A Ramble of Six Thousand Miles through the United States of America Part 9

The arguments used by the Cherokees are unanswerable; but in what will that avail them, when injustice is intended by a superior power, which, regardless of national faith, has determined on taking possession of their lands? The case stands thus: the executive government enters into an agreement with Georgia, and engages to deliver over to the state the Indian possessions within her claimed limits--without the Indians _having any knowledge of, or partic.i.p.ation in the transaction._ Now what, may I ask, have the Indians to do with this? Ought they to be made answerable for the gross misconduct of the two governments, and to be despoiled, contrary to every principle of justice, and in defiance of the most plain and fundamental law of property? It puts one in mind of the judgment of the renowned "Walter the Doubter," who decided between two citizens, that, as their account books appeared to be of equal _weight_, therefore their accounts were balanced, and that _the constable_ should pay the costs. The United States government has made several offers to the Cherokees for their lands; which they have as constantly refused, and said, "that they were very well contented where they were--that they did not wish to leave the bones of their ancestors, and go beyond the Mississippi; but that, if the country be so beautiful as their white brother represents it, they would recommend their white brother to go there himself."

Georgia presses upon the executive; which, in this dilemma, comes forward with affected sympathy--deplores the unfortunate situation in which it is placed, but of course concludes that faith must be kept with Georgia, and that the Cherokee must either go, or submit to laws that make it far better for him to go than stay. It is true Jackson says in his message, "This emigration should be voluntary; for it would be cruel as unjust to compel the Aborigines to abandon the graves of their fathers, and seek a home in a distant land." But General Jackson well knows that the laws of Georgia leave the Indian no choice--as no community of men, civilized or savage, could possibly exist under such laws. The benefit and protection of the laws, to which the Indian is made subject, are entirely withheld from him--he can be no party to a suit--he may be robbed and murdered with impunity--his property may be taken, and he may be driven from his dwelling--in fine, he is left liable to every species of insult, outrage, cruelty, and dishonesty, without the most distant hope of obtaining redress; for in Georgia _an Indian cannot be a witness to prove facts against a white man._ Yet General Jackson says, "this emigration should be _voluntary_;" and in the very same paragraph, with a single sweep of the pen, he annihilates all the treaties that have been made with that people--tramples under foot the laws of nations, and deprives the Indian of his hunting-grounds, one of his sources of subsistence. He says,--"But it seems to me visionary to suppose that, in this state of things, claims can be allowed on tracts of country on which they have neither dwelt nor made improvements, merely because they have seen them from the mountain, or pa.s.sed them in the chase." It certainly may be unphilosophical to permit any man to possess more ground than he can till with his own hands; yet surely arguments that we do not admit as regards ourselves, we can with no sense of propriety use towards others, particularly when our own acts are directly in the very teeth of this principle. There is more land at present within the limits and in the possession of the United States than would be sufficient to support thirty times the present population--yet to this must be added the hunting-grounds of the Indians, merely because "it is _visionary to suppose_ they have any claim on what they do not _actually occupy!"_

I have now before me the particulars of thirteen treaties[15] made by the United States with the Cherokee nation, from the year 1785 down to 1819 inclusive; in all of which the rights of the Indians are clearly acknowledged, either directly, or by implication; and by the seventh article of the treaty of Holston, executed in 1791, being the first concluded with that people by the United States, under their present const.i.tution, all the lands not thereby ceded are solemnly guaranteed to the Cherokee nation. The subsequent treaties are made with reference to, and in confirmation of this, and continually reiterate the guarantees therein tendered.

To talk of justice, and honour, would be idle and visionary, for these seem to have been thrown overboard at the very commencement of the contest; but I would ask the American _people_, is their conduct towards the Indians politic?--is it politic in America, in the face of civilized nations, to violate treaties? is it politic in her, to hold herself up to the world as faithless and unjust--as a nation, which, in defiance of all moral obligation, will break her most sacred contracts, whenever it becomes no longer her interest to keep them, and she finds herself in a condition to do so with impunity? is she not furnis.h.i.+ng foreign statesmen with a ready and powerful argument in defence of their violating treaties with her? can they not with justice say--America has manifested in her proceedings towards the Cherokee nation, that she is faithless--that she keeps no treaties longer than it may be her _interest_ to do so--and are _we_ to make ourselves the dupes of such a power, and wait until she finds herself in a condition to deceive us? I could produce many arguments to ill.u.s.trate the impolicy of this conduct; but as I intend confining myself to a mere sketch, I shall dwell but as short a time as may be consistent on the several facts connected with the case.

That the Aborigines have been cruelly treated, cannot be doubted. The very words of the Message admit this; and the tone of feeling and conciliation which follows that admission, coupled as it is with the intended injustice expressed in other paragraphs, can be viewed in no other light than as a piece of political mockery. The Message says, "their present condition, contrasted with what they once were, makes a most powerful appeal to our sympathies. Our ancestors found them the uncontrolled possessors of these vast regions. By persuasion and force, they have been made to retire from river to river, and from mountain to mountain, until some of the tribes have become extinct, and others have left but remnants, to preserve for a while their once terrible names." Now the plan laid down by the president, in order to prevent, if possible, the total decay of the Indian people, is, to send them beyond the Mississippi, and _guarantee_ to them the possession of ample territory west of that river. How far this is likely to answer the purpose _expressed_, let us now examine.

The Cherokees, by their intercourse with and proximity to the white people, have become half civilized; and how is it likely that _their_ condition will be improved by driving them into the forests and barren prairies? That territory is at present the haunt of the p.a.w.nees, the Osages, and other warlike nations, who live almost entirely by the chase, and are constantly waging war even with each other. As soon as the Cherokees, and other half-civilized Indians, appear, they will be regarded as common intruders, and be subject to the united attacks of these people.

There are even old feuds existing among themselves, which, it is but too probable, may be renewed. Trappers and hunters, in large parties, yearly make incursions into the country beyond the boundaries of the United States, and in defiance of the Indians kill the beaver and the buffalo--the latter merely for the _tongue and skin_, leaving the carcase to rot upon the ground.[16] Thus is this unfortunate race robbed of their means of subsistence. Moreover, what guarantee can the Indians have, that the United States will keep faith for the future, when it is admitted that they have not done so in times past? How can they be sure that they may not further be driven from river to river, and from mountain to mountain, until they reach the sh.o.r.es of the Pacific; and who can tell but that then it may be found expedient to drive them into the ocean?

The policy of the United States government is evidently to get the Indians to exterminate each other. Its whole proceedings from the time this question was first agitated to the present, but too clearly indicate this intention; and if we wanted proof, that the executive government of the United States _would act_ on so barbarous and inhuman a policy, we need only refer to the allocation of the Cherokees, who exchanged lands in Tennessee for lands west of the Mississippi, pursuant to the treaty of 1819. It was well known that a deadly enmity existed between the Osages and Cherokees, and that any proximity of the two people, would inevitably lead to fatal results; yet, with this knowledge, the executive government placed those Cherokees in the country lying between the Arkansaw and Red rivers, _immediately joining the territory of the Osages._ It is unnecessary to state that the result was _as antic.i.p.ated_--they daily committed outrages upon the persons and properties of each other, and the death of many warriors, on both sides, ensued.

The sympathy expressed in that part of the Message relating to the Indians, if expressed with sincerity, would do much honour to the feelings that dictated it; but when we come to examine the facts, and investigate the implied allegations, we shall find that they are most gratuitous; and, consequently, that the regret of the president at the probable fate of the Indian, should he remain east of the Mississippi, is grossly hypocritical.

He says, "surrounded by the whites, with their arts of civilization, which, by destroying the resources of the savage, doom him to weakness and decay:[17] the fate of the Mohegan, the Narragansett, and the Delaware, is fast overtaking the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. That this fate surely awaits them, if they remain within the limits of the States, does not admit of a doubt. Humanity and national honour demand that every effort should be made to avert so great a calamity." From what facts the president has drawn these conclusions does not appear. Neither the statements of the Cherokees, nor of the Indian agents, nor the report of the secretary of war, furnish any such information; on the contrary, with the exception of one or two agents _at Was.h.i.+ngton_, all give the most flattering accounts of advancement in civilization. The Rev. Samuel A.

Worcester, in his letter to the Rev. E.S. Ely, editor of the "Philadelphian," completely refutes all the unfavourable statements that have been got up to cover the base conduct of Jackson and the slavites.

This gentleman has resided for the last four years among the Cherokees, and has surely had abundant means of observing their condition.

The letter of David Brown (a Cherokee), addressed, September 2, 1825, to the editor of "The Family Visitor," at Richmond, Virginia, states, that "the Cherokee plains are covered with herds of cattle--sheep, goats, and swine, cover the valleys and hills--the plains and valleys are rich, and produce Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat, oats, indigo, sweet and Irish potatoes, &c. The natives carry on a considerable trade with the adjoining states, and some of them export cotton in boats down the Tennessee to the Mississippi, and down that river to New Orleans. Orchards are common--cheese, b.u.t.ter, &c. plenty--houses of entertainment are kept by natives. Cotton and woollen cloths are manufactured in the nation, and almost every family grows cotton for its own consumption. Agricultural pursuits engage the chief attention of the nation--different branches of mechanics are pursued. Schools are increasing every year, and education is encouraged and rewarded." To quote David Brown verbatim, on the population,--"In the year 1819, an estimate was made of the Cherokees.

Those on the west were estimated at 5,000, and those on the east of the Mississippi, at 10,000 souls. The census of this division of the Cherokees has again been taken within the current year (1825), and the returns are thus made: native citizens, 13,563; white men married in the nation, 147; white women ditto, 73; African slaves, 1177. If this summary of the Cherokee population, from the census, is correct, to say nothing of those of foreign extract, we find that in six years the increase has been 3,563 souls. National pride, patriotism, and a spirit of independence, mark the Cherokee character." He further states, "the system of government is founded on republican principles, and secures the respect of the people."

An alphabet has been invented by an Indian, named George Guess, the Cherokee Cadmus, and a printing press has been established at New Echota, the seat of government, where there is published weekly a paper ent.i.tled, "The Cherokee Phoenix,"--one half being in the English language, and the other in that of the Cherokee.

The report of the secretary of war, upon the present condition of the Indians, states of the Chickesaws and Choctaws, all that has been above said of the Cherokees. But of the last-mentioned people, the secretary's accounts appear to be studiously defective. Yet the fact is notorious, that both the Chickesaws and Choctaws are far behind the Cherokees in civilization.

With these facts before our eyes, what are we to think of the grief of the president, at the decay and increasing weakness of the Cherokees? Can it be regarded in any way but as a piece of shameless hypocrisy, too glaring in its character to escape the notice even of the most in.o.bservant individual. It has been said that the question involves many difficulties--to me there appears none. The United States, in the year 1791, guarantee to the Indians the possession of all their lands not then ceded--and confirm this by numerous subsequent treaties. In 1802, they promise to Georgia, the possession of the Cherokee lands "_whenever such purchase could be made on reasonable terms_" This is the simple state of the case; and if the executive were inclined to act uprightly, the line of conduct to be pursued could be determined on without much difficulty.

Georgia has no right to press upon the executive the fulfilment of engagements which were made conditionally, and consequently with an implied reservation; and the United States should not violate _many positive treaties_, in order to fulfil _a conditional one_.[18]

I shall now advert to some of the charges touching the character of the Indians. It is said, that they are debauched and insincere. This charge has been particularly made against the Creeks, and I believe is not altogether unfounded. Yet, if this be now the character of the once warlike and n.o.ble Creek, let the white man ask himself who has made him so? Who makes the "firewater," and who supplies the untutored savage with the means of intoxication? The white-man, when he wishes to trade profitably with the Indian, fills the cup, and holds it forth--he says, 'drink, my brother, it is good'--the red-man drinks, and the wily white points at his condition, says he is uncivilized, and should go forth from the land, for his presence is contamination!

As to the charge of hypocrisy--this too has been taught or forced upon the Indians by the conduct of the whites. Missionaries have been constantly going among them, teaching dogmas and doctrines, far beyond the comprehension of some learned white-men, and to the savage totally unintelligible. These gentlemen have told long stories; and when posed by some quaint saying, or answered by some piece of traditional information, handed down from generation to generation, by the fathers and mothers of the tribe, have found it necessary to purchase the acquiescence of a few Indians by bribes, in order that their labours might not seem to have been altogether unsuccessful. This conduct of the Missionaries was soon _understood_ by the Indians, and the temptation held out was too great to be resisted. Blankets and gowns converted, when inspiration and gospel truths had failed.

Mr. Houston of Tennessee, after having attained the honour of being governor of his state, and having enjoyed all the consideration necessarily attached to that office, at length became tired of civilized life, and retired among the Creeks to end his days. He has resided long among them, and knows their character well; yet, in one of his statements made to the Indian board at New York, he says, that the attempts to Christianize the Indians in their present state, he was of opinion, much as he honoured the zeal that had prompted them, were fruitless, _or worse._ The supposed conversions had produced no change of habits. So degraded had become the character of this once independent people, that professions of religious belief had been made, and the ordinances of religion submitted to, "when an Indian wanted a new blanket, or a squaw a new gown."[19] Thus, according to governor Houston, the only fruits produced by the boasted labours of the missionaries, have been dissimulation and deceit; and demoralization has been the result of teaching _doctrinal_ Christianity to the children of the forest. Yet we must, in candour, acknowledge that Mr. Houston is not singular in that opinion, since we find, so far back as the year 1755, Cadwallader Calden express himself much to the same effect. "The Five Nations," he says, "are a poor and generally called barbarous people, bred under the darkest ignorance; and yet a bright and n.o.ble genius s.h.i.+nes through these black clouds. None of the greatest Roman heroes have discovered a greater love of country, or contempt of death, than these people, called barbarous, have shown when liberty came in compet.i.tion. Indeed I think our Indians have outdone the Romans in this particular. Some of the greatest of those Roman heroes have murdered themselves to avoid shame or torments; but our Indians have refused to die meanly or with little pain, when they thought their country's honour would be at stake by it; but have given their bodies willingly to the most cruel torments of their enemies, to show, as they said, that 'the Five Nations' consisted of men whose courage and resolution could not be shaken. But what, alas! have we Christians done to make them better? We have, indeed, reason to be ashamed that these infidels, by our conversation and neighbourhood, are become worse than they were before they knew us. Instead of virtue, we have only taught them vice, that they were entirely free from before that time."[20] The Rev.

Timothy Flint, who was himself a missionary, in his "Ten Years' Residence in the Valley of the Mississippi," observes, page 144,--"I have surely had it in my heart to impress them with the importance of the subject (religion). I have scarcely noticed an instance in which the subject was not received either with indifference, rudeness, or jesting. Of all races of men that I have seen, they seem most incapable of religious impressions. They have, indeed, some notions of an invisible agent, but they seemed generally to think that the Indians had their G.o.d as the whites had theirs." And again, "nothing will eventually be gained to the great cause by colouring and mis-statement," alluding to the practice of the missionaries; "and however reluctant we may be to receive it, the real state of things will eventually be known to us. We have heard of the imperishable labours of an Elliott and a Brainard, in other days. But in these times it is a melancholy truth, that Protestant exertions to Christianize them have not been marked with apparent success. The Catholics have caused many to hang a crucifix around their necks, which they show as they show their medals and other ornaments, and this is too often all they have to mark them as Christians. We have read the narratives of the Catholics, which detailed the most glowing and animating views of success. I have had accounts, however, from travellers in these regions, that have been over the Stony mountains into the great missionary settlements of St. Peter and St. Paul. These travellers (and some of them were professed Catholics) unite in affirming that the converts will escape from the missions whenever it is in their power, fly into their native deserts, and resume at once their old mode of life."

That the vast sums expended on missions should have produced so little effect, we may consider lamentable, but it is lamentably true; for in addition to the ma.s.s of evidence we have to that effect, from disinterested white men, we have also the speeches and communications of the Indians themselves. The celebrated Seneca chief, Saguyuwhaha (keeper awake), better known in the United States by the name of Red-jacket, in a letter communicated to Governor De Witt Clinton, at a treaty held at Albany, says, "Our great father, the President, has recommended to our young men to be industrious, to plough and to sow. This we have done; and we are thankful for the advice, and for the means he has afforded us of carrying it into effect. We are happier in consequence of it; _but another thing recommended to us, has created great confusion among us, and is making us a quarrelsome and divided people; and that is, the introduction of preachers into our nation_. These black-coats contrive to get the consent of some of the Indians to preach among us; and whenever this is the case, confusion and disorder are sure to follow, and the encroachment of the whites on our lands is the inevitable consequence.

"The governor must not think hard of me for speaking thus of the preachers: I have observed their progress, and whenever I look back to see what has taken place of old, I perceive that whenever they came among the Indians, they were the forerunners of their dispersion; that they always excited enmities and quarrels amongst them; that they introduced the white people on their lands, by whom they were robbed and plundered of their property; and that the Indians were sure to dwindle and decrease, and be driven back, in proportion to the number of preachers that came among them.

"Each nation has its own customs and its own religion. The Indians have theirs, given them by the Great Spirit, under which they were happy. It was not intended that they should embrace the religion of the whites, and be destroyed by the attempt to make them think differently on that subject from their fathers.

"It is true, these preachers have got the consent of some of the chiefs to stay and preach amongst us; but I and my friends know this to be wrong, and that they ought to be removed; besides, we have been threatened by Mr.

Hyde--who came among us as a schoolmaster and a teacher of our children, but has now become a black-coat, and refuses to teach them any more--that unless we listen to his preaching and become Christians, we shall be turned off our lands. We wish to know from the governor, if this is to be so? and if he has no right to say so, we think _he_ ought to be turned off our lands, and not allowed to plague us any more. We shall never be at peace while he is among us.

"We are afraid too, that these preachers, by and by, will become poor, _and force us to pay them for living among us, and disturbing us._

"Some of our chiefs have got lazy, and instead of cultivating their lands themselves, employ white people to do so. There are now eleven families living on our reservation at Buffalo; this is wrong, and ought not to be permitted. The great source of all our grievances is, that the whites are among us. Let _them_ be removed, and we will be happy and contented among ourselves. We now cry to the governor for help, and hope that he will attend to our complaints, and speedily give us redress."[21]

This melancholy hostility to the missionaries is not confined to a particular tribe or nation of Indians, for all those people, in every situation, from the base of the Alleghanies to the foot of the Rocky mountains, declare the same sentiments on this subject; and although policy or courtesy may induce some chiefs to express themselves less strongly than Red-jacket has expressed himself, we have but too many proofs that their feelings are not more moderate. On the fourth of February, 1822, the president of the United States, in council, received a deputation of Indians, from the princ.i.p.al nations west of the Mississippi, who came under the protection of Major O'Fallon, when each chief delivered a speech on the occasion. I shall here insert an extract from that of the "Wandering p.a.w.nee" chief, more as a specimen of Indian wisdom and eloquence than as bearing particularly on the subject. Speaking of the Great Spirit, he said, "We wors.h.i.+p him not as you do. We differ from you in appearance, and manners, as well as in our customs; and we differ from you in our religion. We have no large houses, as you have, to wors.h.i.+p the Great Spirit in: if we had them to-day, we should want others to-morrow; for we have not like you a fixed habitation--we have no settled home except our villages, where we remain but two months in twelve. We, like animals, rove through the country; whilst you whites reside between us and heaven. But still, my great Father, we love the Great Spirit--we acknowledge his supreme power--our peace, our health, and our happiness depend upon him, and our lives belong to him--he made us, and he can destroy us.

"My great Father,--some of your good chiefs, as they are called (missionaries), have proposed to send some of their good people among us to change our habits, to make us work for them, and live like the white people. I will not tell a lie--I am going to tell the truth. You love your country--you love your people--you love the manner in which they live, and you think your people brave. I am like you, my great Father; I love my country--I love my people--I love the manner in which we live, and think myself and warriors brave.[22] Spare me then, my Father; let me enjoy my country, and pursue the buffalo and the beaver, and the other wild animals of our country, and I will trade their skins with your people. I have grown up and lived thus long without work--I am in hopes you will suffer me to die without it. We have plenty of buffalo, beaver, deer, and other wild animals--we have also an abundance of horses--we have every thing we want--we have plenty of land, _if you will keep your people off it_. My Father has a piece on which he lives (Council bluffs), and we wish him to enjoy it--we have enough without it--but we wish him to live near us, to give us good council--to keep our ears and eyes open, that we may continue to pursue the right road--the road to happiness. He settles all differences between us and the whites, between the red-skins themselves--he makes the whites do justice to the red-skins, and he makes the red-skins do justice to the whites. He saves the effusion of human blood, and restores peace and happiness in the land. You have already sent us a father (Major O'Fallon); it is enough--he knows us, and we know him--we keep our eye constantly upon him, and since we have heard _your_ words, we will listen more attentively to _his_.

"It is too soon, my great Father, to send those good chiefs amongst us.

_We are not starving yet_--we wish you to permit us to enjoy the chase until the game of our country is exhausted--until the wild animals become extinct. Let us exhaust our present resources before you make us toil and interrupt our happiness. Let me continue to live as I have done; and after I have pa.s.sed to the good or evil spirit, from off the wilderness of my present life, the subsistence of my children may become so precarious as to need and embrace the a.s.sistance of those good people.

"There was a time when we did not know the whites--our wants were then fewer than they are now. They were always within our control--we had then seen nothing which we could not get. Before our intercourse with the whites (who have caused such a destruction in our game) we could lie down to sleep, and when we awoke we would find the buffalo feeding around our camp--but now we are killing them for their skins, and feeding the wolves with their flesh, to make our children cry over their bones.

"Here, my great Father, is a pipe which I present to you, as I am accustomed to present pipes to all the Red-skins in peace with us. It is filled with such tobacco as we were accustomed to smoke before we knew the white people. It is pleasant, and the spontaneous growth of the most remote parts of our country. I know that the robes, leggings, and moccasins, and bear-claws are of little value to _you_; but we wish you to have them deposited and preserved in some conspicuous part of your lodge, so that when we are gone and the sod turned over our bones, if our children should visit this place, as we do now, they may see and recognize with pleasure the depositories of their fathers; and reflect on the times that are past."

I shall now take leave of the Indians and their political condition, by observing that the proceedings of the American government, throughout, towards this brave but unfortunate race, have only been exceeded in atrocity by the past and present conduct of the East India government towards the pusillanimous but unoffending Hindoos.

_Note_.--This chapter I wrote during my stay in Kentucky, and the first part of it, in substance, was inserted in the "Kentucky Intelligencer," at the request of the talented editor and proprietor, John Mullay, Esq.

FOOTNOTES:

[15] In November, 1785, during the articles of confederation, a treaty is concluded with the Cherokees, which establishes a boundary, and allots to the Indians a great extent of country, now within the limits of North Carolina and Georgia.

In 1791, the treaty of Holston is concluded; by which a new boundary is agreed upon. This was the first treaty made by the United States under their present const.i.tution; and by the seventh article, a solemn guarantee is given for all the lands not then ceded.

On the 7th of February, 1792, by an additional article to the last treaty, 500 dollars are added to the stipulated annuity.

In June, 1794, another treaty is entered into, in which the provisions of the treaty of 1791 are revived, an addition is made to the annuity, and provision made for marking the boundary line.

In October, 1798, a treaty is concluded which revives former treaties, and curtails the boundary of Indian lands by a cession to the United States, for an additional compensation.

In October, 1804, a treaty is concluded, by which, for a consideration specified, more land is ceded.

In October, 1805, two treaties are made, by which an additional quant.i.ty of land is ceded.

On 7th January, 1806, by another treaty, more land is ceded to the United States.

In September, 1807, the boundary line intended in the last treaty, is satisfactorily ascertained.

On 22d March, 1816, a treaty is concluded, by which lands in South Carolina are ceded, for which the United States engage South Carolina shall pay. On the same day another treaty is made, by which the Indians agree to allow the use of the water-courses in their country, and also to permit roads to be made through the same.

On the 14th of September, 1816, a treaty is made, by which an additional quant.i.ty of land is ceded to the United States.

On the 8th of July, 1817, a treaty is concluded, by which an exchange of lands is agreed on, and a plan for dividing the Cherokees settled.

On the 27th of February, 1819, another treaty is concluded, in execution of the stipulations contained in that of 1817, in several particulars, and in which an additional tract of country is ceded to the United States.

[16] "The white hunter, on encamping in his journeys, cuts down green trees, and builds a large fire of long logs, sitting at some distance from it. The Indian hunts up a few dry limbs, cracks them into little pieces a foot in length, builds a small fire, and sits close to it. He gets as much warmth as the white hunter without half the labour, and does not burn more than a fiftieth part of the wood. The Indian considers the forest his own, and is careful in using and preserving every thing which it affords. He never kills more than he has occasion for. The white hunter destroys all before him, and cannot resist the opportunity of killing game, although he neither wants the meat nor can carry the skins.

I was particularly struck with this wanton practice, which lately occurred on White river. A hunter returning from the woods, heavily laden with the flesh and skins of five bears, unexpectedly arrived in the midst of a drove of buffalos, and wantonly shot down three, having no other object than the sport of killing them. This is one of the causes of the enmity existing between the white and red hunters of Missouri".--_Schoolcroft's Tour in Missouri_, page 52.

[17] Does the General include among the arts of civilization, that of systematically robbing the Indians of their farms and hunting grounds? If so, no doubt _these arts of civilization_, must inevitably "destroy the resources of the savage," and "doom him to weakness and decay."

[18] The Indians apply the term "Christian honesty," precisely in the same sense that the Romans applied "_Punica fides_."