Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-08-31
RIGHTS OF RED MEN
Are Not In the Least Respected by
4 Settlers In the Northwest.
No Law to Protect Weak and
} Defenseless Indians.
White Men Responsible For the Recent lack.
} son Hole Difficulties.

WhohiNnio1, aug, oi.-IHc attorney
general has received from Wyoming
the official reports of their inyestiga-
ton into the Bannock Indians trouble,
made by the direction OF the attorney
general. The reports arc dated Aug 23
The district attorney for Wyoming reports
as follows:
II have no doubt whatever that tho
killing OF the Indian Tanega on or about
July Us was An atrOcious, outrageous and
cold-blooded murder, and that 10 was a
murder pcrpetratod on the part of Con-
Stable Manning and his deputies i'm pur-
Suancc or u scheme and conspiracy on
their part to prevent the Indians from ex-
erclslng privilege, which Is, In my
opinion, very clearly guaranteed to them
by the treaty before mentioned
should the prosecution by the United
States be determined upon II would be
useless To commence IL before commits
sioncr. AS the law Is now, we are bound
to bring prisoners before the United States
commissioner nearest to the place Of ar
rest, and in this case IL would be before
Mr.. Pettigrew, the commissioner at Marys-
vale. am informed that no Is thoroughly
in sympathy with the so-called settlers in
that region, and that he advised the con-
stable, Manning, and his posse that tho
provisions Of the treaty Snder which the
Indians claimed the riNt to hunt upon
the unoccupied lands of the United States
had for some reason ceased to be operative.
Hence, think that to cause the arrest of
these men and take them for hearing be-
fore this commissioner would simply
Result In Their Discharge.
"It seems TO me to be "a great pity that
there Is no national law which can GER
tainly be invoked for the protection of
these, our domestic subjects weak and de-
fenseless as they are, in their right to en-
Joy those privileges guaranteed to them by
solemn treaty, to the enforcement Of
which the honor Of the country Is pledged;
and that their only protection against
forcible resistance to their enjoyment of
these rights must be found In the courts
of the state wherein the juries will un-
questionably look upon them as possessing
no nights which u white man Is bound to
respect"
The district attorney has been advised
that the department concurs with him in
the opinion that there Is no federal statute
under which the offenders can be pun
ished.
Accompanying the report of the dis
trict attorney Is scathing arraignment
of the Jackson Hole settlers made in q re-
port to the United States deputy marshal
who investigated the troubles. The dep
uty marshal's report says that careful in
yestigation of the whole affair shows that
the reports made by the settlers, charging
the Indians with wholesale slaughter of
game for wantonness, or to secure the
hides Of tho animals killed, have been
very much exaggerated.
4 Is This Justice?
Continuing, the deputy marshal says: "If
0 full investigation Of the Jackson's Hole
affair should be had the fact would be es-
tablished that when Constable Manning
end his posse of 26 settlers arrested party
OF Indians on July 13, and started with
them for Marysvale, he and his men did
all they could to tempt the Indians to try
to escape, in order that there might be q
basis Of justification for killing some of
them
''If the truth Of the matter can be
reached, 1t will be found that the captors
did not care particularly about getting
their prisoners safely to Marysvale. From
Manning ! learned that none of the horses
of the escaping party of Indians were shot,
Notwithstanding his order to shoot the
horses, but that at least six Indians were
hit by bullets. OF these, Timega, an old
man, was killed; Nimits, boy Of about
20, was wounded so that he could not es-
cape, and the others got away. Timega
was an old man, almost blind, and his
gun was useless. When the body of this
old, sick, blind man was found, after
lying buried in the woods for about 20
days, 1t was found he had been shot four
times in the back"