Year: 1874

BY REV. j. NJ. RIED, D. D.


General Custer is young man about
thirty-fve years Of aye, and halls from
Monroe, Michigan, where his early and
eminent distinction Is the pride of the
place. He has q fresh, expressive coun-
tenance, and is affable In his manners,
though 1t Is said that as an officer a GER
tain social reserve and military hauteur
preserve in the minds of subordinates
constant recollection that he Is In COM
mand. His cultured pen has produced
in the Galaxy, under the title of "Life
on the Palms." some of the best arti-
cles on modern warfare ever produced.
For many weeks past Bismarck and
Lincoln have been all astir with prep
arations for the departure. Soldiers
and civilians. horses and wagons, arms
and stores, have been pouring In and
put in readiness for the march. At
last the long and imposing train filed
out to the South and West, and a silence
that can be felt prevades this frontier
town. The expedition consists of a
thousand soldiers, ready for anything,
fight or fun, score of scientists, a few
reporters, and all equipments necessary
for the conquest or discovery. We
want the eyes of the Christian men of
the land to follow them and mark their
achievements or mischievements.


Dakota is the land of the Sioux, and
the Sioux are possessed of hereditary
and implacable enmity to the white
man and to all his friends. Hence
their hatred is perfect toward the Rees,
Mandans, and Gros Ventres, who in
this region have always been allies of
our Government. Their horrible mas
sacres in Minnesota are.still fresh in
our memories, and for their crimes they
were driven across the Missouri. The
Black Hills are laid down upon our
maps somewhat indefinitely in the
southerly part of the reg ion where they
now roam, and can be distinctly seen
from the far distance, towering above
all around them. individuals and small
companies have from time to time
sought to reach them, but none have
returned to tell what they saw. Gen.
Dandy, a son of Rev. j. Il. Dandy. of
New Jersey, is the Quarter of
the station, and told us that squaw
once brought into the fort large mug
get of pure gold, and told the officers
that much more like it could be found
in the Black Hills, but the said squaw
was never seen afterward.


Running Antelope" and other In
dians have protested against this expe-
dition, on the ground that when the
white man shall see the agricultural
and mineral resources of all the land
he will want 1t. The impression hence
widely exists that these hills are guard u.
ed sedulously from the knowledge of
the white man because of the vast
wealth they contain, and it Is supposed
that an expedition will open up an FL
dorado.


To some 1t seems, however, that the
Sioux distinctly perceive that these
hills are their refuge. Much of their
country is prairie, but the forests that
crown these hills are yet full Of game,
whose flesh and pelts are their reliance
for support. In this view the fight on
their part will be not so much with
Custer as to keep the wolf from their
door," to preserve the last wildern ess
that the rapacious hand of the white
man has not snatched from them.


Others there are, however, who think
that these hills are holy ground to the
Sioux. Perhaps they are the peculiar
haunts Of the "Great Spirit" or per-
haps are the mausoleum of departed
greatness. At least, for some sacred
reason it is supposed that they would
rather die than suffer them to be desec-
rated by the white man soldier. Either
of these neutrality-suspicious. all OF
them may be true; but certain 1t is,
that as soon as the purpose OF Custer to
60 to the Black Hills became known,
the young men began to disappear from
the tribes, so that to-day in all the re-
glon about only the old men and squaws
remain. 1t is supposed that not less
than 5000 braves are ready to contest
the march of Custer. The war spirit
certainly prevails. Since have been
here depredatlons have been committed
within sight Of Fort Lincoln, while
' Enrk naukhnll -.