The Diaries of John Gregory Bourke Volume 2: July 29, 1876--April 7, 1878

Appendix 3. [Clipping in Volume 12, Pages 1292–94] Conflicting Policies

482฀ The฀following฀interview฀is฀between฀Major฀Frederick฀Mears,฀9th฀ Infantry,฀and฀Joseph฀Wasson,฀correspondent฀for฀the฀San฀Francisco฀ Alta฀California.฀It฀appeared฀in฀the฀Alta฀California฀on฀October฀14,฀ 1876.฀It฀illustrates฀the฀frustrations฀facing฀the฀civilian฀authorities฀ in฀dealing฀with฀Indians฀and,฀using฀Mackenzie’s฀showdown฀with฀ Red฀Cloud,฀makes฀a฀case฀for฀military฀control. AN฀INDIAN฀TALK _____ Interview฀with฀Major฀Mears,฀Direct from฀the฀Indian฀Country—Nothing Anticipated฀from฀the฀Work฀of฀the Peace฀Commission–General฀Crook to฀make฀a฀winter฀Campaign— Traits฀of฀Indian฀Character— The฀Subject฀of฀Placing฀the฀Indians Under฀the฀Control฀of฀the฀War Department. ----------Appendix ฀3฀ ✦ [Clipping฀in฀Volume฀12,฀Pages฀1292–94] ✦ ✦ ✦ Conflicting฀Policies CONFLICTING฀POLICIES฀ 483 Major฀F.฀Mears,฀Company฀I,฀Ninth฀Infantry,฀having฀arrived฀on฀ Wednesday฀from฀Camp฀Sheridan,฀Spotted฀Tail฀Agency,฀and฀Camp฀ Robinson,฀Red฀Cloud฀Agency,฀in฀Nebraska,฀our฀reporter฀had฀an฀interview ฀with฀him,฀and฀gleaned฀the฀following฀interesting฀facts: He฀started฀on฀the฀twenty฀fourth฀of฀September.฀The฀Peace฀Commissioner ฀had฀just฀completed฀their฀labors.฀Some฀were฀en฀route฀for฀ Washington,฀and฀others฀for฀the฀Agency฀on฀the฀Missouri฀River. GENERAL฀CROOK’S฀PROPOSED฀CAMPAIGN. Crook฀was฀on฀his฀way฀to฀[Fort]฀Laramie฀to฀have฀a฀conference฀ with฀General฀Sheridan,฀and฀since฀Major฀Mears฀had฀left฀the฀Red฀Cloud฀ Agency฀he฀had฀learned฀that฀an฀active฀Winter฀campaign฀against฀the฀ hostile฀Sioux฀had฀been฀determined฀upon.฀It฀will฀be฀conducted฀mainly฀ with฀the฀Second,฀Third,฀Fourth฀and฀Fifth฀Cavalry฀regiments,฀all฀of฀ these฀with฀the฀exception฀of฀the฀Fourth฀Cavalry฀having฀taken฀part฀in฀ the฀Summer฀campaign.฀Six฀companies฀of฀the฀Fourth฀are฀now฀lying฀ at฀the฀Red฀Cloud฀Agency฀and฀the฀other฀six฀are฀down฀in฀the฀Indian฀ Territory฀and฀will฀be฀ordered฀back฀to฀Red฀Cloud;฀as,฀in฀accordance฀ with฀the฀late฀Act฀of฀Congress,฀each฀company฀is฀to฀be฀recruited฀up฀to฀ its฀full฀strength฀of฀100฀men,฀the฀nominal฀force฀in฀all฀will฀be฀12,000.฀ Allowing฀one-third฀as฀non-combatants,฀there฀will฀remain฀a฀force฀of฀ 8000฀men฀for฀actual฀service.฀The฀campaign฀will฀be฀directed฀toward฀ the฀country฀in฀the฀neighborhood฀of฀Slim฀Buttes,฀the฀locality฀where฀ Crook฀lately฀gave฀the฀Sioux฀their฀severe฀beating,฀and฀will฀be฀inaugurated ฀immediately.฀Major฀Mears฀estimates฀the฀hostile฀force฀at฀ about฀2000฀under฀“Sitting฀Bull”฀and฀“Crazy฀Horse,”฀and฀not฀more.฀ He฀believes฀that฀at฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀late฀campaign,฀the฀hostile฀ Sioux฀were฀greatly฀underestimated,฀and฀that฀since฀the฀Custer฀Massacre ฀that฀an฀opposite฀tendency฀to฀overestimate฀prevails.฀As฀an฀ example,฀on฀August฀10th ,฀when฀the฀Spotted฀Tail฀Agency฀was฀turned฀ over฀to฀Major฀Mears’฀temporary฀charge,฀9135฀Indians฀were฀reported฀ as฀under฀its฀control.฀By฀actual฀count,฀including฀whites,฀squaw-men฀ and฀half-breeds,฀4700฀only฀were฀found.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀on฀Major฀ Jordan฀taking฀control฀of฀the฀Red฀Cloud฀Agency,฀12,000฀were฀reported฀ by฀actual฀count.1 1.฀These฀vast฀discrepancies฀between฀the฀number฀of฀Indians฀listed฀and฀the฀actual฀count฀ led฀to฀charges฀that฀the฀figures฀had฀been฀inflated฀to฀allow฀the฀Indian฀agents฀to฀profit฀from฀ the฀difference,฀charges฀that฀continue฀to฀appear฀in฀modern฀works.฀The฀actual฀reasons฀were฀ more฀complicated.฀The฀government฀ration฀deliveries฀in฀1875฀and฀1876฀were฀not฀adequate฀ to฀feed฀the฀Indians฀on฀the฀reservations,฀if฀each฀family฀received฀its฀official฀allotment.฀To฀ avoid฀widespread฀suffering,฀as฀well฀as฀a฀potential฀uprising฀among฀hungry฀Indians,฀the฀agents฀ deliberately฀inflated฀the฀figures฀to฀assure฀that฀each฀family฀received฀enough฀to฀survive.฀ 484฀ APPENDIX฀3 THE฀EFFORTS฀OF฀THE฀LATE฀PEACE฀COMMISSION. But฀little฀faith฀is฀felt฀in฀what฀the฀Peace฀Commission฀has฀done,฀ and฀its฀expenses฀($20,000)฀are฀considered฀as฀good฀as฀wasted.฀The฀ experiences฀of฀the฀past฀show฀that฀neither฀side฀intends฀to฀keep฀its฀ promises,฀and฀that฀is฀effects฀upon฀those฀Indians฀still฀remaining฀hostile ฀will฀be฀nil.฀The฀Indians฀that฀this฀Commission฀has฀been฀treating฀ with,฀the฀hostiles฀look฀upon฀with฀scorn฀and฀contempt฀and฀call฀them฀ “the฀coffee-cookers.”฀The฀so-called฀chiefs฀have฀so฀little฀influence฀that฀ they฀cannot฀even฀keep฀their฀own฀young฀men฀on฀the฀Agencies. Major฀Mears฀has฀been฀living฀among฀the฀Indians฀and฀on฀the฀frontier฀ ever฀since฀1865,฀and฀he฀records฀it฀as฀the฀result฀of฀his฀experience฀that฀ if฀the฀country฀wishes฀to฀solve฀the฀Indian฀problem,฀the฀first฀step฀will฀ have฀to฀be฀to฀disarm฀them฀all...