The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-11-27
9auu * Eagle
NJ. NJ MURDOCH. Editor
NOT FAIR TO THE INDIAN.

Nine out of ten of the Indian "upris-
tngs" reported in the telegraphlc dis
patches nine ont of ten Of the viola
tons of law and purported outrages
laid at the Indinas' door, when properly
Investigated prove TO be those Of white
nnen. These wards of the government
are methodically imposed upon DJ
whites, misled by civil authorities and
punished by the government, wrong
fully. It is not believed by those best
Informed that the Indians who were
killed lately in northwest Colorado for
shooting game were guilty OF any viola
lion Of law. The poor, defenseless Indi-
an was murdered for political prestige
and personal advantage. Yesterday
mornings dispatches bore the gratify-
Ing news that the governor Of Colorado
had appointed a commission 10 inquire
into the whole matter, on which COM
mission is named the eminent eX-judse,
Joshua WaIbriage, a college-mate and
contemporary of ex-President Harrison.
The people are sure, in this instance, 10
get the truth.
But this is but one instance. The ar
rest Of an old Usage Indian, lately, Tor
having whisky in his possession on
reservation, in Oklahoma, led to an in
vestiga,ion, which developed the fact
that the deputy marshal who made the
arrest had first sold the liquor to the
Indian. 1t has been the custom of dep
uty marshals, says the report, to hunt
I'D whisky cases and arrest the Indians
for the sake of getting the fees, al
though the white men who sell the IL
uuor are not disturbed. 1t is no wonder
that the Indian is distrustful OF the gov
ernment and that treaties are difficult
10 negotiate.
Last winter, it will be remembered.
in the Grand Canon, sixteen Navajo In
dian families who were grazing their
flocks on unsurveyed government lands,
were set upon by a Sheriff and an arm
ed posse who demanded five dollars for
every hundred head of sheep. Not be-
ing able to pay, these poor, miserable
Indians, wards of the government that
owned the land. were driven in the dead
of winter across the Little Colorado
river and large number of their sheep.
worth several thousand dollars, We're
lost At the bottom was the sherlff's
fee and the desire of some white men
who wanted to use the range for their
own herds and focks. These facts are
from the late report of the secretary of
the interior, which gives, also, the true
inwardness of the Idaho uprising"
which was nothing more than that
some three hundred Indians left their
reservation, in perfectly peaceful
manner, to hunt and gather roots. So
of tie great Tongue River scare in
Montana, which grew out Of the murder
of a white herder by an Indian, for
which an Indian boy was wrongfully
found guilty and condemned to die, as
viii be seen by yesterdays dispatches
from Washington.
The conclusions of the secretary's re-
port verify the Eagles charges of the
past touching the wrongs done the In
dians through the connivance Of scoun-
drels and the mal-administration of
state and federal authorities. Indians
would cause little trouble if left undis-
turbed to themselves and if they were
not imposed upon by whites, whites
who covet everything the Indian has,
from his pony and squaw to his rescr-
vatiun.