number of his braves beside him. At this unexpected massacre the Indians sprang to arms; and letting fly hundreds of arrows from all sides they instantly annihilated the ag gressors and provocators. Will you in Europe believe this tale of a cow? And yet such is the origin of a fresh war of extermination upon the Indians which is to be carried out in the course of the present year. An army Of 3,000 to 4,000 men is being got ready in Missouri at this moment to penetrate into the desert. A very large number of whites will lose their lives without a doubt, but in the end the savages will have to yield, for they are without fire-arms, without powder and lead and without provisions.'
Since the discovery of America a system of extermination, of moving the Indians, thrusting them farther back, has been pursued and practiced by the whites, little by little, at first - more and more as the European settlers multiplied and gained strength. At this day this same policy is marching with giant strides; the drama of spoliation has reached its last act, both east and west of the Rocky Mountains. The curtain will soon fall upon the poor and unhappy remnants of the Indian tribes, and they will henceforth exist only in history. The whites are spreading like torrents over
s This is what is known as the Grattan Massacre, from the name of the officer in charge of the detachment sent after the thief. There is no doubt that the Indians were already in bad temper over their general situation before this incident occurred, and that it required but little provocation to make trouble. But the unfortunate affair could probably have been prevented if the commanding officer at Fort Laramie had understood the gravity of his action and had sent an officer of sound judgment and experience. The conduct of Lieutenant Grattan showed him to be lacking in both these qualities. The massacre took place August iq, 1854.
A little over a year later, September 3, 1855, General Harney, who had been sent out with a military force to punish these Indians, met them in battle on the north shore of the north fork of the Platte opposite the place known on the Oregon Trail as Ash Hollow. The Indians were completely defeated. General Harney then went overland to Fort Pierre where he succeeded in bringing about a general pacification of the tribes.