Company E, at Fort Davis, Tex.-Capt. David Company G, at Fort Concho, Tex. Capt. Jacob Company H, at Fort Davis, Tex.-Capt. M. L. Company I, at Fort Davis, Tex.-Capt. Gaines Company K, at Fort Concho, Tex.- Capt. J. S NOTE.-Maj. James McMillan, Second Artillery, commanding battalion Second Artillery and the post of San Antonio, Tex. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF TEXAS, THOMAS M. VINCENT, Assistant Adjutant-General. San Antonio, Tex., October 1, 1878. * On leave of absence. On sick-leave. fOn detached service within the department. On detached service without the department. In arrest or undergoing trial by general court-martial. On temporary duty in the district of the Nueces. On field-service in the district of the Pecos. One platoon on temporary duty in the district of the Nueces. On temporary duty at Fort Duncan, Tex. 5.-REPORT OF BRIG. GEN. GEO. CROOK. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE, Omaha Barracks, Nebr., September 23, 1878. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of operations in this department during the year just ended: After Crazy Horse and his people surrendered (in May, 1877) they were placed on the reservation near Camp Robinson, Nebr., where they remained for some time, apparently peaceable and well disposed; but after the lapse of a few months the restraints of their new position became irksome to Crazy Horse, who daily grew more and more restless, and fomented plans for involving his people in trouble with us and recommencing a general war. To prevent any serious difficulty it was found necessary to arrest Crazy Horse and confine him as a prisoner. While on his way to the guard-house he broke loose from those about him, and attempted to make his escape by hewing his way with a knife through the circle of sentinels and other bystanders. In the mêlée which resulted he was fatally wounded, and died the same night (September 5, 1877). After his death general harmony reigned, and the main body of the Indians acted as if anxious to establish and maintain the most friendly relations with our people. ance. The removal of all those bands of the Sioux Nation known as the "Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Indians" to a new agency on the banks of the Missouri River having been determined upon by the Interior Department, I received instructions early in the fall to render every assistThe lack of proper facilities in the Indian Bureau caused much delay, so that it was not until the beginning of November that the movement was commenced, the transportation used for the purpose being such Army wagons as could be spared by the military authorities and the pack-animals belonging to the Indians themselves. (See my report on this movement appended, and marked A.) Owing to the lateness of the season, this march was attended with much suffering, and the removal itself was the source of great dissatisfaction to the people of these tribes. During the month of August the Nez Percés, under their chief, Joseph, were reported as moving down from the Yellowstone Park toward the Big Horn Mountains. In accordance with instructions received from the Lieutenant-General, I at once commenced to assemble such troops as were available, to intercept them, using for that purpose Major V. K. Hart's battalion, of three companies of the Fifth Cavalry and detachment of Sioux and Arapahoe scouts, which was at that time near old Fort Kearney, on Goose Creek, and eleven companies of the Third and Fifth Cavalry, which had rendezvoused at Camp Brown, in the Wind River Mountains. I enlisted for service with the latter battalion a detachment of Shoshone Indian scouts, and placed this command under General Wesley Merritt, to whom I also ordered Major Hart to report for orders. The two commands effected a junction on the Stinking Water River, Wyoming, and carefully scouted the country for 200 miles to the north of Camp Brown, but discovered no trace of the hostiles, who had turned to the northeast instead of to the south, as at first expected. Upon completion of this reconnaissance, the cavalry returned to the stations of the respective companies, reaching them about the 1st of November. During the progress of General Howard's pursuit of the Nez Percés fifty Bannocks were enlisted, at his request, at Fort Hall, Idaho, and ordered to report to him for duty with his command. The condition of affairs among the Shoshones and Bannocks at the Fort Hall Agency, Idaho, early last winter, indicated the prevalence of disquietude, and some bad feeling. The general opinion of the agent, military officials, and citizens of the vicinity was that trouble might be apprehended at any moment, and they recommended that to frustrate, as much as possible, any hostile intentions, the arms and ponies of these two tribes should be taken from them. This was done as effectually as circumstances would admit, but, as it afterwards appeared that the number of ponies taken was in such a small ratio to the total possessed by the tribe, and as most of the ill-disposed had succeeded in secreting their animals, thus leaving the burden of the loss to fall more heavily upon our friends, it was considered good policy, as well as an act of justice, to return the ponies, which was done early in April, upon the recommendation of the agent, approved by the military authorities. I visited this agency in March and April, holding conferences with the Indians, their agent, Mr. Danielson, and the military officers. While the Indians talked well and asserted very earnestly that they were our friends, it was easy to see that they had good cause of complaint of the treatment received. The apportionment of rations for the supply of this agency was ridiculously inadequate; the Indians complained that three days out of seven they had nothing to eat, and the agent told me that the allowance had never been sufficient. I at once telegraphed of the state of affairs, and urged that something be immediately done to remedy it. (See copy of telegram appended, marked B.) It was a matter of surprise to no one acquainted with the facts that some of these Indians should so soon afterward break out into hostility; the great wonder is that so many have remained on the reservation. With the Bannocks and Shoshones our Indian policy has resolved itself into a question of war-path or starvation, and, being merely human, many of them will always choose the former alternative, where death shall at least be glorious. They cannot hunt for subsistence, as the influx of immigration is each day adding to the cordon of settlements about them; and if for any purpose they leave their agency it is only by the merest accident in the world that they can avoid a conflict of some kind with the whites. These savages know nothing and can be made to understand nothing of such things as the "failure of an appropriation" or the cumbersome and dilatory complications of administrative "red tape"; they only know that we have promised faithfully to feed and clothe them, and teach them to earn their own living, and they insist upon our living up to our contract, or they will, if driven to the war-path, wreak vengeance upon the unprotected ranchmen and miners near them. Then, too, they are dissatisfied because while they, who have been for years our steadfast friends and allies, are nearly starving, the Sioux, so lately our bitter enemies, have twice the amount of supplies provided for them. I made a second visit to this agency last month and gave careful attention to the disposition of the Indians belonging there. I am satisfied that not more than 150 of the warriors of the Bannock tribe are absent from the reservation, supposably, of course, with the hostiles, and of this number many are armed very poorly. The eight companies of the Second Cavalry, serving in this department, were ordered last September to be transferred to the Department of Dakota. The movement was effected as speedily as possible-six companies marching by way of Fort McKinney, and the two companies stationed at Camp Brown, direct from that point. The posts of Fort Bridger, Camp Stambaugh, and North Platte have been abandoned during the past year, and the location of Fort McKinney changed to the Clear Fork of Powder River, about fifty miles to the northwest. The old site was found to be unhealthy, and in many other respects objectionable. Appended to this will be found, marked C, D, E, F, G, H, and I, the reports of the chiefs of the several staff departments, on duty at these headquarters, to which I respectfully invite attention. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL, GEORGE CROOK, Brigadier-General, Commanding. Military Division of the Missouri, Chicago, Ill. A. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE, COMMANDING GENERAL'S OFFICE, Omaha, Nebr., December 6, 1877. SIR: As there has been some unfavorable comment on the removal of the Sioux to the Missouri River, and as my connection with it seems to be misunderstood, I have the honor to say that in September last, after several conferences with the President and Secretary of the Interior, the Sioux delegation, in almost positive terms, refused to remove from the Old Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies to their new ones on the Missouri River. The President and the Secretaries of War and Interior Departments wished me to make this removal. Subsequently, in my interviews with these Indians, they seemed distrustful of the promises made them by the President and others, fearing they would not be carried out in good faith. After many personal assurances that the promises made them would be carried out, they consented to their removal. Upon my arrival at the agencies, October 11, I found part of the Indian supplies exhausted, and the remainder would be so at the end of the month. I also found that the transportation being provided by the Indian Department for the removal of the Indians could not possibly reach there in time; therefore prompt action was necessary. With the consent of higher authority, I assisted the Indians by scraping together all the available Army transportation within reach, improvising many teams of brokendown cavalry horses by much effort (many of the Indians going on foot); and by their consenting to subsist mostly on beef during the march, I was able finally to get them off. Had I been required to send any additional troops with them, it would have been impossible for the move to have been made in time. I respectfully call attention to the fact that one of the promises made by the President was the positive assurance that they would not be required to go directly on the Missouri River. I would recommend that the Indians at this agency be given the same rations as those furnished the Sioux; the present allowance is entirely inadequate. These Indians are now surrounded on all sides by white settlements, and can no longer depend upon game to eke out their supplies. To Lieutenant-General SHERIDAN, Chicago. GEORGE CROOK, HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE, Official copy. R. WILLIAMS, Assistant Adjutant-General. 5 A.-Roster of troops serving in the Department of the Platte, commanded by Brigadier-General George Crook, headquarters Omaha Barracks, Nebr., September, 1878. DEPARTMENT OF THE PLATTE. Brig. Gen. George Crook, commanding; headquarters, Omaha Barracks, Nebraska. Personal Staff. First Lieutenant John G. Bourke, Third Cavalry, aide-de-camp. Department Staff. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Williams, assistant adjutant-general, United States Army, adjutant-general of the department. Lieutenant-Colonel William B. Royall, Third Cavalry, acting assistant inspectorgeneral of the department. Major Horace B. Burnham, judge-advocate, United States Army, judge-advocate of the department. Major Marshall I. Ludington, quartermaster, United States Army, chief quartermaster of the department. Major John P. Hawkins, commissary of subsistence, United States Army, chief commissary of subsistence of the Department. Major John E. Summers, surgeon, United States Army, medical director of the department. Major Henry C. Pratt, paymaster, United States Army, chief paymaster of the department. Captain William S. Stanton, Corp of Engineers, United States Army, chief engineer officer of the department. GENE AL STAFF OFFICERS, IN ADDITION TO THE DEPARTMENT STAFF, SERVING IN THE DEPARTMENT. Quartermaster's Department. Captain James Gilliss, assistant quartermaster, depot quartermaster, Cheyenne, W. T. Captain Charles W. Foster, depot quartermaster, Ogden, Utah. Captain John V. Furey, depot quartermaster, Omaha, Nebr. Captain John Livers, military storekeeper, quartermaster's department, in charge of clothing depot, Omaha. Subsistence Department.. Captain William H. Nash, commissary of subsistence, depot commissary, Cheyenne, W. T. Medical Department. Major and Surgeon Charles Page, Omaha Barracks, Neb. Major and Surgeon Bennett A. Clements, Camp Douglas, Utah Ter. Acting Assistant Surgeon A. J. Gray, Fort Laramie, W. T. |||||| Acting Assistant Surgeon E. P. Lecompte, Camp Douglas, U. T. ¶ Pay Department. Major Simeon Smith, pay department, Fort Saunders, W. T. Ordnance Department. First Lieutenant William B. Wier, Fort D. A. Russell, W. T. |