mooNEY] CAUSES OF THE OUTBREAK 829 



APPENDIX— CAUSES OF THE OUTBREAK 



COMMISSIONER MORGAN'S STATEMENT 

 From the Report 0/ the < 'ommissioner of Indian AJFairsfor lS:n. Vol. I, IS 



In stating tlie events which led to this outbreak among the Sioux, the endeavor too 

 oftenhaa been merely to find some opportunity for locating blame. The causes an- com- 

 plex, ami many are obscure and remote. Among them may be named the following: 



First. A feeling of unrest and apprehension in tlie mind of tlie Indians has natu- 

 rally grown out of the rapid advance in civilization and the great changes which 

 this advance lias necessitated in their habits and mode of life. 



Second. Prior to the agreement of 1876 buffalo and deer were the main support of 

 the Sioux. Food, tents, bedding were the direct outcome of hunting, and, with 

 furs and pelts as articles of barter or exchange, it was easy for the Sioux to procure 

 whatever constituted for them the necessaries, the comforts, or even the luxuries of 

 life. Within eight years from the agreement of 1876 the buffalo had gone, and the 

 Sioux had left to them alkali land and government rat ions. It is hard. to overesti- 

 mate the magnitude of the calamity, as they viewed it, which happened to these 

 people by the sudden disappearance of the buffalo and the large diminution in the 

 numbers of deer ami other wild animals. .Suddenly, almost without warning, they 

 were expected at once and without previous training to settle down to the pursuits 

 of agriculture in a land largely unfitted for such use. The freedom of the chase 

 was to be exchanged for the idleness id' the camp. Tlie boundless range- was to lie 

 abandoned for the circumscribed reservation, ami abundance of plenty to be sup- 

 planted by limited and decreasing government subsistence and supplies. Under 

 these circumstances it is uot in human nature not to be discontented and restless, 

 even turbulent and violent. 



Third. During a long series of years, treaties, agreements, cessions of land and 

 privileges, and removals of bands and agencies have kept many of the Sioux, par- 

 ticularly those at Pine Ridge and Rosebud, in au unsettled condition, especially as 

 some of the promises made them were fulfilled tardily or not at all. (A brief his- 

 tory of negotiations with the Sioux was given in my letter of December 2!, 1890, to 

 the Department, which will be found in the appendix, page 182. 



Fourth. I'he very large reduction of the great Sioux reservation, brought about 

 by the Sioux commission through the consent of the large majority of the adult 

 males, was bitterly opposed by a large, influential minority. For various reasons, 

 they regarded the cession as unwise, and did all in their power to prevent its con- 

 summation, and afterwards were constant in their expressions of dissatisfaction 

 ami in their endeavors to awaken a like feeling in the minds of those who signed 

 t he agreement. 



Fifth. There was diminution and partial failure of the crops for 188SI, by reason 

 of their neglect by the Indians, who were congregated in large numbers at the 

 council with the Sioux commission, and a further diminution of ordinary crops by 

 the drought of 1800. Also, in 18*8, the disease of black leg appeared among the 

 cattle of the Indians. 



Sixth. At this time, by delayed and reduced appropriations, the Sioux rations 

 were temporarily cut down. Rations were not diminished to such an extent as to 

 bring the Indians to starvation or even extreme suffering, as has been often reported; 

 but short rations came just after the Sioux commission had negotiated the agreement 

 forthe cession of lands, and, as a condition of securing the signatures of the majority, 

 had assured the Indians that their rations would be continued unchanged. To this 

 matter the Sioux commission called special attention in their report dated Decem- 

 ber 24, 1889, as follows: 



"During our conference at the different agencies we were repeatedly asked whether 

 the acceptance or rejection of the act of Congress would influence the action of the 



