MEDICINE BLUFF CREEK,
Southern Indian Territory, April 9, 1869.
To-day I had an interview with Little Raven, Chief of the
Arapahoes, in the
tent of Major-General Grierson, and got
a distinct statement from him as to the entire ignorance of himself
and his people, and also of the Cheyennes, about the precise
location of the Reservation set off for them by U. S. Peace
Commissioners in 1867. It was because the Cheyennes under Black
Kettle and the Arapahoes under Little Raven were not on the
Reservation, that they, with their tribes, were held guilty, and
this was
one of the reasons why they were attacked by
General Custer at the battle of the Washita last Fall. You may
remember that Colonel Wynkoop stated that he thought they were on
their Reservation at the time they were attacked. You see now how
easily these people are made to sign treaties, of the character of
which they are not familiar, and are afterwards so severely dealt
with for not understanding.
