Los Angeles herald., 1890-11-08
THE RED MESSIAH.
GENERAL MILES's OPINION OF THE
INDIAN CRAZE.
He Thinks it is a Mormon Ruse, and that
Number Of Impostors are Imposing
on the Indians Credulity.

ST. PAUL, Nov. 7.-General Miles,
commander of the division of Missouri,
is here on his return from western
tour. Regarding the causes and nature
of the religious craze existing among the
Indian tribes. he says: II have been
in Utah, Montana and the Cheyenne
reservation, investigating the craze.
You have no doubt heard that the In
dian tribes are reported to believe that
Messiah is to come who is to restore
them to their former glory, bring back
the buffalo and drive the whites from
the land. have learned that this be-
lief exists among various tribes, Sioux,
Cheyennes, Blackfeet, Shoshones and
other tribes. In all the craze ex-
tended to sixteen tribes, the Snake In
dians being the only ones to repudiate
it. There are no doubt many Indians
holding this belief in an Indian Mes
siah, who are sincere, and few
have certainly seen some person whom
they took to be that Messiah. Several
small parties of Indians have gone west
ward from their tribes, to some point
which is in Nevada. There they have
been shown somebody disguised as q
Messiah, and spoken with him. l am
inclined to believe that there is more
than one person impersonating this Mes
siah, as when the Sioux have spoken
with him he replied in the Sioux Ian
guage, and to the Blackfeet he spoke in
their tongue, and so on with the repre-
sentatives of each nation or tribe, speak
ing their own language to EACH"
.Who do you think responsible for
this imposition upon the Indians?"
l cannot state positively, but it is
my belief that the Mormons are the
prime movers in it. This is not a hard
statement to believe, for there are 20O,-
600 Mormons, and they themselves be-
lieve in prophets and spiritual manifes-
tations, and they even now claim 10
hold intercourse with the spirit of Joe
Smith. Besides they have had mission
aries at work among the Indians many
years, and have made many converts" J"
do you think this new belief of the
Indians will lead to an outbreak and
bloodshed
~ don't think SO; but where the ig-
norant become religious fanatics it is
hard to tell what they will do. This So
called Messiah says when he comes to
reign over them, firearms will no
longer be used, or necessary. He tells
them also with his coming the dead In
dians will be raised to life; the buffalo
will return, and he will draw line be-
hind on which he will gather all the In
dians, and then he will roll the earth
back upon the whites. This has ma
turally excited the Indians and large
numbers have accepted the new belief.
Among those who have done so, none
are more ardent than Sitting Bull.
is the person who is impersonating
the Messiah an Indian or white
mani"
'Those who have seen him say he is
muffied up and disguised so that they
do not see his face, but 1 believe he is a
full-blooded white. The arguments of
the Indians, in discussing the matter,
are that the whites have had their Mes
siah, and the Indians now have theirs.
The situation is not alarming in any
way, and l do not know whether any
action will be taken by the government
regarding the matter until have made
my report"