Rensselaer Union, Volume 11, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1878 — The Indian Management. [ARTICLE]

The Indian Management.

Th* Chicago papera of November 22 contain much of the oorreqpondenco which haa recently passed between Gen. Sheridan, the Secretary of War, Gen. Sherman, the Interior Department, etc., relative to the Indian question. To the summary given in the InterOcean we have added liberal extracts from Gen. Sherman’s letter of November IS. The synopsis and letter read aa follows: . The discussion In reference to the attitude of the Interior Department toward the army, concerning the conduct of the Indians, has bad added to it an Interesting chapter this morning. The present correspondence is altogether In regard to events that occurred previous to the letter of Secretary of the Ivterior Schurz, which that official publish jd the other day in reply to certain statements made by Gen. Sheridan tn his annual report Last summer the Indian Agent at the Kiowa and Comanche Agency, in the Indian Territory, communicated to the commanding officer of Fort Bill that the agency under hts charge had been ordered consolidated with the Wichita Agency. Gen. Pope, commanding the Department, and Gon. Bneridan, commanding the Division, both protested against the contemplated consolidation and removal of agencies that saved only the salary of ar. agent to the Indian Bureau, but at the cost of many thousands of dollars to the War Office. The Very vigorous protest of Gen. Sheridan was baaed upon data In his possession and an experience of over twenty years. This naturally developed a reply from Sec’y Schurz, under date of Oct. 7, which Is anterior to tin letter fiom the head of the Indian Department, published the other day. •

Sec’y Schurz addressed the communication of Oct. 7to Sec’y McCrary, of the War Department, and says, after going over the case, that Gen. Pope reported be had no troops to furnish the agent at Wichita, and that ha called attention. to tha fact that Fort Sill was located and constructed, at great expense, for the protection of these very agencies, and the control of the Klowas, Co- ■ Ranches and Wlchitas. The Secretary then reviews the Indorsement of Lieut-Gen. Sheridan, which was io the effect that he (Sheridan) fully indorsed the views of Gen. Pope, and was well satisfied, after an experience of more than twenty years, that the principal objection to troops at Indian Agencies, and the removal of Indian Agencies away from military posts, had for its main motive a desire to cheat and defraud the Indians, by avoiding the presence of officers who would naturally see and report it. Sec’y Schurz then says that the removal of the Klowas and Comanche s was. done by an executive order by the President, under date of Aug. 9 last, and that the reasons which led to this action were: That the water in the vicinity of Fort Sill was bad, and the location occupied by fie Indians unhealthy. The land was of inferior quality and comparatively unproductive, and the buildings were old and dilapidates, while the buildings at the Wichita Agency were comparatively new, and the land in that section of country was much better adapted for the purposes of cultivation, and the water of an excellent quality. Under the provisions of sections in the Revised 8 tatutes, by the consolidation of the agencies, the service of one agent and a considerable number of employes would be dispensed with. There had also been some complaint on the part of the Klowas and Comanches that their stock had been stolen by raiders from Texas, within one mile of Fort SUL It was believed by the Secretary of the Interior that, by removing those tribes to the Wichita Agency, they would be thirty-five miles farther from the Texas border, and Fort Sill would be between them and Texas. The Secretary then discusses the statute laws of the United States, providing for the employment of the military forces in apprehending persons violating the Intercourse laws. It was with great regret that Mr. Schurs found himself compelled to take notice of the supercilious and offensive tone In wliicli military officers, not infrequently, in their official correspondence, referred to the acts of those entrusted with the conduct of the Indian Service. He then says: “ I beg leave to call your especial attention to the indorsement of Lieut.-Gen. Sheridan, on the request of IndianAgentHuut (of Wichita Agency.) Of the reasons which had induced this Department to determine upon the consolidation of the Kiowa and Comanche and the Wichita Agencies, the Lieutenant-General was evidently ignorant. And knowing nothing of these reasons, he jumped at the conclusion that ‘ objection to troops at Indian Agenclea-and the removal of Indian Agencies away from military posts, has for its main motive a desire to cheat and defraud the Indians, by avoiding the presence of officers who would naturally see and report it.’ And this in the face ot the fact that In-dian-Agent Hunt in this instance had addressed a request to the Department Commander not to keep away the troops from the agency, so ‘as to avoid the presence of military officers,’ but to hate troops stationed at the new agency, so that the officers might make all inspections, etc., thereby avoiding the weekly ride from Fort Sill to Wichita .Agency, as heretofore. It seems, therefore, that when writing an indorsement containing so insulting an insinuation, Lieut-Gen. Sheridan had not even taken the trouble to read the request of the Indian Agent upon which the indorsement was made. You will oblige me by informing Lieut.-Gen. Sheridan that the consolidation of the two agencies above mentioned was ordered by the President of the United States upon my recommendation as Secretary of the Interior, and that my recommendation to the President was made upon consultation with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, at which the good of the service and the interests of the Indians were carefully and conscientiously cousMered. “It would, furthermore, be well for the Lieutenant-General to understand that the gentlemen who determined upon this measure are, in point of integrity, honor and sense of duty, fully his equals, and that to indulge in opprobrious reflections upon their motives is an act of impropriety so gross that it cannot pass without a corresponding rebuke among gentlemen, and especially among high officers of the Government”

This communication was referred by Sec’v McCrary to Gen. Sherman, who returned ii to Gen. Sheridan “ for perusal, to be returned with any remarks he may think proper to make." Gen. Sheridan made • statement, under date of Nov. 15, in answer to Sec’y Schurz’s communication, of which the following forms the chief points: The indorsement referred to in the communication of Sec’y Schurz, said Gen. Sheridan, was genera), and intended to cover operations for the period of twenty years, and it was hoped that it might put an end to such a waste of army appropriations as attended the following: The Agency of the Ogallalla Sioux, ten or twelve years ago, was at Fort Laramie, an expensive post, built to control these Ind lans. The Agency was removed from it by the Indian Bureau to Camp Robinson to avoid the presence of the military. Shortly afterward the necessity of 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 of which the General of the Army can well comprehend. T . The Spotted Tail, or Brule Sioux, were at the Whetstone Agency, on the Missouri River, not far from where Fort Randall had been built, to give it and other interests protection, but these Indians were removed to Cainp Sheridan, 250 miles further west; and being unable, after a time, to get along without t roops, a new post had to be established there at great expense. These Indian* have been again moved, and two morel'posts established since; they are now at. Wouuded-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 localities. These removals have cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, and no one can tell how soon a new change may be made. Gen. Sheridan then states that, from long experience, he is led to the conclusion that the main cause or these removals was hostility to army officers, because of their reports tpst came in tbe line of their official duties. For six y ears and a half on the Pacific Coast he had observed the same thing. These changes were only some of the expensive conditions attending the Indian Affairs administration which have to be borne by the army, and which : cried out loudly for reform. The Secretary of the Interior could not undertake to defend the Indian management for the last twenty-five years. Gen. Sheridan asks: “Then why should he have used such language toward me as he has in his communication to the honorable Secretary of War I There can be no excuse for this but his want of knowledge on tbs subject, and that does not excuse the stilted tone and the language used. " J Gen. Sheridan then concluded bis communication by stating that he had established Fort Sill in person after the Kiowas and Cqmanehes bad been established at that point, and spent several months in that country. The Waler at Fort SHI, coming from a fine mountain stream, is the best for over 10(7 miles. The country is beautiful, the soil rich, ai d the grasses abundant and varied. The buildings at Fort,Sill are in good condition, and there was no reasonable cause for the removal. The General’s object in making the indorsement was to put a stop, if pos-

tibia, to Um appalling waste of the army’s appropriations. Cedar date of Nov. 18, Gen. Sherman teMa an indorsement to Bec’y Bchurz’s letter sbov« 3uoted, In wblchhc says: “IVe (Gon. Sheri‘til Ilk* 11V I-Ismll celt has been practiced by somebody to Inilu ence these high officials (the President, Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affalrrf) to remove the large tribes of Klowas and Comancbca to the small tribes of U'tchitas so as to save the expense of one agent Whilst the Interior Department may thereby save a few hundred dollars, tbe.War Department will be subjected to the expense of tens of thousands of dollars, because Fort Sill Is a costly poet, built specially to. watch those hitherto most nutneroaa and dangerous enemies, and its removal will naturally result from this change. The request for a company of cavalry to go to the new ajrency looks like the beginning of a new post when we have already two good and sufficient poets located by Sood judges for tire very purpose of guarding lese very Indiana, viz.: Forts Bill and Reno. Both Gena. Pope and Sheridan attribute this change to evil motives. Neither of these officers attribute such motives to the President, the Secretary of the Interior, or Commissioner of Indian Affairs, but they do reflect on the agents, who have advised this measure. Their object was uot to prevent a consolidation of these agencies, but If possible to influence these high authorities to pause in an unwise act and to induce them io change the location of the consolidated agency to Fort Bill, which is admirably adapted to the purposes of farming and grazing. It is distant forty miles from Texas, and is on a par with Wichita as to horse and cattle stealing, at which game the Indians are the equals of the Texans, the most accomplished thieves of that quarter. “ Disclaiming disrespect to anybody, I assert that the consolidation of these agencies Is a wise measure, but the removal of the Klowas and Comanches to the Wlchitas is a most unwise measure, and I advise the Hon. Secretary of the Interior to send a disinterested inspector, who will find that Fort Sill of all places is the best in the whole Indian Territory for water, soil, climate, everything. “To change Fort Bill to the Wichita Agency . will cost the War Department at least 8100,000”