TOPEKA, KANSAS, DAILY COMMONWEALTH.

[Continuation of items sent by Dr. Sam Dicks, historian at Emporia State University, which will assist Cowley County citizens in learning about our early history inasmuch as very few of the early-day Cowley County newspapers were microfilmed. I went ahead as before and typed any and all articles that I could find. Not all of these pertain to events in Cowley County, but I think it is important to reflect the era covered.

On December 2, 1874, the Commonwealth covered the haunting story of the “Mountain Meadow Massacre,” which occurred in Utah. MAW]

DENIES THE SHEEPSKIN.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, July 25, 1874.

ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS, July 31, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

Although it is hardly worthwhile, ordinarily, to answer newspaper charges, will you kindly deny that I have received the honorary degree of A. B. from the university of Indiana, as stated in your issue of the 19, and thus oblige.

Yours, very respectfully,

H. B. NORTON.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Advices from the frontier say that two hundred and fifty lodges of Kiowas, including many influential chiefs, have returned and camped near the agency. Lone Wolf still hangs back and is camped with a few braves near Antelope hills. The messengers sent to the Comanches having returned, state that half of the Comanches have signified their intention to come in.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

The locust in the tree tops now assist to enliven the twilight dullness, and also relieve the monotony of the dusky mixture of notes from seven-octave pianos, the click of croquet balls, screeches from miniature misses in stiffly-starched line, the ring of the auctioneer’s bell, and the sounds of the horn on the ten cent ’bus.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

A prominent citizen of the state who went east a short time since, writes back to Major Anderson: “We left Topeka via Midland, and will say it is the best 27 miles of track west of Pittsburg.”

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Capt. J. Lee Knight, of the Riverside gallery, exhibited a large collection of his pictures at Chicago recently, during the session of the national photographic association. The pictures were very highly complimented, as we learn from the reports of the convention, and since his return home Capt. Knight has received a note from E. & H. T. Anthony, of New York, asking him to advise them as to his formula or mode of working, as demonstrated in the Chicago display, for use in the columns of the Photographers’ Bulletin. Capt. Knight has always manifested a pride in taking good pictures, and we are glad to see his enterprise so highly and so deservedly complimented.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

In contemplating the Plymouth church festival, it is refreshing to notice how the “God of Battles” is worrying poor Theodore. He never writes a letter, never promulgates a sworn statement, never unbosoms himself to a prying reporter, without making allusion to the “God of Battles.” We submit that a man who will stand idly by and see his wife kissed by her pastor without introducing said pastor to a pair of his heaviest boots, is not exactly the sort of a being to indulge in such melodramatic whining about the “God of Battles.” We have been inclined to think with Ben Butler that “Tilton has a case,” but we hope he’ll invoke some other assistance and give the “God of Battles” a holiday.

STATE PERSONALS.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

The Ottawa Journal says congressman Cobb passed through that city the other day “on his way to congress.”

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Aidede Searle, city engineer of Lawrence, is busily engaged on the Kansas Midland extension from De Soto to Kansas City.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Col. C. G. Hawley, one of the oldest and most widely known citizens of the county, has been recommended as postmaster for Girard by Hon. D. P. Lowe.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Dr. D. Y. K. Deering, a young physician, has been very generally recommended for the medical studentship within Congressman Cobb’s nomination.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

John Big Arm, a well known Wyandotte Indian, returned home to Wyandotte on Friday, after an absence of twenty-five years in California.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Miss Mary Reeder, daughter of Doctor Reeder, of Burlingame, Kansas, and one of the pupils of the Kansas state normal academy of music, died in Leavenworth on Friday morning after a brief illness.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, July 26, 1874.

Farmer Bronson has been requested to repeat his five hours speech delivered in Lynn County on the Fourth. If his speech has been stretched out to five hours in length, it must be extravagantly emaciated as to thickness.

INDIAN MATTERS.

THE CHEYENNES STILL THREATENING.

The Commonwealth, July 31, 1874.

In the COMMONWEALTH correspondence from the Indian Territory during the late Indian excitement, mention was made of the cattle train of nineteen wagons lying at Sewell’s Ranch, on the Fort Sill cattle trail; waiting for an escort to conduct it to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian agency. It will be remembered that Major Upham ordered Captain Carter’s company of the fifth infantry to conceal themselves in the wagons and thus proceed with the train to its destination. From a private letter received yesterday from the headquarters of the battalion, near Caldwell, we learn that the train had been heard from within ten miles of the agency, where it no doubt arrived safely. They report that they were watched by and saw Indians from the time they crossed Salt Fork till they reached Kingfisher’s. The Indians sent up signals with smokes constantly and were plainly waiting for a favorable opportunity to attack. They doubtless discovered the presence of the escort and scented the ambuscade. Major Upham left Caldwell on Wednesday, 29^th, with his company of cavalry, to scout down through the Territory to the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency, and may encounter the Indians seen by Capt. Carter. His orders are to consider every Indian hostile found wandering off his reservation. Agent Miles left Caldwell on Tuesday last with an escort of twenty infantry under Lieutenant Hargus, and a large train containing Indian supplies. He had reports from the Indians of the agency at that time to the effect that a large party of Cheyennes have left for Colorado, from which locality our correspondent thinks we will next hear from them. An Indian outbreak is yet possible though there is no apprehension of danger any longer on the Kansas border, it being too effectually guarded. Word was received a few days ago in the governor’s office, that a number of Osages were in Comanche County hunting buffalo. Gov. Osborn ordered Major Bolus to take his company of militia organized at Sun City, in Barbour County, and scout down through Comanche County, and, if he found any Indians, to arrest them and hold them as hostages until something definite can be learned of the murders and scalpings by the Osage mourning party in Barbour County. The expedition has not yet been heard from, but is composed of men who will obey orders literally. There may be a locking of diplomatic horns betwixt the state of Kansas and that godly, shad-bellied fraud, Agent Gibson, ere long.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, July 31, 1874.

The command under Gen. Custer is still pushing its way towards the celebrated Mecca of the Indians—the Black Hills. No fight had occurred at last accounts, though the movements of bodies of natives indicated preparations for an offensive consolidation of lodges. The general in command reports that the country thus far passed through is beautiful, fertile, and well supplied with timber and water. On some portions of the route remarkable caves and picturesque scenery have been discovered, which indicate that really interesting places for the resort of the tourist and curiosity seeker exist in that land of inexhaustible wonders and probable riches. The health of the expedition has been remarkable, none being sick, and the stock has increased in fatness from the nutritious pasturage along the route of march.

The Commonwealth, July 31, 1874.

The more we learn regarding the flood-calamity in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, Pa., on Sunday, the more appalling it becomes. It is now believed that the total loss of human life is over 200, and that the loss of property will exceed $5,000,000. Destructive freshets are also reported in central Kentucky and on the Ohio and Licking rivers, causing considerable loss to railway, coal-shipping, and farm property.

The Commonwealth, July 31, 1874.

In the articles of separation between Mr. Tilton and Mrs. Tilton which have been drawn up, he makes over the house in which they have lived to Mrs. Tilton, with the furniture, ornaments, musical instruments, and library, “for the purpose,” as expressed in the instrument of separation, “of retaining around the children, who remain with the mother, the familiar articles to which they have been accustomed.”

POMEROY’S LITTLE GAME.

The Commonwealth, July 31, 1874.

Just before Pomeroy, by the employment of flat and disgraceful perjury, effected the removal of his case from Judge Morton’s jurisdiction to Osage County, he tendered a request which it would be base disparagement to call cheeky, that his bail be reduced from $20,000 to $10,000. For a man of Mr. Pomeroy’s reputed sagacity, this was an inexpressibly maladroit move, for it exposed his hand completely.

The plan, of a score or more which he has probably considered, chosen by the ex-senator for the conduct of his case, is to weary out justice by finding pretexts for fatiguing delays to the end, he hopes, of having the case fall from the docket some day like a blighted plum. Of course, this is a tedious and costly process to Pomeroy personally, to say nothing of the burden it imposes on this county, which pays the expense of the trial wherever it goes and however long it lasts. In this connection we might add that this change of venue will be as costly to this county as two continuances.

FROM THE FRONT.

The Quaker Policy.—Manifest Destiny.

Solving the Indian Question.

Concealments and Misrepresentations by the Quakers.

The Commonwealth, August 2, 1874.

SARGENT, KANSAS, July 30, 1874.

From a Regular Correspondent.

It is a gratifying sign of the times to observe that the lately published manifesto of the little knot of secluded Quakers, who have their hiding place at Lawrence, Kansas, has found no favor with the authorities at Washington. The fulminations of this bevy of peace-lovers, par excellence, would be unworthy of notice were it not that they are the embodiment and accredited exponents of a system of false notions regarding the Indian problem which prevails largely in the east. It is not to be remotely expected that the killings, scalpings, and spoliations committed by the Indians, or the constantly accumulating evidences of the unsoundness of Quaker rule, will bring about any change in the sentiments of the inhabitants of these far off states. Nothing short of actual contact with their brethren of the forest will remove the scales from their eyes and permit the light of truth to penetrate their benighted souls; and as it is not among the probabilities that these people will go to the trouble and expense of coming west to enlighten themselves on the subject, would it not be a pious idea to get the scattered tribes together and drive them to New England, where their friends would have special supervision of them and prevent the savage whites from encroaching upon their rights? That country is not lacking in barren tracts that would answer for reservations, and there is hardly a man in Kansas or Colorado that would not volunteer his services to facilitate their speedy transit.

Besides placing the red man beyond the reach of the persecutions and barbarities of the pale-faced outlaws who inhabit the frontier, it would open up to settlement a country unequaled in fertility of soil and natural advantages, and give farms and homes to thousands of families now struggling for existence in the over-crowded communities of the east. Such an arrangement would add materially to the wealth and income of the nation, and give complete satisfaction to the people of the west. And who knows but that this consummation might not prove the happy solution of a question which has hitherto baffled the skill of the profoundest statesmen?

But my design was to call attention to the misrepresentations of this junta of inspired peace-makers. Their manifesto was evidently written to bolster up a waning and false theory, and evinces throughout a studied effort to suppress the truth. They tell us that the Indians, by way of retaliation for outrages committed upon them, have attacked one train, a few ranches, and some buffalo hunters who sell whiskey and steal horses; leaving the impression that nobody, except a few horse thieves, has been hurt, and that peace, order, and tranquility reign undisturbed among the tribes. It cannot be possible that these worthy plenipotentiaries had not read of the murder and scalping of the four men whom Agent Miles assisted to bury; that they knew nothing of the killing of Kime, near Medicine Lodge; that they had not heard of the butchery of Warren, near Dodge City; that they had seen no account of the massacre of two men near this place, on the 4^th of July; or that they had had no intimation of the authenticated catalogue of other murders and atrocities the Indians have been guilty of since the beginning of the outbreak.

These murders, which have invariably been characterized by the usual barbarities of scalping and other mutilations, had all transpired and were well known when the Quaker Sanhedrins indicted their little pronunciamento against a man who would not surrender his honor and integrity to sustain a lie. If the Quaker Indian policy cannot be upheld without resort to such flimsy, wicked expedients, it would be better that the Quaker Indian policy be consigned to oblivion.

If we escape total destruction at the hands of the noble representatives of the backwoods, we are likely to be devoured by the pestiferous grasshoppers, a vast army of which made their appearance here today. They came from the west and seemed to be moving in an easterly direction. The air is deluged with them, and they seem to be getting ticker all the time. As we have nothing but native grass to offer them in the way of food, they will probably continue their journey eastward till the find better accommodations.

There is a dearth of Indian news just now, but when Phil. Sheridan reaches the “field of batteriel,” which he will in the course of a few days, he will stir up a little breeze among their Lone Wolfs, Big Bears, and the rest, who have thus far had things pretty much their own way. His orders are to pursue and punish the rascals wherever found, regardless of reservation lines, sugar plums, or Quaker protestations, and the probability is that the campaign will be “short, sharp, and decisive.” T.

CARD FROM PROF. NORTON.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 6, 1874.

ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS, August 2, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

I find myself once more forced into print, on account of a misunderstanding. In your issue of the 24^th, I published a card stating that I had not received the degree A. B. pro merito from the University of Indiana. I did this because I was suffering severely from the honor of some of my fellow teachers, who considered it an excellent joke; one which every college man will appreciate.

The fact is, my dear and honored friend, President Hoss, now a professor in the University of Indiana, sent to the Emporia Ledger an announcement that I had received the master’s degree from the university. This your typo misunderstood, and printed as above. I did not care to enter into the matter any further than to correct the mistake, which I did without stating the real fact. In doing so I referred to the matter as a newspaper slander; an attempt at humor so feeble as to be misunderstood, and angrily commented upon the Ledger. Hence this communication.

Trusting that this will be the end of a small annoyance, I remain,

Yours, H. B. NORTON.

THE LAW FOR THE SALE OF LANDS IN KANSAS.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, August 7, 1874.

From the New York Tribune.

Just prior to adjournment, congress passed a law for the sale of the lands of the Kansas tribe of Indians in Kansas, which will enable persons of limited means to establish themselves in that state. The law gives to every bona fide settler, heretofore reported as such, on any of the trust lands of these Indians, the privilege of making payment of the appraised value of their lands at the local land office at Topeka, in six annual installments, the first payable Jan. 1, 1875, and the remaining installments to be paid annually with 6 per cent interest.

Provision is made in the second section of the act, that the remainder of the trust lands and the undisposed portion of the diminished reserve shall be subject to entry at Topeka in tracts not exceeding 160 acres, by actual settlers, one-fourth of the appraised value thereof to be paid at the time of entry, and the remainder in three annual installments with six per cent interest. All the lands not taken within twelve months are to be sold at their appraised value. Rules and regulations for the disposition of these lands, amounting to 215,774 acres, will soon be issued by the commissioner of the general land office.

GRASSHOPPERS IN MITCHELL COUNTY.

THE LAW FOR THE SALE OF LANDS IN KANSAS.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, August 7, 1874.

For four days this week clouds of grasshoppers have been passing over this county in a southeast direction, and enough have come to the ground here to totally destroy the corn crop, but still our farmers are in good spirits. Our population is about 7,000. We have enough small grain to do our people and supply four counties of the same size. There is in the county about 200,000 bushels in wheat, rye, barley, and oats. In our next issue we will give correct figures of the amount of grain in the county. Beloit Gazette.

GRASSHOPPERS.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 8, 1874.

In Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin the omnivorous grasshopper has, during the last ninety days, been demonstrating his capacity for the destruction of crops.

Instances have come credibly to the notice of the Times where, in a single hour, fields of forty acres of corn have been entirely denuded of verdure and killed outright.

In the neighborhood of St. Joseph, Missouri, these pests have been exceedingly disastrous to all sorts of fruit; in many instances, they have eaten the meat all off the peach pits, and left only them for human consumption.

Near Marysville and Waterville, in Kansas, the ravages of grasshoppers have been general and sweeping as to corn and all manner of vegetables.

North, and in the immediate neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa, the winged scourge has been doing incalculable damages.

In Nebraska, about the Blue river, and the Platte, at Fort Kearney, the devastation of corn-fields has been complete and irreparable. But the wheat crop in that State has been unusually large, both as to average and yield, and this will ameliorate the condition of that newly and sparsely settled section of Nebraska which lies west of the Loup Fork and Blue rivers. The bountiful supply of small grains will, in part, make up for the severe losses in corn and vegetables. Chicago Times.

FROM THE FRONT.

The Indian Expedition.

A Full Account of the Army Now Outfitting at Fort Dodge.

Its Line of Operations.—Gen. Miles to be in Command.

The Heroic Defense at Adobe Walls.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 8, 1874.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS, August 5, 1874.

From our Regular Correspondent.

An expedition is now being fitted out at Fort Dodge to assume offensive operations against the Indians who have been waging war on the frontier settlements. It will start from the post about the 15^th of the present month. The expedition will be composed of eight companies of the Sixth cavalry and five of the Fifth infantry, numbering in all about one thousand effective fighting men. Four of the cavalry companies are now here, and three more are on the way from Fort Lyon, C. T. The other company that is to complete the complement of cavalry is at Camp Supply, and will join the command at that place. Four companies of the infantry are here and the other companies will arrive in a day or two. About one hundred wagons accompany the expedition from here. Ten white scouts and about the same number of Indians will go along. These will be under the charge of Lieut. Baldwin. The troops will not be encumbered with any useless luggage, as they go under light marching orders. Col. Compton will command the cavalry, Capt. Bristol the infantry, and General Miles will command the expedition. All of these officers have seen service. Gen. Miles belonged to the celebrated second army corps, which made itself notorious at the battle of the wilderness, by gobbling up Johnson’s division of rebs. Col. Compton served with honor during the war in an Iowa regiment. Capt. Bristol also stands high as an officer, distinguished alike for bravery and good judgment. There will scarcely be a commissioned officer connected with the expedition who has not seen active service, while a good proportion of the enlisted men are veterans of the war. Jake Callahan, an old frontiersman, and who has been in as close quarters as anybody, accompanies the outfit as wagon master. There will be about one hundred and fifty citizen employees.

Altogether, the composition of the entire expedition is such as to leave no room to doubt that, if the opportunity offers, they will give a good account of themselves, and it is fully to suppose the Indians will surrender without a stubborn resistance. They are well armed, mounted on ponies that will keep fat on grass, unencumbered with supply trains or anything else that would retard their quick motion in a warfare against the troops. A good many of their wild brothers have turned up missing since they commenced the war, and they will be anxious to avenge their deaths. Their vindictiveness and animosity towards the whites know no bounds. The man who falls into their hands suffers a two-fold death and is literally chopped to pieces.

The expedition will go from here to Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, and from there west to the Antelope mountains, where it will be joined by the Tenth cavalry, colored, from Texas, and from there to wherever the enemy is. The Fourth and Eighth cavalry, which have been operating on the borders of Texas and New Mexico, I am informed, will move in conjunction with the force leaving here, and will close in on the Indians from all sides. It is estimated that the force which will soon be on the move will number between twenty-five hundred and three thousand men, independent of citizen employees. It is not accurately known how many Indians are participating in the present war, but is judged that the number will not fall short of three thousand. They are now said to be uniting in the region of the Staked Plains, the more effectually to resist the troops going out against them. They will fight on ground of their own selection and may inflict serious loss on our forces, but the ultimate result cannot be doubted—they must yield. They are not supposed to be overloaded with ammunition, and when this is gone, there is nothing left for them to do but to surrender.

Companies C and D of the Fifth U. S. infantry, which have been doing guard duty along the A. T. & S. F. road, have been relieved by the Nineteenth, lately arrived from the state of Louisiana. These two companies left a very favorable impression where they became known for their general quiet and civil deportment.

A train loaded with buffalo hides arrived here yesterday evening from the Canadian, the scene of the late siege and heroic defense of a handful of men against two hundred redskins. As the facts become better known, the heroism of these men is without parallel. There were thirty men inside the stockades, and only twelve guns. With these they succeeded in keeping at bay, and finally driving off, over two hundred Indians. So bold were the savages, and so confident of their prey, that they came right up to the entrances to the stockades, and endeavored to break down the doors. One fellow was entertaining the boys inside with a war-dance on a buffalo hide. That was his last war-dance. A piece of lead from a needle gun struck him and brought his performance to an abrupt termination. He gave a yell and a bound, and then went to the earth. Others, to the number of forty, paid the same penalty for their reckless daring. Twelve Indian heads, minus hair, feathers, and other thum mim, [? Hard to read last words] now adorn the gate-posts of the corral. The collection is diversified by the caput of a negro, who was killed among the Indians with a can of yeast powders in his hand. He didn’t “raise” worth a cent after that.

The Indians carried off all their wounded and most of their dead, whom they buried on the adjacent hills. About thirty freshly-made graves were counted. In this remarkable encounter with the savage hosts, only three whites were killed, one inside and two outside of the stockades, namely, William Tyler and Isaac Schiedler and his brother. There were others killed, but not at this place or time. The hunters still hold their ground, and no Indians have been seen since in the vicinity. It was evidently not a healthy place for them to jerk buffalo meat or to dry plums.

Some of the trophies captured from the Indians are now on exhibition at this place, among them the scalp of a woman with long black hair. A number of others were noticed in the belts of the warriors. Some of these ought to be forwarded to the peace commissioners; the sight of them would no doubt confirm their belief in the utter innocence and harmlessness of the Indians.

The merchants and businessmen of Dodge City have survived the anathemas of General Pope, who seems to think they are fit subjects for total extermination. If the general would take the trouble to visit the frontier, and become acquainted with the real facts, he would find that the businessmen of Dodge, or any other town, are in no manner responsible for the present outbreak. They are shrewd, go-ahead businessmen, and the imputations of the general are unwarranted, to say the least.

Mr. J. F. Hardesty, of Sargent, received a letter from his brother, a short time ago, who is on his way from Texas with two thousand head of cattle. He, with others, are now laying over at Red river station, afraid to move on account of the Indians, who are reported to be moving on the trail. These men are entitled to protection. As Kansas is largely interested in the Texas cattle trade, it would be only fair that the state furnish an escort for the herds now blockaded at Red river.

The grasshoppers have made a clean sweep of everything in the shape of vegetation hereabouts. The prospects for a good crop were very encouraging until these pests made their appearance.

There has been considerable rain of late, which will give the grass, that had become dry and parched, a new start.

The Messenger still sends out its weekly messages of news and literary collations. The citizens of Dodge not only patronize their home paper liberally, but a large number of dailies, conspicuous among which I notice the COMMONWEALTH. This shows that they are an intelligent and discerning people.

I may have occasion to particularize the different branches of business carried on at Dodge at another time. T.

JOHN DAVIS’ ILIAD OF WOES.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 8, 1874.

That uncompromising agriculturist and aggressive reformer, John Davis, is humanly speaking, a mighty ill-used man. John came to Kansas about two years ago, and as soon as his foot touched our historic soil, he was afflicted, as many newcomers are, with an ardent desire to reform something, the better to do which he hankered for a seat in the halls of congress. After surveying the field “where,” as an eminent Kansan used to remark, “every prospect pleases and only man is vile,” John concluded that, like the cooper who erected a barrel to fit the bung, the only way to get to congress was to get up a party to send him there. Accordingly, the John Davis party was born and christened. The foundation was laid, and John returned to his battle with the cut worm and his wrestle with the borer to dream on the architecture of the edifice. But disaster came, with its hair parted in the middle, in the guise of Melius, who infringed on John’s patent, and ravished his budding hopes. John divided his political homestead claim with Melius for harmony’s sake, and went on writing essays on the curculio and prescriptions for cattle mashes for the agricultural department of country newspapers and dreaming pleasant dreams. Sudden and sharp was the awakening. With the air of Caesar at the Lupercal, he thrice put away the nomination for lieutenant governor, convinced that so much self-abnegation could not fail of its reward. Contrary to John’s desire, the managers—among whom was the gentle Melius, who hates John as a jealous lover his rival—called the first district convention at once, though it was none of Melius’ funeral, as he publishes a paper in another district. It had been suggested that something ought to be done for Leavenworth, and that the least that could be done was to nominate Mark Parrott for congress. John’s services to reform, his proud position as the originator of the party, stood for nothing. A lazy interloper who never had done a hand’s turn towards helping the dromedary movement, stepped in at the last moment and walked off with the prize which had stimulated Davis’ efforts and achievements in the cause of reform.

What adds poignancy to Davis’ disappointment is the fact that Melius proudly boasts of it as his work. Since Davis is done for, crows Melius, the subsequent proceedings are, to him, devoid of interest. There is but one man more that Melius hankers to be even with, and that unfortunate person is McComas. If the ferocious Melius does not get in an intestine winder beneath McComas’ belt before this cruel war is over, it will be because the gentleman from Bourbon County gives him a wide berth. But John Davis is the tragic figure in this company. He is what Mr. Micawber would poetically term a fallen tower, and has not been heard to say anything about the office seeking the man since the adjournment of the what-is-it convention.

FROM BUTLER COUNTY.

The Drouth and the Crops.

The Indian Scare.—Militia Company Organized, Etc.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, August 9, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

We are having very hot weather here in Butler County; in some portions no rain has fallen since May 20^th sufficient to lay the dust. There will be much suffering this year in Kansas if all portions are as dry as this part. The drouth seems to be in spots, as it were, for several localities in this county have had all the rain desired. Our corn looks poor on an average, but we had a good whet crop, and small products such as potatoes and garden vegetables of all kinds have done well.

Stock, such as cattle and hogs, are doing fine, better than common, and several lots have been shipped east. Sheep are thriving finely, though they are not handled very much at present.

State politicians are working up some in this section, several aspirants want something, they know not what. They would like to go to congress, especially one person in our little town, who says the farmers all over Kansas write him to run for congress. It beats all how a man can talk about his friends insisting (!) that he shall run for office, and that he don’t want it himself.

The Indian scare is over, but think it may revive any day, as the Indians are still on the warpath and committing depredations farther west. A company of Kansas cavalry has been raised here at Eldorado, and was organized last week; officers as follows: Marshall D. Ellis, captain; Hiram Childers, first lieutenant; H. Betz, second lieutenant. They will receive their arms probably this week, and will be ready for Indian service immediately. Many of the company are old soldiers and used to war alarms. We predict a good report of them if ordered out.

Grasshoppers are more numerous than a week ago; they seem to be coming from the west, but are not in numbers sufficient to harm anything as yet. We are waiting to hear of the next excitement. It is about time to hear of one. Yours, etc., BUTLER.

Eldorado, Kan., Aug. 5, 1874.

THE INDIAN SITUATION.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, August 9, 1874.

Yesterday we published a full description of the expedition now outfitting at Fort Dodge, to be sent against the Indians, acting in conjunction with similar expeditions from New Mexico and Texas. The blast from the bugle-horn of the fighting Quaker, Miles, has proven to be worth a thousand men of his peaceful persuasion in putting the Indian question in the way of settlement. The military household have better means of knowing the movement of the Indians than the department of the interior, and this very extensive warlike demonstration would not be made causelessly. In very truth, we believe that we are on the eve of an Indian outbreak in the southwest as grave and extensive as that which Custer settled by the decisive battle of the Washita, when Black Kettle was killed, a thousand ponies slain, and a large number of squaws taken prisoners. That memorable occasion extracted the fight from the Cheyennes and Arapahos, and they have been measurably quiet ever since. A sufficient time has elapsed, however, for them to recuperate, and their discomfiture then has sufficiently faded from their memory to allow entrance to the idea that they are strong enough to engage the whole United States army.

Our correspondent says that it is believed that the Indians to the number of three thousand are now uniting on the Staked plain. This is a vast, trackless desert covered with shifting sand, which can only be traversed by the aid of stakes set in the ground, hence its name. Its topography is thoroughly familiar to the Indians, who have the advantage of superior knowledge in choosing it as their refuge. The voice of the council which met in the Red hills, which has already been discussed at length in the COMMONWEALTH, was undoubtedly for war, and the following tribes will probably be found to be uniting together: Comanches, Cheyennes, Kiowas, Arapahos, a goodly sprinkle of young Osages, a handful of Kaws, and a few Apaches. The first four mentioned tribes will probably send out a large proportion of their available strength, and those who are left behind will relieve the tedium of reservation life by short sorties to scalp and rob along the cattle trail. The Indians mean war, in our judgment, but may be deterred from overt demonstrations by a show of strength and readiness on the part of the soldiery.

We have been contemplating for some time saying a few words on the general aspects of this Indian business, especially as it effects Kansas, and the aforementioned expedition furnishes our cue. We may premise what we have to say by the proposition, which we do not think will be controverted by anyone informed as to the facts, that the Quaker policy has been a lamentable failure. The state of Kansas is largely and materially interested in the successful management of the Indians by the general government, and therefore, we second the policy proposed by Senator Ingalls, of abolishing the board of Indian commissioners and removing the control of these national wards from the interior to the war department. The late Indian excitement on our southern border has cost this state a prospective population of at least ten thousand people, besides which it demoralized the settlers in the border counties. The government of the United States is indirectly, and the Quaker Indian superintendent and the agents under him are directly, responsible for the murder of about twenty of our citizens. These murders were, for the most part, committed by Osages, a tribe ostensibly peaceful, and of whom their agent, Gibson, would be willing to swear, if a Quaker were allowed by his religion to make oath, that they were all exemplary Sunday school scholars, and hadn’t been off their reservation for a year. We have been to some pains to ascertain the outrages traceable to this tribe which have occurred during the past year or two, every one of which could be verified as the work of Osages if necessary. The following is the list.

Moseley, shot on Medicine Lodge creek by Big Hill Joe’s band of Osages, July 6^th, 1872.

Floyd and Percy, living on Beaver creek, Cowley County, shot and scalped by the same band, January, 1872, near Timber Mountain.

Fred Pracht, shot and pierced with a spear at Caldwell, June, 1871.

Four men from Independence, Missouri, killed near the mouth of the Medicine Lodge in November, 1872.