Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1907 — UTES MAKE TROUBLE [ARTICLE]

UTES MAKE TROUBLE

SHIFTLESS TRIBE TAXES UNCLE SAM’S PATIENCE. Oovernmeßt.S»ld to Fear tbat tM ’ Sloax Will Aid Their Gaeate— Troop* Are Sent to Watch the Ob■treperoo* Red Men. Eight companies of United States cavalry have been sent to Thunder Butte, S. D., in the fear that the Sioux Indians are about to rise in rebellion and take the wiarpath as allies of the Utes, who are ready to shed blood because of hardships imposed on them by the Indian agent It was feared settlers may be massacred unless extraordinary haste was made in massing in the disaffected region a sufficiently large numfifer of troops to overawe both the Utes and the Sioux. Orders were received at army headquarters In Omaha to dispatch the remaining two squadrons of the Second United States Cavalry, composed of eight companies, to Thunder Butte at the earliest possible moment. In addition to the cavalry, Company M, Sixteenth Infantry, under Capt. Harry F. Dalton, left Fort Crook for Gettysburg, S. D., to take charge of the base of supplies which has been established there for the operations against the Ute Indians should they start trouble. It was not known at army headquarters In Omaha why additional troops have been sent to the Cheyenne river reservation, but it was thought’the idea was to prevent any portion of the Sioux tribe from making common cause with the Utes in their revolt against authority. The Utes, it is pointed out, are in a sense the guests of the Sioux, and the Indian idea of hospitality might induce some of the younger Sioux braves to offer aid in resisting any forcible measures adopted for the subjugation of the disaffected Utes.

The Ute Indians, who have recently rebelled against government restraint on the Cheyenne river agency in South Dakota, are believed to have taxed the patience of their good-natured Uncle Sam too much. Officials of the Indian, office and the Interior Department will not discuss the probable action of the government in relation to the Utes, but it is intimated that if damage to property or violence to settlers or government officers or soldiers has been or is committed the unruly Utes will face punishment such as would be given to any other law violators. The attitude of the Indian office toward...the uneasy. Utes has been decidedly a fatherly one ever since they first gave of a desire to get away from their own reservation. In the summer of 1906 the Utes decided that civilization and citizenship were' things which they didn’t care for, and they announced their determination Uintah reservation in Utah and striking off into the “Indian country”-in South Dakota. Nearly 300 of them went on the pilgrimage and the government followed in the capacity of friendly adviser, urging them to return to their own reservation and keeping an eye on them as they worked their way eastward. It was expected the Utes would return to their reservation in the winter, but they remained in the Wyoming country for some and apparently had no intention of providing for their own comfort and maintenance during the cold weather. As a consequence they were finally “arrested” last fall and taken to Fort Meade, South Dakota, where provision was made for their temporary quartering. Arrangements were then made with the Sioux Indians on the Cheyenne river agency in South Dakota whereby four townships of land were leased for the Utes and they were established upon these lands, near Thunder Butte, at the upper end of the Cheyenne river agency.

The Utes have shown no inclination to return to their own lands in Utah. The money for their support in South Dakota is drawn from the funds which would otherwise go to the general support of the Uintah and Ouray agencies in Utah, but this does not worry them. They seem' willing to get along with the least possible amount of work; but resent any effort on the part of the government to restrain their liberty, or force them to take an active part in the advancing of civilization. The Indian office has been lenient with them in every particular. They created no great disturbance a year ago and did no damage, and as a consequence the Indian office officials did not Attempt to punish them, but turned Its attention to “advising and persuading” them to accept the provisions made for them and to return to their own country. Efforts have been made to put them to work, but the braves have persistently and effectively wriggled out of anything that looked like manual labor and have thrown themselves upon their “White Father" for support, at though refusing to obey the instructions of the government’s Indian officials. The commissary has faithfully followed them around and taken care of them until some officials of the Interior Department declare that it Is time they were made to understand t£at if they will not work and will not stay at home they must expect punish- • ment if they commit depredations.