May 20, 1870: Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud Coming.--A telegram from Fort Fetterman says that Red Cloud and John Richard, with five hundred Sioux, arrived there Wednesday.  Red Cloud, Richard, and about twenty of the principal men will leave for Washington to-day.

May 25, 1870:  Evening Star:  [DAKOTA: Oglala & Brule]

Arrival of Noted Indians.--Captain Poole, United States army, Indian agent of the Whetstones agency, arrived here yesterday, bringing with him, in accordance with the arrangement of the government authorities, Spotted-Tail, principal chief of the Brule Sioux, Swift Bear, also a chief of the same tribe, and the head warriors, Fast Bear and Yellow Hair, who await the arrival of Red Cloud, of the Ogalalah band of Sioux, with about twenty others of his people, expected here at the end of the week.  The two warriors above referred to have each killed whites, and seem to be rather proud of the fact.

May 28, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud has left Fort Laramie en route for Washington.

May 28, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

The Indians--Gen. Sheridan's Movements--Red Cloud--War on Indians in Arizona--Murder by Savages.

Chicago, May 27.-- [only Red Cloud section copied, rest in file]

A dispatch has also been received from Gen. Smith saying he left Fort Laramie yesterday with the Indian Chief Red Cloud, en route to Washington.

May 30, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud at Omaha.

Gen. Parker, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, received a dispatch yesterday, announcing the arrival of Red Cloud and his warriors at Omaha. They will reach here on Tuesday next.

May 31, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud, the celebrated Indian Chief, is expected here to-morrow.

May 31, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Brule]

It is reported of Spotted Tail that he fears his character for veracity will suffer among his tribe, should he relate all the marvels he has witnessed since he left them.  In these days when the "noble savage" is being rapidly familiarized with railroads and telegraphs, and is nearly as well acquainted with fire-arms as with fire-water, one is at a loss to know what surprising novelties the great Chief can have seen to astonish his followers withal.  Have the frescoes of the Capitol become indelibly graven on his imagination? did he expect to see the President sitting on a hetacomb of scalps? or is it only that he has attentively watched the late proceedings of both Houses of Congress, and is amazed to find "with how little wisdom the world is governed?"

May 31, 1870: NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

The Indians.

Another Raid in Wyoming Territory--Red Cloud at Chicago--The Savages Weary of Civilization.

[only delegation section copied here]

Washington, D. C., May 30.-- Gen. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, has received a telegram announcing the arrival of Red Cloud and his party at Chicago today, and stating they will reach Washington on Wednesday.  They will be assigned quarters at the same hotel with Spotted Tail with his companions. The last named are beginning to be rather weary of their stay in civilized regions, and express a desire to get through with their business as soon as possible, so as to leave for their homes, though they would be glad to visit New York and St. Louis on the way.  They are still doubtful about Red Cloud coming, and Spotted Tail does not express any anxiety to meet him, as the former has disregarded many talks from him, in which Red Cloud was advised to preserve peaceable relations with the white men's Government.  The Indians have not yet had an interview with the President.  That will take place when Red Cloud arrives, so that a talk will be had with all of them together.  To-morrow it is proposed to take Spotted Tail and his associates on a trip to Mount Vernon.

June 1, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

"Washington"...

Red Cloud.

Commissioner Parker received a dispatch to-day that Red Cloud and his band of warriors would be here to-morrow evening or Thursday morning.

Speaking of Red Cloud and his chiefs, a correspondent on the Plains in a recent letter said:

"It would be curious to know the impressions made by the sights of civilization upon the celebrated chief and warriors, who have never been East before.  When the forts, in 1866, were built in the Powder River country, Red Cloud peremptorily ordered them to be pulled down, and the troops to leave the country.  His request not being complied with, he made war, and continued it until the Fort Kearney massacre, when the Government consented to dismantle the forts and withdraw its troops talked with Red Cloud, said it was a great won-south [sic; type switch between lines = "wonder"] of the Platte.  A gentleman who afterward-der [sic] the Government would consent to withdraw its forces from his lands, when the Chief replied proudly, "I have more soldiers than the Great Father, and he cannot take my lands against my will."  The gentleman attempted to disabuse the Chief's mind, and explained to him the vast power and resources of the United States, but the fierce warrior only said, "Why didn't they send out

their soldiers then and keep the forts on my land?"  The dismantling of Forts' Reno, Kearney and Smith evidently gave the chief a false idea of his power, and created in his mind the impression that the Sioux were the most numerous and powerful people in the world.  What then must be the feelings of the great Indian as he travels East and sees the vast cities and millions of people the White Father has?  The visit of Red Cloud to Washington cannot but do good, and he should be taken to New-York City and allowed to observe a parade of the militia.  Such a sight would change his opinion of the numbers and power of his people.  Red Cloud is undoubtedly the most celebrated warrrior now living on the American Continent.  He has over ten thousand people in his camps, and can put in the field 3,000 warriors.  He takes his name from the numbers of his warriors and their red blankets and paints.  When he marches against the settlements he always goes in force, or as he proudly says, "My soldiers cover the hills like a red cloud."  A man of brains, a good ruler, an elequent speaker, an able general and fair diplomate.  The friendship of Red Cloud is of more importance to the whites than that of any other ten chiefs on plains.  Let every care be taken of him while in the East and no efforts spared to win his good will and create in his mind a favorable impression.  He is a savage, but a powerful and wise man withal.  For houses, women, children and citizens he cares nothing, but show him soldiers, horses, cattle and corn, and when he returns to his people he will tell them it is useless to contend with a nation that has so many fighting men and so much food and stock.

June 2, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Brule]

Grievances of Spotted Tail.

Spotted Tail and Swift Bear, with two of the warriors of their tribe, had their first official interview today with Gen. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.  Spotted Tail stated his grievances to Gen. Parker in round terms.  He said that our Government does not fulfill its treaty promises, and that supplies promised and money owed was not forthcoming at the stated times, and that the white man, wherever he could find many buffaloes or gold, came on the Indian's land, and took the Indians [sic] ponies, &c. Gen. Parker made a lengthy explanation in reference to the difficulties the Indian Bureau had to contend with in obtaining its moneys through Congress, and the difficulties a great Government had in conducting its affairs.  He assured Spotted Tail that all the promises made in the treaties would be observed, and they should receive their provisions, &c.  He also said that they must not fight among themselves, one band with another, nor must they fight against the people of the United States, nor steal their cattle or horses.  Spotted Tail said he was glad that the Great Father was going to treat them right, but took good care not to say that he would discontinue fighting, horse-stealing, &c.  They then retired, to have another talk some future day, before seeing the Great Father.  Gen. Parker regards Spotted Tail and Swift Bear as being pretty well broken in.  They are great fighters, but have been for some time past peaceably disposed.  The last deed that Spotted Tail committed was to kill Big Mouth, a chief of another Sioux band.   

Red Cloud and His Band.

At 6 'clock this morning the greatest Chief of the Sioux nation, and commanding the largest band in the tribe, arrived in this city in charge of Gen. Jno. C. Smith, United States Army.  His English name is Red Cloud.  He is accompanied by the following Chiefs and chief men from his own band, and some dozen or other bands of the Sioux tribe:

Red Dog, Brave Bear, Little Bear, Yellow Bear, Setting Bear, Bear Skin, Black Hawk, Long Wolf, Sword, Afraid, Red Fly, The One that Runs Through, Buck Bear, He Crow, Living Bear and Red Shirt.

Four squaws accompany them, as follows:

The World Looker, wife of Black Hawk; the Sioux are Women, wife of Yellow Bear; the White Cow Rattler, wife of Sword; Thunder Skin, wife of One that Runs Through.

John Richards, an American interpreter, but who has been living among these bands of the Sioux for the past two years, and a half-breed Sioux named McCloskey, are the companion interpreters of this party.  Gen. Smith reported his arrival to the Secretary of War at an early hour this morning, and Secretary Belknap at once notified Gen. Parker and placed Red Cloud and his band under the charge and direction of the Indian Bureau.  Gen. Parker provided them with good quarters at the same house where Spotted Tail and his men are, and the whole party were not long in fraternizing.  Red Cloud, the greatest war Chief of them all, is a perfect Hercules.  He is about six and a half feet in height, and large in proportion, indeed, there is not a small man among them.  Magnificent buffalo robes, ornamented and bejeweled, are worn by them all.  Red Cloud wears red leggins beautifully worked and trimed with ribbons and beads, while his shirt has as many colors as the rainbow.  His robe was trimmed and crossed with silks and seal strips.  Red Cloud did not bring any of his wives with him, as he was told that it was not the general rule for Congressmen or other great men to bring their squaws here.  Gen. Parker has forbidden the interviewing of this great Chief by the Press.  Mr. Beavis and Col. Bullock report to Gen. Parker that the band are much fatigues with their long travel and need several days rest.  They will be left alone to rest and do as they choose until next week.  Gen. Parker will, in the meantime, make arrangements to receive them himself and then to have them see the President, Secretary of War, and Gen. Sherman.  Red Cloud and his band, after dinner today, took seats on the balcony in front of their hotel, and appeared much interested in the pale faces going to and from the capitol.  The attention of the squaws was frequently called by the men to the pale women as they passed along, and the Interpreters report that the panier, and the terrible large amount of hair, and small bonnets on the women's heads, were the source of much amusement to Red Cloud and his brother scalpers.

June 1, 1870 [date of activity, not report]: "Minutes," 2nd A.R. of the        Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 38: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

The visit of Red Cloud, chief of the Ogallallas, with seventeen head chiefs and three squaw, of the northwestern bands of Sioux, together with Spotted Tail and four other chiefs of the Brulé Sioux of the Missouri River, to Washington and the East.

These chiefs arrived in Washington about the 1st of June, 1870, the Brulé chiefs being a few days in advance of the Red Cloud party.  The following minutes of their meetings were taken at the time.  [Rest entered under specific dates, which see.]

June 2, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Arrival of "Red Cloud" and Party.--The chiefs, warriors and head men of "Red Cloud's" band of Ogallalla Sioux arrived here yesterday, accompanied by General John E. Smith, U.S.A.; G. B. Bandnis, of St. Louis; Colonel W. G. Tullock, of Fort Laramie, and John Richard.  The following prominent Indians compose the delegation:  "Red Cloud," Red Dog, Brave Bear, Little Bear, Yellow Bear, Setting Bear, Bearskin, Black Hawk, Long Wolf, Sword-after, The-one-that-runs-through, Red Fly, Rock Bear, He Crow, Living Bear and Red Shirt.  In addition to these the following squaws accompany the delegation:  White Crow, Rattler, Thunder Skin, Sans-Arc Woman and the World-Looker.  In a few days there will be a grand council.  "Red Cloud" and band are arrayed in thorough Indian costumes, and the squaws are becomingly attired in short dresses, made of red blankets, ornamented with beads and feathers.

June 2, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota:  Brule; Oglala]

Spotted Tail, Yellow Hair and the braves of the Brule Band have a Talk with their Great Father.

The Spotted Tail delegation of Brule Sioux met the President and Secretary Belknap at the White House to-day, and had a "big talk."

The Red Cloud band of Ogallalla Sioux was not present, not only because of not having sufficiently recovered from their tiresome journey from the unsettled regions of the West, to be able to attent a council just now, but "Spotted Tail" refuses to affiliate with Red Cloud, and prefers to do business by himself, unassisted in any way by his more sanguinary neighbor.

The Indians told the President that "old, old story" about their grievances, their poverty, and their hopes; and in return the President made them a speech, substantially telling them that he wanted them to be at peace with the whites, and that the Government was strong and powerful enough to compel peace.

Secretary Boutwell and the Attorney General were present when the Indians arrived, but did not remain during the whole of the conference.

Commissioner Parker and Agent Poole, accompanied the delegation to the White House.  After leaving there, they visited the Treasury Department, and were conducted through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where the art of making money is exemplified in that division of the Treasury was explained.

They were, as might be imagined, the "observed of all observers" as they wended their way around the passages of the department, and must have been forcibly impressed with the energy of curious pale faces, whose anxiety to get a glance at the red men was by no means concealed.

The Indians wore felt hats, which the agent obtained for them while en route to the capital, but otherwise were in complete Indian "rig," and their buffalo-skin leggings, bead-worked moccasins, and curiously ornamented blankets of bright red give them a picturesque appearance.

June 3, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Interview Between the President and Spotted Tail at the White House--Red Cloud and Spotted Tail.

Washington, June 2,--At noon today Commissioner Parker and Capt. Poole, the agent in charge of the Brule-Sioux delegation here, accompanied Spotted Tail and his three companions to the White House, where they met the President and Secretary Belknap in the Executive office, and, through Interpreter Green a "friendly talk" of nearly an hour's duration was engaged in.  Secretary Boutwell was present when the Indians arrived, but did not remain long.  The Attorney-General was also at the White House during a part of the ceremony, but the presence of these two gentlemen was not connected with the Indian council.  That was held by the President, Secretary Belknap and Commissioner Parker on the part of the Government.  The red men expressed pleasure at meeting the President and other officials, and greeted their salutations with a shake of the hand and the Indian exclamation "How," when they were introduced.  They were invited to express their views freely to the President and to the Secretary of War, whose official standing was made known, and in response Spotted Tail, and others of the delegation, asserted substantially their desire to be at continual peace with the white people, and their anxiety for a full settlement of their business with the Government, reasserting that they are poor and have need of stock, cattle, &c.  They were assured by the President that he was anxious to have them at peace with the whites, and the Government is anxious that Spotted Tail, whose influence is great among his people, should use it to bring about lasting friendship between the Indians and the white people.  The speeches were made in short sentences, and were expressed by the interpreter, the Indians seeming very well satisfied with what was said to them.  Red Cloud was not present.  He is still engaged in the enjoyment of resting after weary travel.  After leaving the Executive Mansion the Indians were taken to the Treasury Department, where they were conducted through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the process of printing the national currency was exhibited and explained to them.  They are being treated with marked consideration, and evidently appreciate highly the attentions shown them.

Further Particulars of the Interview.

During the interview, Spotted Tail said to the President that he had kept faith with the Government, but the fidelity had not been reciprocated, and he hoped the white man would hereafter, at all times, treat the Indians as his brothers.  The President explained that upon Congress depended all that was requisite for the Government to perform, and that an appropriation bill was already pending, and the money would be, after its passage, properly expended for the benefit of the Indians.  This the Indians intimated would be truly acceptable, but, in addition to the benefits they hope to derive from it, they are very anxious that the white people be restrained from invading their reservation.  Before leaving the Executive Mansion Spotted Tail was presented by the President with a fine meerschaum pipe, the bowl of which represented the head of a horse, and a fine silver match-case.  Mrs. Grant added a box of smoking tobacco, all of which was received with expressions of gratitude.

Red Cloud and Spotted Tail.

An incident of the day, which was prolific of some comment among circles interested in Indian matters, was the meeting of the Brule Chieftain Spotted Tail and the Ogallalla Chieftain Red Cloud in the hotel where both are quartered.  The two have been unfriendly, owing to the killing of Big Mouth, one of Red Cloud's warriors, last Fall, but upon coming face to face today they shook hands and talked together for some time, seemingly burying all unfriendly feelings in a common understanding to exert whatever influence each possessed with the white rulers in behalf of their respective Indian tribes.

Red Cloud's Council.

To-morrow, about noon, Red Cloud and his delegation will hold council at the Indian Office with the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner.  It is probably that interesting and significant speeches will be made.  On Saturday Commissioner Parker will take them to the Navy-yard and United States Arsenal, thereby giving them an insight to the resources and strength of the Government so far as guns and ammunition afford evidence of the fact.

Spotted Tail in the Treasury Department.

During the visit of the Spotted Tail delegation to the Treasury Department today, after they had passed through the printing division, a stroll was enjoyed through the various rooms of Gen. Spinner's division, and the visitors were exceedingly interested in the manipulations of mutilated currency by the lady clerks of that bureau, who, on their part, seemed equally interested in the appearance of the Indians.  Large numbers of visitors have called on the delegations, but as a general thing they are met with stoical indifference by the "braves."  The Indians reserve all they have to communicate until the time arrives when they are to state their views in the presence of the government officials.

June 3, 1870 [date of activity, not report]: "Minutes", 2nd AR of the          Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p.38-39: [Dakota: Oglala,                             Brule]

Our Indian visitors, Ogallallas and Brulés, under the superintendence of General A. J. Smith, yesterday, June 3d, 1870 [Fri.], visited the Interior Department, and had an interview with Secretary Cox and General Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.  Captain Pool and all the interpreters accompanied the band.  There is as yet a little jealousy existing between the Brulé and Ogallalla chiefs, Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, because of the prominence that is given to Red Cloud and his warriors; but Spotted Tail is willing to concede him the precedence, provided they can have peace.  Thursday, at their hotel, the two chiefs held a private conference, at which they expressed friendly feelings for each other, and good wishes for their respective people. 

When the Indians were seated, Commissioner Parker, through their interpreter, John Richards, spoke as follows:

Remarks of Commissioner Parker.

"I am very glad to see you here to-day.  I know that you have come a great distance to see the Great Father, the President of the United States.  I am glad that you have had no accident, and that you have arrived here all safe.  I want to hear what Red Cloud has to say for himself and his people; but I want him first to hear my chief, the Secretary, who belongs to the council of the Great Father.  I want him and all his people to know who has charge of them by direction of the President.  He and all his people should be thankful that the Great Spirit had preserved them through their journey.  The great Father had received Red CLoud's message that he wanted to come here, and he had given his consent to his coming, and we will be ready at any time to hear what he has to say."

The Commissioner then introduced the Secretary, who shook hands all around, and made the following speech, which was interpreted by Mr. Richards:

Remarks of the Secretary Cox.

"When we heard that the chiefs of the Sioux Nation were willing to come to Washington to see the President and officers of the Government, we were very glad.  We were glad that they were the first to express the wish to come.  We know that when people live so far apart as we do from the Sioux it is very hard to understand each other, and know what are their wants' but when we see each other face to face we know what is right, and what we ought to do.  The President, General Parker, and myself, and all the officers of the Government want to do the thing that is right while you are here; therefore we shall want you to tell us just what is in your hearts, how you feel, what you want, and how you can make such a peace as will last forever.  In coming here you have seen that this is a great people; that its numbers are very great, and that we have a great deal to do, and that its numbers are growing every day.  We want to find out what is going on in the Sioux country, that we may make arrangements that will be satisfactory to both parties.  In a day or two the President will see the chiefs who are here, but in the mean time we want you to prepare what you have to say, and we will answer you.  We want also, to use our influence with all who are here to live at peace, not only with the whites, but also with each other, that we may have no more trouble with the different bands or with the whites on the frontier."  (Ejaculations of assent showed that the Secretary's remarks were understood.)

Turning to Spotted Tail: (Mr. Genru interpreting,) the Secretary said he was very glad that he had come, and particularly thankful to him for the good will and contentment he and his band had shown since they had been here.

The Commissioner then told him that he was ready to hear anything he had to say, and if he was not prepared, to name a day and he would be ready to hear them.

Red Cloud immediately came forward, shook hands with the Secretary, and made the following terse remarks: 

Red Cloud's Talk.

"I have but a few words to say.  My friends, I have come a long way to see you and the Great Father, but some how or other you do not call upon me.  I have come to see you.  When I heard that my Great Father would permit me to come to see him I was glad, and came right off.  I left my women and children at home, and want you to give them some food.  I wish you would give my people a few wagon-loads of ammunition to kill game.  Telegraph to my people, and say that I am safe.  That is all I have to say to-day."

The Secretary replied very mildy to the dignified demands of Red Cloud as follows:

Reply of Secretary Cox.

"For to-day we welcome you.  We would have come to see you, but we understood that you were very tired, and we supposed that it would gratify you more to come here.  We desire to show you every respect and kindness, and we will send word to your people that you are safe, and all other things that you ask.  We will give your words much attention."

This gave great satisfaction, and there was a general "How!"

Commissioner Parker then told them that he would show them the city to-day.  On the next day the white man would do no business, (Sunday.)  On the morning of the third day [Monday, 6th] they would be shown much, and on the evening of the third day he would take them all to see the President, just to say "How."  The President had a great many people to look after and a great deal of business to do, and could not come to see them.  After Monday evening they would see the President and talk business.  The Commissioner further instructed them to ask for what they wanted from those who had them in charge, and so soon as they got ready to have more talk he would be glad to see them.

Did Not Want His Picture Taken.

General Parker then told them they might go to Brady and have their photographs taken, but Red Cloud said that it did not suit him to do so.  When asked why, he said he was not a white man, but a Sioux, and that he was not dressed for such an occasion.

After their interview at the Interior Department the Indians returned to their carriages, and drove to several of the public buildings, but did not enter any of them.

This morning they will visit the navy yard and arsenal, and on Tuesday will have the long=expected "big talk."

June 4, 1870 [date of activity, not report]:  "Minutes', 2nd A.R. of the        Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870 p.39: [Dakota: Oglala, brule]

Visit of the Indian delegation to the navy yard and arsenal.

Red Cloud and the other Sioxu chiefs were to-day, June 4th, taken by General Parker to see the arsenal and navy yard.  The Secretary of War and the officers of the post received them at the arsenal and did their best, with the materials at their command, to impress their visitors with the powers of the "Great Father."  The surprise that was expected to be exhibited by their guests was dissipated, however, when it was observed that the squaws promptly placed their hands over their ears some time before the cannons, which were to be fired for their especial astonishment, were discharged, proving that they knew all about that long ago.  When Red Cloud came to the 15-inch Rodman he carefully took a measurement of the diameter on his fan and hand and the size of the grains of powder used, which elicited their admiration and surprise.  Indians do express surprise, notwithstanding the belief to the contrary, as it was plainly shown when the big gun sent its huge shell ricochetting four or five miles down the Potomac River.  The antique cuirass in the museum of the arsenal and the stocks of Springfield needle-guns interested them, and they left the arsenal and its obliging officers with a hearty shake of the hand and pleasant smiles.  Secretary Robeson, Admiral Dahlgren, a number of ladies and gentlemen, together with a regiment of marines stationed at the navy yard, welcomed them.  They inspected the workshop, the iron-clad monitors, the founderies, &c., with anything but stoical indifference, and were constant in their explanations to one another of the meaning and purpose of all they saw.  Secretary Tobeson, Admiral Dahlgren, and the officers and men seemed to think no trouble too great to make the interviews instructive and profitable to their guests; and when at the close Red Cloud respectfully declined Mrs. Dahlgren's hospitable invitation to a luncheon, and the whole delegation of chiefs and women stepped aside from the path on which they were departing to shake hands affectionately with her infant children, the impression made by them was very favorable.

June 4, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

THE INDIANS.

Red Cloud and Spotted Tail at the Indian Office--A Preliminary "Talk"--Red Cloud Makes a Complaint, and Declines to be Photographed. [text in next article]

Special Dispatch to the New-York Times.

Washington, June 3,--The much-talked-of interview of the great Chief of the Sioux with the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, was hurried somewhat by Red Cloud's own request for an interview.  This morning, Spotted Tail, the Brule Sioux Chief, as well as the twenty other headmen and several squaws of Red Cloud's party, were present, Gen. Parker opened the talk in the usual vein of "This is a great country, as you will plainly see when you take a look at our arsenals, navy-yards, &c., which my aids will show you to-morrow," &c., and then introduced the honorable Secretary of the Interior, who continued the pow-wow with the much kindlier suggestions that the interview had been brought about to promote peace, and that we might have a better understanding with each other by talking face to face.  The point of the interview, however, was in Red Cloud's own remarks, which were as few, direct, and full of meaning as those of Gen. Grant himself.  After the talk of the white men, which had lasted over a quarter of an hour, was over, Red Cloud, upon being asked if he had anything to say, arose from his sitting posture and fathering his blanket around him with a quick nervous action, stepped forward, and shaking the hand of Gen. Parker and Secretary Cox, said with the usual Indian salutation:

"How!  By your invitation I have come a great distance to meet you.  I have been here two days, and as none of you great chiefs have called upon me, I have come to see you.  My people at home, our women and children, are sick and starving.  They want food.  Please send them bread, or, as there are plenty of buffalo on the Plains, let us have guns and ammunition, and we will provide them ourselves.  Please send a telegram to my people that we have arrived here safe and well."     

With this he stopped, and in the same quick and nervous manner with which he had come forward, he retired to his seat, followed by a general expression of approbation from all his companions.  After he was seated, both Gen. Parker and the Secretary of the Interior made explanations and that they had a great many things to attend to; and though they did not say so, this was probably intended to excuse the breach of etiquette in their failure to call upon Red Cloud on his arrival.  [End of section - item re photography in next wire feed, same day - text in next entry.]

June 4, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Dispatch to the Associated Press.

Washington, June 3.--Both delegations of the Sioux Indians came together to the Indian Office this morning, where they had a preparatory council with the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner Parker.  Long before the arrival of the Indians the passages of the Department were filled by a crowd anxious to inspect the red men as they passed it by, and this, besides being unpleasant to them, interfered very much with their comfort, making it somewhat difficult for them to make their way into the Council Chamber.  After a while, however, they were all admitted and seated, Spotted Tail looking the personification of dignity, being, with his three companions, on one side of the room, while seated in two rows at right angles from him, were Red Cloud and his larger number of chiefs, and the head men, together with the squaws who accompany them.  There were also present Gen. Smith, who accompanied the Red Cloud party hither; Col. Beannais, of St. Louis; Col. Bullock, of Fort Laramie; John Richards, Vincent Collyer and others.  After the Indians were comfortably seated and had passed the pipe around their circle a few times, Commissioner Parker, accompanied by Secretary Cox, entered the council-room and were introduced to each Indian of Red Cloud's band, having met the Spotted Tail party previously.

Commissioner Parker's Speech.

After that ceremony the speeches of the occasion were made, the first being by the Commissioner, who said:

"I am very glad to see you today.  I know that you have come a long way to see your Great Father, the President of the United States.  You have had no accident, have arrived here all well, and should be very thankful to the Great Spirit, who has kept you safe.  The Great Father got Red Cloud's message that he wanted to come to Washington and see him, and the President said he might come.  We will be ready at any time to hear what Red Cloud has to say for himself and his people, but want him first to hear the Secretary of the Interior, who belongs to the President's Council."

Speech of Mr. Cox.

The Commissioner then stepped aside, and Secretary Cox addresed the circle, saying:

"When we heard that the Chief of the Sioux nation wanted to come to Washington to see the President and the officers of the Government, we were glad.  We were glad that they themselves said they wanted to come.  We know that when people are so far apart as we are from the Sioux, it is very hard to see each other and to know what each one wants.  But when we see each other face to face we can understand better what is really right and what we ought to do.  The President, Gen. Parker and myself, and all the officers of the Government, want to do the thing that is right.  While you are here, therefore, we shall want you to tell us what is in your own hearts, all you feel, and what your condition is, so that we may have a perfect understanding, and that we may make a peace that shall last forever.  In coming here you have seen that this is a very great people, and we are growing all the time.  We want to find out the condition of things in the Sioux country, so that we may make satisfactory treaties.  In a day of two the President himself will see the chiefs, and in the meantime we want them to prepare to tell him what they have to say, and we will make our answer honestly as we mean.  We want also to use our influence so that there shall not only be peace between the Indians and whites, but so there shall be no more troubles about difficulties between different bands of Indians."

The Secretary, at the conclusion of his speech to Red Cloud and party, addressed himself to Spotted Tail, thanking him for being present, and telling him he was glad of the good will he had for the whites.

Red Cloud Speaks.

It was thought at the conclusion of these speeches that the conference would terminate.  Red Cloud announced through his interpreter that he had something to say, and stepping briskly to the table he shook hands with the officials present, and in a firm voice spoke as follows:

My Friends:  I have come a long way to see you and the Great Father, but somehow after I have reached here you do not look at me.  When I heard the words of the Great Father permitting me to come, I came right away and left my women and children.  I want you to give them rations and a load of ammunition to kill game with.  I wish you would telegraph to my people about it.  Tell them I arrived all right.

The Reply.

After making these remarks he walked quickly back and took his seat among the warriors.  Secretary Cox said that for the present he would simply say "We welcome them again."  He thought it would gratify them to come here today, and we desire to show them every respect and kindness.  We will telegraph to Red Cloud's people that they are here safe, and as to their other requests will give them most careful attention.  The Commissioner told them that to-morrow he would show them the points of interest in and around the city.  On the next day the white people did no business, and on the evening of the next day the President would meet the Indians at the Executive Mansion.  He has a great many people to attend to, and has not been to see them, but asked them to come and see him.  On this occasion he wants to see them, to shake hands, and after that will see them on business.  The talk then ended, and the Indians all shook hands around once more and left.  There were invited to have their photographs taken, but Red Cloud declined for the present.

A Visit To The Capitol.

Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, with the other Indians of their respective parties, visited the Capitol this afternoon, and were conducted to the dome, where they had a clear view of the city and surrounding country.  They then visited the marble room of the Senate, the articles there most admired by them being the large mirrors, and the marble busts of two Indians chiefs.  The Indians entered the Senate gallery while the Indian Appropriation bill was under consideration.  They were all in full costume, and fanned themselves without cessation while watching the proceedings of the legislators.  The interpreter explained to them the business was with reference to their welfare, but they made no response. When they left the Capitol they strolled through the grounds and then returned to their hotel.

June 5, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala; Brule?]

THE INDIANS [also story about small pox among Crow]

Visit of Red Cloud and the Sioux Chiefs to the Washington Arsenal and Navy-Yard--Their Impressions of the "Great Father's" Power.

Washington, June 4.--Red Cloud and the other Sioux Chiefs were taken by Gen. Parker to see the Arsenal and Navy-yard today.  The Secretary of War and the officers of the Post received them at the Arsenal, and did their best with the materials at their command to impress their visitors with the powers of the "Great Father."  The surprise that was expected to be exhibited by their guests was dissipated, however, when it was observed that the squaws promptly placed their hands over their ears sometime before the cannons, which were being fired for their especial astonishment, were discharged, proving that they knew all about that long ago.  When Red Cloud came to the 15-inch Parrot he carefully took a measurement of the diameter on his face and hand, and the size of the grains of powder used elicited admiration and surprise, which was plainly shown when the big gun sent its huge shell ricochetting four or five miles down the Potomac River.  The antique cuirass in the Museum of the Arsenal and the stocks of Springfield needle-guns also interested them.  At the Navy-yard Secretary Robeson, Admiral Dahlgren, a number of ladies and gentlemen, together with a regiment of marines stationed at the yard, welcomed them.  They inspected the workshop, the iron-clad monitors, the foundries, &c., with anything but stoical indifference, and were constant in their explanations to one another of the meaning and purpose of all they saw.  Secretary Robeson, Admiral Dahlgren and the officers and men seemed to think no trouble too great to make the interview instructive and profitable to their guests.  At the close of the interview Red Cloud respectfully declined Mrs. Dahlgren's invitation to a luncheon, and the whole delegation of Chiefs and women stepped aside from their path to shake hands affectionately with her children.  The impression made by them was very favorable.

June 7, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Brule]

The celebrated Indian Chief Spotted Tail with Swift Bear indulged their social propensities yesterday by calling at the private residence of one of our citizens, where they spent an hour in a lively conversation; Prof. Stevenson, of the Smithsonian Institute, acting as interpreter.  They related many interesting traditional anecdotes of the Dacotahs or Sioux, and Spotted Tail gave the original of his singular name.  They expressed themselves as delighted with the piano, the music of which they heard yesterday for the first time.  Spotted Tail expressed his admiration for President Grant, but complained of the uncomfortable quarters assigned his people during their visit to Washington.  He desired being a married man, but when Swift Bear corrected him and told that he had five wives, Spotted Tail laughingly protested and said Swift Bear would make him as bad as the white men over the mountains, meaning the Mormons.  The great chief denied ever having take [sic] a scalp, but said he had done a wholesale business at horse stealing.  They expressed themselves as highly pleased with this their first and only social visit in Washington.

June 7, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

The Indians At The White House.--The Indian chiefs Red Cloud and Spotted Tail, with their warriors, squaws, &c., now on a visit to this city, were entertained at the Executive Mansion, last evening, in the state dining-room, on strawberries and cream and other delicacies of the season.  Secretary Fish and the President were the principal parties who did the honors of the occasion, though several others of the Cabinet were present with their wives; also the Russian and English Ministers, with their families, all in full evening dress.  The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr. Parker, Mr. Vincent Collyer, the Indian philanthropist, and others of note, including a goodly number of ladies, all in full dress, were present to receive the Indians.  The President presented each of the Indian squaws with a bouquet, while Mrs. Grant and her "pretty papoose," as the Sioux called Miss Nettie; extended the same courtesy to the chiefs.  Additional attention was paid to the Brule chiefs, in recognition of their having kept their tribes at peace with our people for the last four years.

June 7, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota:Brule & Oglala]

[also story about War between Cheyennes & Sioux & a tornado]

THE INDIANS.

Another "Talk" at the Indian Bureau--The Savages at the White House.

Washington, June 6.--The delegation of Brule-Sioux, headed by Spotted Tail, went to the Interior Department today and had an interview with Secretary Cox and Commissioner Parker.  They expressed views and wishes to the Secretary similar to those mentioned by Red Cloud in his speech on Friday that is, they are poor and want clothing and ammunition.  The Secretary explained that appropriations for their benefit were pending in Congress, and as soon as they were passed the amounts appropriated would be expended, consistently with the treaty stipulations.  Red Cloud, with his party, will have another talk to-morrow.  The Indians are becoming uneasy, and express great anxiety to return to their people.

The Reception at the White House.

The President's reception of Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, and the other great Chiefs of the Sioux Nation, to-night, was worthy the head of the great nation dealing with its most dependant people.  In every respect the entertainment was as elegant as that given to Prince Arthur last Summer. [sic].  Besides the President, Mrs. Grant and daughter, there were present all the members of the Cabinet, with the ladies of their respective families, the British Minister and family, the Russian Minister, family and other foreign ministers with their attaches and ladies.  Commissioner Parker, Hons. Felix R. Brunet, Vincent Colyer, the Chairman and members of the Indian Committee of both Houses of Congress, Grace Greenwood and other ladies and getlemen [sic].  The Chiefs, with their Indian women, were dressed in full Indian costume, and made a fine appearance.  They were accompanied by Gen. Smith, Capt. Poole, Col. Bullock and their interpreters, and all were evidently delighted with the reception.  The table was loaded with choice fruits, flowers, &c.  The Chief of the Brules, Spotted Tail, remarked to his interpreter during the feast that the white man had a great many more good things to eat and drink than they usually sent out to the Indians.  The interpreter replied that it was because he had quit the war path and gone to forming [sic; farming]  "Haw!" exclaimed the Chief, "I will quit the war-path, and go to farming too, if you will always treat me like this and let me live in as big house."

This remark caused much laughter.  The President presented each of the Indian ladies with a boquette [sic], while Mrs. Grant, and her pretty little papoose, as the Sioux called Miss. Nellie, extended the same courtesy to the chiefs.  Additional attention was paid to the Brule chiefs, in recognition of their having kept their tribes at peace with our people for the last four years.

June 8, 1870 [date of activity not report]:  "Minutes", 2nd AR of the Board           of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 40-42: [Dakota: Brule; Oglala]

Grand Council with the Indians.

The grand council between the Indian delegations, the Secretary of the Interior, and Commissioner Parker, was held at the Indian Office yesterday morning, June 8, 1870.  Several gentlemen holding official positions under the Government, having relations with Indian tribes, were present, including General Smith, commissioners Brunot and Colyer, of the peace commission, and others.  The red men took their seats in the council about 11 o'clock, the conference lasting until 1 o'clock.  They were arrayed in all the finery they possess, and were evidently much impressed with the importance of the occasion.

After the usual formula of handshaking, the Commissioner announced to the chiefs that what Red Cloud had spoken to them had been thought over, and the Secretary of the Interior would now give our reply.  His words were the words of the President on the subject of Red Cloud's speech.

Remarks of Secretary Cox.

"Red Cloud and his people have now been here several days; and we have had him go about and see the sights, that he might know more about our people and their power.  They will now know that what the President does is not because he is afraid, but because he wants to do that which is right and good.  When our people grow so fast as to travel upon the plains, we wanted to find a place where they could live and not be troubled.  For that reason our great soldier, General Sherman, made the treaty to give the Indians the country where they now are, and take our people out of it, so they could be there alone.

"Lately some of our people wanted to go there to look for gold, but the President refused to let them go, saying he had given the country to the Sioux.  They may be sure that the President will do what he said, and that they may live peacefully in that Territory.  We have asked Congress to give us plenty of money to continue feeding them, that their rations may be sure, and we expect them to do that, and therefore we can say that that part of their request will be granted.  We will send them also the goods promised.

"They asked for powder and lead.  I want to tell them first what we think and feel on that subject.  The whites who live on the frontiers are frightened.  They say that Red Cloud and his people have murdered some of them.  We want Red Cloud and his people to say to us here, before they go away, that they will not do so, but will keep at peace with all our people.  When they have said that, and told the people so, we think it will be safe for them to have arms to hunt with.  Lately some whites have been killed"--

Red Cloud.  I have heard reports of this thing up above, before I left.  There are no Sioux south of the Pacific Railroad.

The Secretary continued:  "We will believe that what he says is so; but, while the people are frightened, we cannot give the Indians guns, but when we find they are at peace we will do so.  We believe that by Red Cloud and the rest of his chiefs coming here, and learning all about the country, we can induce him to be at peace.  We want them to know that we shall watch every chance to do them good instead of hurt if they will remain steadily our friends.  The people who move out into that country, many of them, never saw an Indian; they don't know their language, and cannot talk to them--cannot tell one tribe from another--so that when an Indian kills a white man anywhere they charge all Indians with it.  The Indians must, therefore, try to make all other Indians keep peace with us also.  When we stop having complaints from the frontier, and the people tell us they are friends, then we can do all that we want to do.  We know it is a great loss to them to be separated from the buffalo and the other game.  That is why we give them rations.  We know, too, that it is hard for grown-up men to learn other ways of getting food and clothing.  We are trying, therefore, to take care of them, and to give them things in place of those they lose. We hope, when they have gone through the country, and seen what the whites get from the ground and other sources, that they will be glad to have their children learn to do the same.  We believe the little children can learn these things when the grown men cannot.  The whites are now so many that we must live near neighbors to each other, and then the Indians could not help learning the ways of the whites.  We want to be good neighbors, and we will help them to try and live in peace with those near them.  By this I do not mean that the whites shall come on their reservation given the Indian by General Sherman, but I mean they are to live beside the railroad, so that we many know that our people do them no wrong, and that they get their goods; and we are going to send out Mr. Brunot this summer to see you.  When he goes he will ask what is the best thing we can do for them--if anyone has done them wrong, and they can tell him what they want, and when he comes back we will try to do what he will say they need to have done.  The great thing we want to say to them is, they must keep the peace, and then we will do what is right for them."

Red Cloud Responds.

When the Secretary had finished Red Cloud arose, shook hands, and talked:

"The Great Spirit has seen me naked; and my Great Father, I have fought against him.  I offered my prayers to the Great Spirit so I could come here safe.  Look at me.  I was raised on this land where the sun rises--now I come from where the sun sets.  Whose voice was first sounded on this land?  The voice of the red people, who had but bows and arrows.  The Great Father says he is good and kind to us.  I don't think so.  I am good to his white people.  From the word sent me I have come all the way to his home.  My face is red; yours is white.  The Great Spirit has made you to read and write, but not me.  I have not learned.  I come here to tell my Great Father what I do not like in my country.  You are all close to my Great Father, and are a great many chiefs.  The men the Great Father sends to us have no sense--no heart.  What has been done in my country I did not want, did not ask for it; white people going through my country.  Father, have you, or any of your friends here, got children?  Do you want to raise them?  Look at me; I come here with all these young men.  All of them have children and want to raise them.  The white children have surrounded me and have left me nothing but an island.  When we first had this land we were strong, now are melting like snow on the hillside, while you are grown like spring grass.  Now I have come a long distance to my Great Father's house--see if I have left any blood in his land when I go.  When the white man comes in my country he leaves a trail of blood behind him.  Tell the Great Father to move Fort Fetterman away and we will have no more trouble.  I have two mountains in that country--the Black Hills and the Big Horn Mountain.  I want the Great Father to make no roads through them.  I have told these things three times; now I have come here to tell them the fourth time.

"I do not want my reservation on the Missouri; this is the fourth time I have said so.  Here are some people from there now.  Our children are dying off like sheep; the country does not suit them.  I was born at the forks of the Platte, and I was told that the land belonged to me from north, south, east, and west.  The red man has come to the Great Father's house.  The Ogallallas are the last who have come here; but I come to hear and listen to the words of the Great Father.  They have promised me traders, but we have none.  At the mouth of Horse Creek they had made a treaty in 1862, and the man who made the treaty is the only one who has told me truths.  When you send goods to me, they are stolen all along the road, so when they reached me they were only a handful.  They held a paper for me to sign, and that is all I got for my lands.  I know the people you send out there are liars.  Look at me.  I am poor and naked.  I do not want war with my Government.  The railroad is passing through my country now; I have received no pay for the land--not even a brass ring.  I want you to tell all this to my Great Father."

In speaking of Richads, the half-breed, Red Cloud said that he belonged to him, but the whites wanted to take him away from him; that Richards had been treated badly by the whites.  They had taken away all his stock and shot at him at Fort Fetterman when he was a contractor cutting hay for the Government, for which he was going to kill them.  When the Great Father had given him permission to trade with the Indians, the soldiers robbed him; that is why he had something to tell the Great Father about killing one of his white children.  General Smith had told them everything straight.

At the conclusion of Red Clouds [sic] remarks to the Secretary, Commissioner Parker said to Red Cloud:

"The Secretary will go to the President now, and tell him what Red Cloud has said today; he will also make arrangement to fix a time when the President will see and talk with him; The President had told him (Commissioner Parker) last evening that he would talk with him very soon, and when the President was ready for him he would send him word, and he would then have a chance to see the President and report to him what he wanted."

Red Cloud then said:

"I forgot one thing: you might grant my people the powder we ask; we are but a handful, and you a great and powerful nation; you make all the ammunition; all I ask is enough for my people to kill game.  The Great Spirit has made all things that I have in my country wild; I have to hunt them up; it is not like you, who go out and find what you want.  I have eyes; I see all you whites, what you are doing, raising stock, &c.  I know that I will have to come to that in a few years myself; it is good. I have no more to say."

Little Bear then addressed a few remarks to Commissioner Parker, as follows:

Remarks of Little Bear.

"I got little to tell you, Father.  I want you to look at my relatives, who are living on the Missouri.  The whites told me to go to farming; I listened to them and did so; I thought it was good for me when I had done it, but I found out the whites only did it to fool and kill me.  I have farmed for several years.  In the spring the commanding officer told me to go out and get meat and build lodges; I was glad and went.  Returning, I camped at the bridge on my way to Laramie; I received orders that I was to raise no more corn, and was fired upon."

On saying this, Little Bear pulled aside his robe, and exposing his naked side, showed the mark of a bullet where he had been shot:  "This is what I got for trying to farm,"  said he.

"I now cannot trust them; I am afraid they will play the same tricks.  At the Platte, when my children returned from hunting, they were shot down like dogs.

"When you talk about farming I listen to you, but we do not want to go on the Missouri River, for we hear every day of the deaths of ten or fifteen of our people.  The climate does not agree with them.  That is all I have to say, Father."

Spotted Tail then spoke in behalf of the half-breed Richards, whose trial for the murder of a soldier at Fort Fetterman will soon come off.  He said that Richards was good and much loved by the Indians, both by Red Cloud and himself.  He wanted him to tell the Great Father all these things, so that he would pardon Richards, and that the Indians might return to their homes with a glad heart.

Commissioner Parker said to the Indians that the case was before the President, but he did not know what would be done with it, but whatever he did would be right.

Commissioner Parker, before dismissing the council, invited the chiefs and their bands to visit the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, but Red Cloud declined, as he said he came for business and not for pleasure.  The Commissioner then dismissed them, promising to have another big talk in a few days.

June 8, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Brule; Oglala]

Spotted Tail and the delegation of the Sioux Indians now on a visit to this city bid the President good-bye this afternoon, and will leave here to-morrow to return to their reservation.  Red Cloud and his delegation will remain here a week or ten days.  They will have a final interview with the President to-morrow, and another with the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs in the course of three or four days.

June 8, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala; Brule]

The Indians.

A Council at the Indian Bureau--The President's Views Made Known--Red Cloud's Oration--He Demands the Removal of Fort Fetterman.

Washington, June 7.--The great council between the Indian delegates, the Secretary of the Interior, and Commissioner Parker was held at the Indian Office this morning.  Several gentlemen holding official positions under the Government, having relations with Indian tribes, were present, including Gen. Smith, Messrs. Collyer and Brunot, of the Peace Commission, and others.  The red men took their seats in the Council Chamber about 11 o'clock, and the conference lasted until 1.  They were arrayed in all the finery they possess, and were evidently much impressed with the importance of the occasion.  After the usual formalities of hand shaking hands, [sic] the Commissioner announced to the Chiefs that what Red Cloud had spoken to them had been thought over, and the Secretary of the Interior would now give our reply.  His words were the words of the President on the subject of Red Cloud's speech.

The Reply.

The Secretary then addressed the Indians at considerable length in relation to the requests they had made and the feeling of the Government concerning them.  He explained to them that when our people grew so fast as to crowd upon the plains we wanted to find a place for the Sioux to live where they would not be disturbed.  For that reason our great soldier (Gen. Sherman) made the treaty to give them the country which they now have, and to take our own people out of it, so they might live there alone.  Lately some of our young people wanted to go there again to look for the gold in the hills, but the President refused to let them go, saying it had been promised to the Sioux, and they must keep it.  They may be sure, therefore, that the President will do what he said, and they shall not be disturbed while they are peaceable in that Territory.  We have asked congress to give us plenty of money to continue feeding them, so that their rations may be sure.  We expect them to do that; so, therefore, we feel that that part of their request will be granted.  We shall send them, also, the goods which we have promised, so that they and their wives and children shall have clothing to wear.  They asked for powder and lead.  I want to tell them just what we feel about that.  The white people who live on the frontier have been frightened.  They say that Red Cloud and his people have been threatening them.  They are afraid they will hurt the people along the frontier.  We want Red Cloud and his people to say to us here, before they go away, that they will never do so, and that they will keep peace with all our people who are there, when they have said that and we can tell the people so, we think they will be no longer afraid to let them have arms to hunt with.  There have been people killed near the Union Pacific Railroad and we do not know who did it; some say it was the Sioux, others that it was the Cheyennes, and still others lay it upon the Arapahoes.

At this point Red Cloud, who was a very attentive listener to what the Secretary was saying, remarked that he had heard this reported before he left his country.  There were no Sioux south of the railroad.  They were across the Platte.

Secretary Cox, resuming, said we will believe what Red Cloud says, but as our people are frightened, we cannot say that we will give them guns.  We must wait till there is a peace with all the Indians before we can do it.  Our people are not to come on the Indian reservation, but they will come out along the line of the railroads and be near them in that way.  The Government will send Mr. Brunot (whose presence at the council was indicated to the Indians) this Summer, to see them, and to see that they get the rations which will be sent to them.  When he goes he will ask which is the best thing we can do for them.  He will ask if anybody has done them any wrong, and they can tell him when he comes back.  We will try to do what he says they need to have done.  The great thing we want to say to them is that if they will keep peace we will try to do everything they ask that is right.

This concluded the Secretary's speech to the Indians, and after a few moments, during which Red Cloud seemed to be in a very deliberative mood, that distinguished Chief arose and came to the table where sat the officials.  He shook hands with those at the table in the Council room, and delivered the following oration:

An Indian Oration.

"I came from where the sun sets.  You were raised on chairs.  I want to sit as I sit where the sun sets.  (Here the Indian warrior sat upon the floor in Indian fashion, and proceeded.)  The Great Spirit has raised me this way.  He raised me naked.  I run no opposition to the Great Father who sits in the White House.  I don't want to fight.  I have offered my prayer to the Great Father so that I might come here safe and well.  What I have to say to you, and to these men and to my Great Father is this:  Look at me.  I was raised where the sun rises and I come from where he sets.  Whose voice was first heard in this land?  It was the red people who used the bow.  The Great Father may be good and kind, but I can't see it.  I am good and kind to the white people, and have given my lands, and have now come from where the sun sets to see you.  The Great Father has sent his people out there and left me nothing but an island.  Our nation is melting away like the snow on the side of the hills where the sun is warm; while your people are like the blades of grass in Spring when Summer is coming.  I don't want to see the white people making roads in our country.  Now that I have come into my Great Father's land, see if I have any blood when I return to my home?  The white people have sprinkled blood on the blades of grass about the line of Fort Fetterman.  Tell the Great Father to remove that fort, then we will be peaceful and there will be no more trouble.  I have got two mountains in that country--Black Hill and Big Horn.  I want no roads there.  There have been stakes driven in that country, and I want them removed.  I have told these things three times, and I now have come here to tell them for the fourth time.  I have made up my mind to talk that way.  I don't want my reservation on the Missouri.  Some of these people here are from there, and I know what I say.  What I hear is that my children and old men are dying off like sheep.  The country don't suit them.  I was born at the forks of the Platte.  My father and mother told me that the land there belonged to me.  From the North and the West the Red nation has come into the Great Father's house.  We are the last of the Ogallalas.  We have come to know the facts from our Father why the promises which have been made to us have not been kept.  I want two or three traders that we ask for.  At the mouth of Horse Creek, in 1852, there was a treaty made, and the man who made that treaty (alluding to Gen. Mitchell,) who performed that service for the Government, told me the truth.  Goods which have been sent out to me have been stolen all along the road, and only a handfull would reach me to go among my nation.  Look at me.  Here I am poor and naked.  I was not raised with arms.  I always want to be preaceable.  The Great Spirit has raised you to read and write, and has put papers before you; but he has not raised me in that style.  The men whom the President sends us, soldiers and all, have no sense and no heart.  I know it today.  I didn't ask that the whites should go through my country killing game, and it is the Great Father's fault.  You are the people who should keep peace.  For the railroads you are passing through my country I have not received even so much as a brass ring for the land they occupy.  I wish you to tell that to my Great Father.  You whites make all the ammunition.  What is the reason you don't give it to me?  Are you afraid I am going to war?  You are great and powerful and I am only a handfull.  I do not want it for that purpose, but to kill game with.  I suppose I must, in time, go to farming, but I can't do it right away."

Each sentence of this speech was received with loud grunts, denoting hearty applause, from the Indians present.

Little Bear's Speech.

After Red Cloud concluded, Little Bear made a short speech, complaining of bad treatment by soldiers and others while he was engaged in farming operations.  Several of his young men, he said, were shot while out hunting, and that ended his corn raising.  He reiterated the main features and complaints of Red Cloud's speech.

Secretary Cox promised to report all that had been said to the President, and arrange a time for meeting with him,

An Appeal for the Pardon of Richard.

The present conference practically ends the business of hearing complaints and determining action on them, as was evidenced by the speech of the Secretary.  Both Red Coud and Spotted Tail made strong appeals today for the pardon of John Richard, the half-bred, who recently killed a soldier at Fort Fetterman, and who is here with Red Cloud's party as interpreter.  This, they have been informed by the Commissioner, is being considered by the President.

Red Cloud Deliberating.

They were invited to an entertainment at a deaf and dumb asylum, but Red Cloud declined, saying if he was to see the Great Father again he wanted time to deliberate upon what to say.

Intrusion on Indian lands.

The following order from the War Department, dated June 4, 1870, is published:

"When lands are secured to the Indians by treaty against occupation by the whites, the military commanders shall keep intruders off by military force if necessary, until such time as the Indian title is extinguished or the lands are opened by Congress for settlement."

June 8, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

The Appeal of the Red Man.

We might search in vain through a month's file of the Congressional Globe for a speech so interesting as that delivered by Red Cloud at the Indian Council yesterday.  The Chief comes to the point without any periphrasis [sic], and states his grievances without ambiguity.  "Whose voice was the first heard in this land?" is a question wrung from the depths of a nature more finely touched than we are apt to ascribe to the red man.  "Our nation is melting away like the snow on the side of the hills when the sun is warm," bespeaks the mournful presage of coming doom.  "Tell the Great Father to remove Fort Fetterman," is the Chief's mode of redressing what he believes to be a great wrong, and is as concisely stated as his demands to keep "Black Hill" and "Big Horn" free from the invasion of the railroads, and to remove the stakes that have already been driven into the ground.  The Chief firmly rejects the proposed reservation on the Missouri, since he has learned by experience that his children and old men die there like sheep.   With a certain quiet dignity he refers to the man--Gen. Mitchell-- who, eighteen years ago, dealt truthfully with him, intimating at the same time his conviction that various subsequent transactions have scarcely deserved a similar compliment.

A plain and dispassionate statement of the Indian view of the standing problem between barbarism and civilization, is precisely what most people required, and it is what this oration of Red Cloud, endorsed as it was by his companions, affords.  It is not a little startling to hear the bold reminder of the Chief, "You are the people who should keep peace," and one-sided as it is, there is in it much matter for reflection.  The clear conception which this unlettered savage possesses of what he claims as his rights, and what he is disposed to resent in his wrongs, shows very plainly the necessity for treating with the leader of the aboriginal "nations" on some straightforward and intelligible principle.  The attempt to cajole and bamboozle them, as if they were deficient in intelligence, ought to be abandoned, no less than the policy of hunting them down like wild beasts.  Whatever may be the theories we hold about the ultimate future of a decaying race, we cannot fail to recognize the wisdom of meeting Red Cloud and his people in a spirit of frankness and firmness.  In this respect we need not be above learning a lesson, even from the savage.

June 8, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota]

The Indians.

The great council between the Indian delegates now in Washington and the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, took place yesterday, at the office of the latter.  The Secretary of the Interior states the views of the President, and Red Cloud replied, making known his desires, among which were that Fort Fetterman and the "stakes" in Black Hill and Big Horn should be removed.  He accused the whites of being the aggressors in the wars upon him, and complained of not receiving so much as a brass ring for his lands through which railroads had been run.  Little Bear also made a speech reiterating the complaints of Red Cloud.  The Indians present manifested their approval of what was said by grunts.  Mr. Cox promised to report what had been said to the President, and arrange for a meeting with him.  An order has just been issued from the War Department directing the military commanders to keep whites off lands secured to Indians by treaty, by military force if necessary, until such time as the title becomes extinct.  Capt. Mitchell, of the Fifth Infantry, brings to St. Louis particulars of the dastardly murder of two soldiers and wounding of a sergeant at Bear Creek Station, forty miles from Fort Dodge.  There were but four soldiers in the station, and the savages had just enjoyed the hospitality of the place.  The party consisting of thirty-five, left, except seven, who fired on the soldiers and then fled.

June 9, 1970 [date of event not publication]:  "Minutes", 2nd AR of the     Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 42-43: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Interview with the President--Red Cloud addresses the Great Father--He demands the removal of Fort Fetterman--The President's response--He informs Red Cloud that Fort Fetterman cannot be removed.

The President yesterday, June 9, 1870, received Red Cloud and his band of Ogallallas, who, with Commissioner Parker, visited the Executive Mansion for the purpose of having a final big talk.  They were received in the room where the President transacts all his business; and after they had, like well-trained ducks, placed themselves all in line, Red Cloud arose and addressed the president.  He and his brothers were much pleased with their visit to Washington.  It was the home that the great Spirit had first given the red man.  He protested that his people did not murder or rob white men, but were good to them; but the whites murdered and robbed his people.  He urged the Great Father to take pity on his people, who he claimed were the original owners of the land in this locality, but now they came from where the sun set.  He made the demand that Fort Fetterman should be removed; and said that Fort Laramie had been appointed by treaty as a place from which to receive corn and clothing.  He again urged the President to give arms and ammunition to his people, that they might hunt the buffalo, and concluded his remarks with another demand for the removal of Fort Fetterman.

The President, in reply, said that he had ever desired to live at peace with the red men.  He would protect the Indian from the encroachments of the whites, and the whites from the war of the Indian; and further, that he would see that all appropriations and laws were faithfully carried out, and that they were not molested on their reservations.  He advised them to go to farming and raising cattle as soon as possible, and thus thereby greatly add to their comforts.  As to Fort Fetterman, it was needed, and was very useful to keep the whites off of the Indian reservation and to protect the whites against the Indians who were badly disposed.  It was also needed as a base of supplies, and therefore could not be removed.

Red Cloud said that he knew the Great Father had a great many children --so many that he could not hear of the actions of all of them, and he knew the Great Father did not know of all the bad acts committed by the whites against his red children. 

The President replied that he was glad to hear what they had to say, and that he had given instructions to the Secretary of the Interior to supply all their wants, and see that justice was done them.

This produced great satisfaction among the Indians, who all shook hands with their Great Father and withdrew.

The entire proceedings were viewed by the ladies of the President's family from an adjoining room.

Although the Indians departed seemingly satisfied, it is not improbable that the proud chief of the Ogalallas will return to the war-path unless there should be some more satisfactory developments from his next interview with Secretary Cox and Commissioner Parker.

Entertainment at the White House.

In the evening the Indian delegations now in this city, upon the invitation of President Grant, extended through Commissioner Parker, visited the White House, where they were shown through the house, and finally into the State dining-room, where a sumptuous repast was set out for them and a large number of guests to whom invitations had also been extended.  There were present all the foreign ministers with their wives, and the ladies and gentlemen of the legations, and many of the cabinet officers and their wives.  The Indians were very much delighted with what they saw, and expressed themselves as having a good heart toward the man who could have "So much good eat and so much good squaw."  The ladies, who were in full evening toilet, rather dazzled the son of the forest.

June 9, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]  RECHECK BLANKS

"Red Cloud" And His Warriors Interview Their "Great Father"--Speech Of The Sioux Chief, and Reply Of The President.-- Red Cloud and the delegation of Sioux Indians now on a visit to this city had an interview with the President this morning.  Red Cloud addressed the President, saying that he was much pleased with his visit here.  The Great Spirit had put the red men in this land first, and his forefathers had been raised in this immediate neighborhood.  His people were willing to be kind to the whites, but they were poor, and wanted what was just and right.  He had never waged war against the whites.  He pointed his people out to the President whom he had brought here with him, and urged the President to pity them.  Their race had been pushed from this neighborhood to far over the hills where the sun sets.  Their Great Father, the President, had children, loved them, and wanted to raise them.  The Indians loved his children, and wanted to ... them.  The Great Spirit had taught them to live on wild game, and they could not live like the white man.  Again he urged the President to take pity on his people, and hoped that Fort Fetterman, near their reservation, would be removed.

The President, in reply, said he had always desired to live at peace with the red men, and was still anxious to do so.  He would protect the Indian when he was wronged by the white man, and would protect the white man when wronged by the Indian, and would see that all appropriations and laws for them should be carried out faithfully.  Treaties made with them should be observed, and they should not be molested on their reservations.  The President advised them to go to farming and raising cattle as soon as possible, as they would then be more comfortable.  As to Fort Fetterman, it could not be removed, as it was needed there to protect the Indians against the whites as well as the whites against the Indians; besides, it was needed as a base from which they could draw their supplies.

Red Cloud said he knew his great father, the President, had so many children that he could not hear of all their actions.  He knew that his great father did not know of all the bad acts against the red man committed by them.

The President said he was glad to hear what they had to say, and he had given instructions to the Secretary of the Interior to supply their wants and see that justice was done them.  This was received with a satisfactory "Ugh" by the Indians, and each of them shook hands with the President and withdrew.

They will have another conference with Secretary Cox and Commissioner Parker in the course of a few days.

June 9, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Meershaums and Tomahawks.

While Red Cloud, Red Dog, and Little Bear, with their wives and companions, are enjoying the hospitalities of Washington, tasting the unaccustomed dainties of the white man, receiving Presidential pipes and ministerial pearls, and drinking more of their Great Father's sweet fire-water than they will ever get by fair means again, their brethren of Dakota have dug up the hatchet and put on the war paint.  Perhaps they have grown impatient of these far off revelries they may not share; perhaps they fear that the savage virtue of their Ambassadors may yield to the undermining influence of strawberries and cream, and the various other strange luxuries of the paleface wigwam.  And they may intend their war-whoop, echoing from the banks of the Platte, as a rebuke and a warning at once to their delinquent brethren, thus dallying in the lap of pleasure.

If this be the case, we trust the Great Father may find it possible very shortly to satisfy his red children, and send them back to soothe the jealousy and restrain the martial ardor of their young men.  Our frontier settlers will fail to see the object of these negotiations, if, even while they are pending, they are to be scalped and tomahawked as usual.  Red Cloud avers that he wants the ammunition he asks for only to kill game; but his people at home are giving as interpretation to the word "game" by no means encouraging.  The problem of combining justice to the Indian with safety to the white man, is not an easy one to solve, and we are afraid the Indians on the plains are not materially assisting Red Cloud and his fellow diplomatists to solve it.

June 9, 1870:  New National Era:  [Dakota:  Oglala]

            Our Indian Visitors.

            Washington is being honored by a large delegation of Indian chiefs and braves of the Sioux tribe, and four representative women.  They are here to have a big talk with their great father, the President, about their alleged grievances.  Besides Red Cloud, the head chief, and those four women, the delegation consist of Red Dog, Brave Bear, Little Bear, Yellow Bear, Setting Bear, Bear skin, Black Hawk, Long Wolf, Sword, Afraid, The One That Runs Through, Red Fly, Rock Bear, Living Bear, Red Shirt, and Spotted Tail.

            In regard to Red Cloud, the Omaha Herald says that he is now, and has been for more than twenty years, the Head Chief of the Sioux Nation.  He (as are all the others) is of the Ogalalla tribe, and has a remarkable history.  He is 53 years old, and has been engaged in eighty-seven battles, in which he has received a great many wounds, none of them, however, of a very serious nature.  These battles have been with the Pawnee, Snake, Black Feet, Utes, Crows, and Omahas.  In a battle which occurred thirty-three years ago, when he was one of the youngest of the braves, he was engaged with a party of one hundred and twenty-five warriors of his tribe, only twenty-five of whom escaped death.  He was wounded twice, and so distinguished himself for bravery that he was made a chief, as a reward for his gallantry and prowess.  From that time he rapidly rose in rank, until he obtained the eminent position which he holds to-day.  He is looked upon by his people as one of the greatest warriors that ever wielded the death-dealing tomahawk’ while in the councils his sagacity and eloquence have gained for him not only the admiration and respect, but the implicit obedience, of all his subjects.

            The other chiefs are more or less noted for their exploits in war, and are popular in proportion to the number of pale faces they have scalped.  Everyone of these braves has probably taken a score or more of scalps.

            Red Cloud had a little talk with the President a day or two since, at which he hinted at some of his grievances.  He claims that the Government has not kept faith with his tribe while the whites assert that he is constantly encroaching upon their rights.  When he has had his big talk with the President we shall know what he has to complain of.  In his first interview with him he requested the President to send his people a few wagon loads of ammunition to kill game with.  Since Red Cloud left his tribe they have declared war, Col. Morrow telegraphs, with the United States.

June 10, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud And His Party had their final interview to-day with the Secretary of the Interior, when Red Cloud reiterated his demand, previously made of the President, for the removal of Fort Fetterman, and was informed, much to his dissatisfaction, that the fort would not be removed, but received with delight the news that arrangements had been made for the departure of himself and party for their homes on Monday next.

June 10, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala & Brule]

The Indians.

Red Cloud at a Council with the President-Fort Fetterman Not to be Removed.

Washington, D. C., June 9.--The Red Cloud delegation called at the Executive Mansion today, and had an interview with the President.  It took place in the Executive Office, the Indians standing in a semi-circle around the room.  The talk was of short duration, and was substantially a repetition of what has already been said on both sides in the conference held between the Indians and the Government officials here.  Red Cloud did not recline on the floor in this instance as he did at the council on Tuesday, but stood upright and delivered a speech to the President.  He again alluded to his desire to have Fort Fetterman removed, and complained of the appearance of stakes that have been driven in the vicinity of his reservation by surveying parties.  He called attention to his children, who were standing around in silent approval of their head chief's oration, and asked that they might be fed and clothed, as, in the words of the speaker, they were "poor  and naked."  He also repeated what he said to Secretary Cox on Tuesday--that he was raised in this country, but had now come from beyond the hills where the sun sets, and wished to have the Great Father take pity on him.  The Great Spirit had raised him to live on wild game, but it was difficult for him to obtain it.  Before he concluded he told the President he was much pleased with his visit here.

Fort Fetterman to Remain.

The President replied that he had always and still desired to live at peace with the Indian nations.  So long as his official authority existed it would be used for the protection of the Indians on the reservations and against the encroachments of the white people, as well as for the protection of the whites against the red men.  Fort Fetterman, he explained to Red Cloud, was for the protection of both whites and Indians, and might be used as a base of supplies.  The appropriation which will be made by Congress for the benefit of the Indians would be expended consistently with what is right to be done.  The Secretary of the Interior had the proper instructions with regard to this.

Exit Red Cloud.

The Indians leaned forward with eager attention while their interpreter (John Richard) was explaining to them the words of the President.  At its conclusion a silent hand shaking took place as each one passed from the room, and the council with their Great Father thus ended.

Spotted Tail Takes Leave.

Spotted Tail and the other Brule-Sioux chiefs called to bid the Secretary of the Interior goodbye today.  The Secretary asked him if there was anything more he wished to say before leaving.  The chief replied, only to ask again that his young men might have Government protection on their annual buffalo hunt.  He said that they must either hunt or starve, and to avoid collision with other Indian tribes or with the whites, he wished some Government agent to go with them to keep them from fighting.  The Secretary told him he should teach his young men farming and other ways of living, so that when there was no buffalo they could have something else to eat.  They laughed, as Fast Bear the day before had shown the Secretary a bullet wound in his side which he received while farming.  He had planted corn in the Spring, when the officer in the fort told him to go hunt, and when he came back the corn would be ripe and he could eat it.  He went to hunt, and when he was coming in his corn-patch the officer put that bullet-hole in his side.  Spotted Tail wanted his reservation fixed on the White River, and that other traders than the one now there be allowed him.  In the course of the talk the Secretary told Spotted Tail he must expect some trouble in his life; white men had troubles.  The Chief laughingly said if the Secretary had had as much trouble in his life as Spotted Tail had, he would have cut his throat long ago.  The Chief must have a stout heart.  The last Chiefs who visited the Great Father had returned home barefooted, and their people laughed at them.  Secretary Cox said they should go home on horseback, whereupon they left in the best of spirits. Before going they presented Gen. Cox with an elegant pipe, and Col. parker an elaborately-worked Buffalo robe.

June 11, 1870 [date of event not publication]:  "Minutes", 2nd AR of the   Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 43-44:  [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Washington, June 11.

Red Cloud and his party were again at the Indian Bureau this morning, it being the final interview between them and the Government.  They appeared to be much depressed, having reflected over the proceedings of yesterday.  They reluctantly came to the meeting this morning, earnest persuasion of the interpreter, agent, and traders having induced them to do so.  They stated that their refusal to attend might result to their injury. Last night one of the chiefs was so much depressed in spirits that he wanted to commit suicide, saying he might as well die here as elsewhere, as they had been swindled.

Commissioner Parker opened the proceedings to-day by saying the Indians were asked to come up, because it was thought they might have something to say before they went home.

Secretary Cox said to them he was very sorry to find out that Red Cloud and his people have not understood what was in the treaty of 1868, and therefore he wanted him to come here, so that all mistakes might be explained and be discussed.  It was important to know exactly how matters stood.  This Government did not want to deprive them of any of their rights.  The Secretary then explained at some length the provisions of the treaty of the hunting-ground, the reservation, &c.  He understood that Red Cloud and his band were unwilling to go on the reservation, but wanted to live on the headwaters of the Big Cheyenne River, northeast of Fort Fetterman.  This was outside of the permanent reservation, but inside the part reserved for hunting-grounds.

The Secretary was willing to say, if that would please them, he would make it so and have their business agents there.  This would still keep white people off the hunting-ground.  The Government would give them cattle, and food, and clothing, so as to make them happy in their new home.  The Secretary said he would write down the names of the men in whom the Indians have confidence and want for their agents and traders.  He desired to find out whether they were good men, who could be trusted by the Government.  He was sorry the Indians felt bad on finding out what was in the treaty, but the best way was to tell it all, so there might not be any misunderstanding.

Red Cloud having shaken hands with the Secretary and Commissioner Parker, seated himself on the floor, and said:  "What I said to the Great Father, the President, is now in my mind.  I have only a few words to add this morning.  I have become tired of speaking.  Yesterday, when I saw the treaty and all the false things in it, I was mad, and I suppose it made you the same.  The Secretary explained this morning, and now I am pleased.  As to the goods you talked about, I want what is due and belongs to me.  The red people were raised with the bow and arrow, and are all of one nation; but the whites, who are civilized and educated, swindle me; and I am not hard to swindle, because I do not know how to read and write.

"We have thirty-two nations, and have a council-house, just the same as you have.  We held a council before we came here, and the demand I have made upon you is from the chiefs I left behind.  We are all alike.  You whites have a chief you go by, but all the chief I go by is God Almighty.  When He tells me anything that is for the best, I always go by his guidance.  The whites think the Great Spirit has nothing to do with us, but He has.  After fooling with us and taking away our property, they will have to suffer for it hereafter.  The Great Spirit is now looking at us, and we offer to Him our prayers.  When we had a talk at the month of Horse Creek, in 1852, you made a chief of Conquering Bear, and then destroyed him, and since then we have had no more chiefs.  You white people did the same to your great chief--you killed one of your Great Fathers, (Lincoln.)

"The Great Spirit makes us suffer for our wrong-doing.  You promise us many things, but you never perform them.  You take away everything, and yet if you live forty or fifty years in this world, and then die, you cannot take all your goods with you.  The Great Spirit will not make me suffer because I am ignorant; he will put me in a place where I will be better off than in this world.  The Great Spirit raised me naked and gave me no weapons.  Look at me.  That is the way I was raised, (pulling aside his blanket, and exposing his bare shoulder.)  White men say we are bad--we are murderers, but I cannot see it.  We gave up our lands wherever the whites came into our country.

"Tell the Great Father I am poor.  In earlier times, when I had plenty of game, I could make my living; I gave land away; but I am too poor for that now.  I want something for my land.  I want to receive some pay for the land where you have made railroads.   My Father has a great many children out West with no ears, brain, or heart.  You have the names to the treaty of persons professing to be chiefs, but I am chief of that nation.  Look at me; my hair is straight.  I was free-born on this land.  An interpreter who signed the treaty has curly hair.  He is no man.  I will see him hereafter.  I know I have been wronged.  The words of my Great Father never reach me, and mine never reach him.  There are too many streams between us.  The great Spirit has raised me on wild game.  I know he has left enough to support my children for awhile.  You have stolen Denver from me.  You never gave me anything for it.  Some of our people went there to engage in farming, and you sent your white children and scattered them all away.  Now, I have only two mountains left, and want them for myself and people.  There is treasure in them.  You have stolen two mounds containing gold.  I have for many years lived with the men I want for my superintendent, agent, and traders, and am well acquainted with them.  I know they are men of justice.  They do what is right.  If you appoint them, and any blame comes, it will not be on you, but on me.  I would be willing to let you go upon our land when the time comes, but that would not be until after game is gone.  I do not ask my Great Father to give me anything.  I came naked, and will go away naked.  I want you to tell my Great Father I have no further business.  I want you to put me on a straight line.  Want to stop in St. Louis to see Robert Campbell, (one of the board of commissioners, an old friend."

Red Cloud then pointed to a lady in the room, saying:  "Look at that woman; she was captured by Silver Horn's party.  I wish you to pay her what her captors owe her.  I am a man true to what I say, and want to keep my promise.  The Indians robbed that lady there, and through your influence I want her to be paid."

Secretary Cox replied to Red Cloud that the treaty showed how the land was to be paid for.  They were to be given cattle, agricultural implements, seeds, houses, blacksmith shops, teachers, &c., and food and clothing.  The land is good in two ways.  One is to let the game grow for the hunt; the other is to plough it up and get corn and wheat and other things out of it, and raise cattle on it.  The reason why so many white men live on their land is, they treat it in this way.

"I was glad to hear Red Cloud say he would not go away angry.  General Smith will see that you get good presents.  But these are small things compared with the arrangements which will be made to make you happy and prosperous.  Some of the peace commissioners will go to your country to see that you all are well treated.

"I do not want you to think the days coming are black days.  I want you to think they will be bright and happy days.  Be of good spirit; if you feel like a man who is lost in the woods, we will guide you out of them to a pleasant place.  You will go home two days from now; one day will be spent by General Smith in New York to get you the presents."

Red Cloud replied:  "I do not want to go that way; I want a straight line; I have seen enough of towns.  There are plenty of stores between here and my home, and there is no occasion to go out of the way to buy goods.  I have no business in New York.  I want to go back the way I came.  The whites are the same everywhere.  I see them every day.  As to the improvement of the red men, I want to send them here as delegates to Congress."

Secretary Cox said he would be guided by General Smith as to the route homeward.  He was not particularly anxious the Indians should go to New York.

Thus ended the interview.  The Indians shook hands with the Secretary and Commissioner Parker, and then hurried from the room, followed by the crowd of people who had gathered at the door.

June 11, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota:  Oglalaa]

The Indians.

Final Interview Between Red Cloud and the Secretary of the Interior--An Important Council--Red Cloud to Visit New-York.

Washington, D. C., June 10.--Red Cloud, accompanied by his suite and the women of the party, went to the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs early this afternoon.  They all sat on the two sides of the room, the squaws on the outside of the lines.  There were present, among others, Gov. Campbell, of Wyoming Territory; Ex-Commissioners Colyer and Brunot, and a number of ladies.  Secretary Cox and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Parker, on entering, shook hands with the Indians, beginning with Red Cloud.  This ceremony completed, Commissioner Parker requested the interpreter to say to the Indians that some remarks would be made to them by Secretary Cox.  He wanted them all to pay very particular attention, as this would probably be the last time they would have a talk here.

At the close of the Secretary's opening remarks Red Cloud adjusting his blanket around his loins, and resuming his usually serious countenance, he said:

"Father, I am Chief of the Sioux Nations and six tribes, and came here to talk plainly with my Great Father.  I have not much to say.  You white people look at me.  Some of you have gray hairs and some are bald.  It is time to reason.  Look at me.  You are a man of sense.  You have not treated me as I ought to have been treated.  When I was a young man I was poor.  In a war with other nations I was in eighty-seven fights.  There I received my name and was made Chief of my nation.  But now I am old and am for peace.  I want to raise my children just the same as you do yours.  Father, I want you to listen to me.  I have never quarreled or had any trouble with the traders living in my country; but since my Great Father sent troops and put a road through my country blood has been shed there.  It is not my fault, but your fault.  You have not looked at me.  If we had got into trouble it is not my fault.  In the treaty of 1852 I was promised fifty-five years of presents.  I received part of them for only ten years; afterward they were stolen from me; I lent that road to the Government for fifty-five years; if blood has been scattered over the road it is not my fault.  My Father's children learn to read, and they know these things better than I do.  I was born at the mouth of the Platte.  It is time my Father put a line around my country, so that I may know what belongs to me.  I want you to let us keep our land so we can raise our children on it.  I ask you to give me traders and agents in the neighborhood of Fort Laramie.  The great Spirit did not tell us we are slaves.  We have been driven far enough; we want what we ask for.  The red man was raised on this land, which extended from sunrise to sunset.  When anything bad happens you always put the blame on us.  We cannot see it in that light.  We are all one nation.  We gave lands to the whites just as we did to the children of the red nation.  I do not like one thing; Fort Fetterman is expensive to the Great Father for trading; Fort Laramie is sufficient for us.  We have been going there all the time.  Black Bear was friendly to the whites, but the soldiers lately went out and murdered him.  We want you to remove the troops so that our young men can travel and be happy.  We were not allowed to go to Cheyenne.  If Gov. Campbell is your Superintendent there, instead of treating me like a "sneaky dog," and making us stike the railroad forty miles below.  In 1852, at the mouth of Horse Creek, the Agent placed me with thirteen nations who gathered there.  We were all pleased, in the hope of getting everything we wanted, poor and rich.  But we got only a handful.  It was nearly all stolen from us.  After all these promises, I could not put any more faith in my White Father; therefore, when three years ago Gen. Sherman sent for me to come in, I said, "I will not come in until you remove the posts;" and after you removed them I came to Fort Laramie and signed the treaty.  You see before you my young men, my Chiefs and soldiers.  They are the best I have.  I have not received anything from you for two years.  When I leave here I want you to make our hearts glad, so that we may tell our people what you have done for us.  I want you to take pity on my young men.  I want you to put them on horseback, that they may go home with good hearts.  The Governor of Wyoming Territory has not taken an interest in me.  He is not looking after our welfare.  He does not know my way and style.  We do not wish him to be our Superintendent of Indian Affairs.  We have one man here, we wish him to be the Superintendent--Mr. Beauvais.  We ask you for another thing.  We want B. B. Mills for our agent, and Coffee and Bullock for our traders.  The white man has got the gold out of the land which belonged to the red man.  Will not the Great Father have pity on us who have been raised with the bow and arrow?  We want him to pay for the stock and property destroyed out of his own money and not out of our annuity.  I am very warm, and will rest awhile.  I will speak again before the sun sets.

Red Cloud again addressed the Secretary as follows:

After the passage of the treaty of 1852 only one of the people the Great Father has sent out has told us the truth.  It was Gen. Smith, and whatever he has told me since is nothing but the truth.  I like that man.  Gens. Harvy, Sherman and Sanborne said Fort Fetterman should be removed, but they did not tell it straight.  The troops there are all on foot.  It is throwing away my Great Father's money for nothing.  The officers there are not as good as those around him here; they are all whisky drinkers.  Gen. Smith does not drink their whisky, and therefore he can talk with our Great Father.  He sends out there the whisky drinkers because he does not want them around him here.  I do not allow my nation or any white man to bring a drop of liquor into my country; if he does, that is the last of him and his liquor, too.  Spotted Tail can drink as much as he pleases on the Missouri River, and they can kill one another if they choose.  I do not hold myself responsible for what Spotted Tail and the traders do there.  When you buy me anything with my money, I want you to buy me what is useful.  I do not want dirty flour, rotten tobacco, and old soldiers' clothes dyed black, such as you bought for Spotted Tail.  I only tell you what is true.  You have had a great war, but after it was all over you permitted the chiefs who had been fighting to come back.

Reply of Mr. Cox.

Secretary Cox said:  We have listened attentively to what the Chiefs had had to say, and have very few words to say in reply.  The treaty of 1867 was the final treaty.  It killed all others made before the treaty of 1867, and this is the treaty we are trying to keep, because we do not want any mistake or misunderstanding.  We do not want you to think we tell you what we do not mean.  We are very sorry whenever any mistakes are made, and when you do not know what we mean.  One reason why we sent Gen. Smith back was, we had confidence in him.  We mean to be as true as you have found him to be.  We shall give him instructions as you go back to buy the presents for you, so as you may have them bought by a man who knows what is good.  You tell us who is to blame for what has happened, but when we make a treaty we agree to forget what is past.  We want to go on from the time the treaty with Gen. Sherman and others was made, and forget the past, and want you to forget it.  There have been bad white men and bad Indians.  We need not count them up and see how many bad ones are on either side.  The best way is to be friendly and deal honestly with each other.  The last treaty made provided for a railroad to be built.  The Sioux agreed not to disturb it, and that it should be built.  Now, if the railroad interferes with hunting, we will try to make good the damage by feeding you.  We mean the Government shall keep back the white men from going into the Indian country, as well as bad Indians from going into the white country.  This is what the troops are there for.  If any of our people at the forts do not do what is right, the President will punish them and send better men in their places.  The same treaty gives the lines of the Indian country.

The Meaning of the Treaty.

At this point the map of the Indian country was sent for, and Secretary Cox proceeded to explain, showing the boundaries fixed in the treaty of 1867, Red Cloud, looking on with great interest.

Red Cloud said he was asked to sign the the [sic] treaty merely to show that he was peaceable, and not to grant their lands.  The great Spirit was looking down, and he was telling nothing but what was true.  He knew those tricks had been played before, and he was hereto settle the question between the Secretary and himself.  He never received a pin for letting the railroad pass through his country.

The Secretary further explained the time Red Cloud signed the treaty, which told everything that was to be done.  It was signed first by the Brule-Sioux, and next by the Ogallalas and other bands of the Sioux, and the Secretary said it had been supposed all the Sioux had heard of it.

Red Cloud said:  This is the first time I have heard of such treaty.  I never heard of it and do not mean to follow it.  I want to know who was the interpreter who interpreted these things to the Indians.

The names of three were mentioned, and he said:  I know nothing about it; it was never explained to me.

Bear-In-The-Grass said:  The Great Spirit hears me today.  I tell nothing but what is true when I say these words of the treaty were not explained.  It was merely said the treaty was for peace and friendship among the whites.  When we took hold of the pen they said they would take the troops away so we could raise children.

Some conversation took place between Secretary Cox and several of the Chiefs in relation to explanations of the treaty by the Commissioners to the Indians.  The Secretary said:

Who Made the Treaty.

These things were done by Gens. Sherman, Sanborn, Harvey, Tappan, Augur and Terry, who would not tell a lie to save their lives, and who wished the treaty to be understood as it was here written.  When the forts were abandoned that was proof we were doing what we had agreed.  Tell Red Cloud, he said to the interpreter, that Gen. Smith did not leave Fort Phil Kearney because he was there carrying out orders.  One reason why he desired this talk with these Indians was that there should be no difficulty between them.  The Great Father thinks this is a strong bond of obligation.  This treaty was signed by more than two hundred different Sioux of all the bands.

Red Cloud--I do not say the Commissioners lied, but the interpreters were wrong.  I never heard a word, only what was brought to my camp.  When the forts were removed I came to make peace.  You had your war-houses, or forts.  When you removed them, I signed a treaty of peace.  We want to straighten things up.

Secretary Cox--The reason we wanted you to come here was that you may explain to your people.

Red Cloud--I offered Gen. Smith, myself, to pay the fare down in mules, of four interpreters, if my Great Father was too poor.

Secretary Cox--You have faith in what you now hear through this interpreter?

Red Cloud said he had.

Secretary Cox resumed:  I have been very careful so that no mistakes should be made, and that our word should be as open as daylight, so that we may understand what binds the Sioux and ourselves.  We are trying to get Congress to carry out our promises, and we want the Indians to do their part.  We simply say to them this is the agreement made as we remember.  We have copies printed in a few leaves by themselves.  We will give one to Red Cloud, so that it can be interpreted to him exactly what it is.

The Treaty All Lies.

Red Cloud said:  All the promisses made in treaties had never been fulfilled.  The object of the whites was to crush the Indians down to nothing.  The Great Spirit would judge these things hereafter.  All the words I sent never reached the Great Father.  They are lost before they got here.  I am Chief of thirty-nine nations. I will not take the paper with me.  It is all lies.

The Secretary distributed copies of the treaty to the interpreters, agents and traders present, and adjourned the council till to-morrow, in order, meantime, that the provisions of the treaty may be explained to the Indians.

June 11, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Brule different group]

Gen. Hancock's Reception by the Indians--Another Delegation of Chiefs to Visit Washington.  

[Portion about Indians and Gen. Hancock in file but not copied- non delegation]

We have the following interesting news from the up-river country, from Capt. Fenn Hawley, of the steamer "Miner":

A delegation of prominent Brule Sioux Chiefs are soon to start on a visit to Washington, via Sioux City, to have a "big talk" with the President.  They hope to agree upon some specifications for peace.  Prominent among them are Red Leaf, Bull Eagle, Little Swan and Crow Feather.  The last named is the head chief of the Sansares, and the chief who carries what is called by them the God Almighty pipe of the Sioux Indians.  The pipe is over one hundred years old, and has never been undressed since its adoption as a sacred object.

Upon the arrival of the "Miner" at Randall, a number of Indian arrows were found driven through an inch board at the rear of the boat.  The supposition is, that they were shot at Gen. Hancock somewhere in the vicinity of Whetstone Agency.  The arrows were recognized as belonging to the Brule Indians, by certain characteristics.

He reports a terrible tornado as having passed...[Rest not copied]

June 12, 1870 [date of event not record]:  "Minutes" 2nd AR of the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 44-45:  [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Red Cloud and the Mormons.

Washington, June 12.

Senator Morrill, as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and who had charge of the Indian appropriation bill, Delegate Hooper of Utah, and Vincent Colyer, secretary of board of Indian commissioners, called last evening [11th? or 12th?] on Red Cloud to pay their respects.  The Senator assured Red Cloud of his profound sympathy with him and his race, and that Congress, the grand council, the President and the people, would deal justly with the Indians.  For his part he was convinced they had been too much neglected and abused, which operated to the injury of whites as well as red men of the West.  If Red Cloud were to go north he would find multitudes of friends who would be glad to take him by the hand, and stand by him and his people long after he had left them.  The country needs peace alike for the good of the Sioux Nation and our own, and he hoped that Red Cloud would be convinced of this when he saw with what warm-hearted interest he would be received by the people of the land.

Red Cloud thanked him, and said he had received much kindness while here from the big chiefs, but he could not forget his people at home.  He was sent here to care for their interests, and he thought of them sleeping and waking, for they were on his heart.  He had asked for the removal of Fort Fetterman because it was a curse to his people, and instead of protecting them, as the Great Father had told them, it had only brought mischief into his country by whisky-drinking, abusing squaws, and other bad work.  He hoped there would be no war, and there would not if the whites waited for the Sioux to commence it.  His people having no food have to hunt, and when they do that they were told they were off their reservation, and were shot at.  This made trouble, and the Indians always got the blame, as they have no writers or papers.

Delegate Hooper was introduced, and said his people, the Mormons, had crossed and recrossed the plains for the last twenty-two years, through the Sioux country, with their women and children, cattle and goods, and in all that time, though more than 80,000 persons, they had never lost a life, an animal, or a bale of goods, until the railroad was built; since which time they had lost some property in the train.  He felt it his duty to bear this testimony to the good conduct of Red Cloud and his people toward them.

Red Cloud thanked him, and said he knew the Mormons.  They had always talked straight and dealt fairly with his people.

Red Cloud and party will leave Washington to-morrow noon for New York, where they will remain a day or two, and then proceed home.  They will be under the charge of General Smith, in whom they have full confidence.

Colonel Bullock, Mr. Beauvers, and John Richards, the interpreter, will accompany the party.

June 12, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala & Choctaw]

The Indians.

Another Council at the Interior Department--Red Cloud is a Better Mood--Further Explanations--Plain Words on Both Sides.

Washington, D. C., June 11.--Red Cloud and his party were again at the Indian Bureau this morning, it being the final interview between them and the Government.  They appear to be much depressed, having reflected over the proceedings of yesterday.  They reluctantly came to the meeting this morning, the earnest persuasion of the interpreter, agent and traders having induced them to do so.  They stated that their refusal to attend might result to their injury.  Last night Red Shirt was so much depressed in spirit that he wanted to commit suicide, saying that he might as well die here as elsewhere, as they had been swindled.

Further Explanations.

Commissioner Parker opened the proceedings today by saying the Indians were asked to come up because it was thought they ought to have something to say before they went home.  Secretary Cox said to them he was very sorry to find out that Red Cloud and his people have not understood what was in the treaty of 1868; therefore he wanted him to come here, so that all mistakes might be explained and be dismissed.  It was important to know exactly how matters stood.  This Government did not want to drive them.  The Secretary then explained, at some length, the provisions of the treaty, the limits of the hunting-grounds, the reservation, &c.  He understood that Red Cloud and his band were unwilling to go on the reservation, but wanted to live on the head-waters of the Big Cheyenne River, north-east of Fort Fetterman.  This was outside of the permanent reservation, but inside the part reserved for hunting-ground.  The Secretary was willing to say, if that would please them, he would make it so, and have their business agents there; this would still keep white people off the hunting-ground.  The Government would give them cattle and food, and clothing so as to make them happy in their new home.  The secretary said he would write down the names of the men in whom the Indians have confidence, and went for their agent and traders.  He desired to find out whether they were good men and could be trusted by the Government.  He was sorry the Indians felt bad on finding out what was in the treaty; but the best way was to tell it all, so there might not be any misunderstanding.

Red Cloud's Reply.

Red Cloud, having shaken hands with the Secretary and Commissioner Parker, seated himself on the floor and said:

What I said to the Great Father, the President, is now in my mind.  I have only a few words to add this morning.  I have become tired of speaking.  Yesterday, when I saw the treaty and all the false things in it, I was mad.  I suppose it made you the same.  The Secretary explained it this morning, and now I am pleased.  As to the goods you talked about, I want what is due and belongs to me.  The red people were raised with the bow and arrow, and are all of one nation; but the whites, who are educated and civilized, swindle me and I am not hard to swindle because I do not know how to read and write.  We have thirty-two nations and have a Council-house the same as you have.  We held a council before we came here, and the demand I have made upon you from the chiefs I left behind me are all alike.  You whites have a chief you go by, but all the chief I go by is God Almighty.  When he tells me anything that is for the best I always go by his guidance.  The whites think the Great Spirit has nothing to do with us, but he has.  After fooling with us and taking away our property they will have to suffer for it hereafter.  The Great Spirit is now looking at us, and we offer him our prayers.  When we had a talk at the mouth of Horse Creek, in 1852, you made a chief of Conquering Bear and then destroyed him, and since then we have had no chief.  You white people did the same to your Great chief.  You killed one of our Great Fathers.  The Great Spirit makes us suffer for our wrong-doing.  You promised us many things, but you never performed them.  You take away everything.  Even if you live forty years or fifty years in this world and then die, you cannot take all your goods with you.  The Great Spirit will not make me suffer because I am ignorant.   He will put me in a place where I will be better off than in this world.  The Great Spirit raised me naked and gave me no arms.  Look at me.  This is the way I was raised.  White men say we are bad, we are murderers, but I cannot see it.  We gave up our lands wherever the whites came into our country.  Tell the Great Father I am poor.  In earlier years, when I had plenty of game, I could make a living, I gave land away, but I am too poor for that now.  I want something for my land.  I want to receive some pay for the lands where you have made railroads.  My father has a great many children out West with no ears, brains or heart.  You have the names to the treaty of persons professing to be chiefs, but I am Chief of that nation.  Look at me.  My hair is straight.  I was free born on this land.  An interpreter who signed the treaty has curly hair.  He is no man.  I will see him hereafter.  I know I have been wronged.  The words of my Great Father never reach me and mine never reach him.  There are too many streams between us.  The Great spirit has raised me on wild game.  I know he has left enough to support my children for awhile.  You have stolen Denver from me.  You never gave me anything for it.  Some of our people went there to engage in farming, and you sent your white children, and scattered them all away.  Now I have only two mounds left, and I want them for myself and people.  There is treasure in them.  You have stolen mounds containing gold.  I have for many years lived with the men I want for my superintendent, agent and traders, and am well acquainted with them.  I know they are men of justice; they do what is right.  If you appoint them and any blame comes, it will not be on you, but on me.  I would be willing to let you go upon our land when the time comes; but that would not be until after the game is gone.  I do not ask my Great Father to give me anything.  I came naked, and will go away naked.  I want you to tell my great Father I have no further business.  I want you to put me on a straight line.  I want to stop in St. Louis to see Robert Campbell, an old friend. (Red Cloud then pointed to a lady in the room, saying,) Look at that woman.  She was captured by Silver Horn's party.  I wish you to pay her what her captor's owe her.  I am a man true to what I say, and want to keep my promise.  The Indians robbed that lady there, and through your influence I want her to be paid.

Answer of the Secretary.

Secretary Cox replied to Red Cloud:

That the treaty showed how the land was to be paid for.  They were to be given cattle, agricultural instruments, seeds, houses, blacksmith shops, teachers, &c., and food and clothing.  The land is good in two ways; one is to let the game grow for the hunt; the other to plough it up and get corn and wheat and other things out of it, and raise cattle on it.  The reason why so many white men live on their land is that they treat it in this way.  He would correct Red Cloud in a remark made by him.  The whites do not expect to take their goods with them into the other world.  We know as well as the Indians do that we go out of the world as naked as when we came into it; but while here in the world, we take pleasure in building great houses, and towns, and make good bread to eat.  We are trying to teach them to do the same things, so that they may be as well off as we are.  Here, (pointing to Commissioner Parker,) is the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who is a chief among us.  He belonged to a race who lived there long before the white man came to this country.  He now has power and white people obey him, and he directs what shall be done in very important business.  We will be brethren to you in the same way if you follow his good example and learn our civilization.

Red Cloud responded--I don't blame him for being a Chief.  He ought to be one.  We are all of one nation.

Secretary Cox--Those Indians who become Chiefs among us do so by learning the white man's customs, and ceasing to be dependent as children.  I was glad to hear Red Cloud say he would not go away angry.  Gen. Smith will see that you get good presents.  But these are small things compared with the arrangements that will be made to make you prosperous and happy.  Some of the Peace Commissioners will go to your country to see that you are well treated.

Speech of a Choctaw Chief.

Secretary Cox pointed out in the room Gov. Pitchylin, a Chief of the Choctaws, and this gentleman addressed the Indians, saying:

He was reared among and resided with the Choctaws.  His mother was an Indian, and his father white.  They did not teach him English.  The Choctaws sent a delegation to Philadelphia when the great Washington was there, and they told him they would be friends to the whites.  They kept the treaty, and learned to live as white people.  The Choctaws were more numerous than all the bands of the Sioux.  Three or four thousand children among them knew how to read and write.  When he wanted to send a paper to the Great Father or to the Great Council he wrote it himself.  He had been educated like white people.  He concluded by giving them good advice, saying:  You must adopt the white people's ways if you want to preserve yourselves. You cannot be Sioux always unless you do so.  If you fight the whites they will kill you all.  If you take the advice of your white Chief, the Secretary, you will live.

Parting Words.

Secretary Cox said to the Indians:

I do not want you to think the days coming are black days.  I want you to think they will be bright and happy days.  Be of good spirit.  If you feel like a man who is lost in the woods we will guide you out of them to a pleasant place.  You will go home two days from now.  One day will be spent by Gen. Smith in New-York to get you the presents.

Red Cloud replied:

I do not want to go that way.  I want a straight line.  I have seen enough of towns.  There are plenty of stores between here and my home, and there is no occasion to go out of the way to buy goods.  I have no business in New-York.  I want to go back the way I came.  The whites are the same everywhere.  I see them every day.  As to the improvement of the red men, I want to send them here delegates [sic] to Congress.

Secretary Cox said he would be guided by Gen. Smith as to the route homeward.  He was not particularly anxious the Indians should go to New-York.  This ended the interview.  The Indians shook hands with the Secretary and Commissioner Parker, and then hurried from the room, followed by the crowd of persons who had gathered at the door.

June 12, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule; Osage; Pawnee]

Congress.       

In the Senate, yesterday, the bill appropriating $50,000 for the expenses of the Indian delegations now at Washington, was passed.

[See NYT 6/13 re other tribes under this. Rest not copied but does

mention railroads]

June 12, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Another "council" was held yesterday at the Indian Bureau between the Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the Sioux chief, Red Cloud.  The secretary assured the Chief that the traders he preferred should be appointed, and that, as Red Cloud and his band were unwilling to go on the reservation, and wished to live on the head-waters of the Big Cheyenne, it would be as they desired, and the Government would give them cattle and food and clothing.  Red Cloud, in the course of his reply, said he was mad when he heard what was in the treaty, but the Secretary having explained it again he (Red Cloud) was pleased.

June 13, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

The Departure of Red Cloud and party, which was to have taken place to-day, has been postponed.  He desires another conference with the government authorities, which will probably be granted.

June 13, 1870: NY Times: [Osage; Pawnee; Dakota: Oglala & Brule]

The Indians.

Other Delegations Coming--the Bill for Expenses--Red Cloud's Indisposition to be Shown. 

Special Dispatch to the New-York Times.

Washington, June 12.--The Secretary of the Interior has given permission to delegations of the Osage and Pawnee tribes of Indians to come here on business, and one or both parties are expected within the next ten days.  To pay the expenses of these parties, as well as the expenses of the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail parties, is the object of the bill appropriating $50,000 which was passed by the Senate yesterday.  It failed of consideration in the House because of objections, but will probably be passed in a day or two, after some members have made speeches upon it, if they can get a chance.  The Secretary and Commissioner of Indian Affairs desired to send all these parties home by the way of New-York, so that they might have an opportunity to see more of our strength and resources. Spotted Tail, and his associates are now in New-York for this purpose, but Red Cloud said at the council yesterday, in pretty plain terms, that he had no desire to go there to see or be seen, but wanted to go home by the most direct route.  How the matter will be adjusted with him is not yet determined.

Secretary Cox on Sales of Indian Lands.

The Secretary of the Interior, in some conversation yesterday about Indian affairs, declared himself to the effect that it was against our policy to permit the sale of large tracts of public land by treaty, and said he thought there was no constitutional authority for disposing of lands held in occupancy by Indian tribes to railroad companies, or other third parties under treaty stipulations, and he could not favor the making of treaties for such a purpose.

June 13, 1870:  NY Standard [quoted in "Minutes', 2nd AR of the Board of             Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 45-46}:  [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

[NOTE:  Check to see that entire article is here.  Other entries?]

Indian Orators.

A number of Brulé-Sioux chiefs, including Spotted Tail, have taken leave of the Government.  They have not gone, however, without giving to their Washington Fathers a few useful parting hints.  Spotted Tail had occasion to remind Secretary Cox that his contemporary, Fast Bear, had received a bullet wound in his side while farming, and that, too, from an officer; while for himself he was provoked to say laughingly that if General Cox has as much trouble in his life as Spotted Tail, he would have cut his throat long ago.  As to whether he would have cut other people's opinions will be divided, with the preponderance against the Brulé-Sioux.  Yet it seems to us that there is matter for thought in this complaint of Spotted Tail.  His life is miserable; it is not agreeable to him to be a devil of a savage; he would like to plant corn, but he wishes that some better way were invented of understanding the Indian character than by putting a bullet into it.  Can it be done?

Spotted Tail not only asks that his efforts as an agriculturist but his rights as a land proprietor should be recognized otherwise then by shooting at him.  We have Red Cloud's word for it that not "a brass ring" has been received by the Indians on account of the Union Pacific Railroad, and this is why the wretched buffalo-hunters have sworn to a deadly feud against the steam-engine.  Would it not be shameful, though, if the owners of the railroad, the telegraph, the continent, were so mean and so greedy that they could not exercise the amount of patience necessary to pay and protect with decency the small number remaining of the continent's dispossessed proprietors?  Senator Stewart eloquently asks whether we prefer "the monopoly of inaccessible regions, the monopoly of desolation, and the monopoly of barbarism, to the monopoly of railroads?"  Certainly not.  We only ask that the locomotive, which is to bring so much wealth to its owners and patrons, shall pay fairly for its whistle.

We plead for the Indians now, because we see a tomahawk policy revived in one of the more savage of our newspapers.  Let us make no Indian war upon the Indians--no savages out of our soldiers.  White villainy, as well as red savagery, has been at the bottom of our Indian troubles, and the actual amount we have paid for Indian lands, worth more to us than San Domingo, Cuba, and Alaska put together, has been exceedingly small.  What the technical land rights of the Sioux are we have not made out, but on general principles they have claims upon us.  Remembering these things, our first duty is magnanimity.

Everybody feels that daylight has been let into the Indian question by a few inspired words from the red men themselves.  Red Cloud's simple speeches throw contempt on the rusty policy, first, of ignoring the savage, next degrading, and then murdering him.  Brave Bear goes so far as to vindicate his spiritual claim, and Pitchlynn makes an unanswerable argument for his capacity to learn.  But, to state the case the Indians more clearly, let us extract a few of their own golden sentences:

"I don't want to fight.

"The men you send us have no sense, no heart.

"The Great Spirit did not tell us we are slaves.

"We want you to pay us for our land.

"I do not want dirty flour and rotten tobacco.

"Our Great Father sends out whisky-drinkers.

"I allow no liquor to be brought into my country.

"I will not take the treaty with me; it is all lies!

"The whites think the Great Spirit has nothing to do with us.  After fooling with us and taking away our property, they will have to suffer for it here and hereafter.

"The Great Spirit will not make me suffer because I am ignorant.

"Even if you live forty years or fifty years in this world and then die, you cannot take lal your goods with you.

"My Father has a great many children out West with no ears, brains, or heart.

"You have stolen mounds containing gold.

"As to the improvement of the red men, I want to send them here delegates to Congress."--Red Cloud.

"The Great Spirit told me when a chief, 'If you get strong and become rich, you cannot take your riches with you when you die.'  He must have told a different thing to the white man, who is so grasping, and who piles up money.  He must have told them, 'When you die, you can take all into the next world.' "--Red Bear.

In these few words the Indians' rights, wrongs, politics, and theology are fairly set forth.  They contain the strongest indictment yet made against the traders, the whisky sellers, the venders of bad clothes, the swindlers we have sent to degrade us in the Indian country.  The confidence of the Indians in the final justice of the Great Spirit will, we trust, be observed by students of our territorial economy.  The Government would, not be wide of the mark if it accepted for its oracle a sentence or two of Red Cloud, and acted upon the hint as though a suggestion had come--no matter through what rude and humble medium--from the Great Spirit himself.

June 16, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Interview Between Senator Morrill, of Maine, and Red Cloud--Delegate Hooper, of Utah, on the Indians--Red Cloud Coming to New-York.

Washington, June 12,--Senator Morrill, of Maine, Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and who had charge of the Indian Appropriation bill, and Delegate Hooper, of Utah, called yesterday evening on Red Cloud to pay their respects.

Mr. Morrill's Remarks.

The senator assured Red Cloud of his profound sympathy with him and his race, and that Congress, the "Great Council," the President and the people would deal justly with the Indians.  For his part, he was convinced they had been too much neglected and abused, which operated to the injury of the whites as well as the red men of the West.  If Red Cloud were to go North he would find multitudes of friends who would be glad to take him by the hand and stand by him and his people long after he had left them.  The country needs peace alike from the good of the Sioux nation and our own, and he hoped Red Cloud would be convinced of this when he saw with what warm-hearted interest he would be received by the people of the land.

Reply of the Chief.

Red Cloud thanked him, and said he had received much kindness while here from the big chiefs, but he could not forget his people at home.  He was sent here to care for their interests, and he thought of them sleeping and waking, for they were on his heart.  He had asked for the removal of Fort Fetterman because it was a curse to his people, and instead of protecting them as the Great Father had told him, it had only brought mischief into his country by whisky-drinking, abusing squaws and other bad work.  He hoped there would be no war, and there would not if the whites waited for the Sioux to commence it.  His people, having no food, have to hunt, and when they do that they were told they were off their reservation and were shot at.  This made trouble, and the Indians get the blame, as they have no writers or papers.

Delegate Hooper was introduced, and said his people--the Mormons--had crossed and recrossed the Plains for the last twenty-two years through the Sioux country, with their women and children, cattle and goods.  In all that time, though more than 80,000 persons, they had never lost a life, an animal or a bale of goods until the railroad was built; since which they had lost some property on the trains.  He felt it his duty to bear this testimony to the good conduct of Red Cloud and his people toward them.

Red Cloud thanked him and said he knew the Mormons; they had always talked straight and dealt fairly with his people.

Red Cloud and his party will leave Washington to-morrow noon for New-York, where they will remain a day or two, and thence proceed directly home.  They will be under the charge of Gen. Smith, to whom they have full confidence.  Col. Bullock, Mr. Beauvais and John Richards, the interpreter, will accompany the party.

The Visit to New-York Postponed.

The departure of Red Cloud and his party for York [sic], which was to have taken place to-morrow, has been postponed.  He desires another conference with the Government authorities, which will probably be granted.

June 13, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Some of the Indian Chiefs, at any rate, are coming to New-York.  Red Cloud, according to our own correspondent, is not likely to be of the party, while another report states that he will certainly favor us with a visit.  We have expressed our opinion of him in another column.  Probably there are many who call him a savage who would be glad to possess a tenth part of his abilities.  Now is the time for the "interviewers" to sharpen their pencils--and their imaginations.

June 13, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

The Story of the Indians.

Whatever differences of opinion may be entertained with reference to the claims which the Indians have upon us, the manner in which those claims have been brought to our notice during the last few days cannot fail to make a deep impression.  We have heard the story of the red man from his own lips, and if we can once bring ourselves to regard it in a candid spirit, and without violent prejudices toward the Indian simply on account of his race, we shall see some reason to suppose that the "wrongs" in the Indian affair are not exclusively on our side.  There can be no doubt, for instance, that Red Cloud, a Chief over a score of tribes, never understood the true nature of the treaty of 1867 until it was properly explained to him on Friday at Washington.  All the Indians declare that they were told that the treaty was only intended to "make peace"--that the troops were to be withdrawn, and the Indians allowed to "raise their children."  When they found the railroad going through what they regarded as their country, they believed the Government to be once more taking an unfair advantage of them.  Secretary Cox told them on Saturday that he was sorry "they felt badly upon finding out what was in the treaty."  But is this the way the business of a great Government should be carried on, even though the parties treated with are "only" Indians?  Is it any wonder that the Indians do not adhere to treaties if they are carefully kept in the dark as to what those treaties really contain?

We are quite aware that there is a class in the country which simply settles all such questions by saying, "Any treatment is good enough for the Indians.  They are vermin, and must be exterminated."  We trust, however, that this savage theory is not accepted by the great body of the people.  We ought to be desirous of keeping our engagements with the Indians, even if they do belong to an inferior race.  The "extermination" principle has had its admirers, and some military men, as our readers will easily remember, have done their best to carry it out.  But we might almost challenge anyone to read Red Cloud's speeches, and then decide whether the Indian is still entitled to receive ordinary fair play or not.  Red Cloud is evidently a man of considerable natural abilities.  No amount of education could have enabled him to present his case with greater affect than he has lately done, drawing all his images and illustrations from nature, and breaking out now and then into involuntary scorn of our mode of perpetually discussing questions without settling them.  "I have become tired of speaking," he said, on Saturday.  And again he begged not to be forced to visit New-York.  "The whites are the same everywhere.  I see them every day."  Some of his remarks are even more characteristic of the red Indian than any of the speeches invented for the "Last of the Mohicans" by Fennimore Cooper.  "You promised us many things," he said, on Saturday, "but you never performed them.  You take away everything.  Even if you live forty or fifty years in this world, and then die, you cannot take all your goods with you.  The Great Spirit will not make me suffer because I am ignorant.  He will put me in a place where I shall be better off than in this world."  Again, is there no truth in the following sayings?  "My Father (the President) has a great many children out West with no ears, brains, or heart.  The words of my Great Father never reach me, and mine never reach him.  There are too many steams between us"--as fine an image as ever poet conceived.  Listen, too, to these words of Brave Bear:  "I am seventy-five years of age.  I am old.  When the Great Father created us, the white and the red men were all brethren, and we lived so; but now we are not.  We are melting away; and the whites, who are increasing so fast and are great, are trying to crush us and leave us no hope.  The Great Spirit is looking upon them, and will make them give an account of their misdeeds."  "The whites," said Red Cloud, "who are educated and civilized, swindle me, and I am not hard to swindle, because I do not know how to read and write."

Are these groundless complaints?  We all know that they are not.  If the Indians do not always keep faith with us, we have certainly not gone out of our way to set them a better example.  Their lands have been taken from them, and when compensation has been promised, the money has seldom been paid.  Some of the "streams" which run between the Indian and his Great Father at the White House intercept and carry off the appropriations.  There seems to the Indian to be no chance of getting justice.  He is entrapped into making all sorts of treaties which he cannot understand, and which are misrepresented to him by those who induce him to sign them.  We trust that Secretary Cox will do all in his power to see that a more honorable policy is pursued in future.  It may be the destiny of the red man to be "stamped out," but while he does remain upon the earth it is scarcely worthy of us as a people, to make him the victim of superior cunning.

June 13, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Spotted Tail, Bear In The Grass, Red Cloud, and their companions, visited Central Park and High Bridge, yesterday, in carriages.  They seemed very much delighted at everything they saw.  They expressed great astonishment at the height of the bridge, and made some gestures expressive of the fate that would await a person unfortunate enough to fall over the parapet.  On returning to the hotel they retired early without seeing many visitors.  Today they will make a more extended tour through the City.

June 14, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

The Indians.

Another Interview with Red Cloud--Agents who Fill their Pockets not Wanted--Why the Forts are Maintained--Red Cloud Wants Peace, but Whites Must Not Intrude--A Speech to be Made in New-York.

Washington, June 13, -- Secretary Cox and Commissioner Park, at the request of Red Cloud, gave the latter an interview on Sunday [June 12].  Several of the party delayed attending, being dissatisfied with former proceedings, but they were induced to come into the room.  Among others present were Representatives Garfield, Ferry [sic], Laflin and Smith, of Ohio, Gen. Walker, Superintendent of the Census, and the Commissioner of Customs, Mr. Sargent.  Commissioner Parker remarked to them if they had anything to say they would now be heard.  Red Cloud then spoke as follows:

Soldiers and Poor Agents.

Father, I have come to bid you good-bye.  I want an answer to my request for the men I have named for my agents and traders.  I do not want strange men.  I also ask for seventeen horses to take us back home from the railroad.  Before you sent troops to my country you never had any trouble.  I ask you whether I did any damage to those who passed my country.  I divided with them what I had, put moccasins on their feet and made them presents of horses.  Listen to me.  All of you seem against us.  The men you send out to my country always make war, and all they want is to make money by destroying us.  I do not want any military men for my agents or superintendents.  I would rather have other men.  You send out men who are poor, who may fill their pockets.  These I do not want.  I intend to make a speech in New-York.

Reply of the Secretary.

Secretary Coxe--As Red Cloud wants to leave here today, I will try to be short in what I have to say.  As to agents and traders Red Cloud repeated what he said the other day.  We are not prepared now to name the traders or agents.  We shall not send anybody there to steal from them if we know it.  If you see any agent or trader cheating you we want you to tell us.  We will bring them away and punish them.  The putting an agent [sic] north of Fetterman is a new thing, and depends upon seeing that you are willing to live there in peace; because the old treaty said the trading should be done on the Missouri River.  This new arrangement is made out of kindness, and we are going to carry it out.  What we say we mean.  What you say is entitled to great weight, but we are not now ready to determine the question.  The President made his answer the other day about the forts, some of which we removed because we agreed to.  Fort Fetterman is south of the Platte River.  We cannot remove it now.  We believe it is as much protection for the Indians as the whites in that country, to stop people from going into the country from both ways.  We know soldiers sometimes make mischief, but if we bring them all away there will be more trouble than ever before.  We have them there to keep both sides peaceable.  We have not yet got from the Great Council all the money we want to make present.  Gen. Smith will have a good deal to buy presents on the way for you and your families, but we have not yet got the seventeen horses you ask for.  You will have everything we can give you to make you comfortable, and presents to take home and show.  We mean to treat you kindly.  We have plenty for that purpose.  If you shall stay quietly in the home assigned to you we shall keep adding to your presents.  The treaty I read to you the other day named a good many things, costing a great deal of money.  We will add more from time to time.  I do not want to promise you anything that we will not do, and therefore we are stingy in making promises.  I do not want to say anything you will not find true when you get out on the Plains.  We hope you are going home determined to be our friends, and that we will never have another quarrel with the Sioux people.  When we feel that all your people are really our friends, we will be more generous to them.  You will see how kindly all our people are toward you.  We hope you will have a safe and pleasant journey home, and when you reach it, you will send us word by telegraph.  We will remember all you have said in council here.

A Desire for Peace.

Red Cloud, after a pause, replied:

I know you will remember what I have said, for you have good memories.  If I had not been for peace I should not have come to my Great Father's house.  Tell your children to keep the peace.  I do not say to my father, go to my country and scare the game away.  Tell him to keep them away.  I will not do wrong.  If you had kept your people across the Platte you never would have had any trouble.  You have your land fenced in and do not want us to come on it.  We have our land fenced in and do not want you to intrude on us.  All nations are around us.  I do not want to make war with the Great Father.  I want to show I go away peaceably.  I want to raise my children on my land, and therefore I want my Great Father to keep his children away from me.  I was never raised by my father on horses.  The Mexicans showed me how to ride them.  I want good horses, the same as you gave to Spotted Tail.  I am not mad with you.  I have got a better heart.  I am going home.  If you will not give me horses, very well.  God Almighty raised me naked.  I am much pleased with your offer to give me presents, but I do not want any.

The council here terminated.  Red Cloud and the other warriors shook hands with the Secretary and the Commissioner, and then hastily left the room, followed by a large crowd of pale-faces.  They will leave Washington today.

The Visit to New-York.

Red Cloud and his party will leave Washington for New-York to-morrow.  They are greatly disappointed at the non-success of their mission.

June 14, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Brule]

DEPARTURE OF THE RED MEN.

They Take a Glimpse at Civilization and Go Direct to Where the Sun Sets.

The distinguished party "from where the sun sets," consisting of the Sioux Chiefs Spotted Tail and Swift Bear, and the Dakota warriors Yellow Hair and Fast Bear, accompanied by their interpreter, M. Guerre, and Capt. Pool, of the United States Army, took their departure from the Astor House at 7 o'clock last evening, en route for the Plains, by the Hudson River Railroad.  They had seen enough of the civilization of the pale-faces before they left Washington, and had very little desire to see the lions of New-York or to be lionized themselves.  They were, however, induced so far to relax their savage dignity as to take a look at some of the more notable objects which we have contrived to get up for the purpose of astonishing the natives as well as the foreigners.  On Saturday they were kept in their room by the rain, but in the evening visited Niblo's, where the battle of the Sepoys afforded them great delight, though the rest of the exhibition appeared to excite very little interest in their dusky bosoms.  On Sunday they were taken through the Park and about some of the environs of the City.  Yesterday forenoon they kept very quiet in their rooms until about 12 o'clock, but watched the soldiers in the Park from their windows with great interest.  At noon they sallied forth, followed by a crowd of the unwashed, who had been lying in wait for them all the morning, and proceeded to the Battery in carriages, whence they were taken to the French frigate, "Magicienne" with a salute, and received on board by Admiral Lefebre and Baron Von Schlemitz, of the Prussian corvette "Arcona", with assurances of their high consideration.  The marines and sailors, as well as the vessel itself, went through an inspection, and the party was of course regaled with a collation.  [sic]  On their return they went to the pier of the Narragansett Steam-ship Company, and were shown over the steamer "Providence," with the grandeur of which they were duly impressed.

They have, in general, been very quiet and secluded during their visit, and obstinately refused to be shown about very extensively.  They were tired, they said, of seeing towns, and wished to get back to their wild dominions in the West.  They propose making no stop on the way back, but may be induced to take a hasty look at Chicago.  Their disposition to accept the blessings of civilization has evidently not been very much increased by their experience in the East.

June 14, 1870; NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala & other non-deleg. Indian matters]

The Indians

Red Cloud had another interview with the Secretary of the Interior on Sunday, at which much that was said at previous meetings was touched upon.  Red Cloud asked for seventeen horses to carry his party from the railroad.  He did not wish war, but the whites must not enter his lands.  He complained of the presence of the troops and of agents who filled their own pockets.  The Secretary promised the Indians that if they showed themselves friendly to the whites they would be kindly treated.  No agents would be sent to them who would cheat them if the Government knew of it.  In the course of one of his speeches Red Cloud intimated that he would make a speech in New-York.  The Cherokee, Creek, Seminole and Osage Indians in the Indian Territory, at a recent council of their representatives at Okmulgee, the capital of the Creek Nation, adopted an address to the President, Congress and the people of the United States, affirming their determination to maintain friendship with the Government, and to "place themselves squarely" upon their treaties.  They oppose the Territorial Government survey and allotment of their land, and donations to railroads, seeing in them prospective loss of homes and independence, and perhaps extinction.

June 15, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud, the Sioux Chieftain, arrived in this City last evening, with his party, and took up his quarters at the St. Nicholas Hotel, where he will remain until to-morrow morning, and then depart for the West. Today the party will ride in Central Park and visit the Coliseum.

June 15, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud

The Chieftain in a Bad Frame of Mind and Body--He Desires no Attentions--The Movements of the Party Today.

Red Cloud, the terrible Chief of the Brule-Sioux [sic], who was wont to lower on the Western horizon [sic], inspiring terror in the breasts of the pale faces along the North-western border, and of late has given vent to some ominous mutterings at Washington, arrived in this City last evening, in company with about fifteen fierce braves and several dusky women.  The party was under the charge of Gen. Smith, of the United States Army, and took up their quarters at the St. Nicholas Hotel.  They are fine specimens of the noble savage, dressed in the costume of their people, with a profusion of bright colors and pewter ornaments.  On arriving at the hotel they immediately retired to the rooms assigned them, and the Chieftain himself resolutely refused to see any company or to go out for any amusement.  In fact he was not only in a very savage mood on account of his failure to accomplish his object at Washington, but was suffering from indisposition.  He feels that his mission has not been accomplished, and that he returns to his dominions in the regions of the sunset with no better understanding with the Great Father than he had before.  Many of his wishes have not been complied with, and the explanation of the treaty of 1868, which he received at Washington, has increased his dissatisfaction.  He declares he was party to no treaty which required him to give up any of his lands or to remove to a reservation.  He understood it only as an agreement for a cessation of hostilities.

The refusal on the part of the Secretary of the Interior to grant his party the trifling favor of seventeen horses to take them from Fort Laramie to their homes seems to rankle in his bosom, and added to his other disappointments has thrown him into a very surly frame of mind.  He will join in no public demonstration, and probably will not favor New-Yorkers with the promised speech.

At about 8 o'clock last evening a delegation of the Indian Commission, consisting of Peter Cooper, the President, Mr. Cromwell, the Secretary, Mr. Tatham, Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby and Dr. Weeks, called for the purpose of seeing the most of their illustrious protégés and making arrangements for a public meeting at Cooper Institute, this evening, where the great Chieftain might unbosom himself to the people of the Metropolis.  Gen. Smith, however, assured them that it was altogether useless, for in his present state of mind the Chief had no disposition to talk.  He says if he could accomplish nothing with his Great Father there is no use in trying elsewhere.

The intention is merely to take him about the City and show him something of its extent and its wealth, and on Thursday morning he will depart for the West.  Last night all of the party except Red Cloud himself left the hotel early in the evening and crossed the street to seek entertainment at the Theatre Comique.  They were highly amused with the entertainment there, and at its conclusion returned directly to their rooms.  This morning they will receive a call from the delegates of the Indian commission, who failed to see them last night, and will then probably make an inspection of the lower part of the City.  In the afternoon they will ride in the Central Park and take a look at the upper portion of the Metropolis.  In the evening, it is proposed to take them to the Coliseum, where they will undoubtedly receive an exalted idea of the extent and quality of the pow-wows of the pale-faces.  Should Red Cloud's feelings become sufficiently mollified to consent to meet his white brethren in public, the Commission entertain some hope yet of getting him to make that little speech, but there is no probability of their success.  The party intend to make no stop on their way back to the plains, after leaving New-York.

June 15, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

An Indian's Melancholy

The great Chief of the Sioux appears to have become experimentally acquainted with the truth of the saying of the wise King, "He that increaseth knowledge increseth sorrow."  The buoyant spirits with which Red Cloud entered Washington, and the vein of pleasantry that prompted his comments upon the eccentricities of female attire, have alike departed.  Whether it be the unwonted luxury of ice-cream that has disordered his digestion, or the eloquence of the Indian Bureau that has confused his mind, the fact is certain that Red Cloud is thoroughly out of spirits.  He came to New-York under protest, and he seems determined to find it disagreeable.  The short experience of civilization has made of him a perfect Western "Sir Charles Coldstream"--used up, and ready with the one unfailing criticism, "nothing in it."  It was proposed to show him a council of the white children of the "Great Father," in that lively wigwam under the Cooper Institute, but he is sick of endless pow-wow.  Scores of anxious reporters were dying to have an assurance from his own lips that he was perfectly well, and that he was greatly impressed with his first experience of Broadway; but the impenetrable Chief was deaf to every entreaty for an audience, and studiously preserved his misanthropical silence.

A happy thought appears to have struck his genial conductor.  "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast"--the quotation is somewhat musty, but the truth it enunciates is eternal.  The harp of the young David chased away the melancholy of Saul as the sun dispels the morning clouds.  What more potent spell, then, can be had wherewith to elevate the spirits of the red-skinned chieftain than an orchestra of three hundred and fifty pieces, not to speak of a chorus of two thousand voices?  So it has been arranged that Red Cloud and his party shall today listen to those masterpieces of harmonic thunder that once tickled the ears of all Boston.  We have not yet succeeded in startling our Indian guest so completely as we anticipated.  Let us hope that what the Capitol and all the treasures of art and invention failed to effect, the renowned anvil chorus will surely accomplish.  If he hears that unmoved, it is just possible that his stoical indifference may disappear before the national hymns and the accompanying bell chimes, drum corps, firing of cannon and general "mélange" of unearthly noises.  The marvels of civilization will have received a rude shock if even these wonders fail to astonish the great Chief.  New-York may then show her lions in vain, for neither the pneumatic tunnel, the Central Park, Wall-street nor Broadway, nor even Mr. Fisk, Jr., can astonish the intelligence that has calmly submitted to the experience of today's programme at the Coliseum.

June 16, 1870? [date of activity not report]:  "Minutes", 2nd AR of the      Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 47 [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Red Cloud at Cooper Institute, New York.

It is evident to all familiar with the facts, that Red Cloud left Washington greatly disappointed, if not angry.  The revelations made to him by the reading of the treaty made with his tribe by the peace commission of 1868, which he declared to Secretary Cox he had heard read for the first time here in Washington; the refusal to allow his people a supply of ammunition, with which to kill game, and distinction made between him and his party, and Spotted Tail and his companions, in the presentation of horses to the latter and not to the former, was allowing him to depart in a mood very unsatisfactory to the friends of peace and economy.

Thoroughly convinced of these facts, the secretary of the board telegraphed to Mr. Benjamin Tatham, of New York, to ascertain whether Mr. Peter Cooper would allow them the use of his large hall for a public reception of Red Cloud, if the Government would detain the chiefs in New York a day to be present.  Receiving an affirmative answer, the secretary of the board applied to Secretary Cox, and, obtaining an order for General Smith, who had charge of the delegation, to detain them in New York one day, hastened to New York that night, June 14th.

Telegraphing to Mr. Cooper and Mr. Tatham to meet him at the Institute the next morning, the secretary of the board immediately arranged with those gentlemen for the reception to take place the next day at 12, noon.  As but one evening and morning papers could publish the notice of the meeting, the risks of having an empty hall were considerable; but so greatly had the public become interested in Red Cloud through the wide publicity which had been given to his manly speeches, that when the hour of 12 the next day, June 10 [sic - typo for "16"], arrived, the great hall was so crowded that many left, unable to obtain admission.  "Never before," said the New York Herald of the following day, "was the great hall of the Cooper Institute filled with a larger or more respectable crowd of people than assembled to listen to Red Cloud yesterday."

Meanwhile a telegram had been forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, from the members of the United States Indian commission of New York, offering, if they might be allowed by the Government, to present, at their own expense, to Red Cloud, the twenty-one horses he asked for.  The Secretary of the Interior replied that the President had ordered that the horses should be given to Red Cloud at the expense of the Government.

The effect of this splendid reception of the great chief of the Sioux at the Cooper Institute, New York, was to completely win his heart; and, as the crowd surged forward over the platform, at the close of the meeting, to

tender its congratulations to Red Cloud, and many costly and appropriate presents were given to them, the chiefs were thoroughly satisfied that they had hosts of true friends among the pale faces; and they left the city of New York and the East the following day in the best of humor.  

As the event was one of so remarkable a character, the secretary of the board clips from several of the great New York newspapers an account of the meeting, believing that they will interest some of our Indian agents at the West when they take this report from the shelf of their cabins to while away some of their lonely hours.

June 16, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Brule]

The Indians.   

A Party of Mounted Indians Struck by a Train--Spotted Tail and His Friends in Chicago. [Only delegation item copies]

Chicago, June 15.--Spotted Tail, Swift Bear, Yellow Hair and Fast Bear, the Indian Chiefs, arrived ian this city this morning, and left this afternoon for the West.

June 16, 1870:  Evening Star:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud having asked that horses should be furnished his tribe, the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs have agreed to supply him, and to-day telegraphed him that 17 horses would await them upon their arrival home.  This seemed to please him, and he telegraphed back that his heart had been made "very big."

June 16, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

Yesterday Red Cloud and his party after receiving visitors in the morning at their hotel, drove through the Park, and in the evening went to the Grand Opera House. Today they will meet the citizens at the Cooper Institute at 12 o'clock, and in the evening leave the City for the West.

June 16, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

Red Cloud is, after all, to gratify his numerous admirers by making a speech in the Cooper Institute.  That subterranean assembly room is already rich in the associations of distinguished visitors and great speakers.  If the hero of the seven nations talks as eloquently in his "brief address" there as he did in Washington, he need not fear a comparison in point of originality and natural power with any of the actors who have proceded him on the same platform.  The grant of the much-desired seventeen horses seems to have sensibly elevated the spirits of the Chief, and New-York will doubtless remain for the future a green spot in his memory.  We only wish we had a few public men who could speak so much to the purpose as he has done--and leave off when they ahd nothing more to say.

June 16, 1870:  NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

"The Races" [discussing horse? race, only relevant section copied]

Arrival of the Indians.

The sensation of the day was the arrival of the red men.  They came in two omnibuses, under the guidance of Gen. Smith, and were accommodated with seats at the upper end of the stand.  The dark blanket rug which they kept round their shoulders looked like a very warm covering for the season, but did not appear greatly to embarrass them.  They were numerous inquiries made as to the whereabouts of Red Cloud, but it appeared that he had gone out before the rest of his party and had evidently been conducted elsewhere.

The chiefs who were present appeared to derive much amusement from the sport.  The third race was particularly enjoyed by them, even the indifference of the squaws giving way before the exciting finish.  Richards, the half caste interpreter, seemed rather bored by the somewhat too marked attention bestowed upon his friends.  He states that they had asked no questions about what they saw, appearing to understand it perfectly, and he seemed to suppose that in the absence of Red Cloud, the opinions of any of the rest were of little consequence.  After a short stay they seemed to find the attentions of the crowd rather oppressive, and departed as they had come, the older squaws waving graceful adieux to the good-byes of the onlookers. 

June 16, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota: Oglala]

The Indians.

Council of Peace at the St. Nicholas Hotel.

The Views and Feelings of Red Cloud--Movements of the Party--They Cut the Jubilee for the Twelve Temptations--Public Meeting Today.

At an early hour yesterday, almost, in fact, before highly-civilized people had finished their morning's repast, several members of the Indian Peace Commission of this City, and other persons interested in the welfare of the red man, made application at the St. Nicholas Hotel for an interview with Red Cloud and his party.

The first persons admitted by Gen. Smith were Mr. Peter Cooper, Vincent Collyer, Rev. Howard Crosby, Mr. Tatham, Dr. Weeks, of the Indian Commission, and a few other gentlemen who presented strong claims for the favor of an introduction, including a representative of the Times.  The sons of the forest have a suite of rooms on the upper floor of the hotel, and to one of these the party of visitors was taken, where they found Red Cloud, Red Dog, Red Fly, Red Shirt and several other red skins.  Brave Bear, Little Bear, Yellow Bear, Sitting Bear, Rock Bear, Living Bear, and some who were only partly Bare, together with Gen. John E. Smith, Col. Bullock, Mr. Douglas and Jon McCluskey, the interpreter.  The Indians were dressed for the most part in black cloth or leather pantaloons, and checked shirts, with no other garment, and reclined upon their blankets on the floor or sat on the beds and chairs.  Their long coarse hair was generally parted in the middle, and hung in lank tresses over their shoulders.  Their faces presented the extreme type of the American race as pictured in our school-books, with broad angular features, a deep coppery skin, black eyes, and broad mouths.  The expression of their faces differed greatly, some having a dark and savage look, and others presenting a good-natured and rather benevolent aspect.  Most of them wore a profusion of cheap ornaments of shell or metal attached to their dress, or suspended from their hair and ears, Red Dog wearing in each ear, suspended by a large brass ring, what appeared to be a steel cogged wheel of three or four inches in diameter.  Red Cloud seemed the impersonation of thoughtfulness.  He wore no ornaments and was dressed with extreme plainness.  To him Gen. Smith addressed himself through the interpreter and endeavored to soothe his feelings and convince him that the people and Government of this country had only the best wishes for his race, and asked him if he would accept a present of some goods which he (Gen. Smith) was empowered to give him.  Red Cloud rose with dignity and said:

My Friend:  The Great Spirit placed me and my people on this land poor and naked.  When the white men came we gave them lands, and did not wish to hurt them.  But the white man drove us back and took our lands.  Then the Great Father made us many promises, but they are not kept.  He promised to give us large presents, and when they came to us they were small; they seemed to be lost on the way.  I came from my people to lay their affairs before the Great Father and I tell him just what I mean and what my people wish, and I gain nothing.  I asked him for seventeen horses for my young men to ride from the border to our camps, and he does not give them.  I wish no stock and no presents. The Great Spirit placed me here poor and naked.  I appear so before you, and I do not feel sorry for that.  I am not mad--I am in good humor--but I have received no satisfaction.  I am disappointed.  I cannot change my claims.  I am not Spotted Tail.  What I say I stick to.  My people understand what I come here for, and I should lose my power if I did not stick to one course.  You (to Gen. Smith) are my friend.  You always talk straight and I am not blaming you.

Gen. Smith then endeavored to explain that the Great Father and his assistants were not in office when the treaty of 1868 was made, and were bound by its provisions, but would try to change the law, and if the Indians would remain peaceable, in time they might accomplish all they desired.  The presents he spoke of were for him personally, and would not be reckoned on the account of the nation.  Moreover, he thought he could get for him the horses he desired, but would not positively promise them.  Here Mr. Cooper interposed and told Gen. Smith that if the Government would not furnish the horses, he would.

Red Cloud replied that he came here to see his friends, and he found them good men.  He was not mad, but had a good heart, and wishes to keep peace.  It was well for white men to say, "Do not kill our men," but they kill the Indians first, and there was a brave warrior by his side whose son and brother had been killed, and who himself had been shot twice by soldiers.  If the present and the horses were offered to him together, and freely, he would take them.  He wished to be friendly.

Gen. Smith then explained to him the wish of his visitors.  They would take him about the City and its grounds during the day, and to the theater in the evening, and to-morrow (today) they wishes him to meet the people and talk to them.  Then they would start for home and go directly through. To this he assented, and this ended the formal interview.

Dr. Weeks then had a conversation with the Chief, in which he tried to explain the difference between good and bad Indians and good and bad white men, and to set forth the cause of all the troubles. He then gave to the interpreter a copy of the outline of a plan prepared by a committee of the Indian Commission, appointed at the late Convention in this City for the settlement of the whole Indian question, by placing the tribes on reservations, furnishing them with the means of civilization and protecting them in their rights and property.  This plan is, when completed, to be submitted to the Secretary of the Interior, and finally brought before Congress.

During this council the four women of the party and two or three men were sitting in an adjoining room on the floor, playing with beads and trinkets, and apparently engaged in the peculiar modes of gossip of their race.  One comely girl of sixteen or eighteen years, dressed in a single garment of blue flannel flowing freely from the shoulders to the feet, and ornamented with beads and shells, was playing with a string of beads and a lapful of bits of shells and colored glass, while a muscular brave was intently occupied in breaking up a highly-colored shell into pieces of various sizes and shapes.

At 12 o'clock, according to the understanding already mentioned, the party entered several carriages at the door of the hotel for a ride about the City and in the Park, while an immense crowd of people thronged the street to catch a glimpse of the original possessors of the American soil.  The party took the usual route up Fifth-avenue and around the drives of the Park, with which they expressed their satisfaction by occasional grunts, which the interpreter did not translate.

The benevolent designs of their friends of the Indian Commission to save them from the more trivial and seductive amusements of the City, by taking them to the Jubilee for an elevated and intellectual entertainment, were thwarted by Fisk, Jr., who, having failed to subject Spotted Tail and his companions to the test or the "Twelve Temptations," as he had wickedly intended, found means of inducing the terrible Red Cloud and his warriors to disregard the pious wishes of their high-toned friends and visit the Grand Opera House.  Thither they proceeded in a body, and, sad to say, appeared to take especial delight in the fantastic gambols of the semi-nude coryphees and the gorgeous display of parti-colored fustian, glittering tinsel and red fire.  The Indian Commission, however, has its revenge, and today the great Chief is to meet his pale-faced brethren at the Cooper Institute, where the promised speech will be got from him.  He will speak, of course, in his native tongue, and the interpreter will endeavor to do his eloquence into English.  The admission to this "reception" is free, and those who desire reserved seats can obtain them at the Reading-room of the Cooper Union without charge.

In the afternoon the entire party will leave the City for the West, making no stop on the way to the plains.

June 17, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala;  Cherokee]

The Great Chief.

Red Cloud Meets His White Brethren at Cooper Institute.

A "Big Talk" There in the Interests of Peace.

Vast Gathering of Pale Faces.

Speeches by the Indian Chieftains and Their White Advocates.

The Wrongs of the Past and Redress for the Future.

Notwithstanding the short notice which was given of the public reception of Red Cloud and his companions by the Indian Commission at the Cooper Institute, yesterday, and the unseasonable hour at which it occurred, such was the curiosity of the people to see the most distinguished living representatives of the race who originally possessed the American soil and whose history contains so much romantic interest, albeit little to the credit of the white race, that long before the hour of 12 an eager throng besieged the entrance to the great hall and waited impatiently for the opening of the doors.  At first only those who had taken the trouble to secure tickets, which were distributed gratis at the reading-room of the Institute and at the St. Nicholas Hotel, were admitted, but as soon as those persons had been accommodated with seats the crowd was let in and rapidly filled up every available foot of space.  The platform had been considerably enlarged for the occasion, and many invited persons took seats thereon.  Promptly at 12 several of the large carriages of the St. Nicholas drove up, and the twenty chiefs and braves, with Gen. Smith, Mr. Beauvais, and the interpreters, alighted and made their way through the throng in the passage-way to the committee-room.  Their appearance soon after on the stand was the signal for tumultuous applause, and some little confusion occurred as to the assignment of the seat of honor to Red Cloud, that dignified personage apparently refusing to accept the position proffered in the middle of the stage, with the other braves on either side of him.  He speedily carried his point with the indulgent Commissioner, and took a seat near the edge of the platform, at one end of the semicircle.  On the stand about him were Mr. Peter Cooper and other members of the Indian Commission, Judge Daly, Hon. Wilson G. Hunt, Rev. Drs. Bellows and Frothingham, and many other prominent citizens.

The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby, at the close of which Mr. Cooper, the Chairman, spoke as follows:

Peter Cooper's Address.

It is, my friends, but a few weeks since the country was filled with reports of an inevitable Indian war.  All expectation of peace was abolished by the authorities in Washington; troops were hurried forward to the frontier, and the minds of tax-payers already familiar with the odious income tax were prepared to expect fresh burdens.  During those dark hours a suggestion was made to the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that, if they would invite the hostile Indians to come to Washington, and discuss their grievances, they might all be redressed on the principles of justice, and peace might thereby be preserved.  In reply, it was said that those Indians would not trust themselves in our power.  Within twenty-four hours from this conversation, official assurances were received that Red Cloud and his principal Chiefs would come on this errand.  Today we have before us the very men of whom but yesterday we were assured that nothing could be expected but merciless war!  In the interview between Red Cloud and the Secretary of the Interior, the Indian has shown himself equal to the occasion, and his speeches must have given our honored Secretary, in common with every honest man in the country, a painful illustration that "thrice is he armed who "Thrice is he armed who [sic] hath his quarrel just."  We have recognized in solemn treaties the Indians' claims to the hunting grounds upon which they have from the time immemorial enjoyed the rights of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness;" and it is too late to deny his title now, while we profess to be a Christina nation.  As banditti or free-booters we could claim the right of might, but on no other ground.  The Indians' land yields them a plentiful supply for all their necessities.  If we want their land, let us, as honest men, give to them a fair consideration for it--one that will yield them a full supply for all their wants.  They do not question the right of eminent domain vested in our Government; but where is the white man on earth who can substantiate a just legal claim to one foot of the Indians' land except by voluntary cession from them?  If you refuse to pay this equivalent amicably, and seek by force to wrest it from them, you will inaugurate a war that will cost so many millions that the interest alone will more than equal the price at which you can now purchase it, and find too late that honesty would have been the best policy.  If members of Congress cannot understand this; if, while making to their constituents professions of economy, they take a course which can only end in war, and subject the industry of the country to millions of unnecessary taxation, the people will see the necessity of sending men to Congress who will in good faith carry out the policy of Gen. Grant, and the announcement of which was indorsed by his election to the Presidential chair.  We, the people, want peace--not only with those who were lately in rebellion, but with all mankind.

Rev. Dr. Crosby's Address.

Rev. Dr. Crosby then, as the mouthpiece of the Indian Commission and of the assembled multitude, addressed Red Cloud, the great Chief of the Sioux nation, as follows:

"There are good white men and bad white men.  There are also good Indians and bad Indians.  The good white men want justice to be done to the Indians.  The Great Father thinks with the good men, and we hold up the hands of the Great Father.  The Indian has no newspaper; we want to be his newspaper and tell the Indian's story.  If the Indian fight, [sic] then our power to help him is gone.  Nobody will listen to us.  We are the tree to shield the Indian.  Do not cut the tree down.  If there are troubles, settle them by talk, and not with guns.  War means hatred, we want to make love.  Bad men say the Indian is cruel and won't be peaceable.  Show the bad men to the liars and so strengthen the hands of the Indians' friends.  White men are happy and rich because they work.  If the Indian work [sic] he will be rich and happy too.  If he fight he will be pour and wretched.  As you, Red Cloud, said, the Great Spirit made us all and put us both on this land, therefore let us be brothers.  And now our people want to hear Red Cloud and Red Dog and others speak for the Indians."

The foregoing speech was delivered, or rather read in detached sentences and translated to the Chief by the interpreter.  At its conclusion Red Cloud arose and faced the audience, drawing his blanket around him majestically.  He was greeted with an outburst of applause and waving of handkerchiefs.  As soon as the tumult had subsided, he began on a somewhat high key and with a rapid utterance, his "talk."  At the end of each sentence he paused, and stood calmly surveying the audience, while the interpreter explained his words to Dr. Crosby, and he again in stentorian tones, gave them to the immense audience.  Almost every sentence was received with loud applause by the assembly, while the other chieftains and warriors signified their assent by a guttoral "Ugh."

Red Cloud's Speech.

My Brothers and my Friends who are before me today:  God Almighty has made us all, and He is here to hear what I have to say to you to-day.  The Great Spirit made us both.  He gave us lands and He gave you lands.  You came here and we received you as brothers.  When the Almighty made you, He made you all white and clothed you.  When He made us He made us with red skins and poor.  When you first came we were very many and you were few.  Now you are many and we are few.  You do not know who appears before you to speak.  He is a representative of the original American race, the first people of this continent.  We are good, and not bad.  The reports which you get about us are all on one side.  You hear of us only as murderers and thieves.  We are not so.  If we had more lands to give to you we would give them, but we have no more.  We are driven into a very little island, and we want you, our dear friends, to help us with the Government of the United States.  The Great Spirit made us poor and ignorant.  He made you rich and wise and skillful in things which we know nothing about.  The good Father made you to eat tame game and us to eat wild game.  Ask any one who has gone through to California.  They will tell you we have treated them well.

You have children.  We, too, have children, and we wish to bring them up west.  We ask you to help us do it.  At the mouth of Horse Creek, in 1852, the Great Father made a treaty with us.  We agreed to let him pass through our territory unharmed for fifty-five years.  We kept our word.  We committed no murders, no depredations, until the troops came there.  When the troops were sent there trouble and disturbance arose.  Since that time there have been various goods sent from time to time to us, but only once did they reach us, and soon the Great Father took away the only good man he had sent us, Col. Fitzpatrick.  The Great Father said we must go to farming, and some of our men went to farming near Fort Laramie, and were treated very badly indeed.  We came to Washington to see our Great Father that peace might be continued.  The Great Father that made us both wishes peace to be kept; we want to keep peace.  Will you help us?  In 1868 men came out and brought papers.  We could not read them, and they did not tell us truly what was in them.  We thought the treaty was to remove the forts, and that we should then cease from fighting.  But they wanted to send us traders on the Missouri.  We did not want to go on the Missouri, but wanted traders where we were.  When I reached Washington the Great Father explained to me what the treaty was, and showed me that the interpreters had deceived me.  All I want is right and justice.  I have tried to get from the Great Father what is right and just.  I have not altogether succeeded.  I want you to help me to get what is right and just. I represent the whole Sioux nation, and they will be bound by what I say.  I am no Spotted Tail, to say one thing one day and be bought for a pin the next.  Look at me. I am poor and naked, but I am the Chief of the nation.  We do not want riches, but we want to train our children right.  Riches would do us no good.  We could not take them with us to the other world.  We do not want riches, we want peace and love.

The riches that we have in this world, Secretary Cox said truly, we cannot take with us to the next world.  Then I wish to know why Commissioners are sent out to us who do nothing but rob us and get the riches of this world away from us!  I was brought up among the traders, and those who came out there in the early times treated me well and I had a good time with them.  They taught us to wear clothes and to use tobacco and ammunition.  But, by and by, the Great Father sent out a different kind of men; men who cheated and drank whisky; men who were so bad that the Great Father could not keep them at home and so sent them out there.  I have sent a great many words to the Great Father but they never reached him.  They were drowned on the way, and I was afraid the words I spoke lately to the Great Father would not reach you, so I came to speak to you myself; and now I am going away to my home.  I want to have men sent out to me people whom we know and can trust.  I am glad I have come here.  You belong in the East and I belong in the West, and I am glad I have come here and that we could understand one another.  I am very much obliged to you for listening to me.  I go home this afternoon.  I hope you will think of what I have said to you.  I bid you all an affectionate farewell.

When the prolonged applause with which this speech was greeted had subsided, Dr. Crosby said:  "You have heard from the great warrior Chief Red Cloud, I now introduce to you the orator Chief Red Dog."

Red Dog's Speech.

Red Dog, who is a short, thick-set Indian, with a broad, open face and a pair of cogged wheels in his swarthy ears, spoke briefly as follows:

I have but a few words to say to you, my friends.  When the good Great Spirit raised us, he raised us with good men for counsels, and he raised you with good men for counsels.  But yours are all the time getting bad, while ours remain good.  These are my young men.  I am their Chief.  Look among them and see if you can find any among them who are rich.  They are all poor because they are all honest.  Whenever I call my young men together in counsel, they all listen to what I say.  Now you have come to-gether in counsel, I want you and your children to listen to what I say.  When the Great Father first sent out men to our people, I was poor and thin; now I am large and stout and fat.  It is because so many liars have been sent out there, and I have been stuffed full with their lies.  I know all of you to be men of sense and men of respect, and I therefore ask you confidently to see that when men are sent out to our country, they shall be right men and just men, and will not do us harm.  I don't want any more men sent out there who are so poor that they think only of filling their pockets.  We want those who will help to protect us on our reservations, and save us from those who are viciously disposed toward us.

Rev. Dr. Washburne's Remarks.

After the speech of Red Dog was finished, Rev. Dr. Washburne, of the Indian Commission, was introduced.  He asked what response this vast assembly of the people of New-York would make to the appeal of these Indian Chiefs.  They had not been invited there to gratify an idle curiosity by allowing an opportunity of gazing upon these dusky children of the forest in their blankets and their moccasins.  They were a savage race, unlike us in their modes of life, but who that had heard their words could doubt that they were men endowed with all the noblest feelings of manhood?  They had a strong love for their families and for their people.  The question of the treatment of these people was now pressing upon our attention.  Hitherto it had seemed somewhat remote, but now it is the great question before the country.  Soon all the lands of the country will be occupied to a greater or less extent by white men.  How, then, shall the original possessors of the soil be treated?  Shall we wage against them a war of extermination?  (Loud cried of "No, no.")  Let the interpreters tell these Chiefs, continued the speaker, that this great audience, representing the people of New-York and the people of the country, say that there shall be no war of extermination, but justice and peace.  (This sentiment was interpreted to the Chiefs, and received with expressions of satisfaction.) 

The speaker continued by saying that the Indian question was a difficult one.  He did not understand all its diplomatic complications, but one policy there was which over-rides all others, and which is simple and easy in its application.  That policy must be applied to this question.  It was the policy of simple Christina justice.  Treat these men as men.  Give those who can be induced to accept the customs and habits of civilized life, reservations of land, and afford them the means of cultivating the industrial arts and of acquiring education, and on those reservations and in the enjoyment of the institutions thus afforded them, give them the protection of the Government.  If there are any who have not the capacity for civilization, still give them justice and fair treatment.  The policy of the Government heretofore had been the policy of neglect, followed by the policy of violence.  The Indians have been left in the hands of land sharks to be deceived, cheated and abused, and when they, in their rude conceptions of justice, have resorted to warfare as their only means of redress, they have been treated with severity.  Under the present Administration there had been hope of better days for the Indians.  President Grant had foreshadowed a policy of peace and justice, and in his efforts and wishes he had been seconded by his large-hearted Secretary of the Interior; but the hopes which had been raised in the friends of the red man had been of late somewhat overclouded.  This meeting was called to demand the inauguration of a new policy, and the Administration should be made to feel that the people of this country were beginning to take an interest in this subject, and that they were determined that there should be a new condition of things.

Rev. Dr. Bellows' Remarks.

Rev. Dr. Bellows was next introduced, and said that the red men showed that they had the same sensibilities and the same feelings which white men have.  They know when they are wronged, and demand redress.  If, when the scales were held between the justice of the Indian and the white man, it preponderated in favor of the former, where was the value of our Christianity and our civilization?  The Indian should be made to understand that the Pacific Railroad, which he regards as his enemy, is indeed his greatest friend, since it brings his treatment nearer to the knowledge of the people, so that they will know what is done among them and require the Government to correct abuses.  Tell them we cannot take the ruffians who cheat them by the throat, but we can take the Government by the throat and force it to do right, and not allow the Indian to be trodden upon any longer.  The great people of New-York should say to the Government that there must be no more of this cheating and lying.  Let us have no more Indian orators stuffed with our lies.  Secretary Cox meant well by the Indians.  He told them just what he could do, and what he could not do, and that was far better than making promises which he could not fulfill.  The Indians were a doomed race.  Before our children's children can look upon their faces, in all probability they will have faded from the earth.  Their history has afforded the material for the only national novels which we have, and for some of our best poetry.  While this remnant of the race remains they should surely receive fair treatment at our hands.  Let their affairs be no longer hid away in a secret bureau, but let us know everything that is done, and require that nothing shall be done but justice and right.

At this point Mr. Cooper announced that before the letter which he had written to Washington, offering to furnish the seventeen horses asked for by Red Cloud, had reached its destination, the authorities there had already given orders that the horses be supplied at the expense of the Government.

Judge Daly's Remarks.

Judge Daly was then introduced, and remarked that this was the first time there had been so great a council of white men and Indians, and it was well that it should take place at the great Metropolis of the country.  The only thing he had to say now was to call to mind a remark which he heard made by one who had no superior in his knowledge of the Indian character and of our relations with that race--old Gov. Houston, of Texas.  He said that in every instance of a contest with the Indians which he had ever known the white men had been the aggressor.  Judge Daly closed his remarks with an appeal that the experience of the past fifty years be no longer continued in the treatment of these men, and that if ever again their chiefs should meet the people of New-York in a great council, it should be to express their gratitude, and not to set forth their grievances.

At the close of Judge Daly's remarks, Dr. Grenville M. Weeks explained the leading points of the plan for the settlement of the Indian question which ahs bene prepared on behalf of the Indian Commission, and his remarks were interpreted to the Chiefs.  The meeting then adjourned, and there was a general rush for the stage, the people being eager to get a nearer view of the distinguished aborigines.  With considerable difficulty the crowd was induced to leave the hall in the usual way, and, in the meantime, the Indians were quickly and rapidly conducted to their carriages and driven away, amid the shouts and hurrahs of the populace.

Late in the afternoon they took their departure from the City, and will make no further stop until they reach Omaha, where the seventeen horses will await them to take them to their homes on the distant plains.

The Plan of the Indian Commission.

The Committee of the Indian Commission, appointed at the recent convention in this City to prepare a plan for the settlement of all our Indian difficulties, consisting of Peter Cooper, Grenville M. Weeks, Cornelius Du Bois, Lewis Masquerier, Rev. E. L. Janes, Col. C. N. Vann and S. W. Perryman, the two latter belonging to the Cherokee delegation, have prepared a small pamphlet, addressed to Hon. J. D. Cox, Secretary of the Interior, in which, after reciting the facts with regard to the past treatment of the Indians and their character and capabilities, they submit the outline of their plan in twenty-six articles, "drawn up for presentation to Congress."  The material features of the scheme are:  The concentration of all the tribes west and north of the Mississippi on not less than four nor more than seven reservations, allowing about eighty acres of good land to each individual, due regard being had to the relations of the different tribes in locating them; no white men to be allowed to locate on the reservation except those who are sent to benefit the Indians, and those to be married and of "well attested philanthropic proclivities" and "Christian character," and when railroads are built through these lands, only such stations to be established as are necessary, and no white settlements to be allowed near them; men to be sent and money employed to civilize the Indians and built up industries and educational institutions among them; and all necessary means to be used to protect the reservations and their occupants in all the rights, titles and interest guaranteed to them under this arrangment.

June 17, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

The Last Appeal of Red Cloud.

Yesterday the races immediately interested in the solution of the "Indian problem" were brought face to face.  It was an occasion which will long be remembered by those who were spectators of it--an occasion invested with a strange, memorable, and even pathetic interest.  The descendants of the first occupants of our soil came from their wildernesses into the very heart of our greatest City.  Men who have been used to solitude and a life of wild adventure and excitement, suddenly appeared upon the platform of Cooper Institute--a most inappropriate looking place--to implore simple justice on behalf of a vanishing race.  A few years more, and the great Chiefs who yesterday were before the New-York public will also have melted away, like "snow upon the hill-side."  Their attempts to tell their own story to the white men, instead of allowing it to pass through all sorts of corrupt and adverse channels, will hereafter rank conspicuously among the historical events connected with the Indian race.

No one who listened to Red Cloud's remarkable speech yesterday can doubt that he is a man of very great talents.  It is almost wonderful that he could made a speech at all under the circumstances.  The hall--or huge cellar--was densely crowded, and the heat was almost intolerable.  It was easy to fancy how the Indians must have sighed for a breath of fresh aid from the prairies.  It is always a trying thing for a man not given to much talking to be called upon to address an immense audience.  It must have been doubly trying to Red Cloud, for everything relating to civilization--except lying and cheating--is new to him.  He has spent his life in fighting the battles of his people, and one day he is transplanted to Cooper Institute, and asked to put on a clean shirt, a new waistcoat, a high-crowned hat, and then make a speech.  Among all the vicissitudes of his life this must be the most startling, and, perhaps, not the most agreeable.

Although the audience labored under the disadvantage of not knowing what Red Cloud said, until his words were filtered through an interpreter--and no doubt greatly weakened in the process--still his earnest manner, his impassioned gestures, the eloquence of his hands, and the magnetism which he evidently exercises over an audience, produced a vast effect on the dense throng which listened to him yesterday.  His speech was like a poem.  When we consider that education and civilization have done nothing for him, except to teach him, in the words of the Psalmist, that "all men are liars"-- and that he was placed yesterday in a situation which must have been most embarrassing, and possibly distressing to him, it is impossible to refrain from being much moved by his appeals.  "You have children, and so have we.  We want to rear our children well, and ask you to help us in doing so."  It seems to us that this is not an unreasonable request even though it does come from a "savage."

The solemnity of Red Cloud's manner, an impressive way which he has of throwing both his arms upwards when referring to the "Great Spirit," and the intense pathos which he threw into his tones at many parts of his speech, thoroughly enlisted the sympathies of the audience in his favor.  Everybody could understand the thrilling power which a speech from this man would carry with it when addressed to his own tribe, on a question in which they were all deeply interested.  Less severe in his manner, but equally effective in another way, was Red Dog, the orator of the Sioux.  He appears to be the wag of the tribe.  Red Cloud is a man of war, and looks like it; but Red Dog has a fine intellectual face, and a somewhat portly figures. [sic].  He said:  "When the Great Father first sent out men to our people, I was poor and thin; now I am large and stout and fat.  It is because so many liars have been sent out there, and I have been stuffed full with their lies."  Many persons on the platform were astonished to find that an "illiterate barbarian" could handle the weapon of sarcasm.  The truth is that the Indians spoke far better than ninety-nine out of a hundred members of Congress, and as for their "action," it would have satisfied Demosthenes himself.

And now what is to be the result of all this?  People have stared at Red Cloud in his "stove-pipe" hat--and a more monstrous incongruity in costume we admit we never beheld; they have flocked in thousands to hear him speak, and most of them admit that there is a great deal of truth in all that he says.  Is he, then, to secure the redress he asks for?  Of course there are bad Indians--we have even heard of bad white men for that matter.  But as Red Cloud truly said yesterday, the whole Indian race has to hear the punishment for the crimes committed by the Indians on the frontiers, who have been corrupted and demoralized by our whisky.  All that Red Cloud asks for on behalf of his people is this--have just men sent out to them as agents, and let them be protected on their reservations.  They only beg that they may not be deceived, plundered, and betrayed.  Is that so preposterous a demand that we ought not to comply with it?  We have broken faith with the Indians on many occasions, and then declared that a war of extermination was the only thing to bring them to their senses.  When the people yesterday, at the invitation of Dr. Crosby, proclaimed their disapproval of this policy, and their opinion was translated to Red Cloud, the chief rose with much emotion, shook hands with Dr. Crosby, and bowed to the audience.  He has, perhaps, not knowing our civilized ways, and consequently not being aware that our pledges sometimes mean nothing, overestimated the importance of the promises made to him yesterday.  He is not aware that there are many men of the Spotted Tail order eastward of the prairies.  But still we cannot help hoping that this visit of the Indians will achieve some good.  It ought at least to set people inquiring whether or not we have been guided by a sense of justice in our treatment of the Indians--and the more they inquire (especially if they go into certain army reports relating to Indian massacres) the more foundation they will discover for the belief that poor Red Cloud's complaints and appeals have been provoked by long and bitter ill-usage.  We have long been doing justice to the negro.  Is it not almost time to see what we can do for the Indian?

June 17, 1870:  NY Tribune quoted in "Minutes" 2nd AR of the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 48-49: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

NOTE:  Check to see if entire article copied and others might be avail.]

The remarkable triumph of Red Cloud yesterday, in the great speech he delivered before the assembled multitude at Cooper Institute, was one of the most striking incidents in the history of the aboriginal race.  His appearance, his manner, his language, and his ideas, were of such a nature as not only to interest the audience, but to make a deep impression in favor of the cause he represented.

His opening invocation to the Almighty Spirit was solemn, earnest, and highly dramatic; and, as he went on to recount the wrongs of his people, and demand justice for them, in words that were at once simple, strong, and heartfelt, the audience was greatly impressed.  The oratorical effect of his discourse had a severe trial in the fact that he was compelled to stop at the close of every sentence during the time required for its translation from Ogallalla into English; but even this disadvantage did not destroy its unity.  During the intervals of translation, he stood statuesque and impressive, which was quite as striking as his animation in the more earnest passages of his appeal.  As he passed from point to point in his remarks, he carried the sympathies as well as the intelligence of the great audience with him; an audience which had gathered at mid-day from the business places, workshops, and households of the city, to listen to this representative of the hereditary foemen of the white race of America.

After Red Cloud's speech was finished, there was a short discourse from Red Dog, who is an orator by profession.  Red Dog is an artful speaker, and knows how to entertain even a white audience.  He made a very effective point; for example, when turning round and, pointing to a number of Indian braves who were seated in line on the platform, he said that these "were his young men, all of whom were poor young men, "because they were honest."  Even this, however, was not so neat as a point previously made by Red Cloud, who, after quoting with great ingenuousness a remark made to him by Secretary Cox, that the "riches of this world cannot be taken into the next," forcibly inquired, "If that be so, I would like to know why the Indian agents who are sent out to us do nothing but rob us all the time?"  Red Dog was humorous when he said he had "grown fat on the lies with which white men had filled him," but Red Cloud was altogether too serious to indulge in any small jokes of this sort.  In short, as a speaker, Red Cloud stood eminent, and preëminent, [sic] though he displayed only the art of nature and the eloquence of truth.

When, a few days ago, we spoke, perhaps somewhat lightly, about the propriety of Red Cloud entering upon the career of oratory and assuming the championship of the rights of the Indian race before the American people, we had no such proof of his remarkable capacity as he furnished to his audience yesterday.  We wish that he could live in every city of the United States such a speech as he then delivered.  It would do more to secure fair-dealing toward the Indians than all the efforts heretofore made by white philanthropists.  It would stir up the people to demand that the Government shall enforce a policy of justice and honesty toward the Indians.  It would enable the country to understand the aboriginal side of the question, which has been heretofore misunderstood because we only knew the white man's side.  Why should not the friends of Red Cloud, the friends of the Indian race, and the friends of even-handed justice take these things into consideration?  If he made as deep an impression wherever he spoke as he made on his New York audience, the difficulties of the Indian question would disappear in the establishment of a policy of justice which would ultimately secure peace.  This is the purpose of President Grant, and it can only be carried out by the coöperation of the Indian leaders and the American people.

June 20, 1870:  NY Times:  [Delaware]

Black Beaver, the Delaware.

The claim of Black Beaver, a Delaware Indian, is now before the Senate Committee on Military Affairs.  He belongs to the Delaware tribe and was in the employ of the Government all or nearly all of the time since the commencement of the Mexican war.  During that war, he was Captain of a company of Delawares and Shawnees in the United States Army.  Since that time, up to the commencement of the late war, he had been employed as guide and interpreter by the different commanding officers at the posts of Forts Arbuckle and Cobb in the Indian Territory, and by the superintendents and agents for the Indians in the vicinity of these forts.  He was at Fort Arbuckle about five years and at Fort Cobb one year immediately preceding the last war, and during that time had invested all of his means and earnings in cattle and hogs, and had at the breaking out of the war a large stock.  In the Spring of 1861 Gen. Emory requested him to guide his command, as also the combined commands from Forts Smith, Cobb and Arbuckle, to Fort Levenworth, but he hesitated about leaving his stock until Gen. Emory assured him that he should be paid by the Government for his losses, and on that representation he complied with the request and came with the command to Fort Leavenworth and remained there till the war ended.  When he returned to his place he found his stock was all gone, some of the cattle having been killed by the wild Indians and some by the Southern Army.  He has never realized a cent for the property he abandoned, and is now in need.  He sums up his losses at $22,268.  Gen. Emory speaks of Black Beaver's invaluable services, and urgently presses the justice of the claim of "this aged and worthy man."

June 20, 1870: NY Times: [Dakota]

Plans of the Indian Commission.

In spite of all the discussions upon the Indian question, no definite plan has hitherto been suggested which seemed likely to meet all the difficulties of the case.  The advocates of gentle treatment of the red men are agreed that the injustice of which they complain is unquestionable.  Their lands have been seized by settlers, and in pursuance of various corporate enterprises; treaty obligations were too often disregarded, and frequently contact with white men has only resulted in a demoralization which is worse than that incidental to a "savage" nature and mode of life.  For what they are now suffering the white race is, therefore, for the most part responsible.  There seems no clearer duty, both in a political and Christian sense, than that of settling the Indian problem upon a basis of justice, good faith and kindly feeling.

Some time ago the United States Indian Commission was directed by Mr. Commissioner Cox to submit a plan for a wiser and more humane treatment of the Indians within our borders.  That body was well qualified for the task.  It had examined the records of the Indian Bureau for ten years past; various members of the Commission had personally visited the tribes, two had resided among them nearly a lifetime, and one for three years, and, as is well known, the whole Commission was selected with especial reference to the highest character and social standing of the members.  The plan which is now submitted to Congress by it recognizes distinctly the important principle that the advancement of the white man need not be ruinous to the Indians, and that "no material advantage to the whites based on moral wrong can be a real gain."  In this spirit a series of propositions are offered which are of a most practical character and entirely just.

The plan first of all suggests that the most important preliminary step which Congress should undertake is the passage of laws by which the fulfillment of existing treaties shall be enforced both in letter and spirit.  It is easy to see how, if this advice be accepted and acted upon, the complaints of bad faith, which the Indians have justly made, will be no longer probable.  The Indian tribes west and north of the Mississippi, the Commission thinks, ought to be concentrated into not less than four nor more than seven distinct reservations, and the tribes should be induced to sell their present lands at a fair price with that view.  Part of the purchase-money may be devoted to acquiring the new reservations, part to the erection of suitable buildings thereon, and the remainder to expeditures for the benefit of the future occupants during the next twenty years.  The first division of land should be eighty acres per capita, which would be sufficient to provide for the support of all.

Article 12 of the plan contains another judicious provision--that no white man, other than such as may be authorized or employed by the Government, shall locate upon any of the reservations, and even these shall be married and have their wives with them during residence therein.  Moreover, those whom the Government shall authorize to go upon the reservations, to benefit the Indians, shall be selected because of their well-attested Christina proclivities, and without reference to their political or religious creeds.  In addition to this, persons only of the simplest callings are to be admitted, and in certain defined numbers proportionate to the Indian population.  No intoxicating liquors, except for medicinal purposes, are to be allowed, and these shall be dispensed only under medical and Government control.  One of the sources of trouble and discontent has arisen from the misrepresentations of half-breed interpreters, who have deluded the Indians with false promises which the Government has never made.  This is to be permited, and only honest, truthful and responsible men, who have learned the language of the nation they live among, are to be for the future employed.  This reform will have a most beneficial effect:  the forcible statement of Red Cloud that his words were filtered and altered for the worse in transmission, illustrates how great is the evil which it proposes to obviate.  One other provision is all that we can find space to mention at present.  It is that the members of the various classes employed in the Indian service call conventions in each State, of persons interested in the plan, to elect representatives to a general convention at Washington.  The duty of the latter will be to select such married men as shall be placed upon the reservations.  The scheme contains many more details, the adoption of which will tend to solve the Indian problem, if they are faithfully carried into execution; and it is to be hoped that Congress will lose no time in giving the whole a fair and speedy trial.

June 21, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala]

The Indians.

Red Cloud's Children Growing Impatient and Suspicious--Anxious to Trade but "Independent and Saucy."

Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 20.--It is reported from Fort Laramie that there are now at that post 133 lodges of Sioux, and more of them are daily arriving.  It is expected that by the last of this week 1,000 lodges will be present.  Those who have arrived are impatient to hear from Red Cloud and think something has gone wrong.  They are anxious to trade, but are very independent and saucy, and won't allow any white men to cross the Platte to their camps.

June 21, 1870:  NY Times:  [Dakota: Oglala; Delaware]

Black Beaver, the Delaware.

The Indians of Fenimore Cooper's novels are often scouted as pure figments of the brain, by people who contend that no such romantic and picturesque savages have ever had any actual existence.  Real redskins, these critics maintain, are of no such clay as "Uncas" or "Chingachcook," but creatures who would have been much more likely to scalp their friend, Leather Stocking, while he slept, than to watch over and protect him.  The veritable Indian, according to these despisers of illusions, is simply an excessively filthy and desperately ferocious savage, whose fitful gleams of intellect are inspired, like the cunning of the beast, by hunger, lust, or the thirst for blood.  And yet, something in the same way that unexpected psychological marvels present themselves in a matter-of-fact and incredulous age to show that there may still be a possibility of things miraculous, or, perchance, to shed light on ancient mysteries--so now and then a dusky figure appears almost, as it were, stalking out of the canvas of the past, to show that such aborigines as Cooper's really might have existed, and to revive for our imaginations their possible history and achievements.

Such figure was that of Red Cloud, whose untutored eloquence, simple yet luxuriant metaphor, and loft yet unaffected dignity, fairly equal the most impressive of the novelist's characters, and verify the fidelity of his portraits.  Another red man now comes before the public eye, whose qualities, if different from those of Red Cloud, are equally confirmatory of the higher estimate of the Indian character, and of Cooper's estimate of it.  Interest is enhanced in the present case by the fact that this fresh figure is a member--one of the few that are left--of the once famous tribe that Cooper loved to describe.  Black Beaver, the Delaware, who is now a very old man, comes before the Senate Committee on Military Affairs with a claim on the United States Government.  For many years he has been in the national service.  During the Mexican war he commanded a company of Delawares and Shawnees, who were regularly enlisted in the army.  Since then he has been employed as guide and interpreter by the officers in command of forts Cobb and Arbuckle, in the Indian Territory.  At the breaking out of our civil war, he had accumulated considerable property which was largely invested in live stock.  In the Spring of 1861, Gen. Emory requested Black Beaver to guide his forces and others to Fort Leavenworth, but he hesitated for fear of losing all his stock.  The General assured him, as we are told, that the Government would make up any loss he might sustain, and on this assurance the Chief conducted the troops to Fort Leavenworth, and remained there with them during the continuance of the war.  On returning he found his stock all gone, some of the cattle having been stolen by the wild Indians, and some destroyed by the Southern army.  Black Beaver now makes what seems a not unreasonable claim for compensation, at the hands of the United States Government.

We are aware of the dangers of mixing up sentiment with business, but we shall be very glad to hear that Black Beaver's case is reported on favorably by the committee.  Whatever the precise share of the blame or responsibility that belongs to this generation, there can be no doubt that our race has inflicted upon the aborigines of the continent vast and irreparable injury.  It will be a satisfaction to know that every opportunity for generous dealing with the scanty fragments of the tribes that remain is met in no buckstering or niggardly spirit.  Even with the wild horsemen of the Western plains, more may be done by conciliation and open-handedness than by threats or severity.  But in a case like that before the Committee of the Senate--where an Indian has for years been the friend and servant of the Government, where he took the word of its accredited agent to hold him harmless in case of loss, and where, finally, stricken with years, he is positively in want of what is thus due to him--we should be sorry indeed to hear of delay or refusal.  The country rejoiced when it heard that Red Cloud was to have his horses, and we are sure it will rejoice to hear that Black Beaver is to be allowed his claim.

June 22, 1870:  New York Herald [quoted in "Minutes" 2nd AR of the Board of             Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 49]: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

[NOTE:  Check original for completeness & other stories]

Red Cloud's warriors, as we predicted, are already preparing for war.  A thousand lodges of them are congregating near Fort Laramie, to await the arrival of their chief.  It is to be hoped that our Government has taken measures to forewarn the military and white settlers throughout the Indian country of the vicious spirit in which both Spotted Tail and Red Cloud departed from the Capitol.

July 15, 1870 [date of letter; events mentioned are earlier]: "Miscellaneous Report #121", Annual Report of the

 Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1870, p. 324-326: "Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

Washington, D. C., July 15, 1870.

Sir:  In compliance with your instructions, dated Washington, D. C., May 14, 1870, I proceeded to Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory.  After conferring with Hon. J. A. Campbell, who informed me that he was authorized to increase Red Cloud's delegation to twenty, and that Red Cloud desired that I should meet them at Fort Laramie, I concluded to do so, and arrived at the latter point May 24.  On the 25th I met Red Cloud, and requested him to name the delegation he desired should accompany him.  He selected twenty of his principal chiefs and warriors, seven of whom insisted upon taking their squaws.  This, under my instructions, I could not permit.  After much discussion he named the following chiefs and warriors, four of their squaws to accomapny them, to which I assented; making twenty-one persons.  Red Cloud, Red Dog, Brave Bear, Little Bear, Yellow Bear, Sitting Bear, Bear Skin, Black hawk, Long Wolf, Sword, Brave, Afraid, The-one-that-runs-through, Red Fly, Rocky Bear, Swing Bear, Red Shirt, Sword's wife, Yellow Bear's wife, Black Hawk's wife, The-man-that-runs-through's wife.

Preparations were made to leave next day, May 26, with W. G. Bullock, esq., John Richards, and James McCloskey, as interpreters.  Before leaving Fort Laramie I was again importuned to take J. Marivale and ____ Brown as interpreters.  Having reason to believe this request was made at their own solicitation, I declined.  Also three warriors to be added to the delegation, unless the squaws remained, their husbands refusing to come without them.  No change was made.

For reasons well known to your Bureau, it was determined to take the cars at Pine Bluffs, a station forty miles east of Cheyenne, where we arrived 27th May p.m.  Jules Ecoffey was on the train, who, it seems, was telegraphed, at Red Cloud's request, to meet the delegation at Cheyenne and accompany them to Washington.  I consented that he should do so, subject to your approval, and arrived at Washington June 1, without incident worth reporting.  Under your verbal instructions to return with Red Cloud and delegation, via Philadelphia, New York, and Buffalo, I left Washington at 8 p.m. June 14.  Owing to their disappointment, the Indians left in very bad temper, and insisted upon going home by the most direct route; consequently did not stop in Philadelphia as instructed.  Arriving in New York, I succeeded in persuading them to stop two days, deeming it of the utmost importance that they should get a better impression of the number and resources of our people, of which they had, up to this time, a very imperfect idea.  The result is, I think most happy; as they are convinced that it is useless to contend with the whites with any chance of success.  A few days longer would have been well spent in New York, but the excessive warm weather, and indisposition (though not serious) of several members of the delegation, made them very restive and anxious to reach their homes.  I was forced to yield to their entreaties; thus losing many opportunities offered by the citizens of New York to impress them with the power of the United States.

To the commander of a French vessel of war, then in the harbor, also the Hon. M. H. Grinnell, I am much indebted for their courtesy, which I was forced to decline for the reasons above.

Left New York June 17, at 10 a.m., arriving at Chicago, via Buffalo, June 18 p.m.  There being no trains, detained over Sunday.  Left Chicago 20th, arriving at Omaha June 21, 12.30 p.m.  Detained at Omaha, for the horses and equipments authorized to be purchased for the Indians, until the 23d, leaving at l.40 p.m., arriving at Pine Bluffs at 12 m. of the 24th.  Transportation having been provided, we left immediately after the distribution of the horses, arriving at Fort Laramie June 26, where the delegation were met by their families and friends.  A large number of their people had been at the fort, but the delegation not arriving soon as expected, most of them had retired to the Raw Hide Buttes, forty miles north.  At Omaha I learned at department headquarters that 1,000 lodges of Indians, with their robes, would be at Fort Laramie with the expectation that Red Cloud would bring permission to trade at that post.  Foreseeing the effect, if they should not be allowed to do so, I at once reported the fact, and believe the permission given will have a good effect.  During the journey home, much pains were taken to explain the wishes and intentions of the Government toward them.  Red Cloud, I am persuaded, has a much clearer idea of the relative positions of the whites and Indians; and I believe their trip will not only be profitable to the Government, in averting war and its consequences, but prove highly beneficial to the Indians.  I have the honor to suggest that this should be followed by prompt action upon the part of the Government, carrying out in good faith the stipulations agreed upon.  The Indian has a keen appreciation of justice; he should have no cause for complaint; and if they violate their agreement, punishment should then be swift and sure.  Red Cloud desired me to say to the authorities here, that he and those with him would do all in their power to permit war parties from going out; that his people desired their agency and trading posts at Fort Laramie.  But I think there will be no difficulty in locating them in the vicinity north of the North Platte River.  He asks that Ben. Mills be appointed their agent, and W. G. Bullock, esq., trader.  Both of these gentlemen, of my own knowledge, and from what I learn of others, are unexceptional.  In a matter of so much interest to the Indians, in my opinion, their request should be granted.

I have also the honor to submit my account for money expended for the delegation, which I trust will meet your approval.

Awaiting your further instructions, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Jno. E. Smith,

Brevet Major General United States Army, Special Agent.

[to] Hon. E. S. Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs.                              

July 22, 1870:  Philadelphia Evening Telegraph [quoted in "Minutes", 2nd AR of the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p.49-50:  [Dakota: Oglala]

[NOTE: Check orig. for completeness & other stories]

Red Cloud's Influence for Peace on Returning Home.

The plain, straightforward, and earnest manner in which Red Cloud stated what he believed to be the grievances of himself and his people, when he visited the East, a few weeks ago, won for him more favor with all right-thinking persons than if his conduct had been marked by subserviency, or by that low cunning which many persons are fond of assuming to be one of the most marked Indian traits.  The speeches he delivered were terse, eloquent, and filled with appeals for justice that showed how keenly he felt that his race, whether through their own fault or not, were suffering grievous wrongs at the hands of the whites, while his truly noble and manly bearing on all occasions inspired for him and for his cause a respect that they had never obtained before with a majority of the people in this section of the country.  The meeting which he was called upon to address at Cooper Institute, in New York, brought him nearer to the civilization of the age than anything that occurred during the whole of his visit.  Although there were plenty found to sneer at the whole exhibition, it was both a novel and an impressive incident for this savage chief to make a speech to such an assemblage as that which met him in Cooper Institute, and it is probable that the occasion impressed him quite as much, if not more, than it did his auditors.  Many hoped that this meeting would be productive of good results, not only in inspiring the white people of the country with a desire to do justice to the Indians, but that it would also have the effect on the savages by impressing them with the advantages of civilization and inspiring them with the idea that the whites are not all their enemies.  In spite of the predictions that were freely made that Red Cloud, notwithstanding his peaceful protestations, would start on the war-path so soon as he arrived upon the plains again, events have proved that those who took the most liberal view of his character were not deceived in him.  Although he said little while here to indicate what his thoughts on the subject were, he was undoubtedly impressed in a very powerful manner by the wealth and splendor of our eastern cities, and by the thousand indications of the pwoer and superiority that civilization has conferred upn the whites.  Since his return, he has been laboring to preserve peace, in opposition to the ideas of many of his tribe, and we are now informed that he has declared he would leave his people if they did not make a treaty and join the whites.  It is also said that he intends to send his son to the East to be educated.  This will show that the visit of Red Cloud and his delegation to the Atlantic States was not altogether fruitless, and that it is not impossible to impress the Indians with the superiority of civilization to their now savage mode of life, if the right method is adopted.

July 25, 1870:  N.Y. Daily Tribune [quoted in "Minutes", 2nd AR of the Board of Indian Commissioners, 1870, p. 50-51]: [Dakota: Oglala, Brule]

[NOTE:  Check orig. to see if complete & if other items avail.]

Red Cloud's Negotiations At Home.

We are very much gratified with the news of Red Cloud's conduct, which we have received, from time to time, since his return to the Plains.  He has labored constantly and faithfully to avert the extensive Indian war with which we were threatened two or three months ago, and his efforts have been crowned with unexpected success.  When he set out on his remarkable journey to Washington, as a negotiator of peace, there were unmistakable signs that we were on the eve of the most extensive war we have ever waged with the wild tribes of the Sioux.  The military authorities had made preparations for the outbreak of hostilities by sending all our available cavalry to the Plains, and by disposing of the forces in such a way as at once to protect the frontier settlements, and carry terror into the camps of the savages.  General Sheridan, who is in military command of the Department of the Missouri, gave it as his opinion, when he returned from a visit to the different points of his extensive command, that a war with the Sioux, during the present summer, could not be averted, and he urged the War Department to provide for its being carried on with all possible energy and determination.  The same views were entertained by General Sherman, and by most of our high military officers.  Dispatches confirmatory of them came thick and fast from the Plains.  The newspapers of Omaha, Cheyenne, and Laramie, of Levenworth, Sheridan, and Denver, gave us daily reports about Ogallalla or Brulé, Red Cloud or Spotted Tail being on the war-path, and threatening the whole country, from the Black Hills to the Missouri, with devastation and outrage.

It was under these circumstances that the Indian commission were struck with the happy thought of approaching the war-like leaders of the hostile tribes with pacific propositions, and inviting them to visit Washington to hold a conference with the President.  To the surprise of the whole country the invitation was accepted by Red Cloud himself, as well as by Spotted Tail and other war chiefs.

["* * * *", indicating break in quote?]