Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-01-20


REFLECTED BY THE STARS CORRESPONDENT.
Stan Correspondents of The Evening Star
PINE RIDGE, s. D., Jan. 16.
An old story chronicles the statement that a
| not too veracious pie vender once sold his wares
BY crying, slot mince pies" and when q Gus
toner called his attention to the fact that they
were frozen he responded, That's the name Of
EN-" There was a surrender at Pine Ridge to-
day. 1t il q strange thing, this so-called sur
render Of the hostile Sioux say $50 called
because the entire performance seems TO lack
all Of the more important elements Of q surren-
der. Last night 400 bloodthirsty but over
awed Indians were in camp mile and half
north of this agency; tonight their tepees dot
| the long plateau mile and half to the south
west. All that seems to have been gained is .
change Of position; change which, if they de-
sire to take advantage of, gives the red war
riors a better opportunity to make break for
open country and lots Of plumber than they
have yet had; change which has placed the
| savages on the south side Of oil the troops with
| clear road either to Nebraska or Wyoming.
That the Brules will take advantage Of the new
| arrangement is by no means certain-in fact,
the authorities here have all the assurances In
dams can give that nothing but peace, "balmy
peace, il visible in any portion OF the stun
tion-but that the opportunity is within easy
4 AO<sSA ho ohc dciiice.
THE CHIEF HAS LITTLE POWER.
| Twenty years ago the Indian chieftain was
the biggest man in his particular band and
could declare war or make peace, just as he saw
| ft. but his assurances do not amount to much
today. He is ruled absolutely by the young men
| who are of his following. Following is per-
haps a misnomer, for while the chief is still the
ostensible head he is controlled by the body
| an amount of matter which is frequently too
| DOwerfr11 Tor tho mind nf tho IaaIar
time these alleged chiefs have talked with Gen.
Miles they agreed to all his propositions, but
| before anything like an understanding was
reached they invariably asked further time that
they might consult with their young men.
Heretofore when hostile tribe surrendered
| the braves laid down their firearms. Now they
are not required to do this, because lit would
humiliate them to such an extent that they
might become desperate and fight" Suppose
they did. When will there ever be time again
when the available force of soldiers will be
| sufficient to command peace? Why should not
| the fighting be done when the fighting men Of
| the nation-educated to destroy life by the
most approved methods-are on the ground? II
there is no fight now there will be several in
the spring. That's all alarmist srpposition,
| says some one who never knew Indian charac-
| acter and who consequently thinks the ''noble
| red man il being maltreated. 1t is nothing Of
| the kind. Hostile Indians are not pleasant
people to talk to, even though there be 1000
| soldiers within a radius of three or four miles,
but chatted with some of the young Brules
| this afternoon and am convinced that moth.
ing but that mailed hand. to which reference
| has been made In ancient history and modern
politics. will ever put a stopper ON their hot
| bloOded ambition.
| FROZEN, BUT NOT vANQUIsHED.
Many of these openly declare that they have
not surrendered; that they came in with the
old men because it would have been foolish
| ness to have acted otherwise. An Indian can
| not sleep out of doors at this time OF year in
| this climate unless his slumber is eternal. He
| has to haul tepees and heavy blankets around
with him and that Is too much of task for
| braves who want blood. The Indian il
| fighter and not a quartermaster. He may
| always he a warrior, but he IL less OF warrior
| in winter than at any other season. Nothing
| but circumstances of the most CALLING descrip-
ton will drive him into conflict with the whites
when the mercury sinks TO rest in the bulb but
| he needs invitation to murder when the
| warm breath of the chinook sweeps across
| from the Pacific and melts the crusted snow;
when the bunch grass il green and of sufi-
| cient length. and when he can without any
| sense of discomfort lie down to pleasant
dreams with nothing beneath him but the
cropless soil and nothing above him but the star
perforated counterpart of heaven. Then he
can travel sixty or seyenty-fve miles a day
and find sufficient portion of the twenty
four hours left in which to do more than lit
tie shooting and scalping; then he can display
his matches ability "a forager, devastating
| In week more territory than he could cultl-
| vate in twenty years if he was ten times more
numerous than he is: then he can repeat the
CORY deeds which aged warriors have orator
icGlly glOated over in HIS presence. and then,
| for a season. he can once more be a monarch
OF the prairles and OF those specimens of the
everlasting hills which happen to be i'll his par
ticular locality. 1t is better to face the fact
than to make any attempt at evading it.
THEY WANT BLOOD.
These young Brule warriors have smelled
| blood. For years they have heard their fathers
and grandfathers tell of horrors the mere mem
momentarily and then look though utter an
Inhalation was too good for the entire Sioux ma
| ton Since they were babes they have longed
for such opportunities as made their fathers
warriors and they believe the opportunity is
| at hand. These wild youngsters are like young
tigers. During the past three weeks they have
| stolen horses, killed cattle. burned buildings
and looked through rifle sights at the enemies
OF their race-tte detested white man. Is it
| any wonder that the old men found the boy,
turbulent even to the point of rebellion? Can
any reasonable being honestly express surprise
| at their characterization! Dissatisfaction with
their reservation, insufficient food and the de-
lusively fraudulent doctrine of the Messiah
were but means to that end which these young
Brule Sioux are striving 10 attain.
SENTIMENT AND WAR.
1t must be evident to any one who has given
an hour Of careful thought to this present In
dian trouble that the campaign has suffered
and is still suffering from an overdose of I'M
whiting sentimentality. That remark may seem
strongly critical and somewhat brutal. It may
be critical, but it il no more. Hear the not
wearisome story: From the beginning it was
understood that the machinery and not the
methods OF war were to be applied to the situa-
! ton. Unless the Indian took n positively Of
fensive position In each stage OF the trouble
there was TO be no bloodshed and every effort
must be made to prevent the Indians assuming
the offensive. That policy was pursued until
the Indian came to the conclusion that the SOL
diers were decidedly afraid OF him. or course
he was wrong in his conclusions, but he was
wrong simply because the argument on the
other side was based on false premises At
last il was decided to disarm one Of the most
dangerous bands Of marauders and the task
was intrusted to Gen. Forsythe and his regi-
ment. the seventh United States cavalry.
While engaged in the task Of disarming these
warriors. known collectively as Big Foots
band, the soldiers were fired upon by the In
dams and q fight ensued in which number on
both sides were killed and wounded A great
many people thought that was awful and so it
was. but IL was unav oidable. The orders were
| to disarm the hoetiles right in their camp. and
| although obedience cost the army the loss of
valuable men the orders were obeyed. The
hostile Indian il only harmless when he is gun
less or hfelsss.
TEE SURRENDER OF ARMS
Everybody except Indians must admit that
Al =