The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-11-29
Fifteen Years Apart.

The Amcri an I9dian approximate
nearer 10 what man shou Il be maulN
physically perfect grand i'll character
and true to the instincts OF his con,
science than any other race of beings
civilized or unciiil zei. Where do We
hear such noble sentiments or met
with such examples of heroism and Sc :
sacrifice as the history of the American
Indian furnishes Where shall we 20
TO hear again such oralory rs that oi
Black Hawk and Logan? Certainly the
records OF our so-called civilization 20
not furnish it, and the present century
is devoid of it.
They were the true children of the
Great Spirit. They lived nearer TO the
great heart OF the Creator than do Their
pale-faced conquero:s of to- day VINO
mourn over the lost and undOne condi-
ton of the savage. Courageous, brave
and the soul of honor, their cruel and
awful destruction from the face Of tie
earth is a sin of such magnitude that
the relics AMI the people of America
may well shrink from the just pun sh-
ment which is sur, TO follow the sssas-
sination Of rs bra e Il race as ever
breathed the air of Heaven.
| wrote the above Scathing rebtke of
the American people when was fifteen
years OF age. | ran across the dis,crfa-
ton yesterday. AS a general uIle il
takes a youth fifteen years of ageto ar
raign Congress and ERIK the Admins
tration bald-headed. The less he Knows
about things generally, the more theer-
fully will he shed information right and
left.
At the time wrote the above rude
attack upon the Gov eminent | had not
seen any Indians, but had read much.
My blood boiled when thought q the
wrongs which our race had mctel out
TO the red man. 1t was ut Il time When
my blood WAS fIst coming to a boi. that
| penned the above paragraph. Ten
years later | had changed my views
somewhat relative to the Indian, and
frankly wrote to the Government Of the
change. When | am doing the Admin
istration an in Justice, and | finl it out,
| 90 to the President cand dIy and say:
Look here, Mr.. President, | haze been
doing yoaa wrong. You were right and
| was erroneous. | am not pig-Ecaded
and stubborn. | lust admit ialrly that
have been hindering the Admilistra-
ton, and | do not propose to do So any
more.
SO | wrote to General Grant and told
him that when / was fifteen yeas Of
age | wrote n compost ion at Schoh in
which | had ARA gned the peopleand
the Administration for the course taien
toward the Indian. Since that M
had seen some Indians in the mount
ainS-at Il Gistanoe-and from what |
had seen of them | was led to Eellae
that | had misiudgcd the people and
the Executive. | told him that 80 far
as possible | would like to repair The
great wrong 50 done in the ardoc of
youth and to once more sustain the
arm of the Government.
He wrote me kindly and said he was
Glad that | was fl endly with the Gov
eminent again. and that now he saV
nothing in the way of continued Ma
tional prosperity. He said he would
preserve my lettar in the arch YES as 1
treaty OF peace between myself and the
Nation. He said only the dag before
lie had observed to the Cabinet that he
didn't care two cents about war With
fore. On Nations, but h would ike to lie
on peace footing with lne. TIE cOun-
try could stand outside interference
better than intestine hostility. | d.
not know whether he meant anythn.
personal by hat or not Probably no
He said he remembered very wei
when he first heard that had a,tacke
the Indian policy o. the United States
in one Of my school essays. lie still
called to mind the feeling OF alarm aid
apprehension which at that time Pc
yaded the whole country. How tie
cheeks Of st. oGr mon had blanchel aid
the Goddess o. Liberty felt for her back
hair and exchanged he< Mother HUI
bard dress for new "a iron pan3pE
OF war and Roman hay knife. Oh, lo..
he sad, he remembered it as though il
had been Yesterday.
Having a heart tho VIOLA OF tho
American people as he did, he hopei
that | would never attack the Republic,
again.
And | never have. | have been
friendly, not only personally, but o.
iieially, for q good while. Even ii !
didn' agree with sorc OF the Official
acts o. the President / would allow hin
to believe tha. | did rather than haras
him with cold, cruel and adverse crit
cism. The abundant success of this
policy is WI. item in the country's won
der.u growth and prosperous peace. r.
B0E me. IN EC'TJE Free Press