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were not issued to the Indians, and that there was no intention of issuing them 

 simply because they were in such a poor and sick condition. He asserts that 

 Red Dog's statement was incorrect, and that Red Cloud informed him this morn- 

 ing that Red Dog lied when he told the story to Gen. Bradley and Prof. Marsh. 

 The Commissioner also states that Gen. Bradley could have Satisfied himself of 

 this fact by a slight inquiry of the herdman or contractor if he had desired to 

 do so." 



As this reply contained some statements which I knew to be 

 erroneous, I at once endeavored to ascertain the exact truth about 

 these cattle. In company with Rev. S. D. Hinman, the official 

 interpreter of the Interior Department, I called upon Agent 

 Saville, May 29th, at his hotel, and asked him about the cattle 

 examined by Gen. Bradley and the other officers. Agent Saville 

 said that " these cattle did not belong to the contractor, but to the 

 Government ; that he had accepted them from the contractor and 

 given receipts for all of them, and they were in his charge ; that 

 subsequently all except two of them were issued by him to the In- 

 dians ; that these cattle were not sick, and none of them had broken 

 legs ; and that they were the only cattle at the agency when Gen- 

 Bradley was there." I also called on Red Cloud himself, and he 

 positively denied that he had held any conversation whatever 

 with Commissioner Smith about these cattle that morning, as 

 stated ; and I subsequently learned by inquiry of all of the Sioux 

 interpreters then in the city, through whom alone such a conver- 

 sation could be held, that Red Cloud had no such conversation 

 with Commissioner Smith. Red Cloud also told me that he "must 

 have been misunderstood in the council of Friday (May 28). He 

 did not mean to say that these cattle had been rejected by the 

 agent, but simply that at the time Gen. Bradley saw them they 

 had not been issued to the Indians, but had been left over from a 

 former issue." This testimony fairly disposes of the explanation 

 attempted on this point by Commissioner Smith. 



On the morning of November 14th, while I was at the Red 

 Cloud Agency, Mr. Bosler, one of the contractors, brought to the 

 Agency a herd of several hundred head of Texas cattle, the first 

 that had been received for some weeks previous. This lot was 



