eturning the compliment.

Crook was a man who lived and fought without any ostentation, but who
had high courage and used rare judgment. The fact that he had command
of the forces in the West had much to do with their successes in
subduing the hostile red man. Indeed, had not our army taught the
Indians that it was never safe, and usually extremely dangerous, to go
on the warpath against the Big White Chief, organizations might have
been formed which would have played sad havoc with our growing Western
civilization.

I am and always have been a friend of the Indian. I have always
sympathized with him in his struggle to hold the country that was his
by right of birth.

But I have always held that in such a country as America the march of
civilization was inevitable, and that sooner or later the men who lived
in roving tribes, making no real use of the resources of the country,
would be compelled to give way before the men who tilled the soil and
used the lands as the Creator intended they should be used.

In my dealings with the Indians we always understood each other. In a
fight we did our best to kill each other. In times of peace we were
friends. I could always do more with the Indians than most white men,
and I think my success in getting so many of them to travel with my
organization was because I understood them and they understood me.

Shrewd as were the generals who conducted the fight against the
Indians, I believe they could have done little without the services of
the men who all over the West served them in the capacity of scouts.

The adventures of small scouting parties were at times even more
thrilling than the battles between the Indians and the troops.

Among the ablest of the scouts I worked with in the West were Frank
Grouard and Baptiste Pourier. At one time in his childhood Grouard was
to all intents and purposes a Sioux Indian. He lived with the tribe,
hunted and fought with them, and wore the breech-clout as his only
summer garment.

He met some hunters and trappers while living this life. Their language
recalled his childhood, and he presently deserted his red-skinned
friends and came back to his own race.

His knowledge of the tongues of the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow Indians
and his marvelous proficiency in the universal sign language made him
an extremely desirable acquisition to the service.

Grouard and "Big Bat" (Baptiste Pourier) were the two scouts that
guided Lieutenant Sibley,