knowledge extends there is no other spot in the prairie region of the Northwest which promises equal advantages for the concentration of the bands who must as a matter of necessity be provided by the Government with a permanent home. The Indian reservation on the Missouri, to which the Sioux prisoners and the Winnebago Indians were removed in 1863, has been tried for two successive seasons, and is said to be incapable of producing such crops as the Indians must rely on mainly for subsistence; consequently it must be abandoned for a more fertile locality. A due regard to the obligations of the Government toward the bands who are entitled to protection, no less than to the border settlers who are subject to constant annoyance and alarm by the proximity of these savages, demands the selection of a district where the evils attendant upon the juxtaposition of the two races will cease to exist. I have every reason to believe that if your programme to establish a strong post at Devil's Lake to afford protection and encouragement to the Indians who wish to live at peace with the Government was fully carried out, and the several bands of Sioux invited to take advantage of it, a large number would immediately resort thither, and they would eventually be followed by others from time to time, so that the vexed and complicated questions connected with the disposition to be made of these prairie warriors, with their families, would soon receive a simple and comparatively inexpensive solution.

The same general plan of concentration and military surveillance of the several bands of Chippewas would be productive of like good effects, but I am not prepared to indicate the exact position in their country where they could profitably cultivate the soil and at the same time enjoy absolute immunity from the encroachments of the white man. It is becoming more and more manifest that some such fixed policy as that indicated must be adopted by the Government with reference to the great tribes of Indians north and west of us before a permanent peace can be restored to our extensive border. The general and natural exasperation felt by the people of this State against the Indians in consequence of the horrible outrages perpetrated by the Sioux in 1862 renders it certain that they will not consent to any plan in which does not involve the location of these savages at a great distance from their frontier. In determining the question of the disposition to be made of the several bands, I respectfully suggest that for those individuals of Sioux who remained faithful to the Government through all the bloody scenes referred to, and with unexampled heroism exposed their own lives and property to destruction while engaged in saving the lives of white men, women, and children, special and liberal provisions should be made which will place them beyond the reach of want and suffering. Such an exemption from the common lot of their kindred they have well and richly earned. They are comparatively few in numbers and their names can readily be ascertained.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. H. SIBLEY,

Brigadier-General, Commanding.

HEADQUARTERS FORT ABERCROMBIE,
August 12, 1864.

Captain R. C. OLIN,

Assistant Adjutant-General, District of Minnesota:

CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report that Joe Demarrar, one of the scouts whom I sent out from this post some days ago, has returned.