Mr. BURLEIGH. Mr. Speaker, I ask the indulgence of the House for a short time, that may have an opportunity to express my views upon the present mana cment of our Indian relations, especially in e Northwest, where, in my judgment, large sums of money are being squandered, to meet which extrava gant appropriations are called for by the ComrIndAff. If, in the discussion of this subject, I chance to use plain and unmistakable language, my excuse shall be that the interests of the public service demand a thorough understanding of it. If I should happen to expose a system of official mismanagement and corruption, my apology will be‘that I stand here as the chosen representative of a people whose happiness, prosperity, and personal safety depend upon the good faith, fair dealing, an honest administration of every dept of the Government having control of our Indian affairs. It is very seldom thatIhave troubled the House with remarks upon any subject, and I believe never, unless it was when some measure was before it which interested myown constituents. I should not ask its indulgence at this time did I not regard it as a dutywhich I owe to the country as well as to the people of Dakota. I hardly know how I could justify a silence on my part now, if ever so much disposed to do so, since I have the honor to represent here one of the 9 great Territories of the nation, and the one which I am confident contains a greater number of square miles and a larger Indian population than either of the others, and the interest of which I am bound to protect. Within the boundaries of Dakota there are more than 30,000 savages, 3/4ths of whom, during the last 4 years, have been waging a murderous war againstits unprotected citizens. Dakota is fast filling up with an industrious and intelligent white population who are flocking within its borders from ever loyal State of the Union, and who are vital y interested in bringing about and maintaining the most friendly relations with all of our northwestern Indian tribes. Our people have an incentive which urgesan enduring establishment of peaceful relations with the Indians of that country, which towers above and overrides every other consideration one which neither Congress, the Commissioner, nor the nation can trifle with. It is that of peace and safety to themselves, their wives, and their children; and it would be well for those who thrive from the margin of blanket and grow fat from provision and all other contracts made in connection with the Indian service, whether made in Washington or elsewhere, to remember that they are triflin with the lives ofinnocent beings when ever they engage in these sharp operations. I have spent the last 5 years of my life in the country inhabited by the Sioux Indians of Dakota. During that period I endeavored care fully to study their wants, their habits of life, and the relations which these people actually sustain to the white population, now so rapidly filling up and improving the rich lands of the extreme Northwest hoping that information thus acquired might be of some service in solving the difficult problem as to the best method of disposing of this race in a manner that shall confer the greatest good to its people and entail the least evil upon ourselves. Nothing is surer than that the Indian race is passing away before the onward tread of the white man and the irresistible influence of civilization, which has borne him from the shores of the Atlantic and is still bearing him onward to the remotest recesses of this conti ncuh Wherever research is made and it is ascertained that labor can be profitably employed; wherever the white man can find acomfortable home for himself and family, and securely lay the foundation of his cot, however humble it may be, there he will 0, and the Indian must either willingly or re uctantly surrender his claim to the soil, and abandon his birthright to the hardy pioneers of civilization. Gentlemen may reason as they will; the may eulogize the ndian character and magni y his wrongs; they may resort to the most plau sible and humane theories, shed tears of sympathy over Cooper’s finely wrought pictures, and ongfellow’s glowing verse; they may try to make the Indian, as we find him, a real perfection, out of their ideal standard of natural no bility; but it all will not avail to change either his nature or his destiny. Less than eight years ago what is now the ceded portion 0t Dakota was the home and hunting ground of the Yank ton Sioux and Ponca Indians. As soon as the Indian title to the lands was extinguished, the advanceard of civilization crossed the western boun aries of Iowa and Minnesota in search of homes in Dakota. There they staked off their claimsz built their cabins, and commenced improving their farms. Slowly but surely our population has been increasing, not withstanding the many obstacles which it has had to surmount. From the Big Sioux our frontier settlements have been extended more than 200 miles westward into the heart of the Territory. Instead of being one vast waste, as then, we now have a rapidly improving country, dotted over with the truitful fields and happy homes of an enterprising, hardy, self sustain, liberty loving people. The rude wigwam of t 10savage has given piiiee to comfortable habitations ofintelligent industry. The buffalo has been startled from his primitive pastures by the Durham and Ayr shire; the mustang has given place to the Mes senger and Morgan; the deer and the antelope to i cecy flocks; while the miserable Indian, with his inferior surroundings, has deserted his former hunting grounds and is fast passing away before the steady advance of the white man, for whose inheritance this country seems to have been especially created. The foot prints of the Caucasian are everywhere visible in the soil of all our western Territories, as well upon the mountain tops asin its deepest onions and broadest plains. The genius of enterprise and industry hasalread extended his wand over the fertile vastness o the great West, and as if by more than magic power has infused anew life into its productive valleys and gold bearing mountains. The future of that country is already fixed; the fate of the Indian is sealed as effectually and as materially as was that of the Canaauites before the advancing armies of Israel as they moved forward to possess the romised land of their inheritance. Unwise legislation might perhaps interpose a puny obstacle, but it can no more permanently stop the surging, rolling tide of western emigration in its onward way to the Pacific, than it can prevent the changes of the seasons or stay the ight of time. I‘he only great question which Congress is now called upon to meet in connection with this subject is, not what is to finally become of the ludian race? This question has been determined by a higher power than on possess, by a more inexorable decree is ulti mate end is already fixed, his doom is sealed by a power which is superior to your laws and above your constitutions. The only question left for you to determine is, how shall this Government now discharge its last duty to the few remaining representatives of the once pow erful tribes which formerly possessed the entire extent of all the territory now embraced within our national boundaries? How shall this be done for the Indian, the rights and privileges of our own race be preserved, and the material interests of the country developed. Without digressing further from the question which Ipropose to discuss, I will conelu e these preliminary remarks and call the attention of Congress to some of the evils attending the administration of our Indian affairs which demand correction. And 1st I will notice the recent treaties which have been sent to the Senate for confirmation, and give my reasons for urging that the appropriations asked for by the Commissioner for carryinginto effect these pretended negotiations ought not to be made. In the 1st place, they are not such treaties as should engage the attention of Congress a moment long or than may be necessary to discover that they are a delusion and a fraud which some one is attempting to practice upon the Government, if not upon the Indians. All former treaties made as t iese.were made have accomplished no good, but on the contra have been fruitful with incalculable mischie. Every adult male Indian claims the right tobe present and participate in the council of his tribe. He is a jomt owner with every other Indian of his band in the country which they occupy, and especially is the right claimed by him and conceeded by all the rest that he is to participate in their councils of war, as well as in the treaties by which peace is secured, or their common hunting grounds are ceded to other tribes or to the Government of the U.S. Now, let us look for a moment at the manner in which these pretended treaties were made in the fall of 1865 with the Sioux Indians of the upper Missouri. I think it is due to Congress and the country that a little light should be thrown upon these as well as other recent transactions of the Indian dept before appropriating large sums of money upon the estimates of the Commissioner to provide for the Indian service for the coming year. Let us look at the management of this dept or branch of the Government dispassion ately, seeking information rather than. favors, and ascertain whether it is " a source of aid and roteetion of civilization and Christianization or those for whose benefit it was created or whether it is not a “whitened sepulelier full of dead men’s bones.” And here let me call the attention of the House to a statement of facts pertaining to the assemble e of “Indians who were engaged with the o cers of the Government in making these important nego tiations of which we have heard so much of late, and which facts arefilly substantiated by the treaties themselves. The following is a list of the Indian tribes on the upper Missouri, and principally in Dakota Territory, with which treaties are said to have been made in the fall of 1865 by the commissioners of the U.S.; also the names, number of lodges, number of" persons in each, and the number of Indians present at the making of said treaties: Lodges. Persona. Present. Brules. 150 900 52 Kcttle s. 150 900 150 Minneconjue 400 2.100 2? Sons A. 250 1,: no tips. 450 2, 7 14 Blue feet 180 1.0. 6 galaliis. 350 2.100 8 Upper Ynnktona. 450 2.700 15 Lower Ynnktonais. 250 1.500 26 Platte Brules. 400 2, 700 3,030 18480 297 Now; Mr. Speaker, I have to say, in all candor, and I speak understandingly, that a very great deal of the difficulty which the government and its citizens have had with the northwestern Indians during the last 30 years has been caused by just such fraudulent treaties it these now under discussion, and for the fulfillment of which you will soon be called upon to appropriate these large sums of money. '10 think of concluding a valid treaty with a tribe of savages numbering 2100 with only 3 of its members present to participate in the negotiation is supremely ridic ulous. To attempt to palm off such a transaction upon the Government is a fraud of the grossest. character. No body of white men would abide by such a transaction, nor will the Indians of those tribes. Is it reasonable to suppose that the Uncpapas, numbering, as they do, 2700 souls, nearly all of whom were at the time of the treaty hostile, and who are still hostile to our Government, and who are now engaged in murdering and robbing our peo 10, will pay the least at tention to the proton ed stipulations made with 14 irresponsible members of their tribe, all of whom were either too laz to hunt or too cowardly to pursue the war pat? Why, sir, I am astonished at the whole transaction. The consummate stupidity which planned these negotiations is only surpassed by the reprehensible meanness in which their details have been carried out, and the total lack of practical results which have followed. such treaties as these never have and never will restore peaceful relations with our Indian tribes, they will only be instrumental in swelling our national debt and lining the pockets of the fa vored gentlemen who are selected to disburse the munificent appropriations of a too confiding Congress. The whole affair is perfectly absurd, and no man of sense who is at all fu miliar with the Sioux Indians of the upper missouri would for a moment entertain the idea that peace could result from such sham negotiations. tre“aAtnyr.8. Aug amendmentor modification of this by the counts of the U.S shall be reeopnrseidseenreteddfinal and binding upon the said band. in council, itsa part of this treaty.in the same manner as if it had been subsequently presented and agreedto by the chiefs and head menof said an. That is to say, that this treaty with the Uncpepas, iu' the making of which but 14 persons out of 2700 participated, shall undergo amendments or modifications ” at the pleasnre of the Senate; thus denying the whole of said tribe any participation whatever in a solemn treaty by the terms of which our Government declares that they shall be irrevocably bound. These treaties, which have been concluded and ratified by the Senate and reclaimed by the President, are not worth the pay or they disgrace. They will neither tranqui line the Indians nor bring peace and safety to our frontiers. IndulgeIme whileI read the following extracts from the Sioux City Register of march 10, 1866: “A private letter from Crow Creek brings intelli fience of an.mportant nature. A large party of rules and Tetons cameto the fort from the upper country and while campedin. the vicinity of the fluencythey formed a plan to capture the fort, kill all the whites and Snntecs, and steal the stores; but the plot became known to someof the Suntecs, who immediately made it post commander. Heiiknnine cwdninttopl CytaopotkainprSoepicvrcmll.ctuhse ures to guard against a surprise, and then quietly awaited their coming. be"cBnudtistchoevycrdcidd;not come.they found their lot had so they struck the irtepesan started for the upper country and at last accountshad not beenheard from. “r s understand that the trouble is occasioncrl b; Captain Sewellfs refusal to give them an unliniite supply of subsistence stores and the Indians were indignant at his refusal. "This is the result of the recent peace commission and from present indications we may expect.similar dgeemtsonstrationsat other points as soon iis the weather warm enough to enable our 'red brothers' to travel conyeniently." “Recent advices from Fort Sully state that the Indians are becoming quite troublesome.stealing everything theycan lay their handson, besidesdriving off cattle at every 0 portunity; and if things continue that way much angerthe garrison will be brought down to salt junk." In addition to this, these treaties do not claim to have acquired for the Government a single acre of land, not one mountain, not a valley, not a plain. The right of wa, ever a matter of the greatest importance to t ie people of the Northwest, through the country occupied by the Indians With whom these farcical treaties profess to have been made has not been obtained, notwithstanding a section to that effect adorns a page of these rare diplomatic productions. Now: let us take another look at these solemn treaties: “A111. 4. The said band. representedin council shall withdraw from the routes overland already establilshed or hereafter to be establishedthrough their country; and in considerationthereof and of their npp interference with the persons and report yof citizens of' the U.S. traveling t crcon. the Government of the U.S. agree to pay to the suidbnnd the sumof $10.000iinnun lfloyr 20 years, in such articles as the SecyInterior may direct: Provider].That said band, so rppresentedin council, shall faithfully conform to the requirements of this Ucaty.” Now, sir, what are the facts in relation to this matter? Simply these: notwithstanding these treaties declare that the Indians “shall withdraw from the routes overland already established or hereafter to be established, ” this provision was never assented to by the Indians, nor anything of the kind. So far from having granted the right of way through their country to the Government, several, if not all, of the parties present as the pretended representatives of their respective tribes positively refused to grant it, an stated that their tribes would not consent to any such arrangement. I have been told so by parties present at the making of these treaties, and l have heard the same thing from other reliable sources. Why, sit, the SecyInterior has suspended the work on one of the wagon roads, passing through the country occupied by these same Indians, long since these treaties were signed and sealed an received in this city. The work on the Cheyenne road, for the construction of which you made an appropriation at the last Congress, has been suspended by the order of this officer. When asked for the cause of this suspension his reply was that the commissioners must go up and make arrangements with the Indians before the work on the road could go on. Now, sir, what does this all mean? Whg is it, if thesc‘are valid treaties, mode in goo faith, if they are what they profess to be, that one of our wagon roads, the right of way for which these treaties declare has been acquired, has been stopped in the process of its construction? Certainly it is not for want of funds, for it was more than 1/2 completed last year, with an abundance of money on hand to finish the work this year: Do not the same objections ap 1y to the Niobrura road? Does it not pass tirough the country occupied by Indians who were parties to these same.trea ties? Certainly it oes, and yet the provisions of every one of these treaties are precisely alike. But your Secretary allows the work on that road to 0 on. The completion of the Cheyenne roa at an early dayis of the great est importance, not only to Dakota Territory, but also to Montana, Idaho, and Minnesota. There has been. something in the course which the SecyInterior has ur sued in relation to all of our affairs in Dakota that is beyond my apprehension, and which I cannot account for upon the hypothesis that he is the straightforward, n right, model of Christian civilization which he claims to be. He sends these treaties into the Senate for confirmation, as a fact accomplished, and he sends them in there after having been told by unmistakable authority that they are not afact accomplished, that the right of way has not been acquired. These treaties, it is true, grant the right of way upon their face. After they are made and submitted to him, he orders a suspension of work on a wagon road which is provided for by law. Had he any information to justify a suspenson of work on this road when he issued iis order to that effect? If he had, why were the treaties sent in for ratification? For they were not sent in until after the order for the suspension of the work on the road was issued. When asked again why this work is suspended, he replies “that it is only temporar, and until the commissioners can go up an satisfy the Indians. But, sir, if the right of way is really not required by the Government, where, I ask, is the necessity of doing more 7 Again, if the suspension of work on this road is only temporary, why has this public officer, in utter violation of a plain act of Congress, stopped this work and required the superintendent of the Cheyenne road to turn over all the money and effects which Congress appropriated expressly for the construction 0 this particular road, and no other into the hands of the superintendent of the I‘Iiobrara road? I hope, sir, that the money asked for by the Indian Commissioner for the making of treaties will not be an plied, and that there will not be another dol ar appropriated from the Treasury for any purpose connected with the Indian service except what may be absolutely necessary to fulfill valid treaty obligations now made, until some satisfactory plan is adopted which looks to the settlement of all of our Iii dian difficulties, and to their removal and permanent location away from the great national lines of travel and the mining district of the country." At the making of these treaties the few irresponsible Indians alreadymentioned met this mixed commission, made up as it was of warriors, cages, and saints, and welcomed them with their usual “How, ” and after a tedious palavering pow wow they promised just as much, and on yjust as much, as was necessary to enable them to get possession of the presents and provisions taken up by the commission, for which you appropriated a large sum of money 2 years ago. They touched the on and strutted up and down the banks of the Missouri with a feeling of consciousness that they had been as successful in obtaining an advantage over the Government in a peaceful negotiation with its commissioners as they had been in the 3 years’ war just ended. Certainly no one will be foolish enough to suppose that a treaty made by a few indolent, irresponsible members of these large warlike tribes and without the participancy and consent of the majority who could now nothing of the character of the stipulations made to bind their whole people, would be likely to result in anything permanent or ecce fnl. In no case have the 1000s of hostile savages who have thus been the subjects of formal bribery, to pacify and ccnciliate them, maintained friendly relations with the Government for a respectable period of time. The whole affair is preposterously chimerical a delusion, a cheat, and a fraud and no disin terested person will have the audacity to advo cate its respectability; and the sooner congress understands it the better it will be for the people of our western Territories and the Treasury of the nation. What the Northwest wants, and what it has a right to expect of the Government is such a treaty with our Indian tribes as will insure a permanent and lasting peace. We want it state of things brought about which will give us security protection to our property, our firesides, and our lives; so that when we lie down at night, to rest from the labors of the day, there will be no danger to be feared that our stock Will be stolen, our buildin s fired, and our wives and children outraged an butch cred before morning; that when we are trav eling across the broad plains or up and down the rivers we neednot fear the ambush and all the terrors of the rifle shot, the tomahawk, and the scalping knife of the savage. Sir, we have a right not only to expect this protection, but to emand it. The interest of the whole country demands that means be devised for the making and enforcing of such treaties as will eiI‘ectually give that peace and security to the pioneer citizens of the Territories required for their permanent settlement and civilization. That the right of way through the great West, the working of its rich mines, the cultivation of its fertile acres, and the speedy development of the resources of that chosen region, should be held in check and underthe control of its nomadic savages, is a reproach upon the Government for which there who apology. How long would such a condition 0 things be tolerated in the most 5 arsely pop ulated district of any State in the nion? In my opinion gentlemen may take it for what it is worth the most practfcable plan for permanent results in setting the Indian question is the collection, removal, and consolidation of the remnants of the Indian tribes, which I am confident do not new number more than 250,000 in the whole country. I would locate those north of the Arkansas river and east of the summit of the Rocky mountains in the Northwest, and those south of the Arkansas and east of the mountains in the extreme Southwest. There is no difficulty in finding a district of country which is peculiarly suited to their wants, and which is remote from the country now demanded by enterprising young men of our northern States. After a careful survey of this whole matter havin given it much study I introduced into this house on the 9th of January last a resolution which looks to this end, and which I now desire to read: Whereas the time has arrived when the interests of the country and the protection of the lives andprop erty of man' of our people demn.nd the removal of the various ndian tribes fromtherich mineral lands of our northwesternTerritories and their permanent location in ascetion of country where they can rempraaii rnie su;nmanodlesteda.nd subsistupon the game of the tanceto both owurhwerheiatesiptoipsuolaf titohneagnrdeathteestInimdipaonrs that such location for their tnture nbodcbe asremote aspossiblefrom the mining districtsand greatpublic thorough fares of the Northwest and at thesametime in nscetion of countrythat is adaptedto agriculture. And affords the greatesntatural resourcesfor the support of an Indian population and where nmplo protection to the In inns and white population of our frontiers can be afforded by the Government: Resolved.That the ComIndAffrs be instructed to inquire into the expediencyofproviding bytreatyfor the early removal of all the Sioux tribes exee tthoYanktons) together With the GrosVentres. an ans. Aricarccs Assmibomes and Crows from the mineral lands of the northwestern Territories and for their location upon that partof Dakota and Men tana Territories lyiniL within the following described boundaries mamc: beginning on the linc which separates the U.S. from the British possessions on the 98th degrccof west longitude, thence south to the 45th parallel of north latitude. thencccastto the Medicine Knobriver. Thence down said river to the Missouri river thenceup the left hank of the Missouri river to I‘lum Island, thence westto the westernboundaryline of Dakota Territory to the point wherqit is intersected by the south line of Montana Territory. thence west along the oath line of Montana Territory to Powder river, hence down Powder river to theYellowstone river, hencedown the Yellowstone river to the Missouriver, thence upthe left bank of theMissouri river to.10 106th decree of westlongitude, hencenorth to the line of the British possessions. henceeast to the place of beginning: and for the apron "an purpose of making: said treatythemin of $150000be appropriated; an ntil such a treaty is made and ratified and the sai Indians shall be removedand, locatedu n the above described territory. no more mane ssall bepaid to them or expandedfor their bone t by the U.S. other than to redeem the pledges(if any were made) by the commissioner's sentto treat with said Indians in 1865.