Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1891 — THE INDIAN WAR. [ARTICLE]

THE INDIAN WAR.

FIGHTING ALL ALONG THE LINE. Short Bull leading tha Ilosttt-Indian*— A Schama to Masisere the Whites. i . The seriousness of the situation at Pine Ridge says a dispatch on tbe»-7th, is in*» creasing. Short Bull, the leading hostile chief who has distinguished himself all along during this trouble! by never fora i moment considering any of the overture 3 j looking to an amicable settlement, but who has steadily struck to his lair in the Bad Lands, has assumed command of the great body of hostiles, Tuesday nigut he told our spies that he would take this agency , if it costs every warrior he had. Half* j breeds here have been informed by friends : and relatives, whom some of them have ! among the hostiles that they had better immediately move their families along distance from the-agency, as a great raid and massacre was certain The half breeds aro showing us what they think of this information by getting their families out of here with a rush. The gove_rnment her der, John Dwyer, and issue clerk Pugh, I have both discovered through their Indian friends of years’ standing that a raid and massacre has' been fully decided upon and maturely planned. General Miles is thor oughly conversant with all these facts,and himself says that our situation is ex term es ly critical. There are less than six hun--1 dred soldiers here now all told. | A special to the Rocky Mountain News ; from Pine Ridge, via Rushville, Nob.,re- | oeived atffe’eloek Tuesday morning; saysf | Sunday night will never be forgotten by | any one who spent it at Pine Ridge, The Sabbath had opened bright, clear and warm. The church bells rang, and the threo pastors had crowded houses. In the 1 afternoon, toward 3 o’clock, it was noticed* that tbo squaw men and half breeds were exoited and were hurrying from one point ’ to another with their guns in their hands, i Instantly every one was on the alert and, ! running down the ravines. It was found \ that half a dozen squaws had been given | the ’tip” to get out; that a party of war bucks bad visited the camp of friendlies (so-called), who are camped within a mile of tho agency, and had urged rirem to help massacre all of the agency. The In dians have always been permitted to 1 corhctn. and during the day and evening l ; to wander around the agency at their own i sweet will, carrying their guns in Jtheir ■ hands. The plan was to take advantage j of this leniency, gather in the town late ; in the evening, and at a given signal each ■ Indian was to pick out his man and kill ■ him on the spot. The success of such a 1 plan was self evident. There are less than 500 soldiers here, and they are on the far outskirts of the village, at tho earthworks. Such a force, with their cannon, could keep a large number of Indians at a distance in the day time, but at night the pieketline is necessarily weakened and drawn out into too long a line to hold back any rush, while the cannon-are useless. The hostiles were to be close at hand, and as soon as the firing began they were to rush in. The citizens and reporters, as well as the soldiers, soon learned the news. Many a man thought of this or that Indian with whom he had quarreled and kept sharp watch to see that no one was behind him. Finally the half-breeds to]d certain Indians that we were “on to” the scheme, aud told the bucks to light out, or the soldiers would make it warm for everyone With a gusto. In an hotir there was not an Indian in the camp except the uniformed scouts and police. Many a dark look was passed and ugly words spoken between the whites and reds during that hour of stampede. Over twenty-five squaw men and their families drove with frantic speed for settlements along the railroad. Houses and hotels were abandoned, every ono going to seme store or warehouse, where there was a chance for resistance. Even Gen, Miles remained up until 3 o’clock. There are not no w near enough troops here. A battle is expected every day with the enemy, and it will be ono of the hardest in the annals of Indian warfare. Thetroops have the Indians surrounded on the east,' west and north, and an attack will drive them into the agency, where the main battle must be fought. The enemy number over four thousand men. women and children, with half that manyto attack us in the rear. The scene as the town moved into the stronger buildings was one of in describable confusion, as men with guns in their hands and a grim look of war in their faces, escorted crowd after crowd of frightened women and weeping children to the apologies for strongholds. No one wants to see a repetition of the scene. The most startling reports were received on the 11th from the Indian reservation in southern Manitoba, near the Dakota boundary line. It is rumored that fighting ha 3 already began between the reds and mounted police recently ordered there to prevent any uprising and to prevent those Indiana from joining the American rebels. Officers of the militia and Indian departments were, interviewed and, discredit these rumors; but it is a significant fact that another detachment of mounted police from Brandon were sent to the disaffected reserve. A report reached Delor. aine, at noon, that a skirmish occurred early in the morning between Canadian mounted police and Turtle Mountain Indians, at Fish lake, ofi the boundary line between North Dakota and Manitoba. Ono policeman and three Indians are sab' to have been killed. Thirty mounted police ire on the way from Brandon, N. D., to the reservation. The hostiles number ! about 400.