complete and effective. The repeated outrages perpetrated by the Indians upon our citizens within the last few weeks, in the Wind river valley, upon the Laramie plains, and in the vicinity of Fort Fred Steele, by which fourteen men have been murdered; call in unmistaken language for protection from the general government against the murderous attacks of the savages. Be it Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the Resolution. Territory of Wyoming :-That our delegate in congress be, and is hereby requested to use all proper means to bring this question of vital importance to the favorable consideration. the war department. And be it further Resolved, That a copy hereof be forwarded to each the Honorables, the secretary of war, the commanding generals of this military department and district, and to our delegate in congress. CHAPTER 99. MEMORIAL AND JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled: Treaties of Your memorialists, the legislative assembly of the territory of Wyoming, would most respectfully but earnestly peace. represent, that treaties of peace and amity have been made from time to time by the United States with the various tribes or bands of the Sioux nation of Indians, among which treaties your memorialists would particularly call your attention to the one concluded at Fort Laramie, in our territory, on the 29th day of April, 1868, by Lieutenant General William T. Sherman, Major General William S. Harney, Major General Alfred H. Terry, General C. C. Augur, J. B. Henderson, Nathaniel G. Taylor, John B. Sanborn, and Samuel F. Tappan, commis- Commissioners sioners on the part of the United States, and "Red Cloud," "Medicine Eagle," "Black Tiger," "Black Hawk," "Red Thunder," "White Bull," "Iron Horn," "Iron Shell," "Thunder Man," "Man Afraid of his Horses," and one hundred and sixty other chiefs, head men and braves of the confederated bands of the Sioux nation, known as Ogallallahs, Brules, Minneconjous, Yanctonais, Uncpapas, Black Feet, Cut-heads, et al., in which said treaty the following articles, among others was agreed to, viz: ARTICLE 1. From this day forward all war between the parties to this agreement shall forever cease. The government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they now pledge their honor to maintain it. It is further provided in said treaty that all white men offending against the Indians shall be punished, and that all Indians who shall commit any depredations upon the person or property of our citizens shall be delivered over to the Uhited States authorities and punished according to law, and that said Indians shall reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained. Said treaty further provides a reservation for said Indians on the Missouri river, and in many other ways makes provision for the maintenance, comfort and convenience of said Indians; yet, notwithstanding the solemn compact so entered into by said Indians with the United States government, and its generous provisions for their welfare, a large proportion of said Indians, under the lead and advice of "Red Cloud," "Man Afraid of his Horses" and other chiefs, to your memorialists unknown, have repeatedly, openly and maliciously violated their said treaty obligations, and murdered our unoffending, and in many instances, unarmed citizens, by lying in wait for them or dashing upon them with overwhelming numbers, when an opportunity offered the Indians prospects of certain success, and this, too, within the public domain of the United States, ceded to the general government by Arrapahoe and Cheyenne tribes of Indians, and within the counties of Laramie, Albany, Carbon and Sweetwater, in our territory. Your memorialists would further represent that no white men have sought these Indians to molest them. upon their reservations or privileged hunting grounds, but on the contrary, have confined themselves to that country south of the North Platte river, and west of the Big Horn mountains, on the Wind and Sweetwater rivers. No molestation. dians. Your memorialists would further represent, that these Indians of whom we complain, are the identical Indians who Warlike Inhave been making war on the white emigrants on the great overland and Powder river wagon roads since the year 1864. They are the same Indians who, in 1865, captured on the Laramie plains, a government wagon loaded with supplies intended for a detachment of United States troops, then stationed at Cooper's creek mail station for purposes of defense, and after tying the driver of the team securely to the hind wheel of the wagon, piled sacks of bacon around him, set it on fire, and danced around the suffering man until life was extinct. Enumeration of The same Indians, in the same year, attacked on the Laramie plains, a small outfit consisting of one man, his wife, her mother and two children, who were moving to some of our western territories, wounded the man, who escaped to the mail station, killed the mother without mercy, and outrages. captured the wife, who has not been heard from since. These are the Indians who, in 1866, killed and scalped Lieutenant Daniels at "Crazy Woman's" creek, between Forts Reno and Phil Kearney, and a few days before, at some point north, killed Thomas Dillon, of St. Joseph, Missouri, who was en route to Virginia city, Montana territory, with a large train of merchandise. These are the Indians who massacred the gallant Brown and Fetterman and ninety-one of their comrades under the very guns of fort Phil Kearney, in the winter of 1866-7, and after horribly mutilating their their bodies in a manner too shocking to be related or printed, stripped them of every garment and left them on the frozen ground, to be hauled into the fort, as they afterwards were the same day, in a perfect state of nudity, ninety-three brave, patriotic, intelligent American citizens, who, at one fell Swoop, were sacrificed to the defensive policy of the federal Bearers of dis government, and whose bones fill one common grave near by where once stood the proud fort they so gallantly fought to defend, but where now nothing is to be found but a barren spot of earth, surrounded by mountains and inhabited by the wolf and cougar and the Indian. These Indians subsequently murdered Vanvosah, the brave patches killed. generous and chivalrous guide, with his two companions while in the discharge of their duties as bearers of dispatches between forts Fetterman and Reno, and left their remains. a prey to wolves upon the prairie. These are the Indians who, in 1866, attacked an emigrant train at Brown's Springs, forty miles north of Fort Fetterman, while said train was en route to Montana territory, and killed nine men of said train before reinforcements could be procured to drive them away. These are the savages who demanded of our government in 1867-8, that Forts Reno, Phil Kearney and C. F. Smith should be dismantled and evacuated, and the Powder river route to Montana abandoned, and to the great detriment of the early development of our mountain territories, obtained their demand by the terms of the treaty aforesaid. These are the same murderously inclined savages who, notwithstanding their treaty obligations before referred to, made war upon the employes of the Union Pacific railroad company in our territory in the year 1868, and killed the division engineers, Hill and Clark, the first near Cheyenne, and the second near Laramie city, and many other persons of less note, too numerous to mention. These Indians burned the "Horse Shoe" mail and telegraph station in Burning tele- 1868, between Forts Laramie and Fetterman, killing Harper and wounding several other persons. These are the Indians who took the telegraph operator at the Sweetwater telegraph station in 1867, and who tied him down and killed him by driving a wooden spike into his mouth, down his throat, and into his stomach, in which condition he was found two days afterward by Lieutenant Dougan, of the second United States cavalry, while his two companions were allowed to escape from the station, fleeing in the direction of Fort Casper, and who both perished with cold the following night, and were picked up graph stations. by the road side by the cavalry who went to the relief of the Again-Governor Campbell officially communicated to Outrages mentioned in Gover the government under date of the 15th of November, 1869, nors message, the particulars of another Sioux outrage in the following words, viz: A hunting party, consisting of three men, belonging to Company "K," of the Second United States cavalry, named McKenna, McAllister and Wentworth, were attacked about fifteen miles from fort Fetterman by a party of about sixty Sioux of "Red Cloud's" band, and McKenna and McAllister were instantly killed. Wentworth, who was an old hunter, and accustomed to deal with Indians, escaped and came to the fort the next morning. Upon Wentworth's report of the facts, captain Wells, the commanding officer at fort Fetterman, instantly dispatched captain Eigan with his company "K," 2nd cavalry in pursuit of the Indians, but they were unable to overtake them, and only within the last month, and since the convening of this legislative assembly, we have sad news of the murder of an honest and unof |