Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-04-26
ARTICLE XVIII.
THE INDIAN, PAST, PRESENT AND
FUTURE.
Failure OF Civilization and Uhrsstianity 10
Change Him-Paupors or Trampss
Civilization Imperative.
ny SENATOR HENRY l.. DAWES or SAssA.
cHusErTs.

man with whom he lives. 10 Is now tw
hundred and fifty years since ciyillzatio
and Christianity came in contact with th
savage life Of the red man. It is believe,
that the number Of Indians upon this con
tinent when our fathers came here wa
about the same that is here now, and th
condition Of the Indians in character, II
mode OF life, and in all the traits which
distinguish them, differs very little nov
from the condition Of. those who greeted
the pilgrims ut Plymouth Rock, and tn,
cavaliers on the James river. There are
OF course, exceptions, and there is OF late
considerable progress toward a radical
change In all these particulars
yet no such impression has been
made by the life and character
brought here by our fathers upon that
they found among the people who were
here before them which need qualify the
statement here made. There cannot be
found in the history OF the world par
allel to this fact. Nowhere else have civ
illzatlon and Christianity come In contact
with barharism and savage life and made
so little impression upon them as here. 1t
would be interesting to dwell at length
upon the cause Of this failure on the part
OF the white people who came here to
force out of existence the barbarism they
first encountered The Indians, as u
whole, led the same Lille of idleness, are
as Ignorant to-day Of the language which
civilization and Christianity brought here,
refuse as persistently 10 walk in their
ways and adopt their faith as In the out
set. Why is it?
One cannot help believing that this con-
ditlon Of things is largely the fault of
those who boast higher life and better
faith. There 10 too much reason to
believe that the failure on the part OF
civilization and Christianity in the strug-
gle with barbarlsm Is owing to their lack
OF honesty and fair dealing with the In
dian tribes they encountered. They
never dealt fairly and squarely with the
indians, and they were never able to
teach the Indians to trust them, because
they never kept faith with them They
treated with the Indians as an independ-
ent power and then they violated their
treaties and violated them as soon as the
fear which had originated them had
passed away. They bought the
Indians lands and cheated them out OF
the pay They quarreled with them when
the whites grew stronger and adopted the
bush for them, violating flags OF truce,
laying waste their habitatons and
Strengthening their women and children,
And In later years, after wars with the
Indians have seemed TO be impossible,
devices that between white men them
selves would be denounced as frauds have
been resorted to to deprive them OF what
remains Of their heritage; aud now we
wonder why they do not adopt our mode
OF life, our language and our religion.
The wonder is rather that II is possible,
after such treatment, to make any impress
sion at all upon the Indian character
MEASURE FOR MEASURE.
While this mode of treatment is not de-
MED many seem to think 1t is justified be-
cause the Indians have failed to bear it
all with the thence and forbearance OF
saints. They have, 1t is true, met this
kind OF treatment with savage retaliation,
and they have sometimes met with savage
orgies the cruelties which white men have
inflicted upon them, and in doing this
they have not been far away from the
methods which those who boast of their
and Christianity have pursued
In their strifes with their fellow men.
Measure for measure is not melted out
by the savage alone. If one at this day
wishes TO repeat the question why the |
indian has remained cruel savage for
.hese many years Of contact with white |
men, let him study thoroughly the treat |
nent that the Indian has received at the |
lands of the white men and he will find
IN answers
Briefly, this is the Indian of the past.
THE INDIAN ALWAYS WITH US.
The Indian of the present is that same
indian substantially In all his main char
Icteristics, but living under conditions |
'ery different from those under which he
lived during the many years OF vain strug-
,le for his rights. The past treatment of |
he Indian was largely upon the theory
hat he was to vanish before the onward
lrogress of civilization In this country,
me white men were to increase and the
indians were TO decrease. They were to
ade out and pass away before the ire
istiole progress Of civilization. But
more thorough study OF Indian life has
made 1t very clear that this theory was
rroneous. In point of fact he does not
ecrease. There have been periods, with
ut doubt, in the history OF the Indian
rlhes In this country since they were
rst known here in which their
umbers have diminished very rapidly
here have been great many reasons
or this decrease, some OF which have en-
rely passed away. Wars have ceased
etween Indian tribes, as well as between
indians and white men. Their exposures
the rlgors Of the climate, to the raw 4
ges OF disease as well as to want, have
zen greatly diminished, and wherever
heir condition has improved their mum. I
'ers have increased, and the last quarter
u century has witnessed very consid.
FaDl4 increase IN their number Ii is
ow fact well established that the In.
IAN Is to be always with us; but no Is 10
e no longer with MS the Indian OF the /
ast, He can no longer live as his fathers 4
wed. The handful that they met lirst at
'iymouth and Jamestown have mulu- ,
lied into sixty millions. The boundless ,
Ieritage Wilderness over which the In. /
nan roamed nnmolested iu the past !
as given way 70 cities and towns and I
always and telegraphs and all the I
eeming LIE and business OF civilization |
ne game upon which he subsisted has :
isappeared. There is not an acre az /
OIL left TO him capable OF cultivation I
nat he can safely call his own. There Il 4
Q seclusion TO which this unfortunate i i
eople can oetake themselves that the :
ggressiye foot of the white lman win not q