The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-08-12
/ Continued from first page, ]

west, and where the white men help them
selves to each others heeYes and cows. 1
think the Indians theft, considering his |
lesser light, merits some extenuation. But /
it is alleged that the red man rather har-
ries than hunts the cattle-chasing them
as his ancestors followed the buffalo, and
wantonly injuring them instead of killing
for food. The Indians Of whom / write
however, were quietly camped after their
hunt, eleven of them, with a number OF
ponies teteTed near. They had pitched
their tepee under large, overhanging rock
which afforded shelter from wind and
sun. But it could not shield from a
greater danger. AS the early dawn was
breaking, some men-(while all that is,
or probably ever will be, known OF them
and what fell motive prompted the deed,
is equally Obscure)-crept to the edge OF
the rocks, and began to fire down upon
the helpless, sleeping Indians. One squaw
was shot dead as she lay on her pallet~-the
men, startled, bewildered by the pitiless
leaden rain-rushed to the door two fell
as they rea ched it. The old grandfather
was stricken just outside the tent, and was
found there, hours afterwards. dead, face
turned upward to the smiling summer sky
one outstretched arm reaching for his
rifle, while the other hand clenched ram
rod. The grandmother, her daughter and
little grandchild fled through the under
brush, one villain following them for
miles and peppering at them as if they had
been rabbits. Finally the grandmother's
strength failed. She seated herself at the
foot of tree, drew her blanket across her
face and awaited death She told her
daughter to leave the child with her and
flee to the reservation for aid.
When the painting fugitive came back at
last with help, her mother and her child
were lying dead at the foot of the tree.
Of the other five Indians three fled to
the woods and wandered in fear for days.
One of the young men, his leg scored by a
bullet, crawled up on his pony's back and
flew like the wind to alarm the Indians at
the reservation. There also, another
squaw made her way, holding up her
bleeding hand, two fingers of which had
been shot off !! Who was it that said 1--WE
do not make war on women and children ~
It could not have been cattle man Of the
Rio Dolares
Most of the Indians gathered in body,
rode to the agency and told their story to
the agent. But some Of the young, hot
headed braves mounted their horses and
rode in an opposite direction. You know
everyone knows-the result Of that ride
an innocent white man shot dead, his
ranch burned down over his head. his wife
wounded and with her children driven to
the sage brush, where they crouched
trembling, till their savage murderers left.
But though the journals have told this
very fully, they have unaccountably
omitted to speak of the first part of the
story. 1t was but one life taken for six
and all seven innocent another instance
of the world S criminal laundering, when
it tries to carry out the Mosaic text of
old time-''an eye for an eye and a tooth
for tooth, - which is Indian as well as
Mosaic.
But / am content to be able to tell you
that the great body of the Indians waited
for justice. They rode with MI. Stall
steiner to the spot where their slaugh-
tered comrades lay they did not touch the
poor remains, but said 1--WE will let them
lie, as the white man does, till the coroner
comes, and the Father at Washington will
send us justice'' The Indians ponies
were gone-there was not a man from the
Rio San uan to the Colorado who had
word to tell about the crime-nothing
could be done in a section where every
man is leagued to his brother white, and
against the Indian. So the bones still lie
there bleaching-mute witnesses among
multitudes that will rise from the New
England swamps even to the crumbling
Adobe walls OF the Pacific mission-to tes-
tify against this nation.
1t is characteristic of the great queS-
tiOns of the day land possibly of the grow
ing acumen and clear ightedness of
humanity that no one can come to def
mite conclusion respecting them. The
articles or free trade and sprotection, labor
and capital, free-will and predestination,
and the like-present the claims of each
side deliberately and draw no conclusions
which could hurt either. The days are
shortening wherein you hear that men are
''wedded to causes" The fence is crowded
and there is plenty of room on the ground
at each side.
So / am not SO foolish as to think that
day at the agency has certified me to pro-
nOunce an opinion on the Indian question.
1t is pitiful outlook for all concerned.
There is the white man, anxious to
wrest home for himself from the wilder
ness, who sees, or imagines that he sees,
the best mines and fields in the hands of
those who do not improve them. His cat,
tie are harriedssssand run off. He feels a
sense of insecurity, a danger always pres
ent, which may attack him in any lonely
place. or destroy home and loved ones in
his absence.
Mr.. Stallsteimer is certainly to be pitied |
there is always strong pressure on the |
wedge between the walls. The agent is
almost sure to antagonize either the In
dams or the whites. He must lean either |
way, and "Scylla and Charybdiso the |
''devil and the deep sea, "the frying pan
and the fire. are faint symbols of the an
togonistic dangers which await him. A !
man who succeeds in steering through |
these manifold rocks, and regaining the |
confidence Of his government as Mr.. Stall |
steiner has done, deserves oEr admiration |
for his wisdom and probity. And the red |
man himself-do we not know from the |
time of King Philip-his losses and his |
wrongs-not only the deprivation of his |
wide country, but of all that made his
way of life worth the living. The bitter |
ness of the powerless before the powerful /;
the rude natural" pitted against the pol
ished man of the time, with all art, science
and progress at his back-the loneliness
of the alien in the midst of the fatherland
it is surely pitiful My thought in
leaving was a mingling Of the disagreed
BILE on either side.
What shame that [, peaceful tour
ist, cannot wander among the cliff-dwell-