14 The Book of Woodcraft 



very rarely was he tortured. Captain Clark says of the 

 Cheyennes : 



"There is no good evidence that captives have been burned 

 at the stake, flayed alive, or any other excruciating torture 

 inflicted on persons captured by these fierce, war-loving and 

 enterprising barbarians." (" Sign Language," p. io6.) 



But we know now that the whites did use diabolical 

 tortures in their dealings with the Indian, and deliberately 

 and persistently misrepresented him in order to justify 

 their own atrocities. 



The whites, however, had print to state their case, while 

 the Indians had none to tell their story or defend them. 

 Furthermore, it is notorious that all massacres of Indians 

 by the whites were accompKshed by treachery in times of 

 peace, while all Indian massacres of whites were in time of 

 war, to resist invasion. At present, I know of no exception 

 to this rule.* 



In almost every case, it must be said that the army 

 officers and men were personally guiltless. They were 

 impressed with the heroism of the Indians, admired them 

 for their bravery, were horrified by the wickedness of the 

 orders sent them, and did all they could to mitigate the 

 atrocious poHcies of the shameless Indian Bureau. But 

 there were instances in which the army officers showed 

 themselves the willing tools of the poHticians. Among the 

 notorious cases was the cold-blooded massacre, in 1864, by 

 Col. J. H. Chivington, of several hundred Cheyennes. 

 Men, women, and children had surrendered and disarmed, 

 and were, indeed, at the time, under mihtary protection. 

 The fiendish cruelty and cowardice of that one attack on 

 these defenseless beings was enough to more than justify 



*Many supposed massacres by Indians are now known to have been the work of 

 whites disguised as Indians. 



