n, indicated under the three heads above, we make up the list of
the potentially hostile Indians somewhat as follows: of the Sioux of
Dakota,--tribes, bands, and parties, to the number of fifteen thousand;
of the Indians of Montana,--Blackfeet, Bloods, and Piegans, Assiniboines
and roving Sioux, to the number of twenty thousand; of the Indians in
the extreme south-western part of the Indian Territory and on the
borders of Texas,--Kiowas, Comanches, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes, to the
number of seven thousand; of the Indians of Arizona,--Apaches of several
tribes, to the number of nine thousand; of the mountain Indians of
Colorado, Utah, and Nevada, to the number of five thousand; of the
Indians of New Mexico, to the number of two thousand; and of the Indians
in Oregon and Washington Territory, to the number of six thousand. The
sixty-four thousand Indians thus enumerated comprise substantially all
the tribes and bands with which the government is obliged to contemplate
the possibility of war. It is in the highest degree improbable, however,
that the United States would, even in the event of what might properly
be called a general Indian war, be called on to fight more than one-half
of these Indians at any one time; while, with a reasonable policy of
concession, the number of actually hostile and depredating bands may be
steadily reduced, and the whole body of dangerous Indians held in check
until the advance of population shall render them incapable of mischief.
The measures by which this is to be effected must be considered
candidly, in the light of the alternative presented, and not as if they
were proposed as measures wholly agreeable to the tastes or the temper
of those who are called to administer Indian affairs.

That we may obtain a true impression of one of the conditions on which
peace is maintained with certain Indian tribes, let us take a leaf out
of the official record of the dealings of the government with the Sioux
during the past year. Early in 1872 an unusually large number of Indians
were assembled at the Red Cloud agency, near Fort Laramie in Wyoming. By
far the greater part were _habitues_ of this or some other Sioux agency;
but among them were many Northern Indians, who were for the first time
the guests of the government, and who, not having become accustomed to
eat the bread of dependence, were much more intractable and insolent
than the others. The presence of these Indians produced great turmoil at
t