"I have yet two mountains in that country,—the Black Hills and Big Horn. I want no roads there. There have been stakes driven in that country, and I want them removed. I have told these things three times, and now have come here to tell them for the fourth time. I have made up my mind to take that way. I don't want my reservation on the Missouri home of these people. I hear that my old men and children are dying off like sheep. The country don't suit them. I was born at the Forks of the Platte. My father and mother told me that the land there belonged to me. From the north and west the red nation has come into the Great Father's house. We are the last of the Ogallallas. We have come to know the facts from our Father, why the promises which have been made to us have not been kept.
"I want two or three traders that we asked for at the mouth of Horse Creek in 1852. There was a treaty made, and the man who made the treaty (alluding to General Mitchell), who performed that service for the government, told the truth. The goods which have been sent out to me have been stolen all along the road, and only a handful would reach to go among my nation.
"Look at me here! I am poor and naked. I was not provided with arms, and always wanted to be peaceful. The Great Spirit has raised you to read and write, and has put papers before you; but he has not raised me in that way. The men whom the President sends us are soldiers, and all have no sense and no heart. I know it to-day. I didn't ask that the whites should go through my country killing game, and it is the Great Father's fault. You are the people who should keep peace. For the railroads you are passing through my country, I have not received even so much as a brass ring for the land they occupy. [Nor even a shilling an acre for the lands taken from the red men, he might have said.] I wish you to tell my Great Father that the whites make all the ammunition. What is the reason you don't give it to me? Are you afraid I am going to war? You are great and powerful, and I am only a handful. I don't want it for that purpose, but to kill game with. I suppose I must in time go to farming, but I can't do it right away."
Secretary Cox promised that their complaints should be attended to by the Great Father.
Another Interview.
The Secretary made a speech, saying that some of the requests made by the Indians concerning their rations and allowing them traders would be acceded to, and that government would do all in its power to make them happy. He announced that they had already received some presents in the shape of blankets, etc., and would receive more in New York on their way home. He repeated what the President said concerning Fort Fetterman. It must remain. They would soon be started on their homeward journey, which information was received by the Indians with unmistakable signs of delight.
Red Cloud spoke in reply, evincing most certainly his dissatisfaction at the determination of the government not to remove Fort Fetterman. He said there was no necessity for its continuance, and its presence was a useless burden and expense to the Great Father. He also took exceptions against the roads running through his country, and intimated that if trouble arose, it would be the fault of the Great Father.
Red Cloud made another speech, in which he said, "The troops in my country are all fools, and the government is throwing away its money for nothing. The officers there are all whisky-drinkers. The Great Father sends out there the whisky-drinkers because he don't want them around him here. I do not allow my nation or any white man to bring a drop of liquor into my country. If he does, that is the last of him and his liquor. Spotted Tail can drink as much as he pleases on the Missouri River, and they can kill one another if they choose. I do not hold myself responsible for what Spotted Tail does. When you buy anything with my money, I want you to buy me what is useful. I do not want city flour, rotten tobacco, and soldiers' old clothes dyed black, such as you bought for Spotted Tail. I only tell you what is true. You have had a great war, but after it was over you permitted the chiefs who had been fighting to come back."
Secretary Cox explained the treaty of 1868 to the Indians, and said, "The best way is to be friendly and deal honestly with each other. The last treaty made provided for a railroad to be built. The Sioux agreed not to disturb it, and that it should be built. Now, if the road interferes with hunting, we will try to make good the damage by feeding you. We mean that the government shall keep back white men from going into the Indian country, as well as bad Indians from going into the white country. This is what the troops are there for. If any of our people at the forts do not do what is right, the President will punish them and send better men in their places. The same treaty gives the lines of the Indian country."
A map was produced, and the Secretary explained the boundaries fixed in the treaty of 1868. Red Cloud looked on with great interest. He said he was asked to sign the treaty merely to show that he was peaceable, and not to grant their lands. He continued, saying, "This is the first time I have heard of such a treaty, and I do not mean to follow it. I want to know who was the interpreter who interpreted these things to the Indians." The names of three were mentioned, and he said, "I know nothing about it. It was never explained to me."