£76 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



was taken into the inner circle with the implica- 

 tion, stronger than a pledge, that I would re- 

 spect their confidence. I saw none of the feeling 

 ascribed to Sheridan that the good Indian is a 

 dead Indian, but always I found sympathy for 

 these wards of the nation. They had as little 

 respect for many of the Indian Agents and as 

 little confidence in the contractors with the 

 Indian Department as had the Indians them- 

 selves. 



One captain said to me: 



"The contractors rob the Indians, the Indian 

 Agents stand in with the contractors, and when 

 the Indians resent it the army is turned loose to 

 kill the poor devils." 



The universal opinion of the officers was that 

 the Indians were right in their demand that 

 Satanta and Big Tree be given back to their tribe 

 and that coupling their release with a condition 

 that other Indians be given up in their place was 

 an act of bad faith on the part of the Government 

 which had promised their tribe an unconditional 

 release of the Kiowa captives. 



