Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1886-09-07
GERONIMO.

At last. the inhnman devil Geronimo
is a captive, and leading him are some
three hundred men and horses, who
have made one of the hardest campaigns
in the history Of Indian warfare, and to
keep whom in the field, it has cost the
Government round million of dollars,
not to count the lives lost, both by the
soldiers and defenceless settlers where
ever this murderous savage went, in his
lust for blood and the property of law
abiding citizens This Indian has been
the cause, directly, of hundreds OF cruel
murders, and theterrorizing of thousands
of miles of territory, driving settlers from
all the country through which he moved,
and in doing all this crime he has defied
the best efforts of several detachments OF
troops, and the planning Of one of the best
Indian fighters in the army. The whole
western territory of the United States
lying east of the Colorado River and
west of Texas is in state of chaos, owing
to his diabolical deeds, and the plains and
mountain passes are dotted with the
bones of murdered men, women and
children, and the ashes of happy homes,
all the result of his savage warfare.
What is the cause of all this? The GRIM
inal omission of Congress to place the In
dian Affairs Bureau under the charge of
the War Department. There are, of
course, other cogent reasons, but they
could not exist if the Indians were treated
solely by military authority, and all the
This subject has been so fully ventilated
and its good points so often shown, that
further analysis of it can do no good, but
the fact is firm in the minds OF the peo-
pie of the great West, that safety from
Indian murders and pillage can never be
had, until such consumation is reached.
Now is the time for the holy men OF the
nation-So called because of their Oft
repeated cry of compassion for the poor
prosecuted Indian-to come forward and
insist on the kind treatment of the red
handed devil, because he is ignorant and
knows no better, or because there is
chance OF converting him and the cruel
wretches who followed him, to the gos-
pei of Christ, and thus humanizing them.
Away with such contemplate mouthings,
which are an insult to Christians through
out the country, and bring this demon to
trial before legal tribunal ,and condemn
him as far as the law permits the con-
demnation of all murderers, and hang
him and all who aided him in his bloody
revels, where the remainder OF his tribe
can see them, ,and then drive every one of
them remaining, thousands OF miles from
the ground that bred them and hedge
them about with military guards until
they either work the soil for living, or
their bones bleach on the ground they
are not willing to till. This humanita-
rian cry OF the cant preaching few, who
know nothing of the merits of the case,
or only look at it from safe distance, ig-
noring the sufferings and dangers of the
hardy settler, has done more to stimulate
these willy ruffians to renewed outrage
and murder, than any other cause known
in their history. The star of empire is
fated to 60 westward, and the Indians
who will not conform to the laws of civil
ization are a hindrance to its progress,
which must be removed, by all or any
means, and if kind and firm discipline
will not hold them in check, they should
be firmly held in awe by the military, in
such manner, that while they live they
can do no harm, and when they are dead,
their descendants may be made tractible,
or held in similar bonds, thus assuring
safety to the hardy pioneer who shall
take courage to bring the great western
wilderness under his dominion.