My Life before the World War, 1860–1917: A Memoir

5. The Sioux Campaign and Commanding Indian Scouts: November 1890–August 1891

69 5 The Sioux Campaign and Commanding Indian Scouts November 1890–August 1891 Although our troops were always ready for field service, nothing unusual during the four years following the Geronimo campaign had occurred to suggest serious trouble with the Indians. An occasional Indian scare or the arrest of white cattle thieves or a practice maneuver gave us field service at intervals and added zest to the routine of training and post duty. I loved the service and the country, with its barren plains and rugged mountains. The various assignments that had fallen to my lot had furnished some practical and profitable experience. Renewed Troubles with the Sioux Indians— The Ghost Dance Rising The settlement of the great west continued with increasing volume after the Civil War and was vigorously opposed by the Indians. But their warriors were no match for the well-trained and well-armed white soldiers called upon to protect settlers, and although they were forced to yield their claims to large areas of farming and grazing lands, they still had a visible food supply in the millions of buffalo that roamed the plains. But this proved to be temporary, as the apparently inexhaustible herds began to disappear before the reckless onslaught of white hunters. Buffalo hunting became the sport of frontiersmen, and Indians also took part, killing the animals for their hides alone, which they used to cover their tepees and to spread on the dirt floors. The army purchased hides 70  My Life before the World War, 1860–1917 by wholesale and made them into overcoats, the last of which were issued to the cavalry in the Sioux campaign. It was not in the Indian’s nature to remain humbly quiescent and see their food supply disappear, and soon they began again to show their independence of spirit under the daring leadership of such men as Sitting Bull, already famous as a medicine man and war chief, and Red Cloud, until they could point to the Custer battle of 1876 as evidence of their prowess. After the subjugation of the Sioux and Cheyennes in 1879, they had been dismounted, their war ponies sold, and the proceeds returned to them largely in farm stock and implements to encourage them to peaceful and self-supporting pursuits. But such plans had been tried before, and the Indians had never turned extensively to farming. The old frontier days were passing, the West was yielding to the already steady increase of settlers. The mining industry was rapidly growing ; gold was discovered in the Black Hills [southwestern South Dakota]. Cattle and sheep ranches were covering available grazing lands, agriculture was spreading fast across the rich prairie lands, and irrigation was turning arid lands into farms of agricultural products and fruits. The Indians keenly felt the effects of the changes, of which they were not a part but mere observers. Their natural and time-honored activities were thus more and more circumscribed, and the cumulative effect of these developments gave them much concern. For a year, however, reports, at first only vague rumors, had been coming in of uneasiness among the Sioux and Cheyennes of the plains country; a rebellious spirit seemed to be spreading among them; and the movement seemed about to reach a climax in the fall of 1890. Confined to restricted areas from which the buffalo and other game that has furnished the bulk of their food had disappeared, they could not at once change the habits of generations and become self-sustaining . Much of the land allotted to them in recent years was unproductive, and their actual existence depended in large measure on the food supplies , principally beef, furnished by the government. But eventually the government failed miserably to meet its obligation in this regard. That the Indians were not receiving sufficient food on their reservations was declared not only by the Indians themselves; it was attested by missionaries , traders, and even by some in the Indian service [Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior] in position to know. No doubt the method of selecting personnel for that service was partially to blame. Politics had entered; civilian agents placed over the Indians were frequently changed and appointments of men without The Sioux Campaign and Commanding Indian Scouts  71 experience or other qualifications were often made for political reasons. Some were downright rascals and too often government supplies and funds were misappropriated. Nor were all the...