xlviii INTROD UCT1ON. 



there is now not one of the aborigines to be found in this 

 State. At the close of the Seminole war, which lasted 

 nearly six years, ' Coacoochee,' or ' Wild Cat,' one of 

 the most distinguished chiefs and warriors of the tribe, 

 after having been captured by Colonel Worth, thus 

 pathetically describes the treatment his people received at 

 the hands of the whites, and the latter's occupation of 

 the lands of his nation : 



' I was once a boy,' said he, in subdued tones. ' Then 

 I saw the white man afar off. I hunted in these woods, 

 first with a bow and arrow, then with a rifle. I saw the 

 white man, and was told he was my enemy. I could not 

 shoot him as I would a wolf or a bear ; yet like these he 

 came upon me. Horses, cattle, and fields he took from 

 me. He said he was my friend. He abused our women 

 and children, and told us to go from the land. Still he 

 gave me his hand in friendship. We took it. Whilst 

 taking it he had a snake in the other. His tongue was 

 forked. He lied and stung us. I asked but for a small 

 piece of these lands, enough to plant and to live upon, far 

 south a spot where I could lay the ashes of my kindred. 

 And even this has not been granted to me. I feel the 

 irons in my heart.' 



The Black Hills, although solemnly reserved by 

 treaty for the sole occupation of the Sioux, have during 

 the last two years, in spite of the efforts of the Govern- 

 ment to prevent them, been taken possession of by 

 miners, whilst the same thing has occurred still farther 

 to the north-west in Northern Wyoming and Montana, 

 where miners and others have settled in the best hunting 

 grounds of the Crows ; the only difference in these two 

 instances being that the Sioux, being the more warlike 

 race, have resented these encroachments, and killed as 

 many miners as they could ; whilst the Crows, on the 

 other hand, who have always been at peace with and the 



