Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1878 — Gon. Sheridan’s Annual Report. [ARTICLE]

Gon. Sheridan’s Annual Report.

Gen. Sheridan’s report to Gen. Bh«s- - relative to the military operation! in the Dirielon of the Mlaeoarl daring the paet year, bee Men made public. The more important and Intereetinf portions are aa follows: There hss been no change in the organisation of the division during the past year. It con list* of the following departments, via i The Department of Dakota, embracing within Its limits the State of Minnesota and Territories of Montana and Dakota, with.twenty-flre permanent poets and three encampments of observation, commanded by llrrvet-MaJ.-Gen. John Gibbon, in the temporary abeenoe of Brtg.-Gen. Alfred H. Terry: the Department of the Platte, smbnsclng the States of lowa and Nebraska, the Territories of Wyoming and Utah and a portion of Idaho, with twentyone permanent posts and two camps of observation, commanded by Brig. Gen. George Crook; tne Department of the Missouri, embracing the States of lUldoto, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado, the Territory of New Mexico and the Indian Territory, and the poets of Fort Bliss and Fort Elliott, in Texas, with twenty-four permanent poets, commanded by Brig-Gen. John Pope; the Department of Texas, embracing the State of Texas, with thirteen permanent forte and numerous camps of observation, commanded Brtg.-Gen. E. O. C. Ord. * To garrison these righty-two permanent posts and camps of observation, the Government employs four companies of artillery, averaging fifty three men each, eight regiments of cavalry, averaging 765 men each, and eighteen regiments of infantry, averaging 452 men eacb,wnlch. as will be seen by tbe reports of Gens. Old end Gibbon, give us only one man to 120 square miles In the Department of Texas, and one to every seventy-five square miles in the Department of Dakota, and about the same ratio in the Departments of the Platte and the Missouri. When It to borne in mind that this immense section of country has to he constantly nnder surveillance against aide of the Rio work that has to be performed by that portion 'of onr army located within this military dfvltion will be appreciated by all military men, and by those who have ever lived npon our frontier. The Indian situation at tbe present time Is, lam sorry to say, unsatisfactory. The Indian Department, owing to w&nt'of sufficient appropriation or from wretched mismanagement. has given to the settlements in the Western countiy constant anxiety during the last year, and in some places loss of life and loss of property, attended with dreadful crimes and cruelties. There has been an insufficiency of food at the agencies, and. as the game is gone, hunger has made the Indians in some cases desperate, and almost any race of men will fight rather than starve. It seems to me, with wise management, that the . amounts appropriated by Congress ought to be sufficient, if practically applied to the exact purposes specified, and If the supplies are regularly delivered, but the reports of the De- ’ partment Commanders forwarded herewith would indicate a different result, except in the case of the Red Cloud and Spotted Tall bands of Sioux, who, although threatening la their conduct, have been the best supplied, and have been humored until their increasing Insolence constantly threaten# to bring about a breach of the peace. The General at length reviews the situation of the Indiana ten years ago, and the causes which have led to their present unhappy condition. At that time their wants were satisfied. But, alas for tbe poor savage, along came the nineteenth century progress, or whatever it may be called, to disturb their happy condition. The white men crowded on to the grounds of the Indiana and made encroachments on their rights vlbich no Government could stop. Our handml of soldiers was at first sent to protect the Indians, but such attempts were powerless. The Government made treaties, gave presenta, made promises, none of which were honestly fulfilled,, and, like all original treaties with Indians in this country, they were the first steps in the process of developing hostilities. The Indian became jealous; he made In his simplicity blind bargains: he begau to see his lands wrested from his possession, his herds of buffalo, which be believed the Great Spirit had given him, rapidly diminish, and the elk, deer and antelope killed for the market and by the sportsman, and widely scattered by both, and his rude nature under similar conditions naturally rebelled. He commenced war, war as he had been accustomed to make it, and men, women and children, intruders npon his soil, were killed, no difference being made between the innocent or guilty, the armed or unarmed. , The General then reviews the wars which follovved, at considerable length, and suggests what is likely to occur in the near future: The second outbreak of Indian hostilities is caused in this way. After he has lost his country he finds himself compelled to remain on reservations, his limits circumscribed, his opportunities of hunting abridged, his game disappearing, sickness in his lodge from change of life and food, and Insufficiency of the latter, and this irregularly supplied, and the reflection coming to him of what he was and what he now la and pinched by hunger, creates a feeling of dissatisfaction, which, in the absence of a good strong force of soldiers, starts him out on the war-path again, and unarmed people are killed, settlements are broken up, farms are abandoned and general confusion exists. This condition of affairs is well illustrated by the recent outbreak of Northern Cheyennes, who lately abandoned their reservation at Fort Reno, and the same might be said of the outbreak of the Nes Perces last year, and certainly of that of tbe Bannocks and Shoshones in this year, of the Cheyennes, Kiowas and Comancbes in 1874, and unless wiser measures prevail hereafter it will go on. The Crows will come in next, the Asslnaboines and GrosVentres and wild tribes north of the Missouri will be obliged to follow. Spotted Tail’s and Red Cloud’s people will be driven to the same conditions eventually, and so on down to the tribes In the western part of the Indian Territory. To prevent or even meet the calamity which may occur we are entirely unprepared;, for, without exposing other important points, we can collect together but a few hundred men. For instance, at Fort Bill and vicinity, to meet the Kiowas, Comancbes, Apaches ana others, located in the, Indian Territory, numbering 3,0U0 or 4,000, we have not more than 300 effective men. At Fort Reno, to guard tbe Cheyennes and Arapaboes, numbering 5«000 or 6,000, we have not exceeding 200 effective men. At Red Cloud Agency, where there are at least 6,000 Indians, we have only two companies, and could not In ten days collect over 500 or 600 men. At Spotted Tail’s we have only two companies, numbering 119 men, and it would take two weeks to collect all the troops we could muster, andjhey would not Humber more than 500 or 600 effective men, while tbe Indians number not less than 7,000. And so oust points where there are Indians and agencies, and at other strategical points, the number of troops Is insignificant, aDd if outbreaks occur, as I fear they will, the consequences will be appalling, and I desire - to warn the General of the Army that we have not half the troops required to meet these anticipated troubles. Now that the game, upon which the Indians depend for their regular supply of food, is gone, we shall require a great supply of rations, with perfect regularity in their Issue, to meet tbe needs of these people, together with a strong and stable Government, backed up by S sufficient number of soldiers tosnforgftn spirit of obedience, and to. keep these restless savages within tha limits of their reservations. The General glances at “ the benefits which have accrued to progress and civilization by the misfortunes of tbe poor red man in the last ten years,” viz., the construction of various railways, the development of the mineral wealth in Central Colorado and the San Juan country in Southern Colorado; also that of tne mines in Utah, Montana, the Black Hills, New Mexico and other' points, 1 which development has thrown into circulation, by the process of labor and the purchase of machinery, supplies and transportation, millions upon millions of dollars, to sav nothing of the millions taken out ol the earth by manual labor and the aid of machinery. ■■ Then, again, let us take a view of the cattle ; u terests. Ten years ago onr grazing grounds *we In Teiss, now thev ere from the southern boundary of Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico, and I may safely say that pacta erf Wyoming rod Montana furnfeh a range affording as good if not better, grazing than in Tnxas. and them lands are covered toy Improved and better stock. The number of cattle ;toew north of Texas sad west of tbe Mtosonri River to perhaps fully or nearly equal to that in Texaa, and only ten years ago there was scarcely a head. Let ns now look at the agricultural developments. Northern Texas has been filled up by thousands of hardy emigrants from the South and North. Kansas has had an emtoration hitherto unparalleled-rtbe emigra-

tioc belnx almost by the hundred tbouean<l per year. Nebraska has also come In (or a Jarre share of snUgratton, while Colorado. Utah and Wyoming are not far bdUod la acquiring: population. Ceutral akd Northern Texas, Middle and Western Kansas, and Nebraska and Utah, are all teeming with agricultural prosperity. This population, numbering probably 2,000,000 men engaged In mining, grazing and agricultural pursuits, pays taxes, builds (arm-houses and constructs fences, plows up the ground, erect* sclwioUhoaeaS and'founds Tillages, towns, etc., and the millions obtained by the sweat of their brow add so much more to the trade, commerce and prosperity of tbe world; and all this cornea from the development of a country which only ten yean ago was tbe land of the Indian, the buffalo andthe elk. The report closes with a brief summary of the present condition of affairs on the Mexican border, with recommendations for the better protection of life and property in Texas.