The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1937-02-12
By MON TANA LOU" GRILL

by MON TANA LOO GnAL1
Granted permission to visit ~
Deer in June, 1893, a Indian
soldier, whose English name was
Private Dan Stanley, refused to
return when the permit expired.
The Indian had enlisted in a troop
Of the Eighth cavalry stationed
At Fort KeOgh.
When his pass expired he failed
to return to duty, SO a Detachment
Of the Indian troop was sent after
his Indian friends intimated Uncle
Sam did not have soldiers enough to
take him."
Circumstances attendant upon this
question whether it was possible to
make a good regular soldier wi o
an Indian. As scouts they had no
peers. Indians friendly to the whites,
the Crows, and later the Cheyennes,
rendered valuable service to the mill.
tary forces in the troublous days OF
eastern Montana during the eighties
and nineties. The most famous o
these groups was the Lieut.. Casey
Scouts" composed largely Of Cheyenne
Indians, located at Fort Keogh.
In the beginning, the making OF
soldiers out of Indians was thought
70 O2 OLE ultGllOO VI lldoVCAAAAAS In
appreciation of the advantages of a
more civilized state than was charac-
teristic of the aborigines. It developed,
however, that discipline came hard to
the average Indian. He was a creature
of emotions, although he appeared to
be so stolid. He was q being OF tits
and starts. When he made a dash
upon the warpath he wanted to re-
turn to his village for a feast to COM
memorate his triumph and then enjoy
q period Of laziness. The Indian was
not capable Of steadily observing rules
and regulations. Attention to details
became irksome to him. To the In
dian mind the fatigue and the police
work Of . garrison were odious ana
memorial did all his dirty work. Never
the less, the experiment had been
tried. Recurring incidents comparable
to the case Of Private Dan Stanley,
the Indian soldier, who refused TO
return to his troop, brought doubts
that an aborigine was capable OF be-
coming a good soldier.
1.-THE best friends OF both tne n
dian and the army nave Away con-
sidered the idea Of making a soldier
of the Indian a double mistake" com.
mented the Miles City S~tockgroWers'
journal. 1.-THE way to bring the In
dian to cultivate the arts Of peace
was surely not to devote him altogether
to the art Of war. The way to induce
him to adopt the arts and customs OF
the whites was surely not to separate
him fro massociation with white men
by keeping him in organizations entire
" Indian where Indians could continue
their Indian customs and keep up
their Indian modes of thought. Seq
reeation, isolation, is not civilization.
"The Indian Of today lacks nearly all
If not all-of the qualities that make
the civilized soldier. Discipline chafes
him. The sentiment of duty is absent
from his uncultured mind. The SOL
dier's idea of honor, the glory OF the
flag, wake no responsive echo in his
breast. AS long as he gets more money
monthly than he ever got before, Is
better fed and clothed and allowed
to indulge his natural Incidence he
will stay, when he isn't he will leave.
Desertion brands no stigma in his
I'm viewing the question from the
point Of view of the good of the army,
it will be admitted that common bus
mess sense requires that in every
transaction we should get the best
that can be got for u money. Our
army Is very small and has to be
kept some thousands below the maxi
mum to avoid unwittingly exceeding
it. It should have the best men OBJ
tainable for the money, armed with
the best of weapons. The army is too
small to afford a playground for fads
or sentimentalities, to be turned into
a kindergarten for the aborigines. No
one will claim that the Indian fur