Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-23
GEN. CROOKS CAPTIVES.
THEIR DISPOSITION STILL UN-
DER DISCUSSION.

Secretary Teller Decided that They
Shall Not Settle Among the San Car
Ios-PIenty of Funds for their Mainte-
nance at the Hands of the War De-
partment.
WASHINGTON, Jnne 22.-The following
telegram has been received at the War
Department from Gen. Schofield, dated
San Francisco, June 20: "Gen. Crook
telegraphs as follows: i see by the papers
that Secretary Teller declines to receive
ON the San Carlos reservation any of the
Chiricahua Apaches, except women and
children. If these Indians are not fed
they must starve and go back to the war
path. They are now as thoroughly subju-
gated as it is possible for them to
be. By nature they are SO
suspicious and vigilant that at no time
will they camp in one body, but occupy
different elevated points, making the sur
prise and destruction of the entire band
an impossibility. In like manner in sur
rendering they would not trust themselves
in our hands, but come dropping from all
sides i'll small fragments.
"'They would say we give ourselves up.
do with us as you please. Had l seized
upon the first who came in no others
would have followed. Twenty warriors
would have been as bad as the whole
number. Ghetto, in his raid through Ari-
ZOna and New Mexico, had but 26 men.
and HirominO, in his recent depredations
in Chihuahua, had less than 40. When
the Chiricahuas reach the reservation
they will be fully as nervous and distrust-
full, and any attempt to hold
them responsible for their acts before
their surrender will drive them back to
the cliffs and gOrges of tle mountains,
and we shall then have to fight them until
the last one dies.
In their codes all depredations commit
ted upon ourselves and MeXicans while
at war are legitimate. While it is repel-
liant to my feelings to put those red
handed murderers on the reservation, [ |
reflect that they are no worse than were
the q, 200 Apaches / put on the reservation
ten years ago. Then | had nothing but !
the soldiers and scouts who had
subjugated them to organize and
discipline 5000, but to discipline and
control this handful of Chiricahuas
we would have not only soldiers and
scouts, but the valuable assistance of all |
the other Indians, who would watch with |
jealousy the slightest movement the Chi |
ricahuas might make. | am satisfied that !
they would not have surrendered to the
MeXicans under any circumstances. and |
if | am not sustained now they will |
not surrender to the United States |
again. Their natural distrust and
suspicion has been increased tenfold by
an act of treacherY which, they allege, |
the MeXicans committed some months |
ago. The Chiricahuas were invited in to |
make peace, and then filed up with |
liquor and then attacked, many being |
killed and wounded and others being car |
ried off as prisoners"
To this Gen. SchOteld adds: 81 recon- |
mend for the present, at least, that the |
of the surrendered Chirica-
haus be LEFT entirely in the hands of Gen.
Crook, land that both the War and Interior |
Departments give him full authority and |
means to carry out this policy.
''This seems to be the only possible way
to successful issue. Evidently the Chi |
ricahuas cannot be treated arbitrarily as |
prisoners of war. Gen. Crook alone has |
power to control them. Please inform
me by telegraph before proceed further,
whether or not it is the intention of the |
Interior Department to take charge of |
these Indians. / shall be only too glad to
get rid of the hard work and responsible
ity that their management entail
A copy of the telegram was to-day sent |
to the Secretary of the Interior by Secre-
tary Lincoln, with the request that he |
indicate his pleasure touching the dispo-
sitiOn of these Indians.
an Associated Press reporter whether he |
had reached any conclusion with regard |
to the disposition of General Crooks |
captives. He said he was willing to take |
the children and unmarried women, and /
put the former to school and the latter
upon the reservation; but as to the |
others, they should not go upon the
reservation. His reasons were, first, that
the Indians now upon the reservation
a A hn NVhi 70
in the surrounding country did not want
them there; secondly, that putting them
upon the reservation would practically
turn them loose, because they could only
remain until next spring, when they
would go upon the warpath again;
thirdly, his appropriations for the support
of the Indians would not allow of his
keeping 400 or 800 of General Crooks
captives.
Secretary Teller said also that he did not
think that there would be any disagree
ment between himself and the Secretary
of War as to the disposition of these In
dians, and that when Gen. Crook
understood the circumstances he
would not ask to have them placed
upon the reservation. The Sec
retary said further that while |
his appropriations would not permit of |
his undertaking the care of the captured |
hOstiles, many of whom, he said, We're not |
American, but Mexican Indians, the War
had $27, 900 at it's disposal for
the support of Indian prisoners. He
thought that the War Department |
should take the Indians and corral |
them for a time until they become some
what tame. 1t would, he thought, be bad
for the Indians now ON the reservation,
bad for the settlers in the surrounding |
country, and bad for the captured Indians
themselves if they were placed upon the
reservation.