54

48

THE SITUATION IN THE INDIAN COUNTRY A MARVEL OF MILITARY STRATEGY.

Col. W.F. CODY ("BUFFALO BILL"), who is at Pine Ride, telegraphs the following for the "New York Sun," which expresses his views of the present critical situation:

"The situation to-day, so far as military strategy goes, is one of the best marked triumphs known in the history of Indian campaigns. It speaks for itself, for the usual incidents to an Indian warfare, such as raids on settlers and wide-spread devastation, have been wholly prevented. Only one white man has been killed outside the military circle. The presiding genius and his able aides have acted with all the cautious prowess of the hunter in surrounding and placing in a trap his dangerous game, at the same time recognizing the value of keeping the game imprisoned for future reasons. I speak, of course, of the campaign as originally intended to overawe and pacify the disaffected portion of the Ogallallas, Wassaohas, and Brules, the Big Foot affair at Wounded Knee Creek being an unlooked-for accident.

CREDITABLE TO GEN. MILES' REPUTATION.
"The situation to-day, with a desperate band corraled and the possibility of any individual fanatic running amuck, is most critical, but the wise measure of holding them in a military wall, allowing them time to quiet down and listen to the assurances of such men as Young Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses, Rocky Bear, No Neck, and other progressive Indians, relieves the situation, so that, unless some accident happens, the military end of the active warfare seems a complete, final, and brilliant success, as creditable to Gen. Miles' reputation as it is to the humane and just side of his character.

"Neither should praise be withheld from Gens. Brooke, Carr, Wheaton, Henry, Forsythe, and the other officers and men of the gallant little army, who stood much privation. In every instance when I have heard them speak they have expressed great sympathy for their unhappy foe, and regrets for his impoverished and desperate condition. They and the thoughtful people here are now thinking about the future. In fact, the Government and nation are confronted by a problem of great importance as regards remedying the existing evils.

"The larger portion of the Ogallalla Sioux have acted nobly in this affair, especially up to the time of the stampede. The Wassaohas and Brules have laid waste the reservation of the Ogallalas, killed their cattle, shot their horses, pillaged their houses, burned their ranches; in fact, poor as the Ogallallas were before, the Brules have left them nothing but the bare ground, a white sheet instead of a blanket, with winter at hand and the little accumulations of thirteen years swept away. This much, as well as race and tribal dissensions and personal enmity, have they incurred for standing by the Government. These people need as much sympathy and immediate assistance as any section of country when great calamities arouse the sympathy of the philanthropist and the Government. This is now the part of the situation that to me seems the most remarkable. Intelligent and quick legislation can now do more than the bullet--COL. W.F. CODY ("BUFFALO BILL")

THE GREAT ARTIST, FRED, REMINGTON, WRITES FROM LONG TO "HARPER'S WEEKLY."
The most noted depicter of Western scenes of the present day is without doubt the eminent artist. Mr. Frederic Remington. His study of the subject renders him a most competent judge. In returning from an expedition in Russia, passing through London, he visited Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and it is with pride that the projectors point to his indorsement, standing side by side in artistic merit as he does with the grand artiste. Rosa Bonheur:

The Tower, the Parliament, and Westminster Abbey are older institutions in London than Buffalo Bill's show, but when the New Zealander sits on the London bridge and looks over his ancient manuscripts of Murray's Guide-Book, he is going to turn first to the Wild West. At present every one knows where it is, from the gentleman on Piccadilly to the dirtiest coster in the remotest slum of Whitechapel. The cabman may have to scratch his head to recall places where the traveler desires to go, but when the "Wild West" is asked for he gathers his reins and uncoils his whip without ceremony. One should no longer ride the deserts of Texas o. The rugged uplands of Wyoming to see the Indians and pioneers, but should go to London. It is also quite unnecessary to brave the fleas and the police of the Czar to see the Cossack, or to tempt the waves which roll between New York and the far off Argentine to study the "gauchos." It is all in London. The Cossacks and "gauchos" are the latest edition, and they nearly complete the array of wild riders. There you can sit on a bench and institute comparisons. The Cossacks will charge you withdrawn sabers in a most genuine way, will hover over you like buzzards on a battlefield--they soar and whirl about in graceful curves giving an uncanny impression, which has doubtless been felt by many a poor Russian soldier from the wheat fields of Central Europe as he lay with a bullet in him on some distant field. They march slowly around over imaginary [s?], singing in a most dolorous way--looking as they did in Joseph Brandt's painting. They dance over words in a light-footed and crazy way, and do feats on their running horses which bring the hand-clapping. They stand on their heads, vault on and off, chase each other in a game called "chasing the handkerchief, and they reach down at top speed and mark the ground with a stick. Their long coattails flap out behind like an animated rag bag, while their legs and arms are visible by turns. Their grip on the horse is maintained by a clever use of the stirrups, which are twisted and crossed at will. They are armed like "pincushions," and ride on a big leather bag, which makes their seat abnormally high.

The "gauchos" are dressed in a sort of Spanish costume, with tremendous pantaloons of cotton and boots made of colt's skin, which in their construction are very like Apache moccasins. They carry a knife at their back which would make a hole which a doctor couldn't sew up with less than five stitches, if, indeed, he was troubled at all. They ride a saddle which one of the American cowboys designated as a "--- ---- feather bed," and they talk Spanish which would floor a Castillian at once. They ride bucking horses by pairs, and amuse the audience by falling off at intervals.