, 1886-10-06
MILES TALKS.
Interview With the General
Concerning Geronimo.
He Denies Having Disobeyed
Orders.
A Steamer Disaster Many
Lives Lost.
MILES TALKS.
Gen. Miles Talks.

DENVER, Oct. 5.-An Albuquerque, n.
NJ, special says: Gen. Miles was asked
to day by a representative of the Demo-
crdt what he thought of the published
statements or bulletins assumed to have
been written upon official information fur
nished at the war department as to his
capture of Geronimo.
Those reports, - replied the general,
emanate from a brainsome, INSCRIPTIONS
and envious person, whose object appears
TO be to distort the truth with the inten-
tlon of %injuring me. regardless of Just
praise due the troops for their extraordi-
nary services in achieving permanent
peace in the Southwest. Many Of the
statements are entirely devoid of truth.
Others are weak arguments and labored
theories. The pretcnse that the surren-
der OF Geronimo and other hostiles was
other thar the result of gallant and ardu-
GUS operations of the troops in the field is
simply childish. One might imagine on
reading some of the statements that the
red handed Apaches have been all the
summer trying to get up a cheap rate
excursion to the yellow fever districts of
Florida. Surely no intelligent man would
believe that the Apaches who have been
roaming over this mountainous region Tor
genel atoms, masters of the situation,
would nave thrown down their arms, sac
rificed their property, surrendered their
liberty, accepted perpetual Punishment
from their native country and placed
themselves and their families at the mer-
cy of the government, unless they had
been subjected by military forces. The
mildest punishment evidently in store for
them far exceeds in severity that ever be-
fore inflicted upon any body of Indians
in this country.
General, would you mind giving a
copy of your official report of the surren
DER" was asked.
II am quite willing that every official
act of mine in this enterprise should be
known to the public. | would much pre-
fer that my official report should be pub
lished and then the extracts and distorted
state ments should be thrown u The
people of this country are quite intelli-
gent enough to draw their own conclu-
sions. Ii is not necessary that official
documents should be filtered through the
poisoned brain of some ingenious enemy,
and then so colored in part as to best an
swer their personal int rests
Would you mind saying in what re
spect your course differed from your in
structlonsY
81 am glad to answer that question in
order to put at rest Il very inaccurate
statement. was given absolute discre-
%tionary authority to conduct the cam
paign. Even Gen. Sheridan, who com
mands the army and knows more about
Indian matters and the topography of this
country than all the army officers in
Washington together, declined to give
me any specific instructions.
What has been the effect of the re
moval upon other tribes of Indians
1T has stricken terror into those living
in the adjacent country. Even the pow
erful Navajos of 10000 souls are 10
afraid they may do something for which
they will be sent away from their native
country. / already regard it more efee-
tive than if forty executions would have
taken place.