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At a. meeting of the Reiii‘esentatives‘ of ‘the; Religious Eloeiety
of Friends for Pennsylvania} New lerseyi 21nd Delawaa*e,.held (
in Philadelphia, the 3d day of the Fourth Monthilfiglhzffi ti 4
The Committee appointed in the Twelfth Month rlast to ‘p‘z‘epai'e ans‘
Address to our fellow-citizens on the subject of our Indian Qbgplatipmpro-
duced the following essay. lts reading affected 0111' minds twitha tender‘
feeling of sympathy for these victims “of injustice‘ and oppression; and, ,1

‘with a. sense of the serious responsibility incurred by the United State};
in sanctioning or-perz‘nitting’ acts which areyca’leulated. to d'rfiw’lipdfi our
people the just judgments of the Ruler of the Universe, who, vhsisnrely g
inflicts punishment upon nations as upomindividuals. a , ‘ f 3» 5»
The Address was united with by the Meeting and referred to tlfesamé “_
Committee forpublication ‘and distribution. " “f ‘
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a
7. “f s 1 IL
Extracted from the Minutes. ' ‘ I t’ ‘ -t ‘i;
“JOSEPH Warren, ‘* 114;“
\ ‘’ ‘:Clerko ‘
a n;-
iii’aaflaaa it; 1
AN ADDRESS
w»
T0 OUR FELLO W CITIZENS ON BEHA LF 0F
‘ THE INDIANS.

IN considering the recently threatened danger of extensive
hostilities withthe Sioux and other Indians of the Northwest,
we have been sorrowfully impressed with a sense of the in-
justice with which the aborigines of this country have fre-
quently been treated by the white man, and with the ‘adverse
circumstances and disabilities to which as a ‘race they are
subjected ; believing also that they have claims upon us which
neither Christianity nor considerations of a wise policy should
allow the people of the United States to disregard, we desire
to address our fellow citizens on their behalf.
Deprived to a great degree of the means of laying their
grievances before the public through ignorance of our language,
their views and feelings have often been misjudged or mis-
represented; and causes of - distrust and alienation between
them and the whites which might have disappeared upon
mutual explanation or concession, have been harbored and
cherished until they have ripened into acts of retaliation and
bloodshed. '
Although it is no cause for surprise that the Indian when
suffering under a sense of wrong and injustice should seek
revenge by cruel and barbarous methods, and when engaged
in warfare should commit atrocities which cannot be palliated,
'it-dIoes not appear that crimes are thus committed by him
more numerous or flagrant than those occurring in what are
2 AN ADDRESS on BEHALF
called Christian and civilized communities, under the same
aggravating circumstances.
In the first report of the Board of Indian Commissioners, a
body of citizens appointed in 1869 to co-operate with the ad-
ministration in the management of Indian afi‘airs, it is stated,
page 7 :—
“The murders, robberies, drunken riots and outrages per-
petrated by Indians in time of peace—taking into considera-
tion the relative population of the races on the frontier—do
not amount to a tithe of the number of like crimes committed
by white men in the border settlements and towns.”
From a Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for
1887, page XXXV, we quote as follows :—
“ If we except the lawlessness, rapine and murder among the
five civilized tribes, I do not hesitate to say that statistics will
attest the fact that, in proportion to population, not half‘ as
many murders are committed among Indians as among white
people, taking any State of this Union for comparison. It is
true that under strict police surveillance the Indians are kept,
so far as possible, from the influence of intoxicating liquors.
Possibly this may account for the comparatively few murders
committed. Be that as it may, the fact remains that in the
matter of crime and lawlessness the Indian does not suffer by
comparison with his white brother.”
In the conflicts which have taken place between the people
of this country and the Indians it has been the uniform testi-
mony of those who have investigated the subject, that the
white man has been almost invariably the aggressor.
From a Report of the joint special Committee of Congress,
on the condition of the Indian tribes, 1867, page 5, we quote:—
“The Committee are of opinion that in a large majority of
cases Indian wars are to be traced to the aggressions of lawless
white men, always to be found upon the frontier,” and remark
that this is the statement “of all those who have been long
conversant with Indian affairs.”
OF THE INDIANS. 3
In the report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for
1869, page 7, is the following statement :—
“The testimony of some of the highest military officers of
the United States is on record to the effect that, in our Indian
wars, almost without exception, the first aggressions have been
made by the white man, and the assertion is supported by every
civilian of reputation who has studied the subject. In addi-
tion to the class of robbers and outlaws who find impunity in
their nefarious pursuits upon the frontiers, there is a large
class of professedly reputable men who use every means in
their power to bring on Indian wars, for the sake of the profit
to be realized from the presence of troops and the expen-
diture of government funds in their midst. They proclaim
death to the Indians at all times, in words and publications,
making no distinction between the innocent and the guilty.
They incite the lowest class of men to the perpetration of the
darkest deeds against their victims, and, as judges and jury-
men, shield them from the justice due to their crimes. Every
crime committed by a white man against an Indian is con-
cealed or palliatcd; every offence committed by an Indian
against a white man is borne on the wings of the post or the
telegraph to the remotest corner of the land, clothed with all
the horrors which the reality or imagination can throw around
it. Against such influences as these, the people of the United
States need to be warned.”
In an article by General Nelson A. Miles, in the North
American Review, 1879, it is stated :—
“ Our relations with the Indians have been governed chiefly
by treaties and trade, or war and subjugation. By the first
we have invariably overreached the natives and we find the
record of broken promises all the way from the Atlantic to
the Pacific.”
In a letter of General George Crook, published in The
Council Fire, \Vashington, D. 0., Vol. II., page 178, is the
following statement :—
4 IAN ADDRESS on BEHALF
“I will say without hesitation, that our Indians have ad-
hered more closely to the spirit of treaty stipulations than the
white men or the white man’s government has ever done.”
In an address by General Henry B. Carrington before the
American Association of Science, in 1881, he uses the follow-
ing language :—
“ I say plainly that the red man when he enters into a fair
contract understandingly, is as faithful to obligation as the
average white man, and that from 1865 until the present time
there has not been a border campaign which did not have its
impulse in the aggressions of the white man.”
The Sioux Commissioners‘of 1868, four of whom were mili-
tary men, remark :*—
“That he [the Indian] goes to war is not astonishing; he
is often compelled to do so. ‘Wrongs are borne by him in
silence that never fail to drive civilized men to deeds of vio-
lence. * * Among civilized men war usually springs
from a sense of injustice. The best possible Way then to
avoid war is to do no act of injustice. When we learn that
the same rule holds good with the Indians, the chief difliculty
is removed. But it is said our wars with them have been
almost constant. Have we been uniformly unjust? ‘We
answer unhesitatingly, yes.”
At the time this Commission was appointed war was being
openly waged by several hostile tribes, and recognizing the fact
that in their intercourse with them, the United States had failed
in large measure to provide peaceful means of redress, and that
the Indian “knows no law but that of retaliation,” there was
inaugurated what was termed “a hitherto untried policy in
connection with the Indians of endeavoring to conquer by
kindness.” These efforts were attended with such success
that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1868, stated that,
“lasting beneficial results will no doubt follow a faithful and
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1868, pp. 36
and 42.
or THE INDIANS.' _ 5
prompt fulfilment of their promises to the Indians, and of the
treaty stipulations entered into with them.”
The late President Grant, upon assuming the executive
office in 1869, announced that he was in favor of a more hu-
mane policy in the management of the Indian tribes than had
hitherto prevailed; and adopted the plan of appointing men
to represent the gpvernment in the care and supervision of
them, who were recommended to him on account of their
moral and business qualifications by different religions bodies
throughout the land; who thus themselves became interested
in the welfare of the Indians to a degree previously unknown.
This “peace policy,” as it has been well called, was pro-
ductive of marked improvement in the condition of the great
body of the Indians, as shown by statistics of their progress;
thus the Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for
1876, contains the following summary of its beneficial re-
sults:—— .
“ Of the 266,000 Indians in the United States, (Alaska not
included,) 104,818 now wear citizens dress. In 1868 they had
7,476 houses ; now 55,717 houses are occupied by Indians, of
which 1,702 have been built during the last year. There are
now 344 schools on Indian reservations, with 437 teachers,
where in 1868 there were reported 111 schools and 134 teachers.
The number of scholars now attending school is 11,328; in
in 1868 the number was 4,718. The number of Indians who
can read is 25,622, and of these 980 have learned to read
during the last year, and in this number the five civilized
tribes of the Indian Territory are not included. There are
177 church buildings on Indian reservations, and 27,215 In-
dians are church members.
“' The area of land cultivated by Indians in 1868 was
54,207 acres, while in 1876 it was 318,194 acres; and 26,873
male Indians, exclusive of the five civilized tribes in the Indian
Territory, were engaged in labor. ~
“The principal products of this labor are 463,054 bushels
of wheat; 2,229,463 bushels of corn; 134,780 bushels of oats
6 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
and barley; 278,049 bushels of vegetables; 13,215 tons of
hay, besides cotton, sugar, coal, wood and lumber; while in
1868 the products raised by the labor of Indians and white
employes combined were, of wheat, 126,117 bushels; of corn,
467,363 bushels; oats and barley, 43,976 bushels; of vegeta-
bles, 236,926 bushels, and of hay, 16,216 tons.
“ Eight years ago the stock owned by Ipdians was 43,960
horses and mules; 42,874 cattle; 29,890 swine, and 2,683
sheep; while the stock noW owned by them is, 310,043 horses
and mules; 811,308 cattle; 214,076 swine; 447 ,295 sheep.
“ Such are some of the general results; but a more impres-
sive idea of the progress made will be gained by looking at
the condition of single agencies.”
“Such facts show as we have again and again affirmed in
our former reports, not only that wild and savage Indians can
be civilized, but that many who were recently savage and war-
like are already beginning a civilized life, and that it needs
only patient continuance to complete what has been well be-
gun.”
VVe cannot doubt had such a course been consistently and
earnestly pursued, that it would have been attended with still
greater advancement in the material prosperity of the Indians
and confirmed an enlightened and Christian sentiment in the
community respecting their character and proper treatment.
During the twenty years which have elapsed since the in-
troduction of this policy, while the great body of Indians have
remained comparatively quiet, the, causes of complaint which
have so often been justly made against the whites have 'pro-
duced in various communities of Indians their natural results,
and in several cases led to conflicts which have been attended
with the loss of hundreds of lives and great'expense.
Fully believing that all war is forbidden by the gospel of
Christ and that the actions which lead to it must be at varian cc
with the righteousness which it is declared “ exalteth a nation,”
We have been led to examine the circumstances connected
or THE INDIANS. 7
with the origin of these occurrences, as presented in official
documents and trustworthy statements. In this inquiry it is
proper to bear in mind the fact that the Indians as a people
make no profession of a religion which would restrain them
from seeking a bloody revenge when their passions are excited.
THE PIEGAN MAssAcRE.
Examining these events in the order of dates we find that the
difiiculties in 1869 and 1870 which were followed by what is
known as the “ Piegan .Massacre,” appear to have been largely
due to the discontented condition caused by the failure of the
United States to fulfil its promises, and the lawless acts of
white people living in that region. The presence of troops
was requested by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs largely
for the purpose of intimidating the whiskey~sellers and other
turbulent white people, but by orders from leading military
officers the operations of the soldiers were directed against
the Indians, and a band of these not accused of being hostile,
and which at the time was suffering from the prevalence of
small-pox among them, became the principal sufferers; a large
number of those killed being women and children.
*F. D. Pease, acting agent for the Blackfeet Indians, in his
report dated August 10th, 1869, states :—
“The Chiefs and head men complain bitterly against the
government for the non-fulfilment of the treaties consummated
last fall, at or near Fort Benton, between themselves and \V.
J. Cullen, special agent and commissioner on behalf of the gov-
ernment, under the direction of the President of the United
States. They express a willingness to be located at the agency
and live in their houses, upon their farms, and conform in all
respects to the conditions of the treaty, provided they can be
supplied with the necessary farming implements,- animals,
seeds and subsistence until they can take care of themselves.”
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1869, p. 300.
8 AN ADDRESS on BEHALF
“They have learned that the late treaty has not been con-
firmed, and it is diflicult to explain to their satisfaction why
such is the case, they having endeavored to keep the obliga-
tion sacred on their part, preventing their young men from
making raids upon the whites in retaliation for indignities
committed upon members of their tribe.”
“The country south of the Teton River, ceded to the Gov-
ernment under the late treaty, is being surveyed and fast
taken possession of by settlers. In this particular alone, is
the treaty being recognized by the government?”
The agent then mentions: “ The unfortunate killing of two
white men while herding cattle near Fort Benton, on the 17th
of July, by Indians, (as yet unknown) in retaliation for which
some irresponsible bad white men killed four Piegan Indians,
(belonging to the Blackfeet Nation), two of them notoriously
bad Indians, one a harmless old man, and the other a boy,”
and adds : “ I fear some trouble may arise from these murders,
especially as it now appears to have been other Indians who
killed the two white men. The Indians do not seem to care
so much about the killing of the first two Indians, but they
are exasperated over the killing of the old man and the boy,
and though the chiefs are using every exertion to restrain the
young men from taking revenge, which usually falls upon
defenseless persons, innocent of the deeds for which they are
called upon to pay the penalty, I fear they will not be able to
control them. In reply to the numerous murmurings and
complaints of the tribe regarding the course of the govern-
ment and indignities committed against them, I can only
make poor apologies, having no goods to make presents to the
injured ones, as is their custom when wrong has been com-
mitted.”
In the latter part of 1869, General Sully, the Superintend-
ent of Indian Affairs in Montana, advised the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, that he apprehended trouble between the
whites and the Indians, chiefly because of the lawless char-
or THE INDIANS. 9
acter of some of the citizens, that the traffic in whiskey with
the Indians was carried on to an alarming extent, that two
unoffending Indians had been murdered in broad daylight in
the streets of Benton, that he intended to try to arrest the
murderers, but doubted very much if he could convict them
in any court, and stated that’*< “ nothing can be done to insure
peace and order till there was a military force strong enough
to clear out the roughs and whiskey sellers in the country.”
In a subsequent despatch he mentioned that further depreda~
tions and a murder of a white man had been committed, and
forwarded a communication dated September 2d,‘ from Alex-
ander Culbertson, who had lived for some years among the
Blackfeet, stating that>i< “these depredations had been com-
mitted by a portion of the young rabble, over whom the
chiefs have no control and nothing but the strong arm of the
government can control.” He states also “The non-ratifi—
cation of treaties made with these Indians has had anything else
but a tendency to keep them quiet. Bound by no treaty stip-
ulations they think they have a perfect right to help them-
selves to any horses falling in their way. I think, however,
by keeping up this agency with a small amount of provisions,
etc., to be given by the agent as their wants may require, will
go a long way toward keeping them quiet, as the fast decreas-
ing herds of buffalo, their only dependence for food, will reduce
them wholly to dependence on the government for support.”
All these communications were referred to the ‘Var Depart-
ment. In an order dated November 15th, 1869, General
Sheridan authorized General Hancock “ to punish the Piegans
if found within striking distance ;” and also, “ any of the
Blackfeet who may have been engaged in the murders and
robberies lately perpetrated in Montana.” Nothing was said
respecting the punishment of the lawless whites, on account
of whom the request for troops by General Sully, the Super-
*Ex. Doc. No. 185, 41st Congress, 2d Sess.
10 AN ADDRESS ox BEHALF
intendent of Indian Affairs, had originally been made: and
no measures appear to have been taken to quiet the minds of
the other Indians who were peaceably disposed, but who
might become alarmed by the appearance of a military force
in their immediate neighborhood.
The band of Indians that was particularly complained of
was that of Mountain Chief. On the 23d of First Month,
1870, some United States troops under the command of Colo-
nel Baker, surprised the camp of Bear Chief and Red Horse
on the Marias River. In his official report, Colonel Baker
says: “We killed 173 Indians, captured over 100 women
and children, and over 300 horses.”
The Indian village that was thus attacked appeared to be
living at that time in entire security from any apprehension
of danger; was not composed of the Indians belonging to
Mountain Chief’s band, and was. also at that time suffering
from the small-pox. By a report* subsequently made by 1W.
B. Pease, the Indian agent for the Blackfeet Indians, it ap-
pears that of the 173 Indians killed, but 33 were men. Of
the remainder, 90 were women and 50 were children, none
older than 12 years, and many of them in their mother’s arms.
At the time of the attack the camp was suffering severely with
small-pox, having had it among them for two months; the
average rate of deaths having been six daily.
THE Monoc WAR.
The war with the Modocs in 1873 grew out of a refusal of a
certain part of this tribe to remain on their reservation in Ore-
gon, and might have been prevented, in the judgment of the
Commission appointed to examine into the causes of it, had the
rights of the Indians been properly respected.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in his report for 1872,
page 65, says:
“ A part of the Modocs, who belong by treaty to this agency,
*lieport of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1870, p. 89.
P "I
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Q I ‘Q
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Q
o
‘ D
OF THE INDIANS. 11
and who were at one time located upon the reservation, have,
on account of their troubles with the Klamaths—due princi-
pally to the overbearing disposition of the latter—left the
agency and refuse to return to it. They desire to locate upon
a small reservation by themselves. Under the circumstances,
they should be permitted to do this, or else be allowed to
select a tract on the Malheur Reservation.”
Interviews were subsequently held with these Indians, to
induce them to return to the Klamath Reservation, which
were unsuccessful, and the subject was transferred to the Com-
mandant of Fort Klamath, with the request to remove the
Modocs to the reservation, peaceably, if possible, but otherwise
forcibly. An oflicer with thirty troops had an interview with
them on the 29th of Eleventh Month, 1872, during which
he used every argument in his power to induce them to go on
to the Klamath Reservation at Yainax, informing them that
ample provision had been made for clothing and subsistence,
assuring them of the folly of resistance to the orders of the
government. Finding his efforts unavailing, he ordered them to
lay down their arms. This order had been partially obeyed, and
the prospect was that no serious trouble would ensue, until the
demand was made of one of the Indians,who refused compliance,
and Major Jackson ordered an officer to disarm him, who
advanced to perform the duty with pistol drawn, when both
the officer and Indian discharged their arms, but so simul-
taneously that it is a matter of doubt who fired the first shot.
A general engagement ensued between Major Jackson’s forces
and the Modocs in camp on the west side of Lost River:
among whom were three of their leading men, and eleven
or twelve other warriors with families.
This was followed by a fruitless attack by an army of four
hundred men upon this band of Modocs, entrenched in the
“lava beds” in Northern California. President Grant then
determined that the Modocs should have a hearing, and
appointed a Commission “ to ascertain the causes which have
0
12 , AN ADDRESS on BEHALF
led to the difficulties and hostilities between the United States’
troops and the Modocs,” and “to devise the most effective and
judicious measures for preventing the continuance of these,
and the restoration of peace.” A cessation of hostilities was
agreed upon, and word was sent to the Indians that “no act
of war will be allowed while peace talks are being had,” and
“no movement of troops will be made.” The military head-
quarters were then twenty miles from the Modoc camp. Sev-
eral days elapsed, during which “a herd of Indian horses
had'been captured by Major Biddle; notwithstanding the
Commission had informed the Modocs, through messengers,
that no act of war would be permitted.” The troops were also
moved until the headquarters were within “ two miles of the
Modoc stronghold.” Communications were kept up between
the Indians and the Commissioners until the eleventh of
Fourth Month, 1873, when the latter were treacherously
induced to meet some of the Indians in conference, when two
of the Commissioners were murdered ‘in cold blood, and
another, Alfred B. Meacham, was seriously wounded.
The excitement caused by this act was followed by sending
additional troops, and the final surrender of these Indians,
some of whom were tried and condemned by a military court
and executed, and the remainder were placed upon the Qua
Paw Reservation in the Indian Territory. In his oflicial
report upon the causes of the Modoc war, from which the
above statements are chiefly compiled, Alfred B. Meacham,
surviving Commissioner, says :—
‘l‘ “I submit * * * that this war was the result of chang-
ing agents and policies too often, and the absence of well-
defined regulations regarding the relative duties and powers
of the Indian and Military Departments, the citizens and
Indians. \Vhile the ‘ humane policy’ is the correct one, it ought
to be well-defined, and then entrusted to men selected on
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1873, p. 81.
or THE INDIANS. 13
account of fitness for the work. No branch of public service
more imperatively demands observance of this rule, and when
it shall have been fully recognized and adhered to by
appointing men to the care of our Indian population whose
hearts are in the work, and who understand the duties
assigned, and whose term of office depends on faithfully
achieved success, we may hope to hear of Indian wars no more."
A. B. Meacham has’!< elsewhere stated that out of the 169
Indians engaged in this conflict, fifteen men and fifteen women
and children were killed ; of the former four were killed after
they had surrendered, and given up their arms, and four were
executed upon the scaffold; one hundred whites were killed,
and the expense of the war was over two millions of dollars.
He adds :—-
“ I submit that, had Captain Jack and his band been pro-
tected while upon Klamath Reservation, in 1869, or had his plea
for manhood’s rights been regarded, or, had patience been
exercised in enforcing the order for his removal to Klamath,
in November, 1872, no war would have occurred. Again I
submit that had no Modoc horses been captured by our
army during the armistice; or had they been returned when
demanded, and no further breach of the compact been made
by the movement of our troops under the flag of truce, no
assassination would have been committed, and peace would have
been secured on amicable terms.”
WAR WITH THE SIoUx OF 1876.
An order by the Commanding General to consider all Indi-
ans who were found outside of their reservations as hostile, when
applied to the Sioux, whose right to hunt beyond these limits
had been guaranteed by treaty, and a disregard of other prom-
ises made by the United States, led to a war with these Indians
*Life of Alfred B. Meacham. Washington, D. C., 1883. Appendix,
p. 48.
14 AN ADDRESS on BEHALF
in 1876, which the Commission appointed to negotiate with
them declared was not only a needless one, but that in the
prosecution of it the government had expended more money
than all the religious bodies had applied to the improvement
of the Indians since our existence as a nation.
Under the treaty of 1868, prepared by several officers of
the United States army, and others, among whom was General
Sherman, “The United States,” to quote the language of the
instrument, “solemnly agrees that no person except those
herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such
officers, agents and employes of the Government as may be
authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of
duties enjoined by law, shall be permitted to pass over, settle
upon, or reside in the same.” The treaty also provides “that
the country north of the North Platte and east of the summit
of the Big Horn Mountains, shall be held and considered
un ceded Indian territory ; and the United States also stipulates
and agrees that no white person or persons shall be permitted
to settle upon or occupy any portion of the same, or without
the consent of the Indians first had and obtained, to pass
through the same.” In consideration of these and other cov-
enants, the Indians agree “to relinquish all right perman-
ently to occupy the territory outside of their reservation as
defined in the treaty, but yet reserve the right to hunt on any
land north of the North Platte, and on the Republican Fork
of the Smoky Hill River, so long as the buffalo may range
thereon in such numbers as to justify the chase.”
Notwithstanding this express recognition of the'rights of
the Sioux, to go outside their reservation in the provision of
the treaty above quoted, and in other sections of it, in less
than three months after its ratification, General Sheridan, by
direction of General Sherman, issued a military order, dated
“June 29,1869,” in these words: *“All Indians when on
their proper reservations are under the exclusive control and
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1876, p. 340.
on THE INDIANS. 15
, jurisdiction of their agents; they will not be interfered with
in any manner by the military authority, except upon requisi-
tion of the special agent resident with them, his superintend-
ent, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Washington. Outside
the well—defined limits of their reservation they are under the
original and exclusive jurisdiction of the military authority,
and as a rule will be considered hostile.”
In commenting upon this, the Commission appointed in
1876, “to obtain certain concessions of the Sioux,” remark:
* “The above order is the more surprising to us when we
remember that the treaty made by General Sherman and others
expressly provided that these Indians might hunt upon the
unceded territory; and we find that so late as its last session,
Congress appropriated $200,000 to be used in part for the pay-
ment of the seventh of thirty installments ‘for Indians roam-
ing.’ We repeat that, under this treaty. it is expressly provided
that the Indians may hunt in the unceded territory north and
west of the Sioux reservation, and until last year they had
the right to hunt in Western Nebraska. \Ve believe that our
failure to recognize this right has led to many conflicts be-
tween the citizens and army of the United States and the
Indians.” ‘
While the Sioux were thus prohibited from roaming over
these lands, the whites in large and small companies were not
only allowed to pass through them, but were protected by the
military in doing so. Expeditions to explore the Black Hills
and the unceded country, were fitted out, some of which were
accompanied by escorts.
In reference to one of these expeditions made by General
Custer, against the protest of the Indians, and the promise of
the government to protect the Indians against all intrusion
upon their land, the Sioux Commission remarks:
* “ Notwithstanding the gross violation of the treaty, no open
war ensued. There were instances of conflict between/ small
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1876, p. 341.
16 AN ADDRESS oN BEHALF
bands of Indians and whites; thefts and robberies were com- ,
mitted ; small war parties made raids upon the settlements.
If our own people had a sad story of wrongs suffered from the
Indians, we must not forget that the Indians, who own no tele-
graph lines, who have no press and no reporters, claimed that
they, too, had been the victims of lawless violence, and that
they had had a country of untold value wrested from them by
force.”
The Report of the Sioux Commission further states: “ In
1875 a Commission was sent out to treat for the surrender of the
Black Hills. We believe that—this Commission failed to make
a treaty with the Indians, simply because they had no author-
ity to offer them any sum which would be a just equivalent
for their right in the Black Hills, or which gave to the Indians
hopes for the future.”
“ \Ve now come to the origin of the present war, [that of
1876.] It appears that Inspector E. C. \Vatkins, under date
of November 9, 1875, made complaint to the Indian Bureau
that Sitting Bull and other Indians with him, residing
in the unceded territory, were engaged in making raids
upon friendly Indians and the white settlers of Montana. He
recommended that ‘a force of one thousand men should be sent
to compel them to submit to the government.’ The Secretary
of the Interior referred this letter to the Secretary of War for
consideration and action. In the letters of Generals Terry,
Sheridan and Sherman, and those of the oflicials of the 1War
and Interior Departments, we find no reference to any‘hostile
Indians, except the “followers of Sitting Bull.”
“ In the early part of the winter of 1875-’76, many Indians
from the different agencies went out with the consent of their
agents to hunt buffalo in this unceded territory. They had
the right to do this under the treaty. There was more reason
for them to go at this time, because there was an insufficient
supply of provisions at the agencies. December 6th, 1875, the
late Commissioner of Indian Affairs sent instructions to the
OF THE INDIANs. 17
several agents to notify the Indians in the unceded territory
to come to the agencies before the 3-1st of January, 1876, or
that they would be regarded as hostile.”
There were seven agencies thus notified, and steps were im-
mediately taken to inform the Indians by runners, of the de-
mands of the government. “It does not appear,” says the
Report of the Commission, “ that any one of the messengers sent
out by the agents was able to return to his agency by the time
which had been fixed for the return of the Indians. It is very
easy to understand why the most friendly Indians should hesi-
tate to traverse a pathless country without fuel or shelter, at a
time of year when fearful storms endanger human life, and
with the knowledge that they would find a limited supply of
provisions at the agency.”
Nevertheless, on the 1st day of Second Month, 1876, the
Secretary of the Interior committed Sitting Bull and his fol-
lowers to the War Department, and three days later General
Sheridan reported that Generals Crook and Terry were ready
and would move at once against the Indians, and in the latter
part of that month General Crook took the field with 1300
troops.
The Sioux Commissioners say, “Of the results of this year’s
war we have no wish to speak. It is a heartrending record
of the slaughter of many of the bravest of our army. It has
not only carried desolation and woe to hundreds of our own
hearth-stones, but has added to the cup of anguish which we
have pressed to the lips of the Indian. We fear that when
others shall examine it in the light of history, they will repeat
the words of the officers who penned the report of 1868 : ‘The
results of the year’s campaign satisfied all reasonable men that
the war was useless and expensive. To those who reflected on
the subject, knowing the facts, the war was something more
than useless and expensive ; it was dishonorable to the nation
and disgraceful to those who originated it.’
“We hardly know how to frame in words the feelings of
18 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
shame and sorrow which fill our hearts as we recall the long
record of the broken faith of our government. It is made
more sad in that the rejoicings of our centennial year are min-
gled with the walls of sorrow of widows and orphans made by
a needless Indian war.”
In this connection it may be proper to quote some passages
from an appeal recounting the origin and the results of this
war, addressed by Sitting Bull, “ To all just and sensible citi-
zens of the United States.”
“ No sooner was it known that there was gold found in our
lands than white people came in crowds, in clear violation of
our treaty with the United States government, and settled
upon and took possession of the same. We might then have
silenced the last of the intruders, but remembering our treaty,
and having yet faith and confidence in the government and
army, we preferred to see justice done, and our rights secured
by solemn agreement, protected. From time to time some of
our hands would visit the whites without any hostile design,
when the presence of an Indian would be for them a sure sign
that they were to be destroyed. Immediately the Indians would
be fired upon as if we were nothing else but savage and danger-
ous beasts. All this on our own lands, the peaceable possess.~
ion of which was guaranteed to us by a solemn treaty!
“ \Vas it possible the United States government and the
army were powerless in repressing such wrongs? They were
either powerless or unwilling. If unwilling they were not
fulfilling their agreements. In either case what was to be ex-
pected by us? Why should we not do our best for our own
protection‘? Not only did we lose a number of our people,
assassinated, as it were, by intruders of all sorts, but when
some of their own number would fall victims to the rapacity
of their associates, often disguised as Indians, the deed was
credited to us, and the whole caused necessarily great alarm.
>l< >l< >l< >l< >l<
*The Council Fire, Washington, D. C. "01. II, p. 122.
or THE INDIANS. 19
“Just and sensible citizens, we are not devils, nor are we
faithless and heartless! We regret all that has happened,
but while white people weep their dead, and the orphans
and widows are saddened for fathers and husbands who never
returned from that battle-field, will the United States govern-
ment, the army, and people not look upon the hills where
we are exiled, and not see with compassion the tears and suf-
ferings of our own orphans and widows! ‘Will they without
emotion, at the night’s return, hear the wailings of the lonely
and fatherless-—-exiled, naked and starved! There is help in
the land for your orphans and widows, ours have none! None
because they are Indians! For them all friendship is cold ;
no hand is stretched to them, they have nothing to expect
but contempt and extermination.”
OPERATIONS AGAINST THE NORTHERN CHEYENNES.
Under the military order above mentioned, the Northern
Cheyennes who were associated with the Sioux, were also con-
sidered hostile and became involved in the war._ After sign-
ing an agreement with the United States that they should be
protected in the rights of person, property and life, one of
their villages was attacked by United States troops and a large
number of its inmates destroyed under circumstances which
appear to be entirely without justification.
The Northern Cheyennes were included in the agreement
made by the Commission appointed in 1876 to obtain certain
concessions from the Sioux Indians. The Chairman of that
Commission, George W’. Manypenny, in his work entitled,
“ Our Indian Wards/“i< has given an account of the situation
of these Indians and the operations of the government against
them in 1876, from which most of the following is condensed :
By a treaty made in 1868, “they relinquished all right or
*“Our Indian \Vards,” by Geo. W. Manypenny, Commissioner of In-
dian Affairs from 1853 to 1857. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1880.
20 AN AnnBEss oN BEHALF
claim to any and all territory, except the right to roam and
hunt as long as game abounded in sufficient quantities to
justify the chase. \Vhile exercising this right they were to
receive like annual annuities as the nomad Sioux. It was,
however, agreed that a permanent home should be provided for
them on the reservation of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes, [in
the Indian Territory], or the reservation of the Crows, or the
reservation of the Sioux; and when located on such reserva-
tion, school-houses were to be erected and teachers employed ;
agency houses and mills built, and millers, engineers, farmers,
and blacksmiths supplied them, and as the separate families
located, each was to receive similar annuities as the Sioux
of the same class. The appropriation of $500,000 made by
Congress in 1868, to be expended by General Sherman in
commencing the fulfilment of the treaties made in 1867-8, had
reference to these as well as other Indian tribes. They were
then residing north of the Platte, and had for some time domi-
ciled with the Sioux of the Red Cloud agency.”
‘ “ On the 10th of August, 1868, by military order, General
Sherman created the Sioux District, and assigned General
Harney to it,land set apart to his use $200,000 of the $500,-
000. It was expressly declared in the order, that the $200,-
000 was to enable General Harney to fulfil the treaty stipula-
tions with the Sioux. The Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes
were entirely overlooked. No place was designated by General
Sherman within the Sioux or any other reservation for their
home. In no communication from him to General Harney or
to any other of his military agents, to whom he confided funds
to fulfil treaty stipulations, were these Indians named. It
does not appear that any of the military agents of General
Sherman ever had any interviews with them. From that time
forward until September, 1876, when the Sioux Commission,
in the agreement then made, incorporated them with the
Sioux Indians, the Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes had
no fixed home, and hence could only rely upon their right to
or THE INDIANS. 21
roam and hunt, and for the exercise of this right, under the
military order, of June 29, 1869, [respecting those Indians
who were outside the limits of any reservation], they were
regarded as hostile, and subject wherever found by military
scouting parties to be treated as such and dealt with accord-
ingly.”
Efforts had been made prior to 1876 to induce these Indians
to join the Southern Cheyennes and Arapahoes, in the Indian
Territory, but many of them had intermarried with the Sioux,
and for other reasons they preferred to remain with the Sioux,
who were willing to receive them. The war with the Sioux
was inaugurated early in 1876, and in the Third Month of
that year, a portion of General Crook’s command under Gen-
eral Reynolds, attacked the village of Crazy Horse, on the
Little Powder River. Alarge portion of the Northern Cheyennes
were then dwelling in this village. They thus became involved
in the war. In the Indian Appropriation Bill, passed Eighth
Month 15th, 1876, Congress again made it a condition that no
supplies should be furnished to these Indians until they re-
moved south. In all this time no steps had been taken to set
apart a home for them in the Indian Territory or anywhere
else, and no agency buildings or other improvements were pro-
vided for them. In this condition of things the Sioux Commis—
sion, recognizing the right of the Northern Cheyennes and Ara-
pahoes to a home on the Sioux reservation, and at their desire,
made them parties to an agreement, which was accepted by
these Indians Ninth Month 20th, 1876, by which they
pledged themselves to maintain peace with the United States.
This agreement, however, was not to be binding upon either
party until it should have received the approval of the Presi-
dent and Congress of the United States.
General Crook had nevertheless determined upon dealing
with the Northern Cheyennes and had induced some of the
Sioux, Arapahoes, and Northern Cheyennes, to join “in an
expedition against the ‘Northern Indians,’ ” not the North-
22 AN ADDRESS oN BEHALF
ern Cheyennes. The term “ Northern Indians” was well
understood by the Indians at the agencies, and did not embrace
any of the Sioux of the Red Cloud or Spotted Tail Indians,
or the Northern Cheyennes or Arapahoes. “They were not
told that the object was to surprise and attack the Northern
Cheyennes. * * They were deceived, and a part of them
induced to join an expedition against their own people, when
they supposed that they were going to fight the ‘Northern
Indians.’ ”
On the 24th of Eleventh Month, General McKenzie attacked
the village of the Northern Cheyennes in the Big Horn
Mountains, early in the morning. “The village was fired and
burned. It was estimated to contain near three hundred
warriors and twelve hundred souls. Many Indians were left
dead upon the ground. Many more were killed, but were
carried off by their friends. Eight officers and privates were
killed, and about twenty-five wounded. The winter store of
buffalo meat laid up by the Indians was estimated at 80,000
pounds. This, and 1,200 robes, a large number of saddles,
cooking utensils, axes and various tools belonging to the
Indians, with all their personal property and clothing, were,
with the village, numbering more than two hundred lodges,
burned. Over six hundred ponies were captured and given,
it was said, to the Indian ‘ allies.’ The Cheyennes that escaped
were utterly destitute, scarcely saving even a blanket. The
weather was intensely cold, and it was the opinion among the
troops that many of the Indians that escaped must perish.”
The Chairman of the Commission, George \V. Manypenny,
adds: “ Here was an Indian village, hid away in a secluded
place where no white people could reach it. The location was
far away from any travelled road, and in the recluse of the
mountains. Every indication would go to show that its in-
mates had not recently been on the war-path, but diligently
employed in laying. up a winter supply of food, and preparing
for market the hides of the buffalo they had slain. These
or THE INDIANS. 23
Indians were deprived of any annuities. They had no home
on any reservation, but had a right to roam and hunt, and in
the country in which they were, this right was guaranteed to
them. It is true that in September previous, they had been
incorporated with the Sioux, in the agreement then made, but
the agreement required the approval of Congress before it was
binding, and that was not given until the following February,
and then Congress modified it so that, practically, nothing was
left them as a home but the hunting right guaranteed by the
treaty of May 10th, 1868. There was, however, in the agree-
ment of September, 1876, with these and the Sioux Indians, a
pledge that each individual should ‘ be protected in his rights
of property, person and life,’ and this pledge Congress did not
disturb. The covenants of this agreement were known to all
the military oflicers at the posts within the Sioux country, and
it was known by both General Crook and General McKenzie
that the Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes were parties to
the agreement. * * * Under the circumstances it was a
grave offence; it was a crime, to attack this village, kill its
inmates and destroy their property. >5‘ * Such conduct
should at all times be disavowed by the government, and such
of its public servants as participated in it should be severely
dealt with.”
Nnz PERCE \VAR OF 1877.
The Nez Percé war in 1877 was brought on by the determi-
nation of the United States to possess the \Vallowa Valley, in
eastern Oregon, which was claimed, and during a part of the
year, occupied by a band of Indians who refused to sell it. On
the part of the United States it was asserted that this valley
had been ceded by a treaty made in 1863, with another por-
tion of the tribe, who constituted a small majority of the whole.
- In consequence of the discovery of gold in the Nez Percé
country in 1861, and the intrusion, in violation of the treaty
24 AN ADDRESS 0N BEHALF
of 1855, of many thousands of white persons upon it, a new
treaty was made with a portion of these Indians in 1863, by
which they relinquished a portion of their lands and agreed
to go upon the Lapwai reservation in western Idaho. Among
these lands was the \Vallowa Valley, in eastern Oregon, occu-
pied by Chief Joseph and his band, who declined to be parties
to the treaty of 1863, and alleged that those who made it were
not authorized to act for him and his people. Earnest efforts
were made at different times in vain, to induce him to nego-
tiate for the cession of the \Vallowa Valley. A Commission
appointed in 1876, to visit this band, “ to secure their settlement
upon reservations,” etc., report’l< respecting their interview with
Joseph, “ He did not desire VVallowa Valley as a reservation,
for that would subject him and his band to the will of and de-
pendence on another, and to laws not of their own making.
He was disposed to live peaceably. He and his band had
suffered wrong rather than do wrong. One of their number
was wickedly slain by a white man during the last summer, but.
he would not avenge his death.”
This Commission also called attention to several provisions
of the treaty of 1863, which had never been fulfilled by the
government, and says :—
“The Commission would emphasize the opinion that every
consideration of justice and equity as well as expediency, de-
mands from the government a faithful and literal compliance
with all its treaty obligations toward the Indians. A failure-
to do this is looked upon as bad faith, and can be productive
of only bad results.”
Notwithstanding the failure of the government to comply
with its promises thus pointed out, the Commission recom-
mended “ a speedy military occupancy of the valley by an
adequate force to prevent a recurrence of past difficulties
between the whites and the Indians. Meanwhile the agent of‘
the Nez Percés should continue his efforts to settle these In—
"Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1877, p. 212.
or THE INDIANS. 25
dians in severalty upon the lands of the reservation that are
still vacant ;” also, “ that unless they conclude to settle quietly,
as above indicated, within a reasonable time, in the judgment
of the Department, they should then be placed by force upon
the Nez Percé reservation, and in satisfaction of any possible
rights of occupancy which they may have, the same aid and
allotments of land granted to the treaty N ez Percés should be
extended to them on the reservation.”
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs says :—
>*“‘The Department acted upon these recommendations, in-
structing the agent to hold interviews with these Indians, and
also requesting the War Department to take military occupa-
tion of the valley in the interest of peace, and to co—operate
with the agent in the effort to place Chief Joseph and his
band in permanent homes upon the Lapwai reservation. Gen-
eral Howard, with agent Monteith, took charge of the pro-
posed negotiations. * * And it becoming evident to agent
Monteith, that all negotiations for the peaceful removal of
Joseph and his band, with other non-treaty Nez Percé Indians,
to the Lapwai reservation in Idaho, must fail of a satisfactory
adjustment, General Howard was placed in full control of all
further attempts for their removal.”
Three councils were held by General Howard with these
“ non‘treaty” Indians, which appeared likely to result in their
peaceable'settlement on the Lapwai reservation. “One day,
however, prior to the expiration of the time fixed for their
removal,” says the Commissioner, “(namely, June 14th, 1877)
open hostilities by these Indians began by the murder of
twenty-one white men and women on White Bird Creek, near
Mount Idaho, in revenge for the murder of one of their tribe.
The few troops under the command of General Howard were
ordered out at once.”
Chief Joseph, in an account which he has given of his in-
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Afiairs for 1877, p. 11.
26 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
terviews with General Howard, and of the cause of the war,
says :—
* “ I knew I had never sold my country, and that I had no
land in Lapwai‘; but I did not want bloodshed. I did not
want my people killed. I did not want anybody killed. Some
of my people had been murdered by white men, and the white
murderers were never punished for it. I told General Howard
about this, and again said I wanted no war. I wanted the
people who lived upon the lands I was to occupy at Lapwai
to have time to gather their harvest. I said in my heart, that
rather than have war, I would give up my country. I would
give up my father’s grave. I would give up everything rather
than have the blood of white men upon the hands of my peo—
ple. .
“ General Howard refused to allow me more than thirty days
to move my people and their stock. I am sure that he began
to prepare for war at once. \Vhen I returned to Wallowa I
found my people very much excited upon discovering that the
soldiers were already in the \Vallowa Valley. We held a
council, and decided to move immediately to avoid bloodshed.
We gathered all the stock we could find, and made an attempt
to move. We left many of our horses and cattle ‘in \Vallowa,
and we lost several hundred in crossing the river. All ‘of my
people succeeded in getting across in safety. Many of the
' Nez Percés came together in Rocky Canon to hold a grand
council. I went with all my people. This council lasted ten
days. There was a great deal of war talk, and a great deal of
excitement. There was one young brave present whose father
had been killed by a white man five years before. This. man’s
blood was bad against white men, and he left the council,
calling for revenge.‘
“Again I counselled peace, and I thought the danger was
past We had not complied with General Howard’s order
*North American ‘Review for 1879, p. 423, &c.
or THE INDIANS. 27
because we could not, but we intended to do so as soon as
possible.
“I was leaving the council to kill beef for my family, when
news came ‘that the young man whose father had been killed,
had gone out with several other hot-blooded young braves and
killed four white men.”
“ There. were bad men among my people who had quarrelled
with white men, and they talked of their wrongs until they
roused all the bad hearts in the council. Still I could not
believe that they would begin the war. I know that my young
men did a great wrong,’ but I ask, who was first to blame‘?
They had been insulted a thousand times; their fathers and
brothers had been ‘killed; their mothers and wives had been
disgraced ; they had been driven to madness by whiskey sold
to them by white men; they had been told by General Howard
that all their horses and cattle which they had been unable to
drive out of WVallowa were to fall into the hands of white men;
and added to all this they were homeless and desperate.
“I would have given my own life if I could have undone
the killing of white men by my people. I blame my young
men and I blame the white men. I blame General Howard
for not giving my people time to get their stock away from
Vvallowa. I do not acknowledge that he had the right to
order me to leave \Yallowa at any time. I deny that either
my father or myself ever sold that land. It is still our land.
It may never again be our home, but my father sleeps there,
and I love it as I love my mother. I left there.hoping to
avoid bloodshed.” ‘
Chief Joseph concluded his account with the following im-
pressive language :—-
“ \Vhenever the white man treats the Indian as they treat
each other, then we will have no more wars. ‘We shall all be
alike—brothers of one father and one mother, with one sky
above us, and one country around us, and one government for
all. Then the Great Spirit Chief who rules above will smile
28 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
upon this land, and send rain to wash out the bloody spots
made by brothers’ hands from the face of the earth. For this
time the Indian race are waiting and praying. I hope that
no more groans of wounded men and women will ever go to
the ear of the Great Spirit Chief above, and that all people
may be one people.”
The Board of Indian Commissioners in 1877, thus speaks of
this war, and others which had occurred since 1871.
* “As to the protection of settlers and the prevention of
Indian wars, it is true that the peace policy has not entirely
abolished war from the Indian Country. We have had the
Apache war, the Modoc war, the Sioux war, and the Nez
Percé war. But it is equally true that everyone of these
wars can be traced to wanton aggressions or broken treaties on
the part of the whites. Even the last, with a-small band of the
Nez Percés, was not an unprovoked outbreak. Wrongs unre-
dressed, crimes committed by white men upon Indians unpun-
ished, treaty stipulations left many years unfulfilled by our
government, and encroachments of settlers upon lands claimed
never to have been ceded, were causes for uneasiness, and ex-
cited constant irritation, which at last broke out in revengeful
war. \Vithout justifying his acts, or expressing an opinion as
to the measure of guilt which time and future ‘events may at-
tach to Chief Joseph in its instigation, we cannot fail to
recognize in his conduct of- the hostilities, an absence of those
barbarous cruelties usually attending Indian wars, and a hu-
manity in ‘his treatment of women and children which consti-
tute a noble tribute to the civilizing processes under which this
red chieftain has been for so many years a subject.”
The Board of Indian Commissioners, in 1878, thus speaks
of the subsequent treatment of Joseph and his band: 1' “ In
surrendering to General Miles, one of the conditions asked of
and granted by that officer, was that he (Joseph) and his people
*Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1877, p. 6.
'fSame Report, p. 51. i
on THE INDIANS. 29
should be allbwed to return, or be taken to Idaho, which
agreement had been violated by superior commanding orders,
and instead thereof they were brought under military escort
down the Missouri River to Fort Leavenworth, and located on
low bottom lands, the very hot bed of malaria; that on their
journey to Fort Leavenworth, many of their robes, blankets
and other effects, including some of their supplies, were taken
from them by their captors; that after a detention of several
months in that unhealthy location, they were broughtinto this
[the Indian] Territory, where sickness and death following,
had smitten them ; where the soil is poor, timber scarce, and
water insufficient for profitable agricultural industry ; and
now their one great desire was to be allowed to return to their
old home, or at least to the same latitude and climate. This
statement is believed to be true in the main, and if so, Joseph
stands before the American people a victim of duplicity; his
confidence wantonly betrayed; his substance pillaged ; an in-
voluntary exile from home and kindred; his “ cause” lost;
his people rapidly wasting by pestilence; an object not of
haughty contempt or vulgar ridicule, but of generous, humane
treatment and consideration.”
THE BANNocK WAR OF 1878.
The failure of the government in 1878 to supply to the
Bannock Indians provisions and clothing in compliance with
treaty stipulations produced much discontent and suffering
among them. Under excitement from these causes, an intoxi-
cated Indian killed two white men. His arrest was followed
by the murder of another white man and troops were immedi-
ately called for.
The agent in charge of the Fort Hall agency in Idaho, thus
alludes to the cause of this war: “ This reservation was es-
tablished during the summer of 1869, under the provision of a
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 187 8, p. 49.
30 AN ADDRESS oN BEHALF
treaty made at Fort Bridger, July 3, 1868, which stipulated
that whenever the Bannocks desired it, a reservation would be
set apart for their use, and that the United States would secure
to them the same rights and privileges, and make the same
like expenditures as were provided for the Shoshones in W'y-
oming. At the very outset the government, to a certain ex—
tent, broke the treaty it had made with the Bannocks, by
directing that all the roaming Indians in southwestern Idaho
should be allowed to come upon and make the reservation
their home. For a time the Bannocks made no objections to
this arrangement; they outnumbered the others, and as they
were a race of ‘buffalo hunters, spending most of their time in
the Yellowstone country, there were enough annuity goods and
other supplies for all. Meanwhile the Shoshones kept coming;
each year found them more numerous than the previous one.
Scarcely any provision was made for their clothing and sub-
sistence, and the Bannocks ustly complained that the supplies
furnished for them under the Bridger treaty were given to the
Shoshones.”
During the year 1877, they were prevented from hunting
and forced to remain upon their reservation, while the Nez
Percé war was going on, and accept the scant supply of food
which the government had furnished them.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs remarks: * “ Excited
by what they heard of the war, irritated by what they esteemed
to be bad faith in the issuance to them of scant rations, an-
noyed by the encroachments of the whites upon their reserva-
tion, and cherishing a chronic dislike for the Shoshones, with
whom they were associated at Fort Hall agency (the friendly
and peaceable character of the latter rather aggravating their
hostility to them) they became more and more restless until,
during the summer of 1877, a Bannock Indian under the in-
fluence of whiskey and war-paint started out from the agency,
armed with Winchester rifle and revolver, and shot and seri—
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1878, p. xii.
or THE INDIANS. 31
ously wounded two unofi'ending teamsters, who were passing
the agency. The perpetrator of this deed was arrested and
handed over to the civil authorities through the instrumentality
of the agent, without resistance or opposition. On the same
day, as an outcome of the excitement and bitter feeling result-
ing from this arrest, another Bannock, a friend of the prisoner,
shot and killed the agency butcher, Alexander Rhodan. Troops
were immediately called for.”
He further states: “There are 1500 Indians at the Fort
Hall agency more or less dependent for their support upon
the government and treaty funds. For the fiscal year 1877,
only $14,000 was appropriated for their subsistence. For
the fiscal year 1878, 829,000 was appropriated, but as the
Indians were prevented from hunting during the Nez Percé
war, the sum appropriated was entirely insufficient for their
~ support, and they became discontented and restless until blood-
shed and murder were followed by open war. For the present
fiscal year only $24,000, which is less than 4-1; cents per day
per capita, has been appropriated.”
“ The Indians at Fort Hall agency have received as great
a quantity of subsistence as the funds appropriated by Con-
gress has enabled the Indian ofiice to purchase for them. This
office cannot be held responsible for a discontent which was
mainly caused by late and scant appropriations.”
In commenting upon the causes of the war, as reported by
the General of the army and the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, the Board of Indian Commissioners in their report
for 1878, says: *“ The facts presented in those reports make
it perfectly evident that the Bannock war might have been
prevented had adequate and timely provision been made by
Congress for the support of those Indians when they were cut
off from their usual resources of the chase.” And adds: “ \Ve
heartily endorse the conclusion of General Sherman, that for
such emergencies Congress alone can provide a remedy; and,
*Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1878, p. 5.
32 AN ADDRESS oN BEHALF
if prevention be wiser than cure, money and discretion must
be lodged somewhere in time to prevent starvation.”
OUTBREAK on THE NORTHERN CHEYENNEs, 1878—9.
The employment of troops to prevent the return of the
Northern Cheyennes to their former home in Dakota, from a
sickly reservation in the Indian Territory, resulted in blood-
shed and outrages upon the white settlers in Kansas, which it
is believed would not otherwise have occurred. This was fol-
lowed early in 1879 by a massacre of one hundred of these
Indians by United States troops, under circumstances which
create feelings of abhorrence in every humane mind.
The Northern Cheyennes had participated in the War waged
in 1876 against the Sioux, and had surrendered to General
Miles in the spring of 1877, at Camp Robinson, in Nebraska.
They were treated as prisoners of war, but were given the
option to go with the Sioux who were ordered to the Missouri
River or to the Indian Territory. They chose the latter alter-
native, but with great reluctance. They left the Red Cloud
Agency in Dakota, the 25th of Fifth Month, 1877, 972 in
number, under the charge of a military officer, and on the
5th of Eighth Month, arrived at Fort Reno, in the Indian
Territory: a journey of seventy days, during which thirty-five
of their number died. Reaching the territory, they sickened.
In the fall of 1878, Dull Knife’s band, numbering about 300
men, women and children, decided to return. They were
followed by a military force and attacked. They retaliated
by killing forty white settlers. One part reached the Sioux;
the rest were taken prisoners, but refused to return-to the In-
dian Territory. An effort was made by the officer in com-
mand to reduce them to submission by cold and starvation,
and in desperate efforts to escape, they were nearly all killed :
the last group of them having been surrounded, and, while
or THE INDIANs. 33
huddled together in a hollow space to which they fled for
safety, were shot.
The feelings of abhorrence excited by these events induced
Congress to appoint a special commission to examine into the
circumstances attending them, from whose report the follow-
ing is extracted: * “The transfer of the Northern Cheyennes
to the Indian Territory was attended with much fatal sick-
ness. * * It was the change of climate and water that rendered
the sickness so universal and so fatal. Both in 1877 and in
1878 the government had failed to provide a sufficient supply
of medicines. The results were the total dissatisfaction of' the
immigrants with the country and with the government. This
was neither an unreasonable nor an unjust dissatisfaction. * * *
The supply of rations was short in 1877—78, wanting from one-
fourth to one-third of the treaty allowance. This was doubt-
less the result of a miscalculation, based on the supposed
ability of the Indians still to provide for the deficiency by
hunting—and much of the food was of very poor quality.”
“In August, 1878, the sanitary condition of the Indians is
thus described by Agent Miles, in his report to the Commis-
sioner of Indian Affairs :-— i
“ ‘The intense heat of the present summer has had the
effect to increase the mortality, and it is no exaggerated esti-
mate when the number of sick people on the reservation is
placed at 2,000. Many deaths have occurred which might
have been obviated had there been a proper supply of anti—
malarial remedies at hand. Ninety-five ounces of quinine
were received in advance of the annual supply, and was con-
sumed in less than ten days. The success of the agency phy-
sician has been gratifying, and the only cause of ill-success
has been due to the lack of medicines. Hundreds applying
for treatment have been refused medicine, and the result has
been a resort to their native medicine and the perpetuation of
their superstitious rites.’ ”
*Senate Report N o. 708, 46th Congress, 2d Sess, p. xiv.
34 AN ADDnEss 0N BEHALF
The physician could not speak their language, and they had
little or no instruction in nursing the sick, and could not
properly administer the few medicines furnished them. The
agent and the physician did all in their power, by the use of
mails and telegraph, to relieve against this suffering; but their
requisitions were treated with neglect and indifference.”
On the 9th of Ninth Month, 1878, a party of about 300,
under Chief Dull Knife, including 87 warriors in all, started out
from the agency with the determination to return northward
and rejoin their old friends, the Sioux. The special investi-
gating committee further says :—
“In several other important particulars, such as the dis-
tribution of annuity goods, money, cattle, farming utensils, etc.,
and in building houses for the chiefs, and in placing the In~
dians on different lands from those granted them in the trea-
ties, the government had not complied with its treaty obliga-
tions towards the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians. It is
impossible to say that these were or were not the causes that
led 300 Indiansin a body to escape from the Territory and to
return to Dakota. They were doubtless provoking causes to
that hegira, but the Indians were also strongly impelled by a
longing desire to return to their‘ native country, and by a
feeling of disgust towards their new location. * * Truth and
justice require that it should be said that these Indians did
not leave the Indian Territory on a maraud, but only with
the intention of escaping to their former home.
“They went away prepared to fight, but they did not fight
until the United States troops attacked them. Then they
fought with desperation and success.”
In their flight through Kansas, these Indians killed more
than forty men, women and children, and committed other
outrages. They were overtaken and finally surrendered to the
troops in Northern Nebraska, and were taken to Fort Robin-
son and held as prisoners. Here they were informed that it
was the intention of the government to send them back to the
OF THE INDIANS. 35
0
Indian Territory. The Special Commission further reports:
“ that they were extremely averse to going back to the Terri-
tory; that it was mid-winter, and they were thinly clad;
that their consent to immediate removal was demanded ; that
the requirement was not complied with; that it was deter-
mined to starve and freeze theminto submission; that men,
women and children were accordingly starved for five days,
during which time they were allowed no food, and for three
days no water, and no wood for fires; that their chiefs, Wild
Hog and Crow, were enticed into the quarters of the com-
manding officer of the fort, on a pretense of having a talk
with them; that they were seized and shackled; that Wild
Hog, in an attempt to take his own life, wounded one or more
of the soldiers around him with his knife; that during the
night of that day, the 9th of January, 1879, the Indians in
the barracks broke through the guards, killing two of them,
and made an attempt to reach the hills; that men, women
and children were killed, until only a few remained alive.”
Of these 148 Indians, about 100 were killed. The Com-
mission further states: “The massacre was in every sense
discreditable, and was without justification, except that it re-
sulted from orders given at‘a great distance from the scene of
action, and the orders were imperative that the Indians should
be then removed. The weather was then of extreme severity.
The process of starving and freezing women and children, in
order to compel men into obedience, is not justifiable in the
eyes of civilized men. The outbreak was a most daring and
desperate choice of alternatives, which the Indians expressed
in the following language, ‘ \Ve have got to die, but we will
not die here like dogs; we will die on the prairie; we will die
fighting.’ ”
THE UTE WAR or 1879.
A principal cause of the war with the Utes in 1879, was the
flagrant disregard of treaty stipulations by the intrusion of
36 AN ADDRESS on BEHALF
white persons on their lands. Before the United States en-
tered into definite treaty relations with them, the Ute Indians
roamed over a vast country embraced in western Colorado,
eastern Utah, northern New Mexico and Arizona, and south—
ern \Vyoming. In 1868 a treaty was made with them by
which it was agreed that a district in western Colorado “shall
be, and the same is hereby set apart for the absolute and un-
disturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named,
and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians, as
from time to time they may be willing, with the consent of the
United States, to admit among them, and the United States
now solemnly agree that no persons except those herein au-
thorized so to do, and except such oflicers, agents and em—
ployés of the government as may be authorized to enter upon
Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law,
shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon or reside in
the territory described in this article, except as herein other-
wise provided.” This treaty also provided for the arrest and
punishment of bad men among the whites and bad men among
the Indians for wrongs done by them; for the payment of
annuities; and for other beneficial acts in consideration of the
relinquishment by the Indians of their claims to an extensive
territory.
George W. Manypenny, who was chairman of a Commission
to the Utes in 1880, thus narrates subsequent events in their
history : “ This treaty was not ratified and proclaimed until
November 6, 1868, and hence during that year no specific ap-
propriations were made to carry its provisions into effect. On
the 8th of June, 1869, Gov. Hunt called the attention of the
Indian office to this fact, and said that in many year’s experi-
ence among Indian tribes he ‘found delays the most fruitful of
all causes which engendered War. An Indian * ’“ cannot
comprehend why the oflicers of a government in the posses~
sion of unlimited wealth cannot be as prompt as a poor
*“ Our Indian Wards,” p. 397, &c.
or THE INDIANS. 37
untutored native; nor can this failure so often repeated, be
explained satisfactorily to him.’”
“ Notwithstanding the pledge of the government in the
treaty of 1868, that no person should settle in the Ute reserva-
tion, miners gradually entered it on prospecting tours, and in
time they began to locate and work the mines. Gov. McCook
[who was also ex—officio Superintendent of Indian Affairs in
Colorado,] had expressed the opinion that every American
should be allowed to go freely and without hindrance on the
soil where our flag floated, and hence these trespassels had
nothing to fear from him, and as time passed they increased
in numbers.”
“ In the spring of 1872, Congress authorized the Secretary
of the Interior to enter into negotiations with the Utes for the
extinguishment of their title to the southern part of their res-
ervation, which was then overrun by miners and ranchmen.”
“The Indians were averse to selling any portion of the re-
servation, and urged that the intruders should be removed.”
These negotiations ended without accomplishing their object,
but another Commission in 1873, succeeded in inducing the
Indians to relinquish about 4,000,000 acres of their reservation
in which valuable mines had been discovered, for an annual
payment to them of $25,000 by the United States.
“ It was stipulated in the agreement, that all the provisions
of the treaty of 1868, should be, and remain, in full force and
effect; and the pledge in that treaty, that no person, except
officers and agents of the government, and other persons
authorized by law, should ever be permitted to pass over, set-
tle upon, or reside on the Ute reservation, was expressly re-
aflirmed.” .
“With the surrender of the portion of the Ute reservation
obtained by the Brunot agreement of [1873,] the Indians had
a right to, and did expect that they would be relieved from any
further inroads; that, having given up the mining territory,
they would be protected in what was termed the agricultural
38 AN ADDRESS 0}: BEHALF
lands. But this was a delusion. The grazing country was
just as much coveted as the mineral, and ‘ranchmen’ intruded
to prospect for good locations, where they could herd and
graze stock, some of whom now occupy the valley with their
ranches”
“ To say that there has been no violence or disorder among
the Utes since they came under treaty relations in 1868, would
be to place them in moral conduct above any society in the
United States. To say that they have been remarkably or-
derly and pacific, is simply to do them justice. There is an
almost unbroken chain of evidence in their behalf in the re-
ports of the agents.”
The Board of Indian Commissioners in their report for
1879, bear testimony to the general peaceable character of the
Utes, and state the following facts in relation to the encounter
with the United States troops, which led to the subsequent
dispersion of the Indians and the loss of the greater part of
their reservation.
* “Though hitherto friendly and peaceable, they had, for
many months previous to the outbreak, been discontented and
restless, showing a determined opposition to the adoption of
civilized modes of life. Their reservation had been encroached
upon by miners and settlers in direct violation of treaty stipu-
lations, and they had heard with anxious forebodings the
declaration of the Governor of Colorado, reiterated with em-
phasis by the western press, that the ‘Utes must go.’ Con-
versant as these Indians are with the treatment of their race
by the whites in the past, it is not strange that they interpreted
this ominous threat to mean confiscation of their lands and
homes, to satisfy the insatiable greed of the white man.
“ During this excited condition of the tribe, sullen and irri-
tated by the encroachments of whites and the urgent demands
of the government, to enlarge the area. of cultivation, (they
believing that the land when plowed would cease to be their
*Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 187 9, p. 9.
or THE INDIANs. 39
.pr0perty,) the report suddenly comes that an armed force is
rapidly marching to the agency—a force too large and war-like
to justify any pretence that its errand was one of peace.
“The Indians see no other object for sending an army
against them but that of executing the threat of the Governor.
Councils are called and the agent is requested to despatch a
‘courier to invite Major Thornburg and the oflicer in command
of the troops to send a delegation of five officers to the agency
for a peaceful settlement of the difficulty, leaving the soldiers
where they were.
“ The courier returns and reports that the troops were mak-
ing forced marches toward the agency, and armed resistance
is immediately determined upon. The Indians give battle in
.a furious attack upon the advancing forces, and the brave
Major Thornburg, and twelve of his command were slain.
Believing the agent to be jointly responsible for the attack, in
their fury and desperation the Indians enter upon an indis-
criminate massacre of himself and employés, seven of whom
fall victims to the fi'enzy of the savage foe.”
“As soon as the news of the outbreak reached the ears of
the citizens of Colorado, the wildest and most exaggerated
rumors were circulated and the government was called upon
to commence at once a war of extermination.
“ The administration, unmoved by these appeals, determined
to try the virtue of a peace policy, and appointed a special
Commission to ascertain the guilty parties who participated in
the massacre, with a view of bringing them to justice, thus
avoiding if possible a general Indian war. In this under-
taking Chief Ouray co-operated to the utmost of his ability.”
In consequence of these efforts a number of their principal
men came to Washington, and entered into an agreement for
the surrender of the parties implicated in the murder of the
agent and the employés of the agency, and also for the cession
of a large part of the reservation, stated to contain 12,000,000
of acres, and for the removal of three of their bands to differ-
40 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
ent localities, where they were to hold their land in severalty.
In consideration of which the United States agreed to increase
their annuities, establish and maintain schools, &c. This agree-
ment was not to be binding upon the Indians until ratified by
three-fourths of the adult male members of the tribe.
A commission was appointed to secure the ratification of
this agreement by the Indians, and execute the provisions of
the same. This was successfully accomplished. In the report"<
of this Commission, dated “January 20th, 1881,” they bear the
following testimony to the general character of these Indians:
“The reports of the agents among the Ute Indians made from
year to year since our first treaty relations with them bear evi-
dence of their orderly disposition and desire to avoid complica-
tions and conflicts with the white people. Some of them, it is.
true, committed deeds of violence deeply to be deplored. In
such cases, and they are but few, a careful investigation of sur-
rounding circumstances will show that the Indians were in—
spired by events that aroused their savage passions, and led
them to commit the crimes referred to. In‘iour intercourse with-
them for several months during the past summer and fall we can
without hesitation confirm all that their agents have said in
relation to their disposition and general good conduct.”
One of the members of that Commission, Alfred B. Meacham,.
has given the following account of an event attending the close
of their labors with the Un compahgre band of the Utes: T“ Now
came the great trial of their lives for the Utes, leaving their
homes and their dead. The scenes that transpired in this con-
nection beggar description. \Vhile the Indian man is ap-
parently stoical and indifferent, the women are not so. The-
latter are demonstrative and give vent to their emotions. No
people have deeper feelings than the Indians. The Commis—
sion did not order the Utes to move, but turned over the painful
duty to General McKenzie, U. S. A., commanding canton~
*Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for 1881, p. 201.
TT/ae Coumcil Fire, Vol. IV., p. 163.
on THE INDIANs. 41
ment on the Uncompahgre. The general summoned the chiefs
and head men and announced that they must go. He gave
them until the following morning to decide whether they
would go peaceably, at the same time telling them that if
they refused he would compel their removal with the bayonet.
“At the time appointed the Utes informed him of their
decision to start without military interference. Meanwhile
the impatient settlers had gathered along the reservation line
waiting for the Indians to make a start. It required more show
of authority to restrain the white men than to impel the Utes
to move. The latter collected their stock, tore down their
lodges and slowly departed, leaving the ground warm with
farewell kisses and dampened with their tears. One who was
a witness of this sad scene says:
“‘It would be impossible to convey an idea of the grief
of these poor squaws when they bade their children kiss the
ground amid the wild lamentations and cries of anguish too
great for utterance.’ As the clouds of dust, raised by the tramp
of fifteen thousand head of Indian cattle, sheep, goats and
horses, rose up over the valley of the Uncompahgre to the
westward, another cloud of almost as great dimensions rose
from the rushing thousands of settlers, who would not wait
until the Indian was out of sight before coming to possess his
home.”
WARs WITH THE APACHE INDIANs AND THE OUTBREAKS
OF 1881 AND 1882.
The Apaches have of late been regarded as a peculiarly
savage and intractable tribe, yet for several years after the
first establishment of treaty stipulations with them, they were
friendly and peaceable. An act of treachery committed by a
party of white men by which a number of their men, women
and children were murdered in cold blood led to acts of re-
venge, and a war ensued, attended with great cruelty on both
sides, which continued for several years.
42 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
.0...
.I.
...
‘O...
In 1853 a treaty was made with the Comanche, Kiowa and
Apache Indians, in which it was declared that peace, friend-
ship and amity shall hereafter exist between the parties of this
treaty; and the United States “bind themselves in considera-
tion of the covenants contained in the preceding articles of
this treaty, to protect and defend the Indian: tribes, parties
hereto, against the committal of any depredations upon them,
and in their territories, by the people of the United States,
for and during the term for which this treaty shall be in force,
and to compensate them for any injuries that may result
therefrom.”
For several years after this treaty these Indians lived in
friendly relations with the whites, until by an act of treachery
a party of their principal men, with women and children,
was murdered by a band of trappers upon the headwaters of
the Gila River; upon which the Indians retaliated by killing
a company of unsuspecting white men ; and a war began which
lasted seyeral years. General Carleton, commanding the
United States troops in New Mexico, early gave orders that
*“ There is to be no council held with the Indians, nor any
talks; the men are to be slain whenever and wherever they
can be found :” and by a course of unrelenting severity incul-
cated the idea that these Indians were to be indiscriminately
destroyed. Acting in accordance with these instructions and
with the intention of driving the Indians from the mountainous
district where the precious metals had been discovered, some
of the citizens of Arizona united with the military in this
inhuman treatment of the aborigines.
Vincent Colyer, one of the Board of Indian Commissioners,
in his report made in 1871, after recounting several incidents
of like character, continues: T “ More recently the massacre at
Camp Grant has shocked all Christendom, wherein 118 we-
men and children and 8 men were killed in cold blood by
*Report of the Condition of the Indian Tribes, 1867, p. 99.
TRcport of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1871, p. 35.
OF THE INDIANS. 43
white people of Tucson and their Papago allies, while they
were sleeping in confidence under the ‘protection’ of the
American flag ‘as prisoners of war.’ Events like these and
many others would seem to be quite sufficient to have made
these Apaches the ‘ blood-thirsty and relentless savages’ they
are now reported to be.”
He also states: “This report shows plainly that, accord-
ing to the records of the Indian Department, the Apache In-
dians were the friends of the Americans when they first knew
them; that they have always desired peace with them, and
when placed upon reservations in 1858 and 1859 were indus-
trious, intelligent, and made rapid progress in the arts of civil-
ization‘, that their ill will and constant war with the Mexicans
arose from the fact that the Mexicans denied them any rights
to the soil as original occupants, and waged a war of exter-
mination against them; that the peaceable relations of the
Apaches with the Americans continued until the latter
adopted the Mexican theory of ‘extermination,’ and by acts
of inhuman treachery and cruelty made them our implacable
foes: that this policy has resulted in a war which, in the last
ten years, has cost us a thousand lives and over forty millions
of dollars; * * * that the present war will cost the people
of the United States between three and four millions of dollars
this year; that these Indians still beg for peace, and all of
them can be placed on reservations and fed at an expense of
less than half a million of dollars a year, without the loss of a
life. _ ‘l -
“ On representing these facts to the President [Grant,] Com-
missioner Colyer was directed to proceed to New Mexico and
Arizona, and there take such measures ‘as he deemed wisest to
locate these Apache Indians upon suitable reservations, feed,
clothe, and otherwise care for them; and the President in-
structed the ‘Var Department to co-operate with the Commis-
sioner.”
On the return of the Commissioner to Washington, arrange—
44 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
ments were made for the protection and subsistence of these
Indians upon reservations, and directions given for their per-
manent residence.
The Board of Indian Commissioners in their report for 1878
refer “ to a few straggling bands of Apaches,” who had been
hostile during that year. ,
In their report for 1875, they state ; in reference to the gen-
eral results of the peace policy: “During the past year
there has been no organized act of hostility_,by any tribe or
band of Indians, the most of them having remained quietly
on their reservations, and having manifested a disposition to
comply with the requirements of the government.”
“The improvement in these respects, especially among the
wilder tribes, is as conspicuous as it is gratifying, and denotes
that the policy which has been pursued has been generallyr
satisfactory to the Indians, and salutary in its influences upon
them.”
“In like manner the Apaches of Arizona have remained
quietly upon their reservations, and have abstained from dep-
redations, with the result that during the past year travel
among them has been as safe as in any other territory.”
In 1881, an outbreak occurred among the Apaches in Ari-
zona, which appeared to have been caused by several aggra-
vating circumstances, but was precipitated by an event which
is thus described by Robert Frazer in a report made by him
to the Indian Rights Association of Philadelphia, of his visit
to the Apaches of the White Mountain reservation in 1884:
“ In 1881 there lived among the Apaches, near Fort Apache,
a medicine man named Ba-ka-dy-kli-né, who had great in-
fluence with them. This man held a medicine dance at
Apache and one on the Cibicu Creek, the object of which was to
bring rain. For some reason he had come under suspicion of
the authorities, and fearing probably, that he was plotting
treason, orders were issued to arrest him. A detachment was
, *Report of the Board of Indian Commissioners for 1875, p. 1.
i. ‘I
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or THE INDIANS 45
sent out and the arrest effected without resistance or difficulty,
by the Indian scouts themselves, notwithstanding the fact that
suspicion of their fidelity had already been exhibited by com-
pelling them to go for a time without arms.
“Ba-ka-dy-kli-né was brought to the camp on the Cibicu.
Then, as I was told by an Indian, who had been present,
named Iton, now just released from confinement in the mili-
tary prison in Alcatraz in consequence of this affair, he was
set down by the fire. The neighboring Indians naturally
crowded around through curiosity. They were ordered to go
away, and at the order, a soldier fired twice at the medicine
man, killing him. At this the scouts fired on the soldiers, and
jumped into the bush.
“Captain Hentig was killed in this melancholy affair,
which was the beginning of war. Some fifty Indians were
seized, ironed two by two, and taken to Fort Thomas. The
Indians retaliated by raids beyond the reservation, and down
to the close of 1882 remained in open hostility to the whites.”
The cause of a subsequent outbreak with another band of
these Indians is thus stated by Robert Frazer: “ The Chiri-
cahuas were moved from the reservation in the Chiricahua
Mountains to the hot and rather unhealthful agency on the
Gila River, fifteen miles above San Carlos. The change was
not agreeable to them, and the accidental killing of one of
their women in the attempt to make an .arrest among them
became the immediate occasion of the outbreak of 1882.”
THE SIoUx WAR or 1890.
The recent hostilities with the Sioux may be traced to a
combination of circumstances.
After several ineffectual attempts to obtain from them the
cession of 11,000,000 acres of their reservation, a Commission
was appointed in 1889 by President Harrison to present to
these Indians for their acceptance, an agreement for the sale
46 AN ADDRESS ON BEHALF
of these lands. The price and other terms of this agreement.
were specified in an Act of Congress, “ approved March
2nd, 1889, entitled ‘An act to divide a portion of the re-
servation of the Sioux nation in Dakota into separate reserva-
tions, and to secure the relinquishment of the Indian title to
the remainder, and for other purposes,’ and it was provided
that it should not be binding unless the consent was obtained
of three-fourths of the male members of the tribe. This Com-
mission reported on the 24th of Twelfth Month, 1889, to the
President, that they had secured the consent of three-fourths
of the adult Indians to the terms of this act, evidenced by
their signatures.
On the 10th of Second Month, 1890, the President trans-
mitted this report to Congress, together with a message, in
which he states: “ At the outset of the negotiations, the
Commission was confronted by certain questions as to the in-
terpretation and effect of the act of Congress which they were
presenting for the acceptance of the Indians. Upon two
or three points of some importance the Commission gave, in
response to these inquiries, an interpretation to the law, and
it was the law thus explained to them that was accepted by
the Indians. The Commissioners had no power to bind Con-
gress or the executive by their construction of a statute, but
they were the agents of the United States, first to submit a
definite proposition. for the acceptance of the Indians, and,
that failing, to agree upon modified terms, to be submitted to
Congress for ratification. They were dealing with an ignorant
and suspicious people, and an explanation of the terms, and
effect of the offer submitted could not be avoided. Good faith
demands that if the United States expects the lands ceded, the
beneficial construction of the act given by our agents should be
also admitted and observed.”
Before any action of Congress in reference to this communi-
cation could take place, the President, on the same day, Second
*Senate Ex. Doc. No. 51. 51st Congress, 1st Sess. p. 1.
or THE INDIANS. 47
Month 10, 1890, issued a proclamation declaring these lands
open for settlement. A stream of white settlers immediately
entered upon the land which the Indians were obliged to wit-
ness, though knowing that the promises made to them by the
Commissioners had not been fulfilled, nor the stipulated money
been paid them.
During the summer of 1889, a large number of the Indians
were absent from their homes attending the conferences with
the Sioux Commissioners regarding the proposed cession of a
part of their reservation.
F. C. Armstrong, a Government inspector, reported in the
Fourth Month, 1890, “This enforced absence caused them to
lose all they had planted, by the Stock breaking in and de-
stroying everything they bad. They have been compelled to
kill their private stock during the winter to keep from starv-
ing.”
At the same time the rations issued to the Indians were
considerably reduced. A certain amount of discretion was
allowed to the government by the former treaties to reduce
the rations, as the Indians “became Self-Supporting,” but in
reference to this subject the Commissioners state in their re-
port: * dated “Dec. 24, 1889,” “ During our conference at the
different agencies we were repeatedly asked whether the ac-
ceptance or rejection of the act of Congress would influence
the action of the government with reference to their rations,
and in every instance the Indians were assured that subsist-
ence was furnished in accordance with former treaties, and that
Signing would not affect their rations, and that they would
continue to receive them as provided in former treaties. ‘Vith-
out our assurances to this effect it would have been impossible
to have secured their consent to the cession of their lands.
Since our visit to the agencies it appears that large reductions
have been made in the amounts of beef furnished for issues,
amounting at Rosebud to 2,000,000 pounds, and at Pine Ridge
*Senate Ex. Doc. No. 51. 51st Congress, 1st Sess. p. 23.
~18 AN ADDRESS on BEHALF
to 1,000,000 pounds, and lesser amounts at the other agencies.
This action of the Department, following immediately after
the successful issue of our negotiations, cannot fail to have an
injurious effect. It will be impossible to convince the Indians
that the reduction is not due to the fact that the government,
having obtained their land, has less concern in looking after
their material interests than before. It will be looked upon
as a breach of faith, and especially as a violation of the ex-
press statements of the Commissioners.” '
Owing to dry weather the crops of 1890 were very light,
and the effects of two successive seasons of this character were
serious. Red Cloud states in a letter * dated “Pine Ridge
Agency, South Dakota, December 10th, 1890,” “None of the
treaties made by the government with us since 1868 have been
fairly fulfilled, but our rations have been cut down more and
more every year and former delinquencies were not made
good. The past two seasons have been so dry that we could
raise little or nothing, and the rations were so scant that we
were obliged to kill our own cattle to keep us all from starv-
ing to death.” “In consequence of these hard times many of
my people got weak, and sick from the Want of a proper
quantity of food, 217 of them dying since the fall of last year
from starvation.”
One cause of the reduction in the amount of rations fur-
nished the Sioux is attributable to the dilatory action of Con-
gress in passing the appropriation bills which authorize the
Commissioner of Indian affairs to make the necessary con-
tracts for the purchase of beef and other supplies. This
officer of the government in a communicationi' designed to be
laid before Congress dated “ August 8th, 1890,” thus states the
difficulties and loss to the Indians caused by this delay, and
the need for prompt action.
“The treaty with the Sioux requires that their clothing be
* Congressional Record. 51st Congress, 2d Sess. N o. 17, p. 728.
TCongressional Record, 51st Congress, 2d Sess. N o. 61, p. 2714.
or THE INDIANS. 49
delivered to them ‘ at the agency house on the reservation
herein named, on or before the 1st day of August of each year,
for thirty years,’ a provision which it is impossible to comply
with.
“Since the 1st of July, in order to keep the Indians from
actual want, beef and flour amounting to over $115,000 have
had to be purchased in open market at the lowest obtainable
rates, but these rates were, in many instances, considerably
higher than contract rates, and as the amounts to be appro-
priated have already been fixed, these higher prices will necessi-
tate a reduction in the quantities to be purchased, and may
result in short rations for the Indians.
“ As an example of the loss this delay of the passage of the
Indian appropriation bill entails to the government, I would
state that one of the bids for beef received and accepted by
me was for 1,000,000 pounds at $2.62, ‘ delivery to be made
in August,’ but the delay in the passage of the Indian bill
will prevent the delivery of the beef. The next lowest bidder
is at $2.7 4, and the contract must be made with this bidder at
a loss to the Indians, on this one transaction, of $1,200.”
In connection with the discontent arising from these causes,
a delusion which appeared some years ago among the Indians
farther west, and had spread to some extent among the Sioux
was now accepted by many. The believers in this doctrine
declared that a Messiah would soon appear to redress their
wrongs and restore prosperity ; their deceased relatives would
return to life; the white man would disappear, etc. The
advocates of these views as originally promulgated taught
that they were to be fulfilled by supernatural and peaceful
means. Suited as these hopes were to the distressed and
almost desparing condition of the Indians, they were eagerly
embraced by many among them, particularly those of the
more ignorant class and those who were opposed to the habits
of civilized life.
In this excitement many among them were encouraged to
50 AN ADDBEss oN BEHALF
believe that they would be invulnerable to the attacks of their
enemies, yet it does not appear that the Indians had any de—
liberate purpose to commence hostilities against the whites.
General Ruger who made a personal investigation of the
condition of the Sioux at the direction of the President, re-
ported under date of “November 26, 1890,” in reference to
the Cheyenne and Standing Rock reservations, that, “There
was no evidence direct, nor fact from which inference might
be drawn, that there was an intent by the Indians concerned
in the dances on either reservation to become hostile, but the
opinion of the best and most intelligent Indians was, if the
matter should be allowed to go on without check, that trouble
would come; also that those concerned in originating the ex-
citement should be arrested.”
Yielding, however, to the demands which had been made by
white persons in and near the reservations who had become
alarmed for their personal safety, the President on the 13th
of Eleventh Month, 1890, placed the matter in the hands of
the military ofiicers of the government. Troops were imme-
diately sent.
The chief conflict which took place arose from an attempt to
disarm a party of Indians, and is thus described by Elaine
Goodale, the Superintendent of Indian education at Pine
Ridge Agency, under date of “ January 12th,” [1891,]1' “The
testimony of the survivors of Big Foot’s band is unanimous
on one important point, namely, that the Indians did not de-
liberately plan a resistance. The party was not a war party,
according to their statements (which I believe to be true,) but
a party intending to visit the agency at the invitation of Red
Cloud. The Indians say that many of the men were unarmed.
When they met the troops they anticipated no trouble. There
was constant friendly intercourse between the soldiers and the
*Senate Ex. Doc. No. 2. 51st Congress, 2d Sess. p. 10.
TCongressional Record. 51st Congress, 2d Sess. No. 47, p. 2009.
on THE INDIANS. 51
Indians, even women shaking hands with the officers and
men.
“The demand for their arms was a surprise to the Indians,
but the great majority of them chose to Submit quietly. The
tepees had already been searched and a large number of guns,
knives, and hatchets confiscated, when the searching of the per-
sons of the men was begun. The women say that they, too,
were Searched, and their knives (which they always carry for
domestic purposes) taken from them. A number of the men
had surrendered their rifles and cartridge belts, when one
young man (who is described by the Indians as a good-for-
nothing young fellow,) fired a single shot. This called forth
a volley from the troops, and the firing and confusion became
general.
“I do not credit the statement which has been made by
some that the women carried arms and participated actively in
the fight. The weight of testimony is overwhelmingly against
this supposition. There may have been one or two isolated
cases of this kind, but there is no doubt that the great majority
of the women and children, as well as many unarmed men and
youths, had no thought of anything but flight. They were
pursued up the ravines and shot down indiscriminately by the
soldiers.” “The killing of the women and children was in.part
unavoidable, owing to the confusion, but I think there is no
doubt that it was in many cases deliberate and intentional."
“The party of scouts who buried the dead reports 84 bodies
of men and boys, 44 of women, and 18 of young children.
Some were carried off by the hostiles. A number of prisoners
chiefly women have since died of their wounds, and more
will soon follow.”
Preceding each of the outbreaks above referred to, it is to
be observed that feelings of distrust and animosity had long
prevailed, arising from the encroachments of the whites upon
the lands of the Indians, and in some cases by the violations
of other agreements respecting the supplies of provisions and
52 AN ADDRESS ox BEHALF
clothing promised by the United States in consideration of the
relinquishment of extensive territories. In one case we may
see much dissatisfaction arose from the evil effects of intoxi-
cating drinks, which, first introduced by the white man, has
been declared by a Commissioner of Indian Affairs to have
been “the one great curse of the Indian country, the prolific
source of disorder, tumult, crime and disease.”
It is also apparent from this brief review that the responsi-
bility for these occurrences does not rest upon any one depart-
ment of the government, but that a disregard of the rights of
the Indians on the part of private individuals, executive offi-
cers, and by Congress itself has largely contributed to these
results.
In order to prevent the recurrence of such events as we
have been considering, is it not incumbent upon the nation
that the salutary enactments and stipulations already in force
for the benefit of the Indians should be more faithfully ob-
served; and that such other measures be adopted as will
secure them in the occupancy of their homes and lands, pro-
tect them in person and life, and by a more general system of
education in school learning and industrial arts, adapted to
the varying condition of different tribes, promote their ad-
vancement in the arts of civilization?
During their transition from nomadic habits to those of
civilized life, these “wards of the nation” require special
protection and care. With this object in view it seems need-
ful and right that the general government should be repre-
sented upon the various reservations by an official, clothed
with large administrative and executive powers. It is there-
fore of the first importance that these‘appointments be made,
only upon receiving the most satisfactory evidence of fitness
for the service. When it is considered that the duties of an
Indian agent require the careful disbursement of large sums
of money, he must needs be a man of tried integrity, as well
as business ability. Being often called upon to decide nice
or THE INDIANS. 53
questions of justice, he must possess a quickness of perception
as to the rights of all parties concerned, that will enable him
to settle differences fairly and wisely. Since the Indian is to
be trained in habits of industry and thrift, no little sympathy,
tact, and patience are needed in leading him out of his own
desultory methods, and natural disinclination to accept the
white man’s way. In all his intercourse, not only with his
dependent charge, but with those of our own people by whom
he is surrounded, the agent should be able to gain the esteem
and confidence of both races. Such qualities it may not be
easy to find combined, but happily they do exist, and should
be among the requisites for this very responsible and im-
portant post. On the other hand, the salary attached to
the office should be commensurate with the large degree of
responsibility and self'sacrifice involved in a faithful discharge
of its duties. Where the needed qualifications are in good
measure found, the appointment should be made, without re
gard to mere partisan considerations, and when his worth has
been duly tested, the incumbent should be retained in office,
without fear of removal upon every change of administration.
With upright, kindly and capable men as agents, and a mag-
nanimous, straightforward course steadily maintained by our
government, we feel sure that the rapid advancement of the
Indian would astonish those who may now be disposed to be-
little or malign him.
Thus shielded from the designs of grasping and avaricious
men, encouraged by the unwavering friendship of the gov-
ernment, and assisted in the development of those powers by
which they might enter into successful competition with the
surrounding whites, we may reasonably expect the aborigines
to contribute in a far greater degree than they have yet done
toward the general prosperity of our common country, while
sharing with us in its benefits.
The policy has recently been adopted of allotting the lands
of the Indians to be held in severalty, at the discretion of
04 '1
AN ADDRESS oN BEHALF
the President of the United States, and disposing of the
remainder of their reservations at public sale, without the
necessity of previously obtaining the consent of the majority
of the Indians occupying them. This course which is intended
to secure to the Indians the powerful incentive to industry
growing out of individual ownership, also opens a door by
which some tribes may be divested of a large portion of their
landed possessions without their consent, and be forced into
altered conditions for which they are unprepared. In order to
realize beneficial results for the Indians, it will therefore re-
quire the exercise of a wise and discriminating judgment in
the application of this system to different communities, as
also the sympathy and help of those among the white settlers
with whom as neighbors, the individual Indian will henceforth
be brought into new relations and even close competition in
his efforts to earn a livelihood.
The acquisition of large portions of Indian reservations by
purchase, and the subsequent settlement of them by whites,
must also bring the two races into still closer contact; and
measures suited for the protection and encouragement of a
people emerging from a lower form of civilization, will become
necessary if the changes now taking place in their condition are
to result to their improvement and permanent welfare.
The wars which have occurred during the last twenty years
though involving a comparatively small number of Indians
in the aggregate; are shown by the statistics to have been
enormously expensive, the expenditure on this account for
ten years alone from 1872 to 1882, having been, as stated in
offieial documents, $202,994,506.* Since the organization
of the government in 1776 to Sixth Month 30th, 1886, its
disbursements 011 account of the Indians are estimated to have
been upwards of $929,000,000: of which $696,339,277, or
more than two-thirds of the whole amount have been charge-
able to wars with them and expenses incident theretot
*Senate Ex. Doc. N o. 123. 47th Congress, 1st Sess.
J[Smithsonian Report for 1885. Part II., p. 881.
or THE INDIANS. 50
r
These statements are in striking contrast with the fact, that
in the early settlement of Pennsylvania, friendly relations
with the natives were established by a course of justice and
kindness, in obedience to what we believe are the commands
of our Saviour and his apostles, and maintained for upwards
of seventy years without the existence of a military force,
while neighboring colonies, trusting to an armed defence for
their protection, were involved in frequent and desolating
wars with the native tribes.
Although considerations of sound economy alone would
point out the propriety of observing strict justice and kindness
in dealing with these people, the obligations of morality and
religion furnish still stronger incentives to such a course. Es-
pecially would we appeal to those who, having known some-
thing in their own experience of that love in which Jesus
Christ laid down his life for all mankind, are able to recognize
in the Indian an object of his redeeming mercy. The influ-
ence of such as these in the community, the spreading of
correct views in regard to the numerous tribes, and the treat-
ing of the various questions which arise touching the conditions
of the Indians, in accordance with Christian sentiments and
that forbearance toward them in their uncultured state which
such sentiments inspire; we believe would under the Divine
blessing rapidly tend to diminish the prejudices which have
warped the judgment of many respecting the policy which
ought to be pursued toward them, and infuse into the conduct
of the government and of individuals that consideration
which is becoming a powerful nation when dealing with a
dependent people.
The Indian judges of men by their actions rather than
words, and were the intercourse of our people and government
with him marked by those qualities which characterize the
benign religion we profess, we believe the day could not be
distant when its blessed effects would accord with the angelic
anthem by which it was ushered in :——-“ Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good~will toward men.”