in some instances, unlawful measures to prevent the carriage of goods at smaller rates than those which they had prescribed. Some government stores were then at Pierre and more were expected from the east. To protect these stores, on the 24th of June, two companies of the Eleventh Infantry were sent from Fort Sully to East Pierre, on the left bank of the river, and afterwards they were ordered across the river to the scene of the disturbance. On the 7th of July two companies of the Seventh Cavalry were ordered to proceed to Fort Pierre, patrolling the road to that place and giving protection to any trains loaded with government stores which they might find en route. Fortunately the near presence of these troops was sufficient to prevent any interference with trains carrying government supplies, if any such interference was intended. In no case were they obliged to use force to accomplish the object for which they had been sent out. All danger of further disturbance having passed away, on the 26th of July they were ordered back to their stations. During the past summer several riotous strikes for higher wages occurred at Bismarck among the deck-hands and laborers employed upon the steamboats engaged in carrying freight and passengers on the Missouri River. Enormous wages were demanded, and when the owners of the boats refused to accede to their demands, the rioters, partly by persuasion and partly by force, prevented new men, engaged and brought from Saint Paul, from proceeding with the loading of the boats. On these occasions it was necessary to bring over troops from Fort Lincoln to protect from violence government stores lying at the docks and boats upon which such stores had already been loaded. Here again the mere presence of troops was sufficient to accomplish the end sought. I regret to say that the outlook in Northern Montana is not as favorable as could be desired. For many years past the Indians of the Northwestern British provinces, who are mainly dependent on game for their support, have vibrated across the frontier, following the herds of buffalo, and coming as far south as the Judith Basin and the valley of the Musselshell. The buffalo are diminishing in number with great rapidity, and in the regions over which they have hitherto wandered they are being fast replaced by herds of cattle. The Indians still follow the diminished herds, and probably must follow them to avoid starvation. The natural consequence is that when buffalo cannot be found cattle are killed as a substitute. Beef is as acceptable to an Indian as it is to a white man. Many complaints are made that cattle are slaughtered by Indians, and such acts are generally attributed, probably with reason, to Indians from beyond the frontier. The cattle raisers of Montana are alarmed; they fear that the speedy extinction of the buffalo will leave these Indians no resource except the herds of cattle on this side of the border, and that their industry will be most seriously injured, if not entirely destroyed. They have begun to form associations of a semi-military character for mutual protection, and it is proposed by them to put forces in the field from time to time to hunt down Indians who may be guilty of depredations on their stock. It is unnecessary to enlarge upon the serious evils which are likely to result from such a course of procedure. But such a course can only be prevented by giving to the settlers full protection in some other manner. I think that it will require the best efforts of the governments on both sides of the boundary to prevent the evils which are likely to occur. Forts Assinniboine and Maginnis are well placed to give such protec tion as military posts can give, by their mere existence, and they are also well placed to serve as the bases for systems of patrols established to warn off or drive off the foreigners. The present condition of affairs is an ample vindication of the foresight which established Fort Assinniboine two years ago, expensive as its establishment has been. As I write 12 officers and 240 men are moving out from it to drive off foreign Indians and half-breeds who have intruded upon the Indian reservation, between the upper Missouri and the boundary. The flood in the Missouri River last April devastated the bottom lands from below Pierre to below Sioux City, causing a widespread destruction of property, especially in and about the towns of Yankton and Vermillion, and the neighboring valley, leaving many of the inhabitants not only destitute of means, but absolutely without shelter or fuel, and many without clothing. Fortunately the loss of life was small. On the 12th of April. the Secretary of War directed me "to ascertain what quartermasters' and subsistence stores were required to alleviate the suffering of the victims of the freshet on the Missouri River at Pierre, Fort Randall, Yankton, and Vermillion, and to make such immediate issues as in my judgment shall be necessary." Under these instructions orders were at once issued to the commanding officers of Fort Sully; Lieutenant-Colonel Townsend, Eleventh Infantry, of Fort Randall; Colonel Andrews, Twenty-fifth Infantry; and Captain Wheeler, Q. M. D., at Yankton, to take the necessary steps, in accordance with these instructions. Captain Kline of the Eighteenth Infantry, then in Saint Paul, was ordered to Sioux City to co-operate in the same work. Captain Clague, Subsistence Department, was directed to go over the devastated country and collect information to guide future action. It is not necessary to detail at length the particulars of the loss; about a quarter of a million acres of fertile settled land on the Dakota side of the river alone were swept over by the water and ice. The number of sufferers is estimated by well-informed persons at about 8,000. The necessity of many of these people was not only for present relief, but also for seed and other means to renew their farming operations. In some cases the ground did not become clear of water and fit for planting in time to raise a crop last season. Numbers of persons with land so situated will require further assistance to take them through the coming winter. The following is a list of Army supplies issued for the relief of these sufferers: In addition to the supplies furnished by the government, I received contributions for the assistance of these sufferers, through LieutenantGeneral Sheridan, to the amount of $4,736; also through the chamber of commerce of the city of Saint Paul, by General H. H. Sibley and Thomas Cochran, jr., esq., to the amount of $975. This very timely addition to the means at my command enabled me to afford additional relief greatly needed. The money was allotted as follows: For the purchase of clothing, materials for clothing, boots and shoes, all for women and children, for general distribution, $1,559.54; to be disbursed through Capt. D. D. Wheeler, assistant quartermaster at Yankton, $2,801.46; through Capt. Jacob Kline, Eighteenth Infantry, at Sioux City, $800; through Col. George L. Andrews, Twenty-fifth Infantry, $550. All these disbursements have not yet been completed; as soon as the money has been expended the accounts will be completed and forwarded. The supplies provided for the troops in the department during the past year have been excellent in quality and ample in quantity. The duties of the officers of the staff departments, serving at these headquarters, have been performed in the most satisfactory manner, and I desire to express my thanks to them for their services. I forward herewith their annual reports, the reports of the commander of the district of Montana, and of the several posts in the department. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, The ADJUTANT-GENERAL Of the Military Division of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill. 3 B.-REPORT OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL CROOK. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE, Omaha, Nebr., September 29, 1881. SIR: I have the honor to state that since the date of my last annual report no event of note has occurred in my department. The Indians throughout the department have been unusually quiet, and there have been no depredations committed by them. They are, in my opinion, gradually improving in knowledge of civilized life, and are paying more attention to agriculture than ever before, and, I am informed, with good results. The only important military change in the department in the year has been the transfer of the Fourteenth Infantry to the Department of the Missouri, and the Sixth Infantry from that department to the stations occupied by the Fourteenth Infantry in this. Since my last report Fort Niobrara has been completed; the garrisons at Fort Hartsuff and Camp Sheridan have been withdrawn. The public buildings at Fort Hartsuff, as well as those at the old posts at Camp Stambaugh, Fort McPherson, and North Platte, have been sold and satisfactory prices realized. I was notified, about the 1st of August, that the Uncompahgre and White River Utes were to be moved at once from their old agencies in the Department of the Missouri and located at a new agency selected at the junction of the White and Green Rivers in my department. At the same time instructions were received to establish a post at the new agency. Immediately upon receipt of these instructions, in order that a route for supplies might be established, suitable parties were sent from the post on White River, from Green River City, from Fort Bridger, and from Park City, Utah, with orders to explore the country between the respective points of departure and the site of the new agency. Nearly the whole of the month of August was thus employed, and reports from all the parties received. I have selected the route from Park City, Utah, as the most practicable one at present, and supplies are being forwarded to the new post as rapidly as possible. This route, though not the shortest, was the only one available, as, owing to the lateness of the season, there was not time to accomplish, with the labor of the troops at my command, the necessary work to make any other route practicable for the transportation of supplies. Four companies of the Sixth Infantry are now stationed at the new Ute Agency, and the new post has been designated as Fort Thornburgh, in memory of the late Maj. Thomas T. Thornburgh, Fourth Infantry, killed at White River. Every effort is being made to hurry forward the construction of the new post, and I have no doubt the command will be comfortably sheltered before winter sets in. In connection with the report of the Chief Quartermaster of the Department, I desire to invite the attention of the division commander to the inadequacy of the funds allotted to this department for repairs to barracks and quarters. The public buildings in this department, with the exception of those at a few posts recently constructed, are generally old and out of repair. The old posts were, as a rule, hastily constructed, many of the buildings of logs, and lacked entirely the elements of durability which characterizes the construction of the more recently built posts. The rapid deterioration of buildings in this climate which are not kept in perfect repair induces me to ask especial attention to this branch of my report. I have to state that there has been a marked improvement in rifle practice in the troops of this department during the past year, the active operations of the last few years having hitherto prevented the progress which has this year been made. The discipline and conduct of the troops have been good, and their general condition satisfactory. The reports of the chiefs of the staff bureaus, giving full accounts of the operations of their respective departments during the past year, are hereto annexed, marked A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEORGE CROOK; Brigadier-General, Commanding. The ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL, Military Division of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill. 3 C.—REPORT OF BRIGADIER-GENERAL POPE. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE MISSOURI, Fort Leavenworth, Kans., September 22, 1881. COLONEL: I have the honor to submit the following brief report of affairs in this department since the date of my last annual report, October 1, 1880. At the date of that report there existed no trouble from Indians within the department, although both in the Ute country and Southern New Mexico relations with the Indians were in such a delicate position that outbreaks at any time were not unlikely. INDIAN TERRITORY. At the date of my last report it was uncertain whether Payne, who had been indicted and was under bonds of the United States district court for invading unlawfully the Indian Territory with a band of socalled settlers, would, in his own critical position before the United States courts, again attempt to invade and locate in that Territory; but he began soon after to assemble a considerable following, numbering several hundred persons, along the southern line of Kausas, between Caldwell and Arkansas City, with the openly declared purpose, as announced by circulars over his own signature and notices in the newspapers, to force his way into the Indian Territory and occupy the district known as Oklahoma. Although there was no concealment of any kind on his part, or that of any one else, that his organization and its purposes were in absolute violation of the laws of the United States, and the proclamation of the President based thereon, yet he was permitted, for want of laws to cover the case, to organize a force of large dimensions and lead them down to the line of the Indian Territory, which he would undoubtedly have entered in violation of law and in the face of a certain outbreak of the Indians, which would have probably devastated the Kansas frontier and cost the lives of hundreds of innocent people, but for the presence and assured resistance of the cavalry forces of the United States which I had assembled along that line to prevent such an outrage. So persistent was Payne and his following that I was obliged to re-enforce considerably the first detachment of troops sent there, and to threaten any one who crossed the line into the Indian Territory that the animals, ridden or driven, should be killed the moment they crossed the line, and the men arrested and turned over to the United States courts. They marched to and fro along the line, keeping carefully within the State of Kansas, and finally encamped near Caldwell, where they remained during an extremely cold spell for three weeks, in the hope that the troops would finally return to their posts. Finding that there was no prospect that the troops would abandon their position, they finally, about the 6th of January, dispersed and scattered themselves among the settlements of Kansas, being compelled to it by extreme cold and suffering. Whatever may be Payne's object in all this, I think it certain that his followers firmly believed, through his representations and reasonably plausible legal authority, that they had the right to settle on these lands in the Indian Territory, and that their right to do so was obstructed unlawfully by the United States forces. It seems strange that such organizations can be openly made and every where announced to violate the laws of the United States at such fearful risk to exposed settlements, and that there should be neither law nor public sentiment to check it or to punish the criminals. Payne was afterwards tried for his invasion by the United States courts and sentenced under the law to pay a large fine, but as he is utterly impecunious, of course it never has been and never will be paid. He is now engaged-although a sentenced criminal for the same act— in getting up another organization for precisely the same unlawful pur pose, and no doubt will be so successful that troops must be again taken from their posts and ligitimate duties to oppose his invasion by force. It would seem that in the light of these experiences some law should be passed to cover his case and that of others engaged in the same busi |