Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-21

Where Settlers and Correspondents Ar
Walking Arsenals.

THE GRIN HUNoR OF TIE SURRENDER OF ARMS
How ARTIST REMINGTON WAS NOT CAPTURED
LITTLE MAGGIE NArLoR APPROPRIATED b GEN.
coLBY-PKS SKETCHES IN CAMP.
Stan Correspondence of The Evening Star.
PINE RIDGE, Sd, January II.
Settlers have been tumbling in on the agency
at great rate today. The news Of the surren-
der spread with extraordinary rapidity, and
those who have been away from their ranches
for the past thirty days are now endeavoring to
feel that is not possible for some little time
to come. Not one of these anxious ones but
feels that there is real trouble ahead. The idea
is an intangible one and one at which some of
the military authorities laugh or sheer, but it
possesses and permeates the senses Of every
white man who has in contemplation anything
like lengthy residence in this neighborhood.
''When the spring comes" they all say, and
their heads viii shake in dubious and ominous
manner. As soon as they learned that the
Indians were only to be disarmed by a volun-
tary process they proceeded to express their
sentiments with good deal Of frontier forci-
bility. talked with quite number of Nebras-
KAN farmers who had come up to see things for
themselves, and they were almost unanimously
OF the opinion that neither themselves nor their
families would be found in northwestern Ne
braska when the snow melted away in spring
time. Their statements are not threats These
men mean what they say, and they say that it
would be little less than lunacy for them to re-
main in the immediate vicinity of large band
OF fully armed hostiles They propose to mi
CRATE to some place where the Indian is either
an unfamiliar feature in the landscape or where
he Is peaceably inclined and under control.
WALKING ARsENALs.
What peripatetic arsenals these settlers are.
but in this respect they do not differ very ma
terially from everybody else in this vicinity
The man who has never been within two miles
OF hostile Indian and who never will be of his
own volltlon Is burdened with a heavy belt,
stuffed full OF the largest possible caliber Of
cartridges. From this belt depends a holster
or pistol case in which there will certainly be
one. perhaps two, revolvers. If the individual
happens to be exceptionally bloodthirsty he
will rejoice in the possession Of a knife which
Is several sizes too large for the wearer. So far
as my observation goes there are but two cor
respondents here who are not round shouldered
because OF the weapons and missiles they have
had to carry around. / say had to" because
there was an undoubted necessity some time
ago and in minor degree that same necessity
may exist yet, although there are troops
enough here to eat every hostile within radius
OF hfty mlles-if any one can imagine white
soldiers indulging in such cannibalism. No
one, however, seems to depend on any one else,
and the fashion Of this place is to carry the
greatest possible load Of powder and lead and
guns to shoot them out of. The settlers arma-
ment is necessarily more burdensome. He has
to travel through territory that may at any mo-
ment be hostile country, SO he carries at his
saddle bow or in his wagon the best rifle he can
lay his hands on, and this necessitates the pres
ence OF another and heavier cartridge belt
than the one called for by the revolver or re-
volvers. The Indian police are all armed with
rifle and pistol, the Indian scouts wear car
Dimes and revolvers and sabers and no soldier
moves around unless he has about his waist the
means OF offense or defense. Occasionally an
officer will be found who seems to be unarmed.
Cen Miles, Is one Of these, but then his escort
looks as though it could wipe out whole tribe
OF bloodily inclined savages. Col. Corbin, the
assistant adjutant general, has no pistol-pro-
duced protuberance in the vicinity of his hip
pocket and Capt. Maus, the generals aide,
seems to be equally defenseless. But these are
rare exceptions.
THE GUN JOKE.
That ludicrous voluntary disarming Of the
hostiles isstill giving for laughter, in the
first place, and, secondly, for apprehension.
Once or twice during the day an Indian CHIEF
will drive up to the agency and hand over a
few guns. And such guns! Guns that could
be OF no possible use: The only thing any one
could do with most Of the weapons would be to
surrender them; they certainly could not be
used to shoot with. Occasionally q good
weapon will come in, but so rarely as to be q
matter of note. Yesterday one man handed in
an old fiint-lock musket that dates back to the
loaded or fired during the lifetime of the oldest
patriarch on the reservation. That's how the
meek and submissive hostile Is poking fun at
the authority of the United States as represented
here by the army. This feature Of savage
humor was accentuated yesterday afternoon by
$bac ,,rr Ill IS l~<,. 4
broken and patched-up arrows. These weapons
and toys are being carefully stored away and a
receipt given to their late proprietors. Gen.
Miles told me this morning that the Indians
would not be reimbursed for the guns nor
would the arms be restored to them in the
future. These things might, of course. be
done by some one of the coming administra-
tons, but they were notprobable; the surrender
OF the arms had no string tied to it, 1t is NOT
unlikely that after awhile the serviceable
weapons will be turned over to the Indian bu-
reau and from that source issued to the Indian
police.
MADE HIM THINK OF FEN1AN EPISODE
"Of course there will be a great deal OF
fraud in the surrendering of arms. said Sur
geon W. H. Gardner last night. Washington
ought to know Maj. Gardner faily well; he was
stationed there long enough. Indians are moi
fools. heard that some Of them we're turn
the time when the Fenians started out to have
little trouble with Canada. The followers OF
the Emerald flag proposed to cross the inter-
national boundary line and straightway take
possession of the entire dominion. Well. they
had an engagement with the Canadian troops
in the vicinity Of Franklin. VT, and, as un-
derstand it, were defeated ignominiously
was then an assistant. surgeon and with the
fifth United States artillery. We we're ordered
to st. Adams to keep the peace and arrived
there very shortly after the battle All the
Fenians who had not fed were ordered to come
in to st. Adams to surrender their arms and
the result was laughable. No Indian tribe
ever had such n variety Of warlike implements
The Fenians had but one cannon--a little af-
fair-and it was a curiosity. Ordinarily il
would have been fired by means of a friction
primer, but the Fenians had none of these. SC
they put a percussion cap where they hoped
it would do the most good and then banged i,
with an AK. One Of the relics came into NV
possession. 1t was two-hauded double-edged
sword that must have been stolen from the
Tower Of London: it was a ponderous weapon
and must certainly have been more dangerous
to the warrior who used it than to any one
else. To lift it off the ground-it was fully
five feet long--was to invite a serious muscular
strain
THE REMINGTON STORY.
There is no truth in the story that Fred
Remington, the artist, was captured by Indians
in this present disturbance. But he got bad
scare. Any man might well be excused TO,
getting little scared at such time. He was