Rosebud County news. [volume] (Forsyth, Mont.) 1901-1906, 1904-11-03
An INVESTIGATION

Unto the lntian Affairs As Con
Quoted BY the Agent OF the
Cheyenne Reservervatlon
Birney, Mont, Oct. 20, 1904.
Editor Rosebud County News,
Forsyth, Mont.
Dear Sir--I hand you herewith a
letter from the commissioner of Indion
affairs which doubtless will be of in
terest to the white people residing
around the outskirts of the Cheyenne
reservation.
Notwithstanding Major Clifford
statement to the contrary, the Indians
did kill, as alleged by me, forty head
of my cattle, and his statement that
after careful and thorough investiga-
ton of my complaint, he was of the
opinion that there was very little
ground for the same, is eminently un-
true, for it goes without saying that a
person could not possibly make a
~'careful and thorough investigation"
without giving the person making the
allegation an opportunity to make an
effort to prove his charges, which the
agent did not do.
Why he should want to shield the
Indians is incomprehensible to me. He
knows that the Cheyenne Indians have
constantly killed the cattle of white
anen all the time he has held Office,
and while we cannot blame the agent
for not preventing the crime with the
system Of Indian police at his COM
mand, we do heartily condemn him for
not fearlessly reporting the truth to
the department in Washington and
thus placing the responsibility on
those who are responsible for the in.
sufficient system in vogue.
The agent ought to be ashamed to
report, as he has done in this letter,
that white men commit these deprada-
tions and lay it at the door Of the In
-dians.
It is crying everlasting shame that
the people of this community can get
no protection from this high and
mighty government of ours, and the
principle reason seems to be, and al
ways has been, that this and other
the whole truth.
Respectfully,
Jos. T. Brown.
Department of the Interior,
Office of Indian Affairs,
Washington, Sept. 10, 1904.
Joseph I. Brown, Esq,
Birney, Montana.
Sir-Your letter of July 6, 1904, COM
planning that the Indians on the |
Tongue river reservation had stolen
and killed forty head OF your cattle,
which you had bred and kept at home,
and that you do not know how many of
your range cattle have been killed by /,
the 1ndi ans, was duly received. I'm
der date Of July 10 your letter was re-
ferred to j. G. Clifford, superintendent
OF the Tongue river school, for investi-
cation and report. The Office is now
in receipt of Superintendent Clifford's
report IN the matter, dated August 9.
He states that from a careful and
thorough investigation of your com
plant, he is of the opinion that there
is very little ground for same. He
states that early last spring he had a
force OF four policemen encamped for
more than six weeks along the south
aine of the reservation for the purpose
of looking after and taking care of the
Indian Cattle that might drift along
the fence and to keep unauthorized
persons from the reservation and to
permit no riding among the cattle on
the range within the reservation lines;
that the police made weekly reports to
him and none of them contained infor-
nation of excessive cattle killing with
in or outside the reservation; that thew
were instructed to Immediately report
all unlawful acts committed by the
Indians off the reservation as soon as
they had knowledge of the same; that
the police rode a line from Tongue
river to the summit of the divide be-
tween Rosebud and Tongue river every
day while they were on duty and
would have reported to his Office had
they obtained any knowledge of the
killing of cattle by Indians.
Superintendent Clifford adds that