OCR Text |
Show THE CKUKL WAK la OVfclt. If it were not for the unprovoked murder of Sitting Bull by the Indian police, and for the blunder at Wounded Wound-ed Knee creek, the Sioux war just ended would pass into history as a ludicrous lu-dicrous if expensive incident on a par with tho notorious experience of the French king who marched up tho hill and then marched down again. We tlo not believe tho Indians ever intended to fight until they found themselves hemmed in on all sides by troops whose purpose and presence they could not interpret in any other way than intended intend-ed for thoir extermination. The Indian is by nature suspicious, as he has a right to bo, and tho promises of the government emphasized as they were by a formula!) u display of anus, wero not calculated to reassure him. We believe that one such man as General Crook, who possessed the confidence of the savages, and understood their character, char-acter, would have availed more than all the martial array of one-third of our regular army. Nevertheless the Dakota war whoop is not without its compensating features. fea-tures. The events of the last few months have shown first tho folly of our traditional policy in treat ing wit h the tribes as with foreign nations; and second, the honest' administration of the Indian bureau under tho interior department which stood the most crucial test without damage. Not the least advantage of tbe cruel war which is now happily over is the agreement of the Indians to surrender their rifles to the government for sale. So long as the butlalo and other game roamed over the prairie there was some reason for allowing the red man to carry arms, but since the object was removed there is no sense in keeping up the pretext. If the proper steps are now taken to prevent tho Indians from securing new ordnance through barter or otherwise we shall probably have seen the last Indian uprising in the United States. |