The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-10-20
Friday. October 20. 1893.
AN OLD MATTER REVIVED,

In the Helena Independent OF Nor
day last there appeared an article touch
ing upon the removal Of the Cheyenn
Indians from their present reservation
on the upper Rosebud. The article ha'
evidently been boiled down" from
longer and more comprehensive one, an,
as the culinary process had been en-
trusted to some n wholly unfamilia
with the subject. it is hard to get mucl
information out of it. From a careful
study. however, it appears that Maio
Sharp, L. S. A.. the new agent of tn,
Cheyennes, has satisfied himself tina
the location of these Indians on thei
present reservation is wrong: that there
is not enough for them to practic,
an. of the arts of civilization. and tina
they should be removed at once. Itfur
ther appears that Major Sharp has rec
commended that the Fort Custer militar,
reservation. q tract six miles square OF
the Big Horn river, be set apart as a res
ervation for the C~heyennes in lieu of the
one to be vacated on the Rosebud. and
that they he removed to the Custer res.
ervation, where a system of irrigation is
to be inaugurated hat will enable the
Cheyennes to be in fact. as well as in
theory. self-supporting. Assuming this
informal lion. which we have somewhat
1aboriously extracted from the Indepen-
dent article. to be true. and with apollo
gies to Major Sharp if in any respect our
differences have been faulty. we are glad
to know that this conclusion has been
reached by him without any suggestion
from or action Oh the part of Miles City.
1t is now some eight or ten years since it
became impressed as a fact upon the
minds of the business men of Miles City
that the location Of the Cheyennes on
the upper Rosebud was a detriment. in
that it retarded settlement. diverted
trade and at least biennially gave to the
country at large the damaging informa-
ton that Custer county was in the
throes of an Indian uprising. To aid
the settlers to get these uncomfortable
and troublesome neighbors removed. and
not without expectation of resultant
benefits. Miles City bestirred itself at
frequent intervals. Petitions were framed
and signed and laid before the powers
were in Washington. The several
murders OF white settlers that have &C.
Cured were made the subjects of indig-
protests against a further lmposi. |
ION OF this menace and danger upon
he people of this county. and authenti-
:ated statements were made. showing
hat the theory INDUCED in by the In |
ian oiiice-that these Indians were in
or in part self-supporting-was a
ank farce. maintained by the military
ponsors of the Indians for some uney-
II uueyplainable reason. and
hat they We're in reality subsisting off
I the surrounding white settlers for all
hings that the government did not sup
ly them with. The persistent efforts of
he people Of Miles City were not with
ut effect. Commissions. ingeniously
omposed Of men who never saw an In.
ian. except of the Niagara Falls vari-
ty. were sent out here to see what the
= was the matter. One, two. three.
four of these commissions came
ere: were received c%ourteously. ban
generously and Grated to most
loquently.
1t is of record that at last n of them
he one of which Gen. Miles was a MEM
er. actually visited the Cheyenne res
and held a brief pow WOW with
lie Indians. We do not remember that :
ny of the others ever did. We do ;
member that the last one. of which ,
I. Pearce OF St. Lotus was the digni- I
I'd chairman, and Of which Messrs. G
ppieman and Harris we're equally g
gnitied members. found on arriving |
re that a visit to the agency-which :
rs necessary to prove or refute the )
made by the advocates of remov-
materially interfere with a
ntemplated trip to the National park,
d they. wisely chose the park trip S
their verdict on the Cheyenne 4
en- route. and as usual in favor Of 81
e Indians and against the settlers. Al j.
: that experience Miles City quit. q
people who were urging the removal d,
the Indians on grounds of justice and it
mainly to both settler and Indian p
'soned that if it were possible for a fe
nmission, to SO disregard its official II
lies and to SO palpably ignore the =:
OF civilization and progress as this ~
! one had dOne-why then, there was nv
hing more to do. but wait until the en-
straw had fallen and the Settlers Ii,
I providing for the safety of the ca
men and children-should take the en-
e in their own hands and apply the u
ledy that has been ~effectual from the
s when the Indian first disputed -
westward progress Of his white sf