Page:On the border with Crook - Bourke - 1892.djvu/483

 traces of the enemy. Crook insisted upon the expulsion from the reservation of all unauthorized squatters and miners, whether appearing under the guise of Mormons or as friends of the late agents, and opposed resolutely the further curtailment of the reservation or the proposition to transfer the Apaches to the Indian Territory, having in mind the contemptible failure of the attempt to evict the Cherokees from the mountains of North Carolina, where some twenty-two hundred of them still cling to the homes of their forefathers. He also insisted upon giving to the Apaches all work which could be provided for them, and in paying for the same in currency to the individual Indians without the interposition of any middlemen or contractors in any guise.

This will explain in a word why Crook was suddenly abused so roundly in the very Territory for which he had done so much. People who were not influenced by the disappointed elements enumerated, saw that General Crook's views were eminently fair and sound, based upon the most extended experience, and not the hap-hazard ideas of a theoretical soldier. To quote from the Annual Message of Governor Tritle: "The Indians know General Crook and his methods, and respect both." Had the notion ever taken root among the Apaches that they were all to be transplanted to unknown regions, the country would have had to face the most terrible and costly war in its history. Crook did not want wars—he wanted to avert them. In a letter to United States District Attorney Zabriskie, he used the following language: "I believe that it is of far greater importance to prevent outbreaks than to attempt the difficult and sometimes hopeless task of quelling them after they do occur; this policy can only be successful when the officers of justice fearlessly perform their duty in proceeding against the villains who fatten on the supplies intended for the use of Indians willing to lead peaceful and orderly lives. Bad as Indians often are, I have never yet seen one so demoralized that he was not an example in honor and nobility to the wretches who enrich themselves by plundering him of the little our Government appropriates for him."

To prevent any of the Indians from slipping off from the agency, they were all enrolled, made to wear tags as of yore, and compelled to submit to periodical counts occurring every few days. It was found that there were then at the San Carlos