, using a
force of white soldiers only rs Il support
or reserve.
Ills llltblN 10, lJlltls llldl lllNNldllS
taken into the government service as
scouts or soldiers can be depended upon
as entirely faithful and trustworthy, and
that, when they have confidence in the
commanding officer as great and success
full warrior they will put forth their ut
most efforts i'll the execution of his orders.
The correctness of this theory even in a
larger sense is borne out by the faithful
services rendered by the Indian police
men on the reservations. And finally,
Gen. Crooks experience is that while the
Indians are exceedingly watchful and ac-
tive when in actual contact with the enc
my, their vigilance ~relaxes when they
think the enemy far away, and that there
fore the remote and seemingly inacces-
sible retreats or strongholds are apt to be
quite open to surprise if carefully APP
preached.
Acting upon these %favorite theories,
Gen. Crook organized for the pursuit of
the Apaches a force in which the Indians
appeared not as a mere auxiliary contin.
gent, but as the main body-250 Indian
scouts to only fifty regular soldiers.
These Indians he did not take from a
tribe unfriendly to the Apaches, but from
the Apaches themselves, regardless of the
cry raised by. timid souls that these scouts
led against their own relatives, woulC
surely murder him rather than fight
them. And then, when the hostiles dis
persed before him, he marched his force
on a still hunt over the toughest possibl,
trails, led by Apache guides, into tn
heart of the Sierra Madre, considered b,
the Indians inaccessible excep
to themselves, and completed,
surprised their villages, which con
tanned their women and children
, nd their plumber, and some of thei
chiefs and fighting men. Taking hi
captives with him, he returned across tn
American boundary line, without sendin'
c~ouriers or bulletins ahead to proclaim
his success, and those who are PERSONAL,
acquainted with him will recognize tn
man at once when they read that, unex
pectedly coming back from his perilou
expedition to Col. Biddle's camp, he ha
t at first nothing to say to his comrade but
n mice morning, colonel" Anothe
K striking feature of this expedition..is that
Il while usually about five soldiers ar
killed to one Indian, on this ~occasio
eight mules were lost, but not u singl
man.
General Crooks success will undoubt
edly nave a tremendous effect upon tn
Imagination of the hostiles in that region
who will see in him "A war chief that can
not be beaten or resisted. A good man
surrenders therefore may be looked fol
and the campaign against the most DIES
desperate characters who still remain i
the field will be greatly simplified. TIL
government will probably do well t
leave the winding up of this business Ell
tirely in General Crooks hands. 1t wi
be difficult to find a man whose judgmer
can be more implicitly trusted. More
over, while he thoroughly understand
the question in all its aspects, the In
dians themselves not only stand in aw
of him as an invincible warrior, but the
have also confidence in him as II Just an
humane man. In fact, some army off
GERS who favored the determination the,
ry, were, not many years ago, in the hal
2 it of saying that General Crook had pc,
: haps become a little too much of an Ii
dian himself. They will, however, nc
deny now that this is one of his stron
points.
Remember This.
If you are sick Hop Bitters will surel
aid Nature in making you well when a
else fails.
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