OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, SIR: I have the honor to enclose to you a copy of a letter received this morning from Agent Wheeler, of the Pawnee Indian agency, one hundred and five miles west of this city, in the valley of Loup fork of Platte river. It will explain itself. There has long been a feud between the Sioux and Pawnees, and even after a peace shall have been concluded with the former tribe, there will be danger of collision between them and the Pawnees. The agency is now entirely destitute of protection, (the Pawnee scouts having been recently mustered out of the service,) and I have, therefore, to request, respectfully, that if practicable, you will order a small military force to the Pawnee agency to protect this peaceful tribe from the depredations of the Sioux and guard the property of the government. Very respectfully, &c., Major General P. ST. GEORGE Cook, E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Commanding Department of the Platte. OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS, SIR. Your letter of the 4th instant, relative to the Sioux raid, is at hand. I have sent a copy of it to Major General Cook, commanding the department of the Platte, and will use my best endeavors to secure the protection for which you ask. Will advise as to the action of General Cook at the earliest practicable moment. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, D. H. WHEELER, Esq, United States Indian Agent, Genoa, Nebraska. E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent Indian Affairs. OMAHA, NEBRASKA, May 9, 1866. SIR: I have the honor to enclose correspondence between this office and Pawnee agent relative to the hostile raid of the Sioux against the Pawnees; also, a copy of a letter addressed by this office to Major General Cook, commander department of the Platte, relative to the protection asked for by Agent Wheeler. The action of General Cook will be communicated to the department as soon as this office is advised in relation to it. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent Indian Affairs. No. 97. WASHINGTON, August 23, 1866. SIR: In reply to your letter of the 22d instant, making certain inquiries relative to alleged Indian hostilities on the routes of overland travel across the plains, I have the honor to state that, from information in my possession, (deemed to be entirely reliable,) I am enabled to state definitely that a portion of the Upper Platte Sioux, embracing about two hundred and fifty warriors, and designated as "Bad Faces," have recently committed depredations upon travellers in the region of Powder river, at a point some two hundred miles northwest from Fort Laramie, in Dakota Territory. These Bad Faces are a sub-band of the Ogalallahs, made up of the most desperate characters in the various bands of the Sioux tribe, who refuse to recognize the general authority of the tribe, or to be bound by the action of the majority. A letter received from Seth E. Ward, esq., for thirty years a resident of the Indian country, informs me that the Indians parties to the recent treaty of Fort Laramie "have acted in good faith, and have in no single instance violated the stipulations of that treaty. Between Fort Laramie and the Missouri river, a distance of six hundred miles, no depredations have been committed since the treaty was concluded; and the overland stage line, the Pacific telegraph, and the overland emigration have in no case been interfered with." Mr. Ward has acted in the capacity of post sutler at Fort Laramie for nearly twenty years, speaks the language of the Sioux, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes perfectly, and is a gentleman of high character, whose statements the public may receive with implicit confidence and faith. I have no fear that these depredations on the part of the Bad Faces will lead to a general Indian war upon the plains. What I most fear is that parties interested in the fitting out and subsistence of armies will continue their efforts to produce such a war until they will prove successful. Mutual distrust, superinduced by these efforts to precipitate a collision, rarely fails to accomplish the desired end. They have been made and repeated at Leavenworth with a persistency and recklessness which are seldom equalled. I can only express the hope that we shall be able to maintain our present peaceful relations with the great body of the Indians of the plains in spite of them.' The public should understand that Leavenworth has no direct communication with the west by telegraph. The only telegraphic line from the Missouri river west to the Rocky mountains and the Pacific starts from Omaha, and whatever news from the plains is sent forward to the associated press is made up and forwarded from the Omaha office. From the tenor and frequency of the Leavenworth despatches it would naturally be inferred that that city is the general headquarters of a telegraphic system ramifying every portion of the interior. It is enough to say that no special despatches are or have been sent from Omaha, the headquarters or general office of the Pacific telegraph, to Leavenworth, and that the public are indebted for all the news from the plains which they receive from the last named point to the fertile imagination of some gentleman who cares more for army contracts than the public peace. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent Indian Affairs. No. 98. OMAHA, NEBRASKA TERRITORY, September 21, 1866. SIR: I have the honor to inform you that, consequent upon the perpetration of certain murders and other outrages committed against the citizens of western Kansas during the past spring and summer, I have been appointed by the governor of Kansas as special agent to collect the facts, and to bring the parties to justice. In prosecuting my work I have visited the scene of murder and outrage, and have learned many facts, a few of which are as follows: One man was killed on the 13th of May, while near to three companions, who were at their claims upon a tributary of Solomon river. He was shot by three Indians who were dressed in United States clothing and armed with revolvers and sabres. They were undoubtedly Pawnees, as many of them, similarly dressed and armed, have frequently passed through the settlements, exhibiting discharges from the service as Pawnee scouts. The man killed was scalped; and the Indians at the same time took two mules and a horse. On or about the 17th of May six men were killed upon a tributary of Republican river, twenty miles west of Lake Sibley. The entire party having been killed, no testimony of eye-witnesses can be obtained; but the presence of Pawnees and Ottoes at and near the place of murder, both before and after the same, together with the fact that some of the men were killed with arrows, and that many arrows taken out of their bodies and picked up along the line of retreat were Pawnee and Ottoe arrows, can be readily sustained, as also that threats were made against the life of one of the murdered men by members of both tribes a few days before the occurrence of the murder. These murders were undoubtedly committed by Pawnee and Ottoe Indians. In the month of July a settlement upon White Rock river was visited by Pawnees, who took corn from the fields and robbed the people of agricultural implements, tools, &c., and, having surprised a family in camp, during the absence of the husband and father, they took the woman away, and after subjecting her to ravishment by a large number, supposed to exceed forty, they left her where her friends found her in the morning in a state of insensibility. In the month of August Pawnees and Omahas, to the number of more than eight hundred, visited a settlement upon a tributary of the Solomon and took possession of the fields of corn, &c., and when remonstrated with by the owners of the same they claimed the land upon which the farms were located as belonging to them as hunting and trapping ground. They ordered the settlers off, using menaces and threats of death if they did not go, and if they ever returned. They remained in this threatening manner until the people left. Such acts of hostility and such violations of treaties call for justice and indemnity. This we desire to obtain under the laws; and, that the matter may be prepared in the proper form, the various witnesses and parties interested intend to meet at Lake Sibley, upon the Republican, about the 15th of October, and proceed in the investigation before an officer of the law. I have visited the Ottoes, and they agree to meet us and take part in the examination of arrows, &c. I desire the presence of chiefs of the Pawnee and Omaha tribes, and sincerely desire your official and personal co-operation in securing their presence. I would respectfully present the fact that these oft-repeated outrages have caused a deep feeling of interest and a strong determination on the part of the entire citizenship of our State to obtain justice and safety; and inasmuch as the aforementioned tribes lie under these suspicions and charges, it will prove much to their interest to render every possible assistance in securing a full, just, and impartial investigation; and I do not doubt that a council of chiefs at the time mentioned will lead to the detection of the guilty parties, and result in mutual good to all concerned. Any communication you may desire to make to me in regard to this matter may be directed to Leavenworth, Kansas. Sincerely hoping to receive your co-operation, I remain, with much respect, your obedient servant, Colonel E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. W. F. CLOUD, Major General Kansas State Militia. OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS, Northern Superintendency, Omaha, Nebraska, September 28, 1866. SIR: Your letter of the 21st instant, left at my office during my absence at the Winnebago agency, was handed to me this day on my return, and I embrace the earliest opportunity afforded me to reply. Whether the allegations as to alleged depredations on the part of the Ottoes, Pawnees, and Omahas are true or untrue, of course I cannot state with positive certainty; yet I may say that I feel entirely confident that the Pawnees and Omahas are guiltless. The Ottoes are not above suspicion, and it may turn out, upon investigation, that they participated in the disturbances. I have forwarded copies of your letter to the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs and to each of the agents of the tribes named by you respectively. It will be impossible to meet you with a deputation from these tribes at Fort Sibley, on the Republican, as early as the 15th of October; and I therefore respectfully suggest that the day for the proposed investigation be postponed to such time as will enable me to secure the attendance of one or more of the chiefs of the tribes named, in the event that the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall so direct. An ex parte examination will at best prove unsatisfactory, and can settle nothing definitely. While the department is ready to redress any wrongs committed by treaty Indians, upon satisfactory testimony, it will resolutely protest against loss or punishment for alleged offences, where the proof is vague or uncertain, or taken in such manner as to afford no opportunity for examination or denial. Hoping that the proposed investigation will be deferred until the honorable Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner of Indian Affairs can be officially consulted, I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WM. F. CLOUD, Major General K. S. M. E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent Indian Affairs. No. 99. Papers relating to the Santee Sioux. WASHINGTON, February 20, 1866. SIR: In obedience to your request made this morning, I obtained from the honorable Commissioner of the General Land Office the enclosed township plats of townships thirty-one and thirty-two north, range six west, sixth principal meridian, Nebraska Territory, showing the amount of lands entered in each and the amount remaining unsold, the property of the general government. As shown by the plats, this land is situate on the Missouri river, at the northern boundary of the Territory of Nebraska, at a point where the waters of the Niobrara river flow into the Missouri. The colored fractions of sections show the lands disposed of to individuals in these two townships, amounting in all to a little more than four sections, the residue being government lands. Upon this tract of land the members of the Northwestern Indian Commission advise unanimously the location of the Santee Sioux Indians, now stationed at Crow Creek agency, in Dakota Territory. In this recommendation I am authorized to say that Hon. A. W. Hubbard, of Iowa, concurs. It is pretty well supplied with timber, and at least two thousand acres of tillable land can be found upon it in a body along the Missouri and Niobrara rivers. Until the Santee Sioux can be rendered self-sustaining upon this proposed reservation, at least one-half the sum annually expended for transportation of subsistence and annuity goods can be saved. Where they now are they have never raised a crop of any description, and all their supplies have necessarily been purchased and transported at a heavy expense. Should you determine to remove them to the mouth of the Niobrara, I have no doubt their new reservation will supply them with all the corn and wheat which they will require, so soon as it can be opened to cultivation. This proposed reservation for the Santees is only separated from the Ponca reservation by the Niobrara river. It is a well known fact that the Poncas succeed well in agricultural pursuits, on the Missouri bottom. That portion of the two townships which it is proposed to give to the Santees as a reservation which has been sold to individuals, can be purchased at a very small advance on the government price of public lands. Not more than half a dozen settlers now occupy these lands, those who formerly resided upon them having been driven off by the Indian troubles of the past two years. I know of no place in Nebraska where a suitable reservation can be obtained for these Indians at so small a cost, and where the tribe can be located with a reasonable hope that they will not be encroached upon by white settlements. One hundred thousand dollars per year is now appropriated by Congress to feed this tribe at Crow creek. More than one-half this large sum is expended for transportation. If they are to be subsisted for all the future, the removal of the tribe to the mouth of the Niobrara would save more to the government in the item of transportation alone in a single year than would purchase the land and defray the expenses of their removal. To cover these two items, I would estimate that the following would be sufficient: Removal from Crow creek to the month of the Niobrara, $5,000; purchase of lands marked on the plat as entered, $20,000. This much can be saved in the item of transportation in a single year. If a reasonable sum could be appropriated for the erection of buildings and the general improvement of the reservation, in my judgment, this tribe can be rendered self-sustaining within the next two years. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. E. B. TAYLOR, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. No. 100. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR: The President has ordered the withdrawal of townships thirty-one and thirty-two north, range five west, and townships thirty-one and thirty-two north, range six west, Nebraska, from pre-emption and sale, in accordance with the recommendations of your letter to this department, under date of the 23d ultimo. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, THE COMMISSIONER of Indian Affairs. JAMES HARLAN, Secretary. No. 101. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, SIR: I would again impress on your attention the importance of removing the Crow Creek Indians from their present location. The reasons assigned for this are, first, the extreme poverty of their present position for agricultural purposes; second, the inconvenience and expense of feeding them so far off, &c. The position recommended as a good location is at the mouth of Niobrara. I think this a good position so far as lands, proximity to other Indians, and separation from whites are concerned. This matter was freely talked over by the commissioners last fall, as well as Judge Hubbard, all of whom, as far as I learn, fully concurred in the above opinion. Yours, &c., Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner. HENRY W. REED, No. 102. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, SIR: The subject of the condition of the various bands of Sioux of the Mississippi, their location, subsistence, and the future policy to be observed towards them, presses upon this office from so many different directions, that it has seemed desirable to attempt a general review of the situation of things; to present such suggestions as appear practical in regard to each branch of the subject; and to ask that, if possible, a definite policy may be decided upon, which this office may endeavor to carry into effect, with means provided for the purpose by Congress. I will endeavor to present this review in as brief a form as possible, referring for any particulars to the papers herewith transmitted. The four bauds of Sioux referred to are the Sisseton, Wahpaton, Medawakanton, and Wahpakoota bands, who were, in the year 1862, by virtue of treaties made in 1851 and 1858, located upon an extensive reservation lying along the south side of the Minnesota river, ten miles in width, and extending from a point on the west line of Minnesota near the upper end of Big Stone lake, to the vicinity of Fort Ridgley. These Indians had a large income from the proceeds of the cession of their lands, and a considerable portion of them had advanced so far in civilization that they had abandoned savage life, and were cultivating the soil with great success. It is unnecessary to refer in any detail to the causes of or the circumstances attending the outbreak of the summer and fall of 1862, with its horrors of massacre and plunder. It is apparent that this outbreak took place at first among the Lower bands, the Medawakantons and Walpakootas, and that the Upper bands for the most part refused to take part in it, as did some considerable portion of the Lower bands. Many of those who felt no inclination towards hostilities, feared that the vengeance of the whites would fall upon them as a portion of the tribes, and fled to the northward, leaving their homes. The results of the military expeditions sent against these Indians were their complete expulsion from the State of Minnesota; the capture of a large number of them by the troops, (some of them having voluntarily surrendered, claiming to have taken no part in the massacres, and some, again, bringing with them whites rescued from their hostile brethren;) the death, by hanging, of a portion of the leaders; the confinement at Davenport, Iowa, up to a recent date, of about two hundred men, convicted by military commission of greater or less complicity in the outbreak, but many even of these always protesting their innocence; the forced migration to Crow Creek reservation, in Dakota, of more than 1,000, being mostly old men, women, and children, the families of those who had been hung or were in confinement; and the subjection of the Upper Sioux (the Sisseton and Wahpatons) to all the suffering incident to a wandering, savage life. A large number of the latter bands came in and voluntarily surrendered to General Sibley when his forces reached the region in the neighborhood of Fort Wadsworth, and most of these have steadily claimed that they had not voluntarily taken part in the outbreak, and signalized their return by bringing in a large number of white persons who had been taken captive at the time of the outbreak, and whom they had recovered and protected. A few, belonging, as is understood, to both the Upper and Lower bands, who had been positively faithful throughout, and had rendered greater or less service to the whites, have returned to and remaited upon different portions of the old reservation, there being nearly one hundred not far from Faribaul and Mendota, Minnesota. The action taken by Congress in regard to these Indians has been as follows: By act of February 16, 1863, (p 652, vol. 12, Stat. at Large,) all treaties with them were declared abrogated, all lands, annuities, and claims forfeited, $210,000 of the annuities appropriated to payment of losses by the massacre, a commission provided for to ascertain and report upon claims for losses, and authority given to the Interior Department to set apart eighty acres of land to such Indians as had exerted themselves to save captive whites. By act of March 3, 1853, (p. 819, vol. 12, Stat. at Large,) it was provided that a tract of good agricultural land should be set apart, outside of the limits of any State, sufficient for eighty acres to each member of the four bands who were willing to adopt the pursuits of agriculture; that their former reservation should be surveyed and sold, and the proceeds invested by the Interior Department for the benefit of the Indians; and that Indians who had exerted themselves to save the lives of whites should each have eighty acres of land on which the improvements were situated. By the act of May 28, 1864, (p 92, pamphlet ed. Stat. at Large,) there was appropriated the sum of $1,170,374 to pay claims reported by the commission above referred to, making in all $1,380,374 appropriated for payment of losses by the outbreak. By the act of March 3, 1865, (p. 427, pamphlet ed. Stat. at Large,) the sum of $7,500 was appropriated for the special benefit of a few of the friendly Sioux who had aided the whites. It will be seen that there are four classes of these Sioux now claiming the attention of the department, to wit: ist. Those who were removed to Crow Creek reservation, in Dakota. 2d. Those who were, till recently. prisoners at Davenport. |