New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-23
THE NEW STATES.
Xxx.
MONTANA.
MONTANA.
THE ARMY AND THE INDIAN RESERVATIONS

:. v,sZr no FORT CUSTER AND THE LAND oP
THE cRows-pEcADENCE OF THE FAR
WESTERN STAGE COACH.
FROM STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRiBUSE.l
copvxoht. 1889: BY the NeW-Iork Tribune.
Fort Custer, Montana, June 10.
r,,orsbout the Northwestern country there is
ah.in 90 military establishments which supply
MANY interesting elements to HE Oh 'ne lron''ef'
IT, crow more and more numerous as you
tourney toward the coast. lheS "is
nIaced mon some choice section OF mnd. c.
rs.;.1,v roserved BY the Government for military
nu,noses conveniently near an indian country
From two to ten companies OF infantry VI uoop'
OF cavalry ordinarily compose inc e0''ion ~ o',-
"a ,hat the soldiers have any considerable
.mount Of serious work to do, though their pres
sa,h,sl,y exercjses o healthy influence as
-, uron the lawless white element which always
VIC" ororrd or within an Indian reser-
~s.ion az upon the red men themselves. They
.s-,. +oo IN keen alive the nucleus of o Re gular
ormv which Is certainly necessary, even II we
oon., .a, ,nvbody TO fight US or surerinduce among
s,-s.,r.s q combatiye disposition. Until the Gov
s~,r,or, institutes q radical change in its Indian
liz. unt;i H. pulvcrizes the tribal relation;
n,,;, 4, ston, throwing away millions OF dollars
annually in the support OF the Indians. b. fa- the
most harmful feature of policy which is wron%
nrhou, from start to finish: until it ceases to
mt nrernium upon ideness and immortality and
thieyery the three occupations to which the In
a,aps devote themselves: until il levels chiefs
and medicine men, and until it compels the In
diars to earn their own living, there will be no
certainty OF peace, and strong military establish
ments will be necessary.
Fort Custer is typical frontier post. 1t is in
the centre Of the Crow country. forty miles south
of the Yellowstone, directly upon the Bic Horn
River and within q few miles of the dreadful spot
where Custer and his devoted band Of 300 met
death. Tie 25th day Of this month will be the
thirteenth anniversary Of that horrible massacre,
and it is said that party Of Sioux are coming
over to celebrate what all Indians consider the
most glorious event Of their history by war
dance on the plain below the hill where Custer
fell This should not be tolerated for an instant.
Nothing was done to punish the Sioux for the
atrocities of 1876, and their wild and warlike
character to-day is due in q great decree to the
immunity they secured then. 1t enabled Gall,
Rim In The Face. John Grass, and Sitting Bull TO
encourage the spirit of hostility to argue that the
white man Was afraid Of them. and to strut around
in feathers and paint ever since. 1t Is true. In
deed that the fiendish tribe which committed this
massacre, which scslped and cut to mincement
and ate the entruils of Clusters command, have
been treated with vastly more consideration than
the peaceable Indians, and their chiefs very
naturally make much OF this. They say to
their young men, Stay with us. See what
we did for you. We whipped the Great Fathers
soldiers and forced him to give us lands and
cattle and clothing and ponies and ratlons
every week. II you 60 near the white men, they
will send your children off TO school. take aya!'
all but one Of your wives, settle you on farm
and make you work like q mule Shall the In
dian work? Do you want 10 be sQuaws? Is
the Sioux a cowardly Omaha or a Ponca dog !?
Let the Ponca work. Look at him. Look at the
dirty Crow. They were friends with the white
man. They dared not fight the Great Father
Wei, whit now? They are on farms. They
work. They wear coats They have no such
country as ours. II you would he Ponca or a
Crow, 20 with the whi>e man. This is the way
they talk all the time, and they keep their young
braves savage and defiant
The older chiefs know perfectly we'll that war
now would mean the destruction OF their nation.
They only seek to maintain their position and To
bully the white man into continuing to support
them. The danger is, il they are allowed 10 90
on as they have been going and every tendency OF
the Governments policy to-day is to encourage
them, that the young bucks will grow FESTIVE
and demand fight. They are already ugly.
Some Young chief might spring up at any time.
anxious to make great reputation, and create
q large-sized trouble Such an incident actually
occurred right here among these lazy Crows only
two years ago. when Ilangs-Ur-lIis-Gail. claiming
that he could make O medicine which would wipe
the white man out OF existence. collected part!
Of braves and brought Or fight with the Fort
Custer troops. If he had not been killed at the
first fire, or il his bucks had been Sioux instead
Of Crows q bloody war would probably have
arisen. The Western people express no little an
noyanee that their position and their views are so
little appreciated and respected in the East. The
various Indian Rights and Indian Defence
associations Of the East como in for q great deal
OF criticism. 1t is not conceded that Western
people are whit less kindly disposed toward the
red man nor one whit less concerned for his well
fare than those Of Boston and Philadeiph ia. and
it is argued that before people undertake to con-
troll measures and policies SO important TO West
ern development and safety, they ought to know
what they are about. There is only one sentiment
in this country. and that demands the opening OF
all reservations: the establishment of the Indian
ON land Of his own, giving him every facility for
its cultivation the destruction OF tribes and the
gradual enlistment Of the red rnce in the common
duties and affairs Of citizenship. This is held
TO be easily possible, but not while those who
hate the Indian. those who love him and those
who are growing rich by selling the Government
the supplies that now support him, are all labor
ing TO keep him a beg9ar and barbarian.
You reach Fort Custer by u stage which runs
from Custer Station on the Northern Pacific 10
Rock Creek on the Union Pacific, distance Of
4So miles This is one Of the few important stage
lines that have managed to survive the locomotive
raids Its route takes in the mountainous district
of Northern Wyoming, where there are several
large towns to which the railroads have not yet
penetrated. 1t runs through the Crow country.
the richest agricultural region OF all Montana.
There are a dozen bottoms along the Big HON
and the Little Big Horn rivers Of from 10000