Arizona weekly citizen., 1885-12-12

tenths of that force to protect It's cltl-
 zens and their property to prevent de-
 struction by the savage tribes in their
 midst, it is extremely unwise to limit the
 army to its present strength.
 Washington, Dec. 3.-Brigadier Gen
 eral Crook, commanding the department oi Arizona, in his annual report de-
 scribes at considerable length the cir
 cumstances which attended the out
 break of the Chiricahuas under Geroni-
 mo, Mangus and other chiefs last spring
 and declares substantially that the want
 of harmony between the agents of the
 interior department and the military
 makes such outbreaks possible He says
 that upon returning to the department
 of Arizona m 1882 he found the Apa-
 ches huddled abOnt the agency. There
 was no land for them to cultivsta. The
 Indians complained ot this and Agent
 Wilcox acknowledged the justice of the complaint but said he was acting ID
 strict compliance with his orders in
 keeping them there. He said, however, that if General Crook would take the whole responsibility of their manage ment, he (Wilcox) would make no ob- | lection to their removal to better loca- tiOns within the reservation. The Chi ricahuas were then out and 1t was agreed on by all hands that 1t was bes to bring in all that could not be killed. "This whole matter" writes General Crook, twas fully understood before started for the Sierra Madres. Imagine my surprise when I reached the border on my return from the Sierra Madres with portion of the Chiricahuas as captives, to learn that the agent had telegraphed to Washington. protesting against their being brought on the reservation" Soon afterward General Crook was or
 dered to Washington for consultation, and in his presence after full discussion, & memorandum was signed by the sec retaries of war and interior by which the police control of the entire reservation was vested in the war department. "The scope of this control" he says, twas thoroughly discussed and as thorough ly understood, not only by myself, but by other persons present, viz: the secre- tary of war, secretary of the interior and | the commissioner of Indian affairs. The | idea that the authority which had al ready exercised on the reservation was simply a matter of necessity, to have | been degree lessened or limited was | never even hinted, on the contrary my | duties and powers were by agreement | expressly recognized and made of record | and were e1ercIsed and enforced without | any objection for nearly two yesrs. Upon this express understanding I was mede responsible for the peace and quiet | of the Indians. For more than two | years there was not slngle depreda- tion committed by the Apaches. For | the first time in the memory of white | men has so long an interval of peace been enjoyed by Arizona and New Mex ico, As have said before, up to this | time the Indian department seemed only | too willing to have me manage the en- tire Indian business, giving me most l hearty cooperation, and 1 certainly | could not conceive that with the added | danger of the Chiricahuas, there would be any less degree of cooperation. Months afterwad IS appears that on the very day the above agreement was entered into, the secretary of the interior wrote Agent Wilcox in terms which must have con vinced him that neither he or the com missioner of Indian affairs were ID ac- cordance with my views as to Indian | management and at the same time say ing that the agreement was a make shift | to relieve them from responsibility and | transfer it to my shoulders, also limiting | that the expression of views adverse to | agreeable to the department. The re suit was inevitable, and on the 18th of | Septembe. find that Agent Wilcox Is complaining to the interior department in referenence to the agreement that 1t deprived him of his power of his govern ment of the Indians and left little to sustain his authority and recommending its termination. have no knowledge of the contents of the conf dentiRl communications between the Indian department and its agent, but as a sequel, 1 find that early in De cember following, in less than fifteen months the commissioner of Indian af- fairs in letter to the secretary of the interior takes the ground that the agreement with the understanding that the military officers were to have the supervision of the police regulations on the reservation under the direction and with the approval of the Indian agent with the action of the interior depart ment officials at Washington, 1t is not to be wondered at that the dangers of the divided control and want of cooper ation should became manifest. On December Sth Agent Wilcox was relieved and Agent Ford was appointed in his place. The Dew agent worked Tn harmony, but by the middle of January he took another course. Gen. Crook reported the matter and asked that his administration be sustained or that he be relieved of responsibility. He was instructed, pending conferences be- tween the departments at Washington, not to interfere with the farming opera tions of Indians who are not considered as prisoners, and was informed that the question of relieving him must be held in sbeyance for the present. There upon Gen. Crook wrote a letter to the
 
 Adjutant General, the concluding para graphs of which are as follows: ''As this right of control has now been withdrawn from me I must respectfully decline to any longer be held responsible for the behavior of any Indians on that reserva- tion. Further, I regret being compelled to say that in refusing to relieve me of this responsibility as requested in my letter of January POI and at the same time taking from me tbe power by which these Indians have been controlled and compelled to engage in industrial pur- suits. the war department destroys my influence and does an injustice to me and to the service which l represent. The outcome of the matter was the aP- pointment of Capt. F. E. Pierce, first ln fantry, as Indian agent at San Carlos and the dangers from divided responsi- bility were at an end"
 NEW YORK, Dec. 5-Mr. Samuel J. T,lIar haa cent th- folloutnC letter tO