The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-09-15
IN LIEU OF DEATH
HOW A GOOD INDIAN HAS BEEN
MADE OUT OF GERONIMO. =

His Reputation for Blood Down in New
Mexico Seems Impossible When the
| Quiet Old Red Skin 10 Studied ut HIS
| Okiahom. Home-How He has Been
| Managed and How He Takes Life ut the
Present Time-The White Man Who
Manages Him-Intsresting Sketch From
Fort Sill.
Fort Sill. o. T., Sept. 14.-To travel
| through Arizona and hear the people talk
of Geronimo. the Apache arch-f1end, who
il ne set foot in the territory would, be
hanged for murder without the formality
Of trial is impressive. But TO pass up
into Oklahoma and find this same Gero-
imo putting in his honest eight hours Of
work daily as a farmer in the fields, and
at intervals donning his uniform as a
United States scout and presenting him
self with the other scouts for inspection,
is still more so. II marks a distinct
epoch in the history Of the relations be-
tween the government and the Indians.
Most Indian outbreaks have been the
result of a situation which, in a meas
ure at least, justified them. To go upon
the warpath is sometimes the only means
left TO a tribe for calling the attention Of
Of the government and the people sharp
ly TO the wrongs it has been suffering.
Other causes find type in the last cam
paign Of Chief Joseph, who, after the gov
eminent had wickedly removed the Nez
Perces TO A region where they died like
sheep snitten with murrain, led his peo-
pie across the country on a march which
has perhaps never been paralleled in mil
itary history, and which need not have
cost a single human life but for the folly
Of his purSuers.
No excuse seems, however, to have
been urged or sought in the case Of
Geronimo. He was simply troubled
with what the Indians call bad heart:
and. all his savage impulses stimulated
by the obvious terror Of the white COM
munities which he threatened, he went
on his career Of plumber, rapine and
bIoodshed till General Miles cornered him
and induced him 10 surrender. Realiz-
ing wha. the incensed state of local feel
ing would lead TO if Geronimo and mis-
Chiricahua band were allowed to re-
main within reach Of the people he had
terrorized, Miles hurried them away to
place where they would be safe as
prisoners Of war till the governor could
decide what TO do with them. The next
few years were passed. as will be remem-
bered, in Florida and Alabama, under
more or less close confinement Finally
in the fall Of 1894, the war department
issued an order for their removal to Fort
Sill. military post in Oklahoma. where
they passed under the care Of Captain
Hugh L. Scott of the Seventh Cavalry.
1t was an unprepossessing task at
which TO set the Captain. The idea Of
bringing these savages into Oklahoma
was violently opposed by the white popu-
lation already settled there. The officers
and troops at the post were not at all
predisposed in favor of their new neigh
bors who had bad name everywhere
and the charge Of such a band partook
too much OF the nature of mere police
duty to please the strictly military taste. |
so the outlook for converting this gang
of outlaws to responsibility was not en-
ccuraglng al first.
But Captain Scott had his own notions,
and he persevered with them. He was
fortunate in the one respect Of having
the War Department TO deal with. az
that department, always presuming that
an army officer is a gentlemen and a
man Of honor. embarrasses him with far
less red tape than the interior depart
ment. which transacts it's business on the
apparent theory that every agent is
either an incompetent of a thief
After assuring himself that the Apache
prisoners We're 10 make their permanent
home at Fort Sill, Captain Scott resolved |
TO provide them with houses. For this |
purpose he had them divided into groups |
or villages, according 70 kindred or init |
mate friendship The head man in each |
group and ordered TO select, within GER
tain boundaries, a site for his village, |
having reference 10 both its scenic and |
is sanitary attractions. The village sy.- |
tenn was adopted for various reasons. |
chief among which was the fact that the |
country. through lack Of water. is not |
adapted for agriculture. but only for |
and stock flourishes best when |
kept on a large common range; the i'm |
practibility OF separate and scattered /
farms was therefore obvious. Other con-
siderations We're the greater content OF
me Indians when in close companionShip |
win their relatives in their leisure hours,
and the greater ease OF inspecting their
and controlling their move
nentS-
The model selected by Captain Scott |
'or his houses was that known as "two
lens and passage The small cottages
ire under one roof. but an open space
sb0ut as broad as either OF the cottages
; left between them. Doors from the two
,ottages open upon the passage The adj
Iantage Of this arrangement in coun-
~ where the sun beats down in mid
summer with parching fierceness, and |
v1ere tress on the uplands are almost |
unknown is that II affords one shady
Du;-of-loors spot in connection with each
l@elling. The Indian family tha; occu-
1ies The double cottage has domestic
work. during the day---washing. prepar-
ng the food for cooking. etc-which can
,e done better in the open air than In
ide. and here i: can be done in the shade
nd with comparative comfort A. other
lines. when the men are in from the
ields and taking their rest, this is a fav-
rite place for their social enjoyment.
'he passage. moreover. is required 10 be
,ept in as neat condition as any Other
'ar; of the premises and il does away
Ti.h the multitude Of ransSlac k,e open
II shelters which usually mako -ba |
eigborhood OF a government cabin on I {