Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1901-05-11

this was very unfortunate
blunder." It appeared to Es-kim-in-
Kin like trickery and he became en-
ragged He was stirred to revenge,
and later, either he, or one OF his
friends, killed a white man.
His friends maintain that Il was
wonderful that he stopped at the
death of only one of q race with which
he had formerly maintained relations
OF perpetual war, and who, since q
truce wss declared, had exercised, as
he believed, and had reason to believe,
so much treschery and cruelty toward
him and his people.
The enemies of Es-kim-in-zin empha-
sized his alleged crime by saying that
the man who was killed had befriended
him. His friends said that these peo-
pie lost sight of the fact that all this
treachery, cruelty and murder toward
the Apaches was enacted after tho
most solemn assurances of friendship
and protection had been made to the
Indians by the commissioners officers
OF the American governments.
One OF the papers fled in behalf OF
Es-kim-in-zin contains the foIlwinp
paragraph; "Ts IL not strange that we,
can pass lightly over the 1913 treacher-
Gus and cowsrdly murders instigated
by white men, while we carefully treas
ure the memory of q single killing by
an Indian, and after the lapse Of %
years point 10 him and say: This man
murdered his friend, without even Civ
ing him the benefit of the circum-
stances which instigated the crime"
~ txxuo ., tn ALL n
the massacre Of old Camp Grant, Spe-
cial Commissioner Colyer and Gen. o.
o. Howard visited Arizona. Post ONCE
Inspector Clum says that these off,
GERS did not find Es-kim-in-zin
''treacherous, cruel and bad" but
that, on the contrary, they had great
confidence In him, and that Gen. How
ard believed in the cid chief. Mr..
Clum states that when he went to
Arizona in 1874 as the Indian agent at
San Carlos he found Es-kim-in-zin a
prisoner of war at new Camp Grant
in irons, engaged in making adobes
for the soldiers, and that then. as
now, there were no specific charges
against him. Mr. Clum said that the
officers at the post told him the In
dian was confined because "a certain
major of the United States army did
not like him." and regarded him as a
bad Indian.
Think of thati A human being con-
fined in irons, like a convict, and COM
PEELED to make adobes for officers who
held him in durance, because, forsooth,
one white man wearing shoulder
straps so automatically ordered, sim
IL ~ - IL ~ Il
of being a bad man. The officer who
committed that outrage was not in
danger of being suspected" of being
bad man; for he was bad man, and
disgrace to the uniform which he
wore. He was as infamous as those
villains who not only suspected, but
by perjured testimony convicted Capt.
Dreyfus and condemned him to living
death in torture and torment.
In 1874, in compliance with an Off
cial request from Indian Agent Clum,
Es-kim-in-zin was released, and up to
1 the time of the departure OF Agent
Clum from that agency the old Indian
was faithful, and never found wanting
| in action or advice. When the agents
life was sometimes in danger, he re-
| lied upon Es-kim-in-zin, and the old
chief always did his duty well. IL was
in 1877, after Agent Clum went else
where, that the undeserved outrages
were heaped upon the old Indian, who
had done nothing wrong, but had done
everything to deserve better fate.
Es-kim-in-zin was confined for many
years at Mount Vernon barracks, Ala
bsma, and ultimately was sent to Fort
Sill, Oklahoma, where he remained un.
til 1895 without seeing even q glim.
mer of justice to cheer his pathway to
the happy hunting grounds.
SMITH d. FRY.
| First Rank.