fleece him. It is the
law and the gospel of these Agencies; and we must not allow ourselves to
be hoodwinked in this matter by the mistaken humanity of Mr. Heard.

And yet, if we think of it, there could not have been devised a more
evil scheme, either against the natives or the settlers, than these
wellnigh irresponsible Agencies. From all parts of the Union, from every
country of the Old World, emigrants had come to settle in the beautiful
Minnesota State; they had built themselves good, substantial houses,
ploughed, fenced, and planted their rich and prosperous farms, conquered
the savage wilderness into blooming cornfields, orchards, and
gardens--and here was their true El Dorado! where they hoped to live in
peace, plenty, and security. They were not afraid of the savages, but
their wont was to make friends of them, and to be their friends,
entertaining them at their homes when they visited the settlements, and
doing all they could--with some exceptions--to perpetuate among them a
good feeling and an intelligent understanding.

To a certain extent, and in some cases, they succeeded in this
straight-forward diplomacy. But the predisposition of the reds to
enmity with the whites was still there, slumbering only, not eradicated;
nor could all the kindness and generosity of the whole Caucasian heart,
heaped upon them in the most lavish profusion, ever root it out. Nature
put it there--I wish she hadn't--for reasons of her own, just as she put
murder into the cruel heart and brain of the tiger in the jungle.

There was this 'original sin,' therefore, to contend against always,
without reference to any tangible causes or provocations. All knew this.
All knew, from the youngest to the oldest, that the true policy of the
whites was to conciliate the Indians. They knew his inextinguishable
memory of wrongs, his dreadful vengeance, his power, and his constant
opportunity to do irreparable mischief. And, as I said, the settlers
were, for the most part, anxious to smoke the pipe of peace and
friendship with him.

But what was the good of all this? What, think you, did it avail in the
councils of the savages, when they sat over their fires discussing their
wrongs and prospects? What the good-hearted settlers did in the way of
reconciliation and good will was undone a thousandfold at the Agency. It
is true that the Agency had become necessary to the subsistence of the
Indian, and that this fact made him bear much which, under