INTRODUCTORY.

In the preparation and publication of this work the author has been moved by a sincere desire to render service in the amelioration of the condition of our Indian population, now numbering about two hundred and seventy-five thousand souls. The condition of this population, and the relations existing between the Indians and the white people dwelling on the border, is not satisfactory. This fact no intelligent man will deny. There is diversity of opinion as to the causes which produce the discontent and disorder that prevail, as well as the wars that result therefrom. These border wars began at a very early period, and may be traced through our whole history, and the record is a sickening detail of outrage, robbery, and murder. The careful student of history should have no difficulty in discovering the origin of our Indian complications, as well as the causes that have stimulated conflicts between the white and red man, and which have formed such sad chapters in our annals.

It can not be denied, that from the period when the first infant settlements were made upon the Atlantic sea-board by European colonists, until the present time, there have been constant, persistent, and unceasing efforts on the part of the white man to drive the Indian from his hunting ground and his home. When the encroachments of the former became unbearable, they were forcibly resisted by the latter. This was the only mode left to the Indian by which to redress his wrongs, since he had no standing in the civil tribunals of the

colonies, and even to this day we have practically denied him. the benefit of our courts. Unless we expect from the savage more forbearance than from the civilized man under like circumstances, there should be no surprise that he has resisted the aggressions made upon him. That he was willing, under proper treatment, to have lived in amity with the white man, there is abundant evidence.

In 1607, the first permanent settlement in our country was commenced at Jamestown, Virginia, by a colony of Englishmen. A few years thereafter, in a conversation between Captain John Smith, one of the original councilmen in the colony, and Powhatan, the principal chief of the Indians residing in southern Virginia, the latter said:

"I am an old man, and must soon die, and the succession must descend in order to my brothers, and then to my two sisters and their daughters. I wish their experience was equal to mine, and that your love to us might not be less than ours to you. Why should you take by force from us that which you can obtain by love? Why should you destroy us, who have

provided you with food? What can you gain by war? We can hide our provisions, and fly into the woods, and then you must, consequently, almost famish by reason of wronging your friends. You see us unarmed and willing to supply your wants, if you will come in a friendly manner, and not with swords and guns, as to invade an enemy. I am not so simple as not to know that it is better to cat good meat, be well, and sleep quietly with my women and children, to laugh and be merry with the English, and, being their friend, to have copper hatchets and whatever else I want, than to fly from all, to lie cold in the woods, feed upon acorns, roots, and such trash, and to be so hunted that I can not rest, eat, or sleep, and so, in this miserable manner, to end my miserable life; and, Captain Smith, this might soon be your fate too,

through your rashness and unadvisedness. I therefore exhort you to peaceable counsels."

It will, in a few years, be three centuries since the chief Powhatan had the talk with Captain Smith, from which this extract is taken. If the views expressed by the chief had governed the intercourse between the races from that period until the present time, much of the suffering, torture, and premature death that accompanied the colonizing and settlement of our country would have been spared, the civilization of the Indian assured, and the white and red man have dwelt together in harmony and peace. It was no fault of the natives that relations of peace and good will were not successfully cultivated.

On this occasion, and in behalf of his race, Powhatan solved the Indian problem; and William Penn justified this solution when he assumed direction of affairs in his province, and established such relations with the Indians that peace and friendship prevailed for more than two-thirds of a century, during which time the Friends held power. In the second chapter of this work, the conduct of this great and good man, in his intercourse with, and his opinion of the native race, will be found, and to the same the reader is respectfully referred.

In view of the pacific disposition of the natives, as attested by Powhatan, and the fact that the followers of William Penn lived so many years with the Indians without a single serious disturbance in his province, coupled with the pledge in the ordinance of 1787 that "the utmost good faith shall be observed toward the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and in their property, rights, and liberty they shall never be invaded or disturbed, unless in just and lawful wars authorized by Congress," there is in the ever recurring and never ending

conflicts between the white man and the Indian, cause for the deepest humiliation.

From the organization of the government until the year 1871, the extinction of Indian title to lands was acquired by treaty, and by the same process the new home set apart from time to time for the residence of the tribe was assured to it, with the covenant in the treaty that such new home should be the permanent home of the tribe FOREVER. Such covenants, though solemnly entered into by the government, were not regarded. Whenever the progress of settlement brought the white man's residence near the Indian's home, another treaty was demanded. If the tribe was unwilling to surrender this "permanent home," and no other means were found adequate to bring the Indians into negotiation, in due time, through complications of some sort, there was what was termed an "Indian outbreak," rapidly followed by a conflict, terminating in another removal.

The effect of these removals, so often repeated, has at all times worked injury to the Indians, and proved fatal to their advancement. Under the operation some tribes have yielded in despair. Others that survived did not recover from or overcome the fatal results for generations. Communities of our own race could not undergo like trials without serious loss in numbers as well as vitality; and, if repeated, as in the case of the Indians, who have so often been removed, they would relapse into a very low grade of civilization. When the facts are considered, there should be no surprise that our Indian wards have not advanced more rapidly.

Superadded to the affliction growing out of these frequent removals, other and numerous difficulties have been placed in the path of the Indians. Even the most beneficent measures of the government looking to his advancement have, in many cases, been counteracted by the agencies employed to execute

them; agents have frequently proved faithless, and soldiers sent to protect the tribes have not only been cruel and vindictive, but often have introduced demoralization and carried disease among them. In fact (though it may seem paradoxical), it is yet true, that the white man's conduct and example, instead of aiding, has been the chief obstacle in the way of the civilization of the Indian.

In 1826, the then secretary of war said this Indian question was a most solemn one, and that it addressed itself "to the American people, whose answer was full of responsibility.

. Shall we go on quietly in a course which, judging from the past, threatens their extinction, while their past sufferings and future prospects so pathetically appeal to our compassion ?" Twenty years later, the attorney-general of the United States said "there is nothing in the whole compass of our laws so hard to bring within any precise definition, or logical or scientific arrangement, as the relation in which the Indian stands toward the United States." And the report of the peace commission, of the date of January 7, 1868, said: "Nobody pays any attention to Indian matters. This is a deplorable. fact. Members of Congress understand the negro question, and talk learnedly on finance and political economy, but when the progress of settlement reaches the Indian's home, the only question considered is how best to get his lands.' When they are obtained, the Indian is lost sight of. While our missionary societies and benevolent associations have annually collected thousands of dollars from the charitable to send to Asia and Africa, for the purposes of civilization, scarcely a dollar is expended or a thought bestowed on the civilization of the Indians at our very doors."

Is it not time that a change should take place? Is it not time that the government and people of the United States should resolve that justice and fair dealing shall be substituted