| Show BIG FOOTS BAND there are some most moat extraordinary matters connected with the late battle between the indians and our troops in the bad lands of south dakota which seem quite at variance with the claim that the indians indiana suddenly and without provocation after surrender commenced firing upon the troops it Is ia very clear however that there was waa an unnecessary and inhuman slaughter of indian women and children by the troops which attaches to that feature of the fight the stain of a massacre from the official and other accounts of the affair it appears that big foot and his band with their squads squaws and papooses oses ha retreated to the bad lands they numbered warriors squaws squads aud and many papoose papooses oses the warriors were well armed but had an insufficient number of ponies they were encamped on the wounded knee or porcupine creek and before the conflict made no effort either to ambush the troops to escape or to attack them at any disadvantage advantage by 8 in the morning the troops had planted their hotchkiss guns overlooking the indian camp not fifty yards away There were at least mounted troops on the ground these were massed about the village colonel forsythe ordered all the indians indiana to come forward away from the tents this order they obeyed they formed in a half circle and were counted they numbered about this was the situation when the first account of the affair was pent to the agency that account stated the general opinion to is that the surrender of big foot is not in good faith the indians still retain their arme anne the party is however behink watched and the me first false move will precipitate a fights the next news that arrives is that the fight has occurred it ia hard to gather what the false move was that precipitated it the accounts say that without provocation while the indians were surrounded and being searched for arms all of a sudden they threw their hands to the ground and began firing rapidly at the troops not twenty feet away v the account continues tle the in deans men women and children then ran to the south of the battery firing bring rapidly as they ran soon the troops were after them shooting them down on every side aide the on en lasted fully an hour and a half the troops are still firing from the camp and pur suing the enemy in every direction the rhe account concludes with these significant and pathetic statements to say that this was a most moot daring feat indians attacking caval cavalrymen tymen expresses the sit bation but faintly it could have been but insanity which prompted such a deed it is doubted whether before night either a buck or a squaw out of big foots bond band will be left to tell the tale of this days araz treachery ry J unless the indian has wholly changed his nature their behavior in this affair cannot be explained upon any reasonable hypothesis indians never attack with their squaws squads and papooses osee oses in the vicinity they seek an ambush when they can they never assault a superior number of well armed troops in the open country particularly they never before as a matter of strategy permitted themselves to be closely surrounded with nearly five times their number of pursuing broo ps on horseback while they were on foot that they might at a given sigh signal 1 commence an assault as hopeless as 98 it must have been known to be fatal to themselves if between and indian women and children have been killed this country cannot justify the crime there is some excuse for mere volunteers taken from a ravaged section of the country spar ing neither sex nor age but for the united states troops led by its trat trained rk officers to give way to brutish passion because some of their officers and soldiers have been killed even under the circumstances attending the fight in question to is a blot upon the count rys honor and should be wiped awak away as an speed speedily fly as justice can accomplish it the news awaits the fullest de tails with the keenest interest ready to do the fullest justice austice to our brave army but equally ready to criticise criticism critic ise their wrong doings if they have committed them il dex denew Aloun mountain tain news |
