I caused the prairie south of Platte River Valley to be simultaneously fired from a point twenty miles west of Julesburg continuously to a point ten miles east of this post, burning the grass in a continuous line of 200 miles as far south as the Republican River. In some places the fire went out owing to the grass being too thin to burn readily. But since then detachments have been sent out and the work has progressed favorably; every canon and all the valley of streams along this line have been thoroughly burned, thus depriving hostile Indians of forage for their animals in their hiding-places and driving all the game beyond the Republican River. From a point ten miles east of this post to Little Blue Station I have burned only the creek valleys and canons, compelling the Indians to graze their stock on the high prairie if they remain in that part of the country, and leaving the game in that section undisturbed for the use of the Pawnees, who received twelve sacks of flour from this post on the 29th October last and started for the hunting grounds between Little Blue and Republican Rivers about 200 strong.

This hunting excursion of the country left unburned, and where as it will scour that portion of the country left unburned, and where the hostile Cheyennes engaged out troops in July and October last. These Pawnees have promised to warn the posts of Little Blue and Pawnee Ranch in event of their finding hostile Indians. The firing of the prairie has been commenced on the north side of the Platte Valley from Mullahla's Station to a point twenty-five miles west of Julesburg, Colo. Ter., extending north in some instances 150 miles. Universal consternation has spread among the Indians, to whom this mode of warfare is apparently new,and their presence along the road through this sub-district need not be apprehended during the winter. Officers from Fort Laramie tell me that already the effect of this grand burning of the prairie is manifest among the Indians, and that they are anxious to make peace, but whether their propositions are induced by fear of starvation, the game being driven off by fires,or only to check the process of burning until they can renew hostilities in the spring, I am not prepared to say, and would simply suggest a continuance of the work as a punishment for past misdeeds and a warning to them of what may occur in the future should they persist in their unfriendly conduct. One thing is certain, this burning of the prairie has produced a marked effect on the Indian tribes along the road, and they begin to dread the white man's power. It will be borne in mind that the Platte Valley proper-that is, the country lying each side of the river up to the bluffs on either side-has been protected from fire by express orders, and carefully preserved for the use of the immense amount of stock used in transporting merchandise over the road to the States and Territories west of Missouri River, and no suffering can possibly occur to the numberless teams traveling to and from the west.

I inclose diagrams* of the buildings and defenses of all the posts under my command-the black lines indicating the finished portions of the work, and the red lines the unfinished work in process of completion. I regret to say that the horses of this command are not in a fit condition for active field duty, arriving as nearly all of them did from a long and arduous expedition of 800 miles, during which they were on short rations most of the time, and being immediately ordered to occupy posts which required constant activity and watchfulness on the part of commanders to keep off hostile Indians by whom the country was to a great extent overrun. The horses have been compelled to do a vast amount of duty, and are thin and somewhat exhausted.

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*Not found.

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