Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-31

ley accompanied, with the general expecta-
ton of severe fighting. But General
Hancock soon impaired to Stanley his
Views and purposes which were to feel
the temper Of the Indians, to see who
were guilty and who were not; to learn
which tribes were friendly disposed; to
separate them from the tribes bent on
war;; to make treaties wherever practi-
cable, and to post more troops on certain
roads.
General War imminent.
In a march of $50 miles he practically
accomplished this plan. The hostile Sioux
and Cheyennes were detached from the
allies, the Kiowas, arapahoes and Conan
ches, and when the hostIles stole away
from the conference and began outrages
on the settlers they were punished by the
destruction Of their villages. But after
Hancock's return the plains still seethed
with menace and occasional outbreaks and
a general Indian war seemed imminent.
In July ongress met the emergency by
the appointment and dispatch Of a
peace commission. At its head was General
Sherman with a group Of distinguished
officers, two chief Indian commissioners
and Senator Henderson of Missouri. Sher-
man, after some very effective speeches to
the Indians, left the further work to the
other peace commissioners, who travelled
far and wide over the plains for 1000 miles.
They met the principal tribes in council
and made a series of treaties, which with
the distribution Of presents>and the general
view impressed upon the Indians in ad-
dresses, frank, friendly and truthful,
brought about a general pacification.
In stanley's picturesque story of all this,
perhaps the most striking feature is the
speeches OF the Indian chiefs as they set
forth the feelings and wishes Of their peo-
pie. Said old Santanta: II love the land
and the buffalo and will not part with
them. I don't want any of those medicine
houses built in the country; 1 want the
papooses brought up exactly as am. L
have word that you intend to settle us on
a reservation near the mountains. I don't
want to settle there. 1 love to roam over
the wide prairie, and, when l do It,
l feel free and happy; but when we settle
down we grow pale and die"
Speeches ImpeI sympathy.
Few" writes Stanley, "can read the
speeches OF the Indian chiefs without feel.
Ing deep sympathy for them; they move
us by their pathos and mournful dignity.
But they were asking the impossible. The
1859 - a NNAANAAANAAA AOhAd " DC hEpt a. a
buffalo pasture and hunting ground" Re
viewing the situation many years later, he
p%ronounces that the decline and disappear
ance Of the Indians has been primarily due,
not to the wrongs by the whites but to
their innate savagery, their mutual slaugh-
ter, the ravages OF disease, stimulated by
unsanitary conditions; and, especially, the
increased destructiveness of their inter-
tribal wars. after they had obtained fire
arms from the whites. His account of the
complaints laid before the commissioners
shows that they were real and many
wrongs on the part Of the whites. To one
story Of a wanton murder, and the COM
ment. Those things I tell you to show
you that the pale faces have done wrong as
well as the Indians" that stout old veteran
Of the plains, General Harvey, replied:
That's 80, the Indians are a great deal
better than we are"
spirit of Commission
But of the broad purpose Of the govern
ment, and the spirit in which the COM
mission acted, Stanley writes: These let
tiers describe the great efforts made by
the United States government to save the
unfortunate Indians from the consequences
OF their own rash acts. The speeches OF
General Hancock and General Sherman and
the peace commissioners faithfully reflect
the sentiment OF the most cultivated Amer
cans towards them. and are genuine ex-
hortations to the Indians to stand aside
from the overwhelming wave OF white hui
manity which is resistlessly rolling towards
the Pacific, and 70 take refuge on the res