Evening star., 1915-12-26
FIFTY YEARS Ago
In THE STAR

In THE STAk
Soon after the close Of the civil war
a heavy movement of emigrants west
ward began, and as a
Indian consciousness troubles with
the Indians were soon ex-
Vu9raXes. perienced. In The Star Of
December 1s. 1865, is the following ac-
count Of such happenings:
"Mr. James Luttrell. formerly OF this
city. but lately q citizen Of Colorado.
has arrived here from that territory
and reports further Indian outrages on
the plains. He came with a party Of
forty and, being well armed, they were
not assailed. but at various points they
found evidences Of the terrible barbar-
ity with which the Cheyennes exercise
their hate upon any stray squads OF
emisrants who disregard the govern
ment regulations requiring them to
keep together in moving from post to
post. Near Alkali station. on the bor-
ders Of Nebraska territory, they buried
the bodies OF four men murdered by
the Indians. The victims were in this
case Of party of seven who impru-
IDENTIFY separated their wagons from
the main train and were assailed by the
Indians lying in wait. Four of them
stayed by their wagons and were
killed. while the other three made their
escape to the main train. One Of the
murdered men had been thrown upon a
fire and burned by the savages. In re-
venge apparently for his having shot
one Of their number.
The Indians seem to be animated by
pure devfltry in these attacks, as they
do not undertake to carry Off plunder
to any extent. but simply murder the
whites. burn their wagons and ham
string their cattle. A week before this
occurrence a bloody fight came Off be-
tween party of Cheyennes and a de-
tached train. in which twelve or fifteen
were killed on each side and the In
dians were finally beaten OF. ~
The immense amount of emigration
across the plains may be estimated by
the fact that Mr.. Luttrell and party
met no less than 5000 loaded teams
distance Of 400 miles. The work on
the Pacific railroad is in rapid prog
ress. and its completion is looked for
ward to with intense interest by the
people OF the territories, who are now
opiiged to wagon their supplies under
or these continued Indian depredations
has proved a serious drawback upon
agricultural pursuits. as the people for
security are compelled to cluster in
eoom'munitiss. so'n ~ mites and are not, therefore.
+
The day after the explosion at the
arsenal. which killed ten men and in
jured others,
Investigation of an inquest was
Arsenal Explosion. m,na ma,u 70 %. as,e.. oa n..
and place the responsibility. The Star
of that day, December 10, 1865. thus
concludes it's report of the investiga-
ton:
THE evidence being in, the jury pro-
ceeded to find a verdict in each of the
cases: That the said deceased (naming
him If one OF the identified or name
unknown il otherwise), while at work
in the arsenal unloading fixed am
munition Except in the case of Linn.
the teamster). was accidentally killed
by the explosion of the same at about
fifteen minutes of 2 o'clock pm. on
the 18th instant, and that the Jury are
of the opinion that this accident was
caused by the bad packing Of the am
munition, it having been shown by the
evidence that friction fuses have fire.
quently been found loose in the boxes.
1t further appears that this ammuni-
tfon has been received at the arsenal
from various sources, and that no
blame is attached to the officers of the
arsenal, 1t appearing to fhe satisfac-
tion of the jury that stringent regula-
tions for the government Of the labora-
tory have always been fully and faith
fully carried out. and the deceased was
a poor man and had no means. And
the jury further recommended that q
suitable magazine for the storage OF
settled section of the country, the evi-
dence showing that large quantities
Of powder and ammunition are on hand
at the arsenal for want Of a suitable
building for its reception"
Bills were pending in Congress at this
time fifty years ago for the granting
of the suffrage
Local Referendum to negroes In
on Negro Suffrage. ana aroused
great agitation in the local community.
To test the sentiment of the people of
the capital the matter was informally
referred to a public vote. which was
cast December 81, 1865, with an over
whelming defeat Of the suffrage propo-
sition-indeed, an almost unanimous
declaration against negro enfranchise-
ment in the District. In The Star of
December %. 1856, is the following
news account Of the balloting:
THE majority cast against negro suf-
frage yesterday was 6.567 out of a total
vote cast of 6,637. This vote is nearly
double that cast in June last, when
1864 votes were polled; is S9S more
than were polled at the last mayoralty
election, but is not az large as that
cast in '5S and so, at the time Of the
exciting contests between Messrs. Ber-
ret and wallach, in '5S the total vote
being 6,s05 and in 80 6,991.
"At the second precinct polls, seventh
ward, two of the four votes for suffrage
were by mistake, and one OF the voters,
after unavailingly insisting on his vote
being taken out of the box, entered his
solemn protest against 1t being count
ed In the same precinct a negro made
his appearance with three tickets ana
offered to vote, when he was challeng-
ed. One individual offered a ticket IN
the seventh ward for negro sunrage
in Africa but. being told that II wo9lo
not count on the side he wisneo, ne ae-
clined to deposit 1t and voted anti.
Notwithstanding this virtually unani-
mons rejection Of negro suffrage by
the voters Of the District. Congress
passed q law extending the suffrage
here to colored citizens, which Presi-
aS.t Tohreou vetoed The bill was then,