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.

A wolf hunter killed near Mule creek, November, 1872, by the Little Osages.

A lone Texan, on the Shawnee cattle trail, killed at the order of Big Hill Joe on the Osage Reserve in July, 1873.

Chambers, killed by the Black Dog Osages, near Sewell’s ranche, June, 1873.

Griffin, killed by Black Dog Osages, July, 1872, near the Cimarron.

A carpenter, killed while journeying alone down the Arkansas river in a skiff in June, 1874, not more than two months ago.

W. H. Wheeler, of Arkansas City, disappeared on the Osage Range, January, 1872, and has never since been heard from.

It is believed by people living in Kansas, adjacent to the Osage reservation, that the recent murders in Barbour County, in this state, were committed by a mourning party of Osages, nineteen in number, that left the Osage agency, going north, but a few days before the scalping occurred. Agent Gibson knew of the going out of this mourning party, and he also knew that its object was to take scalps, yet he neither informed the military or the interior department. The yearly meeting of Quakers would have passed a resolution asking his resignation had he done so, and, indeed, Agent Gibson would have had another and more potent inducement to conceal the actual state of affairs. He would, by exposing the treacherous cut-throats, have been abetting the killing of the goose that laid the golden egg. He and Superintendent Hoag, who could not but have had information of the facts, are therefore to be deemed justly accessories of the murders of these settlers for not speaking up like Miles and asking for military aid. From thoroughly reliable and honorable gentlemen residing in the southwest, we are informed that this man Gibson is an unscrupulous and avaricious old trickster, who holds his humane office solely for its illicit gains. His brother-in-law, Hyatt, is the Indian trader for the tribe, and they stand in together on the profits. There are worse scandals connected with his name in reference to certain school mistresses on the reservation, which, owing to public satiety of this sort of discussion, we refrain from characterizing in detail.

The following is the list of murders supposedly committed by this Osage mourning party inside the borders of the state of Kansas.

On the 19^th day of June (thought to be Cheyennes, but now known to be Osages), murdered John Martin. On the same day and by the same band, the following were killed: Keneda, two and a half miles southwest of Medicine Lodge, and Kime, three and a half miles west of Medicine Lodge. On the 20^th of June a boy named Coon was killed on Mule creek, one mile east of Smallwood City, in Comanche County, believed to be by the same band. On July 3^rd, Thomas Calloway [Calliwell], George Faun [Fawn], Patrick Hennessey [Hennessy], and Ed Cook, having in charge a supply train of three wagons, were killed on Turkey creek, eight miles south of Mosier’s ranch on the Fort Sill cattle trail. Hennessey was captured and tied to the wheel of one of the wagons and the sheaf oats carried for forage was piled around him and he was burned alive. While his body was still burning, Mosier, the proprietor of the ranch above mentioned, and a man by the name of Marion, rode out to recover the bodies. They hitched the horses they were riding to one of the empty wagons, and were about dragging in one of the dead bodies when the Indians returned upon them, circling about the wagon, and firing upon them. Mosier and Marion made a run for it, and escaped, but not until they had satisfied themselves that the greater number of the attacking party was Osages. Yet Agent Gibson has not communicated a word to the department as to these outrages committed by the tribes under his charge, or, if he has, it has never reached the war department or the public. The Osage reservation lies along the northern boundary of the Territory contiguous to Kansas. It is no more than right to ask the government that our citizens shall be protected from such dangerous neighbors, and that measures be taken which will keep this most cowardly and treacherous of all the plains Indians in check. We are inclined to believe it is a good sound drubbing they need worst of all, with the incidental extermination of the Kiowas, a tribe which does not number more than three hundred warriors, but is at the bottom of all the deviltry on the plains. Gen. Sherman has some such notion, and is putting his views into active execution. We think the outcome of all this hurly-burly is that the national policy of nurturing serpents in the governmental bosom will give place to the more rational and practical, and to all concerned, the most humane plan of turning the Indians over to the control of the military and placing them under military surveillance.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM THE FRONT.

Indian Fight on Medicine Lodge.

Five Indians Killed and Thirty Ponies Captured.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, August 11, 1874.

HUTCHINSON, August 10, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

On Friday last the Kansas militia company under command of Captain Ricker, thirty strong, when scouting down the Medicine Lodge in Barbour County, encountered about thirty Osage Indians. They engaged them at once and had a severe tussle. Five Indians wee killed and thirty ponies taken. The fight occurred ten miles north of the Territory line in the state of Kansas. No white men were killed or wounded.

The Commonwealth.

G. W. VEALE, Proprietor.

HENRY KING, Editor.

INDIAN TERRITORY.

President Grant’s Views of the Land and Government Problems.

[From Col. Boudinot’s Statement in the St. Louis Republican.]

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 13, 1874.

The president received me very graciously, and introduced the question at once on seeing me. He went on to state to me that he had always felt, ever since he was a young officer in the army, a great interest for the Indians; that in early life he had been stationed among them in the west and had seen how they were swindled by traders, agents, and everybody else who had any business with them. He said that since he had been president, he had endeavored to put a stop to these impositions upon them. He thought he had succeeded in a measure in doing so, but that he could not expect to be president always. He said his successor may not be as good a friend to the Indians as he is. He said he was anxious to do as much good for them as possible while he had the power.

The president continued addressing me: “As for your civilized Indians in the Indian Territory, I think it would be best for you to have a territorial government organized over you by congress, which would provide for the surveying and sectionizing of the country, and the allotting of your lands in severalty with United States courts and a representation in congress. Each man, woman, and child should have at least 160 acres of land set apart for them in fee simple, which land should be inalienable for twenty years, to guard against the ignorant and improvident being swindled out of their proportion of land by designing men. As for the balance of the land remaining after the division in severalty is made, it might be sold to Indians outside the Territory and to any persons wishing to purchase, giving the first chance to Indians outside.” “There was,” said the president, “no doubt a great many shiftless and worthless Indians, as among all other people, who would not be much benefitted by the wisest provisions for their interest. Here, even in this enlightened community (alluding to Washington City), there are many to whom if you should give 160 acres of land today, to do it as they choose, they would not have an acre in a week. By adopting the plan I suggest, the best of your people will have an opportunity to acquire a home and a title to their lands which no power can deprive them of, and the worst portion of your population, the worthless and improvident, will be protected at least twenty years in spite of themselves.”

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 13, 1874.

We have word from Prof. H. B. Norton that his nomination by the piebald convention for the state superintendency of public instruction was utterly without his knowledge or consent, and a practical joke that he thinks far too serious for a laughing matter. He authorized no one to use his name before the convention, nor gave anyone to understand that he would accept a nomination if tendered him. He will formally decline in a letter to share oblivion even in such agreeable company as Cusey and Harrington. This makes the second hiatus in the what-is-it ticket, Mr. C. F. Koester, the nominee for treasurer having declined without thanks. This removes the last blemish of capability that marred the beautiful symmetry of the dromedary ticket.

ANOTHER “BUFFALO BILL.”

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, August 14, 1874.

A writer in the Chicago Times says: “Now they are endeavoring, and with some show of success, to show that the Hon. William Cody is not the true Buffalo Bill, but that William Matthewson, a modest man of muscle, is entitled to the distinction of which the man of the melodrama has robbed him. Matthewson was born in New York, and at the age of ten ran away to the pineries of his native state. Seven years later he had established a trading post in Southwestern Kansas, away out on the frontier. He was in the buffalo range, and always kept a season’s supply of the meat hung up in his ranche, to which the freighters were always welcome. In 1860 the famine raged in Kansas, and that he might secure meat for his suffering fellow-men, Matthewson did not hesitate to push right into the midst of hostile Indians in search of buffalo. Wagons were laden with his charity offerings, and all the early settlers and immigrants, recognizing his good and timely work, called him “Buffalo Killer,” changing the sobriquet substantially to Buffalo Bill. He rode unaccompanied among savage Cheyennes, Arapahos, and Kiowas, inviting them to meet in council and accept reservations. The Indians respect him highly, though they call him “Sin-pah-zil-bah,” the dangerous long beard. He has always been a friend of humanity, making no distinction between white and red men. All had a share of his bounty.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 15, 1874.

DODGE CITY, August 11, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

A part of Gen. Miles’ expedition, consisting of four companies of the Sixth cavalry, and one of the Fifth infantry, accompanied by scouts and a train of twenty wagons, left here this afternoon to take the field against the hostile Indians. They will reconnoitre the country between here and Camp Supply. Two companies of infantry had previously gone to escort Mexican trains, loaded with forage and commissary stores for Supply. The balance of the command will leave day after tomorrow for the same point, where the expeditionary forces will re-unite and move on the enemy’s works. If existing orders are not countermanded from Washington, this timely movement against the Indians cannot but be productive of good results. When the forces now in motion are consolidated, they will present a very formidable array to the murdering red-skins. It is not believed they will succumb without a determined resistance. The various war parties are reported to be united in anticipation of a movement by the United States troops. They are said to be assembling at the Wichita mountains, and with the defenses afforded by these, it will be no easy matter to dislodge them. Lieutenant Frank D. Baldwin, chief of the scouts, leaves in the morning, with fifty picked men, for Adobe walls. Lieutenant Baldwin has been selected for this responsible position on account of his soldierly qualities and good judgment. He served with credit during the war in the Sixth Michigan volunteers.

I suppose everybody in Kansas, as well as a great many outside of it, has heard something of Dodge City. It is not a very large or pretentious place, yet large enough and pretentious enough to have enemies, who have lost no opportunity to denounce it as a rendezvous for buffalo-hunters, horse thieves, and criminals of every grade. If half that has been said against it were true, Sodom would be a moral town compared with it.

I am not prepared to pass judgment on the moral status of the inhabitants, yet I am prepared to say that there are as good men, in point of moral integrity and upright business principles, here as can be found anywhere outside of Plymouth church; of course, they cannot hold a candle to the saints who sit under the droppings of chief of “nest-hiders.” Like all frontier toilers, it has been the resort of bad characters and the scene of some bloodshed in its early history, but these men have been weeded out and compelled to find other and more congenial climes, and now a more quiet, orderly town is not found on the frontier. Life and property is as safe in Dodge City today as in New York. The county offices are in the hands of some of the best and most substantial businessmen of the place: Chas. Rath, A. J. Pencock, and A. J. Anthony are the county commissioners; John McDonald, of the firm of Hoover & McDonald, is district clerk; W. F. Sweeney, county clerk; L. D. Henderson, county attorney; Chas. Bassett, sheriff; deputies, E. Hoag and Jerome Sackett; A. B. Webster, treasurer. These gentlemen all enjoy the respect and confidence of the people of the county for their efficiency in the discharge of the duties of the various offices.

Some of the business firms of the place would do credit to larger towns. Their stocks are complete and their trade legitimate. The buffalo trade has been a prominent feature of the place and furnished employment to large numbers of men.

The Dodge house, kept by Cox & Boyd, is the only hotel in the place, and is run on first class principles. The table is always supplied with the best the market affords, the rooms are neat and clean, and an air of comfort and good cheer pervades the whole house. As the matter of good grub and good accommodations is always uppermost in the traveler’s thoughts, this allusion to the Dodge house will not fail to be appreciated by the traveling public.

I am under special obligations to Messrs. Hoover & McDonald, wholesale and retail dealers in liquors, wines, cigars, etc. These gentlemen keep nothing but first class goods in their line, and as a consequence have a good run of custom. They are among the pioneers of the place, and have become permanent fixtures.

There are other firms that space will not allow me to mention at this time, but which will be noticed in due course of time.

Robert O. Armstrong leaves here tomorrow with a force of fifty or sixty men for a surveying expedition. He will commence at the one hundredth meridian and run to the west boundary line of the state, and sub-divide from the sixth standard parallel south to the south line. T.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM FORT DODGE.

Further Depredations by Indians.

Four Men Murdered Near Aubrey.

Two of Them Scalped and Horribly Mutilated.

Names of the Victims.—Their Bodies Taken to Granada.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, August 18, 1874.

DODGE CITY, August 17.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

The report of Indian depredations is correct. Four men were picked up from one to three miles east of Aubrey station by Conductor Hamption [?] on Saturday afternoon. Two of them were scalped and horribly mutilated, and had been burned. The other two were not scalped. The bodies were taken to Granada and interred Sunday morning. The names of the men as near as could be ascertained were: John Doyle, John McDonald, William Graham, and an old man by the name of Snyder. All of the men were returning from the mines of Colorado. Three of them were on foot and the old man was mounted.

[Note: This appears in Volume II, The Indians, on page 262. I got the news from the Winfield Courier, August 28, 1874. The only difference was that they showed “Hampton” as the name of the conductor. Their article was printed ten days later.]

INDIAN MATTERS.

Arrival of a Post Trader.

Latest Intelligence from the Indian Reservations.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, August 18, 1874.

From the St. Louis Republican, Aug. 16.

Mr. L. Spencer, the Indian trader at the Wichita agency in the Indian Territory, thirty-five miles north of Fort Sill, arrived in the city yesterday. He left the agency on Friday last, and came round by old Cherokee town to Caddo, on the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad, where he took the cars. He brings the latest intelligence from the Indian reservation.

There has been no white man killed in the Territory within a month. The United States mail is sent round by Caddo and Ft. Sill since the Indians committed their raids on the Wichita, Kansas, route.

The Wichitas and afflicted bands are all at home near the agency. Old Whitehead, a Kiowa, visited the Wichita agency a short time since, and was quite sulky and insolent. He is the same one who came there two years ago, and armed with a knife, jumped over the counter of the trader’s store and helped himself to all the goods he wanted. A strong guard was placed on his movements this time, and he did not commit any depredations, although Mr. Spooner had some sharp words with him. He wanted “heap goods,” but rather assumed the role of a beggar, and said he never was an advocate for war on that agency. He has since gone out to join the discontented Indians, several days’ journey to the westward. It seems that a portion of the Kiowas and Comanches, and most of the Cheyennes, are congregated out on the headwaters of the Red River. They went out to make medicine and have not been in since. It is not known whether they mean peace or war—good or bad medicine. Big Tree and Big Bow are out there.

It is the general talk among the military that troops are about moving on these Indians from four different points—from Fort Dodge on the Arkansas, from Fort Sill in the Indian Territory; from Fort Richardson in Texas; and from some point in New Mexico. A few of the Kiowas, Comanches, and Cheyennes have remained on the reservation all the time, and the Arapahos are determined to remain there quiet. Satanta is sick at Fort Sill. He has given up all ideas of fighting, and instead of being looked upon, as formerly, among one of the worst Indians on the plains, he has calmed down spirit-broken into a serene old sage.

Mr. Spooner goes to Detroit to spend a month.

HOAG AND GIBSON TO THE RESCUE.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, August 18, 1874.

The smooth shaven and pacific Quaker is queer every way you take him. It is not to his apparel we allude, which is the outward and visible sign of an inward and prevalent sanctity, but that from the crown of his broad-brimmed tile to the sole of his high-low shoes, he is permeated with the faith that in the Kiowa lurks no guile and the Comanche is a born philanthropist; and that the Cheyenne, like Gouzago in the play, when plying his crimson avocation on the warpath “doth but jest—murder in jest.” That a people whose gospel is peace, whose creed the ultimate fraternity of all men; should look on unconcerned while certain red-skinned, red-handed savages murder and rob defenseless white men, but raise their hands and exhibit the whites of their eyes in holy horror when settlers kill sone of their would be murders in defense, is one of the anomalies of the times, more inscrutable even than the social complications of Plymouth church. That it is a fact, however, a number of well remembered and exasperating instances of Quaker interference bear testimony. The latest, and we deem it the most flagrant, case in point is accented by a letter from Friend Isaac Gibson, endorsed by Friend Enoch Hoag, in the matter of the recent encounter in Barbour County between Capt. Ricker and his company of militia and a certain body of Osage Indians, in which five the latter were killed and forty-five of their ponies taken in reprisal. This unique specimen of correspondence, which we find published in the Lawrence Journal, would be highly amusing—horribly amusing we may say, like De Quincey’s murder as a fine art, or Sala’s defense of the Thuga from a gospel standpoint—were it not that the lives of men, women, and children, citizens of our own state, are involved in this Quaker blindness or Quaker duplicity, whichever the reader pleases.

The blood is not dry on the ground where nineteen of the Osages—the very same band (Black Dog’s) indeed—murdered and scalped three defenseless white men in Barbour County. It was at first laid to the Cheyennes, but is now known to be the work of the most treacherous tribe on the plains, because not openly inimical—the Osages. We recently published a long list of murders and scalpings, definitely and authentically fixed on this tribe, not one of which we apprehend ever was reported to the authorities at Washington. Indeed, there is not a Quaker on the Osage reservation who would not be willing to swear an alibi for every member of the tribe if murder was charged against any portion of them. But to return to the letters. Here is the story of the recent encounter as told by Friend Isaac Gibson, in Isaac’s most unctuous vein.

“That this party of twenty men and nine women proceeded towards the Red mounds, meeting some white men, who told them that a herd of buffalo was in a certain direction, where they went and killed several and remained in camp two days, drying the meat, when they saw in the distance what appeared to be and proved to be about forty white men. Two Osages rode out to see them and were surrounded and disarmed of their bows and arrows. Four more Osages then rode out to see them and were treated in like manner. Two more following were warned by them not to come closer, as they apprehended danger. The two then fled, and about the same time the six prisoners attempted to escape. Four of them were shot dead; the rest escaped, but returned next day, and found two of the Osages were scalped. This appears to have occurred about three days ago. I cannot find whether they were United States soldiers, or militia. Wa-ti-an-ka says the government must pay for them four men or they will have four white men for them.”

We have seen three accounts of this skirmish, one of which we have published, all written by eyewitnesses, and in every one of which the facts are substantially related the same, that give the lie to this account of Friend Isaac’s, and we regret to say that in a case where the Osage Indians are concerned, we would rather take the word of any one of these settlers than Friend Isaac’s solemn affirmation, made as it is upon the authority of his red children. The truth is, the Indians were drawn up in line of battle, and when an attempt was made to parley, they fired, wounding one of Capt. Ricker’s company. The fire was returned and a hot skirmish ensued, in which five Indians were killed instead of four, as related by the Indians.

But the most curious and amusing part of this letter remains. We may state it as a general proposition that whenever an Indian is off his reservation, he is hunting buffalo—according to Quaker agents. The mourning party of nineteen Osages that went up into Barbour County a month or so ago were in search of the bounding bison and to jerk the succulent hump and smoke the delicate tongue. The little business they did in the way of scalps was only incidental and recreative. They wanted them to make merry over and give to their children for playthings. Their little transactions in settlers’ horses were also byplay merely. Buffalo hunting was their business. But listen to the horror stricken Isaac a spell: “I have resorted to unusual methods to ascertain the conduct of the Osages while on this hunt.” The unusual methods, judging from the fact Friend Isaac’s ignorance as to whether militia or United States soldiery were at the taking off of his pets, consisted in questioning the Osages: excellent testimony, in faith!

“Their conduct excites my admiration.” It would be difficult for the Osages to awaken any other emotion in Isaac’s drab-invested bosom. “I do not believe that even one of their men had anything to do with these depredations.” Halliday’s confidence in Beecher could no further go. But the pathetic prattle of the dove-like agent in conclusion surpasses anything in its line we ever remember having read.

“Today I was remarking the resignation the Osages showed to being obliged now, in their opinion, to give up the buffalo forever and make their living at home on farms, their present hunt proving a failure, and the plains thronging with troops. Hyatt joined me in this, that they never appeared more manly and good-natured, willing to accept the situation. But this will be a severe trial of their temper again. I intend to stick close to them and have it smoothed over. I will keep thee apprized of passing events. Excuse haste.”

“The plains thronging with troops!” That’s what’s troubling Friend Isaac and all his confreres just now. The Great Father at Washington is somewhat weary of the olive branch and blanket-and-bacon policy, and proposes to try the efficacy of a few troops. It is the forerunner of the recall of Friend Isaac, and the stoppage presently of certain profitable perquisites that makes philanthropy a pleasant avocation. Had not Isaac noticed several weeks ago to call in all his buffalo hunting Indians, and did he not receive a very strong intimation that any Indians found off their reservation would be considered hostile and treated accordingly? Why did he suffer another hunting party not only to leave the reservation but to invade the state of Kansas? And by the way, when Isaac is informed that the Osages propose to kill the first four defenseless white men they meet in revenge for the act of Capt. Ricker’s company, why does he not address a note to Gen. Pope like Agent Miles did? In a word, why are the Indians who do the killing always justifiable, and white men who do no more than defend their own, ever in the wrong? Is not Isaac a special attorney, and a mighty well paid attorney at that? But a trice to conundrums which Isaac cannot truthfully answer without confessing himself a fraud of eighteen carat purity. Friend Enoch Hoag endorses Friend Gibson’s letter and adds this:

“These Indians were peaceable, going out to hunt meat on their old reserve, which is not yet paid for, and they understand they have a right to go there peaceably to hunt, as the treaties provide to other Indians south of the Arkansas. It may be asked to whom is this militia accountable, and who is to be responsible for the murder of disarmed captives?”

Dost not know, Friend Enoch, that these same Osages the day before this engagement attacked two defenseless teamsters within a short distance of Kiowa, who managed to escape, leaving their team, which the Indians captured? And dost not know that a large number of horses have been stolen by these same precious Osages in Bourbon County within the last three months? In answer to your last query, we would say that the militia is accountable to the governor of the state of Kansas, and we would say, furthermore, that they have his orders to capture or kill every scoundrelly Osage they find buffalo or scalp hunting inside the boundaries of the state of Kansas, and that they will obey those orders to the very letter.

STATE POLITICAL POINTS.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, August 18, 1874.

The Oswego Independent favors Gen. J. G. Woods for congress from the 2^nd district. It says of him:

“General J. J. Woods is familiar with public life. Having been educated at West Point, is sufficient proof of his fitness in point of scholarship. He has had over five years of experience in the regular service and held the position of colonel and brigadier general during the slaveholder’s rebellion. He is well and favorably known at Washington City, standing well upon the records, and is a strong personal friend to Gen. Grant, having succeeded him at West Point, his appointment being secured him by Gen. Grant’s father.”

The Beloit Gazette suggests the name of Horace Cooper for state senator from that district.

The Troy Republican has a very persistent way of sticking to the point. It thus disposes of a goodly portion of the so-called “reformers.”

“‘He has been identified with the reform movement ever since it started.’ So says a new party paper of Nelson Abbott, candidate for secretary of state on the new party ticket. The fact of the matter is simply this: Abbott is a democrat, and as such would identify himself with anything to bet the republican party. And that’s just what’s the matter with nearly every man who has had much to do in getting up a new party. They are about all old democrats, and as that party has no show in Kansas, they will go into anything that is not the republican party, and have nothing to lose wherever they may go if defeated, but everything to gain, if successful.”

This from the Morris County Republican has had wide-spread confirmation in the election of delegates to the state convention on Saturday last.

“Governor Osborn appears to be the favorite nag among the people for governor this fall. The delegate elections are decidedly favorable to his excellency. Osborn has made a good governor and the people might go farther and fare worse.”

The Independence Democrat does not find the “what-is-it” fraud sufficiently sugared for its swallowing. It says:

“The true policy of the democrats in Kansas is to call conventions and nominate straight democratic tickets, standing upon a square democratic platform.”

The piebald Pecksniffs are tendered a dose of hemlock by the Walthena Reporter in the following pungent paragraph.

“All the virtuous conglomeration papers in the state set up a howl at once on hearing that S. A. Manlove, two years ago the treasurer of Bourbon County, had not yet been able to make both ends of his account meet. This was cited as one more instance of republican corruption in Kansas. It happened to transpire quickly that Mr. Manlove was one of the virtuous opposition, and we haven’t heard an howl from that quarter since. It makes a difference whether a man is a republican or an opposition defaulter.”

DECLINES.

A CARD FROM PROF. H. B. NORTON.

Why have the “What Is Its” Suppressed his Declination?

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth:

My declination, which was written on the 9^th, was forwarded to Gov. Crawford, and is not yet printed. Will you publish this copy, and oblige. Yours, truly, H. B. NORTON

Arkansas City, Aug. 16, 1874.

ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS, August 9, 1874.

Chairman Executive Committee Reform Convention of Kansas:

MY DEAR SIR: I have this day received an official announcement of my nomination to the office of superintendent of public instruction, by your convention at Topeka on the 6^th inst.

I am heartily in favor of far-reaching reforms in our public affairs; but I believe that I can best do the work of one citizen in this direction, by working in the ranks of the republican party.

Therefore, while I cannot but feel grateful to you for the unasked and unexpected compliment involved in your choice, and while I should be proud to be found worthy to serve the state in that capacity, I beg leave to respectfully decline the candidacy of the reform party.

I remain yours, very respectfully,

H. B. NORTON.

PROF. NORTON DECLINES.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

Some days ago we announced the fact that Prof. H. B. Norton had, shortly after recovering from his astonishment at finding himself figuring on a ticket with Cusey, Harrington, and Smith, in levity named “Gewhillekens,” mildly but firmly declined being butchered to make a piebald holiday, which absolute intention he said he would soon promulgate in a public letter. The public letter was not forthcoming at the time we were led to expect by Mr. Norton, nor was any allusion to his declination made by the what-is-it organs. The cause of this delay is at length explained by Mr. Norton in his card elsewhere published, which convicts the managers of that anonymous faction of a very petty attempt at hugger-mugger and a desire to deceive the few marvelous innocents who may still believe that Cusey is a statesman and his party a genuine engine of reform, as to the friable and ruinous condition of the ticket and the movement.

Mr. Norton’s name, as we have before intimated, alone destroyed the exquisite symmetry and incomparable vacuity of the what-is-it ticket. The brains and character of it were all in one end of the ticket, and that the wrong end. By lopping himself off, Mr. Norton has restored the equilibrium; and of the residue, Cusey is an appropriate—we might say, the only possible head. The names of Mr. Koester and Prof. Norton were the only two that evidenced any desire on the part of the what-is-it convention to make a respectable ticket, and all commentary is exhausted in saying that they had to go outside their party to find these, and will exhaust their tale of half-way capable men before they can replace them.

We believe Prof. Norton’s name was first mentioned in this paper in connection with the office of state superintendent, over a year ago. We recognized in him then, and do now, a man who was an enthusiastic school teacher without being a pedagogue, a student and a reflecting man, albeit a man of energy and practical ideas. We know him to be honest and of exemplary habits, and of sufficient administrative grasp to take hold and perform the duties of the office at once, and to perform them well and satisfactorily. We thought him to be the very ace of men for a position which has been the repository, heretofore, of cant and quackery to a most nauseating degree. The piebalds thought to capture him, we suppose, by the cheap and left-handed compliment of a nomination; or, which is more likely, the nomination would have gone begging if they had waited to find a candidate for superintendent of instruction who would drive tandem with Cusey for governor. However this may be, the adventitious respectability given to the ticket by his name, is now withdrawn, and their unwillingness to make known the fact to the world betrays their desperation and shows what a cheap huddle of demagogues the leaders really are. Mr. Norton is still a candidate for the office of state superintendent, subject to the decision of the Republican convention.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

We published an account last week of the marriage at Emporia, some six years ago, of a Mr. Stone, of Auburn, with a Mrs. McCartney, of Indiana, and their subsequent removal to Auburn. Mrs. McCartney was a widow at the time, her husband having left her some six years previous. Our romance went on to say that the lady’s former husband arrived in Auburn week before last and demanded his wife. We are not informed by Mrs. Stone that this is incorrect; that the present Mrs. Stone was legally divorced from her first husband, and that her return recently to Indiana was caused by the illness of her mother. We give Mr. Stone’s version of the affair as cheerfully as we gave the other, and are assured by him that it is strictly true.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

The San Juan mines are proving a failure.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

Hon. Schuler Colfax is to deliver the address at the Colorado fair, September 26.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

Half a million pounds of wool have been shipped from Pueblo to the east since July 1.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

The Denver brewery sold 500 kegs of beer on Tuesday—and yet the weather is cool out there.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

The territorial tax is only a mill and a half, and there are only forty-three prisoners in the penitentiary.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

Senators Logan, Bogy, Howe, and Wright and Congressman Judd are visiting the mountains.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

The people of Boulder have raised the $15,000 required by law, establishing the territorial university at that place.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

A bond election will be held at Pueblo, August 22^nd, to aid in the construction of the Pueblo & Salt Lake railroad from Granada to Pueblo.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

The grasshoppers are as disastrous in Colorado as in Kansas. Many fields of corn bear the appearance of having been struck by lightning.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 19, 1874.

Rufus Clark, of Arapahoe County, has one hundred and fifty acres of potatoes, which will probably produce 25,000 to30,000 bushels. Mr. Clark has expended over $2,000 to prevent the ravages of the potato bug this year.

BY TELEGRAPH.

AN INDIAN OUTBREAK.

The Osage Indians Declare War.

The Frontier in Imminent Danger.

They Can Muster Fifteen Hundred Men.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 20, 1874.

ARKANSAS CITY (by way of Wichita), August 17^th, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

We have just received information from the Osage agent that the whole Osage Nation has declared war, and that this frontier is in imminent danger. The news was brought up by Stubbs, late agent of the Kaws. The facts as Mr. Stubbs gives them are these. When the Osages heard of the killing of five of their men on Medicine Lodge, they immediately held a council and decided for immediate war. Agent Gibson did all he could to quiet them, but in vain. They finally promised to wait until Mr. Stubbs could get to Medicine Lodge and investigate the affair, but Stubbs fears they will not keep their promise, and says we are undoubtedly in much danger. I think he is about as much in earnest as Agent Miles was a short time ago. Stubbs thinks they can muster near 1,500 men, including boys twelve years old, and upwards, but I presume he overestimates them. The militia at present organized are not well or fully armed, although Governor Osborn has sent a number of arms and considerable ammunition to this border. I am to muster a company at Thomasville, ten miles up the Arkansas river from here, tomorrow morning, and Thursday we will organize a battalion of six mounted companies. We have communicated these facts to Governor Osborn, and promise, if he can arm our battalion, that we will take the job of cleaning out the Osages.

G. H. NORTON, Captain Militia.

THE OSAGES.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 20, 1874.

The dispatch which will be found in another column of our paper foreshadows a grave emergency. Misfortunes come not as single spies, but in battalions. The Indian panic of several weeks ago not only demoralized the settlers on our southern border, but acted to deter immigration, which was setting in with unprecedented volume. A continued drouth of six or seven weeks united with the chinch bugs is largely deteriorating our crop prospects, and the voracious grasshopper saved us the trouble of harvesting what seemed to be saved from the first two visitations by picking the meat off our misfortune and polishing the bones. And now on the heels of all comes an Indian war of first-class dimensions to oppose which will tax our crippled resources to the utmost and seriously protract the settlement and improvement of our southern border.

One streak of light illumines this dark prospect. The Osage tribe, Great and Little, have declared war against the United States, including the state of Kansas, and it fills us with unspeakable satisfaction to contemplate in our mind’s eye the thorough drubbing they are about to receive. If ever a set of sneaking cut-throats and chronic horse thieves deserved a lesson, it is this same tribe of Osages. The innate savageness of such tribes as the Cheyennes and Apaches pleads in palliation for their wrong doings, with those who reduce justice to an abstraction and hold to the view that the Indians are more sinned against than sinning. But the Osages are, despite their blankets and beads, to all intents a civilized tribe, and have a pretty accurate conception of the nature of the contract between them and the whites. They are the most cosseted and best fed of all the tribes, but behind the mask of peacefulness they wear the war-paint of treachery and deceit. They are constantly murdering defenseless white men, and now that the settlers have turned in their own protection, they propose to justify themselves in wholesale slaughter and rapine.

We are well prepared for them, or can be at twenty-four hours’ notice. As soon as Gov. Osborn received intelligence of the facts yesterday, he at once, through Adjutant General Morris, placed himself in communication with the border contiguous to the Osage reservation. There are organized along the border some 600 militia. Arms and munitions were forwarded by express yesterday, and within a day or two a battalion of four hundred and fifty effective men can be in readiness to march. Adjutant General Morris ordered all the militia captains to review their companies and to replace all poorly mounted men by other and efficient recruits. This battalion will be composed of picked men, and will be able to cope successfully with all the Osages that may be brought in the field. Let it be known that they declare war and an offensive campaign will be inaugurated at once. The militia will march upon their reservation, take possession of their squaw camps, and compel a fight. If the Osages do not then rue the day they declared war, we are sadly out in our reckoning. We are glad this tribe has at last shown its hand, and that the dangerous illusion that they were a peace loving community of savages is at last effectually dissipated by this overt and unmistakable act.

GLORY ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY.

The Settlers Victorious and Justice Vindicated.

The Homes and Hearthstones of Thirty Thousand People Saved.

JUSTICE IS NOT AN IDLE WORD.

The Osage Ceded Land Suits Decided in Favor of the Settlers.

Copies of the Decrees in Both Cases.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 22, 1874.

A telegram received by the United States district attorney in this city yesterday told in a half dozen words a story that will fill the hearts of thirty thousand people with joy and thanksgiving. Its message of gladness was that the Osage ceded land suits had been won by the settlers, and a decree had been ordered in their favor. No tidings ever carried to so many apprehensive souls the balm of relief and the immeasurable comfort of security. The afternoon mail brought to the clerk of the court the decrees in both cases, which are ordered to be entered up in due form next Tuesday. The news spread like wildfire, and scores of attorneys and unprofessional citizens visited the clerk’s office to reassure themselves by a sight and perusal of the veritable documents. As there will be a universal interest to see them, we subjoin copies of the decrees, as sent. These decrees are in blank, and are to be filled up with the essential formulas:

Circuit court of the United States, district of Kansas. In equity.

The United States of America vs. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas railway company.

Final decree.

This cause came on to be heard at the June term, 1874, before the Hon. Samuel F. Miller and Hon. John F. Dillon, judges of said court, upon the bill, answer, replication, exhibits, and proofs, and was argued by George R. Peck, district attorney, Wilson Shannon, and McComas & McKeighan, solicitors for the complainant, and T. C. Sears, solicitor for the defendant, and the court being now, August, 174, fully advised in the premises, doth find the equity of the cause to be with complainant, and doth now order, adjudge, and decree that the legal title to the lands described in the bill of complaint and claimed by the said defendant, and included within the limits of the said tracts of land above described in the first article of said treaty, proclaimed January 21^st, 1867, between the Osage tribe of Indians and the United States, is vested in your orator and therefore belongs to the United States, in trust, for the uses and purposes specified in said first article of said treaty.

And it is further ordered, adjudged, and decreed that the said patents to the said defendant for a portion of said lands described in the said first article of said treaty, and marked exhibits A, B, C and D respectively, be declared to be null and void and without authority of law, and that they constitute a cloud on the said legal title of the United States and that same be removed, and that the said defendant be perpetually enjoined from settling up any claim either in law or in equity in or to any of said lands, situate, lying and being within the boundaries of said Osage ceded lands, described as aforesaid in said first article of said treaty with the said Osage tribe of Indians, under and by virtue of said patents or either of them, the said patents thus decreed to be null and void and for nought held, are severally in the words and figures following:

[Here the clerk will copy the name in full.]

It is further ordered that the defendant pay the costs of this suit, taxed at dollars, and that execution issue therefor.

From this decree the defendant prayed an appeal, which was allowed, and the bond in appeal fixed at $1,000.

SAMUEL F. MILLER.

JOHN F. DILLON.

Circuit court of the United States, district of Kansas. In equity.

The United States of America vs. the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston railroad

company. Final decree.

[Words used in second item same as in first item. Skipped.]

A WAR WITH THE OSAGES.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 22, 1874.

From the Lawrence Journal.

The Topeka COMMONWEALTH publishes the following special dispatch from G. H. Norton, captain of the militia at Arkansas City.

We have just received information from the Osage agent that the whole Osage Nation has declared war, and that this frontier is in imminent danger. The news was brought up by Stubbs, late agent of the Kaws. The facts as Mr. Stubbs gives them are these: When the Osages heard of the killing of five of their men on Medicine Lodge, they immediately held a council and decided for immediate war. Agent Gibson did all he could to quiet them, but in vain. They finally promised to wait until Mr. Stubbs could get to Medicine Lodge to investigate the affair, but Stubbs fears that they will not keep their promise, and says we are undoubtedly in much danger.

We called upon Superintendent Hoag yesterday to learn if we could of any war-like demonstrations from the Osages. Mr. Hoag stated to us that the report, in his opinion, was not true, and was probably started by some malicious person who had not the welfare of either the settler or the Indian at heart. He seemed much annoyed at hearing of the report and handed us a letter received yesterday from Agent Gibson, a portion of which we give our readers.

OSAGE AGENCY, August 14, 1874.

ENOCH HOAG: Yesterday I was out to see Big Chief’s and Black Dog’s bands in reference to their recent bad treatment on the plains. They feel deeply wronged and hurt by these soldiers, but not so angry as I expected to find them. I comforted them the best I could and the worst of them came up today, and I believe the negotiations now pending will pacify them so that the war party they were getting up will be stopped.

I obtained description of the ponies and will send a man with Agent Stubbs to go out on the state line and try and recover the ponies as they are brought in. They may need thy assistance before they get through. Ozbun, just in from Big Hills, says they are quiet.

ISAAC T. GIBSON, Agent.

The ponies referred to are those lost during the skirmish at Red mounds, when the four Indians were killed.

A BLIND MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 22, 1874.

Mr. Fawcett, the blind English statesman, is making his way in parliament. Mr. McCarthy says personally his privation seems to trouble him but little. He is as full of healthy animal spirits as a schoolboy, and he delights in all manly exercises. He is fond of fishing, and even of skating; the latter amusement he tries to enjoy by holding the end of a stick, while some champion of equal skill on the ice holds the other, and thus the thing can be safely done. He recently rowed a boat from London to Oxford, on the Thames, with remarkable skill.

FROM COWLEY COUNTY.

Proceedings of County Convention.

Election of Delegates.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, August 23, 1874.

WINFIELD, August 20, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

The republican county convention today elected C. M. Scott, of the Traveler, and James Kelley [Kelly], of the Courier, as delegates to the state convention, without instructions.

E. B. Kager and E. C. Manning were elected delegates to the congressional convention; instructed for Hon. James McDermott for congress.

Delegates favorable to E. C. Manning were chosen to the senatorial convention.

FRONTIER.

A CANARD.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, August 23, 1874.

A rumor was very generally circulated around our streets yesterday to the effect that Col. Thos. Moonlight and several of his corps of surveyors have been killed by Indians in southwestern Kansas. We immediately telegraphed to our correspondents at Fort Dodge and Sargent, but nothing was there known of such an occurrence. The rumor had its origin, as far as we can learn, in Leavenworth, and is discredited by the papers there. We have made unusual efforts to discover any foundation for such a story, and believe it to be untrue. It proceeded doubtless from a combination of circumstances. It seems that eight of the surveying party detached from the main company and were not heard of for several days. It was believed that they had been killed by Indians. They subsequently came in, and when they reached the Arkansas river, they had suffered so much from thirst that their tongues were swollen so that they could not close their mouths. About that time four persons returning from the San Juan mines were found near Aubrey station, murdered by Indians, two of them being scalped. The deed, it is supposed, was committed by a party of Sioux passing north from the Territory. These two circumstances, taken together, formed the material on which the sensation was based.

FROM BARBOUR COUNTY.

An Indian Sortie.—Horses Stampeded and Stolen.

A Slight Skirmish With the Red Devils.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 26, 1874.

SUN CITY, BARBOUR COUNTY, KANSAS, August 19.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

Sunday night the 16^th instant our little city was thrown into excitement by a band of Indians who made an attempt to stampede horses. They were discovered by the guard, R. M. Lee, and fired upon before they had gained the corral. His fire was promptly returned by the Indians, whereupon the alarm became general and a sharp skirmish ensued. The reds soon beat a hasty retreat without doing damage to man or beast.

Yesterday morning, the 18^th, they raided a settlement eight miles below here and succeeded in running off a lot of ponies and horses. Dr. Bond was met on the road by four painted warriors and pressed so close that after exchanging shots with them, he was obliged to abandon his pony and seek shelter in the timber. By the way, this same Dr. Bond is the man who in the early part of the Indian troubles remarked that he could kill all the Indians that would be in the Medicine valley this summer with a pegging awl. He has now ordered a Sharp’s rifle, and the next we hear from him, he will be wanting to join the militia.

Mr. A. Winney, living in the mouth of Bear creek, lost all his stock by the same band. Other losses are reported, but as yet I have not learned who the losers are. Twenty men are in pursuit of them, but in my opinion will fail to recover the property. The scalp of a white woman was picked up on their trail, and is now in the keeping of Bob Espy, where it can be seen by anyone who wishes.

The Indians were evidently Cheyennes, as they had long hair hanging over their shoulders. Quite a lot of that kind of hair is now tacked on boards in order to dry a small piece of skin that hung to it when it was pulled out. Truly yours, HIGH PRIVATE, K. M.

THE OSAGE CEDED LANDS.

A Letter from Senator Ingalls.

He Pays a Graceful and Manly Tribute to His Colleague, Judge Crozier.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, August 26, 1874.

To the Editor of the Atchison Champion.

The determination of the great controversy between the railroads and the settlers upon the Osage ceded lands, marks a new epoch in the history of corporations. It is a struggle for the possession of an empire, and though an appeal remains to the highest tribunal recognized by the constitution, the exhaustive argument of the principles involved and the admitted eminence of the judges by whom the decision has been made, leave little doubt that the supreme court of the United States will affirm the decree already rendered. It is not my intent to rehearse here the narrative of the causes, nor to dwell upon the legal questions at issue between the contestants. The law and the facts will be found elaborately stated in the briefs of the counsel upon either side, by those who are curious to know the history of one of the most interesting and important subjects in the annals of litigation.

But I observe in the associated press dispatches and in the editorial articles of the TOPEKA COMMONWEALTH, some statements in relation to the manner in which the suits were authorized by the department of justice, and the efforts that were made in behalf of the settlers at Washington that are evidently based upon an imperfect knowledge of the facts, and as I was cognizant of the affair from its commencement, and the proportions of the conflict are such as to render it of national consequence, I beg to trouble your readers with a brief statement of the action in the senate and before the attorney-general at Washington, by which the whole subject was suddenly and unexpectedly transferred from the domain of politics and legislation to that of law.

It is perhaps not irrelevant here to say that the question had its political aspect, and had been no inconspicuous factor in the problems of the hour. Upon this fertile quadrangle, larger in area than Rhode Island, were several thousand intelligent people who were very sincere and very much in earnest about their homes, no matter what might be their sentiments upon civil rights, the currency, or the credit Mobilier. The title to their lands was the paramount question with them, and he who could best aid them was their truest friend, be he republican, democrat, or granger. Designing, crafty, and unscrupulous men of all faiths and of no faith, were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded, and while some were sincere in their professions of friendship for those whose homes were in peril, it is not improbable that others saw in continued agitation and protracted uncertainty a source of gain, and an opportunity for preferment which they were reluctant to abandon. Justice was too blind, and her scales too evenly balanced to suit the wishes of those adventurers who made merchandise of the most sacred hopes and fears of all the dwellers upon the ceded lands.

Believing that the questions were legal and not political, that the rights of the settlers and the railroads could be safely entrusted to the courts and definitely ascertained alone by them, and that the best interests of the entire state imperatively demanded an early and final determination of the controversy, I consulted during the autumn with the attorneys and with the influential citizens upon the lands, for the purpose of devising some method by which jurisdiction of the subject matter could be conferred upon the courts of the United States.

As the result of these deliberations, Gov. Shannon prepared a joint resolution authorizing proceedings to be instituted in the circuit court of the United States for the district of Kansas, to determine the title to the Osage ceded lands, which was forwarded to me at Washington early in December. My colleague, Senator Crozier, and myself, had several interviews on the subject, and concluded that some changes in the resolution were necessary to render it effective, and secure the early and favorable action of the senate, and having modified it, I introduced it on Monday, December 8, 1873, and moved that it lie on the table and be printed, giving notice that on an early day it would be called up either by Senator Crozier or myself and its reference moved to the committee on the judiciary.

This course was pursued to enable Mr. Crozier, who felt a special interest in the subject, to address the senate upon the questions of law which were involved, and to invoke a speedy report from the committee.

Meanwhile Judge Crozier concluded that the resolution which I had introduced did not meet the requirements of the case as fully as might be, and on Thursday, December 11, he obtained unanimous consent to bring in a bill for the relief of the settlers on the Osage ceded lands, which was read twice and ordered to be printed.

On December 17^th, Senator Crozier moved to take up his bill, which was agreed to, and proceeded to address the senate at length upon the merits of the case, and at the conclusion of his remarks, moved to refer his bill to the judiciary committee. At my request he included in his motion the joint resolution which Gov. Shannon had prepared and I had introduced, and the reference was ordered.

While Senator Crozier was delivering his speech, a page handed me a telegram from one of the attorneys of the settlers, protesting against the passage of his bill as fatal to the interests of the people, and stating that full reasons had been forwarded by mail.

On Friday evening, December 19, congress adjourned over the holidays, and assembled again on Monday, January 5, 1874.

The Kansas legislature was about to meet and a senatorial election was pending. There was an evident design to utilize the distress and uneasiness of the settlers for sinister purposes. Accusations were freely made that the joint resolution of Gov. Shannon had been changed at the instigation of the railroad companies, though neither Crozier nor myself had seen an agent nor an attorney of either, directly or indirectly, and had acted with promptness and vigor in the direction indicated by the settlers’ friends.

There was danger that in the urgency of business, no bill could be passed through both houses till late in the session. An intention was apparent in some quarters to frustrate our action, or to misconstrue it, and to impute improper motives, under which it did not seem desirable to rest.

Accordingly, Senator Crozier conceived the idea of procuring an order direct from the attorney-general for the institution of the suits by the district attorney, associated with the counsel of the settlers. His previous experience, in which similar action had been taken in connection with the title to the Delaware reservation, was of great value to him at this critical juncture of affairs. The idea was solely and exclusively his own, and to him the settlers are indebted for its conception, and for the speedy decision which has been reached, that otherwise, if dependent upon the slow progress of legislation, might have been indefinitely procrastinated.

While I had no doubt of the power of the attorney-general to make the order, I was not sure that he would see the propriety for its exercise. Such was the opinion of several of the most eminent members of the senate. They argued that the government having parted with its title, the question was between the settlers and the railroad companies, and not between the government and the corporations. Senator Crozier contended otherwise, and urged his views with pertinacious vigor. I cooperated with him, and had several interviews with Gen. Williams, who finally made the order in the precise terms of the joint resolution prepared by Gov. Shannon, and introduced by me on the 8^th of December.

Meanwhile a vacancy occurred in the office of district attorney for this state, and I looked around the horizon for a successor. I knew that the appointment would be charged to me, whether good or bad, and that I must take the responsibility, so I took counsel of my judgment alone.

A year and more previous at the congressional convention at Lawrence, of which I was president, I met Capt. Geo. R. Peck, of Independence. I contracted a sudden and instinctive regard for him. He was young and enthusiastic, and of tastes and sympathies similar to my own. He had courage, culture, convictions, habits, and a passion for his profession which promised excellence and distinction. I then resolved if I could ever serve, or aid him, or benefit him, I would do so.

The opportunity now unexpectedly arrived. I consulted no one, spoke with no one, and did not even advise him of my purpose by mail or telegraph. His location in the neighborhood of those who were to be affected by these important proceedings was favorable. At my request Senator Crozier signed the application for his appointment, though he did not even know him by name; and his nomination was sent to the senate. The telegraph having informed him of the fact, he dispatched me he would forward letters and recommendations, to which I replied by a request that he would do neither, and at the next executive session of the senate, he was confirmed.

Shortly afterwards he visited Washington to receive his instructions from the attorney general, and expressed to me his gratitude and surprise at the interest I had manifested in him. I told him the grounds of my confidence, and that I did not even ask from him the test of adhesion to my political fortunes; I only desired a prompt, manly, and efficient discharge of his official duties, and especially a vigorous prosecution of the cases to settle the title to the Osage ceded lands. He gave me all needed assurances of a desire to vindicate my judgment and justify my choice to the people of Kansas.

Had I not ceased to be astonished at anything, I should have been surprised when I received dispatches after Peck’s nomination had been sent to the senate, to resist his confirmation upon the ground that he was in the interest of the railroads, and that his appointment was regarded as a direct blow at the settlers.

Nor was it the least remarkable fact in this “strange eventful history” that after the order had emanated from the department of justice directing the institution of these proceedings in the exact terms of the joint resolution, dispatches were sent to the president and attorney general, requesting a suspension of the order upon the ground that some fraud was thereby about to be perpetrated upon the people!

It was at first undecided whether the suits should be commenced in the district of Columbia, so that the attorney general could have direct personal supervision, or in the federal courts in Kansas, but the latter form was finally selected as most desirable to all parties concerned.

Judge Thacher and Mr. Dennison, representing the M., K. & T. railroad, were in Washington after the order was made. They both admitted that the question was one of law, that ought for the best interests of all to be speedily and finally set at rest. They evinced no desire to evade the arbitration of their rights. They exhibited a willingness to facilitate the hearing by all means in their power, and neither they nor the agents of any other corporation, directly nor indirectly, nor any person in their behalf, at any time, showed any inclination or desire to thwart any legislation or to procure or defeat any federal appointment.

Had they felt any such wish, it could not have availed them, for the whole matter had gone irrevocably into the jurisdiction of the courts by the joint action of Senator Crozier and myself in the earliest practicable days of the session.

I have thus detailed the history of this great litigation at Washington not to magnify the unimportant part which I bore in its inception, or to assert the good faith which I manifested toward my constituents, but as an act of justice to ex-Senator Crozier, to whom, more than to any other, thanks are justly due. It is unnecessary for me to add that my exposition is wholly without his knowledge, and possibly may not receive his approval.

The people of Kansas are sensitive, but they are generous. While they are quick to punish a fault, they do not hesitate to acknowledge and repair a wrong. It is not often that the result so soon approves the deed. The appeal of truth to time is always sure, but it is sometimes slow. By the early accomplishment of all that the most sanguine settlers dared to hope, in this instance the action of their representative has received a most convincing and triumphant vindication. Faithfully yours, JNO. J. INGALLS.

August 24, 1874.

FROM THE FRONT.

The Indian Expedition Under General Miles.

The Troops Under March.

Some Account of the Personnel of the Command.

A Successful Scout Anticipated.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 27, 1874.

CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., August 19, 1874.

From Our Regular Correspondent.

You have already published in the COMMONWEALTH a detailed statement of the troops composing General Miles’ expedition against the Indians, and those that are to cooperate with him from different points.

Five companies—for of cavalry and one of infantry—left Fort Dodge on the 11^th inst., under command of Major Compton, of the Sixth cavalry, with instructions to proceed south as far as the Beaver, and scout the country from there to Camp Supply. Lieut. F. D. Baldwin, chief of scouts, accompanied Major Compton’s command to Beaver creek, and from there started to the adobe walls, on the Canadian, where he is to communicate with Major Price, from Texas. Lieut. Baldwin’s command consists of thirty scouts—ten whites and twenty Delaware Indians—reinforced from Compton’s command by eighteen soldiers, making in all nearly fifty men. Baldwin will proceed from adobe walls to the Antelope hills, scouring the country thoroughly as he goes. The men under his command are hunters and old frontiersmen, thoroughly conversant with the country, and excellent marksmen. He is an officer of dash, courage, and judgment, and with such men, utterly invincible. He has no train to retard his progress and can move anywhere.

The remaining portion of the expedition, commanded by General Miles in person, left Fort Dodge on the 13^th, three days after the departure of Major Compton, taking the military road from Dodge to Camp Supply, in the Indian Territory, distant about eighty-five miles. The two commands reached this post yesterday, having encountered no Indians on either route. The extreme hot weather and the scarcity and poor quality of the water were trying on the infantry for the first day or two, but they are in better condition now for a hard march than before.

With the exception of a little commotion at the Cimarron crossing, caused by a rumor that horse thieves were in camp, the march from Dodge to Supply was without incident worthy of note. This little episode had the effect to increase the sentinels around the camp, and if there had been horse thieves about, it would have been simply impossible for them to get away with any stock.

The country between Fort Dodge and Camp Supply is remarkable for its roughness and everything that tends to attract. I had been dreaming that as soon as we crossed the line which divides the state of Kansas and the Nation, a country flourishing with milk and honey, and rivaling in fertility the fabled gardens of Calypso, would open to our astonished gaze, but instead, we were treated to a succession of ugly-shaped, queer-looking, craggy mountains, and deep, impassable canyons. Unless a better country is seen, our exalted opinion of this paradise will undergo material modification.

An object of passing interest on the march, however, was the Red holes, at Cimarron crossing. These holes take their name from the reddish color of the soil, and are remarkable for their great depth, some of them being upwards of one hundred feet. They are fed by springs, and are filled with many varieties of fish. The water is strongly impregnated with alkali, and is hardly fit for drinking purposes.

There was a report that Indians had been seen in this vicinity on the previous day, but as travel has not been interrupted and men are traveling all over the prairie alone, no credit was attached to it. It is pretty well established now that there are no hostile Indians north of the Canadian.

The expedition is now fairly underway. The entire command has been supplied with rations and forage for thirty days, and will leave this post tomorrow for Antelope hills. It is the intention of Gen. Miles to strike the Cheyennes first, who were the starters of this outbreak, if they are found off their reservation, and if not, to pursue and punish them wherever they may be found.

[It appears that some of this article is missing.]

I believe it ends as follows...

A ten-pound Parrott, commanded by Lieut. J. W. Pope. These Gatling guns are peculiarly constructed, consisting of ten barrels, detached from the breech, and which revolve on a pivot when they are being fired. They shoot the same ball as the 50-calibre needle gun. They were patented in 1867, are light, and considered a good Indian gun.

Gen. A. A. Miles, the commander of the expedition, commanded the second division of the second corps, army of the Potomac, and was esteemed by officers and men alike, not only for his cool bravery as displayed in front of the enemy on the hotly-contested battlefields of Virginia, but for his unwavering solicitude for their comfort and welfare. Coming with such a reward, it is hardly necessary to say that he already has the confidence of his command, without which success would be extremely doubtful. He fully comprehends the situation and will use every resource at his disposal to bring our Indian troubles to a speedy and final close. He has under his command officers and men who have had experience on the plains and in Indian warfare. Among them I make no apology for mentioning the names of Major James Biddle, who was with Gen. Canby when that lamented officer was butchered by the Modocs; Lieut. W. B. Whitmore, of Gen. Pope’s staff, who was promoted for meritorious conduct on the plains. Among the citizens who accompany the expedition, and who are worthy of honorable mention, are Mr. John Kirly, of Leavenworth, an old scout and transportation master; Jack Callahan, of Granada, who is familiar with every foot of land from the Platte to the Red river. The first named is chief of the scouts under Lieut. Baldwin, and the latter is master of transportation. This campaign will doubtless develop others equally deserving of notice.

Camp Supply, where we have halted for a day to draw rations and forage, is located at the confluence of Beaver and Wolf creeks, in the Indian Territory. It is a fine company post, and commanded at present by Col. Lewis, of the 19^th infantry. It was established in 1867. The commissary and quartermaster buildings are built of frame—one story—and the company quarters are made in the stockade fashion, and resemble a military camp more than a garrison. Several tribes of Indians used to get their rations at this post. T.

PUTTING IT IN PLAIN WORDS.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 27, 1874.

John Paul’s Mill River Letter to the N. Y. Tribune.

While at Haydenville I cannot resist the temptation of telling you an anecdote connected with the flood, which I heard from a bright lady yesterday. It shows that there are few events so terrible as not to have some thread of the ridiculous interwoven with them. A brother of the late Governor Hayden was at the west on a visit when the news arrived of the swift ruin which had come upon the family village. In company with his daughter, he at once started for home. At one of the stations a newspaper was procured, containing full particulars of the disaster. Putting on his spectacles, the old gentleman proceeded to red the particulars aloud, with the most provoking deliberation, stopping to weigh and turn over every statement carefully in his mind as he went along. “Let me have the paper, father,” begged the young lady, all impatience to know the extent of the calamity. “No, daughter, have patience; I will read it to you,” said the old gentleman, and he went slowly on, almost spelling out ever word.

At last he came to a statement, which arrested him:

“The—boiler—of—the—foundry—floated—away—on—the—flood—and—was—de-posited—very—near—the—door—steps—of—Gov.—Hayden’s—house.”

This he read over very slowly twice, apparently astounded by the audacity of the thing and unable to take in its full length and breadth. “That means,” he said, finally, turning to his auditor to emphasize his analysis by a solemn forefinger, “that means that Joel’s biler is in Ann Lizzy’s front yard!”

EASTERN SCRIBES.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 27, 1874.

A correspondent of the Utica Herald writes as follows of the scribes in a Constantinople bazaar, who write letters, keep accounts, or do anything in that line for the great mass of the people: “They are usually old, gray-haired men, with long robes and a peculiarly shaped white hat, indicative of their office. Very grave men they are and deeply learned, no doubt as men should be, who are the depositories of other men’s thoughts and appointed to give advice to the young and inexperienced.

“Each scribe sits upon a low bench or table, squatting cross-legged, and smoking his long pipe with the greatest solemnity. By his side is a small flat board, which he uses as a writing desk, and hanging from his girdle is an ink-horn of some fanciful device, and in his hand or stuck behind his ear is the reed pen. In addition to their usual work, these men are authorized to prepare legal papers, such as deeds and bills of sale and contracts, and to administer oaths when necessary.”

AETNA RUMBLING AND GRUMBLING.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 27, 1874.

A letter from Catania to the Augsburger Allegemcine Zeitung of August 1, says: “Since the beginning of May the highest and largest volcano in Europe—the Aetna—appears to be in a period of activity which announces an approaching eruption. It will soon be five years since a torrent of lava, issuing from the principal crater, covered the Vole de Bove. From September, 1869, to the present day the mountain has been quiet. Professor Sylvestri, who has studied with attention the series of phenomena produced, recently passed two days and nights on the summit of the cone, and concluded from what he saw that a new eruption may be expected at no very distant date.”

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, August 27, 1874.

A San Francisco woman had read of Samson and Delilah, and, as her husband displayed unusual strength at times in mauling her, she sheared her head and face down to the closest notch one day, when he was asleep. Since the time that husband awoke, need it be said, that woman has been a bitter and incurable unbeliever in Biblical inspiration.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, August 28, 1874.

The A. T. & S. F. R. R. will run a special excursion train to the congressional republican convention at Emporia, leaving Topeka at 6 a.m. the 28^th inst., and leaving Emporia after the convention. Tickets for the round trip $4.25, for sale by C. W. Shewry, agent.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, August 28, 1874.

The state central committee of the reform party held a secret meeting in this city yesterday, and completed their state ticket by substituting John Francis for state treasurer, in place of C. F. Koester, and J. P. Bauserman, of Leavenworth, for superintendent of public instruction, in place of H. B. Norton, Mr. Norton and Mr. Koester having declined the nomination tendered them at the recent reform convention. Mr. Francis was defeated for the nomination for treasurer at the republican state convention in this city yesterday.

SETTLEMENT OF THE OSAGE CEDED LAND CASE.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, August 29, 1874.

From the Davenport (Iowa) Gazette.

The great Osage ceded land case of Kansas has just been decided by the circuit court of the United States, and is now, for the first time, made public by the Gazette. The land in controversy was claimed by certain railroad companies under grants from Congress. The amount in dispute was about 1,000,000 acres, and the disputed tract is fifty by thirty miles in extent, embracing the counties of Neosho and Labette, and part of the counties of Bourbon, Crawford, Allen, Wilson, and Montgomery, in Kansas, and upon which, adverse to the railroad companies, are over 30,000 people. The court decided against the railroad companies, holding that they have no title, and setting aside their patents issued by the interior department. The opinion of the court was prepared by Mr. Justice Miller, of the United States supreme court, and concurred in by Circuit Judge Dillon, and the decrees have been forwarded by the latter from his residence in this city to the clerk, to be entered at the adjourned term of the court, which meets at an early date.

The court decides that when a patent for lands has been issued contrary to law, the United States may file a bill in equity to cancel it. It also decides that the lands in question, having been reserved in a treaty with the Osage Indians for their use, and being occupied by them at the date of the railroad grant of public lands, were not public lands of the United States within the meaning of the granting clause of the act; and also, that if such lands were within the granting clause, they were excepted out of this grant by the words, “this grant should not extend to the lands previously reserved by the United States for any use or purpose.” This decision will create some stir in Kansas—and not only in Kansas, but among a great number of capitalists and land agents in various portions of the United States and Europe, who have based loans upon them—not to mention the thousands of settlers who occupy the lands, and who have been nervous with anxiety over the claims of railroad companies for the lands they occupy. The settlers need feel nervous no longer, for the court decides in their favor.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM FORT DODGE.

The Red Devils Still at their Work.

They Murder and Scalp Six Surveyors, All Citizens of Lawrence.

And Yet Enoch Hoag and Isaac Gibson Insist That They are Peaceable.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, September 2, 1874.

FORT DODGE, September 1, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

On Monday, the 24^th day of August, Mr. O. F. Short, surveyor, with his working party, consisting of the following named persons—H. C. Jones, James Shaw, Allen Shaw, T. D. Short, and J. H. Keuchler—left our camp at the Lone Tree on Crooked creek, situated in section 1 of township 33 south, range 28 east, with the intention of being absent during the week, returning on Saturday night. Mr. Short, with his party, was running the exterior lines, and was consequently most of the time some miles distant from the other two parties in the field. When Mr. Short left our camp, he gave orders for one of the men to meet him on Wednesday at a given point, to receive certain instructions as to locating another general camp. On Wednesday, accordingly, some of the men belonging to Captain Thrasher’s party discovered the wagon which Mr. Short took with him and the dead bodies of the entire party lying on the ground in a secluded gulch near the wagon, and about three miles from our Lone Tree camp. That the men were killed by Indians, the arrows and trinkets lying thickly around, and the fact that three of them were scalped, fully attested. The wagon was riddled with bullet-holes and literally covered with blood. The wounds received by the victims were all bullet wounds. Mr. Short, his son, D. T. Short, and H. C. Jones were scalped. Mr. Shaw was shot through the right breast and a spear thrust through his hand. Judging from the shells strewn thickly around the wagon, the men had made a gallant fight, running as they fought from the point where they were first attacked. They were buried together in a low trench near Lone Tree camp, and a stone properly marked, placed at the head of each. The entire party are citizens of Lawrence. A dog belonging to Capt. Cutler, which was with the party, was also killed. H. E. M.

[Note: Short was one of the early surveyors in Cowley County.]

BY TELEGRAPH.

MISCELLANEOUS.

General Miles After the Indians.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 3, 1874.

AFTER THE INDIANS.

FORT LEAVENWORTH, September 2—1 P.M.

To Lieut. Gen. Sheridan:

The following dispatch from Col. Miles just received:

Camp on the right bank of the dry fork of Antelope Hills, Aug. 26.—Arrived here yesterday, all well. Lieut. Baldwin and party have rejoined the command. On the 23d inst. he scouted west of the adobe walls and down the Canadian to the Antelope hills, and had two affrays with Indians; killed one and wounded one, and captured ponies, etc. The trails and lines of retreat all indicate that the Indians have gone south of the north fork of Red river and affluents. We are marching south and southwest; have 21 days’ supplies. No communication from Major Price. The Indians are burning the grass in our front.

IN THE FIELD.

Interesting Notes from Gen. Miles’ Indian Expedition.

Some Famous Scouts and their Record.

Indians See and a Fight Anticipated.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 3, 1874.

CAMP NEAR ANTELOPE HILLS, August 23, 1873.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Gen. Miles’ command reached this point today in good health and spirits. The troops have stood the heat extremely well. There has been no sickness among the men and the stock is in excellent condition. Lieutenant Baldwin and his scouts reached here last evening, having visited the adobe walls and marched thence down the Canadian. His instructions were to join the command at Antelope hills. The scouts report having seen Indians in the neighborhood of the walls. A hunter, named George Hoffman, was killed on the 19^th within a few hundred yards of the walls. An Indian, supposed to be a Comanche, was killed near the same place. The hunter was terribly mutilated and scalped. The hair of the red man was also lifted. Scalp for scalp is now the motto, until these rascals learn to behave themselves and cease their murderous work. The ranch at the adobe walls has been abandoned, and the hunters who have been holding it are now with this command and will probably be retained as scouts. No more valuable men could be secured. They are anxious to avenge the death of their comrades.

The command, with thirty days’s rations and forage, left Camp Supply on the 21^st and marched up Wolf creek about thirty miles, and there took a southerly course towards Antelope hills. The description given of the country between Dodge and Supply will answer for that passed over in the last few days, with the exception that timber is more plentiful on the creeks and the water purer. The prairies were also covered with buffalo, and some deer were seen along the streams. The whole region passed over, which mainly lies in the Indian Territory, is rough, broken, and must remain forever useless for agricultural purposes. The principal inhabitants are lizards, horned toads, wolves, and with the exception of an occasional foray like the present, will doubtless never be disturbed in the enjoyment of their hereditary rights.

Antelope hills, to which point the troops operating in conjunction with Gen. Miles have been converging, are situated about one mile and a half south of the Canadian and on what is called the Howe trail, which starts at Fort Smith, Arkansas, and ends at Fort Union, New Mexico, running via Forts Arbuckle, Cobb, and Bascom. The hills consist of four semi-mountains, rising to an altitude of three or four hundred feet above the surrounding bluffs. They can be readily distinguished for many miles.

There is no surface water in the Canadian at this point. It is always very low at this season of the year. It is about as wide as the Arkansas from Wichita to Pueblo, and the bed is of the same sandy nature. The bottoms are from a half to a mile in width, and covered with a heavy growth of grass, which retains its nutritious quality throughout the year. It is almost destitute of timber. The only use it seems possible the country could be devoted to is stock-raising, but this would be hazardous as long as it is overrun by Indians. The grazing is good and the hills which everywhere abound would afford excellent shelter for stock.

An important acquisition was made to the expedition at Camp Supply, in the persons of two noted guides and scouts, namely, Ben Clarke and Amos Chapman. When it is remembered how indispensable the services of guides and scouts have become, and with what momentous responsibilities they are entrusted, a brief sketch of these two additions will be appreciated.

Ben Clarke is well known all over the plains. He has been in the service of the government for six years as a guide and scout. In the Indian campaign of 1868, he was Gen. Sheridan’s principal guide, and that officer frequently took occasion to compliment him for his valuable services. He is a man of excellent judgment and superior intelligence, and his thorough knowledge of the country makes his services doubly valuable. He is about thirty-five years of age, medium height, has long, light hair, falling below his shoulders. He has none of the bravado common to many frontier characters, but in address is plain, unassuming, and treats everybody with the utmost courtesy. He is perfectly at home in any crowd, always calm, never excited, and is well informed on the current topics of the day. He has a keen sense of honor, and when his rights are infringed, no man will resent the wrong quicker than Ben Clarke.

Amos Chapman is some eight or ten years the junior of Ben. He has gone through the same crucible. Equally intelligent and familiar with the country, his services to the expedition cannot be overestimated. He was also with the Custer expedition in 1868, and has been employed by government as guide and scout ever since. When entrusted with any important duty, he discharges it faithfully and fearlessly.

The expedition is so well supplied with good men, as officers, soldiers, and citizens, that it seems like partiality to mention particular ones, but I will not be trespassing upon your patience by alluding to one other, A. J. Martin. Jack is perhaps the oldest scout with the expedition, having served during the war with Capt. Tough’s command. There are few places on the great American desert that he is not acquainted with.

CAMP ON THE WASHITA.

TEXAS, August 25, 1874.

The march from the Canadian was continued today. There has been no collision with the Indians yet, though they have been watching the movements of General Miles’ command since it crossed Commission creek on the 23^rd. Small parties have been seen on the flanks almost every day. They are burning the prairie in our advance. This is thought to be a signal to their red brethren south.

General Miles has not yet had any communication with the forces acting in conjunction with him. The Indians are supposed to be falling back on the tributaries of Red river.

This country has been the home of the buffalo for ages. They are so tame that a horseman can ride within a few yards of them without frightening them. The hunters, who have made such havoc in their ranks the past few years, have not penetrated this region. As a consequence, the buffalo have been disturbed only by the Indians, who kill them for robes.

The general characteristics of the Washita are the same as nearly all the streams south of the Arkansas—sandy bed, dry in places, and in others clear, running water. It differs from the Canadian and other streams further north in that it is heavily timbered, the varieties being cottonwood, walnut, hackberry, and elm. The debris of old Indian camps and villages are seen all along its banks, but there have been no villages on it this year.

The country is of the same rough, broken nature that has characterized it from the start. I have failed to discover anything in it worthy of commendation.

A train of wagons will return from here to Camp Supply, by which I send this letter. Will send others concerning the movements of this expedition as opportunity offers. We are a long way from railroad communication, and our mail facilities are necessarily very limited.

T.

THE “CHICAGO TIMES” ON LIBEL SUITS.

“It is Mainly Rascals who Bring Them.”

Only Two Cases Out of Thirty Reach Judgment.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 3, 1874.

The Chicago Times of Tuesday, September 1^st, contains a lengthy editorial article on libel suits, which, coming from a journal with so much experience of these unpleasant little family affairs, is worthy of attention. We therefore make a few extracts of general bearing on the subject.

“Having filed demurrers to some thirty suits during the past dozen years, perhaps the Times is in as good position to review the claims made for disarranged character on newspapers as any American journal. Of the number indicated, only two cases reached trial. One of these followed its slow way through the court for several years, and at last arrived at the supreme bench of the state. Here, the small spite of Judge Lawrence finally disposed of it; and a comparatively light verdict against the Times was sustained. The case was unusual in all its features. The alleged libelous matter was printed accidentally, as the result of a stupid mistake on the part of a public official! The complainant was a woman. Everything was favorable to the prosecuting side. Yet it took years, and a prejudiced judge, to obtain a finally favorable verdict against a paper. It is worthy of note that Judge Lawrence was invited by the people of his district to come down from the bench at the very next election. He is now an obscure lawyer, of small practice, in Chicago.”

“In some few instances, journals have been held to answer at law for the unfortunate mistakes of writers, or blunders of typography. In the vast labor of preparing each day a compendium of mankind’s doings, it is not strange that, at extreme intervals, unintentional injustice is done to somebody. It is a proof of the sincerity and watchfulness of journalists that so few of these accidents occur. But there is a deal of fairness in human nature. The immediate retraction of the offending statement usually suffices. An honorable paper can no more neglect courteous reparation for an unmeant wrong than can an honorable man. Horace Greeley said that in all his long and exalted journalistic experience, he found but two cases in which people were contemptible and depraved enough to sue for libel after an accidental injury had been fully retracted. When such suits are taken to law, the sense of justice in the jury checks all hopes on the part of the despicable prosecutors to make money out of a newspaper’s mistakes.”

“It is mainly rascals who begin them. They are the rascals who are not afraid to commit sin, but have a deadly horror at being caught at it. ‘Men the most infamous are fond of fame, and those who fear not guilt, yet start at shame,’ are the gentlemen who break liveliest for the circuit court clerk at seeing their knavery exposed in the Times.”

“The character of those who begin libel suits, and their prudence in not allowing their cases to go much beyond a swaggering commencement, has been chiefly noted. The absurdity and unfairness of the ancient laws, as they exist in most states, have not been touched upon. The Times, on this occasion, will only observe that they are vexatious, oppressive, inoperative, and unjust. They are relics of the days when it was treason to say that a king’s officer squinted. There is renown in store for the legislator who conceives, and carries into the statute books, a libel law which shall deal justly to the editor and the people alike.”

THE CHEYENNES.

Further Particulars of the Recent Massacre.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 3, 1874.

From the Lawrence papers we glean the following additional particulars of the massacre last week of a party of surveyors from Lawrence, news of which was given in our special dispatches yesterday. The entire surveying party numbered sixteen persons. Ten of them, including Capt. Cutler, were in camp. Capt. Short, with his son, Daniel, Harry Jones, John Keuchler, and Mr. Shaw and son, were out running township lines, about sixty miles south of Dodge City. Between 4 and 5 o’clock, Monday, August 24^th, Capt. Short’s party were attacked by about 20 to 25 Indians, said to be Cheyennes, and all of the party killed. Short, his son, and Harry Jones were scalped. The bodies were found on Wednesday, the 26^th, and buried at what is known as Lone Tree camp. When the men were found, they were all near their wagon and were lying on their faces. All of them except Mr. Shaw had the back of their heads smashed, as if by an ax or some other heavy instrument. A company of white men, who had passed through a Cheyenne camp the day before the bodies were discovered, found some of Capt. Short’s papers and parts of the surveyors’ chain. The Indians also got Short’s watch and two other watches belonging to the party, but did not strip the murdered men.

A party of hunters had been chased by a body of twenty-five Indians a day or two previous to the attack on Short’s party, but succeeded in getting away from them. The direction taken by the Indians leaves no doubt but they are the ones that committed these murders, as they were pushing in the direction where the bodies were afterwards found.

Fleming Duncan, son of Mr. C. S. Duncan, who was with the surveying party, is among those who returned to Lawrence on Tuesday. He says people at this distance can form no idea of the horrors of life on the frontier at present. Surveying parties especially are subjected to intense hardships and suffering for want of water, and the Indians keep the people of the border in constant fear of their lives.

Capt. Short was about 40, and his son 15 years old. The captain has been a surveyor for many years. He was the founder of the White Cloud Chief, and a man of unusual education. This was to be his last survey. He expected after his return to pay the last installment on his farm and live thereon forever after. He leaves a wife and four children.

Mr. Shaw was 51 years of age. He was the father of Mrs. J. S. White. The son was scarcely 17 years old. Mr. Shaw came to Lawrence eight years ago, and up to within a year he has resided on a farm near the city. Since that time he has resided with his daughter. His life was insured for $2,000 in the Northwestern insurance company. His wife is living with Mrs. White, and he has a son at Colorado Springs.

Young Keuchler was a nephew of Capt. Short, and his parents live in Springfield, Illinois. He was about eighteen years of age.

Harry Jones was twenty-two, and was a nephew of Capt. Cutler, with whom he had lived for several years. His folks live in Rochester, New York.

THE QUAKER POLICY.

The Truth as to the Osages.

Rascality, Mendacity, and Secrecy.

A Band of Murderers and Horse Thieves Threatening Our Southern Border.

How Enoch Hoag and His Quaker Subordinates Conspire to Conceal the Truth.

A Solemn Protest by the Friends of Murdered Citizens Against the Quaker Policy.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, September 5, 1874.

We approach a subject now that we are unable to handle without a burning sense of indignation that in some degree may prevent a just consideration of it; it is as the reader surmises from the head of this article the very present and grave question, of how to protect white settlers from butchery, and keep in proper subjection several thousand of treacherous and implacable savages. It is the policy inaugurated by the government in some hour of sentimental and highly poetized philanthropy, when the practical Yankee wit and judgment of our governors were abroad and replaced by a false, unreal, and illogical sense of justice to a wild, untutored people, who respect only power strenuously applied; and humanity to wretches who look upon a humane man as a milk-sop and a coward. Though, as we have said, our views on this subject may have the appearance of being over-wrought and tinged with prejudice, we are sure that our indignation will in some degree be shared by those whose patience will permit them to read through the array of facts subjoined and relating to a matter which has of late been in controversy between the governor of Kansas and certain members of the society of Friends, having charge of Indian affairs in this superintendency, to-wit: whether or not our southern border is threatened by an invasion of Osages.

Before entering into a consideration of this specific subject, we desire to say something in a general way on what is known as the Quaker policy, which are sure will merit and receive the endorsement of all fair minded men who are familiar with the facts. Whatever of genuine humanity and supposable justice and reason were present at the inauguration of the present Indian policy, it is now clearly devoid of. Experience has proven it not only impracticable, but calamitous, and the time has now come for a solemn and strenuous demand for its abolition and the substitution of a strong and practical policy that will not only confine the Indians to their reservations, but furnish absolute security to white settlements on the border.

We pointedly and emphatically charge:

1^st. That it is not love of the well-being or hope for the civilization of the savages that actuate the Quakers in their persistent foisting themselves upon the government as the curators of the Indians, but mainly a sordid love of gain.

2^nd. That a ring has been formed among the Indian agents, the cementing bond of which is mutual self-interest and the continuance of which in the control and fiduciary management of the affairs of the Indians mainly depends upon the maintenance of silence and secrecy as to all outrages against the whites committed by them.

3^rd. That Mr. Mahlon Stubbs has in pursuance of this common policy wilfully prevaricated, or in plain Saxon lied, as to the warlike intentions of the Osages and that Mr. Enoch Hoag, the superintendent of Indian affairs of this department has, wittingly or unwittingly abetted him; thus by misrepresentations, and for the sake of preventing any detriment to the present Indian policy misleading the government, so that the lives and property of thousands of citizens of this state are endangered, and if the stories of these agents were to be believed, no military protection might be extended them.

4^th. That when one of their number sent a dispatch to the commanding officer of this department, asking protection for his agency from hostile Cheyennes and Arapahos, Mr. Enoch Hoag secured the passage of a resolution through the yearly Quaker meeting at Lawrence, condemning his (John D. Miles) action and asking him to resign.

A dispatch from Capt. G. H. Norton, of Arkansas City, appeared in the COMMONWEALTH a number of days ago, stating that Mahlon Stubbs had told citizens of Arkansas City that owing to the killing of five Osages in Barbour County by Captain Ricker’s company, the entire Osage tribe had held a council and declared war, and were only restrained from going on the warpath by promises of Mr. Stubbs to secure pay for the dead Osages and the return of certain ponies captured from the Osages by Capt. Ricker’s men.

As soon as Mr. Stubbs arrived in Lawrence and had a consultation with his chief, he found that he had transgressed the role of silence imposed on all his class, and straightway came out with a denial that there was any truth in Capt. Norton’s dispatch as to the attitude of Osages, or that he ever said or intimated such to be the fact. This denial of Mr. Stubbs was sedulously circulated, and procured, published in the associated press dispatches. A few days afterwards, Mr. Hoag and Mr. Stubbs visited Gov. Osborn to treat for the return of the Indian ponies. The result of their visit was not encouraging. Gov. Osborn, in the course of a random talk, told them that if the murders of white men and American citizens that had been committed by this tribe had occurred in Hong Kong, they would stir the civilized world.

He offered to return the ponies on the condition that the Osages would prove that in their absence from the reservation and their presence within the borders of this state they had no knowledge of existing orders against Indians leaving their reservations, and that they had not fired upon the militia first, as claimed by Capt. Ricker. Hoag and Stubbs retired in good order, but crest-fallen, and as they went out, Stubbs intimated that he had to get home by a certain time, as his Indians had given him only that time to return. This in the face of a point-blank denial the day before that any fears were to be apprehended from the Osages.

But our evidence on this head is now conclusive, convicting Mr. Stubbs of willful lying, and Mr. Hoag of aiding him in circulating the lie and concealing the truth.

I see by the papers that Friend Stubbs through Mr. Hoag denies the statement made by me to Gov. Osborn some days ago in regard to the Osages.

Mr. Stubbs did make the statements as I gave them to the governor. I did not see him myself, but he told A. D. Keith, second lieutenant of my company, and postmaster at that place. I enclosed Mr. Keith’s affidavit. Mr. Stubbs the same day left a message for Agent Williams of the Kickapoos, warning him to abandon his agency and move to the state as he and his family were in danger. Agent Williams accordingly moved to this place and has been here ever since.

The condition of affairs on this frontier at present is most deplorable. The people are almost frightened out of their wits, but I hope we shall soon be able to quiet them.

LIEUTENANT KEITH’S AFFIDAVIT.

State of Kansas, )

Cowley County, ) ss.

I, Aylmer D. Keith, being first duly sworn, say that on the 17^th day of August, 1874, in conversation with Mahlon Stubbs, late agent of the Kaws, said Stubbs used the following language in regard to the anticipated trouble with the Osage Indians, to-wit: “The Indians have held a council and declared for war. They are on the fight the biggest kind. In my opinion you are in ten times as much danger as you ever have been.” AYLMER D. KEITH.

Cowley County, )

State of Kansas ) ss.

Subscribed and sworn to before me on this 1^st day of September, 1874.

JAMES L. HUEY, Notary Public.

In further corroboration of the evil designs of the Osages, we publish the following letter from Indian agent Williams, of the Kickapoo tribe, which tells its own story.

LETTER FROM AGENT WILLIAMS.

ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS.

SIR: I have the honor to report that this A. M., as I was proceeding from this place to my special agency on Shawkaska creek, I met two of my Kickapoo Indians, who informed me that a party of Little Osages came to the agency last night and inquired for me, and behaved in such a manner that most of the Kickapoos became alarmed and took to the woods. The Osages, however, said they would not injure any of the red people, but will kill any and all whites they may find in the territory.

The Kickapoos are alarmed and ask protection from the whites, or to be removed up to the state line. In order to supply my Indians with provisions, and to make some arrangements for their protection or removal, and for the temporary protection of government property, I would request an escort from your company of Kansas state militia.

A. C. WILLIAMS, Special Agent.

To Capt. G. H. NORTON, commanding company A, Cowley County Militia.

Agent Williams’ letter was forwarded to Gov. Osborn, who in order to comply with the request contained in it referred the matter to Gen. Pope, offering to furnish the escort requested if so desired. Gen. Pope replied to the effect that he had military in the vicinity which could furnish the escort when applied for by the agent, which had not yet been done.

In the same letter, Capt. Norton reports a slight brush with the Osages by some scouts sent out by him. Sergeant Berkey and Privates Patterson and Hoyt, of his company, left the picket line, and had gone as far as Deer creek, five miles from the state line, and finding no signs of Indians, concluded to return. They had gone but a short distance, when they were fired upon by a party of Indians, who immediately charged upon them with demoniac yells. They seemed to have been concealed in a ravine, and were not seen until they opened fire. The scouts spurred their horses into a run, and the Indians followed to within a mile and a half of the state line. Thirty six shots were fired on the run by the scouts, but owing to the approaching darkness and the speed at which they were going, none of them probably took effect. The next day Capt. Norton, with some eighteen men, proceeded to the vicinity of the encounter and found the Indian trail. They followed it to within three or four miles of the Big Hill Osage ford on the Arkansas. It pointed southeast towards the Osage reserve.

Subjoined are other documents pertinent to the general subject.

THE MURDERED LAWRENCE CITIZENS.

THE PRESENT INDIAN POLICY SOLEMNLY PROTESTED AGAINST.

From the Lawrence Journal.

In response to the notice published in our daily papers, a considerable number of citizens repaired to the courthouse last evening for the purpose, as was stated in the call, of expressing sympathy for the bereaved families and friends of our citizens who were killed by the Indians on the 24^th ult. The meeting was called to order by Col. Sam Walker. Col. J. K. Rankin was made chairman, and Mr. Skiff secretary.

Upon request of the chair Judge James Christian explained the object of the meeting and closed by asking Capt. Abram Cutler, who was present, to give the meeting an account of the finding of the bodies and other circumstances within his knowledge of the dreadful occurrence.

Capt. Cutler responded to the request and gave a minute description of the discovery of the bodies, their appearance, the walk over the bloody trail, conjectures of the brave battle for four miles, and the final disposition of the slain. His story was listened to with deep attention.

Resolved, That we deeply sympathize with the families and friends of the deceased in their extreme affliction and sore bereavement, and we offer these our heedful sympathy and condolence to them in their irreparable loss.

Resolved, That we hereby enter our solemn protest against the longer continuance of the present Indian policy as now administered, subjecting as it does (and has done in the present case) our citizens to butchery and all the horrors of savage warfare, that spares neither age nor sex.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions, signed by the chairman and secretary, be transmitted to each of the families of the deceased, and that a copy be furnished to each of our city papers for publication.

The meeting then adjourned.

FURTHER FROM AGENT MILES.

HE REPORTS THAT THE MURDERS OF KANSAS CITIZENS

WERE COMMITTED BY KIOWAS—WHICH IS NOT LIKELY.

From the New York Tribune.

Washington, Aug. 30. Agent John D. Miles writes from the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency at Darlington, Indian Territory, Aug. 19, that Little Robe, White Shield, and Pawnee, Cheyenne chiefs, arrived at the agency on the 15^th, having left the main Cheyenne camp eight days previous. They brought with them 30 warriors, 51 women, and 54 children. After a thorough examination as to their loyalty by the agent and military authorities, they were enrolled. Little Robe made a statement, which was corroborated by the others, to the effect that they had come in to be at peace at the request of the agent sent through White Shield, for all that had been peaceable to come in. They would have come in sooner, but were prevented by the severe threats of the hostile portion of the tribe. There were others entitled to protection who would come in if they could. On account of the scarcity of rain, the main camp of 260 lodges had moved north-eastward, and were now camped near the Canadian river. There were no war parties out when these Indians left. Big Bow, a Kiowa chief, had brought in sixty head of horses and mules from Texas, about the time they left the camp. The party which raided in Colorado was composed of Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Comanches. Little Robe did not know how many persons they had killed or how much stock had been stolen. The party that had the fight at Adobe Walls consisted of Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Comanches, between 300 and 400 warriors. Six Cheyennes and six Comanches were killed and a number wounded. Bird Medicine, a Kiowa brave, with a party of Kiowas, killed five men in the border settlements of Kansas, three of them near Medicine Lodge. A party of Dog Soldier Cheyennes killed Pat Hennessy’s party near Buffalo Springs, on the “Harker Road.” The party of Osages who were camped in that vicinity burned the wagons and carried off the stores. White Horse and Bear Tongue, with their bands, are very desirous to come to the agency, and are anxious for peace. Agent Miles anticipates great advantage from the system of enrollment recently adopted, as giving a more perfect control over individual members of tribes, but he adds that all law is powerless without a force to back it up, and in this country, in the absence of civil power; the ability to enforce law and order rests entirely in the military.

ARMS FOR KANSAS.

A Pointed Letter from Gov. Osborn to President Grant.

Kansas Demands a Right to be Enabled to Protect Herself.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, September 6, 1874.

STATE OF KANSAS, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,

TOPEKA, September 5, 1871.

To the President.

SIR: To enable me to protect the frontier settlements of this state contiguous to the Indian territory from Indian depredations, I made application to the general government, through you, for arms and ammunition, under the act of April 23, 1908, providing for arming and equipping the militia. The secretary of war, to whom the application was referred, refused to issue the arms, assigning as a reason, that the state was already indebted to the general government for arms heretofore issued.

While it is true that Kansas stands charged with arms in excess of the quota, under the act referred to, there is a serious question of the liability of the state for a large amount charged against her on this account.

In 1864, when Price’s army was marching triumphantly through the state of Missouri, Major General S. R. Curtis, commanding the department of Kansas, called upon the governor of this state to put into the field the entire militia force of the state. The militia was accordingly marched to Missouri, and there, under the orders of the United States officers, assisted in the total defeat of the rebel forces which followed. A great portion of the arms now charged against us was issued to the militia which engaged in this service. I submit that the state should not be held for arms thus issued and used in the national service. The arms so issued were of an inferior character, hastily obtained to meet the emergency pressing upon the country, and it seems incredible that the government should take advantage of its necessities and force the state to an unwilling purchase of worthless arms that it will neither take back or exchange for others of a serviceable pattern. I hopefully request that this palpable error in the ordnance account with Kansas be corrected and again urge that my application made to you on the 21^st ult. be granted. The frequent incursions into the state of hostile bands of Indians, who murder and plunder our citizens, notwithstanding the earnest and energetic efforts of Major General Pope, commanding this department to afford all possible protection, demonstrate the inability of the government under the present depleted condition of the army to afford protection to our citizens living near the line of the Indian Territory.

These frequent outrages are depopulating the country contiguous to the Indian Territory and I have deemed it necessary to call into the service a few companies of the state militia for the service of that locality. The 500 carbines furnished the state by the government in June last are the only arms we now have fit to be used in an encounter with hostile Indians. By some means they have been amply provided with the best guns manufactured in the United States, and it would be more than cruel to send into the field to meet such an enemy a body of troops armed with the old muskets with which the state stands charged on the books of the war department.

You will readily see that 500 buns is but a meagre number with which to protect our extended frontier. Sixteen citizens of Kansas are known to have been murdered by Indians within the state, since the 16^th of June last, and not one of the murderers has been punished or even arrested by the government, whose wards they are. But a few days since, and even since the receipt of your letter assuring me that the United States army would protect our state from invasion, six citizens of Lawrence, engaged in surveying the public lands in Kansas, under a contract with the interior department of the general government, were brutally murdered by Indians.

While the United States government may be unable to afford to the citizen that full measure of protection which is so essential to his personal safety, can she, in honor do less than afford him the means of protecting himself?

This state has already expended since her admission into the union more than $350,000 in protecting her citizens against hostile Indians, whose good conduct was guaranteed by the government, and whatever may be the decision on this application for arms, we will endeavor to protect the lives and property of our citizens at whatever cost.

Very respectfully your obedient servant,

THOMAS A. OSBORN.

FROM COWLEY COUNTY.

The Indian Business.—The Militia Organization.—Politics.

The Farmers of Cowley County Will Support the Republican Ticket.

Base Ball, Etc.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 8, 1874.

WINFIELD, Cowley County, August 31.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

Knowing the interest you feel in matters pertaining to the southwest, I conclude to furnish a few items for the benefit of your readers who do not read the Courier, Traveler, or Telegram, the circulating literature of this county.

Our locality, like all others throughout the state, has suffered from the ravages of the grasshopper and the long continued dry weather. But now comes the Indian trouble, with its anticipated horrors, which to a less resolute and determined class of citizens would have been the metaphoric “feather” that caused the fracture of the camel’s spine. However, since the Melius-Cusick ticket came out, our people have made up their minds to be surprised at nothing, and I think they will prove to Supt. Hoag that with a little assistance from Gov. Osborn, they can manage the marauding red devils without much expense to the general government or reference to his “Quaker Indian policy.”

The companies of Kansas state militia have been organized in this and Sumner County, and now await the order of the Governor to protect their own border from invasion by these “government pets.”

E. B. Kager is captain of the company from here, and G. H. Norton of the one at Arkansas City. The latter expect marching orders at any moment, as the Little Osages are making things lively along the line every day.

The political cauldron is beginning to boil. A part of the farmers’ county central committee met today and changed their name to “independent party,” as one explained “they could support the republican state ticket, but have a county ticket of their own.”

The ticket put in nomination last Wednesday by the republican convention at Topeka meets with hearty approval here, as will be shown by the votes at the November election.

It is recognized by all parties in this section as the strongest team that has ever been put in the field, and if my old friend, Tom Cavanaugh, don’t get a lift from Cowley this fall, then the story about straws indicating the direction of the wind is a lie and the man that composed it a fraud.

Several prisoners are now confined in the county jail on the charge of horse stealing. They will be tried at the October session of the district court.

The base ball fever has not entirely died out, as the Frontiers of this place are to play the Douglas Avenue nine of Wichita, at the Douglas fair on the 16^th prox.

Geewhilikens P. Smith, of the reform party, passed through here last night on his “grand round” through the border counties. He was surprised to learn that the “farmers,” “reformers,” “independents,” etc., did not recognize in him a Moses, so he did not attempt to speak in Winfield, but passed on to his next appointment, probably repeating to himself Moore’s:

’Twas ever thus from childhood’s hours,

I’ve seen my fondest hopes decay.

At any rate I’ve not heard from him since and only give this as a supposition. Until I hear from him or some other subject that will interest you, I am MAGNET.

GEN. MILES’ EXPEDITION.

He Has a Fight with the Cheyennes and Gives Them a Sound Drubbing.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 10, 1874.

The following dispatch has been received from Gen. Miles at the department headquarters at Fort Leavenworth.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON RED RIVER, TEXAS, August 31, 1874.

To Gen. Pope, Commanding Department of the Missouri:

The command has followed the confederated and hostile Indians for seven days, from Sweetwater to the headwaters of the south branch of the Red river, making rapid marches and gaining steadily on them until yesterday, when they turned, made an attack, and were repulsed. They retreated to a strong position, displaying a force of 500 warriors. The troops had made extraordinary efforts, and endured every privation in their energetic and rapid pursuit. They marched 65 miles; they came up to the attack in splendid spirits, and without a halt, went into the fight. The cavalry, artillery, and infantry were all in, and the Indians, who appeared very brave at first, broke and ran in every direction. Whenever they made a stand, they were charged and routed.

For one hundred and ten miles, from Sweetwater to Staked Plains, their line of retreat is strewn with abandoned property and broken down animals. They have burned their villages during the fight. We have trailed small parties out on the “Llanos Estacado” and may follow them across. The command is in excellent spirits and in good condition. This is a terrible country for campaigning; a series of arid plains, ragged bluffs, and deep canyons, and almost destitute of water.

NELSON A. MILES, Brevet Maj.-Gen. U. S. A., commanding.

FROM THE FRONT.

Indians Harassing the Rear of General Miles’ Command.

A Teamster Killed by Cheyennes.

Scouts Fight Their Way Through Hostile Indians.

Capture of a White Man Who Has Been Fifteen Years With the Comanches.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 15, 1874.

CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., September 10, 1874.

From Our Own Correspondent.

The Indians have appeared in large numbers on General Miles’ trail between here and Red river. A party of about one hundred showed themselves at the crossing of Commission creek, some fifty miles from here, on the evening of the 7^th, and killed a teamster belonging to Jack Callahan’s train, which was on the way from General Miles’ command to meet a supply train from this post. The name of the teamster killed is Arthur Moore. He is from Wichita, where his parents reside. He was out from camp a few hundred yards when the Indians came upon him. He was scalped and literally riddled with bullets. His brother was within a few hundred yards of him when he was shot, but could render him no assistance.

It is expected that Callahan’s train will experience considerable difficulty in reaching the command, as the Indians are now all along the route. These are thought to be the Indians who lately burned the buildings at the Wichita agency.

Lieut. Baldwin and three of his scouts have just arrived from General Miles’ headquarters. They fought their way through, killing four Indians and capturing one white man. He has been with the Indians for fifteen years and speaks very poor English. He belongs to the Comanches. The Indians are burning the prairie in every direction. It is thought they have got their families out of the way, and have now come back to harass General Miles’ rear. T.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM DODGE CITY.

The Indian Business Getting Warm.—One Man Shot.

They are Too Strong for the Military Force Sent Out Against Them.

Reinforcements Ordered and More Quakers Asked For.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 17, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

Dodge City, Kas., Sept. 16.—The Indian business is getting thick out here. Henro Setler was shot today within eight miles of this place. He is not fatally wounded. He reports twenty-five Indians in the party.

Lieutenant King, who left here yesterday, has just sent in for reinforcements. He found the Indians too strong for his command. Hanrahan and Walters are with him. Col. Oakes has sent every available man to reinforce King. Send us more Quakers. FOSTER.

FROM THE FIELD.

Gen. Miles’ Indian Expedition.

The Utter and Disastrous Route of the Indians.

The Fight on Red River.

Desolate Condition of the Country.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, September 17, 1874.

CAMP ON RED RIVER, TEXAS, September 4, 1874.

My last letter was dated on the Washita. At that time only a few scattering Indians had been seen, and they were evidently watching the movements of the expedition. From the Washita the march southward was continued. Lieutenant Baldwin, with his scouts and a detachment of the Sixth cavalry, made a detour to the right, going up the Washita twenty or twenty-five miles and then across to Sweetwater, and down that to the command. Here the trail of the Indians was struck, and from the number of camps along its banks, there must have been a very large force of them. Everything indicated a hasty flight, and on the following morning, the 27^th of August, the pursuit was commenced in earnest. The trail led southwest from Sweetwater. The Indians had deserted their camps about two days before Gen. Miles’ arrival, and had considerable of a start. The supply train, with a sufficient guard, was left behind and the cavalry, artillery, and two companies of infantry took up the pursuit. No resistance was met with until the command reached a point about six miles north of Red river, when it was attacked by from five to seven hundred Indians, who had formed a line and suddenly jumped upon Lieutenant Baldwin’s scouts, who were in the advance. The Indians came over the hill, whooping, yelling, and firing. The scouts, numbering about thirty, Delawares and whites, were at once dismounted and commenced pouring lead into the charging redskins, and in a few minutes they were charging back with greater rapidity than they advanced. The scouts drove them about two miles, where the main body was posted. In the meantime Gen. Miles came up with the command, and the Indians were driven from their chosen positions, which seemed almost impregnable, six or eight miles across Red river. A running fight was kept up all the time. Twenty-five dead Indians were found on the field after the fight, and they were seen to carry off as many more. The casualties on our side were few, only three men being wounded, none killed: Michael Bartley, Co. F, 6^th cavalry, shot in left leg; Young Martin, Delaware, struck with spear in head; Geo. Everett, Delaware, bullet wound in face. When it is remembered what advantages the Indians had, being concealed behind rocks and bluffs, and our men being in plain view of them all the time, the small list of casualties is remarkable. The Indians were armed with spears, Spencer’s, and needle guns, and did poor execution. They were supposed to be principally Cheyennes, with a few Kiowas and Comanches. Our Delawares behaved in a manner to elicit the commendation of everybody. Insinuations had been thrown out that they would not fight, but would run at the first sight of a wild Indian, but they disproved the charge at the first opportunity, and were always foremost in the advance, eager for the fray. They were commanded by one of their number, Captain Fall-leaf. Everybody is proud of the Delawares now. They took a number of scalps. There were numerous instances of personal bravery all round. Major Compton’s battalion swept the heights on the right, while Major Biddle, with Lieut. Baldwin’s scouts, cleared those on the left. Captain Chaffee, with Co. I, of the 6^th, leading everything in charging a hill covered with redskins. How they escaped annihilation—as the Indians were shooting at them until they were near the crest—is a wonder. Lieut. Pope’s battery did good work and deserves a notice. The Gatling guns worked to perfection, and when they commenced to vomit lead into the ranks of the “Ikinnewahs,” they retreated in the greatest confusion. The ten-pound Parrott also comes in for its share of praise. It blowed several Indians into the cool, and behaved itself well through the fight.

The Indians retreated north of Red river, and on to the “staked plains.” The route from where the trail was first discovered to Red river bore evidence of a hasty and confused exit. Lodge poles, beds, cooking utensils, camp equipage, etc., were seen all along the route. They also abandoned a great many ponies. Their main camps or villages were on the Sweetwater and Black rivers, south of the Canadian. From these points they made their forays toward the Arkansas. They were evidently fixed to fight on that line all summer, provided they were not molested. Here were their council houses and medicine lodges, adorned with scalps taken from citizens of Kansas and other states. Their houses, or lodges, are about as large as an ordinary side show. In these the Indians hold their councils, make medicine, have war dances, and gloat over the number of white men they have murdered.

Gen. Miles’ command is now camped on Red river, Texas, about three hundred miles south of Fort Dodge, awaiting the arrival of supplies. Everything has to be hauled by wagon from Dodge, through sand hills and across mountains almost impassable. The entire distance is a succession of hills, ravines, and canyons, and at Red river it took eight mules to pull the empty wagons, returning from the command, up some of the hills. This remarkable march, through this mountainous, sandy region, has been accomplished with the loss of scarcely an animal and not a single man. The water of Red river and its tributaries is horrible and unfit for use. It is bitter and salty, and its enervating effects are beginning to show on the men. If you will take some salt and quinine and mix it with warm water, you will have a fair sample of the kind we are forced to use.

As we advanced southward I had hoped to note some improvement in the country, but our expectations have not been realized. Instead of improvement it grows worse, until the staked plains are reached. It is nothing but sand, rocks, ravines, hills, canyons, with scarcely enough vegetation, outside of the creek bottoms, to subsist a good-sized Kansas grasshopper.

Nothing has been heard of Major Price, who left Fort Union, New Mexico, in August, with four companies of the eighth cavalry, to join Gen. Miles. He was expected to meet him at Antelope Hills on the 19^th ult. Gen. Miles has had scouts out, all the time, but they can find no trace of Price.

The Indians have appeared in General Miles’ rear, and will no doubt harass the trains going to and from the command. They attacked two scouts at the crossing of Sweetwater on the evening of the 3^rd. The scouts showed a bold front, and by making a little circuit, succeeded in passing, and reached Camp Supply without further molestation.

Three of Gen. Miles’ scouts, sent out on the 26^th of August to communicate with Major Price, have returned, minus horses, and no news concerning that officer’s command. They traveled over three hundred miles, mostly by night, when their horses gave out, and they had to take it afoot. They were followed by Indians for three days, but finally eluded them and came in.

A supply camp is to be established at Antelope Hills, on the Canadian, for the use of the expedition. Several large trains laden with forage and commissary stores, are now on the way from Fort Dodge. Others will succeed them. Antelope Hills are about seventy-five miles south of Supply, on the line of Texas and the Indian Territory. It is very likely that a permanent post will be established here to facilitate operations against the hostile Indians. An excellent stream of clear running water, with good grass, is found near the hills. As this is about the only good water to be had on the route, it has been christened Oasis creek. The utility of good water is never appreciated until you have drank salt and alkali for a month or so. T.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM DODGE CITY.

Gen. Miles Has a Hard Battle With the Indians.

Twenty-seven Wounded Received at Camp Supply.

Miles Falls Back for Supplies.

King Pushing the Red Skins Splendidly.

The Leavenworth “Commercial’s” Canard.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, September 18, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

Dodge City, Kan., Sept. 17.—No Indian troubles today to the west of us. R. M. Bright has just arrived from Camp Supply and reports a hard fight between Gen. Miles command and the Indians. Twenty-seven wounded had already been received at Supply. The number of killed is unknown. Gen. Miles has been compelled to fall back one hundred miles to meet supplies.

Hon. James Hanrahan has just arrived from King’s command. King is pushing the redskins splendidly.

The account of the Pierceville burning, in the Leavenworth Commercial, is too absurd to be credited anywhere. FOSTER.

FROM BARBOUR COUNTY.

Further Indian Depredations.

A Party of Hunters Attacked.—Five Indians Killed.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, September 18, 1874.

SUN CITY, KANSAS, September 15, 1874.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

News has just been brought into this place by Mr. Joel Patterson, a buffalo hunter, who is counted a reliable man in this place, that he was encamped with three others on Cavalry creek close to its mouth, where it empties into Bluff creek in Comanche County. They saw a large herd of buffalo in the morning about three miles south of camp. They started after them, but had gone but a short distance when they heard a number of shots fired on the other side of the divide. They went to the top of it and saw what they supposed were, and what afterwards proved to be, Indians firing at something hidden from their sight in the ravine. After watching them some fifteen or twenty minutes, during which time a great number of shots were fired, they saw the party retreat, pursued by another party, which they soon found were white men. They saw three Indians fall over in their saddles, but suppose they were carried off by the other Indians, as they were not seen afterwards. Mr. Patterson, with his men, started for the scene of action and found that the victors were Capt. Collins and thirty men who had started out on a scout and to hunt for the bodies of Mr. Griffin and son, Mr. Dasher, Mr. Bowles, and Mr. Young, who were killed near the Cimarron about ten days ago while hunting buffalo. Capt. Collins’ party were attacked just as they were getting ready to leave camp. The Indians fired on them just as they were about to mount. Capt. Collins’ mule was shot from under him just as he was fairly seated in the saddle. He mounted another, rallied his men, and charged on them, firing as they went. The Indians ran a short distance, then made another stand, but Collins’ needle guns were too much for them. They broke again and ran. Capt. Collins’ losses were slight, as but two men were wounded, and those but slightly. After stopping a few moments to detail a guard for his supplies, Collins, with the rest of his men, started in pursuit of the “Lo’s.” Five Indians were knocked off their ponies near the camp, shot dead. Two of them were Osages, two Kiowas, and one Cheyenne. The Cheyenne had a white woman’s scalp hanging to his belt. The last that Mr. Patterson saw of Collins, he was giving the Indians a hot chase, and probably we shall hear from that quarter again in a day or two. Mr. Patterson thinks there were about forty Indians from different tribes.

Capt. Bowles has just sent out a party of his men, after a party of eight Indians that were seen two miles east of town by one of our citizens, who was out hunting for his cow in the woods. The man and Indians must have seen each other about the same time, as they did not fire at him until he started his horse on the run for town. He says they fired three shots at him. He did not stop to ask what tribe they belonged do, but thinks they were some of Gibson’s “Sunday school scholars.” We are expecting warm times down here this fall with the Indians. J. M. H.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM DODGE CITY.

Gen. Miles Reported Surrounded.—His Supplies Insufficient.

The U. S. Surveying Parties Safe, etc.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, September 19, 1874.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS, September 18.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

From advices received here tonight, it seems that Gen. Miles is practically corralled: insufficient transportation is the cause. A large party of northern Indians crossed the A., T. & S. F. railroad west of here today, going south. They were in hostile attitude.

Capt. Armstrong’s surveying party has just arrived. They report Col. Moonlight all safe. Kansas must take care of herself if the Quakers don’t. FOSTER.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Warm Work on the Frontier.

A Five Days’ Fight with Indians.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, September 19, 1874.

WARM WORK ON THE BORDER.

New York, Sept. 18.—A correspondent in the camp on the Washita river telegraphs that a supply train for Gen. Miles’ expedition, in charge of Maj. Lyman of the 5^th infantry, with one company of infantry and twenty men of the 5^th cavalry, commanded by Lieut. West, was corralled on the Washita river on the 9^th inst., by from 400 to 500 Comanches and Kiowas. After a fight of five days, the Indians were repulsed with a loss of from twenty-five to thirty killed. Lieut. Lewis of the 5^th infantry was badly wounded in the left leg. Two men were killed and five wounded.

Major Price, of the 8^th cavalry, defeated a large party of Comanches on the 15^th inst., five miles south, killing several. Lt. Baldwin and three Sioux, with dispatches for supplies, got through after a desperate fight, killing five Indians and capturing a white man and renegade.

On the 12^th, six couriers for supplies were surprised by 125 Comanches, on the Washita, and after a gallant defense and the loss of one of their number killed and all but two wounded, repulsed them with a loss of twelve killed.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM DODGE CITY.

Gen. Miles Beleaguered By Indians and His Supply Trains Cut Off.

A Train of Supplies in a State of Siege.

No Troops at Dodge to Send to His Relief.

It is Understood that Gen. Pope Cannot Send Him Reinforcements.

A Chance For the Kansas Militia.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, September 20, 1874.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS, September 19, 1874.

Special Correspondence of the Commonwealth:

Scouts who have just arrived report the condition of Gen. Miles’ command as deplorable, that his supplies are cut off, and all supply trains either captured or corralled. If the reports which the scouts bring in are true, his command is in a critical situation. Callahan’s train, which left Camp Supply on Sunday with supplies, is stopped, and is in a state of siege. There are no troops here to send to his relief. It is understood that Gen. Pope can furnish no further aid by way of either troops or transportation. Is it not time that Kansas was in this fight herself? What says the legislative fathers?

Judge W. R. Brown opened the political campaign last night. He takes the position that the revolution in Louisiana is a new development of the reform movement. He goes for Cusey.

FROM WICHITA.

Letter from Agent John D. Miles.

Two Cattle Herders Killed by Indians.

One of the Bodies Found.—One of Them a Citizen of Kansas.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, September 20, 1874.

WICHITA, September 19, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

John D. Miles, United States Indian agent, writes from Darlington, I. T., under date Sept. 15^th, as follows: “C. M. Monahan and Edward O’Leary, herders, left this agency on the 9^th inst., in search of lost cattle. Failing to return, search was instituted and has been kept up until today. The body of Monahan was found fifteen miles west of George Washington’s, on the Canadian river. A part of the personal effects of O’Leary were with Monahan; we expect to find the remains in the same vicinity. They were killed by Indians. Indians were seen in that vicinity yesterday. O’Leary’s folks reside at Aubrey, Johnson County, Kansas, and Monahan’s at Independence, Missouri.

BY TELEGRAPH.

WASHINGTON.

Louisiana Calm and Serene.

A Briton Obtains His Pay.

Trial Set for the Safe Robbers.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

(The following telegram has been received at the war department from Gen. Emory.)

HEADQUARTERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE GULF.

NEW ORLEANS, September 20, 1874.

To the Adjutant General of the Unites States Army:

Yesterday the state authorities replaced the temporary police force by the regular police force of the city. It was feared that this change might cause some disturbance, and troops were posted at various points in the vicinity, but the night passed quietly. I think this may be taken as evidence that the surrender was complete and in good faith, for by the peculiarity of the law of Louisiana, the police force of this city is organized under state law and is under the direct control of the governor.

Signed, W. H. EMORY, Col. and Brevet Maj. Gen. Commanding.

PAYING DEBTS.

Washington, Sept. 21. Today Mr. Wilson, British charge de affaires, and Mr. Howard, the agent appointed by the British government, called at the state department and were paid $1,929,819 gold, less two and a half per cent, allowed for expenses, being the award to the bridge claimants by the mixed commission under the Washington treaty of 1873.

THE SAFE ROBBERS.

Washington, Sept. 21. The criminal court today fixed the trial of persons indicted for being concerned in the safe robbery and conspiracy for October 20^th, and refused to grant a motion to try them separately. Beatty, who was under indictment, did not appear to give bail as he promised, nor has he yet given bail elsewhere. Benton, who recently forfeited his bail, cannot be found.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Gen. Miles’ Command All Right.

Late Exaggerated Reports Corrected.

The Reason Why Longstreet Surrendered.

Progress of the Brooklyn Scandal Suits.

The Irish Team on a Pleasure Tour.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

EXPLOSION OF A CANARD.

Chicago, Sept. 21. The special dispatches sent out from Quincy last night, concerning Indian depredations near Camp Supply, Indian Territory, saying that Col. Miles had been compelled to fall back to meet his supplies; that he had telegraphed Gen. Pope for reinforcements; that one large supply train of thirty-six wagons had been captured, the assistant wagon master killed and the men compelled to abandon the train after a desperate resistance, bringing 27 wounded into camp; that 300 stand of arms, together with large ammunition and commissary stores had fallen into the hands of the savages, and that the eighth cavalry had come in from Arizona entirely destitute, having lost all their supply and baggage trains, and joined Col. Miles’ command, are proven, on inquiry at headquarters here, not to be true, or with so little foundation as to be virtually a canard.

From official dispatches, received by Lt. Gen. Sheridan this morning, the real facts are obtained and will be found in the associated press. Colonel Miles, in a dispatch dated the 5^th inst., seventy-five miles south of Red river, advised Gen. Pope that he should fall back for supplies. His dispatch received by Gen. Sheridan today is dated from camp on Washita river, September 14, and came via Fort Dodge, leaving there on the 17^th inst. He says:

“I find that after leaving the Canadian river, Maj. Lyman, commanding the escort to the supply train, was attacked by from 300 to 400 Indians, on the morning of the 9^th inst. The Indians charged the train several times and made every effort to capture it, fighting so determinedly as to detain it for three days. The fight was very close and the train completely surrounded. On the third day the Indians abandoned the attack, retreating southwest.

“From all the information I can get here since my arrival, I believe they formed no part of the body we drove off the Staked Plains. They were believed to have been led by Satanta and Big Tree. During the fight Lieutenant Lewis, of the Fifty infantry, was severely wounded in the knee. Sergeant Deadmond, company I, Fifth infantry, was killed. Sergeant Single, Sixth cavalry, private Buck, Fifth infantry, and wagon master Sanford, were wounded, the latter mortally. Officers estimated the number of Indians killed at fifteen, the wounded at many more. Private Pettijohn, of the Sixth cavalry, was killed near camp, on McClellan creek, on the 11^th.

“Lieutenant Baldwin will have informed you of his successful encounter with the Indians while coming in as bearer of dispatches. Part of the force that attacked Major Lyman, attacked a party of the Sixth cavalry bearing dispatches, who entrenched themselves in the sand, and after a desperate fight lasting all day, in which one courier was killed and four wounded, they compelled the Indians to retire, having killed twelve. Whenever we have fought them, they have been severely punished with comparatively slight loss on our side. The rivers to the south are now so swollen as to be impassable for wagons. I am building a bridge across the Wichita. The cavalry were obliged to swim their horses on returning. The march back was even more difficult than the advance, even with Indians in our front, owing to the terrible continuous rains which flooded the streams and made the roads almost impassable, from which facts as well as because but half the forage was furnished and the Indians having destroyed much of the grass, the animals have come in exhausted and somewhat worn down.

“The command now occupies the valleys of McClellan creek, Sweetwater, and Washita rivers. Maj. Price’s command is camped near acting independently.”

Gen. Pope, in a communication enclosing Col. Miles’ report, says Miles has force enough to beat any Indians that can be met.

THE REASON WHY.

New Orleans, Sept. 21. Gen. James Longstreet, commander in chief of Kellogg’s army, says the reason that the statehouse and arsenals were surrendered for want of ammunition to defend them, and places the responsibility on Attorney General Field, who enjoined the militia appropriation of $20,000 made by the last legislature.

DIBBLE GETS IN A SHOT.

Gen. Dibble, in a letter to the Picayune, says he fired two shots from a window in the custom house at those who deliberately fired at him while standing there looking on, but taking no part in the fight last Monday.

THE SCANDAL SUITS.

New York, Sept. 21. Moulton appeared in the United States marshal’s office, Brooklyn, today, and accepted the service of a capias in the Proctor suit. The case comes before Judge Benedict tomorrow when nominal bail will be accepted.

No notice of trial is yet filed in the clerk’s office of the circuit court, Brooklyn, in the libel suit of Tilton vs. Beecher.

THE IRISH VISITORS.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin said the Irish Team will be given an excursion by the city authorities Thursday and a public reception at the city hall. Representative men of Brooklyn have tendered them a dinner.

FOREIGN.

Dockery Cruelly Treated in Spain.

A Threatened Riot in Aspinwall.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

THREATENED RIOT.

Aspinwall, Sept. 20. A serious riot, attended with bloodshed, took place here this afternoon between Italians in the employ of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and troops on duty here. It appears that one of the soldiers, unarmed, was on the wharf and was chased off by some of the Italians, who threw stones at him. On arriving at his quarters, he reported the case, when an officer and six men went at once to the wharf to arrest those who had made the assault. On arriving at the gates, one of the Italians fired two pistol shots at the troops without result, when a volley was fired in return, which mortally wounded one of the Italians and seriously wounded a Jamaica negro.

Excitement is intense and additional troops have been sent for to keep the peace. California passengers who arrived just after the occurrence were placed safely on board the steamer Acapulco. That no more were hurt is wonderful as a volley was fired just outside the gate and directly up the wharf. Mr. Corwine, general agent, Commodore Gray, and Superintendent Thompson were just outside the line of the fire and the wharf was filled with laborers. Matters are now quiet, but troops will be welcome.

DOCKERY CRUELLY TREATED.

London, Sept. 21. Fred Dockery, the American arrested in Cuba by the Spanish authorities, has reached Santander, where he is said to have been imprisoned and cruelly treated.

CRIMES.—CASUALTIES.

Pittsburgh Visited by a Fire.

The Hot Springs Robbers Corralled.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

ROBBERS CORRALLED.

Hot Springs, Ark., Sept. 21. One of the party in pursuit of the stage robbers returned for reinforcements last night, reporting that the pursuit became so hot that the robbers took to the mountains, forty miles from this place, where they now are. He saw them just before they left the road, and says their horses were completely used up and could not go further. The citizens of the whole country around have joined in the pursuit; and when the courier left, the robbers were entirely surrounded. A party of recruits left at midnight for the scene of action, and it is probable that the party have all been killed or captured by this time.

A BLAZE IN PITTSBURGH.

Pittsburgh, Sept. 21. A cigar store, grocery, saloon, dwelling, boarding house, and the ferry house situated at the end of the Panhandle railroad bridge and three span of that bridge burned at two o’clock this morning. Loss not yet ascertained.

POSTMASTER ARRESTED.

Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 21. Rev. Westry, the pretty man of a northern church, postmaster at Marietta, Georgia, was arrested and brought here today for embezzlement and other penal violations of the postoffice laws. Bail was fixed at $2,000.

FROM CAMP SUPPLY.

The Corralling of Callahan’s Train.

The Country Alive with Indians.

Killing and Wounding of White Men.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., September 12, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

One of Gen. Miles’ scouts has just come in and reports that Callahan’s train, loaded with supplies for the command, has been corralled about two miles north of Washita. Col. Lewis, commanding this post, has ordered company K, of the Sixth cavalry, and a detachment of infantry to their rescue. Gen. Miles’ command was on Red river, some one hundred and twenty-five miles further south, but as his rations were nearly out, it is very likely that he is moving to meet the supply train. One soldier with Callahan’s train was killed, one officer wounded, and two citizens wounded. Jas. Sandford, Callahan’s assistant, was shot through the abdomen. Several mules had been killed, and a number wounded. The train is entirely cut off from water.

A night-herder of Messrs. Lee & Reynolds was shot by Indians at their hay camp, fifteen miles west of this point, last evening.

The whole country is alive with Indians, and more troops will be needed to squelch them.

T.

FROM THE FIELD.

Brave Defense of a Beleaguered Supply Train.

ACTS OF SPLENDID HEROISM.

Gen. Miles Returns to the Washita to Meet Supplies.

Colonel Price Arrives With His Battalion.

The Plains Swarming With Indians.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS, September 16.

From Our Own Correspondent.

The company of cavalry sent from Camp Supply to the relief of Callahan’s train reached here at 3 o’clock yesterday morning. The company halted six miles from where the train was corralled and seven citizen scouts ran the blockade, under cover of night, and informed the beleaguered party that had been held here for five days and nights, and three days without a drop of water for man or beast. The Indians kept up a constant fire day and night. One man was killed just as the train was being corralled. The Indians had been watching this train from the time it left the command at Red river, and killed one man belonging to it at Commission creek. It was attacked the second day on the return immediately after crossing the Canadian river. The escort, consisting of forty infantry and twenty cavalry, under command of Capt. Lyman, fought them for ten miles, when the Indians were reinforced and they were forced to corral under a terrific fire from all sides. So confident were the Indians of capturing the entire outfit that they dug rifle pits within fifty yards of the wagons. Over one hundred of these were counted. The whole number is estimated between four and five hundred. Nine head of beef cattle intended for the command were stampeded, and sixteen head of mules were wounded and had to be killed.

In this attack one man was killed and three wounded. The conduct of our men against such fearful odds deserves the highest praise. The Indians kept up a continuous fire for three days and nights, during which time no water or feed could be had, notwithstanding they were within a few hundred yards.

The mules were reduced to skeletons from want of water and grass.

Yesterday morning the train moved out, the Indians having left in the night; but they had only gone a mile or two before Gen. Miles’ command was seen approaching from the south. The men were out of rations and the sight of the supply train had the effect to revive their drooping spirits wonderfully.

The expedition is now encamped on the Washita, about fifteen miles south of the Canadian. The Indians that have been engaging the attention of the troops along General Miles’ trail are thought to be Kiowas and Comanches, reinforced by those lately in his front. They cannot be drawn into an open engagement with the troops, but will pick up isolated parties, make dashes on supply trains, and carry on a general guerrilla warfare, for which the country is admirably adapted.

Major Price, with four companies of the eighth cavalry, joined Gen. Miles’ command on the 7^th. They had been traveling for thirty-five days, having started from Fort Union, New Mexico. They were out of supplies and glad to meet us. They encountered no Indians on their march until they struck Miles’ trail leading to Red river, when they had several lively brushes with them.

The command will probably remain here for awhile to recuperate, as the stock are pretty well played out and need rest. They have been on the go since the 11^th of August. A good many horses have been killed or abandoned on the march.

The progress of this campaign has unfolded qualities of heroism and endurance seldom equaled. As an instance, I will mention the following: On the 9^th inst., Amos Chapman and William Dickson, two of Lieut. Baldwin’s scouts, left the command in company with four soldiers, with dispatches for Camp Supply. They got along all right until the morning of the second day, when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by about one hundred and fifty Indians, and all chances of escape cut off. The only alternative left for the boys was to prepare for the worst, and to sell their lives as dearly as possible. So dismounting they succeeded in keeping the Indians at bay until they dug rifle pits, in which to shelter themselves. The Indians were now closing in upon them and their fate seemed decided. One of the number had been killed and three wounded. The other two had their clothing perforated with bullets. Some of the redskins dismounted and crawled up to within twenty-five yards of the men, and the ground around them was plowed with bullets. In this terrible condition, with one dead comrade whom they could not bury, and three others wounded, our little band remained for two days and nights without food, the horrors of their situation being augmented by a drenching rain. Three companies of the 8^th cavalry happened to run on them in search of their supply train, and gave them relief. Had it not been for this God-send, the fate of the entire party would only have been a question of a little time.

The survivors were brought in yesterday and their wounds properly dressed. They are doing well and will be all right in a short time. Chapman’s leg will probably have to be amputated. The other wounds were not of so serious a nature.

The following is a list of the killed and wounded in the various engagements.

Killed: Sergeant William DeArman, Co. I, 5^th infantry; G. W. Smith, J. H. Pettijohn, Co. M, 6^th cavalry; S. W. Moore, teamster.

Wounded: Lieut. Granville Lewis, 5^th infantry, knee; D. R. Buck, Co. I,5th infantry, head; Sergeant Frank Singleton, Co. A, 6^th cavalry, knee; John Harrington, Co. H, 6^th cavalry, thigh; Amos Chapman, scout, leg; James L. Stanford, assistant wagon master, abdomen. Several soldiers are missing and it is feared that they have been killed.

The Indians that were here have moved southwest, in the direction of the Staked Plains. Gen. Miles sent out scouting parties on to the Plains, but they found no Indians. The trails all led in the direction of the Guadalupe mountains.

What direction the expedition will take from here, I am not prepared to say. The pursuit to Red river was certainly not satisfactory, although the Indians were driven from every point. The stock must have rest, and a new supply obtained. T.

THE LATE JUDGE CURTIS.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

Judge Benjamin R. Curtis, recently deceased, was born at Watertown, Massachusetts, Nov. 4^th, 1809, and graduated in 1829 at Harvard. On the death of Justice Woodbury, in September 1851, he was appointed by President Fillmore to the supreme bench of the United States. He is the author of a large number of original legal treatises and important and useful compilations and digests. Finding his salary insufficient, Judge Curtis retired from the supreme bench in 1857, and resumed the practice of his profession in Boston. He was one of the counsel of President Johnson, in the impeachment trial, and won national and world-wide fame for his profound and masterly argument on that occasion. Save as a member for one or two terms of the Massachusetts house of representatives, he never held a political office, and resisted the most flattering inducements to enter politics. A Boston dispatch gives the following additional details of the great jurist’s career.

“Judge Curtis was one of the highest scholars in the famous class of 1829, whose achievements have so often been told in verse by Holmes, and in his college days, was remarkable for maturity of character and clearness of intellect. Even in those days his statement of a case was of singular force and perspicuity. It was hardly necessary to argue a question in a college debating society after he had started it. He graduated with high honors at commencement and entered the law school, where his high talents were at once recognized. He was a member of the corporation of Harvard college from 1846 to 1851, when he was appointed to the supreme bench. Mr. Curtis resigned his position on the supreme bench because he felt it necessary to provide for his family. His law practice has been one of the most lucrative in New England, though he has studiously kept aloof from politics. He was the democratic candidate in the protracted senatorial contest of last year, and no candidate found a more unwavering support. He was also a member of the commission on the new charter. His name was frequently mentioned in connection with the chief-Justiceship before the appointment of Judge Waite. He was thrice married and leaves children by each wife.”

DESTITUTION IN NEBRASKA.

Proclamation of the Governor Appointing a Relief Committee.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

Gov. Furnass of Nebraska has issued a proclamation appointing twenty citizens a state committee to receive donations and care for the needs of the suffering. In his proclamation he thus speaks of the crop prospects in the state.

“As governor of the state, no power is in me vested to provide for the relief of those among our citizens who have lost their crops this season. The money in the treasury cannot be applied to the purpose, however urgent the need. But I have taken a deep interest in the matter, and have endeavored to learn all of the facts. It is a subject for gratitude that, notwithstanding the unfavorable agricultural year, the state as a whole has reaped a fair harvest. Though our corn crop has been greatly damaged by grasshoppers, and also by the drouth, which as affected the whole country, we have saved our wheat, and generally other drops, and there is nothing in the event of the year to retard the progress of the state. But the poorer immigrants push west. They settle on the frontier; and, by the necessity of the case, several years must elapse before they can cease their dependence upon corn as the staple crop. This year’s visitation, therefore, falls on the frontier counties with particular force. Numbers of our citizens there resident, in losing the bulk of their corn, lose their year’s labor; and they have not the means to maintain themselves and their families during the coming winter without outside help. They must be aided or they must quit the country.”

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

Senator Ingalls cordially approves the action of President Grant in the Louisiana troubles, and thinks the country is fortunate in having a chief executive who possesses the courage and decision to act with promptness and determination. He inclines to the belief that a vacillating or timid policy on the part of the president would have plunged other southern states into revolution and anarchy. Leavenworth Commercial.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

Treasurer Spinner has just received from a Kentucky correspondent a $10 United States bank note, signed by Nicholas Biddle. It is sixty years old.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

A medallion of John Wesley is to be placed in Westminster Abbey, and under it a representation in bas relief of Wesley preaching on his father’s grave.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

Prof. Sewall, of Bowdoin college, has raised $75,000 of the sum needed for that institution, and says that the prospect is bright for securing the remainder.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, September 22, 1874.

The Mennonites have just built a new church in Philadelphia. Besides this, there are two other congregations in that city.

THREATENING INDIAN NEWS.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

It is only a question of time when the Osage Indians will attempt to revenge the severe punishment they received at the hands of the citizen soldiery of Bourbon County, several weeks ago. Recent reports have been received, indicating that they were contemplating a foray. Captain Norton, of the mounted militia of Arkansas City, telegraphs that a party of about sixty-five young Big Hill Osage braves crossed the Arkansas river north of Salt Fork, Friday, the 18^th, and crossed the Fort Sill trail on Sunday, the 27^th, near Skeleton creek, going west, probably bound for the country between Mule creek and the Camp Supply road, to operate on the Medicine Lodge settlement.

Attorney General Morris ordered couriers along the line to apprize the Sun City and Medicine Lodge militia companies, under Captains Ricker and Collins, of the suspected invasion. It is believed that the young Osages are meditating an alliance with the small bands of Cheyennes and Comanches known to be in Clarke County and the region roundabout. These latter savages are the perpetrators of the recent outrages in the extreme southwest, the killing of Capt. Thrasher’s surveyors, and the five buffalo hunters from Reno County. Capt. Collins writes that he has just found the bodies of these hunters in the southwestern part of Clarke County. They were found scalped and mutilated, their horses shot, and their wagons rifled. Capt. Collins brought in one of the wagons. These men were killed on the 1^st of September under the following circumstances: A party of ten hunters from Reno County went out southwest of Dodge in search of buffalo, in the vicinity of where the Lawrence surveyors were killed. They divided themselves into two hunting parties, of five each, and met with excellent success. Each party was provided with three wagons, and had them about filled. Two herds of buffalo came in sight on the 1^st of September, and both parties started, intending to complete their loads of hides by that day’s hunt. One party never came in, and on returning to camp, the other five discovered evidence of their murder by Indians. They waited for their companions for a few days, and returned sorrowfully home. Captain Collins’ scouts discovered Indians fourteen miles away, but owing to their being short of ammunition and supplies, did not continue the pursuit. These Indians are still in the southwestern part of the state, and as the regular soldiers have all been taken away from the border to furnish escorts for supply trains, the militia must be relied on to protect our frontier settlements.

The obtaining of arms from the federal government by Gov. Osborn is, therefore, very opportune just now. As to the particular band of Osages above referred to, Gen. Pope sends word to Gov. Osborn that he has heard that they number but forty-three, and that efforts are being made to induce them to return to their reservation. The other band (of Cheyennes and Comanches) recently received a very severe lesson from Captain Collins, in an engagement which was graphically reported in the COMMONWEALTH at the time, which occurred shortly after the murder of the Reno County hunters, and in which five Indians bit the dust. If, however, the Osages succeed in joining their forces with the wild tribes now on the warpath, the Kansas militia may have some serious work to do.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

Mr. Dawes is soon to receive a letter from influential republicans of his district asking him to reconsider his determination not to be a candidate for congress again.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

Fernando Wood knows how to tackle a blackmailer. The man who worked up a scheme on him last June has been sent to the penitentiary this fall.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

The Sultan intends to appoint his eldest son to the chief command of the army, and this is a step preliminary to declaring him heir to the throne, contrary to an immemorial precedent for the order of succession.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

There will be no more state elections until October 13^th, when Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska will elect state officers and members of congress. These states have forty-four representatives in congress.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

The empress of Austria, during her recent visit to England, expressed her admiration of the horses she saw in the hunting fields. The earl of Dudley thereupon begged her to accept as a present his favorite hunter, which, in consequence, has since gone to Vienna. It is a splendid animal, valued at 800 guineas.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 2, 1874.

An exhibition of insects was opened in the Tuileries Garden in Paris the other day. The insects are divided into two classes—those which are useful and those which are injurious. The bee and the silkworm occupy prominent places in the exhibition. In an adjoining building are insectivorous birds.

FROM BARBOUR COUNTY.

Finding the Dead Bodies of Buffalo Hunters.

Capt. Collins’ Scout.

Indians Still Lurking on the Border.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 3, 1874.

SUN CITY, BARBOUR CO., September 28, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

A courier arrived here last night from Capt. Collins’ company, which was encamped on Bluff creek when he left on their return from their hunt for the missing bodies of those five citizens of Reno County, who were killed by the Indians about four weeks ago. He states that they found the bodies of Mr. Crippen and his son, Mr. Dasher, Mr. Boles, and Mr. Kemp in the southwestern portion of Clark County south of Cimarron river. They were horribly mutilated, Mr. Boles being shot through the heart with a bullet, and two arrows through the body. The old man Crippen was found with two arrows through his body, one passing through his heart, and two bullets through his head. James Crippen had two bullets through his body, and one through his head, and one arm broken. Mr. Kemp had one arrow through his body and a bullet in his head. Mr. Dasher, from all appearances, had sold his life dear to them, as he was found with one arm and one leg broken, and his head completely mashed. They had all been scalped and tomahawked. While they were burying the bodies, Indians were seen in the distance, and the men had to keep a sharp look out for an attack. They would have followed, but as it was raining hard and they had been out for a number of days, and being short of provisions and only thirty rounds of ammunition to the man, Capt. Collins thought best to return to town, and get more supplies. He will wait for the weather to clear up. W. H. PAGE.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 3, 1874.

Captain Norton, of Arkansas City, was recently bitten by a rattlesnake and had a narrow escape from death. He has entirely recovered.

The following item was written by Professor H. B. Norton from Emporia...

PRESBYTERIAN.

Report of the Proceedings at the Synod at Emporia.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

EMPORIA, KANSAS, October 3^rd, 1874.

The Annual Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Kansas convened upon Thursday evening, October 1^st. Forty members and ten elders were present. President Anderson, of Topeka, preached in his usual effective style. D. M. Moore, of Hutchinson, was elected Moderator, J. P. Harsen, of Wichita, permanent Clerk, and W. B. Carey, of Solomon, temporary Clerk.

Friday morning, the report of C. S. Martindale, agent of the Bible Union, was received. It was favorable. All destitute families of the State are to be supplied.

Atchison was chosen as the place of the next meeting, which will be upon the Wednesday preceding the first Thursday in October, 1875. Upon Friday afternoon, the Synod visited the State Normal School in a body, and seemed greatly pleased with the exercises of the students.

In the evening Rev. Dr. Cooper made a report upon the condition of the Freedmen, and urged that increased attention be paid to missionary work among them.

On Saturday T. Hill, the Synod Missionary, made a report, showing a large increase in the number of churches and members during the past year.

Some discussion concerning the Home Mission work followed. It is the understanding that Presbyterian and Congregational missionaries shall respect precedent occupation of territory.

Rev. Stratton and J. Ross Ramsey reported upon the Creek and Cherokee missions favorably. The synod resolved to give increased attention to this work.

The committee appointed to consider a report on temperance from the U. P. church urged increased action on the part of all Christians in behalf of this reform.

The following resolution was adopted.

Resolved, That the board of trustees of Highland university be instructed to institute measures as speedily as possible by which permanency of location and efficiency of building and endowment may be secured.

This resolution has reference to the existing dissatisfaction with the location of the school.

The matter of home missions received much attention. The following resolution was adopted.

Resolved, That in view of the magnitude of the work committed to the board of home missions, and the importance of evangelizing our own land, as a means of converting the world, the synod record its judgment that the contributions of the church at large for home work should be at least equal to the amount appropriated to foreign missions.

The committee on narrative, Rev. W. N. Page, chairman, reported, announcing that the state had suffered great calamities, but that the Christian cause seemed never more hopeful.

The synod, though the attendance was light, consisted of men of splendid personnel and of a high grade of culture. They are a power in Kansas. H. B. N.

COL. PHILLIPS AND THE SALARY GRAB.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874.

Col. Houston, of the Leavenworth Commercial, has one thing on the brain and is evidently as crazy over it as a Hindoo running amuck. In spite of a published card of Ex-Gov. Green protesting that he was not a candidate for congress, and a further announcement from him that he would support the whole ticket, Houston persists in presenting Green’s name for the position in an evident frantic desire to secure someone to divide the republican vote and elect Parrott. His efforts in this direction are so ludicrous as to be unworthy of any other attention than mere mention.

But he is likewise filling his columns daily with lies and misrepresentations of Col. Phillips’ congressional record, asserting at least four or five times in every issue that Phillips worked and voted against the repeal of the salary grab. A lie well stuck to is, sad to say, ofttimes as good as the truth, or at least it may serve a temporary end, in working an honest man’s undoing. The persistence of Col. Houston in a self-evident fabrication and the torturing of the records to its purpose, at last determined Col. Phillips to meet and forever quiet the story. This he has done in a letter printed elsewhere, which is his complete and satisfactory vindication from the charge upon which, above all others, the opposition to him have relied. This rejoinder, calm, good tempered and so palpably truthful and easily to be verified from the records, not only puts down this thrifty falsehood but it consigns a score more of similar invention and parentage to the same limbo. Col. Houston need no longer scatter his straw and rend his nether garments. Col. Phillips’ election is one of the absolute certainties vouchsafed by the future to the present.

THE SAME OLD LIE.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874.

From the Leavenworth Times.

The Commercial, in its issue of yesterday morning, publishes again the exploded lie about Col. Phillips voting against the repeal of the salary grab, and to sustain itself in the falsehood stoops to the dirtiest of all the dirty acts that it has committed in this campaign. It publishes the record of a vote taken in Congress upon another measure and calls it the vote on the repeal of the salary grab. To show the diabolical meanness of this thing, and the bare faced fraud of it, we have only to call the reader’s attention to the fact that in the record of the vote given by the Commercial, the name of Mr. Kasson, of Iowa, the especial champion of the repeal measure, is recorded in the negative, along with the names of all the members from Kansas.

While the bill to repeal was under consideration, numerous attempts were made by the opponents of the measure to kill it with substitutes and amendments—and Mr. Phillips voted steadily against all of these, along with Mr. Kasson, the leader of the repeal party in the house; and it is the record of one of these votes that the Commercial now resorts to fraud of the vilest character in order to prove away falsehoods of which it has been convicted. What must he thought of a public journal that resorts to such despicable means in order to gratify its personal malice?

KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE.

Seventh Annual Meeting.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 6, 1874.

The seventh annual meeting of the Kansas academy of science was opened yesterday in this city by a preliminary business meeting held in Dr. Thompson’s office.

The following members of the academy were present: Professors Frank Snow and F. W. Bardwell, of the state university, Lawrence; Prof. B. F. Mudge, Manhattan; Prof. J. D. Parker, of the blind asylum, Wyandotte; Mr. James H. Carruth, Lawrence; Dr. R. S. Brown, and Prof. Wherrell, Leavenworth; and Messrs. E. A. Popineau and A. H. Thompson, Topeka.

The following persons elected to membership were present: Prof. H. B. Norton, of the state normal school, Emporia; Rev. H. C. Hovey, Kansas City, Mo.; Professor George E. Patrick, state university, Lawrence; Prof. W. K. Kedzie, agricultural college, Manhattan; Prof. Geo. O. Merrill, of Washburn college; and Mr. George Chase and Dr. P. S. Mulvane, of Topeka.

The names of many persons not in attendance upon the meeting were presented, and the persons elected to membership. After the discussion of various business matters and projects, the Academy adjourned the active session till 8½ o’clock, Tuesday morning.

An adjourned meeting was held in the evening in Representative Hall, which was opened by prayer by the Rev. H. C. Hovey, of Kansas City, Mo. The President, Prof. Snow, of Lawrence, then made a short address upon the history and objects of the Academy, and introduced Prof. H. B. Norton of Emporia, who delivered a very interesting and erudite lecture upon “The people and landscape of the glacial age.” Twenty papers upon various scientific subjects will be read during the morning and afternoon sessions today. The morning exercises will open at 8 o’clock A. M., when a lecture will be given by Rev. H. C. Hovey, entitled “The vibratory law of progress.”

The public are invited to attend all meetings of the academy, which will be held in legislative hall.

BY TELEGRAPH.

FROM WICHITA.

Old Satanta the Kiowa Chief Gives Himself Up.

He is Held as a Prisoner of War, and Will be Likely to Adorn a Cottonwood

Limb Unless a Strict Watch is Kept Over Him.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 8, 1874.

WICHITA, KANSAS, October 7, 1874.

Special Dispatch to the Commonwealth.

We have just received the following from the Cheyenne Agency, dated October 3: “The Kiowa chief Satanta, with twenty-four lodges, cam in to this agency this evening and gave themselves up. They were all disarmed and Satanta was held as a prisoner of war, while the rest have gone into camp in the vicinity of the agency. BEACON.”

FROM THE FIELD.

Further From Gen. Miles’ Indian Expedition.

The Indians Have All Gone Toward the Staked Plains.

General McKenzie Still Missing.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 8, 1874.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION.

CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS.

September 26^th, 1874.

From Our Regular Correspondent.

The Indians, having been beaten and routed at every point, have disappeared. None have been seen since the attack on Capt. Lyman’s train, although the troops have been moving in every direction in search of them. Those lately operating in Gen. Miles’ rear have gone towards the Staked Plains.

Gen. Davidson, with six companies of the Tenth cavalry and three of the Eleventh infantry, made a junction with Gen. Miles on the 20^th. He marched from Fort Sill up the Washita and North Fork of Red river. They report seeing no Indians on the route. This command is now moving towards the head of North Fork.

Three of the columns operating against the hostile Indians, namely, Gen. Miles, Gen. Davidson, and Col. Price, are within supporting distance of each other. Nothing has been heard from McKenzie, who is advancing from the south. He is supposed to be somewhere on the Staked Plains. Buell is also said to be moving on the enemy from New Mexico.

If the Indians do not scatter and flee to the mountains, some of the columns now in the field must overhaul them.

The number of Indians engaged in the late attack on Capt. Lyman’s train turns out to be much larger than was at first supposed. Experienced trailers place it at from seven to nine hundred. There is no means of ascertain their exact loss in killed and wounded, though from the number of graves since found it must have been considerable. The failure to gobble the supply train, and their signal defeat at the hands of the troops, has dampened their ardor for such undertakings and caused them to make themselves scarce ever since.

The handful of men under Capt. Lyman deserve praise for their heroic conduct under trying circumstances. All day long they fought against five times their number, the savage hosts dashing up to within twenty-five yards, and corralled only when further advance was impossible. The loss of this train would have been a serious disaster, as it contained supplies for the command, who were already out of rations. For five days and nights, the party were kept in durance, within a mile and a half of timber and water, and unable to reach it. On the evening of the third day heaven smiled upon them, and a copious rain saved much suffering and death.

Along with Capt. Lyman was a thin, scrawny, diminutive specimen of humanity, born on the other side of the ocean, but thoroughly Americanized, with no very conspicuous outward marks of either genius or courage. He is a scout, and his name is William F. Schmalsle. The situation was growing more desperate as the hours went by. Someone must go through the enemy’s lines for relief. Schmalsle was selected for the hazardous undertaking. There were ten chances to one that he would not get through. He was allowed his pick of the horses. Leaving the train at eight o’clock, after dark, he started for Camp Supply, distant about ninety miles. He had hardly gone a stone’s throw, however, before he was saluted by a shower of bullets. Putting spurs to his horse, he ran for dear life, the Indians yelling at his heels and firing at every jump. The chase continued for ten miles, when our brave hero succeeded in eluding his pursuers, having lost pistol, gun, and everything but horse and saddle, reaching the post the following morning, securing a fresh horse at a camp on Wolf creek.

As stated in a former letter, a company of the sixth cavalry was at once dispatched to Capt. Lyman’s relief. Schmalsle has been highly commended for his heroic conduct, and will be suitably rewarded.

I have had an interview with one of Gen. Davidson’s guides. He is an old frontiersman, a man of more than ordinary intelligence, and has had extended opportunities for studying Indian character and traits. He has been in the camps of the tribes—Kiowas and Comanches—who made the assault on Adobe Walls. The Adobe Walls affair is the burden of their lamentation. Their account of the fight there agrees with that of the hunters. They lost fifteen killed and twenty-five wounded. They were induced to make the attack by a Comanche medicine man, who promised them an easy victory and “heap scalp.” So thoroughly were they imbued with this superstitious idea, that they went right up to the stockades, fired their pistols through the chink holes, and danced about with demoniac glee, in confident assurance of the carnival of blood in store for them. But the promises of the medicine man were not fulfilled, and they were only too glad to get away.

This guide, who obtained his information from the Indians themselves, says the Indians are not fighting because the whites are killing buffalo. This is merely an excuse they use to hoodwink susceptible Quaker agents and unsophisticated peace commissioners. This idiotic twaddle about the Indians going to war on account of white men killing buffalo is on a par with the savages’ superstition regarding their medicine man, and the annual forays are the natural outcroppings of the savage instinct and their habits of idleness and vagabondism fostered by the government.

The Delaware Indians, who have been with the command as scouts, have been relieved at their own request. They will return to their homes at Coffeyville by the first train that goes in. Whites have proved to be more serviceable as scouts, guides, or couriers. They will be paid by Lieutenant Baldwin, and will have enough to put on a glorious drunk.

There has been considerable rain of late, which makes military movements difficult. Gen. Miles’ transportation is insufficient. His train is kept in constant motion bringing up supplies. Everything for the expedition has to be hauled by wagon from Ft. Dodge over rough, difficult roads, and a distance of over 200 miles. Expeditions like this are not pleasure excursions, as those who have been on them well know. The hardships and privations of the war are not to be compared to those endured on Indian expeditions. There are no fat hogs to kill, or smoke-houses to sack, or hen roosts to rob. It is plain hard-tack and bacon, and I have seen officers and men trying to make a meal on them, regardless of rank. Nothing so effectually annihilates lines of distinction as common want and suffering. The army is no exception.

A DEAD SHOT.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 8, 1874.

When Cusey gets to be governor, his first official act will probably be to send a squad of militia down to Winfield, in Cowley County, with orders to shoot Jim Kelly, of the Courier, on the spot. Jim has been conducting himself in a manner that no rinderpest governor can ever excuse. He attended a reform meeting at Winfield the other night, and had the audacity to jump up in the midst of the exercises and reach for the political scalp of Hon. Nelson Abbott, the leading orator of the occasion, in a way that the average Kansas reformer doth most despise. Kelly knew Abbott of yore, it seems, in the pleasant pastoral village of Macomb, Illinois; and he improved the opportunity at Winfield to indulge in a few mighty interesting reminiscences concerning the said Abbott’s conduct in those days. He stated, among other things, that Abbott published a scandalous and virulent copperhead newspaper at Macomb during the war, in which he counseled resistance to the draft and advised desertion from the army, and so encouraged and emboldened the copperheads of that section as to lead to the murder by them of one W. H. Randolph, deputy provost marshal for the county. Also, that he (Abbott) got up a lottery scheme to dispose of his property in Macomb, and then, after selling a considerable number of tickets, sold the property at private sale, and skipped out of the country with the ticket money in his pocket. Abbott vehemently denied the truth of these accusations, and then Mr. E. P. Kinne, who also knew Abbott in Illinois, promptly arose and verified Kelly’s statements; and Kelly said that any citizen of Macomb at the time alluded to will cheerfully corroborate all the charges.

At the risk of being accused of aiding and abetting in the work of confusing the counsels and exciting the passions of the reformers, we have to say that we think Kelly did a very proper and very effective thing in telling Abbott’s audience those little stories of the olden time. It was a lick straight from the shoulder—the kind Jim Kelly always strikes—and will give Abbott and his friends something to think about that is practical in its nature and full of interesting suggestions.

A VERY PERTINENT POINT.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 9, 1874.

The following editorial still further elucidating Cusey’s character and explaining the $31 matter appears in the Wabaunsee County News. The editor, Mr. Sellers, was a member of the legislature with Cusey and had special opportunities to study the points of that fodder candidate for governor.

“When house bill No. 452, making appropriations for miscellaneous expenses, in which was Mr. Cusey’s thirty-one dollars, came up in the house on its third reading, a motion was made to strike out an item of $2,000 to McDonald and Van Gundy. This was a claim for extra work said to have been done on the normal school building at Emporia some three years ago, which the board of regents refused to allow, and as it was brought before the legislature of the winter previous, we did not regard the claim as a valid one. Nevertheless it may have been all right, but that has no bearing on the point that I desire to make. The yeas and nays were called on the motion to strike out, 28 voting in the affirmative, and 50 in the negative. We voted to strike out, and so did Mr. Cusey. The majority having voted to retain it, the question then recurred on the passage of the bill. Mr. Cusey is found recorded in the affirmative, and in favor of the $2,000 he had just before declared by his vote was not a just claim, while all the others who voted to strike out the item, including ourself, are recorded against the bill. Why this change of Cusey? If the item was unjust when he voted to strike out, a majority having voted for it did not make it right. Only one explanation can be given, and that is, that Mr. Cusey did not wish to jeopardize the bill by voting against it, and thus defeat his own little “grab” of thirty-one dollars, because, while a majority of those voting can amend a bill, if a quorum is present, the constitution requires a majority of all the members to pass it, which was 54, when only 50 had voted against striking out. In the interval between the two votes, he had no opportunity of getting further information because there was no debate upon it, the bill not having been reported from the committee of the whole as subject to debate to secure his thirty-one dollars, itself unjust, he was willing to fasten upon the state another claim of $2,000, that he had declared by his own vote was an illegitimate one. Can a man who will act in such a manner be fit for the position of governor?”

Mr. Sellers’s point is well taken, and makes clear the ruling characteristic of Cusey’s nature, which is also that of the party of which he is the nominal leader: to decry corruption with stentorian lungs and to filch quietly whenever he gets a chance. It is the party that believes that hypocrisy pays and that it is profitable to assume a virtue though you have it not. It is the party that cries “stop thief” the loudest to distract attention from its rascality. Mr. Cusey, when voting on McDonald and Van Gundy’s claim, was voting to create the impression that he was solicitous for economy and the welfare of the people. When he voted for the bill with this item in it, he was looking after Cusey’s little $31, which after all was to him of vastly more importance than that his constituents should help to pay a very questionable claim of $2,000. The more closely you examine Cusey, the smaller he gets.

REPUBLICAN STATE TICKET.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 9, 1874.

FOR GOVERNOR,

THOS. A. OSBORN,

Of Leavenworth County.

FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,

M. J. SALTER,

Of Neosho County.

FOR SECRETARY OF STATE,

T. H. CAVANAUGH,

Of Saline County.

FOR TREASURER,

S. LAPPIN,

Of Nemaha County.

FOR AUDITOR,

D. W. WILDER,

Of Bourbon County.

FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL,

A. M. F. RANDOLPH,

Of Coffey County.

FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION,

JOHN FRASER,

Of Douglas County.

FOR ASSOCIATE JUSTICE,

D. M. VALENTINE,

Of Franklin County.

FOR CONGRESS,

FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

WM. A. PHILLIPS,

Of Saline County.

FROM ELLIS COUNTY.

Three Men and a Woman Killed by Indians Near Sheridan.

Scalped and Horribly Mutilated.

Demand for the Militia to be Brought in the Field.

Senator Edwards on the Situation.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 9, 1874.

ELLIS, October 1, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

On Wednesday last a hunter arrived at Sheridan from the north fork of Smoky Hill river, and reported having found the bodies of three men and one woman, who had been killed by Indians, and their wagons burned. The news was telegraphed to Fort Wallace, and a squad of soldiers, in charge of a lieutenant, sent down to investigate the matter. They returned on Saturday to Monument station, bringing with them the bodies of the three men and the woman. They had apparently been dead ten or twelve days. An axe was found sticking in the woman’s head, and all the bodies were more or less mutilated. They had apparently been surprised and killed without resistance. From the tracks in the vicinity, there must have been at least three or four children in the party. None of their bodies having been found, however, the supposition is that they were carried off. The wagon had been burned and everything carried off. A bible was found nearby, the family record of which proves the party to have been from the town of Blue Ridge, state of Georgia, and of the name of German. These murders are becoming so frequent and so daring as to alarm the people of the whole frontier. Gen. Pope stated to the department at Washington that he had ample force to protect the frontier, and we now insist that he shall do so. There are scarcely any troops at Fort Hays and Wallace, and all along the line of the Kansas Pacific the country is open to Indian raids and incursions. All the available troops are sent south to reinforce Gen. Miles, and the Indians knowing this, immediately commence their operations in his rear. On the 14^th of last month a boy was killed within two miles of Buffalo station; last week a hunter was killed on the headwaters of the Republican, and five others south of the Arkansas; making eleven lives taken in two weeks, with how many more only remains to be told in the future. How long is this state of affairs to last? Has the government the power to protect the frontier settlers? If so, why do they not do it? If they cannot, why not authorize the governor to call out the militia, to be armed and equipped by the government, and let them see what they can do. The people who have been thus wantonly killed, were pursuing their legitimate business; they were not encroaching upon any of the so-called reservations, where the Indians are supposed by the government to be, but on lands owned by the United States and open for settlement, and upon which any citizen was entitled to enter. Under these circumstances and on account of the frequency of the murders, would it not be the duty of the governor (the government having failed to do so), to protect the citizens of the state by calling out at least two regiments of militia and distribute them at points most open to attack? I am aware that in making this suggestion that I shall be quoted as trying to make political capital for Governor Osborn, and the party, but if we only get the protection needed, I do not care from what motive, source, or direction it comes. I am tired of this inactivity on the part of the government. I am heartily sick of this Quaker policy, and want either to see the government troops or the state troops brought out in sufficient force to put an end to it. In one of General Pope’s dispatches, he said “General Miles had sufficient troops to take care of himself.” Now we want him to have troops enough to take care of us as well. JOHN H. EDWARDS.

BY TELEGRAPH.

WASHINGTON.

The Montana Capital Removal.

The Late Osage Indian Troubles.

Kansas Militia Severely Censured.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 10, 1874.

NON-COMMITTAL.

Washington, Oct. 9. The attorney general has been interviewed concerning the rumors prevalent in New Orleans that he had instructed for the commencement of legal proceedings against members of the white leagues throughout Louisiana. He says he did not consider it worthwhile either to confirm or deny the report.

A DECISION.

Washington, Oct. 9. The attorney general has decided upon the questions as to whether votes given for and against the removal of the capital in Montana territory at the recent election there, were legally canvassed or can be recanvassed, that they are questions of local concern, in which the departments of the government have no jurisdiction, and that the appropriate place for their determination is in the courts of the territory.

LO! THE POOR INDIAN.

The commission appointed to investigate the facts relative to the recent alleged murder of five Osage Indians by Kansas militia have submitted their report to the commissioner of Indian affairs. They find that the attack on the Indians was unprovoked and utterly unjustifiable, and presume that when the attention of Kansas is called to the evidence in this case, they will not hesitate to direct the return of property captured from these friendly Indians, and it is recommended that in any event the government of the United States should see that the Osages are reimbursed.

SLIGHTLY PERSONAL.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 13, 1874.

Our readers will bear us witness, we think, that we do not waste much space in repelling personal assaults made upon us by our adversaries. We prefer to act on the aggressive, and to let our work speak for itself rather than be spoken for; and experience has taught us that when a set of fellows choose to lie about us they can invent falsehoods much faster than they can be disproved and exploded. Occasionally, however, we come across such a whopper of this kind—a lie which touches us so closely and wrongs us so deeply—that we cannot allow it to pass unchallenged. Of such a nature is a letter in a recent number of the piebald organ in Miami County, wherein it is boldly asserted that the COMMONWEALTH has called the statesman Cusey, “a stallion.” We indignantly deny the charge, and confidently appeal to our files for proof of our innocence. We have never likened the colossal Cusey to a stallion, or any other kind of quadruped, and we will pay big money to any man who will point out in the columns of the COMMONWEALTH any such loose and licentious comparison. We may have said something about Cusey’s “standing,” or playfully spoken of him as a “snorter,” or even, in an inflammation of fancy, referred to his campaign as a “season;” but it was certainly farthest from our intent to name him “stallion.” We trust we have too much respect for that noble animal, the horse, to take any such liberties with him, even for political purposes. Therefore, we repeat that the accusation is as false as Cusey’s own thirty-one dollar affidavit, and as mean in spirit as his cowardly attempt to wriggle out of said affidavit when its dishonest purpose was detected.

If we had any inclination, which we have not, to compare the great and good Cusey to any four-footed creature, the stallion would be one of our last selections. The reason is obvious. Our personal acquaintance with this eminent jurist and orator is so slight that we could not safely assume him to be in the possession of any of the distinguishing qualities of that animal and the knowledge we have been able to get of him from those who do know him intimately has not impressed us with a belief that such a comparison would do the statesman any harm or the stallion any good. Except in the single fact of a common fondness for fodder, we are not able to see any similarity between the vote-seeker Cusey and the horse of propagative tendencies. A good-blooded and well-raised stallion has dignity and big heartedness, and scorns trickery and little-mindedness. His conduct is of a kind to inspire respect and confidence. He keeps himself clean, and is careful of his company, and attends strictly to business. The man Cusey, on the contrary, is a political egg-sucker, whose ideas of men and things are purely mercenary, and who carries about with him so small a soul that he has to keep himself in a state of chronic costiveness lest it slip from him in the ordinary operations of nature. To liken such a man to an equine thoroughbred would be to invite the censure and contempt of all good citizens. The license of political discussion, broad as it is, will never, we trust, be allowed to take such latitude as that.

So much for the charge of the nasty, venomous slanderer in the Miami County organ of the millennial Cusey. We should not have alluded to it save for the purpose of defending one of the noblest and best of nature’s quadrupeds from a low and malicious calumny. The COMMONWEALTH is not a grange paper in the strict sense of the term, but it proposes to stick to the horse, though the heavens fall. Let the procession move on.

DID NOT COME.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 13, 1874.

Cusey, as usual, failed to come in time at the Ottawa opposition pow-wow last Friday.

Lawrence Journal.

Like the family of the man in the Arabian story whose head was in his stomach, the reformers keep Cusey out of sight. He won’t do to exhibit on the stump as was discovered in the very short speech he made at the piebald love-feast held in this city during the special session of the legislature.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 13, 1874.

It is not absolutely requisite, perhaps, that a “reform” candidate for office should be above all suspicion of uncleanness; but he should certainly be able, it strikes us, to refute a charge of attempting to “gobble” thirty-one-dollars back pay while serving his state as a law-maker. Mr. Cusey, millennial candidate for governor over Kansas, doesn’t appear to be that man, but another man, as Toodles would say. Such a charge has been brought against him by the Kansas newspapers; and, what is worse, they seem to have proved it on him—not by a mutual friend, either, but by a little affidavit to which the autograph of Mr. Cusey is regularly and solemnly affixed. And for the pitiful sum of thirty-one dollars!

St. Louis Globe.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 13, 1874.

The attorney general continues to receive a large number of letters from the south, mostly from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, narrating outrages perpetrated upon colored people, but no complaints are made of actual murders committed by political reasons. The ku-klux and white leagues are reported to be constantly drilling and endeavoring to intimidate negroes by threatening their lives if they attempt to go to the polls this fall.

FROM THE FIELD.

The Present Status of Gen. Miles’ Expedition.

A Prolonged Indian War is Not Expected.

Heroic Conduct of Soldiers and Scouts.—It is Commemorated in a General Order.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 15, 1874.

From Our Regular Correspondent.

HEADQUARTERS, INDIAN TERRITORY EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS, September 29, 1874.

The troops composing this command occupy about the same position they did at the date of my last, with headquarters on the Washita. A supply camp will probably be established on the Canadian, near Antelope Hills, which will be the future base of supplies for the expedition.

The late rains have swollen the Canadian so as to make it difficult to cross with loaded teams.

The North Fork and Washita country, from which the Indians have been driven by General Miles, has long been their favorite hunting ground, and the point from which they made their incursions into Kansas. Their summary dispersion by United States troops has demonstrated to them that they cannot carry on their work of murder and pillage against peaceable citizens of the border, in the pursuit of their legitimate callings, with impunity. Nothing will bring them to terms and good behavior so speedily and effectively as an exhibition of the strength of the government and its power to crush them. A prolonged Indian war is not to be expected. When the Indians discover that the government is in earnest and determined to punish them, and that there is no possible chance of escape, they will be glad to sue for peace.

In recent letters to the COMMONWEALTH, I mentioned several instances of heroic conduct on the part of men connected with this command, which stand without a parallel in the annals of Indian warfare. Their services under circumstances the most trying, have been duly recognized by the commanding officer, as the following order will show.

GENERAL ORDER.

HEADQUARTERS, INDIAN TERRITORY EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON THE WASHITA RIVER, TEXAS, September 24, 1874.

General Order No. 18.

The commanding officer takes pleasure in presenting to the notice and emulation of this command the following instances of skillful and intrepid conduct of their comrades in engagements offensive, in which they have been decidedly the victors, and defensive, in which they entirely frustrated the designs of the enemy, at the same time inflicting severe punishment:

On the 30^th ult., during the engagement with the Indians near Red river, the charge of the First battalion of cavalry, consisting of companies D, F, G, and L, Sixth cavalry, commanded by Major C. R. Compton of that regiment, exhibited the skillful choice of time and method, together with the dash and intrepidity which illustrate the most efficient service of that arm, and go far, as did the charge in question, toward deciding the fortunes of the day.

On the same day the charge of company F, Sixth cavalry, led by Capt. Chaffee, and of Capt. T. C. Tupper at the head of his company, G, Sixth cavalry, were commendable.

First Lieut. Frank D. Baldwin, Fifth infantry, was sent from the headquarters of the command, near the river, as bearer of important dispatches to the department commander. Accompanying him were Lemuel T. Wilson, William F. Schmalsle, and Ira G. Wing. Although surrounded by Indians and outnumbered six to one, and this the morning after leaving the command, and more than 150 miles from the nearest military post, this indomitable little party of four not only avoided delay and carried through their dispatches safely, but inflicted such severe punishment on the Indians—killing three times their own number at least—that they were glad to abandon the attack.

This long, severe march of Lieut. Baldwin, made chiefly in darkness and blinding rain, the capture by a dashing charge and without firing a shot of an outpost of a party of Indians on the Washita, together with his skillful and courageous conduct in leading a small party of troops, white and Indian guides; sent from the right flank of this command for 80 miles from Beaver creek to Antelope Hills, by way of Adobe Walls, serve further to illustrate a character for dashing courage, intrepidity, and sound judgment, which had been earned in his earlier service.

The fight of Capt. W. Lyman, Fifth infantry, while conducting his train from the Canadian towards the Washita, nearly twelve miles, and the successful defense of the same for three days, against a well-armed and powerful body of Indians, is worthy of especial commendation, and the courage of scout William F. Schmalsle in dashing through the enemy’s lines to carry intelligence of the fight to Camp Supply, is praiseworthy.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN TERRITORY EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS, September 24, 1874.

Adjutant General U. S. Army:

GENERAL: I deem it but a duty to brave men and faithful soldiers to bring to the notice of the highest military authority an instance of indomitable courage, skill, and true heroism on the part of a detachment from this command, with the request that the actors may be rewarded and their faithfulness and bravery recognized by pensions, medals of honor, or in such way as may be deemed most fitting.

On the night of the 10^th inst. a party consisting of Sergt. L. T. Marshall, company I, private Peter Rath, company A, John Harrington, company H, and George W. Smith, company M, 6^th cavalry, scouts Amos Chapman and William Dixon, were sent as bearers of dispatches from command on McClellan creek to Camp Supply, Indian Territory. At 6 A. M. of the 12^th, when approaching the Washita river, they were met and surrounded by a band of 125 Kiowas and Comanches, who had recently left their agency. At the first attack all were struck, Private Smith mortally, and three others severely wounded. Although enclosed on all sides and by overwhelming numbers, one of them succeeded, while they were under a severe fire at short range, and while the others with their rifles were keeping the Indians at bay, in digging with his knife and hands a slight cover. After this had been secured, they placed themselves within it, the wounded walking with brave and painful efforts, and Private Smith, though he had received a mortal wound, sitting upright within the trench, to conceal the crippled condition of their party from the Indians, from early morning until dark. Outnumbered twenty-five to one, under an almost constant fire, and at such short range that they sometimes used their pistols, retaining a last charge to prevent capture and torture, this little band of five defended their lives and the person of their dying comrade, without food, and their only drink the rain water that collected in a pool, mingled with their own blood.

There is no doubt but that they killed more than double their number, besides those that were wounded. The Indians abandoned the attack on the 12^th at dark.

The exposure and distance from the command, which were necessary incidents of their duty, were such that for thirty-six hours from the first attack, their condition could not be known, and not till midnight of the 13^th could they receive medical attendance and food, exposed during this time to an incessant cold storm.

Serg’t Woodhall, Private Harrington, and Scout Chapman were seriously wounded. Private Smith died of his wounds on the morning of the 13^th. Private Rath and Scout Dixon were struck, but not disabled.

The simple recital of their deeds and the mention of the odds against which they fought, how the wounded defended the dying, and the dying aided the wounded by exposure to fresh wound after the power of action was gone, presents a scene of cool courage, heroism, and self-sacrifice which duty as well as inclination prompts me to recognize, but which we cannot fitly honor.

By command of Brevet Major General N. A. Miles.

D. W. BAIRD, 1^st Lieut. and Adj’t 5^th Inf’y, A. A. A. General.

F. D. BALDWIN, 1^st Lieut. 5^th Inf’y, Chief of Scouts.

THE STATE CANVASS.

Meeting at Chetopa.

Interest in Politics by the Ladies.—They Hope for the Ballot.

Addresses by Cobb, Randolph, Salter, and Lowe.

Demagoguery Among Grangers.

Local Politics.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 15, 1874.

CHETOPA, LABETTE CO., Oct. 12.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Drake’s hall, where the meeting was held this evening, has seating accommodation for five hundred people. Every seat was occupied at an early hour. The elite, beauty, and intelligent of the better sex were in attendance in large numbers.

THE LADIES HAVE MANIFESTED

an unusual interest in this campaign wherever we have held meetings. The success and decorum of the meetings are largely attributable to their presence. It is evident that the

LADIES ARE LOOKING HOPEFULLY

forward to the day when they can enjoy the privilege of the elective franchise. The fact that they are all republicans, and contemptuously regard hybrid political enterprises, is evidence that the country can safely entrust them with the ballot. The republican party is conceding this fact. The

MANY NOMINATIONS OF LADIES

for the office of county superintendent in our state this fall have been made by republicans. Who says the republican party is not progressive?

Mr. Cobb made the opening address. The main point of his speech was his defense against the false statements made by his enemies as to the sentiments expressed by him at a meeting of the settlers on the

OSAGE CEDED LANDS,

held at Osage Mission a year ago. They had charged that he had avowed himself at that meeting as being in favor of the railroad companies, to the detriment of the cause of the settlers. He read extracts from that speech to prove the falsity of the charge.

HE DISPELLED

many of the prejudices that had been worked up against him by his enemies and did good service for himself and the republican cause generally by proving the slanderous character of the opposition party.

A. M. F. Randolph, the republican nominee for attorney general, followed Mr. Cobb. He is a fluent speaker, has a clear, musical voice, and uses choice English.

THERE IS NOT BOMBAST,

spread eagle, or demagoguery about him. His remarks took a wide range, discussing the political questions that now agitate the public, and pointing out the defects, thinness, and inadequateness of the “reform” movement in Kansas. No man, said he, who has ever been a true republican, will desert the party when he seriously contemplates the present condition of the country. He may occasionally murmur, express dissatisfaction at the management of the party, and threaten to abandon it for some new organization, but when he opens his eyes and views the political situation calmly, thoughtfully, and without prejudice, he goes

BACK TO HIS OLD PARTY,

the party of grand and historic achievements and blessed memory. Mr. Randolph captivated his audience and won their respect for his literary acquirements and oratorical powers.

Mr. Salter next took the stand, but spoke only a few minutes, as he was

AMONG HIS PEOPLE,

who are accustomed to his speaking. He made a good, social family talk, reminding his friends that they owed their all to the republican party, and that they would be false to themselves, false to their interests, and false to their country should they do anything that would contribute to the success of the democratic party, which had proven itself to be the implacable enemy of the industrial classes.

THE BENEDICTION

was left for Judge Lowe to pronounce, who did it in a most eloquent and effective manner. A large portion of his remarks was devoted to the state officers and the nominees on the republican state ticket. He vouched for the integrity, patriotism, and honesty of all and showed what had been accomplished for the benefit of the people by the

ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. OSBORN.

The judge made the most earnest and telling speech he has delivered during the present canvass.

Chetopa is intensely republican. It is said that of her three hundred votes, the democrats or “reformers” can claim but fifty.

THERE ARE THREE TICKETS

in the field in Labette County—republican, reform, and grange. The grange ticket, however, is repudiated by a large majority of the members of that organization.

It was made in this wise: A convention of grangers was called, to meet at Labette City on Saturday last, to consider the political situation. Fifty-one delegates appeared in response to the call.

MANY LODGES REFUSED

to send delegates. When the convention assembled, it was found that Mr. J. F. Hill, a prominent member, had a pretty good sized ax to grind. He wanted to be nominated for state senator. A motion was made that the convention proceed to nominate a county ticket.

THIS OCCASIONED A ROW,

which ended in the withdrawal of twenty-seven delegates. Twenty-four remained and nominated a ticket. It is needless to say that Mr. Hill got what he went for.

THE SECEDING GRANGERS

say that Mr. Hill and his friends have prostituted the order in making it a political machine, and by that action have violated the constitution. This attempt at a coup de etat on the part of Mr. Hill has strengthened the chances of

MR. CRICHTON,

the republican nominee for state senator.

AN INDIAN CHIEF’S LETTER.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, October 16, 1874.

From the Wichita Beacon.

Our friend, Major Upham, kindly permits us to publish the following letter from the chief of the Osages. He desires it to be distinctly understood that his braves are not on it—on the war path, we mean.

OSAGE INDIAN AGENCY, October 10^th, 1874.

Major Upham, Arkansas City:

This will inform you that the Osage hunting party which went out two weeks ago to secure some meat have all returned, arriving last night, and this morning reported no trouble on the plains where they have been. Respectfully,

JOSEPH PAWNENOPASH, Governor of the Osages.

REFORMER NELSON ABBOTT.

A Dishonest Business Man and a Copperhead of the Deepest Dye.

What the People of His Old Home in Illinois Think of Him.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

The Macomb (Ill.) Journal, a paper which supports the independent or farmers’ movement in that state, and which is printed at the former home of the piebald candidate for secretary of state in Kansas, has the following to say of Nelson Abbott.

“This man, who was once the editor of the Macomb Eagle, and whose reputation for both loyalty and honesty was very far below par in this community, is now a resident of Kansas, and a candidate on the reform ticket for the important office of secretary of state. Few men, if any, in this county who are acquainted with Mr. Abbott’s history while he lived among us, would, for a moment, think of selecting him for any office where honesty and integrity of purpose were at all needed in the discharge of its duties. During the war he was a copperhead of the deepest dye, and his business transactions after it was over caused his friends, even in that party, to lose all confidence in him. If the people of Kansas are really desirous of electing honest men to office, and the republican candidate has the least show in that direction, they had far better let Mr. Abbott severely alone.

AN INVITATION TO MR. ABBOTT.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

The piebald candidate for secretary of state, Nelson Abbott, has sued the editor of the Oskaloosa Independent for libel, fixing his damages at $10,000. Bro. Roberts says that “the dodge is entirely too diaphanous,” and stands with rock-rooted decision to his charges, and makes proclamation as follows:

“If he means business, which we doubt, and presses the suit, we will show that his character is sufficiently bad to disgrace even the party of which he is now a member.”

If Mr. Abbott really languishes for a libel suit, we would suggest to him that our hand is in, and that he might as well try us a whirl. We have already one little affair of the kind, commenced by a fellow of the same sort who wants $20,000 shrinkage on a character which we led out into “th’ corrupting air.” And that Mr. Abbott may not be without provocation, we will reiterate that he swindled divers and sundry citizens in a lottery scheme in Macomb, Illinois; that he was a vile and unregenerate copperhead during the war, who gave aid and comfort to the enemy at home and traduced brave men who were laying down their lives for the country. If it were not for filling up valuable space, we would publish testimonials from a number of respectable citizens of Macomb, now in our possession, in corroboration of our statements, but if Mr. Abbott insists on the proof, he can have it; or if he thinks his character has been damaged to an extent that can be formulated in a pecuniary way, let him name his figure and begin his suit. We beseech him, though, not to go below $20,000. We have a very poor opinion of Mr. Abbott’s character, but we should be sorry to have it forced upon us that it was rated less in the libel market than that of Mr. Pomeroy’s maker in ordinary of affidavits.

THE CASE IN IOWA.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

The piebald papers, with their usual regard for truth, are stating the republican majority in Iowa as 3,000. The opposition in Iowa concede the state to the republicans by 30,000, instead of 3,000, and the republicans claim it by 40,000. The later returns indicate that the republican majority in Iowa is nearer 50,000 than 30,000. In Iowa, the order of Patrons of Husbandry is stronger, in proportion to the population, than in any other state in the union. The democrats in Iowa joined forces with the disaffected republicans, and formed the independent or piebald party in that state, and besought the farmers to support them. It was the case of Kansas over again, with the difference that the piebald party had tested its strength at one election, and had been largely encouraged thereby. There were men in Kansas who were wild enough to hazard the belief that Iowa would be carried by this conglomerate, but we think their information is better on that head now than it was a few days ago. Iowa is straight republican by 40,000 majority, and every member of congress elected. The republican farmers in Iowa did not unite to any great extent to afford aid and comfort to the democracy, under the alias “anti-monopoly.” There is in Kansas less likelihood of their uniting, for the condition of a decently honest and respectably able ticket that was in their favor in Iowa is notably absent in the ticket headed by the $31 reformer.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

A company has been formed in Savannah for manufacturing paper from rice straw.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

Senator Allison, of Iowa, slipped between the train and platform as he was getting on a moving car at Clarksville, the other day, and only saved his life by hugging the platform till the train had passed.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

Judge Goodin was in the Chicago convention which nominated McClellan for president. He is now engaged in convincing the people that he’s as good a republican as anybody.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

Senator Brownlow has withdrawn from the congressional contest in the second Tennessee district, because his candidacy gave the democratic nominee a chance of election. One other of the republican candidates having also withdrawn, the contest is now between Thornburgh, rep., and Mabry, dem.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, October 17, 1874.

The Lawrence Journal draws the following parallel. The coincidence suggested by the Journal is indeed striking. Every man now associated with the piebald movement has severed his connection with the republican party, and will be found working with the democracy when the leaders of that party come out of the brush and propose a square fight in 1876. Says the Journal: “There was a class of men at the north during the war who claimed to be just as loyal as anybody, but some how, every time there was a rebel victory, they couldn’t conceal their pleasure. Just so with such reform leaders as pretend to be good republicans but rejoice over democratic victories.”

A BIG TIME AT SALINA.

Large and Enthusiastic Republican Meeting.

Speeches by Hons. D. R. Anthony and T. Dwight Thacher.

Cusey, Smith, and the Rev. Nehemiah Green in the Audience.

The Rev. Nehemiah Interrupts Col. Anthony, and is Shown Up in His True Colors.

Nehemiah Publicly Convicted of Being an Unmitigated Liar.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 20, 1874.

SALINA, KANSAS, October 19, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

A very large and enthusiastic republican meeting convened tonight in the Methodist Episcopal church at this place, and was addressed by Hon. D. R. Anthony, of Leavenworth, and Hon. T. Dwight Thacher, of Lawrence. Mr. Anthony vindicated Col. Phillips’ record as a man, as a republican, and as a member of congress from the foul aspersions attempted to be cast upon it by the opposition. He demonstrated from the records of congress that Col. Phillips was persistently and consistently, from first to last, in favor of the repeal of the salary grab law. He paid his respects to the reform state ticket, and said that the republican ticket, from the top to the bottom, each and every man on it, was infinitely superior to the reform ticket. He read Cusey’s record on the salary grab, on the $31 steal, and demonstrated that Cusey was a small man in every sense of the word. He spoke of Mr. Green as an independent candidate for congress, characterized his candidacy as a huge farce, inaugurated and attempted to performed solely in the interest of Marcus J. Parrott. He read from Green’s letter, addressed to John Guthrie, chairman of the republican state central committee, dated Waterville, Oct. 5, 1874, as follows: “If I should decide to enter the field, I will challenge Mr. Parrott to a joint discussion. I think I have facts in my possession which will effectually dispose of him. And only in self-defense will I give publicity to any facts, charges, affidavits, or statements in my possession reflecting on Phillips. In fact, my candidacy will only mean republicanism in earnest.”

At these last words Mr. Green sprang to his feet and asked permission of Col. Anthony to explain, which was granted to him. Mr. Green then stated that the letter from which Col. Anthony quoted was a private letter to John Guthrie and not meant for publications; that he had a few letters with him that he would read if Mr. Anthony wished it, insinuating that they contained reflections upon Col. Phillips. Mr. Anthony very promptly yielded the stand for the reverend gentleman to read his letters. The audience shouted “read, read, read,” but the Rev. Nehemiah could not be induced to read a single letter, but flatly declined. At this juncture Col. Anthony characterized his conduct during the canvass in the publication of his letters containing innuendos aimed at Col. Phillips, and his refusal to read or publish them as dishonest, cowardly in the extreme, and unworthy a republican and an avowed Christian gentleman. He denounced the candidacy of Gov. Green as being conceived and brought forth in treachery, and said that no republican could vote for Gov. Green without being false to republican principles, false to liberty, false to humanity, and false to the teachings of Almighty God. This produced a great sensation. Col. Anthony then turned on the reverend gentleman and asked him if he would answer him a question. Mr. Green answered that he would. Mr. Anthony then asked him if he (Green) made the statement to E. R. Purcell of Manhattan, and to Robert McBratney and John K. Wright of Junction City, that John A. Martin of Atchison had said to him that he (Martin) sympathized with him (Green), and that he (Martin) would be gratified at Green’s election.

The reverend gentleman rose and said that Col. Martin of Atchison stated to him that he could not for evident reasons give him his support, being the editor of a republican newspaper, but that he had his sympathy, and he would not be dissatisfied at his election, but would be gratified. Mr. Anthony then read the following telegrams.

JUNCTION CITY, KANSAS, October 16, 1874.

To Hon. John A. Martin, Atchison, Kansas:

Green states here that you sympathize with him and would be gratified at his election. Answer. J. G. MOHLER.

ATCHISON, October 17, 1874.

(Received at Junction City, 11:55 A. M.)

To Capt. J. G. Mohler:

There is not a word of truth in the report you refer to. JNO. A. MARTIN.

This denouement was not looked for and the Rev. Nehemiah Green, independent candidate for congress, hid his face in his hands in shame at thus being openly and publicly proven a liar and falsifier. The effect produced was tremendous, everybody admitting that the reverend gentleman was publicly caught in a lie. Mr. Anthony closed his speech with this pure and perfect and reliable independent candidate for congress, this advocate and champion of Pomeroy, this minister of God who could not see purity enough in any candidate, for him to support, except in the Rev. Ex. Lt., Gov. Nehemiah Green. Mr. Green was loudly called for and urged to speak and explain, and make what if any charges he had against Col. Phillips, but he slunk in his seat, and could not be induced to show himself.

Mr. Thacher then took the stand, and for one hour held the audience spell-bound by the magic of his eloquence. When he referred to the record of the republican party, and what it had done for freedom and humanity, the audience broke out in long continued applause. He thrilled his audience by his eloquence, and convinced the wavering of their duty to stand by the grand old party. His speech did immense good.

Saline County will give a large majority for the whole ticket. Green will get a few, very few, votes here. His votes will be mainly taken from Parrott. SALINE.

BY TELEGRAPH.

MISCELLANEOUS.

A Newspaper Correspondent Shot.

Swing Before the Illinois Synod.

U. S. Troops Going to New Orleans.

Wholesale Arrests of Citizens in Alabama.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 20, 1874.

A CORRESPONDENT SHOT.

New York, Oct. 19. The Times has received a dispatch from its Paris bureau stating that C. Buckland, their correspondent in Spain, has been shot by the republicans. Mr. Buckland was private secretary to Minister Jewell in St. Petersburg. He was returning to this country with that gentleman when the latter accepted the postmaster generalship, and it was on the recommendation of Mr. Jewell that placed in the corps of foreign correspondents of the Times. He was a brother of Frank Buckland, sporting editor of the Land and Water.

SWING’S TRIAL.

Chicago, Oct. 19. In the Presbyterian synod of northern Illinois this morning the case of Patton vs. Swing was taken up, Mr. Herd of Evanston for the defense of the Chicago Presbytery. A move was made to drop the complaint and the whole matter and a lengthy discussion ensued in which the members of the synod were allowed each three minutes. A large number participated in the discussion and from the sentiments expressed, it is probable that the complaint will be sustained and the matter be argued at length before the synod.

MOVEMENT OF TROOPS.

Omaha, Oct. 19. Companies C and D, 13^th infantry, arrived here from Camp Stambough yesterday, and left for New Orleans. Companies E and F will arrive tomorrow from the Red Cloud agency and leave for the same destination.

A GALE.

New York, Oct. 19. A heavy gale prevailed here yesterday and last night. There were many narrow escapes from injury by falling signs, etc.

SUMMONED TO APPEAR.

Montgomery, Ala., Oct 19. Large numbers of men are summoned to appear before the U. S. court in Huntsville, on the extreme northern border of the state, early in November. It is also reported today that warrants have been issued for the arrest of men in districts where no disorders have been reported.

CRIMES—CASUALTIES.

Chicago Saloon Keeper Murdered.

Collision and Death on the Rail.

Troops Wanted to Suppress a Riot.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 20, 1874.

A SALOON KEEPER KILLED.

Chicago, Oct. 18. A car driver named James Finucane this morning murdered a saloon keeper named Matthew Ryan, at the residence of the latter, on Archer avenue. Finucane formerly boarded with Ryan. When he left Ryan’s house lately, Ryan discovered that his revolver was missing. He suspected Finucane of the theft and openly accused him of it to some friends. This fact coming to Finucane’s ear, he went to Ryan’s saloon this morning, asked him if he had made such statement, and receiving an affirmative answer, shot him through the breast, causing instant death. He was arrested.

STABBED WITH A GIMLET.

New York, Oct. 19. Francois Auffray (colored) stabbed his wife to death with a gimlet, and killed himself with the instrument.

FIGHT OF HERDERS.

Omaha, Oct. 19. News from Kearney Junction today show no more fighting, and it is supposed the herders have fled the country. John M. Spencer, herder, who was wounded in the fight Saturday night, has since died.

A RIOT.

Indianapolis, Oct. 19. Gov. Hendricks received dispatches this morning from the sheriff of Porter County, informing him that a body of armed men were resisting his efforts to protect the employees on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, while attempting to lay a track across the Michigan Central railroad, and asking for aid to quell the riot. The governor ordered two companies of state guards and a gatling gun to proceed there immediately, and they left tonight and will arrive at the scene of the disturbance about three o’clock tomorrow morning.

COLLISION OF TRAINS.

Detroit, Oct. 19. Two construction trains collided this morning, near Deerfield, on the Detroit and Adrian branch of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad. Chas. Cramer, fireman, was instantly killed, and six others seriously injured.

FROM COWLEY COUNTY.

Republican County Convention.

A Splendid Ticket Nominated.

The County Good for the Whole Ticket by a Large Majority.

Judge Brown Heartily Endorsed.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, October 21, 1874.

WINFIELD, Oct. 15.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

The republican convention met today. It was the best gathering of representative men that ever assembled in the county. Sixty delegates were present, representing eighteen out of twenty-one townships. This was in marked contrast to the “independent” convention that met at Tisdale last Monday, in which only nine townships were represented by twenty-seven delegates, and of which twenty-seven, thirteen were from Winfield, which contains the head, bowels, and feet of the “independent” movement.

The republican nominations are as follows. For representative, T. R. Bryan, of Dexter; for probate judge, S. S. Moore, of Tisdale; for county attorney, L. J. Webb, of Winfield; for superintendent of public instruction, T. A. Wilkinson, of Bolton; and for clerk of district court, E. S. Bedilion, of Winfield; all excellent nominations. A very earnest interest in the election is manifested by republicans all over the county, and anything but lukewarmness and disaffection is apparent.

One of the resolutions adopted by the convention endorses the whole republican state ticket and pledges the party to its support; another especially endorses Judge Brown, the republican nominee for congress, and congratulates the people of the county upon the fact that he has everywhere during the campaign pledged himself to an earnest effort to open railway communications direct between this portion of his district and Texas.

The Telegram, the organ of the “piebalds,” having been closed by a libel suit, the opposition to the republican party is without a mouthpiece. The postoffice ring, however, are about to import the material of the late Oxford Press, and so, thereby have about two issues before the election. You may expect a good majority in the county for the whole republican ticket. XX.

FROM COWLEY COUNTY.

An Excellent County Ticket.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

WINFIELD, Oct. 15.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

To paraphrase a familiar line of Shakespeare, “Winfield is herself again.” All is quiet now.

The political hub-bub of excitement that has prevailed here for the past two weeks would compare favorably with that created at the capital during the Pomeroy-York affair of January, 1873. Judge Brown, Col. Ed. Russell & Co., have been here and made their speeches, and have gone on their way rejoicing.

Next in turn came Farmer (?) Hudson accompanied by his “Col. Richie of the bloody fifth.” Maj. Hudson made some friends but lost votes here. His speech was able and was well read. One of our time honored democrats left the room in disgust, saying that if Mr. Hudson would have to write all his speeches down before appearing in congressional halls, he thought he would not do the third district any good and he guessed “he’d go for Brown.”

As many old Topekans reside here, they regarded the body-guard of Maj. Hudson as a huge joke. The gallant colonel of Kansas’ early days is too well known to need comment.

The democrats, reformers, and sore-head republicans, styling themselves “independents,” met at Tisdale on Monday and nominated a county ticket. Some of their selections were good, as they picked up the republican candidate for district clerk. A. S. Williams, a farmer and republican, was nominated for representative, but he will not be elected.

Today the republican county convention met and nominated the winning ticket, in the persons of Thomas R. Bryan, Esq., of Dexter, for representative, a scholar, republican, and gentleman; S. S. Moore, of Tisdale, for probate judge; Leland J. Webb, of Winfield, for county attorney. Mr. Webb is a young man of fine ability, and has a reputation as a criminal lawyer second to none in the district.

Ed. S. Bedilion, the present deputy, was unanimously selected as the choice of the convention for clerk of the district court. His election is conceded, as his name is upon both tickets.

T. A. Wilkinson, the present incumbent, was nominated for the office of superintendent of public instruction, and as fifty-three teachers at the institute resolved that he should be elected, I have no doubt but he will supercede himself.

If every county in the state will place in nomination as good a republican ticket as we of Cowley have today, then the success of the republican party is certain, and truth, virtue, and justice will be again vindicated at the November election, at least such is the opinion of

MAGNET.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

It is a recognition of American letters rather than a mere compliment to America that Ralph Waldo Emerson should be a candidate for lord rector of the Glasgow university. If he should be chosen, we are sure no one would be better pleased than Mr. W. E. Forster, who is also named as a candidate, and if Mr. Forster is successful, neither Mr. Emerson nor his friends will regret it.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

We rejoice that at last George Q. Cannon, the Mormon delegate to congress, has been indicted for “lascivious cohabitation.” It was well to strike the ax at the root of the tree and arrest the leaders in this infamous polygamy business. Let the congressman and the prophets and the apostles and bishops be made examples of to deter others from this nefarious business, which is a disgrace, not only to the country, but to humanity and civilization.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

According to all accounts, business is quite as “dull, stale, and unprofitable” in Great Britain as in this country. This is especially apparent in the fact that, as shown by official returns, the receipts of public revenue in that country have largely decreased during the past few months. On the principle that misery loves company, we can, therefore, console ourselves that we are not alone or singular in our spell of “hard times.”

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

The white leaguers are still under arms all through the south, ostensibly for protection, but really to be ready for a reign of terror that they propose to originate if possible. They may be making ready for another uprising of the south. The rebel spirit is just as rampant there as ever, and only waits opportunity to defy the government. It would seem that one bloody lesson was not sufficient for the south, but they seem to crave another.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

New York has been putting in a claim for the services of Robert Collyer, the great Unitarian preacher, on the ground that the best talent is required for the metropolis. Chicago demurs, and it looks now as though the garden city of the west would hold the man that has grown with its growth, and strengthened with its strength, and not allow him to be transplanted to a new soil among strangers. Love, affection, and respect will prevail over money and popularity.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Gen. Sherman, when the gold discovered in the Black Hills were first reported, warned the public that it would be dangerous to attempt to profit by them now. His advice and the prohibition of the government were disregarded, and the first result is that, out of a party of seven persons, who started to find gold, two were killed and two wounded by the Brule Sioux. The Indians are determined to protect their territory from these expeditions, and, though the gold may not be found by reckless invaders, the savages cannot be missed.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

“Goods speak for themselves,” but it is only after they are bought that they can do so. An object in advertising is to induce people “to buy them and test them.” If goods speak for themselves, a good advertisement may also speak for the goods.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Some of our businessmen who are so unfortunate as to occupy rooms that are not well lighted, complain that the gas is shut off during the day time. It must be annoying such a cloudy day as yesterday was to be without light.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Harvey County has two citizens who decline to hold any office.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Augusta had peaches this year eight inches in circumference.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

The county seat of Wilson County has been decided in favor of Neodesha.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

The woolen mills at Enterprise manufacture yarn equal to that of New England.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Wm. Holebrook, of Geneva, Allen County, raised 4,500 pounds of grapes this season, off one acre and a half of ground.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

The Wilson County Citizen says John Smith, of that county, is raising hard shell almonds.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

A minstrel band playing in the streets of Fort Scott broke up a reform meeting at which Goodin was speaking.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

A test has been made of the Fort Scott cement as compared with the Louisville article; and the Fort Scott proved to be much the best.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

A citizen of Ottawa received five dollars from a man who stole a hog from him seventeen years ago. The man’s conscience made him shell out.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Libel suits have been brought against W. M. Allison, editor of the Cowley County Telegram, and his paper has been discontinued by reason of them.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

Miss Mary P. Wright, who used to write for the Kansas Magazine, has been nominated for superintendent of public instruction in Coffey County.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

An excursion party is advertised to start from Central Illinois, for Larned, on the 23^rd of this month. It will be under the management of Col. Jerry Toles.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

At Fredonia, on Saturday last, a saloon keeper was so severely stabbed by a man with whom he had an altercation about a game of billiards that he died soon afterward.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

A gentleman who has traveled over Greenwood, Howard, Butler, Cowley, and Sedgwick counties, says he never saw anything like the wheat, in area. And in promise it excels all previous years.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, October 22, 1874.

A car load of wild animals passed over the M. K. & T. road on Monday last, destined for some eastern mart. The cargo consisted of cougars, American lions, horned toads, etc., all captured in Texas.

MILES’ EXPEDITION.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, October 25, 1874.

A letter from our graphic and reliable correspondent, Mr. J. T. Marshall, with Gen. Miles’ expedition, is elsewhere published. A long letter from our correspondent bearing date on the Washita Oct. 12, is laid over for lack of room. These letters have given the earliest, the fullest, and most trustworthy reports of this expedition, which is the only important military movement against the Indians this year. The expedition has been upon the whole a very successful one, and has punished the Indians more severely than ever before. It is the opinion of Mr. Marshall that the war is now drawing to a close. All the late trails point in the direction of the agency. It is their only refuge from annihilation for if they escape Gen. Miles, they will be fallen upon by Gen. McKenzie. It is not therefore likely that a winter campaign will be necessitated.

Our correspondent in the letter yet to be published entirely vindicates Gen. Miles from certain slanderous charges made, it is said, in revenge by persons discharged and sent back from the expedition. We know Gen. Miles to be a gallant and able officer, and believe his expedition to be a brilliant and successful one as far as it lay in his power to make it so. He was not properly supported by the department in our judgment; but that does not detract from the brilliancy of the Red river fight, in which the Cheyennes received the worst threshing they have had since Black Kettle was killed and his band routed, several years ago.

FROM THE FIELD.

Latest from General Miles’ Expedition.

The Indian War About Terminated.

The Indians Coming Into Their Reservations.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, October 25, 1874.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON WOLF CREEK, October 22, 1874.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

Thanks to the increasing activity of our commanders in the field, the Indian troubles are drawing to a close. The Cheyennes have received a sound threshing at the hands of Col. McKenzie, and are now fleeing for very life, with that intrepid officer in hot pursuit. These are no doubt the same Indians that were whipped and driven south of Red river by Gen. Miles, and were not looking for any troops from that direction. A large proportion of the hostile tribes have already gone in and surrendered, as your readers know. Ever since it was discovered that the Indians were sneaking into the agencies, Gen. Miles’ troops have been on the alert and in constant motion to intercept them. A party of sixty lodges that passed down Sweetwater on the night of the 13^th were overhauled by Capt. Chaffee about forty miles from Camp Supply, on the Canadian, and five lodges were destroyed and one hundred ponies captured. They continued their retreat in the direction of the Cheyenne agency, with Chaffee at their heels. He will follow them to the door of the agency, if he does not overtake them before. Chaffee is one of our best officers, and will give the reds a drubbing they will not soon forget.

The other troops composing Gen. Miles’ command have not been idle. Lieut. Baldwin with sixty men made a reconnaissance to the headwaters of Red river, capturing a number of ponies and destroying forty or fifty lodges. He also discovered a number of trails, all leading in the direction of the agencies. The Indians are throwing away everything in the shape of camp equipage, cooking utensils, lodge poles, etc., and the evidences of their other demoralization is everywhere apparent. They have not the spirit, if they had the means, to make any further resistance to the troops.

The Cheyennes that were licked by McKenzie went north from Red river, and if they have not succeeded in running the gauntlet and reaching the agency, will no doubt be gobbled entire by Miles’ troops, which are moving in every direction to intercept them. Biddle is guarding the Adobe Walls country to prevent their crossing the Canadian; Price is looking after the inlet between the Canadian and North Fork; and Gen. Miles, with the balance of his command, is moving towards the headwaters of Wolf. If the Indians succeed in eluding all these commands, it will be no fault of Gen. Miles. He has administered a severe castigation to them, and caused them to seek protection of the agencies. He has broken up their thieving and murdering rendezvous on the streams between Red river and Camp Supply, and captured and destroyed property which it will take them years to replace. Never was such interest taken in the suppression of Indian hostilities and such activity manifested as has been done on the plains this year by the officers placed in charge of the different expeditions, and the settlers of Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico owe them a debt of gratitude they can never repay. It has been the custom to decry the army as useless and a burden too intolerable to be borne, but any unprejudiced man who has accompanied any of the Indian expeditions through the hardships of their arduous campaigns, and witnessed the zeal and energy with which they have been prosecuted, must see and acknowledge the great injustice done to that branch of the government. T.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, October 25, 1874.

The tendency of democracy is well illustrated by the infamous Texas peonage act passed by the legislature of that state last spring, receiving the votes of all the democratic members of that body. It provides that every person convicted of misdemeanor or any petty offense, and sentenced to imprisonment, may be compelled to labor upon the public buildings or roads, or their labor may be hired to anybody who will pay for it during the term of their imprisonment. Persons imprisoned for the simple non-payment of a fine may be compelled to labor, though there is some consolation for such persons in the fact that their fine is being reduced at the rate of $1 per day so long as they so labor. No provision is made in the act for the good treatment of persons thus sold into servitude, perhaps for some trifling indiscretion, and the main object is undoubtedly to provide cheap labor for the ex-slaveholding planters who originated the idea.

CUSEY’S MENTAL PHOTOGRAPH.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, October 25, 1874.

The subjoined anecdotes would be deemed trivial did they not bear upon and illustrate the human characteristics of a statesman and reform candidate for governor. The Spaniards have an expression: “He carved the roast pig like a king’s prime minister;” the Italians say: “True greatness betrays itself in the doing of little things;” and the Latin, ex pede Herculem, has become an every day maxim, when one wishes to indicate the discovery of genius in an isolated work. As the zoologist reconstructs the Behemoth from a prehistoric tooth, so let us find the mental and moral stature of the statesman Cusey from a few of his characteristic actions.

The anecdotes are well authenticated, and since the democratic newspaper published by the McComb lottery swindler and reform candidate for secretary of state assures us that Cusey will certainly be elected, it would not be impertinent to publish them as illustrative of the man who is to control our destines for the next two years.

Cusey was the owner of a mule, which he thought could run slower than any animal in the state. This fact may account for the bond of sympathy between Cusey and the mule, for it is related that he was very fond of it. At the last Miami County fair, Cusey entered his mule for a slow race, confident that it could out mope any mule in Miami County. The privilege of showing off the preternatural slowness of his mule cost him one dollar and a half; but the long eared ingrate went back on Cusey, flew the track, and betrayed a speed and friskiness that was quite exasperating to its owner. Straightway he goes to the managers of the performance and demands a return of his one dollar and a half entrance money, and not receiving it, lost all interest in the show, and it is presumed sold the mule soon after and did not fail to reimburse himself for what it had lost him.

On another occasion, and while away from his duties as a legislator, he hired a horse in Paola, kept him out four days; and when several months afterward, the livery stable man presented him a bill of $3.50, he said he wasn’t going to pay any such exorbitant charge. Being asked what objection he had to so reasonable a bill, he declared that a deduction ought to be made for feed. He had fed the animal all of a half bushel of corn and several armsful of prairie hay. These instances of Cusey’s thrift we gather from the Olathe Mirror. We add one of our own knowledge, which we think will complete the picture, and enable the citizens of Kansas to make up an accurate estimate of statesman Cusey.

Last winter two rival photographic establishments in this city battled for the proud and profitable distinction of making a historic picture composed of the counterfeit presentments of all our law-makers. Cusey was one, and among the first to endanger the camera by subjecting it to the strain of taking so great a man all at once. It was the custom for each legislator to receive a copy of his picture gratuitously, with the privilege of purchasing as many more as he wished. One day not long afterward, Cusey came into the atelier of one of these gentlemanly artists and demanded his picture. It was given to him, and the disciple of Daguerre wished to know how he was pleased. Walking aside he drew two other photographs from his pocket and fell to comparing them pensively. The picture man disturbed his reverie by repeating his question. The soon-to-be immortalized as the $31 candidate for governor on the fodder ticket paid no attention to the question, but made reply: “Well, look a here, that other feller gives two pictures.”

No words of ours are needed.

FROM THE FIELD.

General Miles’ Indian Expedition.

Surrender of a Party of Cheyennes.

False and Malicious Reports in Eastern Papers.

The Expedition a Complete Success.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, October 27, 1874.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION,

Camp on the Washita, Texas, October 12, 1874.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

A part of the supplies intended for Gen. Miles’ command reached here yesterday. The train was detained for several days between Dodge and Camp Supply, on account of high water and bad roads. The command, however, was not destitute of rations. It has been short on one or two occasions, but there has been no suffering or starvation, as has been reported.

Two hundred head of horses and mules for the command have also arrived to replace those worn out and ordered to be killed.

The campaign against the hostile savages will be vigorously prosecuted, and there will be no let up until they are subdued and brought to terms. The forces operating against them are sufficient to bring them to our own terms, and the orders of the different commanders in the field are such, if faithfully carried out, to give assurance of a permanent peace and a final settlement of the Indian troubles.

Gen. Miles has had large reconnoitering parties out in every direction. They have found 10 Indians. The trails all lead south, and it is now pretty certain there are no hostile Indians north of the Canadian.

Col. McKenzie’s command, when last heard from, was in the vicinity of Double Mountain, and moving northwest. He is now probably somewhere on the headwaters of Red river. He left Fort Concho, Texas, on the 22^nd of August. Buell’s command is also thought to be in the same neighborhood. Gen. Davidson passed up the north fork of Red river about fifteen days ago, going in the same direction.

A letter received at General Miles’ headquarters from Col. Neil, commanding at the Cheyenne agency, states that one hundred and four lodges of Kiowas and Comanches have gone into Fort Sill. Satanta, Big Tree, and Woman’s Heart, the same authority states, with twenty-four lodges of Kiowas, have gone into the Cheyenne agency and given themselves up. A party of twelve Cheyenne warriors, under White Horse’s son, have also gone into the agency and surrendered to Col. Neil. They started out, so they say, to join the northern Cheyennes, and got as far as Sand creek, Colorado, when finding the troops scattered all over the country in hostile array, they concluded to retrace their steps, taking with them a number of horses and mules they had stolen on the route. This is probably the “large” force that were reported as coming from the north to join the hostile tribes of the south.

Whether the surrender of these Indians will exert any influence upon those yet at war remains to be seen. It is not unreasonable to suppose that it will. With the country covered with troops, cold weather approaching, and no chances for them to escape punishment, they must see that a further prosecution of the war on their part can result only disastrously to them. Indians are not noted for carrying on a long war. If they do not succeed at the first dash or two, they lose their grit and become disheartened. That they have been frustrated in all their designs since they encountered Gen. Miles’ forces is a fact so well known to the readers of the COMMONWEALTH as not to need repetition.

I have been somewhat amused at the reported disasters to Gen. Miles’ command, which have found their way into the public print. “Gen. Miles’ surrendered,” “Gen. Miles whipped and driven back one hundred miles.” These are some of the startling headlines the last mail brought to our astonished gaze. According to these reports Gen. Miles must have been in a woeful predicament, his supply trains captured, men and horses starving and dying, communications cut off—in fact, totally annihilated and swallowed up foot, horses, and dragoon.

To those who have accompanied the expedition through this campaign, and who have had opportunities of becoming acquainted with the real facts concerning Gen. Miles’ operations, these reports will excite only mirth and ridicule. They might possibly deceive some honest folks living at a distance, and this is my only apology for paying any attention to them. Their falsity is too transparent to be credited even by a heathen Chinee. So far from Gen. Miles being compelled to fall back after the fight at Red river, he followed the retreating Indians more than fifty or sixty miles south of it. The demoralization of the Indians was seen in the abandonment and destruction of their lodges and other property. The fight took place on the 30^th of August, and Gen. Miles remained on the south side of Red river, scouring the country in the meantime with his cavalry, until the 9^th of September, when his supplies being nearly exhausted, he started to meet his train on the way from Camp Supply. No Indians followed, and reconnaissances to Red river since have failed to discover any indications of the presence of Indians after the engagement with them.

The Indians that attacked Capt. Lyman’s train on the Washita were those that engaged Gen. Davidson at the Wichita agency, under Satanta, Big Tree, and Woman’s Heart, and were not in the fight on Red river at all. The only disaster to Gen. Miles was the detention, for a few days, of this train and the shortening of rations. In the fight Capt. Lyman had with the Indians—who outnumbered him ten to one—one man was killed, three wounded, and a few head of mules lost. This is the extent of the “disasters” to the train that was not captured. The total number of killed and wounded—a complete list of which the COMMONWEALTH has already published—since the expedition started, is thirteen, four killed and nine wounded.

The idea that Gen. Miles, with seven or eight hundred well armed men, would allow himself to be whipped by a few hundred poorly armed Indians, or to be placed in a “critical” condition, is too absurd to be seriously entertained. His movements have been somewhat retarded on account of high water and insufficient transportation—circumstances that he could not very well control.

These are the plain facts regarding Gen. Miles’ operations, full details of which the COMMONWEALTH’s readers have already seen. The reported “disasters” to his command are without the shadow of foundation in truth.

Lieut. L. D. Baldwin, who has made a creditable record during the progress of this campaign, by the display of those qualities which command universal admiration, leaves tonight on a ten days’ reconnaissance. His command will consist of sixty men, soldiers and scouts, and one Gatling gun. He will go south from here.

Maj. Compton’s battalion of the sixth cavalry is now on a scouting expedition south of the adobe walls. Two other companies left this morning, going in a southwesterly direction. The prospects for a winter campaign are growing slimmer every day. T.

NELSON ABBOTT IN DEMAND.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, October 28, 1874.

It was understood some weeks ago that Abbott had finished his principal contract in the fall campaign, that is, had made sure the election of his competitor, Tom Cavanaugh.

Whatever objections to Cavanaugh might exist, they were lost sight of when the people were informed of Abbott’s personal and political history—and the last remnant of opposition to Cavanaugh vanished before the frightful speeches of Abbott. The record of Abbott is bad enough, but his abominable oratory is what no fellow can stand.

There is now a great clamor for the services of Abbott during the remainder of the campaign. Guthrie wants him to speak against Cobb in the Second district. Green is trying to get him to speak for Phillips, so as to give Parrott a ghost of a chance. Uncle Maltby, the good old oyster man of Johnson County, is screaming for Abbott to come and oppose him in his race for the state senate. If Abbott should refuse to go, the venerable oyster man will never again serve his country for $3 per day and mileage.

The last rumor is that the reformers intend to set Abbott to stumping the state in favor of Osborn. But it is believed that the most bitter partisan and personal malignity cannot go so far as that. Even so desperate a procedure could not elect Cusey, but it might reduce Osborn’s majority below thirty thousand.

If the campaign were a month longer, Abbott could get more money from candidates for opposing them in his fearful oratory than he could cover into his pocket in the secretary of state’s office in two years—with a gift enterprise or so thrown in.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, October 28, 1874.

Senator Morton says that “the murder business in the south must be stopped.” Every vote cast for the reform ticket this fall encourages and strengthens the party that is murdering negroes and white republicans in the south. The colored men in Kansas understand this. They vote with the party that gave them their rights, and the only party that now stands by them in the enjoyment of their rights. The restoration of democratic rule by the defeat of the republican party would be the most terrible calamity to the colored race, north and south.

THAT $31 MATTER.

It Has Not Been Disproved—It Cannot Be.

It Convicts Statesman Cusey of Swearing to a False Account.

It Finds Him Guilty of Also Voting For It.

And, Finally, It Proves Him to be an 18-Carat Fraud.

THE CHARGE.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, November 1, 1874.

From the Commonwealth of Thursday, Sept. 17.

“Mr. J. C. Cusey was last winter and is yet a member of the Kansas legislature. He was also last year a member of the state board of agriculture. While the legislature was in session last winter, a meeting of the state board of agriculture was held here, which Mr. Cusey attended, and for which he put in a claim of thirty-one dollars for per diem and mileage, while at the same time drawing pay as a member of the legislature. The claim was included in the miscellaneous appropriation bill, but was stricken out by the legislature. Anyone who is curious to examine the proof in this matter can find it in the office of the secretary of state, where the original bill (house bill 452) is on file and open to inspection.

THE PROOF POSITIVE.

From the Commonwealth of Sunday, Sept. 20^th.

The following account and sworn voucher is on file in the office of the auditor of state.

CUSEY’S CLAIM AND AFFIDAVIT.

The State of Kansas, 1874. Jan. 16.

To J. C. CUSEY, Dr.

To per diem attendance annual meeting, Kansas state board of agriculture, 14, 15 and 16 Jan. 1874: $9.00

To mileage from Paola to Topeka and return, 220 miles: $22.00.

Total: $31.00

STATE OF KANSAS, Shawnee County, ss.

I do solemnly swear that the above bill is just, correct, and remains due and unpaid; that the amount claimed therein is actually due according to (Signed,) J. C. CUSEY.

Sworn and subscribed before me this 16^th day of January, A. D. 1874.

[SEAL] J. M. McFARLAND, Notary Public.

Approved as correct:

ALFRED GRAY, Secretary.

Appropriation for . . . .

THE JOURNAL RECORDS ON H. B. 452.

On page 899 of the house journal, the following facts are to be read of all men:

House bill 452, an act making appropriations for miscellaneous expenses for the years 1873 and 1874, was read the third time, and the question being shall the bill pass, an amendment was made striking out an item of $2,000, for McDonald and Van Gundy, but was defeated by a large majority, Cusey voting in the affirmative.

The question recurring on the passage of the bill, the bill was passed by a vote of 57 to 30, Cusey’s name being recorded on page 900 as voting in the affirmative and for this little thirty-one-dollar peculation.

On page 921 the following is to be found. We quote literally:

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE.

MR. SPEAKER: I am directed to inform the house that the senate has passed H. B. 452, an act making appropriation for miscellaneous purposes, with six amendments thereto, in which your concurrence is desired. T. H. CAVANAUGH, Secretary.

On motion to concur in senate amendments to house bill No. 452, striking out appropriation to Mr. Cusey and appropriation to Frederick West, the motion prevailed and the house concurred.

REVIEW OF THE FACTS.

Mr. Cusey made out his account and swore to it before a notary public. On such sworn voucher it came before the house in the shape of an item in the miscellaneous appropriation bill. This bill, like all others, is required to be considered in committee of the whole, by sections. It was so considered, and Cusey presumably voted for the section containing the $31 appropriation, and the bill was reported back recommending passage, subject to amendment and debate (vide report of committee of the whole, House Journal, page 878). When the bill came up for passage, a word from Cusey would have caused the item to be stricken from the bill. He voted against an appropriation of $2,000 to McDonald and Van Gundy for work on the state normal school at Emporia. The item was of doubtful validity; but the motion to strike it out of the bill was defeated. The bill then came up for passage with this doubtful item in it, but Cusey voted for the bill and thus voted a little self conscious steal of $31 into his pocket.

When the bill came up in the senate, the quick eye of senator Moonlight detected this sneaking little grab and he denounced it, whereupon Senator Topping was asked by Cusey, who feared an exposure of his petty theft, to move to strike it out, and it was done accordingly. Had it not been for this untimely discovery, Cusey would long since have had this $31 of the State money invested in Texas cows. The law is explicit on the subject of constructive mileage, so that Cusey’s little grab was both illegal and fraudulent.

REPUBLICAN STATE TICKET.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, November 1, 1874.

FOR GOVERNOR,

THOS. A. OSBORN,

Of Leavenworth County.

FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,

M. J. SALTER,

Of Neosho County.

FOR SECRETARY OF STATE,

T. H. CAVANAUGH,

Of Saline County.

FOR TREASURER,

S. LAPPIN,

Of Nemaha County.

FOR AUDITOR,

D. W. WILDER,

Of Bourbon County.

FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL,

A. M. F. RANDOLPH,

Of Coffey County.

FOR SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION,

JOHN FRASER,

Of Douglas County.

FOR ASSOCIATE JUSTICE,

D. M. VALENTINE,

Of Franklin County.

FOR CONGRESS,

FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

WM. A. PHILLIPS,

Of Saline County.

SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

S. A. COBB,

Of Wyandotte County.

THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

WM. R. BROWN,

Of Reno County.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, November 3, 1874.

Mr. Nelson Abbott is candidate on the democratic-reform ticket for Secretary of State, and the independent piebalds insist that all true men who want a genuine article of reform will have to lend a hand in electing Mr. Abbott to get it. It is of some interest to know who Mr. Abbott is, therefore, so that we may judge of what we are getting, or rather what we are to be whipped into accepting by the brand new piebald party lash. A person, from Abbott’s old home at Macomb, Illinois, and the papers of that town, testify that he was a vile and venomous copperhead during the war, who incited the fire-in-the-rear people to rise and murder a provost marshal; furthermore, that he got up a lottery scheme to dispose of some property, sold a large number of tickets, and, before the drawing, sold the property and levanted with the proceeds to this state.

The republicans have nominated an honest and respectable farmer, Mr. Thomas Cavanaugh, but then he’s no “reformer,” and Abbott is, you know.

FROM BARBOUR COUNTY.

Another Brush with the Indians.

An Indian Raid Apprehended.

More Protection Asked For, etc.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, November 4, 1874.

SUN CITY, October 28, 1874.

To the Editor of the Commonwealth.

DEAR SIR: A courier just in from camp on Red Fork, bearing dispatches from Lieut. D. Estes, of Capt. L. H. Bowles’ company, stated that he had met a party of Indians about seven miles from camp numbering fifteen or twenty warriors. After a spirited little fight, the Indians retreated. No casualties reported on either side. J. Dunlap had his gun struck by a ball and torn to pieces. This is the second party that has come in contact with the same band within the past ten days, and should the weather hold good, I fear they will give us trouble yet this fall, as the grazing for stock was never better than at present.

Some stringent measures as regards the Indians will have to be resorted to or the border counties must be abandoned. Farmers cannot till the soil with plow in one hand and gun in the other. I have tried it myself, and know from experience that it is very unpleasant, to say the least.

Capt. Bowles is doing all he can to protect the country from raids, but the line he has to guard is so long that his handful of men cannot do the duty required of them. His company should be increased by seventy-five or one hundred men, and the governor would do well to give this suggestion consideration at once, for delays may be dangerous, Truly yours,

ADRIAN.

SHERIDAN ON INDIAN AFFAIRS.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, November 13, 1874.

In his annual report to the war department, Gen. Sheridan devotes considerable attention to Indian matters, particularly to the troubles in Kansas and Texas, and furnishes to the adjutant general a very full and interesting account of the operations in the department of the Missouri, which includes most of the western states and territories. The depredations by Indians in this department commenced last June—that leafy month in which the savage fancy “lightly turns to thoughts of splendor”—the first attack being made on Maj. Compton, who, with a small detachment of troops, was accompanying a paymaster from Camp Supply. Following this, many horrible massacres occurred, the most extensive one being the brutal attack upon a party of buffalo hunters, an account of which was published in the COMMONWEALTH at the time. These outrages were principally perpetrated by the Cheyennes, aided by small parties of Kiowas and Comanches.

On the 21^st of July, when the hostile Indians began making their appearance along the frontier line of settlements in southern Kansas, orders were issued by the war department to Gen. Pope to invade the reservations and punish the dusky fiends wherever found. This resulted in the organization of a column under Col. Miles, of the 5^th infantry, a faithful and elaborate report of whose operations has already been furnished by our special correspondent accompanying the expedition. Another column was formed under Major Price, 8^th cavalry, who moved along the Canadian river, joining Col. Miles at Antelope hills. Col. Miles’ forces were also to operate in conjunction with the troops stationed along Red River in Texas. “All of these columns,” says General Sheridan, “were pushed out much sooner than was desirable, especially that of Col. Miles and Major Price, but I deemed it necessary that we should take the field at once to prevent the hostile Indians from forcing out those of their tribes who had made up their minds to remain at peace, and also to prevent the accumulation of winter supplies from the buffalo herds. As these hostile Indians have their families and stock with them, and as Col. Miles has given them but little time to hunt for the past six or eight weeks, and as all our columns are now in the field, we may hope for good results soon. Still, the country is large, and it may take us till midwinter to accomplish the object in view, namely, the definite settlement of Indian troubles in the southwest forever.”

In relation to his differences of opinion with Gen. Pope as to the chief causes of these Indian troubles, General Sheridan says:

“There is no doubt that the advance of settlers and the operations of the authorized surveying parties in the Indian Territory and Kansas, and also the buffalo-hunters at Adobe Walls, irritated them; but the business in which these parties were engaged made war an exceedingly undesirable thing for them. No man of close observation, it seems to me, can travel across the great plains, from Nebraska and Wyoming down to Texas, and see the established ranches with their hundreds of thousands of head of cattle, sheep, and horses, together with the families of the owners, and reasonably think that these people, so much exposed, and having such valuable interests, are desirous of provoking Indian wars. There was a time possibly, when the population of the Indian frontier may have been desirous of Indian troubles, but that has passed long ago. It was when the country between the Missouri river and the Rocky mountains was a barren desert, while now it is the grazing ground for the stock consumed by the population of our eastern cities. This outbreak does not look to me as being originated by bad white men, or the sale of whiskey to Indians by traders. It is the result of the restless nature of the Indian, who has no profession but arms, and naturally seeks for war and plunder when the grazing gets high enough to feed his ponies.”

In closing his report the general summarizes the results of the campaign in this department, and adds the hope that if his arrangements continue to work so admirably, we may soon see the Indian question settled forever, so far as the Kiowas, Comanches, and Cheyennes in the southwest are concerned.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, November 15, 1874.

The gratifying intelligence comes from the plains that the savages in the southwest are becoming “disheartened.” The rigorous manner in which they have been pushed by the troops is the cause of it.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, November 15, 1874.

Thirty Chinese boys have just arrived in Springfield, Massachusetts, to be thence sent to various schools in that state and Connecticut for education. They brought their wardrobes and trinkets in great bamboo chests.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, November 15, 1874.

Satanta, the Kiowa chieftain who was released from the Huntsville, Texas, penitentiary by Gov. Davis at the time of the Fort Sill council, about eighteen months ago, on condition that he keep the peace, has been remanded to his old quarters under a lifetime sentence. The old chief played false and lead his people on the warpath, and now he has been taken from them forever.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, November 15, 1874.

On the currency question the victorious democrats seem to be preparing for a greenback movement. Hon. Richard Schell, elected on the democratic ticket from New York City to the new congress, declares emphatically for expansion. The Richmond Whig repudiates, on behalf of the southern conservatives, all affiliation with the bullionist faction of New England. Gen. Ewing, in a speech at Columbus, Ohio, has declared for more greenbacks.

CHIEF SATANTA.

The Commonwealth, Tuesday Morning, November 17, 1874.

The President has directed a telegram to be sent to the governor of Texas requesting him to delay the execution of the death sentence of Satanta, until it can be satisfactorily ascertained whether or not he violated his parole, the president believing the weight of evidence thus far is in Satanta’s favor.

BY TELEGRAPH.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Minister Washburn Sent For.

The Latest From the Indian War.

Prof. Marsh Is Detained at Red Cloud.

The Nebraska Grasshopper Sufferers.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, November 18, 1874.

AN INDIAN FIGHT.

New York, Nov. 17. A dispatch from McClellan Creek states that two hundred Cheyennes who recently engaged Capt. Farnsworth’s command of twenty-five men, and were defeated, encountered ninety-eight men of the United States cavalry and infantry, under command of Lieut. Baldwin, chief of scouts, and after a fight lasting five hours, were driven from the field. The Indians lost their entire outfit, and left behind them two little girls named German, whose parents, brother, and older sister were massacred in Kansas. The white family were moving to Colorado. Two other sisters, aged thirteen and fifteen, are still in the hands of the Indians. Fresh and picked troops have gone in pursuit of the retreating Indians, who are moving for the Staked Plains.

THE INDIAN WAR.

Chicago, Nov. 17. The following was received from Lieut. Gen. Sheridan’s headquarters this morning: San Antonio, TEXAS, November 16. The following has just been received from Col. McKenzie’s headquarters: “Southern column, Supply Camp, Nov. 8, returned to this place today, having scouted to the southwest on the Staked Plains. On November 2^nd met a small party of Indians and November 3^rd found the camp of hunting parties; two Indians were killed and 19 wounded; two children were captured with 144 head of stock.

“On November 5^th, Lieut. Thompson, with nine scouts and several mules from the command, killed two Indians and captured twenty-six horses and mules. The women say that the bands of these two warriors are with eight lodges of Cheyennes on the Staked Plains. They say that many of their people have gone to the reservations with the intention of leaving there in a few days to try and slip around the troops and send in a party to get authority to go into Fort Sill. Some of the women were among those captured on the north fork of Red river two years ago. I shall try one trip on the plains, after which there will be no use in looking for Indians there this winter. I intend going to the northwest, between the headwaters of the Brazos and Red rivers. (Signed) GEN. C. C. AUGAR.”

Dispatches received at Sheridan’s headquarters this morning confirm the report from McClellan creek of the recent successful engagement of Lieuts. Farnsworth and Baldwin with the Indians.

WASHBURNE SENT FOR.

New York, Nov. 17. A Washington dispatch says there is a well grounded rumor that the president has sent a cable dispatch to Minister Washburne, at Paris, requesting his presence in Washington at the earliest convenience.

NEBRASKA SUFFERERS.

Omaha, Nov. 17. News from the grasshopper districts confirm all previous statements as to the extent of suffering. The state relief society are shipping supplies to the afflicted districts daily. Gen. Ord received a telegram from Washington today instructing him to ascertain what amount of men’s clothing will be needed by the sufferers. We hope this action of the secretary of war looks to the distribution of soldiers’ garments to these poor people.

LARGE SALE.

San Francisco, Nov. 17. The auction sale of the Lick property, donated to public uses, took place today and aggregated one million, nine hundred and fifty-nine thousand, nine hundred and twenty-five dollars. The Lick house sold for $920,000. The sale of the Island of Cataline was postponed two months.

Workmen have reached the seventh story of the Palace hotel.

AFRAID OF SCIENCE.

Fort Laramie, Nov. 17. News from Red Cloud agency to the 12^th and 13^th state that Prof. Marsh of Yale college is being detained there on account of the Indians objecting to his visiting the newly discovered fossil region near there. . . .

SATANTA AND BIG TREE.

The Secretary received a dispatch today from Gen. Sheridan, giving him the first intimation that Satanta had been sent back to Texas to be delivered to the government of that state, he having broken his parole; but that Big Tree was not returned, as it was not certain that he was alike guilty in that respect.

WASHINGTON.

Satanta in the Texas Penitentiary.

The Dispatches for Senator Dorsey.

Cairo & Fulton R. R. to be Examined.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, November 19, 1874.

SATANTA IN DURANCE.

Washington, Nov. 18. In regard to the recent dispatch sent by order of the president to the governor of Texas, it is stated that, without forming or expressing any opinion as to whether or not Satanta had violated his parole, the president and Secretary Delano, fearing he might be executed before evidence could be fully collected, considered it merely just to delay his execution. It is today ascertained that during Gov. Davis’ incumbency, the sentence of Satanta was commuted from death to imprisonment for life. Under the commutation, he has lately been placed in the Texas penitentiary.

DORSEY GOT NO DISPATCH.

The published dispatches purporting to have been received here on Monday night by Senator Dorsey from H. M. Cooper, secretary of the Arkansas republican central committee and others, were not received by Dorsey, his name having been falsely furnished to the press as the person who received them.

RAILROAD EXAMINERS.

The commissioners heretofore appointed to examine a portion of the Cairo & Fulton railroad were today directed by the secretary of the Interior to examine the road, which is said to be completed in Missouri up to the Arkansas line.

THE INDIAN EXPEDITION.

Operations in Texas and the Indian Territory.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, November 19, 1874.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION,

Camp on the Washita, Texas, November 12, 1874.

Special Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

At the date of my last letter, Gen. Miles was moving northward to interrupt Indians supposed to be trying to make their way into the agency, a portion of his troops, under Col. Compton, operating in the vicinity of Adobe Walls; Capt. Chaffee, with Co. I. of the Sixth cavalry, was pursuing a body going towards the same place. It was discovered that the Indians had gone some fifteen or twenty miles north of the Canadian, then separating into small parties, changed their course southward, re-crossing the Canadian above and below Adobe Walls. The line of march was at once taken up for the latter place, which we reached in three days. Here the forces were united and the march continued. On the third day out the Indian camps were struck, but the redskins had been on the lookout and disappeared, going in a southerly direction. Some forty or fifty showed themselves in Gen. Miles’ front, but vanished on the approach of the troops without offering the least resistance. The pursuit was continued to the Salt Fork of Red river, on the Staked Plains, the cavalry following some thirty or forty miles beyond. It was now ascertained that the main body of the Indians routed from their camps had come together and were traveling eastward. General Miles ordered Lieutenant Baldwin to take his scouts, together with a detachment of the Sixth cavalry under Lieut. Overton and one of the Fifty infantry under Lieut. Baily, numbering in all about one hundred men, with a howitzer, and proceed down the Salt Fork, bearing well to the east, report if he found Indians and pursue them as he thought best, the main command moving almost parallel in the same direction. No Indians were seen until the morning of the 8^th, when Baldwin’s party came upon a camp in the brakes of McClellan’s creek, numbering about two hundred warriors, independent of squaws. The Indians, contrary to their previous conduct, showed fight. This was what the boys wanted, and Baldwin at once moved on the enemy’s lines. The Indians were soon dislodged from their chosen position, when a running fight for ten miles took place, three Indians being killed and a number wounded. The enemy were taken by surprise and abandoned considerable property in the shape of ponies, camp equipage, etc. This was a brilliant victory for our men, all the more glorious because we sustained no loss.

In this fight Lieut. Baldwin re-captured two little girls that had been captured about three weeks ago on the Smoky Hill river. They give their names as Addie and Julia German, aged respectively five and seven years. They, with their parents, four sisters, and one brother, Stephen, were on their way to Colorado in search of a new home, when they fell into the hands of the Indians. The father, mother, brother, and two eldest sisters were butchered by the savages. Addie, Julie, and two older sisters, who are still captives in the hands of the Indians, were taken prisoners. The poor little innocents were nearly naked and in a famishing condition when they were providentially picked up by the troops. They had been once left alone on the wild prairie to be devoured by wolves or suffer another equally horrible death by starvation. For a while week, while in this lonely condition, their only food was wild grapes and the few grains of corn they picked up in the camps of the soldiers. The little creatures had been treated most cruelly by their savage captors, and were so weak and emaciated as to be scarcely able to stand on their feet. They say they lately came from Georgia. They are now with Gen. Miles’ command and will be tenderly cared for.

Here is another theme for Quaker homilies on the dove-like innocense and tender compassion of the noble red man of the forest, whose bloody deeds shock the sensibilities and cause the eye of humanity to weep. Is it not time these atrocities were stopped and their merciless perpetrators brought to certain punishment, and does not the good work of our troops now in the field call for universal support and sympathy? Let Quakerism and its abettors answer.

Capt. Farnsworth, with twenty-five men of company H, 8^th cavalry, left the Washita on the third instant to make a reconnaissance to the south. After traveling three days, he was attacked by a large body of Indians in the head breaks of Sweetwater. The men fought bravely, but were overpowered and compelled to fall back for reinforcements. In the fight two men were killed and four wounded, as follows.

Killed: Rufus Hibbard, William Densham.

Wounded: Herman Fher, breast; Thos. J. Tompson, side; Henry Field, hip; Geo. Robinson, hand.

Colonel Price, with two companies of the Eighth, came in today from the scene of the fight. Two dead soldiers were found and buried. They had been horribly mutilated, entrails taken out, faces and limbs cut into pieces, scalped, and everything done that savage ferocity could invent.

This is undoubtedly the same party that Lieut. Baldwin whipped, as two scalps answering the description of the murdered soldiers were found in their camp, besides property that the Indians had captured from the company. An Arapaho who was with Farnsworth as a guide says they were Kiowas. The Arapaho disappeared in the fight, and it is thought by some that he led the soldiers in this decoy.

Gen. McKenzie has gone to Fort Sill for supplies, and will soon be on his way to the field of operations.

A supply camp has been established at this point on the Washita, about ninety miles south of Camp Supply. New horses and additional transportation are on the way for the use of the expedition, and it now looks as if the campaign would last all winter. The Indians are on the Staked Plains, and there be no “going in” until they are thoroughly whipped and brought to terms. They are represented as in a deplorable condition, running in every direction to keep out of the way of the troops.

The weather so far has been favorable to military operations, but the falling leaves and chilling blasts warn us of the near approach of winter. T.

LATER.

CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., Nov. 15, 1874.

Late arrivals from Fort Sill and the Cheyenne agency report the Indians yet out as heartily tired of the war and anxious to come in. They now regret having gone to war at all, and would surrender on almost any terms. The Cheyennes yet out are in the bands of Grey Beard, Stone Calf (who also has thirty lodges of Staked Plains Comanches), Bull Bear, Heap-of-Birds, Old Whirlwind, Sand Hill, Manimick, and several under chiefs. Big Horse, who recently surrendered with twenty families, says these chiefs would come in, but are afraid of the troops. He left them south of Adobe Walls, where Gen. Miles found them on his late trip to the Staked Plains. They are now scattered in every direction. Meanwhile, preparations are being made for a winter campaign and a vigorous prosecution of the war. If the Indians come in and give themselves up, this necessity will be obviated, but the troops will not be withdrawn as long as they maintain a hostile attitude. Couriers are now on the way to the camps of the hostile tribes in the capacity of peace-makers. Whatever effect their visits may have on the minds of the war chiefs, it is certain there will be no patched-up treaty with the savages who have been carrying on their work of murder and robbery for the past six months. The blood of slaughtered innocents demands that the perpetrators of these deeds be brought to justice and made to pay the penalty of their crimes.

A small party of Cheyennes, under Medicine Arrow, passed up Wolf Creek a few days ago to join those on the plains. They came from the north, where they had been on a visit, and knew nothing of the present troubles. A Cheyenne, who claims to be a son-in-law of the chief, left this post yesterday to hunt him up. T.

FROM CAMP SUPPLY.

Movements of the Cheyennes.

New Military Post in Texas.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, November 25, 1874.

CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., Nov. 16, 1874.

Special Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

The Cheyenne who left here three days ago in search of Medicine Arrow’s party, returned today, bringing with him three of the chief’s men, who were out looking for Cheyennes. They went as far as the Washita, when, seeing the country full of soldiers and finding no traces of Indians, they started for this post. Medicine Arrow, with the balance of his party, about fifty persons, started for the Cheyenne agency, where he has doubtless arrived before this. They left their lodges, ten in number, on Wolf creek, about twenty miles west of here. Col. Lewis, commanding the post, has sent for them to be brought in. The Indians state that there is a large number of Cheyennes now on the way from the north. It may turn out that all of the Cheyennes have been north, and that the murders and thefts laid to them is all a myth. Indian ingenuity knows no bounds. It is reported that Gen. Sheridan, on the occasion of his recent visit, ordered the establishment of a military post on some of the tributaries of Red river to facilitate operations against Indians in the event of future outbreaks. The forks of McClellan creek and North Fork of Red river in Texas, is mentioned as the probable site of the new post. This will place it about one hundred and forty miles south of Camp Supply and about the same distance from the posts south. T.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Rescued Indian Captives.

A Wise Suggestion by Col. Miles.

No White Men in the Black Hill Country.

Navajo Indians En Route for Washington.

New Arrests of Louisiana Parishioners.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, November 28, 1874.

THE RESCUED CHILDREN.

Chicago, Nov. 27. The following is an extract from an official dispatch of Col. Miles, received at Lt. Gen. Sheridan’s headquarters this morning. It refers to the girls whose rescue from Indians was announced some time ago.

“During the fight two white girls were recaptured from the Indians. It appears these sisters, Adelaide and Julia German, aged 5 and 7 years respectively, were captured in Kansas, en route from Georgia to Colorado. They say their father, mother, brother, and one sister were murdered, and that they and two older sisters were kept prisoners. They have no positive knowledge of their sisters’ whereabouts. Their story of woe and suffering is simply too horrible to relate. They were almost naked and nearly starved. They are now under charge of Surgeon Waters and will receive every care and attention, and when strong enough, will be forwarded to Leavenworth. I most earnestly recommend that ample annual provision be made for these children by the government out of the annuity appropriation for the benefit of the Cheyenne Indians.”

Gen. Pope in forwarding this statement heartily concurs in Col. Miles’ recommendation.

NO MINERS IN THE BLACK HILLS.

Reports having been published recently in several western newspapers and reproduced elsewhere, purporting to be accounts from parties of white men out at Laramie City, who had penetrated the Black Hills country, an investigation was ordered by Gen. Sheridan, through the officers commanding at the different points on the borders of the Black Hills territory. The result of these inquiries proves that so far no white men have entered that country since the expedition of Gen. Custer. The officer commanding at Fort Sanders reports that he was informed that a company of prospectors, under Col. Grew, left Laramie some time since and succeeded in finding what they believe to be gold places diggings within four or five miles of this place up the big Laramie river, but this is not near the Indian country.

INDIANS GOING TO WASHINGTON.

St. Louis, Nov. 27. Ex-Gov. W. F. M. [?], Indian agent at Fort Defiance, arrived here today from New Mexico with a delegation of Navajo Indians, consisting of Manuelito, the principal war chief, his wife and son, his chief counselor, and seven other chiefs; also Wm. H. Manderfield, an editor of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and two interpreters, en route to Washington, where they will go to have a talk with the president relative to exchanging a strip of land sixty by thirty miles in the northern part of their reservation, which is known as the San Juan country, for a tract of agricultural and pasture land bordering on their reservation on the south; also to adjust some difficulties growing out of the treaty made with them in 1848, and to ask redress of the government for the murder of three of their tribe last summer by Mormons who were trying to found a colony in Arizona.

RESOLVED TO PROMULGATE.

New Orleans, Nov. 27. The returning board today resolved to promulgate the returns of all senatorial districts canvassed.

MORE ARRESTS.

Nineteen citizens of Lafourche parish have been arrested on warrants issued by the United States commissioner charging them with a violation of the enforcement act. They will be brought here for preliminary examination.

FROM THE FIELD.

The Last Stages of the Indian War.

A Winter Campaign Possible, But Not Probable.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, December 2, 1874.

From Our Own Correspondent.

CAMP SUPPLY, I. T., November 25, 1874.

Gen. Geo. A. Forsythe, of Gen. Sheridan’s staff, Gen. Stewart Van Vliet, chief quartermaster, department of the Missouri, and Major W. M. Dunn, Jr., aide to Gen. Pope, arrived here yesterday. Gen. Forsythe will visit the troops in the field before his return to ascertain their status and needs, and inquire into the possibility of establishing a new post. Gen. Van Vliet visits the territory on business connected with his department.

Lieut. W. B. Wetmore, of Gen. Pope’s staff, who has been serving as volunteer aide de camp to Gen. Miles since the expedition started out, returns to department headquarters at Fort Leavenworth. Lieut. Wetmore is one of those pleasant, gentlemanly officers, whose genial manners always inspire esteem. His associations with the expedition have been of the most pleasant character, and he leaves with the best wishes of the entire command.

Major Brooks, paymaster, left here day before yesterday for Gen. Miles’ headquarters to pay off the troops of this command. They now have four months pay due.

A severe snow storm visited this section last week. Several soldiers were frozen and a number of horses died during prevalence of the storm. Gen. Davidson, who was moving toward Fort Sill, was losing from ten to fifteen a night.

There are no new developments in regard to Indian affairs in this latitude. The last known of them they were going north as fast as horse flesh could carry them. As it is impossible for them to live on the Staked Plains during cold weather, they have probably taken refuge in the Guadalupe mountains.

Supplies are being forwarded to the front as rapidly as possible, and Gen. Van Vliet has ordered one hundred more wagons to be placed on the road between this post and Fort Dodge.

The question of continuing troops in the field during the winter will depend on the movements of the Indians. If the Indians come in, the troops will be withdrawn; if not, they will be kept in the field. The fighting is considered over, but it may take some time to get the Indians in and arrange terms for their future conduct. T.

MOUNTAIN MEADOW.

Details of the Horrible Massacre of Seventeen Years Ago

Being Brought to Light.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, December 2, 1874.

For weeks past, says the Denver News, the telegraphic dispatches from Salt Lake have contained allusions to the Mountain Meadow massacre, and a few days since it was announced that John D. Lee had been arrested, and in due time he would tell all he knew about it. Whether he will do so remains to be seen, but it is predicted by many that he will never tell all, for if he did, the people would be so outraged by his confession that they would tear him limb from limb.

SCENE OF THE MASSACRE.

The scene of the horrible massacre at Mountain Meadow is situated about three hundred and fifty miles west of south of Great Salt Lake City, on the old emigrant route leading to Los Angeles, California. In the spring of 1859, Judge John Cradlebaugh, who was at that time the federal judge of the district in which the Mountain Meadow was situated, determined to make an effort to, if possible, expose the persons engaged in the massacre. Gen. Johnson, who afterward went into the confederate army and was killed at the battle of Shiloh, was in command of the troops in Utah at the time, and sent a detachment of troops with Cradlebaugh. The command went as far south as the Santa Clara, a clear, bright, and rapid river, some twenty-five miles beyond the Mountain Meadow, where it then camped and remained about ten days.

AN INDIAN’S STORY.

During the stay there Judge Cradlebaugh was visited by the Indian chiefs of that section, who gave him their version of the massacre. They admitted that a portion of their men were engaged in the massacre, but were not there when the attack commenced. One of them told Judge Cradlebaugh that after the attack had been made, a white man came to their camp with a piece of paper, which he said Brigham Young had sent, that directed them to go and help whip the emigrants. A portion of the band went, but, said the old liar, they did not assist in the fight. He gave as a reason that the emigrants had long guns, and were remarkably accurate marksmen. He said that his brother (this chief’s name was Jackson) was shot in the hip while running across the meadow, at a distance of two hundred yards from the corral where the emigrants were. He said the Mormons were all painted to look like Indians. This chief said the Indians got a part of the clothing taken from the train, but that the Mormons took all the guns, cattle, horses, and wagons. He gave the names of John D. Lee, President Haight, and Bishop Higbee as the big captains [?]. It might be proper here to remark that the Indians in the southern part of the territory of Utah are not very numerous, and are a low, cowardly set, very few of them being armed with guns. They are not formidable, and it was the general impression of those forming Judge Cradlebaugh’s party that all the Indians in the southern part of the territory would, under no circumstances, carry on a fight against ten white men.

THE EMIGRANT TRAIN.

The company was composed of about thirty families; and 130 to 140 persons, principally from Johnson County, Arkansas. It is generally conceded that the company was abundantly supplied with traveling and extra horses, cattle, etc. They had thirty good wagons, and about sixty mules and horses, and 600 head of cattle—some of the cattle blooded stock. The emigrants arrived in Salt Lake valley in the latter part of July, and traveled south, stopping for several days at Provo City, Cord creek, Filmore, and Sevier river. The train reached Mountain Meadow on the second or third of September, 1857, and halted, determined to remain until the following Monday, on which day the attack was made on them.

THE FIRST ATTACK.

The first attack was made by going down the ravine, then following up the bed of the spring to near it, then at daylight firing upon the men around the camp fires, in which attack ten or twelve of the emigrants were killed or wounded, the stock of the emigrants having been previously driven behind the hill and up the ravine. The emigrants soon got in condition to repel the attack, shoved the wagons together, sunk the wheels in the earth, and threw up quite an entrenchment. The fight afterward continued as a siege, the assailants occupying the hill, and firing at any of the emigrants that exposed themselves, they having a barricade of stones along the crest of the hill as a protection. The siege was continued for five days, the besiegers approaching in the garb of Indians. The Mormons and Indians, seeing that they could not capture the train without making some sacrifices of life on their part, and getting weary of the fight, resolved to accomplish by strategy what they were not liable to do by force. The fight had been going on for five days, and no aid was received from any quarter, although the family of Jacob Hamlin, the Indian agent of the United States, and a Mormon, was living at the upper end of the valley, and within hearing of the reports of the guns; and the town of Cedar City, with from five hundred to eight hundred inhabitants, was not more than twenty-five miles away.

HOPE OF RESCUE.

A wagon appeared containing President Haight and John D. Lee, among others of the Mormon church. They professed to be on good terms with the Indians, and represented the Indians as being very mad. They also proposed to intercede and settle the matter with the Indians. After several hours of parley, they having apparently visited the Indians, they gave the ultimatum of the savages, which was that the emigrants should march out of their camp, leaving everything behind them, even their guns. It was promised by the Mormon bishops that they would bring a force and guard the emigrants back to the settlement.

THE FATAL TRAP SPRUNG.

The terms were agreed to, the emigrants being desirous of saving the lives of their families. The Mormons retired and afterward appeared at the corral with thirty or forty armed men. The emigrants were marched out, the women and children in front and the men behind, the Mormon guard being in the rear. When they had marched in this way about a mile, at a given signal, the slaughter commenced. The men were most all shot down at the first fire from the guard. Two only escaped, who fled to the desert, and were followed one hundred and fifty miles before they were overtaken and slaughtered.

The women and children ran on two or three hundred yards further, when they were overtaken, and with the aid of Indians, they were butchered in a most cruel manner. Seventeen only of the small children were saved, the eldest being about seven years. Thus on the 10^th of September, 1857, was consummated one of the most cruel, cowardly, and bloody murders known to history.

JUDGE CRADLEBAUGH’S INVESTIGATIONS.

Judge Cradlebaugh proposed to hold an examining court, but, as orders were issued that the military should not be used in protecting the courts, his plan had to be abandoned. While at Cedar City, however, the judge was visited by a number of Mormons, or apostates, who gave him every assurance that they would furnish an abundance of evidence in regard to the matter so soon as they were assured of military protection. In fact, some of the persons engaged in the act came to see the judge in the night, and gave a full account of the matter, intending, when protection was at hand, to become witnesses. They claimed that they had been forced into the matter by the bishops. Their statements corroborated in substance what the Indians had previously said. The deputy United States marshals, during their trip, succeeded in finding twelve of the surviving children. They were all found in the custody of Mormon families, who, however, claimed to have purchased them from the Indians. Some of the children related the circumstances of the butchery. One of them said to Judge Cradlebaugh: “Oh, I wish I was a man; I know what I would do; I’d shoot Mr. Lee, for I saw him shoot my mother.”

A MONUMENT.

During Judge Cradlebaugh’s excursion to the scene of the massacre, he discovered that the remains of the victims had never been buried—although two years had passed since the slaughter. At a later period a detachment of troops, under command of Maj. Gen. Carlton, gathered the remains together and buried them near the spring by which they were encamped when attacked by the Mormons. At the time he was there, he erected a monument to the memory of the dead. It was constructed by raising a large pile of rock in the form of a cone, in the center of which was erected a beam twelve or fifteen feet in height. On one of the stones he caused to be engraved, “Here lie the bones of one hundred and twenty men, women, and children, from Arkansas, murdered on the 10^th day of September, 1857.” Upon a cross-tree he caused to be painted, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay.” A year or two later the monument was destroyed, not one stone being left on another.

TESTIMONY OF CAPT. R. P. CAMPBELL.

Capt. R. P. Campbell, of the United States army, in his report of the expedition to the scene of the Mountain Meadow massacre, says:

“Here I found human skulls, bones, and hair scattered about, and scraps of clothing of men, women, and children. I saw one girl’s dress, apparently that of a child of ten or twelve years of age. These were the remains of a party of peaceful inhabitants of the United States consisting of men, women, and children, and numbering about 150, who were removing with their effects from the state of Arkansas to the state of California. These emigrants were here met by the Mormons (assisted by such of the wretched Indians of the neighborhood as they could force or persuade to join), and massacred with the exception of such infant children as the Mormons thought too young to remember or tell of the affair. The Mormons had their faces painted so as to disguise themselves as Indians. The Mormons were led on by John B. Lee, then a high dignitary in the self-styled church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and Isaac Haight, now a dignitary in the same. This affair began by a surprise. The emigrants were encamped near a spring from which there is a ravine. Along this ravine the Mormons and Indians crept to the spring during the night. When the emigrants arose in the morning, they were fired upon, and some twelve or fifteen of them killed. The emigrants then seized their arms, and defended themselves so bravely that after four days the Mormons and Indians had not succeeded in exterminating them. This horrid affair was finished by an act of treachery. John D. Lee, having washed the paint from his face, came to the emigrants and told them that if they would surrender themselves and give their property to the Indians, the Mormons would conduct them back to Cedar City. The emigrants then surrendered, with their wives and children. They were taken about a mile and a half from the spring, where they, their wives, and their children, with the exception of some infants, were killed. These facts were derived from the children who did remember and could tell of the matter, from the Indians, and from the Mormons themselves. This affair occurred in the month of September, 1857.”

This man, Lee, who has just been arrested, has never denied, we believe, that he was present at the massacre, but pretended that he was there to prevent bloodshed; but incontestible evidence implicates him as the leader of the murderers. The surviving children, some of whom are still in Mormon families in Southern Utah, point him out as the fiend who killed their mothers and fathers, and it is a matter of wonder that these children haven’t been butchered, too, years ago. No longer than a year ago, one of these children recognized a jewel on a Mormon woman, which had been the property of the child’s mother before the massacre. Gov. Arny says that the Navajo chiefs, who are accompanying him to Washington, were overjoyed when told by the interpreters of Lee’s arrest. They charged him with having murdered emigrants and prospectors crossing from Colorado and New Mexico into Southern Utah, and then laying it to the Navajos. They also say that Lee led the party, last summer, which assassinated three of their tribe on the Colorado river.

THE SMOKY HILL MASSACRE.

A Strange Story of Captivity and Rescue.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, December 2, 1874.

The two little girls, named Adelaide and Julia Germain [German], who were captured by the Indians last September and rescued on the 8^th of November by a scouting party from Gen. Miles’ expedition, passed through this city yesterday morning for Leavenworth, in charge of Surgeon Powell. In commenting upon the capture and rescue of these children, the Leavenworth Commercial truly says that in the whole history of frontier deviltry and savage brutality, there is no sadder story than that which clusters around these orphans. Briefly told, it is this: Last September a family of emigrants, named Germain [German], from the Blue Ridge region of Georgia, were on a journey across the plains to Colorado. They encamped one night on the Smoky Hill, not far from Sheridan station, and while at rest wee surprised and attacked by a band of Cheyenne Indians. Of the nine members of the family, five were instantly butchered and four carried into captivity. The father, mother and infant, a grown son and an invalid daughter were cruelly murdered in cold blood, and thus escaped the terrors of captive brutality, infinitely worse than the horrors of death itself. The remaining members of the family—all girls—were placed on ponies, and forced to endure the hardships of a rapid flight to the Texas frontier. Two of the girls, Adelaide and Julia, aged respectively five and eight years, were recaptured some days ago. The other sisters, Lucy and Ada, the former nineteen and the latter sixteen years of age, are still held as prisoners, and supposed to be with Gray Eagle’s band of Cheyennes.

The misery of the young ladies still in captivity can better be imagined than described. The story of suffering borne by the two children rescued from the savage band was told in their own half-naked bodies, emaciated faces, and woe begone countenances. The elder, a frail girl, but old enough to know mental anguish and comprehend the terrible tragedy which had befallen herself and her own, was a mere walking skeleton, worn to the shadow of death, when her rescuers appeared. The young, naturally the stronger of the two, and perhaps unconscious of other than physical suffering, bore up much better than her sister did, but she, too, bore hardships, and the heroism of her innocent suffering appealed to every sentiment of sympathy in the warm hearts of the gallant soldiers who rescued her. The officers and soldiers at Camp Supply, and in the field, contributed so generously to the relief of the children, that after clothing them comfortably, there were left in the surgeon’s hands one hundred and eighty-five dollars for their use. The children will probably become the wards of the Protestant orphan asylum at Leavenworth.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, December 2, 1874.

Ten families of Mennonites, numbering fifty or sixty persons, passed west on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad yesterday, to join their friends at Newton. They belong to the Mennonite colony consisting of two hundred and seventy-five souls, which passed west last week.

The Commonwealth, Wednesday Morning, December 2, 1874.

The suit of Craig vs. Smith & Hale for infringement of patent of well points having been decided in our favor, we are prepared to furnish well points, pumps, and pump material in any quantity, wholesale and retail. SMITH & HALE.

BY TELEGRAPH.

WASHINGTON.

The President’s Message Being Prepared for the Press.

Possibility of the Admission of Colorado and New Mexico.

The Washington Safe Burglars Not Legally Indicted.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, December 6, 1874.

THE MESSAGE.

December 6. The secretaries and clerical force of the executive mansion are today engaged in making manifold copies of the message for the press. It will be sent to both houses of congress about 1 o’clock on Monday.

THE ADMISSION OF NEW STATES.

New York, Dec. 5. Washington dispatches foreshadow early and favorable action on the house bills for the admission of Colorado and New Mexico, with the object of adding four republican senators and two congressmen to the present bodies.

ILLEGAL INDICTMENTS.

Washington, Dec. 5. A full board of judges in this district today decided that the late grand jury which indicted the alleged safe burglars was illegally chosen, and therefore all indictments found by that grand jury are nullities. The matter came up on the case of Huff, found guilty of stealing a horse and carriage from the Continental hotel in this city. His counsel appealed and the case has been decided against the legality of the grand jury.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Latest Reports from Gen. Miles’ Indian Expedition.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, December 6, 1874.

MILES’ EXPEDITION.

Chicago, Dec. 5. Lieut. Gen. Sheridan received the following dispatch this morning.

CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS, Dec. 1.

Miles’ encampment is at the head of the timber on the Washita. He has nine companies of infantry here, and another will be up soon from Camp Supply. Maj. Compton, with four companies, is on the Sweetwater, sixteen miles distant. Four companies of the Eighth cavalry are at the Adobe Walls. The troops have suffered somewhat for want of clothing. If the forage gets up, Miles will move on or about the 10^th along the headwaters of the creeks emptying into the north fork of Red river to the headwaters of the main Red river, meeting there the eighth cavalry, who are ordered to move fifty miles up the Canadian, thence south to meet his command. It is generally believed that the Indians who are still out have taken refuge in ravines near the headwaters on the Red. If Miles had forage, he would start today. The horses and mules are thin in flesh, but otherwise in fair condition.

KING KALAKAUA.

The Commonwealth, Sunday Morning, December 6, 1874.

San Francisco, Dec. 5. King Kalakaua and suite left for Washington this morning in a special palace car. He is accompanied by Col. Wherry, Lt. Col. Hubbard, and Lieut. Whiting, of Benicia. Several officials and officers of the army and navy went to the ferry landing today to bid farewell to his majesty. He says that his visit has been most pleasant and agreeable. The military review last night in his presence was a splendid affair, attended by about 4,000 spectators.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Monday Morning, December 7, 1874.

A prominent citizen suggests in another column the name of Col. W. D. Terry in connection with the mayoralty of Topeka. Few, if any, will be found to dissent from the statements concerning Col. Terry’s fitness for the duties of such an office, and if the people should take a notion to elect him, they need have no fears that he would serve them in any way but the most energetic, prudence, and honest manner. And he wouldn’t “put on airs” over it either, for modesty is the shiningest of his many virtues.

The Commonwealth, Monday Morning, December 7, 1874.

The Emporia Ledger publishes a full report of the Thanksgiving sermon delivered at that place by Prof. H. B. Norton, of the state normal school. The discourse is one of unusual force and beauty, and serves to confirm us in the opinion we have frequently expressed that Prof. Norton has one of the best minds in Kansas.

RIOTS IN VICKSBURG.

New Orleans, Dec. 7. The following is a special to the Bulletin, dated Vicksburg, Dec. 7, 12:25 P. M.: Our citizens were called under arms at 3 o’clock this morning. The negroes advanced upon the city in three columns and commenced an attack on the Cherry street outskirts. They were driven back with a loss of four killed and quite a number wounded. One citizen was slightly wounded. The negroes are now advancing on the Warrentown road and another conflict is momentarily expected.

THE MILES’ EXPEDITION.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

We present to our readers, this morning, two very full and graphic letters from our south-western correspondent, who has, during the past summer, accompanied the expedition of Gen. Nelson A. Miles against the hostile Indians of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and other tribes. These letters have given the latest, fullest, and most accurate account of the movements of this and the other expeditions, under Cols. Price and McKenzie, in concert with this that have appeared in any newspaper in the country. It is with a sense of pride and gratification that we say this, because the campaign has been the most important one, both in its general scope and its results, that has ever been prosecuted against the warlike Indians of the frontier. The Cheyenne tribe especially, which met with such a serious reverse at the battle of the Washita in 1868, has been taught a lesson that will probably never be forgotten. It is fair to presume that the Cheyennes may now be enrolled amongst the peaceful tribes for an indefinite period. The present generation will never recover from the loss of property that it has suffered the present summer. Too much credit cannot be awarded to Gen. Miles for the vigor, untiring energy, and utter disregard of difficulties and hardships that he has infused into the expedition under his command. We happen to know that he has always favored the peace policy and the humane treatment of Indians, believing that they had been frequently wronged and oppressed by the whites. But he has not allowed his views in this respect to interfere with the active and untiring prosecution of his expedition. The success of it has been complete, and we claim a share of the laurels for our correspondent for his full and reliable record of its achievements.

FROM THE FIELD.

The Attitude and Temper of the Cheyennes.

Important Information From Mexican Traders.

Interesting Military News Items from Gen. Miles’ Expedition.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

From Our Own Correspondent.

HEADQUARTERS INDIAN EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON THE WASHITA, TEXAS, December 9, 1874.

Notwithstanding the cold stormy weather which characterized the last days of autumn, Gen. Miles’ troops have not been inactive. The Indians, probably thinking that the troops have been withdrawn from the field, or that the cold weather would secure them against molestation, began to show signs of wanting to get back to their old haunts, from which they had been driven in the early fall by this command. Accordingly, scouting parties were sent out in various directions to ascertain their whereabouts.

Captain C. A. Hartwell, commanding a battalion of the 8^th U. S. cavalry, left camp, on the Canadian, five miles above Adobe Walls, on the 28^th ult., with detachments of companies C, H, K, and L, going in a westerly direction some twelve or fifteen miles, then crossing to the south side of that river, proceeded southwest, traveling all night, to within a few miles of Muster Creek. At this point his scouts, who were moving in the advance, discovered moving on this stream what proved to be a Mexican bull train, consisting of nineteen wagons and seventy men, and one hundred head of loose cattle. The Mexicans stated that they were hunting buffalo, and had come together for protection, but it is the opinion of the officers in charge that they had been trading with the Indians. They had been in the camps of the Cheyennes, and the Cheyennes had been in their camps. The information obtained from them is important, as tending to show the present temper of the hostile savages. The Indians who were under White Bird and Maumuck were anxious to make some terms, looking toward a cessation of hostilities and the establishment of friendly relations with the government; and, that with this object in view, three of the principal chiefs had gone to Fort Sill.

The Mexicans also stated that these Indians had two white girls in their possession, supposed to be sisters of the little ones recaptured by Lieut. Baldwin in his fight on the 8^th of November.

Acting upon this suggestion, General Miles has secured the services of two friendly Cheyennes, who are accompanied by Ben Clarke, a reliable and intelligent gentleman, who has been in government employ for years as a guide and interpreter, and who is familiar with the habits and haunts of the tribe. To visit the camp of their red brothers, and, if possible secure the release of the young girls, who no doubt have and are suffering untold agonies at the hands of their savage captors. The party, one white and two reds, left here this morning on their mission of mercy. They will proceed to Adobe Walls, and from there go north in search of the Cheyenne camp. If they succeed in their perilous undertaking, they will deserve the undying gratitude of the race. If the captives are delivered up, General Miles will allow the Indians holding them to go to the agency and surrender to the troops there. If not, he will move on them, and they will have the consequences.

Upon the approach of Hartwell’s command, the Indians withdrew, going in a southeasterly direction. Forty or fifty warriors showed themselves on the ridges in his front, but were driven off without much resistance.

The command returned to camp on the Canadian on the evening of the 2^nd inst. Hartwell reports two Indians killed and left on the field, and two others were seen to fall from their horses, badly wounded, besides capturing and killing several ponies. The Mexicans are now encamped on the Canadian, fifteen miles above Adobe Walls.

On the 30^th inst., Sergeant Dennis Ryan, with thirty men of company “I,” 6^th cavalry, started from camp on the Sweetwater to recover property abandoned by the 8^th cavalry. On his return he was met by between one hundred and fifty and two hundred Indians, going east, evidently trying to make their way into the agency. Upon seeing the soldiers the Indians scattered in different directions, throwing away in their flight a large amount of valuable property and Indian trinkets. Ryan’s party captured and killed about one hundred ponies. In their retreat the Indians abandoned a number of fine dresses and other articles belonging to a lady’s apparel; also a scalp, which it is thought belonged to the murdered mother of the German children, who was so cruelly butchered while en route to Colorado in the fall.

Sergeant Ryan has been highly complimented for his gallant conduct and the good judgment he displayed in the disposition of his small party, as he gave it the appearance of a larger force. The Indians, no doubt, imagining this to be the advance of a large body of troops, fled in the greatest confusion, leaving their animals with packs on, and taking nothing that would in any way impede their rapid locomotion. They took a westerly course, and Ryan, after following them for ten or fifteen miles, returned to camp with the spoils.

Gen. Forsythe and party have returned from their trip south. It has been decided to locate the new post at the forks of McClellan creek in Texas. This will place it in the department of Texas, commanded by Gen. Augur. Work on the new post will probably not commence before spring.

Viscount Massarene and Earl of Everart, colonel in the British army, accompanies Gen. Forsythe on a pleasure tour. He is a clever sort of an Irishman, and seems to be as much at home on the Staked Plains as in the streets of Dublin.

On the 29^th, two of Gen. Miles’ scouts, Ira Wing and Smith Steele, left camp on the Washita, fully armed and equipped, to find Indians. It was a risky undertaking and required courage, judgment, and a thorough knowledge of the country, all of which were happily combined in the men selected. They traveled a day and night, and came upon an Indian camp near the north fork of Red river. Having accomplished the object of their mission, they returned to camp.

James L. Stanford, who was shot by Indians on the 9^th of September last, died from the effects of his wound, in the hospital at Camp Supply, November 27^th.

The troops are making themselves as comfortable as possible, but there are no indications that they will go into permanent winter quarters. Gen. Miles intends to keep stirring the Indians until they come to terms.

Major Brooks’, U. S. paymaster, late visit to the post has had its effect to augment the volume of currency and to cause considerable activity in money matters. The “fluctuations” have been numerous and “special deposits” the ruling feature. Legal tenders are at a premium and call loans on the decline. Specie, none in the market. Several “banks” have collapsed, and others are likely to follow suit if they don’t do “business” on a surer foundation. T.

War Department Orders.

The Terrible Trouncing of the Cheyennes.

They Have Lost Many Scalps and Nearly All Their Property and Sue for Peace.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

CAMP SUPPLY, INDIAN TERRITORY, December 12, 1874.

The following is a summary of events that have transpired since my last.

Company K, Sixth cavalry, in command of Lieut. K. P. Kingsbury, which has been stationed at this post for the past two years, relieves company G, Capt. T. C. Tupper. The latter company has been with the expedition since the start and acquitted itself with honor in the various engagements with the Indians. It goes to Fort Dodge.

Capt. E. P. Ewer’s company of the Fifth infantry goes to the Cheyenne agency to take the place of company E of the Sixth cavalry, who have been ordered to the front.

The Pawnees, numbering about 2,500, and who have been assigned to a new reservation in the Territory, have been taking advantage of their privilege to hunt on the way. They have been on the Cimarron the past two weeks, but have resumed their journey to their new home. They did not let the opportunity pass, however, to prove that they belonged to the universal Lo family of thieves. A freighter in the employ of the government had four mules stolen by them while en route from Dodge to this place. They offered to return them for a ransom.

The war department has ordered medals of honor to the following named persons of Gen. Miles’ command for meritorious conduct on the field: Amos Chapman and William Dixon, scouts; Herrington, Rath, and Woodhull, soldiers.

The Indians lately encountered by Capt. Hartwell, south of the Canadian, and who are represented as tired of fighting and desirous of making peace, are, it has been ascertained, some of the same bands of Cheyennes that General Miles drove south over a month ago. The fact of their return so soon to the same locality and the sending of three principal chiefs to Fort Sill is evidence of their willingness to discontinue further resistance and place themselves under the sheltering wings of the government.

These Indians have been unfortunate throughout this whole campaign, and sustained greater losses in men and property than any other single tribe. They were the first to encounter Gen. Miles’ advancing column, who drove them south more than one hundred miles, forcing them to abandon lodges, ponies, and other property of great value, and giving them a sound drubbing in the fight at Red river. Gen. McKenzie then pounced upon them, and sent them skedaddling northward, the Indians leaving in that officer’s hands two thousand ponies and a number of slain warriors. In retiring from McKenzie they again came in conflict with Miles’ troops, who again reversed their order of march and sent them whirling toward the tropics. Thus they have been kept on the run almost continuously for four months, and deprived of nearly everything in their possession, ammunition exhausted, the rigors of winter upon their unsheltered families, it is not to be wondered at that they are in a mood favorable to the establishment of peace. As long as they roam over the country, murder and scalp innocent children and defenseless women, spreading terror and dismay throughout the border, causing whole neighborhoods to flee from their homes to save their lives, these brave cowards had a glorious time of it; but when the government tardily sees fit to interfere with their little innocent amusement, it loses its romantic charm, the Indians become amiable, and manifest their old desire for rations, blankets, and other luxuries dispensed by our munificent government. T.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

A fifty dollar counterfeit bill has turned up at Manhattan.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The ex-reverend, ex-professor, ex-doctor, Smith, who has been more than once exposed in the COMMONWEALTH for dead-beating the charitable in various parts of Illinois under the pretense of assisting the destitute in this state, has turned up again at Elgin, Illinois, where he has collected goods and money to the amount of about $1,500. It is some consolation to know that letters have been sent to that place, which it is hoped may serve the purpose of defeating Smith’s plan there, and so have the goods reach the destination intended by the kind donors.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The ladies’ Christian Mission decided at their meeting of December 9^th that it was advisable to locate the depot for the clothing for the poor in a most central part of the city. They have therefore succeeded in securing a room above McGrath’s store, second door on the east side. Ladies will be in attendance to receive donations on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, from 2 to 4 P. M. The key of the room will be left in one of the adjoining rooms for the convenience of visitors who may wish at any time to distribute articles to the poor.

BY ORDER OF CHRISTIAN MISSION.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

A special meeting of the council was held last evening, but no business transacted, and it adjourned, to meet Monday evening, Dec. 28, at seven o’clock, at which time all petitions for licenses for the ensuing six months should be presented. All licenses now issued expire Dec. 31^st, and we are informed that no person will be permitted to transact any business for which a license is required whose petition is not presented and acted upon at that meeting (even though the petition for such license has been filed with the city clerk and the money required for the same paid into the city treasury), until the same shall have been presented and granted at some subsequent meeting of the council. Saloon keepers should file their bonds with their petitions.

STATE NEWS.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The town of Clear Water, Sedgwick County, wants a hotel, bad.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

Every load of wood brought into Lawrence for sale is measured by the city authorities.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The contract by which the Fort Scott foundry is to manufacture implements for the granges has been signed.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The residence of Rev. J. H. Burrage was burned by unknown parties at Concordia on Monday night of last week.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

In Arkansas City, hay is selling for $3 per ton, corn 80 cents, and scarce, and wheat at 80 cents, with a dull market.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

A dog bit Mr. Russell, of Arkansas City, last week, and he has been confined to his bed ever since in a very critical condition.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

One year from next March, passengers going east can take the Eureka, Augusta and Wichita railroad. So says the Beacon.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

A wildcat which measured four feet in length was killed on the Cowskin last week.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The Methodist minister of Hutchinson goes 140 miles to preach to the brethren at Fort Dodge.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

Mr. Leggett, a farmer, near Waterville, has fallen heir to $35,000 by the death of his uncle in London.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

A dealer in Emporia received twelve barrels of whiskey last week, and there has not been near the usual amount of destitution in the place since.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The new depot at Wyandotte will be one hundred feet long and twenty-six wide, and the platform two hundred feet long and ten wide.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

It is said W. C. Tenney is going to fight the board of regents of the state university in the legislature on the salary allowed the chancellor. He thinks $3,000 a year is too much.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

Two young brothers, named Kohler, were smothered to death at Empire, McPherson County, last week, by their sod-house caving in upon them.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The Osages, Kaws, and other Indians received their scalp money week before last. The gentle Enoch Hoag saw them paid, and then returned to Lawrence with the proud satisfaction of having done his duty.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The Arkansas City Traveler says: “We have had a number of men in our office during the past two weeks, offering to work at anything, for one bushel of wheat per day and board themselves, equivalent to eighty cents.”

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

The Newton Kansan says that Lewis Noble, living in Emma township, about ten miles northwest of that place, was burned out last Tuesday week. The family lost all their furniture, clothing, and $100 in money.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

J. W. Campbell keeps a restaurant in Fort Scott. He also has a wife who placed her affections on one Chris. Greenwood, which so incensed Campbell that he “turned loose” on Chris. one night last week. Not being an artist in that line, Campbell shot wild, and one of the balls struck Edward Walker, of Coffeyville, in the jaw, shattering the bone. Campbell was promptly locked up, while Greenwood went and courted Mrs. Campbell.

INDIAN RAID.

The Santa Fe Railroad Track Torn Up.

A Train Hemmed in Near Dodge City.

The Commonwealth, Thursday Morning, December 17, 1874.

From Mr. Horner, who came in on the Santa Fe road at half past two this morning, we learn that a band of Indians have torn up the track of the A. T. & S. F. railroad a few miles beyond Dodge City. They have a train hemmed in, having torn up the rails each sides of it. It is supposed they are Cheyennes. Full particulars have not been received, but the above are the facts as related to us.

A CANARD.

That Indian Raid on the Santa Fe Unfounded.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, December 18, 1874.

In yesterday’s COMMONWEALTH appeared a brief statement in reference to an alleged Indian attack on the Santa Fe railroad, which we received from Mr. A. F. Horner just before going to press. We opened our forms for a statement of a rumor which seemed to have excellent foundation, coming as it did from a perfectly reliable and truth telling citizen, Mr. Horner, of Florence and Topeka. But it now appears that Mr. Horner’s information was unreliable, for no such raid took place. As nearly as we can get at the facts, one Santa Fe railroad operator sent such a dispatch to another as “a flyer,” as it is called in current slang, and the Florence operator heard it pass over the wires. He told Mr. Horner, therefore, that a dispatch had passed over, addressed to the superintendent. When Mr. Horner arrived in the city yesterday morning about three o’clock, he stopped at this office on his way home, to ask if we had any fuller particulars than he had received. We had not heard of the matter at all, but on his very positive statement, inserted the rumor with no intention of either deceiving the public or harming the Santa Fe railroad. This is the whole story and we have only to add, that it would profit Mr. Stacy, the telegraph superintendent, to send a copy of Mrs. Barbauld’s essay on “Lying and the fate of liars,” to some of the operators under his charge. It might temper the fervency of their imagination a little.

THE MISFORTUNE OF LOOKING LIKE A MARRIED MAN.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, December 19, 1874.

Max Adeler has a friend named Slimmer, who deserves pity. He was going up to Reading not long since, and, when reaching the depot, he happened to look in the ladies’ room. A woman sat there with a lot of baggage and three children, and, when she saw Slimmer, she rushed toward him, and, before he could defend himself, she threw her arms about his neck, nestled her head upon his breast, and burst into tears. Slimmer was amazed, indignant, confounded; and, ere he could find utterance for his feelings, she exclaimed:

“O, Henry, dear Henry, we are united at last. Are you well? Is Aunt Martha still alive? Haven’t you longed to see your own Louisa?”

And she looked into Slimmer’s face, and smiled through her tears.

“Madam,” said he solemnly, “if I am the person alluded to as Henry, permit me to say that you have made a mistake. My name is Lemuel. I have no Aunt Martha, and don’t own a solitary Louisa. Oblige me by letting go my coat; it excites remark.”

Then she buried her bonnet deeper into his waistcoat, and began to cry harder than ever, and said:

“O, Henry, how can you treat me so? How can you pretend that you are not my husband?”

“Madam,” screamed Slimmer, “if you don’t cease slopping my shirt bosom, and remove your umbrella from my corn, I shall be obliged to call the police. Let me go, I say.”

“The children are here,” she persisted. “They recognize their dear father; don’t you, children?”

“Yes, yes,” they exclaimed, “it’s pa; it’s our own dear pa.”

And then they dragged Slimmer by his trouser legs, and hung to his coat tail.

“Woman,” he shrieked, “this is getting serious. Unhand me, I say.”

And he tried to disengage himself from her embrace, while all the brakemen and the baggage masters, and newsboys stood around and said his conduct was infamous.

In the midst of this struggle, a stranger entered with a carpet bag. He looked exactly like Slimmer—and when he saw his wife in Slimmer’s arms, he became excited and floored Slimmer with that carpet bag, and sat on him, and smote his nose, and caromed on his hat, and asked him what he meant. Slimmer was removed on a stretcher, and the enemy went off with his wife and family in a cab. He called the next day to apologize. His wife had made a mistake because of Slimmer’s likeness to him. And now Slimmer wishes he may soon be kicked in the face by a mule, so that he will resemble no other human being in the world.

FROM THE FIELD.

Latest From the Miles’ Expedition.

The Troops Ordered Into a Winter Cantonment.

The Indians Starving and Demoralized.

The Commonwealth, January 21, 1875.

HEADQUARTERS, INDIAN TERRITORY EXPEDITION,

CAMP ON THE CANADIAN, December 28, 1874.

From Our Own Correspondent.

There is at present nothing new from the camps of the hostile Indians, and their present whereabouts is not definitely known. After their route by Capt. Hartwell, of Gen. Miles’ command, they retreated south, in the direction of Red river, in the canons of which they are now supposed to be. The Indians rely entirely on buffalo meat for food for their families, and will not leave them unless forced to do so. The Cheyennes, the only considerable body of hostile Indians yet out, were anxious to make peace at last accounts, and were in a terribly demoralized and destitute condition.

A winter cantonment has been ordered to be established on the Sweetwater, to consist of companies B., C., E., and K., 6^th cavalry, and companies C., D., E., and I., 5^th infantry. The cavalry companies have not been in active service during the campaign. The infantry has been with the expedition since the start. The whole is to be under the command of Major James Biddle, of the 6^th cavalry. The other troops that have been operating with the expedition will be withdrawn from the field. Col. Price’s battalion of the 8^th cavalry, returns to Fort Wingate, New Mexico.

This arrangement practically suspends effective operations for the winter. Had Gen. Miles been properly supported in the start, the Indian problem would be nearer a satisfactory solution. No officer has labored with more zeal to bring about a settlement of this vexed question that would be at once permanent and in harmony with the wishes of the people of the great west.

The companies that are to be replaced will go in as soon as those that are to take their places arrive.

Sergeant Dennis Ryan, Co. I, Sixth cavalry, has been recommended for promotion by Gen. Miles, for his courageous conduct in the engagement with Indians, on the 2^nd of December T.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, January 21, 1875.

McClure & Hindman have on hand 15,000 bushels of No. 1 shelled corn, bought last fall before the advance; 2,000 bushels of selected seed corn, in the ear; 2,000 bushels of peach blow potatoes; 7,000 bushels of No. 1 seed oats; 7 car loads of Illinois and Missouri bran; 5 car loads of ship stuff; 1 car load of chopped corn; 1 car of corn meal, soon to arrive; and 2 cars of the celebrated Leavenworth flour. We pay nothing for rents or for help, and can sell as cheap as anyone. McCLURE & HINDMAN.

FROM THE FIELD.

Latest From Gen. Miles’ Expedition.

Five Hundred Comanches Driven In From the Staked Plains to Fort Sill.

One of the Greatest Feats of Grit and Endurance On Record.

Gen. Miles To Leave His Command.

Only Five Hundred Hostile Indians Out.

The Commonwealth, January 29, 1875.

From Our Own Correspondent.

FORT SILL, January 23, 1875.

Gen. Miles, with a portion of his command, reached this post yesterday, after a hard march of twenty-five days. The object in coming here is to obtain supplies. On the 28^th of December, he left camp on the Canadian, west of Adobe Walls, with Co. K of the 6^th cavalry, Co. D of the 5^th infantry, one Gatling gun, and twenty-five wagons, with the view of inflicting one more blow upon the hostile Indians, and make a final effort to secure those innocent captives the German sisters, now in their possession. The route from the Canadian was almost due south, to the Tule, the north branch of Red river, and across the Staked Plains, a distance of over one hundred miles. Here the course was changed eastward, a part of the command going down the Tule to the mouth, and a portion following Canon Blanco, another tributary of Red river, and down that to the old crossing of August, where the forces again united, camping on Gen. Miles’ old battle ground. To make a thorough search of the country and find the Indians, if they could be found, the command again split, Lieut. Baldwin, with Co. D, 5^th infantry, and his invincible scouts, being ordered to go to the head of Salt fork and scour that stream, while Gen. Miles, with the balance of the command, proceeded down Battle creek, scouting the country to the right and left for fifty miles. After making a careful examination of the country passed over, the troops again came together at Elm fork, the command being reinforced at this point by Co. I, 6^th cavalry, and Co. C., 5^th infantry, one howitzer and twenty-five wagons loaded with supplies, the whole in charge of Col. Compton.

By this time some trails of Indians were discovered, and Gen. Miles determined to follow them so long as he had a man or a hoof left. The trains all led in the direction of Fort Sill, so taking one himself and ordering Compton to take another, they were pursued to this post, reaching here one day in advance of the troops. The Indians driven in by Gen. Miles were Comanches and Kiowas, and numbered four or five hundred men, women, and children. They were in a terribly demoralized state, almost destitute of clothing and food. They say they have been run so hard by the soldiers that they have had not chance to kill any meat for their families. They are now at their agency, where they are likely to remain for an indefinite period, and content themselves with government rations.

This march, made in the dead of winter, and over a country never ventured upon by whites at this season, will be put down as one of the most remarkable on record as illustrating the hardships and privations men are capable of enduring. The distance traveled is over five hundred miles, and when the command returns to the cantonment on the North Fork, even if it goes by the most direct route, the entire distance traveled will be more than seven hundred miles. The weather was cold and stormy throughout—small parties were often compelled to sleep on the bald prairie with no shelter save the broad canopy of heaven, yet there was no murmuring and no casualties. Such patient endurance of hardships and such cheerful compliance with orders are worthy of the highest commendation.

The command will remain here for a few days to get supplies, and then return to the cantonment on the North Fork, going by way of the Washita, when Gen. Miles will perhaps take leave of the field, and this at a time when his services would be rendered most useful. I am not acquainted with the reasons that have produced the change, but I know that Gen. Miles’ highest ambition was and is to remain in the field as long as there is a hostile Indian off his reservation. In this patriotic and philanthropic desire, Gen. Miles has not been seconded by those over him, and he will therefore retire from the field when his experience and knowledge of the country could be used most advantageously in the entire subjection of the hostile tribes, and the freeing for all time of this vast country to civil settlement.

As previously stated in this correspondence, Col. James Biddle, of the sixth cavalry, will command the troops, four companies of cavalry and four of infantry, that are to constitute the cantonment of the North Fork. They will remain here until May, when they will be relieved by troops from the department of Texas.

Lieut. Baldwin will also go in, taking with him his company of scouts. These men have taken a conspicuous part in all the movements of this expedition, and have ever been foremost in the various engagements with the enemy. Their heroism in individual combats with greatly superior numbers has been made the subject of special commendation by the commanding officers; their long rides through a country swarming with hostile savages, often going for two and three days without food or sleep, never failing to deliver their messages, and only one of the entire number ever being hurt, are matters of special pride to themselves and to those who appreciate genuine grit.

I have learned upon my arrival here that the whole number of warriors yet out, Kiowas, Comanches, and Cheyennes, will not exceed five hundred, and it is now well known that they are all anxious to come in. A party of friendly Indians will leave here in a few days to induce them to come in. A party of Cheyennes are already out on the same errand, and the prospects now are that the troops will have very little to do next summer. They are not in a condition to protract the war, even if they had the disposition.

This is one of the largest and finest forts west of the Missouri. It is built of stone, and is made to accommodate ten companies. It was established in January, 1869, by Gen. Sheridan. It is garrisoned at present by six companies of the Tenth cavalry, colored, and three companies of the Twenty-fifth infantry. Col. Davidson, better known on the frontier as Black Jack, is in command. The Tenth is soon to be relieved by Col. McKenzie’s regiment, the Fourth cavalry, now at Fort Concho, Texas.

There are fifty Indians, representing the different hostile tribes, held here as prisoners. Nineteen of them are in irons. They answer to their names at every guard mount and nobody is allowed to have communication with them. A more stolid, dirty, meaner looking set of scoundrels were never drawn into line. They are to be tried by the military, and will undoubtedly pay the penalty of their crimes on the scaffold. Among them are several prominent chiefs, Woman’s Heart, Kill Chief, and White Horse.

I will return to Supply by way of the Cheyenne agency and may have occasion to send you some notes announcing the workings of that institution. T.

THE STAKED PLAINS.

THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS.

GEN. MILES TAKES HIS FAREWELL SCOUT.

The Commonwealth, January 29, 1875.

FORT SILL, INDIAN TERRITORY, January 24, 1875.

Correspondence of the Commonwealth.

The sight of the Wichita mountains was a glorious relief from the terrible monotony of the Staked Plains, which are almost unendurable at any time, but particularly so in the winter. Over this bleak, barren waste, through wind and storm, with scarcely no cessation, the command traveled for six long, weary days, the all-absorbing question with every man in the expedition being how to keep from freezing. Buffalo chips were not to be had, and the little wood that was hauled along in the wagons was our only fuel. Fortunately no one was seriously frozen, and the great Llanos Estacado were parted with, with the utmost satisfaction to all hands. From the headwaters of Red river to the Wichita mountains, the country is rough and broken, and almost destitute of vegetation. The soil is a kind of red clay, the only product of which seems to be mesquite brush. The Creek bottoms are narrow and almost devoid of timber. The water generally is bad, being a compound of gypsum, alkali, and salt. This country can never be made to subserve the purposes of agriculture, and it has very few inducements for stock-raising.

The country to the north and south of the mountains is altogether different. It is like arriving from a desert to a paradise. The mountains proper are about fifty miles from east to west, and forty from north to south. Their greatest altitude, I should think, does not exceed six hundred feet above the surface of the surrounding country. Their surface is rocky and I could discern no timber on them from the south side. Numerous small streams of pure water gush out from either side. These streams are all supplied with an abundance of timber: walnut, oak, hackberry, hickory, and other varieties. The country breaks off into rolling prairie, and is covered with a rich growth of vegetation, indicating unusual fertility.

The present has been an uncommonly severe winter, but I am told that the climate generally is mild and equable, and free from malaria. When this vast domain is opened to settlement, as it will be sooner or later, I know of no better place to locate a claim than in the vicinity of Fort Sill.

The post is located on Cache creek, near the eastern base of the Wichita mountains. The nearest railroad station is Caddo, 180 miles, on the M. K. & T. It is 75 miles south of the Cheyenne Agency. Two tri-weekly stage lines run to Caddo and one to Wichita via Cheyenne Agency.

Gen. Miles’ command leaves here today. He intends to scour the country between this and his late base of operations on the Washita and Canadian, when he will have completed the grandest scout and most thorough examination of this whole vast region, ever made. T.

AN IMPORTANT BILL.

The Commonwealth, January 29, 1875.

Lawrence Journal.

An important bill is under discussion in the house of representatives, in Topeka, with reference to the sale of lands under foreclosure of mortgage where the right of appraisement has been waived. The bill provides that where judgment in such cases has been or may hereafter been rendered, execution shall not issue for two years. Under the law as it now stands execution issues within six months. Since the law was passed, three years since, allowing the right of appraisement to be waived, hardly any mortgages have been executed without containing the waiver. They are now falling due while business all over the country is terribly depressed, and in our own state we are suffering from the accumulated horrors and disasters of drouth, grasshoppers, and panic generally. The result is that thousands of farms are falling under the sheriff’s hammer, oftentimes for the merest pittance. The six months speedily expires and with it the right of redemption passes forever.

It is objected to all this class of laws, appraisement, redemption, etcetera, that they diminish the power of the people to loan money. Such may be the effect, but it is worthy of question whether a farming population can afford to do business on borrowed money at all, and whether the farmer who mortgages his farm does not in nine cases out of ten, in effect sell it at the price of the loan. Certain it is that for years there has been no such margin of profit on farm operations as would allow farmers in this state to pay 12 per cent a year for money to operate with. It is a question whether it is of any real advantage to farmers to be able to loan money on their farms. It is not a question that vast numbers of them are now in a condition where unless they get relief of some kind their farms will be swept from under them remorselessly and without redemption.

FROM THE FIELD.

Prisoners of War at the Cheyenne Agency.

A Brief Summary of the Present Situation.

Col. Neil Sends an Ultimatum to Stone Calf.—The German Sisters.

The Commonwealth, February 2, 1875.

From Our Own Correspondent.

CHEYENNE AGENCY, INDIAN TERRITORY, January 26, 1875.

I reached this place today from Fort Sill, making the ride in two days and a half. A few months ago the traveler who attempted the journey alone did so at the peril of his life. The solitary wayfarer can now go on his way without being haunted by specter demons springing up on every side.

The country between this place and Fort Sill is an unending panorama of hill and dale, with numerous streams of pure, crystal water, all heavily timbered. The soil is of a reddish loam, and, where tried, produces well. The valleys are from one to two miles wide. The uplands are rolling prairie, and in many places large belts of timber are seen. The principal streams crossed are the Washita, Canadian, and North Fork of the Canadian. The agency for the Wichita and Caddo Indians is located at the crossing of the Washita. I found quarters here for the night with a company of the Twenty-fifth infantry, and made myself as comfortable as a traveler well could on the soft side of a cottonwood plank. There is a fine school building here, and I was informed there were about four hundred pupils in daily attendance, all of whom take the liveliest interest and are making satisfactory progress in their studies. The agent’s dwelling—which is a very fine structure for the frontier—the schoolhouse, store, missionary building, and one or two minor buildings, are the headquarters for the two tribes, who gather in from the surrounding country once in every week to draw their rations. On these days the banks of the Washita presents a scene of unusual animation. The Caddos are scattered along from the Washita to the Canadian. These Indians all live in houses and cultivate the soil. I noticed many farms under good cultivation. Nearly all speak English and dress the same as whites. In fact, their manners and customs are more like the whites than the Indians. One custom, however, prevails among them that is not altogether in harmony with our advanced notions of the way things ought to be done in a civilized community, and that is the way the daughters are linked in the bonds of wedlock. All the suitor has to do to obtain the hand of a Caddo maiden is to present the father with one or more ponies, just as the parent estimates the worth of his daughter or likes the man on whom her affections are set. This completes the whole ceremony, and the two become man and wife.

The Caddos are originally from Louisiana, and moved to their present reservation after the close of the Mexican war. They are a quiet, order-loving people, and have never imbrued their hands with the blood of innocent whites.

The Wichitas, who are a prairie-raised tribe, do not make so much progress in the arts of civilized life. They live in wigwams and lodges, constructed after the aboriginal fashion, and have made no attempts at tilling the soil. The rising generation may be reclaimed, but there is no hope for the able-bodied loafers that hang around the agency and depend on the government for subsistence.

I found everything quiet at this agency, with plenty of dirty looking squaws and dirtier looking papooses strapped on their backs, sauntering about. . . . T.

Excerpt from an article written by “P,” a correspondent...

The Commonwealth, February 2, 1875.

Col. Neil has charge of the prisoners, about three hundred, and Agent Miles the friendly ones. The utmost harmony prevails between these officials, and both have discharged t heir delicate duties in a manner to elicit the plaudits of the nation.

Stone Calf, the Cheyenne who has the German sisters, sent word to Col Neil that he wanted to come in and make peace. Col. Neil’s reply, which was sent out by some friendly Indian, has the ring of a true soldier. It is as follows:

“Tell Stone Calf to come in with his people and surrender unconditionally, and he will be treated as the others have been; and further, that he must bring in those white girls, the German sisters. The government will use all its power, if it takes years; that we care more for those white women than the whole of Stone Calf’s band.”

The Indians bearing this message are to go to Stone Calf’s camp, and return in forty days.

Estimated number of Cheyennes 2,200; number at agency, 286; prisoners of war, 289; warriors, 400; out, 1,625.

Arapahos, 160; warriors, 300. None of these Indians have been on the warpath this season.

Total number of Kiowas, 2,000; total number of Comanches, 1,968.

These last mentioned tribes paint and live in the wild style. A few of the Arapahos and Kiowas send their children to school. The others do not.

Col. Neil and Agent Miles are doing everything in their power to effect the release of the two white girls now with Stone Calf’s band, and it is hoped their very laudable efforts may be crowned with success.

Two companies of the fifth infantry, and one of the sixth cavalry, are the only troops now at the agency. The prisoners are kept under strict guard, and those that are guilty of murder are known to the officers, and will receive their deserts in due course of time. P.

FROM THE FRONT.

The Soldierly and Feeling Speech of Lieutenant Baldwin to His Men.

Not Over Five Hundred Fighting Indians Out.

A Winter Campaign Ordered to be Begun Against Them.

Notes of Peace.—Business and Agriculture in the South West.

The Commonwealth, February 19, 1875.

DODGE CITY, KANSAS, February 16, 1875.

From Our Own Correspondent.

Lieutenant Frank D. Baldwin, chief of scouts, and General Miles’ main dependence in his arduous campaign in the southwest, passed down the road yesterday, his services in the field having terminated with those of that officer. He will go by way of Coffeyville to pay off the Delaware Indians, who served as scouts with the expedition. In taking leave of the men who had clung to him through all the dangers and privations incident to a winter campaign, Lieutenant Baldwin was called on for a speech and responded in these timely and appropriate words.

“Gentlemen: In parting with you I desire to express my heartfelt thanks for the cordial and uniform support you have given me throughout this entire campaign. You have by your actions in the various encounters with the enemy, given fresh illustration of those qualities of courage and endurance that are the peculiar characteristics of the frontiersman. The recollection of your heroic conduct under circumstances the most trying—always thwarting the well laid plans of your savage adversary, although outnumbered ten to one—your long, perilous rides through a country infested by hostile Indians who knew no mercy and gave no quarter, will ever be a source of pleasurable meditation to me.

“Again, thanking you for this manifestation of sympathy and regard, I will bid you all an affectionate good-bye.”

Three cheers followed, and in a few moments the train was underway.

It is but proper to say that Lieut. Baldwin has acquitted himself with great honor in the discharge of his responsible duties with the expedition, and has, by his gentlemanly demeanor, won the esteem and confidence of all who knew him.

Some apprehension is felt that the Indians will renew the war in the spring with increased fierceness, but this is barely probable unless the hostile savages of the south are joined by others from the north. They have been badly whipped, according to their accounts; their ammunition is exhausted; a large proportion of those yet out have lost their ponies, and are not in a condition to offer any very serious resistance to the troops; and as to making raids on frontier settlements, they will have enough to do to watch and evade the troops. It is now well ascertained that the confederated bands of hostile Indians in the south cannot muster over five hundred fighting men, and when the columns of Gen. McKenzie, Cols. Hatch, Davidson, and Biddle are put in motion, they will make short work of it. The first two officers are ordered to take the field in person at once. Biddle is already out, and the different columns will soon be put in motion. So that, on the whole, the prospect for a speedy and permanent settlement of our Indian troubles was never more encouraging.

Dodge City, which has always been a live business town, shows signs of increasing prosperity as she grows older, and just now wears a look of unusual bustle and animation. Every man, woman, and child in the place carries a cheerful countenance, and complaints of dull times are seldom heard. Besides being the center of a large trade in hides, meat, and pelts, it is the nucleus of a populous district and the shipping point for all the supplies that go south for the troops operating against the Indians. The land in the immediate vicinity of the town is taken up and the occupants are making preparations to put in a spring crop. The grasshopper plague did not seriously affect the people here, and if the signs of the times are any criterion, their future prosperity is an assured fact.

Its businessmen are of that class peculiar to the west: live, energetic, and go-aheadative.

Among the old, original, and tried firms are the houses of Chas. Rath & Co., Myers & Leonard, A. B. Webster, R. W. Evans, Jake and Morris Collar, who deal in dry goods, clothing, groceries, etc., while the liquor, wine, and cigar trade are represented by such old-timers as Hoover & McDonald, Walters & Hanrahan, A. J. Peacock. Cox & Boyd navigate the Dodge City hotel—they are first-class pilots in their line. Beatty & Kelly sling grub in style—D. M. Frank is also proprietor of a restaurant, which he runs on first-class principles. His table is always supplied with the best the market affords, and his guests are made to feel at home in his house. A bar supplied with the best of liquors, wines, and cigars, is attached to the house. Jimmey Redmond, one of the best bar-keepers in the west, stands behind the counter, and always greets his friends with a “smile.” H. P. Niess, formerly of Leavenworth, is a constructor of boots and shoes, and everybody who leaves their “measure” with him is sure to be suited and fitted. Herman J. Fringer is postmaster, and also keeps a full assortment of drugs and things in that line. The country being very healthy, there is not much call for medicine. T. L. McCarty is an excellent physician and surgeon, but he says that this is the healthiest country he ever struck. The law is represented by Messrs. D. M. Frost, J. C. Wyckoff, and D. L. Henderson. As the people here are all peaceably disposed and dwell together in unity; business in this line is rather slack at present. The seat of learning, literature, and the fine arts is the Messenger office, where the force of habit and old associations naturally caused me to drift. I found Mr. Moore, the editor, up to his eyes in ink, paper, and the like, and everything about the premises indicate a high degree of financial prosperity, a very unusual thing among newspaper men.

The musical interests of the people are looked after by Tom Sherman and George Jones. If you are afflicted with low spirits, the blues, or anything of that kind, just drop into one of these places; and if you are not cured in fifteen seconds, your case must be hopeless indeed. The music is a continuous flow of melody, and nothing will so effectually extinguish despondency as a visit to Tom’s or George’s. T.

FEES AND SALARIES.

The Commonwealth, February 19, 1875.

There are several bills now pending in the legislature reducing the fees and salaries of state and county officers. The principle pervading these bills is one whose enactment the people very generally demand to the end of reduction of taxes. It is therefore commendable; but the pruning should be wisely, fairly, and judiciously done. The fee system is, in many of its features, onerous to the people and fruitful of abuses, and though it has frequently been revised, injustice and extortion have not been eradicated. The fees for various official acts and services should be so regulated as to pay the salary of the officers simply, and not to extort unreasonable sums from the people.

The various county officers would prefer a fixed salary, we believe, to the uncertain fee system, especially since the latter breeds popular suspicion of wrong-doing. But a salary graded on population should be fixed on a liberal sliding scale, so as to be fairly proportioned on the labor and responsibility involved. There is one feature in these bills which we deem to be very iniquitous and unjust, and should be stricken out before the fee bills are enacted. That is the clause devolving the power of regulating salaries upon the board of county commissioners. There is no unfairness in fixing the salaries of county officers at sums certain; but to allow them to be reduced from those limits at the whim of a board of commissioners is to make the officers the servants of the board, and not of the people. It may work great injustice to officers, and cannot possibly protect or subserve the interests of the people. The salaries of state officers were increased two years ago, to figures that were at that time deemed to be far from excessive. We do not believe that they should be cut down, especially we would protest against the reduction of the salary of supreme and district judges. There can be no wisdom in cutting down judicial salaries—indeed, nothing but harm can result both to the intelligence and the probity of the judiciary. It is proposed to reduce the number of judicial districts, which is both a rational and legitimate measure of economy; and if this reduction is made, there remains more cogent reason for not reducing the salaries of judges.

The general plan of reduction meets our approbation and will be commended by the people; but an unthinking and injudicious razing of the salaries of important public officers will result in far greater calamity to the state and the people than the money saving can compensate.

OPINION OF THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ON THE PRESS GAG LAW.

The Commonwealth, February 19, 1875.

Washington, Feb. 16. The senate judiciary committee, having been directed by the senate to report what is the meaning and extent of the so-called press gag law of June 22, 1874, submitted a report today, expressing their opinion that the second section of the act of June 22, 1874, confers upon courts of the district of Columbia the power to arrest offenders found in the district who are charged with a crime committed within the district, and hold them for trial, which was the law before, and to arrest offenders found in the district who have committed crimes against the United States, in some judicial district in the United States, and to send them to such district for trial, and that is all. No person can be brought into the district of Columbia under it, either for libel or any other crime. The committee are of the opinion that both sections of the act are necessary and proper, and in perfect accordance with the principles of justice, of the course of civilized jurisprudence. Without provisions of this character, the district of Columbia would be an asylum for offenders committing crimes against the laws of the United States and escaping hither.

It only remains to report as directed by a resolution of the senate whether said act has any application to the prosecution or indictment for the crime of libel in any case. We are of the opinion that, as before stated, no person charged with the crime can be brought into the district of Columbia under it, for no person can be brought here under it for any crime whatever, and it is equally plain that no person charged with the crime of libel in any other district or place in the United States can be arrested here and sent to such district or place under it.

For, first, libel is not a crime against the laws of the United States or any of the states, so that no case could arise in which a court or judge in the District of Columbia could be called upon to arrest a person here and send him to any state for trial for libel. It should be here observed that the jurisdiction of courts of the United States in criminal cases is confined to offenses created by statutes of the United States. No offense at law is indictable or tryable in the courts of the United States. This was early determined by the supreme court of the United States, and is the settled law of the land.

Second, If in any territory libel is a crime by the laws, and if such laws could be held for such purposes to be laws of the United States, the act under consideration provides no aid in sending a person from this district to such territory, for the thirty-third section of the act of 1789 has no application whatever to territories. The result is that the act of June 22^nd, 1874, is not, in our opinion, obnoxious to criticism, and, in respect to the crime of libel, it confers no power either to bring a person charged wit it either into the district of Columbia, or send him out of it.

(Signed) GEO. T. EDMUNDS, ROSCOE CONKLING, FRED T. FRELINGHUYSEN, GEO. G. WRIGHT, ALLEX G. THURMAN, J. W. STEVENSON.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, February 19, 1875.

The Littleton, N. H. Republic tells about a little six year old girl in Monroe, who went into a store where her father was lounging, the other day, and slyly approaching him, said, “Papa, won’t you buy me a new dress?” “What, buy you a new dress, Susy?” “Yes, papa, won’t you?” “Well, I’ll see; I’ll speak to your mother about it.” Elongation to an alarming extent rapidly spread over that little countenance, but a thought suddenly struck her, and with a smile she looked up into her father’s face and said, “Well, papa, if you do speak to mama about it, toucher her easy, or she may want the dress herself.” The father at once saw the point, and the point and the dress was purchased.

The Commonwealth, February 19, 1875.

An opening for an enterprising medical practitioner exists among the Indians at Hot Springs, California, their former medicine man having lately been made defendant in an aboriginal malpractice case, wherein the damages consisted of his ears and scalp.

The Commonwealth, February 19, 1875.

An exchange asks: “If there’s a place for everything, where is the place for a boil?” It has been said that the best place for such an ornament is on some other fellow, and we don’t think a better location can be discovered.

The Commonwealth.

HENRY KING, Editor.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, February 20, 1875.

They say that Uncle Daniel Drew has made $1,000,000 this winter in stock speculations, and Jay Gould $2,000,000.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, February 20, 1875.

Three royal sprouts of Europe, who may yet be all ruling nations at the same time, are Louis Eugene, of France, aged16, Fredrick Wilhelm of Germany, aged 18, and Alphonso of Spain, aged 19.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, February 20, 1875.

The Late Rev. Charles Kingsley, Canon of Westminister, was buried in the parish churchyard of the village which had been the scene of his labors for thirty-one years.

FROM THE OSAGES.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, February 20, 1875.

[From the Arkansas City Traveler.]

The Osages say they are willing the whites shall herd cattle in the Territory, as long as they keep off of the Salt Fork, where they want to herd their ponies. The fact is neither the whites or Osages have any right west of the Arkansas river, in the Territory, and if one is compelled to move, the other will have to be. If the matter can be arranged, and understood where each party shall herd, it will be better than contention.

ABOUT DEAD OSAGES.

The Commonwealth, Saturday Morning, February 20, 1875.

Mr. Charles Robinson has declared the attitude of the opposition on the Indian question. He has requested and obtained the insertion in the organ of the James brothers, of Missouri, and the so-called reformers of Kansas, of a report of Mr. Enoch Hoag, the Quaker superintendent of Indian affairs of this department, on the killing of certain Osages within the borders of Kansas. This report is prepared by the interior department at the instance of Friend Hoag, and in the interest of the Indian ring. This letter to Mr. Robinson, with the accompanying documents, presents the question fairly to the legislature as to whether they propose to accept the peace policy inaugurated by the Quakers in control in Washington, and thus virtually to endorse the killing of twenty-seven of the citizens of the state, as against the express command of the state administration that the Indians shall remain on their side of the line. The issue is squarely met in the organ of the opposition, and the position of Mr. Hoag and the ring in concealing, by every possible means, all aboriginal atrocities, to the end of perpetrating the ascendancy of the Indian ring, which is endorsed by the accepted leader of that party in the senate. We need only state this proposition to the people of the state, who are already familiar with all the points in this controversy between Governor Osborn and the Indian hierarchy, to enable them to obtain a fair estimate of Senator Robinson’s honesty and sincerity in dealing with this question. But a few days ago in the city which Senator Robinson represents, were held the imposing obsequies of six Lawrence citizens, the victims of a band composed in part of Osages and Cheyennes, while acting as government surveyors, last summer. Yet the senator from Douglas County, while the shadow of this crime still rests upon the households of our citizens and remains unappeased and unpunished, insists that the peace policy, which is proximately responsible for this brutal outrage, shall be sustained by a Kansas legislature. He offers, as testimony in his behalf, an ex parte inquisition ordered by an Indian superintendent, who demanded the resignation of Agent Miles for telling the truth about Indian outrages last summer, and declaring the necessity of troops on the plains to repress hostile savages who disregarded reservation lines and restrictions. We need merely to state this position of Senator Robinson and his following, to show the extremities of their bitter hatred and unrelenting opposition to the republican administration of the state.

But we have a word or two to say about the character and credibility of these affidavits, and we beg leave to assure Governor Robinson that we make this statement on our own responsibility and of our own knowledge. The writer of this was in Barbour County in November last, in his capacity of newspaper correspondent, examining into this very question of the killing of the Osages. He knows, of his personal knowledge, the makers of some of these affidavits, and knows them to be outlaws and horse thieves, whose arrest for stealing horses was ordered by Adjutant General Morris—who were examined and bound over for trial. Mr. Tip McClure, as he is called, is an elegant specimen of the long-haired gentry who are found in those parts, who never see a likely horse without first breaking the tenth commandment and fracturing the sixth the first dark and convenient night afterward; who, if hard pushed, would shoot a lonely traveler for a ten-dollar bill. If God Almighty writes a legible hand, some of these affidavit-makers bear the unmistakable impress of abandoned scoundrels on their countenances, and their affidavits are not worth the paper they are written on. All the credible members of the militia company, including Captain Picker, whom we found to be a modest and reticent man of nerve, altogether superior to the community that owns him, have already made affidavit to a state of facts, the exact contrary of those of Mr. Tip McClure and his pals, who are undoubtedly instigated by a spirit of revenge in making affidavits at all. The preponderance of evidence, numerically and every other way, is against their story. Mr. M. Sutton, who prepared the affidavits for these men to swear to, is a person who has, so far as we could learn, never done an honest day’s work since he lived in Barbour County. He is utterly without credit and without character. In making these statements, we desire to be understood as declaring what we know and what we have seen. These affidavits may look formidable to a stranger to the matters of them, but to us, who have passed them under personal review, they bear the impress of a very painful effort to manufacture evidence on the part of Mr. Enoch Hoag, and a very desperate attempt to use it for political capital on the part of Mr. Robinson and his sweetened organ, the Kansas City Times.

ENOCH HOAG’S LETTER.

A Document Which Is Reviewed At Length Elsewhere.

The Commonwealth, Friday Morning, February 26, 1875.

From the Kansas City Times.

OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, CENTRAL SUPERINTENDENCY,

LAWRENCE, KANSAS, February 23, 1875.

Senator Robinson, Senate Chamber.

I enclose response to the COMMONWEALTH’s article correcting misstatements and have to ask thee to see the editor in order to its publication, if he is willing—otherwise, have the Kansas City Times publish if practicable, and oblige, Respectfully, ENOCH HOAG.

ROBINSON TO THE TIMES CORRESPONDENT.

J. G. Pangborn. Special Correspondent of the Kansas City Times.

I offered the above referred to communication to the COMMONWEALTH on Wednesday evening, but I am told that it cannot be published before Friday and hence ask you to have it inserted in the Times. Very truly, C. ROBINSON.

HOAG TO THE “COMMONWEALTH.”

OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, CENTRAL SUPERINTENDENCY,

LAWRENCE, KANSAS, February 21, 1875.

“DEAD OSAGES.”

To the Editor of the Commonwealth:

Your article in the issue of the 19^th, with the above caption, embraces several statements without foundation. So far as my name is connected with these misstatements, I should never reply personally, but representing a religious society and also the government, it is my duty in their interest to see that said errors be corrected.

You certainly cannot take exceptions to my furnishing a senator with a copy of the files of this office, on his official request, on any subject deemed by him of interest to the people of the state. Neither can you regard me as being actuated by any political motive.

You say these papers (referring to the reports and affidavits in the Osage militia case) “present the question fairly to the legislature as to whether they propose to accept the ‘peace policy’ inaugurated by the Quakers in control in Washington, and thus virtually to endorse the killing of twenty-seven of the citizens of the state,” etc.

The peace policy was not “inaugurated by the Quakers.” They are not “in control at Washington.” The policy was inaugurated by President Grant, whom you support, and his Indian policy was adopted and accepted by all the principal christian sects of the country. The Quakers being one of the smallest, who, by request of the president, were placed in charge of a very small portion of the Indian service; and the Quaker policy you attempt to make odious by misstatements is precisely the same policy adopted by the other christian denominations.

It is very unwarrantable to charge the Quakers with endorsing the killing of twenty-two citizens, who, if killed by Indians (as some may not have been), were by Indians with whom the government were at war, and the files of my office show sufficient appeals and warnings to the government to suppress encroachments, both by Indians and citizens; and that appeals have been made to the executive of the state to arrest and punish violations of the intercourse laws, by our citizens, without effect, while every laudable effort has been exercised by this office to ferret out and punish violations of law by either race. The charge of “Hoag and the ring” ‘in concealing aboriginal atrocities,’ has no foundation, and the attempts, by such insinuations, to bring odium upon the work of aiding the Indians in their efforts to obtain a better life is an unworthy appeal to the slumbering jealousies of the ignorant, tending to fan the flame of passion, always ready for war upon Indian rights.

Your reference to the unfortunate murders of surveyors, residents of Lawrence, gives me the opportunity to say that I discouraged their entering upon that service as unsafe while the Cheyennes were at war. Your criticisms evince an ignorance of the peace policy you condemn. “Grant’s” peace policy is that of peace to all Indians who remain in their reservations in obedience to the government, and war to all who will not, but who engage in raiding; and the present Cheyenne war is conducted under that policy; and if your desire to have the service transferred to the military was granted, there would be no change in the treatment of hostile Indians—and your military commander of the district of Missouri is not in favor of such transfer.

You speak of an “ex parte inquisition ordered by an Indian superintendent.” An investigation of the Osage murders was promised by the executive of the state, with the assurance that if found innocent, the captured Indian ponies and property should be returned to the Indians. A long time passed, when the department at Washington, not “Indian superintendent,” ordered an investigation. Two commissioners from the east with ex-Governor Wilson Shannon, of Lawrence, investigated the case and reported the Indians a peaceable hunting party, the attack unjustifiable, and that property captured ought to be returned and the Indians remunerated; that the two reports to the governor by Capt. Ricker were contradictory and each nullified the other. Subsequently letters were addressed to the government by citizens of Barbour County and vicinity, voluntarily, by which the government (not the superintendent) ordered further investigation, and the affidavits and correspondence is the result of said investigation. The charge that the “superintendent demanded the removal of agent Miles for telling the truth,” displays great ignorance of wilful misrepresentation. All the agents recommended by the church hold their office at her discretion, and would be removed at her request. If you have received any different information, it is untrue.

You characterize some of the affiants as “outlaws,” “horse thieves,” and “abandoned scoundrels,” and Commissioner Rankin, in his official report, characterizes that of Captain Ricker as “saloon keeper;” and yet they are constituents of the Kansas militia commission to receive arms from the general government to protect the interests of the border. I hop not to find it necessary again to correct statements of the press, but the time is passed when the honest people of the state will be furnished with so much error on this subject without correction. Respectfully, ENOCH HOAG, Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

FROM THE FRONTIER.

Stone Calf Surrenders, and Gives Up the Two German Girls.

The Whole Tribe of Cheyennes, to the Number of 1,600, Lay Down Their Arms.

Official Dispatch from General Thomas Neil.

The Commonwealth, March 2, 1875.

By the courtesy of General Pope, the Leavenworth Commercial is permitted to publish the following official dispatch from Gen. Thomas H. Neil, regarding the surrender of Stone Calf and the whole tribe of Cheyennes, including the two German girls, so long in captivity.

CHEYENNE AGENCY, I. T., Feb. 22, via WICHITA, Feb. 25.

To Maj. Gen. Pope, Leavenworth:

Stone Calf has come in here to surrender himself and the whole Cheyenne tribe, about 1,600 in number, with the two German (white) women. The main body is still three days’ travel from here. I send an ambulance out tomorrow morning to bring in the white women captives. Stone Calf has agreed that they shall give up their arms and ponies, go into camp, and attend daily roll call. Bray Bird, Heap of Birds, and all the principal chiefs except Medicine Water, are with Stone Calf. Please order flour, sugar, and coffee to be forwarded as soon as possible. I can get plenty of beef.

THOS. NEIL, Brevet Brigadier General Commanding.

[Note: I have changed the name “Germain” to “German” when it appeared. At first the newspapers were confused about the last name of this family. This was corrected in time. The saga of the German family is told in Volume II, The Indians. It is my firm belief that the campaign against the Indians continued until General Miles was assured that the two older girls would be rescued from the Indians.]

BY TELEGRAPH.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Unconditional Surrender of 140 Kiowa Braves.

Kellogg Vetoes a Bill for the Relief of the Levee Company.

The Commonwealth, March 3, 1875.

AN UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.

St. Louis, March 2. A dispatch from Gen. Augur, dated San Antonio, Texas, today, to Gen. Sherman, says: The balance of the Kiowa Indians, numbering 140, among whom were Lone Wolf, Red Otter, and other prominent chiefs, surrendered unconditionally to a scouting party on Salt Fork, on February 22, gave up their arms and ponies, and were expected to arrive at Fort Sill February 26. There are only 12 Kiowas now out.

A VETO.

New Orleans, March 2. Gov. Kellogg this morning sent in a veto of a bill which had passed the legislature for the relief of the Louisiana levee company, asserting that the bill was an attempt to legalize a million dollars or more of illegal indebtedness in violation of the funding law and the constitutional amendments. It is said that a strong ring has been formed to pass the bill over his veto.

CRIMES.—CASUALTIES.

The Commonwealth, March 3, 1875.

FIRE AT FORT SCOTT.

Fort Scott, Kas., March 2. Geo. W. Goodlander’s carpenter shop and contents was destroyed by fire tonight. Loss, about $2,000. No insurance. Supposed to have been the work of an incendiary.

SAD CONSEQUENCE OF A BROKEN RAIL.

Cincinnati, March 2. The west bound passenger train on the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette railroad was last night thrown from the track near Lawrenceburg, by a broken axle, and a tramp, who was stealing a ride on the front end of the postal car, was instantly killed. No others injured.

WASHINGTON.

The Commonwealth, March 3, 1875.

NOMINATIONS.

Washington, March 2. The following nominations were to the senate today: Register of land office: G. H. Wright, Sioux City. Postmasters: W. T. Maxwell, Creston, Iowa; M. W. Coulter, Baxter Springs, Kansas; Robt. Love, Trenton, Tennessee.

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

Osage City is glad that the legislature has provided for “escape shafts.”

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

Col. G. H. Norton, of Arkansas City, talks of going to Oregon.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

The Emporia News gives a sigh of relief, and says “eggs are getting plentier.”

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

Howard County suffers not only from the horrors of “division,” but mad dogs are raging.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

M. W. Coulter has been reappointed postmaster at Baxter Springs. He was an editor once.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

The Wichita Eagle speaks of the “nunck heads at Topeka.” It’s “funkheads” in the dictionary.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

One thousand persons said “Ary letter for me?” at the Hiawatha post office window last Saturday a week ago.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.

According to the Woodson County Post, Caesarism has broken out in an aggravated form in the Neosho Falls city council.

The Commonwealth, March 7, 1875.