Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-10-27
JONES AND O'COHNOR
indian Commissioner and Mar.
shel Have Out Their
Sceiping Knives.
SEQUEL OF THE CHIPPEWA WAR.

| Commissioner Takes the First SwiPc, and
Aims 1t at the Hair of the Marshal
Who Promises to Counter with Great
EIect-MarshaI Charged with n Deal
by Which He Accumulated Shelxels and
Caused the Gear Lake Outbreak.
Wcshinrtcn. Oct 27-Commissioner
of Ind an Affairs Williams A Jones WAC
has been for week in Minnesota max
ing negotiations, which were success
full, with the Chippewa Indians for the
resumption OF peaceful relations with
Tire government, Ess returned to Wash
ingtoa ard yesterday made verbal re-
port TO Secretary Bliss upon his work.
Commissioner Jones says the trouble is
attributable to TIE methods OF the
whites in the vicinity. who are taking
gross advantage of the Ind ans. In dis
cussing the outbreak he said: The
origin of the whole trouble was dis
satisfaction with the handling of the
Indians timber. but the immediate
cause was .srritltion st the frequent
arrests of Indians on trivial causes
often for no cause at ali-ta&.ng them
down to Duluth ard Minneapolis for
trial, 100 miles away from the.r agency,
and then turning them adrift without
means of returning home.
Grave Charge Against the Marshal.
Il have Information that there is 4
definite arrangement betwee the Unit
ed States marshal and some boarding
houses where the courts are located,
by which the deputies are to bring down
deleeatiors of Indians as witnesses il
whisky and other cases. This secures
fees for the deputies and money for the
boarding places. At Brainerd Mimi,
while I was going north 1 met a party
of twenty indians on their way to couTs
at Duluth, many Of whom were of alb
solUtely no value to the case at issue.
but whose presence as witnesses would
inure to the financial benefit OF others.
The Indians were prompted to their
outbreak by the wrongs committed on
them Grd chafed under unfair treat
ment.
Claimed That They Whipped the Troops.
When 7 reached there they We're
surly. ugly, defiant, but soon adopted
a cOnciliatory attitude and finally
agreed to negotiate for the surrender OF
the men wanted. All bEt two were sur
rendered They said they would not
allow two men to bring their whole
tribe into trouble, and proudly insisted.
on sending themselves for the men re-
maining-OId Bog and his sor-to have
them turned over to the marshal. They
are still out. The In Iians claimed that
they had whipped the soldiers and that
not one of their number had received
scratch. The showed several Kras-
Jorgensers taken probably from where
the soldiers had the fight, but they did
not understand their USE.
Whites Have Received n Lesson.
THE Indians nowwill so back to their
homes and live peaceably, if the whites
viii treat them fairly, which is very
likely, as the whites were thoroughly
impressed with the stand taken by the
Indians. In this respect the outbreak
has taught them a lesson" Commits
sioner Jones will recommend a reform
in the existing timber methods, either
adopting the system now practiced at
Menominee, Wis. of Keeping the timber
profits within the tribe itself by having
the timber cut by individual Indians, or
by advertising a certain portion of the
reservation each year to be sold to the
highest bidder. The latter system
would include both grown and dead-and-
down timber ard the timber would have
to be cut clean.