The Worcester spy., 1898-10-12
Distinguished
Officer
IN WORCESTER
What He Knows of the In
dian War.

Probably few men have a better
knowledge of the conditions responsible
for the present trouble in the west with
the Leech Lake Indians. and certainly
few have watched the developments in
that unfortunate affair with more in
terest than Gen. George A. Forsyth,
who is now the guest Of Col. w. S. B.
Hopkins on Linden street.
General Forsyth, whose home is in
Washington, is spending q few weeks
IN this city and vicinity in company
with his wife.
He will probably remain a week
as the guest Of Colonel Hopkins, with
whom he was formerly associated in
the army. Although now upon the re-
tired list General Forsyth has seen a
vast amount of active service, and his
army record is a long and admirable
one. He is particularly interested In
the present Indian troubles for two
reasons. One is that for about 20 years
he has been in the cavalry service in
the west. close to the territory where
the present uprising is located. The
other is that General Bacon, at pres
ent In charge OF the troops detailed to
the hostile territory, is warm personal
friend of General Forsyths, having
served under him, when a young man
as captain of the 9th cavalry in 1856
General Forsyth has tho highest re-
gard for General Bacon and considers
him entirely able to cope with the up
rising provided he is given sufficient
number of men. Personally. General
Forsyth is of the opinion that the up
rising has been greatly exaggerated
and he does not attach much weight
to the press reports received thus far
In conversation with q reporter of
The Spy last evening, the general said
that from personal experience he
knows that reports of such a nature are
easily started in that section of the
country and when once under way
gain credence and al ittonal details bv
the way Of embeIlishment, until an
ordinary sized mole hill has developed
INTO mountain Of misrepresentation
And 1t may be possible" said the
general, that the settlers themselves are
IN great measure responsible for the
whole matter. Persons living in that
district, which has already been the
scene OF much bloodshed at the hands
or the treacherous Indians, are natural
~ tlmid. No man likes to feel that at
any moment his wife and children NAV
be killed before his eyes. Put yourself
IN the same place and think how 1t
would be. When the war with Spain
broke out, many of the troops at the
western posts were called into service
leaving the country comparatively un-
protected. What more natural than at
the close Of the war the settlers. any
ious to secure the immediate return of
the troops, should seize upon and ex-
aggerate a trifling matter to bring
about that result?
Mind, I do not say that this is SO
but it is entirely possible. 1t is evident
that there has been some trouble But
Whatever Its nature and extent I am
confident that Gen. Bacon will be able
to deal with it properly. I think It is
put matter Of a few days when we
shall hear that the ringleaders in the
disturbance have been arrested. and
they will probably be dealt with in the
civil courts"
General Forsyth said that personally
he did not know so very much about
the Leech Lake Indians, as his service
IN the west has been for the most part
in the district south of that occupied bv
the troublesome tribe He had always
heard of them as a restless lot, anxious
to pick quarrel on the slightest pre-
text, and he remembers that in 1seS
they made considerable trouble.
General Forsyth's twenty years Of
service on the frontier have been put in
throughout the section from Dakota to
Arizona. He has been stationed at
Forts D. A. Lincoln, Leavenworth
Bayard, Cummings, Lowell, and
Huachuac.
During the early years of this service
he saw and took part in that Indian
fighting which has made the name OF
Custer famous and will always be
linked with the history Of the United
States. Gen. Forsyth accompanies
Custer into the Black Hill district.
their command being the first party of
white men to penetrate that then hos
tile section. Their march had hardly
begun when Sitting Bull sent word that
he would meet and fight them at the
Little Missouri. Nothing dismayed by
the chiefs boast, Custer altered his
line of march and pushed on to the
Little Missouri, only to find that Sit
ting Bull did not dare keep his word
and meet him
Custer began fighting the Sioux In
1856 and during the opening of his
campaign Gen. Forsyth was closely as
sociated with him He was in Europe.
however, when the terrible massacre of
the Little Big Horn took place. He was
later associated with Gen. Sheridan in
his campaigns against the Indians.
Gen. Forsyth also has an enviable ci-
vii war record and since his retire
ment from active service, eight years
ago, he has devoted much Of his time
to literary work with marked success.
AS writer upon military subjects he
has come into prominence In the lead
ing literary circles of the country Sew
eral articles from his pen have APP
peared in Harpers and other leading
periodicals. and have drawn forth well
deserved praise.
Gen. Forsyth believes the civilization
of the Indian to be q thing Of the near
future, but says that the idea preva-
lent in the east that their numbers are
constantly decreasing is a wrong one.
On the contrary, in some tribes, the
numbers are steadily increasing, while
in nearly all the others they are hold
ing their own. To his mind, the nat
ural Incidence of the indians is
problem which will sooner or later be
a serious one to deal with He heartily
approves of the plan now being consid-
cred by the authorities in Washington
giving to the head Of each family a
certain portion of land. TO he cared for,
cultivated, and to descend to the heirs
of the family for years to come. This
plan also provides for giving each fam |
lily one years rations the first year,
three quarter ratiers the next year,
one-half the next, and so on until they
become self-supporting.
General Forsyth has watched the de-