St. Paul daily globe., 1889-06-14


rounds of ammunition and ten days.
ratiOns. Capt. Stouch is ordered to pro-
ceed to Mora, and thence on to the
Chippewa reservation. in conjunction
with the sheriff of that county.
VIEWS OF THE COMMISSION,
This Trouble will Militate Against
the Success of Its Mission.
Bishop Hearty, of Dakota, was shown
the dispatches, and asked for an ex-
preston of opinion on the subject.
After hearing them read he replied:
"Well, am not acquainted with
any of the Chippewa Indians. l
was appointed on this commission
because OF my experience in dealing
with Indians in general. My experience
has been almost confined to ISioux the
traditional enemies of the Chippewas.
The Indian nature is the same the
country over. l really cannot express
an opinion on the correctness of the re-
port, but if it is SO, l am confident there
are no missionaries at Mile Lacs, at
any rate no Catholic ones. Had there
been, they would have stopped
this before it occurred. 1t can
not be the result of any wide
spread conspiracy, as that reservation is
so far away and isolated. There has
probably been some great provocation
to cause the massacre" The bishop
was asked what effect it would have
upon the success of the commission,
which is to start in a few days, and of
which he is member. Il Think" he
replied, that it's effect will be to sim
plify much of our work. 1t will show
the sensible Indians that it is high time
to give up the old reservation way of
living and commence to live like white
men. am very sorry to hear of it, and
it may expedite our start. Within ten
days we shall be at White Earth, and it
is very probable this massacre will pre-
vent any serious opposition to the
treaty."
Dr. Whiting, member of the COM
mission, was astounded when shown
the dispatch concerning the massacre.
Said he: 'It is deplorable, and l can
not imagine why that particular band
should open hostilities upon the whites
any more than any one of the other ten
bands with whom we are about to ne
gotiate. l cannot give any immediate
cause; 1t is all the same in the approxi-
mate. We knew there was discomfort
and unrest among the Indians. who have
been exceedingly excited the past four
months, and no one can tell what they
will do. They are tired of waiting, and.
true to their instinct, they probably
vented their rage upon the head of the
inotfensive white man. 1t is terrible
and sad news, indeed"
Hon. H. NJ. Rice, who is a member of
the Chippewa Indian commission, and
is one of the best posted men in the
Northwest ON the affairs and history
of Minnesota Indians, was seen re-
garding the outbreak last night.
He had heard but vague
rumors of the massacre, and while in
clined to talk but little OH the subject,
it was evident that to him trouble with
the Mile Lacs was not unexpected.
ment and the Mile Lacs Indians" he
said, ''has been critical one
for many years, and the af-
fairs Of the Indians have
been in very unsettled state. Diff
culties have repeatedly arisen from
misunderstanding between the govern
ment and the Indians regarding their
rights to the ownership of the land
which they occupy. They are in
wretched condition and very much de-
moralized. Whisky is to be had all
around them, and is accessible at
ever so many points on the
border Of the reservation. If this in
formation is correct, the trouble is, no
doubs, directly attributable to a drunken
spree. But if trouble has occurred.
don't apprehend that it will extend over
any long period of time. The Mile
pie. During the Sioux outbreak
the Upper Mississippi, with Hole-in-
the-Day at their head, were anxious to
join the Sioux and make war on the
whites. They sent messages to the
Mile Lacs and asked them to go with
them and join the Sioux tribes.
They were true to the govern
ment, however, stunning their
own brethren and rendering
their services to the state to defend the
whites. They were SO loyal at that
time that the state and government
could not have been too grateful in
their expressions of thankfulneSs.
Some of the Mile Laos young
men also enlisted in the war of
the rebellion. But for the last
ten or fifteen years, through
fear of losing their property, they have
been very unsettled and badly denoral-
lied. The valuable pine lands have
been too tempting, and the whites have
been constantly encrOaching upon their
domain"
After referring to his papers Mr..
Rice stated that the Mile LacS reserva-
ton, embracing 81, 600 acres, was at the
time of the last census occupied by 942
Indians, men, women and children.
They are under the agent at White
Earth, which is over 100 miles from the
reservation. When the Indians in 1855
ceded the land to the government, lie
said, they reserved the right to re-
main on it so long as they
were at peace with the whites. The
Indians claim that it is their reservation
and that they should not be edispossessed.
White men have been crowding in upon
them on all sides, trying to pre-empt
valuable pine lands, and these encroach-
ments are undoubtedly in measure
responsible for the outbreak, the In
dians fearing that all their reservation
will be taken. The pine lands along the
Rum river are particularly valuable.
Fort Smelling is the nearest military
post.
To Be Tried for Murder.
Special to the Globe