Sweet Savage Surrender Read Free Page A

Union Cavalry officer stationed in Missouri , his home state.  When it was learned that the Confederates were trying to persuade the Indians towards their cause, however, he had quickly had a ch ange in assignment and sent into Indian territory before he could blink an eye.   His job ,   and the job of his comrades, was to keep the savages out of the Confederate's sphere of influence.  Even if that meant killing them like the vermin they were, the Colonel had said.  The thought was unnerving.  He had no wish to take part in a slaughter , but a soldier had a duty to perfo rm and he meant to do his best.
    U ntil now he had rather enjoyed being in the Colorado First Cavalry unit.  It had been a welcome relief from the constant fighting broiling at home.  Then , when the pacific Railway Act was passed,  it became necessary for the soldiers to oversee an important section of land , earmarked for the railroads, two hundred feet wide, running through the b uffalo grazing land.  It was a necessary evil if the W est was going to be connected with rest of the lands, he supposed.  Still, the knowledge that the government would use the Fort Wise Treaty to extinguish the Indian ’ s rights to land  t hat was theirs bothered him.  The land was legally owned by the Arapaho and Cheyenne .  It had been granted to them as hunting ground by the same government that now want ed to undo what they had done.
    "Unfortunate!" the territorial governor John Evans had said when Major Hanlen had asked about it.  "but  you must remember no other land offers such opportunities for the vast accumulation of wealth.  There are settled towns here, gold mining camps and open plains that promise expansion t o a steadily growing country."
    Later he had found that the government held hopes that the tribes would cede the land.  Hanlen's job was to see that they did.  Only a small group  manned Fort Lyon now.  Many troops had been cal led back to active duty in the War Between the S tates and were now serving east of the Mississippi .  The few remaining cavalry personnel were expected to do whatever they were called to do.  The situation was tense. Already some Indians were openly displaying their disfavor of a peaceful settlement.  There had been cattle raids, looting, burning of fields and other atrocities .  Tempers were beginning to heat up.  So far the chiefs had been successful in couns e ling restraint, hoping that some acceptable settlement of the land question could be made, but how long would the peac e last?  He could only wonder.
    Riding  as silently as they could so as not to stir up trouble, John Hanlen  and his men watched as the first rays of sun came over the hilltops.  It gave him a feeling of relief, knowing it would soon be light.  It would add further safety to be able to see where they were going.  Hanlen’s company had been instructed to bivouac at day's end ,   with two men standing watch.  They were to travel in t he dawning hours of the morning, through early afternoon. 
    Unable to talk much while proceeding in single file and lulled by the monotonous movement of his horse, Major Hanlen let his thoughts wander.  It seemed only yesterday that he was a law student at Harvard, the middle son of a career general.  He'd had a hell of a time convincing his father he didn't want to go to West Point .  He  had nearly been disowned.  Then his mother, God bless her, had taken his side.  He'd been granted his wish only to find himself in uniform after all when the war had started.  What a rueful irony!  Now he was finishing his term of enlistment in this God forsaken territory.  Ah, well.  He'd signed up for three years and had only served one.  If he survived , perhaps he could go back East and continue hi s education.  One thing certain , with all this expansion , the W est was going to need lawyers.  He'd sure as hell rather be slinging a law book than a gu n any day.
    A chorus of twittering birds