11 



panied with such proofs and suggestions as to reliable sources of evidence, as will 

 aid in securing a thorough investigation. I have also informed them of the ap- 

 pointment and purpose of this Commission, and my intention to renew the request 

 heretofore made by the honorable Secretary, that you will now furnish the said 

 written statement making the charges as specific, and furnishing evidence as much 

 in detail as possible : or if you are not prepared to do this, that you will in any 

 way most agreeable to yourself make known in a definite form your impressions 

 and views respecting Indian affairs, as resulting from your personal observation 

 while in the Indian country. I make this request of you in the belief that you 

 can have no other desire in this matter than that the interests and rights both of 

 the Indians and Government may be protected. And I desire to renew the as- 

 surance heretofore given you, that it is the sincere wish and purpose of the De- 

 partment to prevent frauds as far as possible, and to omit no effort to discover 

 them when perpetrated, and in all respects to bring the Indian service to the 

 highest possible standard of humanity and strict integrity." 



To which, my reply was as follows : 



Yale College, New Haven, 

 July 3d 1875. 

 Hon. E. P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Affairs : 



Dear Sir — I have received your letter of the 1st inst, informing me of the 

 appointment of Hon. A. H. Bullock, of Massachusetts, Hon. T. C. Fletcher, of 

 Missouri, and Hon. George "W. Lane, of New York, as a committee to investigate 

 affairs at Eed Cloud Agency. I have as yet received no communication from the 

 gentlemen named, but I will at once proceed to prepare a detailed statement, 

 embodying the evidence on this subject, now in my possession, a copy of which I 

 will with pleasure lay before the committee, so soon as they inform me that they 

 have organized, and are ready to act. 



Yery truly yours, 



0. C. MARSH. 



The Department letter of instructions to the Commission, 

 although the gentlemen named had not accepted their appoint- 

 ment, as intimated in the Commissioner's letter to me, was 

 published also. This letter of instructions, as published, contains 

 several erroneous statements and misrepresentations, especially as 

 to the nature and extent of my observations at Red Cloud Agency, 

 and virtually prejudges the case. How it corresponds with the 

 facts, may be seen from the evidence given below. The letter is 

 as follows : 



Department of the Interior, Office of Indian 

 Affairs, "Washington, D. C, July 1, 1875. 

 Gentlemen — On the nomination of the Chairman of the Board of Indian Com- 

 missioners, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, you have been 

 appointed by him a commission to investigate the affairs of the Red Cloud 

 Agency. 



