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CHAPTER IX.

A WORD FOR THE RED MEN.

OT a dog in camp. All had been eaten, I suppose, long before. Child ren die first in their famines ; then the old men, then the young men. The endurance of an Indian woman is a marvel.

In the village, some of the white men claimed to have found something that had been stolen. I have not the least idea there was any truth in it. I wish there was; then there might be some shadow of excuse for all the murders that made up this cruel tragedy, all of which is, I believe, literally true; truer than nine-tenths of the history and official reports written, wherein these people are mentioned; and I stand ready to give names, dates, and detail to all whom it may concern.

Let me not here be misunderstood. An Indian is no better than a white man. If he sins let him suffer. But I do protest against this custom of making up a case this custom of deciding the case