THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA. 147 
The early settlement of New England was attended by 
the horrors of Indian warfare, and this struggle is the same 
to-day as then, but farther west on the plains of Colorado 
and Arizona. The Indians of California are now fed on gov- 
ernment rations, and instead of elk and antelope the land is 
grazed by herds and flocks of domestic animals owned by 
the white men, and enumerated and taxed as one of the 
largest items of wealth in a rich state. The present policy 
of the government of removing Indians from disputed lands, 
and settling them upon reservations, is perhaps the best 
thing that can be done, but much of the management of 
Indians in the past has been a shameful record of fraud, by 
the agents of our government who represented the public 
money-bag, and of outrages committed on emigrants by the 
Indians. 
Many of the Indian agents, in their greed for gain, sup- 
plied hostile tribes with rifles, ammunition and whiskey 
in exchange for furs and even property captured from the 
white settlers. Whisky that may only make a fool of the 
white man converts an Indian into a fiend, and when drunk 
he may kill friend or foe. The individual settler, exposed 
to attack, regards the Indians as brutal and dangerous, and 
loses faith in his government if it rewards with presents the 
wretch who has murdered his companions, and may at any 
time attack him by surprise and butcher his wife and children. 
Our government is now powerful enough to warrant the 
exercise of authority and mercy. It is folly to purchase 
peace of such a people by paying them tribute, as the In- 
dians themselves seek to propitiate evil spirits by gifts of 
beads; and it cannot be right to make “Black Kettle” a 
present of a Colt's revolver, after he has already used his 
rifle and knife on more white victims than any brave of his 
tribe. 
The Indians whom I have particularly described in this pa- 
per, have been shown to possess the virtues of generosity and 
hospitality without the least knowledge of Christianity, and 
