The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969 Page: 354
498 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Plains.5 Although peace existed for the first time, and General Pope
struggled to maintain this condition, his efforts quickly embroiled him
in controversy with the Department of the Interior.
In October, 1874, while the military operations were at their height,
Pope began to perceive the nature of his future problems, and his
criticisms of the Indian Bureau began immediately. In that month
Commissioner of Indian Affairs Edward P. Smith gave permission
to four hundred Pawnee Indians to hunt buffalo in Indian Terri-
tory. General Pope protested immediately. To send unsuspecting red
men into an area where troops were under orders to attack all Indians
who were not at the agencies was unthinkable. "When it is consid-
ered," he wrote, "that the Indian Territory is everywhere now the
theatre of active hostilities, and that troops, as well as hostile bands
of Indians, are to be met anywhere, this action of the Indian De-
partment seems most extraordinary." It was "extraordinary," but as
the months passed, such decisions no longer surprised the protesting
general.'
As the icy fingers of winter spread across the plains, General Pope
became increasingly concerned about conditions at the Indian agencies
at Fort Sill and Darlington in Indian Territory. The peaceful Indians
were nearly starving, and Pope raised the question of the treatment
of the friendly Indians when he met with his superior, General
Philip Sheridan, in December, 1874, to discuss the military campaign.
Sheridan was appalled. "These peaceful Indians have behaved so
admirably," he wrote, "that they should not be allowed to suffer."'
The friendly Indians did suffer. The Indian Bureau was unable
to care for them, and this inability was not limited to the agencies
at Fort Sill and Darlington. All across the West the Bureau was con-
fronted with the spectre of starving Indians. Early in January, 1874,
agents throughout the Central Superintendency were forced to give
their Indians permission to leave the reservations to hunt in order to
5Berthrong, Southern Cheyennes, 389-404, and Leckie, Military Conquest, 187-235,
describe the campaign as do Wilbur S. Nye, Carbine and Lance: The Story of Old Fort
Sill (Norman, 1943), 274-294, which makes use of Kiowa informants, and William H.
Leckie, The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West (Norman,
1967), 119-140, which describes the role of the Negro troopers.
'Pope to E. D. Townsend, October 27, 1874, Department of the Missouri, Letters Sent,
Records of the War Department, United States Army Commands (Record Group 98,
National Archives, Washington). References to these records hereafter cited as D.Mo.,
LS.
'Sheridan to William Whipple, Acting Adjutant General, Department of the Missouri,
Division of the Missouri, December 26, 1874, ibid.154
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 72, July 1968 - April, 1969, periodical, 1969; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117146/m1/188/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.