| OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. 15 equawe, and children, and people will not suffer, as I shall probably soon have orders to issue uo more rations here. The messenger of the Great Father will now speak to you. Mr. BRUNOT. You have all seen me before, and you know that I come because my heart was good toward the Indian. You know that I come here now because I am your friend. I have come here now for one purpose, to talk about one thing. It is the beginning of what is right between the white man and the Indian. I want all to talk about one thing. With the Indian at Fort Laramie, and white men all along the river, \ ve are afraid of trouble. When the Indian have anything that is good, some bad white men want to get it. They give the Indian whisky. It is bad for them. The white men have great towns in one place, far from the Indian ; so we want you to have your great towns far away from the white man. I want it because the Great Father and all the friends of the Indian want it. W~ e want you to think of this with both your hearts, and your heads. Suppose trouble should come between the white men and the Indians ; I want to tell you what will happen ; we hope it will never come; but when it was here before, the Great Father put war- houses all through the Indian country. If trouble comes again, they will be put there again. We do not want this done. It is better to have one agency there now, than war- houses after a while. That is why I want you to decide now, that I may tell your Great Father that you: have selected the place for your agency in your own country, where bad white men can be kept away irom yon. Some men do not want you to go away from here ; but all the friends of the Indian want you to go. If you select the place, we do not want to send any of our soldieis to your post, or into your country ; but you must be the soldiers, and keep bad white men out of your country. If they get in, you must arrest them and take them to your agent, who will send them to General Smith, and he will punish them. The Indian has good sense, and knows what I say is good. I want you to let me take your words to the Great Father with a good heart, so that he can help you. Do not say for us to wait. Last fall you told Mr. Campbell and me that when winter came you would name the place. We told the Great Father what you said. You still wait, and we are ashamed, because you are our friends. The Great Father said, I want them to locate their agency in their own country now, so that houses may be built, and their goods and provisions given to them there. A message came over the wires saying, the goods for Red Cloud's bands are ready to send ; and another message saying, where shall they be sent? The Great Father says they cannot come until the houses are ready for them in your own country. I want you to decide while I am here, and the houses will be built at once, and the goods sent there, and your friends can then send teachers, and good men who will help 3* 011. RED CLOUD. I ate the provisions of the Great Father long before I was told to have an agency in my country. If the rations are stopped we will all go to the north and see our nation, and will then decide what we will do. All that I want is guns and ammunition, and pay for the railroad. General SMITH. When you get to your agency, and the Great Father sees that your hearts are good, he will send you plenty of all that you wish. RKD CLOUD. I have consulted the Great Spirit, and do not want a strange man for agent. There are plenty of men who can read and write, who are married to my people, and they can take care of me and my agency, and I can put my own vouug men to work. General SMITH. Your young men cannot shoe a horse, or build a house ; they must have some one to teach them. Then, all the Great Father sends costs a great deal of money, and he would not have one he did not know take care of it. Mr. BRUNOT. If you select the place, 1 would like to know that it is a good one, and if you wish it, I will go with you and ee it ; I do not want any soldiers to go with me, but you will take care of me. I have one thing more to say. When you were in Wash-ington, you saw that the Great Father had many great chiefs, and each chief had his own baud, but they all followed the Great Father, and made him the great chief over all. You have one great chief who talks for you ; so you have other chiefs; but if you quarrel and are jealous, all goes wrong. Your friends want you all to be friends. RED CLOUD. General Harney came here, and said if white men came into my coun-try I should punish them. I did so, and the trouble came from it. I am afraid it will come again. I do not punish my people as the soldiers do. I punish them very strong. Itold you the place you wanted did not suit me for an agency, and I told the Great Father when I had selected a place. I would send him word. Soon after I came back the Great Father forced the question on me, and I told him to wait until I had consult-ed my people. When the goods came before, there was no guns and ammunition, but I told my people to take them, and I told him when he sent me goods to give them to me here, as he had done before on the Platte, at the Old House. The Great Father said ho would think of it. I am trying to do good since I came back from the Great Father. My people have done nothing wrong. I tell my people you ( Mr. Brunot) are my friend. All I have told yon is good. Mr. BRUNOT. I have heard what Red Cloud said. His people have done gcod, ex- |
