To which was received in reply:—
Shown by the Secretary to the President in Cabinet to-day. It is understood, the orders to send all the Modocs to Fort E. A. Russell, as prisoners of war, given the 13th September, 1873, will be executed by Gen. Schofield, and no further instructions are necessary. Signed,
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Adjutant-General.
Thus was the matter disposed of, no further action being taken in regard to this question.
Gov. Grover expressed what he believed to be the wishes of the people of the Pacific coast, when he demanded the surrender of the Indians who had been indicted by the local authorities. The President and cabinet were actuated, doubtless, by humane and charitable motives in thus disposing of a serious question.
Knowing all the facts in the case, I do not believe it was just, or wise, to cover the worst men of the Modoc tribe with the mantle of charity, for turning traitors to their own race, and at the same time to sanction the sentence of death on the victims of their treachery.
The terrible tragedy is closed,—it only remains to dispose of the survivors, after having placed the four dead bodies in the ground, and filling up the two empty graves, sending the intended occupants to San Francisco Bay. The living are ordered to the Quaw-Paw Agency, Indian Territory. Here is the official statement:—
Fort McPherson, Neb., November 1, 1873.
Edward P. Smith, Indian Commissioner, Washington, D. C.:—
Modocs consist of thirty-nine men, fifty-four women, sixty children. Detailed report by families forwarded to Department head-quarters October 30.