History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 140

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198

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THE YANKTONS AS MECHANICS

In mechanical industries not a great deal was looked for from the Indians. Those best acquainted with Indian character and best qualified to pronounce upon the kind of employment best suited to his nature and genius, recommended outdoor employments-the rearing of livestock first, which it was expected he would excel in, and along with it the growing of grain. It was therefore a mat- ter that evoked considerable surprise and favorable comment when the territorial fair was opened at Yankton early in October. 1877, to find an exhibit there of staple useful articles wholly manufactured by the Indians of the Yankton Tribe.

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It consisted of serviceable wagons, woolen fabrics, tin ware, ornamental bead and porcupine work, in quantity, together with grain and vegetables. The wheels and tongue of the wagons were the products of Indian genius as well as the parts requiring less skillful labor. Wheelbarrows were also shown of their own manufacture. Their woolen fabrics spun and woven at the Yankton Agency from wool of sheep sent to them by Indian Commissioner Smith a few years earlier and a flock themselves had raised, were well made up, were strong and serviecable, and many of them handsome in design. They were equal in quality and by many thought superior to the woolen goods furnished by the Government. The tin ware was pronounced equal in quality to any shown at the fair, and the woolen articles had no competitors made in the territory. In addition to pre- miums the red men and women received many congratulatory testimonials.

TRANSFER OF INDIAN BUREAU BEFORE CONGRESS

Congress had, at the session of 1878-79 and later, a joint committee, which had under consideration the transfer of the Indian bureau to the war depart- ment, and there was a fair prospect that it would succeed. Sheridan and Sherman were making strenuous efforts to effect it, and were backed by nearly all the military influence in Dakota, especially General Gibbons, who was then in com- mand of the Dakota military district. The Crow Creek troubles were calculated to aid the transfer of the bureau as showing rascality under the interior department.

And about this time (Congress having just met, December, 1878), General Sherman filed an official communication with the Senate committee regarding the Indian situation in Dakota, in which he spoke disparagingly of Red Cloud and Spotted Tail affairs, and said:

It requires no prophet to foresee more wars near at hand, especially with the Sioux on the Upper Niobrara. The present Indian agents with these tribes, and also with the others on the Missouri River, at the Lower Brule, Cheyenne, Standing Rock and Fort Peck, are utterly and ridiculously powerless to keep their Indians peaceable, without the aid of the army. To me it is a matter of demonstration that for the present time, and for years to come, the Indian burean itself, without the help of the army, cannot maintain in peace the larger tribes of the Indians, and peace is essential to enable the white emigrants to fill up the country.

General Gibbons, commanding the District of Dakota, in his report to the general of the army, commenting rather satirically upon the religious denomi- nation control of the Indians, said :

The average Indian agent, intent upon the spiritual welfare of the red man, desirons of elevating the soul and achieving what has never yet been reached in a single generation making a civilized man of him-but too frequently neglects his bodily wants, and while the agent is preparing him for heaven, as he thinks, is actually making a hell for him upon earth by leaving him unclothed and unfed, while but too frequently the price of his ch thing and food is put into the agent's pocket.

The removal of the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Indian agencies from the Missouri River to Rosebud, and White Clay Creek, displeased General Sher- man, who was then in command of the army, and also General Sheridan, then in command of the great and important Division of the Missouri, wherein were located all the troublesome Indians. The generals laid the responsibility of the removal upon the interior department in charge of Hon. Carl Schurz, and the occasion gave rise to a newspaper controversy in which the generals and the sec- retary of the interior, appeared as principals and champions, and gave an illus- tration, though not a definite answer, to the proverb, that "the pen is mightier than the sword."

The military people had not abandoned the hope of securing a transfer of this Indian bureau. A pen and ink contest had been waging eloquently and aggressively for nearly twenty years. The misfortunes which had been incident dl

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to the administration of Secretary Schurz, and his active representative com- missioner of Indian affairs, Mr. Ilayt, gave the military people an advantage which they did not fail to improve; and Congress was prevailed upon to raise a joint committee from members of the Senate and House to investigate the transfer question.

The Ilouse members of this committee made a long report, in which it was stated :

The history of the governmental management of Indians, and the treatment which the Indians had received from the Government, was a shame and a mortification to all right- thinking and liberal-minded men. A proper solution of the Indian problem is pressing itself more strongly upon publie attention every year, and is demanding the immediate attention of Congress, and cannot, with either safety to the Indians, or the honor of the Government, be longer delayed. Fraud and mismanagement are notoriously conspicuous in the Indian service: and we believe the interests of the Government and the good of the Indians will be best promoted by transferring the management of Indian affairs to the war department, leaving it discretionary with the secretary of war to appoint civil agents to those agencies which, in his judgment, the interest of all concerned will be best secured by such agent, and officers of the army where the interests of the service require it.

This indicates a remarkable change in the sentiment of Congress during the Hayes administration, but it did not reflect the majority sentiment, and was in direct conflict with the theory of the peace policy or industrial policy, which had made an encouraging beginning and was making progress.

The present occasion which brought this matter again before the country, was the removal of the Dakota Indians above referred to. The military people were strongly opposed to this step, and it was in direct contradiction of the terms of the Black Hills agreement in 1876, and also of the Sherman Treaty of 1868, which provided that all supplies for the Indians should be delivered to them at points on the Missouri River. It is easily seen that there was a great saving of transportation charges by this arrangement. Steamboats could carry the In- dian supplies to depots on the river, where the Indians could receive them. On the other hand, with the receiving depots in the interior, there would be a long railway haul from Omaha, over the Union Pacific to Sydney, Neb., thence by wagons to the depots; and it was asserted that the cost of this transportation doubled the cost of the goods.

The Missouri and Yellowstone rivers were also the strategie base of mili- tary operations, and the construction of the substantial forts required, and tem- porary camps could be proceeded with in a systematic and comparatively economi- cal manner, a feature of military administration which received the closet scrutiny of the generals. for it was only by the most persistent and earnest persuasion that they were able to get from Congress the appropriations needed to buikl posts and maintain the defenses on the western frontier. The cost of a first class fort, in some cases reached as high as a quarter of a million dollars for a good fort was a good-sized village in magnitude, and necessarily substantial. Sheridan said, after the Custer massacre, that "If he could have had the money to build two forts on the Yellowstone, that awful tragedy would not have occurred."

This question of expensive transportation, and the military base on the rivers, were strong points in the claims of the war department. General Sheridan had stated in one of his letters that Red Cloud and Spotted Tail had been allowed to select their agencies in the interior owing to a systematic working up of the case by traders and contractors.

Schurz retaliated by stating that the "policy was adopted by his department on the earnest advice of the distinguished Indian fighter and manager. General Crook, who, as a result of long experience with the Sionx, opposed any policy that would force the Indians, against their unanimous and determined protest, to stay on the Missouri River, as seriously endangering our peaceful relations with those powerful tribes." Secretary Schurz evidently overlooked the fact that

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up to the last moment, he had, through the protest of the Commissioner of In- dian Affairs Hayt, opposed the removal, and Spotted Tail defiantly informed Mr. Hayt that he would burn the buildings on the Missouri River, if any obstruction were placed in the way of removal.

AAs this matter was understood by Dakotans, this location of the Indian agencies was not governed altogether by motives of economy, and the wishes of the great majority of the Indians were not considered. The chiefs assumed that they knew best what was most advantageous for the Indians and were not ac- customed to consult their people in order to ascertain their sentiment. The great mass of the Indians at that time were not well informed on any matter affecting their welfare as the Government was endeavoring to promote it. It is altogether probable that the transportation companies were also interested- the steamboat people, backed by the Indian Rights Association, favoring the water route. Red Cloud, who was at Pine Ridge or in that vicinity where he was located in the interior, was 198 miles from the Missouri River. He was friendly to the Union Pacific and Omaha, where the opposition to the Missouri route was quite pronounced, and where General Crook, who is quoted by Secretary Schurz, had his headquarters, he being at the time in command of the department of the Platte.

This removal furnished an opportunity for urging a transfer of the Indian management to the war department. and though the transfer appeared to halt with the friendly report of the House committee, the army for a number of years was maintained in the territory, and detachments of troops were sta- tioned in camps or temporary posts, at convenient distances from the agencies. Among the people of Dakota who were interested in the proposition, it was hekl that the Missouri River offered the most economical route for the Indian busi- ness, taking into consideration the fact that the supplies for the military must come by that route, and frequently the same vessel that brought supplies for the troops carried possibly an equal or greater amount for the Indians. But the opinion was quite pronounced among the people that the settlement of the Mis- souri Valley and its safety from depredations by lawless redmen, would be best assured by the location of the Indians at interior points, to be furnished with their supplies from depots located on the river, by wagon trains operated by Indian labor. This plan was the one finally adopted, in part.

The Indians, as a matter of course, were irreconcilable opposed to being transferred to the war department. The day had passed when the wishes of the Indians were not taken into consideration by the Government. It appeared that as the officers of the Government became more intimately acquainted with the nature and intelligence of the Indian, who apparently began to realize the unselfish and continued efforts that were being made in his behalf by the pale- faced people, that distrust and suspicion gave way to confidence, and a senti- ment of friendship gradually developed in the breasts of the untutored savage. Thus familiarity bred respect and confidence.

The growth of improvement was looked upon as unnecessarily tardy, but it was substantial growth nevertheless and fully justified as such by its beneficial and permanent progress and results. It grew as the shapely tree grows, stronger and better, and the worst vices of the savage gradually disappeared. They have 10 abiding place in Dakota.

SHERIDAN'S ATTACKS ON UNNECESSARY EXPENDITURES

In a letter to General Sherman. in November, 1878, General Sheridan calls attention to the prodigious expense the army is put to because of the frequent removal of the Indians by the interior department, from point to point, and ile entire dependency of the Indian bureau upon the army to manage the Indian and maintain peaceful relations. Sheridan's letter is an answer to a communica tion sent by Secretary Schurz to the general of the army, Sherman, and is im

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portant as showing how Government appropriations may be practically wasted by inexperienced officials.

The agency of the Oglala Sioux, ten or twelve years ago (in 1866-68), was at Fort Laramie, an expensive post built to control these Indians. The agency was removed from this post by the Indian bureau to Camp Robinson, on Shadron Creek, to avoid the presence of the military. Shortly after the necessity for a military force compelled that bureau to ask for troops to be sent to Camp Robinson, and a new post was built there at an expense which the general of the army can well comprehend.

The Spotted Tail, or Brule Sioux, were then at the Whetstone agency on the Missouri River, not far from where Fort Randall had been built, to give it and other interests pro- tection, but these Indians were removed to Camp Sheridan, 250 miles farther west, and being unable after a time to get along without troops, a new post had to be established there at great expense. These Indians have been again moved and two more posts established since. They are now at Wounded Knee Creek and Big White Clay, and by and by the necessity of having troops will compel the erection of two new posts at each of these locali- ties. These removals have cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, and no one can tell how soon a new change may be made.

The Indians now at Standing Rock were first located at Grand River, and a military force was requested and Fort Yates was established to help govern them. Soon after they were moved up to Standing Rock, and being unable to do withont troops, the post at Grand River had to be moved there. The post at Fort Sully was established to control the Yank- tonnais and Minneconjoux Sioux, but the agency was moved up the river to get away from it, and in a little while a new post had to be established there. The post at the Lower Brule agency was subjected to and followed the same conditions.

The post at Fort Stevenson was established to control the Gros Ventres, whose agency was at Fort Berthold, and subsequently the Gros Ventres agency was moved up to Old Fort Union, and Fort Berthold had to be established and enlarged in the vicinity; and then the Gros Ventres agency was moved up to Fort Peck, and the troops had to follow there, and then the agency was moved down to Poplar Creek, so that it will be seen that this matter of moving agencies about was well understood. Now these removals, which have absorbed millions of our appropriations in the last ten years, would naturally suggest the inquiry, "What were the reasons that infinenced them?" It could not be to have better soil, or less expenses, because the soil was no better, and the expense of supply was greater.

These changes, and the reports of army officers from the highest to the lowest (and which are to be found in the office of the general of the army), on the subject of bad management, frauds and corruptions, will furnish the best and most reliable evidence to sustain the remark made. In addition, I have had, by visits to agencies and military posts, opportunities to get the views and impressions of people there, and I am led to the conclu- sion that the main causes for these removals was hostility to ariny officers because of their reports, which come in the way of their official duties; and after the removals were made from place to place it was found that the Indians could not be controlled, and troops had to follow; first one company and then a post. During the six and a half years of my service on the Pacific Coast before the war, most of which time I was on Indian reservations, I observed the same jealousies and arising from the same cause.

The changes named are only some of the instances of the expensive conditions attend- ing the administration of Indian affairs which have to be borne by the army, and which cry out loudly for reforms. It can scarcely be possible that the honorable the secretary of the interior, means to take up the defense of Indian management for the last quarter of a century. Then why should he have used language toward me as he has in his com- munication to the honorable secretary of war? There can be no excuse for his want of knowledge on the subject, and that does not excuse the stilted tone and the language used. * ** * I fully understand the relations of the military to the civil administration of the Government, certainly as well as the secretary of the interior, and know nothing in those relations which should prevent me from calling the attention of my superiors to unneces- sary waste of the public money through the bad administration of the Indian bureall.

P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant General United States Army.

SCHURZ EXPLAINS

In his annual report for 1878, submitted November 28, Secretary Schurz presents his opinions of the much mooted management of Indians, which he has formed during his nearly two years inctimbency of the cabinet position which he has held. Reference has already been made to the political party con- ditions existing at the time, which were of a character to induce extraordinary investigations of the doings of the previous administration for the purpose of showing that it had not deserved the confidence and good opinion of the Amer-

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ican people to the extent these had been accorded to it. Both administrations were under republican presidents and cabinets butt the foes of one's own house- hold are proverbially much more uncompromising than foes of a separate household. Hence, it was discovered that Secretary Schurz found affairs in the Indian management in a reprehensible condition. Concerning this division of his department, he says :

The Indian service has been reorganized in several of its branches. It was found necessary to remove a number of agents on account of improper practices or lack of business efficiency, and great care has been taken in filling their places with new men, Where mis- takes were found to have been made in the selections they have been promptly rectified. Important changes have been made in the contract system and methods of accountability. Active supervision has been exercised by inspectors and special agents. Detection of fraud has been followed by vigorous prosecution, and on the whole I feel enabled to say the character of the service has been raised in point of integrity and efficiency. I am, however, far from pretending that the present condition of Indian affairs is what it ought to be. Experience gained in earnest effort to overcome difficulties and correct abuses has enabled me to appreciate more clearly the task still to be accomplished. Gradual improvements can be effected only by patient, energetic and well-directed work in detail. An entirely satis- factory state of things can be brought about only under circumstances which are not and cannot be under control of the Indian service alone.

I. If a recurrence of the Indian trouble is to be avoided, the appropriations made by Congress for the support of the Indians who are not self-supporting must be liberal enough to be sufficient for that purpose, and they must be made early enough in the year to render the purchase and delivery of new supplies possible before the old supplies are exhausted. 2. The Indian service should have at its disposal a sufficient fund to be used with proper accountability, at discretion, in unforeseen circumstances.

3. Citizens of the western states and territories must be made to understand that if the Indians are to cease to be troublesome, the paupers and vagabonds are to become orderty and self-supporting. They must have lands fit for agriculture and pasture; that on such lands they must be permitted to reign and establish permanent homes, and that such result cannot be obtained if the white people insist upon taking from them, by force or trickery, every acre of ground that is good for anything.

The first of two things can be accomplished by appropriate action on the part of Con- gress. The difficulties growing out of the continually reported encroachments by people on the rights of the Indians may be lessened by the concentration of the Indians on a smaller number of reservations.

To keep Indians on their reservation and prevent disturbances and conflicts, the com- missioner of Indian affairs recommends the organization of a mounted hody of Indian police or auxiliaries, to be drawn from the young men of the various tribes, and to be under the command of the military authorities. I heartily concur in this recommendation. It is a matter of general experience that the Indian so employed can be depended upon as to loyal fidelity to the duties assigned him.

The principal end of our Indian policy consists in gradually introducing among the Indians, habits and occupations of civilized life, by inducing them to work for their own support, by encouraging pride of individual ownership of property, and by educating the young generation ; and no efforts should be spared to bring to bear upon them proper moral influences in that direction. Such efforts should not be sneered at as mere sensationil fancies, nor should they be discouraged by the assertion that success is impossible. The advance made by some Indian tribes is sufficient proof that similar advance may be made by others.

The Sioux. so far, have given evidence of a loyal spirit, and rumors current that they were showing a hostile disposition, proved unfounded. Great difficulty was encountered n sending supplies from Missouri River to the new agencies in consequence of the combina- tion of transportation contractors to force the Government to pay exorbitant prices. The bids were rejected and an organization of wagon trains, to be manned by Indians with their ponies, proceeded with their task, which was difficult, owing to the character of the country and the circumstance that the grass had been burnt off the plains between the Missouri River and the new agencies, as rumor has it, by evil disposed persons to bring about a failure of this experiment, but it has so far been unsuccessful.

PRESIDENT HAYES MENTIONS THE TRANSFER

President Hayes, in his message to Congress in December, 1870, states the status of that movement in Congress and his position toward it, in the following brief paragraphs :

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The question whether a change in the control of the Indian service should be made, was in the forty-fifth Congress referred to a joint committee of both houses for inquiry and report. In my last annual message I expressed the hope that the decision of that question, then in prospect, "would arrest further agitation of this subject, such agitation being apt to produce a disturbing effect upon the service, as well as upon the Indians them- selves."" Since then, the committee having reported, the question has been decided in the negative by a vote in the House of Representatives.

For the reasons here stated, and in view of the fact that further uncertainty on this point will be calculated to obstruct other much needed legislation, to weaken the discipline of the service, and to unsettle salutary measures now in progress for the government and improvement of the Indians, I respectfully recommend that the decision arrived at by Congress at its last session, be permitted to stand.

CHAPTER LXV HOSTILE INDIANS ALL SURRENDER 1878-79 (Peace Policy-Concluded )

GENERAL NELSON A. MILES COMMANDING IN THE FIELD-HOSTILES ANXIOUS TO GIVE THEMSELVES UP-GREAT FATHER WOULD ACCEPT UNCONDITIONAL SURREN- DER-INDIANS YIELD TO INEVITABLE NECESSITY-GIVE UP THEIR PONIES AND FIREARMS-SITTING BULL THE LAST TO COME IN-SITTING BULL RELATES STORY OF HIS CAREER- THIE CHIEF IS HELD AT STANDING ROCK BUT NOT IMPRISONED- THE FINAL ACT IN THE LIFE OF THE GREAT INDIAN-JOINS THE MESSIAH CRAZE AND IS SLAIN BY HIS OWN PEOPLE-THE SISSETON AND WAHPETON INDIAN'S- THE SIOUX AT DEVIL'S LAKE-A TREATY WITH THE MANDANS.

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History of Dakota Territory, volume I, Part 140

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920 Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1198

Author: Kingsbury, George Washington, 1837-; Smith, George Martin, 1847-1920
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1198