Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/176

142 were in a blaze of excitement. The cry, “The Utes must go!” rang all over the State. We were on the brink of an Indian war at the beginning of winter. That war threatened to involve the whole Ute nation, and to cost us many lives and millions of money. It

would finally have resulted in the destruction of the Ute tribe, or at least a large portion of it,—of the innocent with the guilty, at a great sacrifice, on our part, of blood and treasure. It was evident, to every one capable of judging the emergency, that such a calamity could be averted only by changing the situation of the Indians. Negotiations were opened, and the Utes agreed to be settled in severalty upon the lands designated for that purpose, and to cede to the United States the whole of their reservation, except some small tracts of agricultural and grazing lands, in consideration of certain ample equivalents in various forms. Nobody will pretend that the Utes were fully prepared for such a change in their condition. Their chief, Ouray, was probably the only man among them who had a clear conception of the whole extent of that change. But nothing short of it would have saved the Ute tribe from destruction, and averted a most bloody and expensive conflict. In fact, even after that measure of composition, it required the most watchful management to prevent complications and collisions, and that watchful management will have to be continued for some time, for the danger is by no means over.

I cite this as an example to show how, in the conduct of Indian affairs, the necessity of doing certain things with out sufficient preparation is sometimes precipitated upon the Government. Similar complications may arise at any time where the pressure of advancing enterprise upon Indian reservations is very great, and sustained by a numerous and rapidly increasing population, but especially where valuable mineral deposits have been discovered