This brief record, however, does not cover all that the young officer was doing. Studying and at the same time working hard at his duties, he was already laying the foundations for that which later was to come. At the time, however, his future career seemed vague if not impossible. Indeed, he himself was almost convinced that war had ceased to be a threat among the nations. "There won't be a gun fired in a hundred years," he had declared to a friend when he was about to enter West Point, and the thoughts of the young officer reverted to the law for which in his younger days he had almost decided to prepare.
That he was not without suggestions and desires to improve the conditions in the army is shown by the following letter which he wrote the Journal of United States Cavalry in 1889:
[Journal of U. S. Cavalry, December, 1889.]
Some Hints for Improvement.
More prominence should be given to the revolver competitions and some changes might be made in the manner of conducting them. We should have a regular revolver competition and teams with competitors one from each troop held every morning, best pistol shots in the troop, and not have pistol competition supplementary to carbine competition though the two might be held at the same time and place.
In connection with the army carbine competition there should be an army revolver, competitors to be selected from the various revolver teams as they are held for the army carbine competitions.
Prizes for the revolver teams should be the same as those awarded to the infantry department and for the army revolver team the same as those awarded to the infantry division teams.
No good reason can be seen why dismounted revolver firing should not be held at the three ranges, 25, 50 and 75 yards, the same as for individual record in the troop. In the mounted firing, both in troops and practice competitions, no gait slower than ten miles and a half should be permitted. These changes would give a stimulus to revolver firing in the army which would bring about surprising results.
J. J. Pershing,
Second Lieutenant, 6th Cavalry.
In the part which Lieutenant Pershing took against the Sioux, he was sharing conditions which were by no means slight or insignificant. The Sioux were notably brave and bold and more than once their chiefs had outgeneraled the trained white soldiers that fought them.
It is difficult to determine at this time just where to place the blame for these wars with the Sioux. The stories of the causes of the outbreak told by the Indians themselves differ radically from those which were given by certain of the whites, but whatever the true cause may have been, young Pershing had nothing to do with that. He was simply obeying orders and doing his best in the war with the redmen who already confronted him.