Year: 1876

The country looks upon the massacre in
the Yellowstone region as disaster not
without its compensations, if it leads us to
take hold of the Indian question with cour-
age. General Sheridan writes a despatch to
General Sherman, in which he asksifor a lit
tie time, and says that everything will be
Strengthened out. He thinks we have men
enough in the Sioux region, with the rein
forcements sent out to- Crook to prevent
any recurrence of disaster and push our
arms to successful result. He does not
favor any enlistment of volunteer troops,
and thinks we should have two posts in the
Sioux country 1t will be seen from the
despatch OF Sheridan that Sherman defers
to him as to the conduct of the Indian war.
This is proper, as Sheridan is an officer
of high rank and experience, who
served for q long time in the
Indian country and knows how to deal with
savages. The fact that soldier who has
won so many victories as Sheridan should
now suffer two defeats in one campaign
Custer-will put him on his mettle. For the
first time in many years the country is
brought into the presence of the Indian
question. We have had no serious Indian
wars for long time. If we had they would
have made little impression upon genera
ton which has known the war of the rebel
lion and the stupendous campaigns in
Europe. The Modoc war was small affair,
with Indians who were partly civilized, and
it assumed national importance from the as
sassination of great commander. The war
in the Northwest is Of different character.
We are in the presence of q controversy with
the most important of the Indian tribes-the
last of the great tribes who once ruled this
continent.


1t has long been known by those e1pe-
rienced in Indian affairs that the Sioux tribes
were the bravest and the most powerful
Indians on the continent. They are
harder and more intelligent race than their
fellows who live in the lower ATTITUDES. They
control a rich, wide territory. In dealing
with some of their chiefs, like Red Cloud,
we found them possessing high order Of
intelligence 1t is strange that an officer as
gifted and experienced as Sheridan should
underrate this foe. Clearly from thus un-
derrating him has come our disasters. If
Sheridan or Sherman had dealt with our
friends of the Confederacy as they do
with Sitting Bull they would never
of this business is in the undertaking of
Indian power. That was seen in the
defeat of Crook-one Of our most famous
Indian tighters-and later in the massacre of
Custer and his command. 1t is clear that
our commanders, all of them, have misun-
derstood this Indian business The fact that
Sheridan should be sending reintorcements
with so much energy proves that he, too, has
reached the same conclusion. careful
reading of our letters from the Indian
country, of all the reports we have had from
the commanders, shows that we have been
treading on delicate ground in the whole
business. We have never since we entered
this Yellowstone region been in position to
do anything with the Indians. The only
value we can see in the orders of Sheridan is
that it puts Terry out of the danger of a
surprise and destruction. But it gives us
no assurance of a victorious advance and
the triumphant end of the war.


We should take up this Indian question
and solveit AS matter Of economy we lose
more money in these small, teasing, widely
spread. irritating Indian wars than would
pay for dozen thorough campaigns. We
have an Indian Bureau, a military organiza-
ton and half dozen Indian rings about
Washington, all of which costs us far more
than any campaign. The true way is to take
the whole business in hand and end it in a
campaign. We have paid out many millions
in various ways since the Indian question
took shape. Now let us have one grand, con-
summate campaign. Let Sheridan go to the
front and take command. Let us have
policy of our own, a new policy. Let us
treat the Indian either as an enemy or as a
friend-either as savage or human being.
Let us either exterminate or capture
him. We now do neither. We have
no policy, and the result is that
every summer we have massacres. outbreaks,
Indian wars. Now we propose to have one
Indian war and one Indian peace. After
this war; as we would wage it, there would
be peace. Let us declare that the Indian
and the white man have the same rights.
Let us do away with this moonshine about
the Indians having rights as the owners of the
soil which justify MS in giving over thousands
of square miles as reservations in which
they may hunt. We have not more than
three hundred thousand Indians within the
borders of the Republic. This is less than
the population of Brooklyn. Brooklyn is
content to live on few square miles
there to live in peace. Yet three
hundred thousand Indians demand more
space than the German Empire We have
encouraged these exactions because we have