"On the morning of the 29th of January I left Port Orford for the

Coquille. We arrived at the ferry-house early in the evening of that

day. Early in the morning of the day after my arrival I sent for the

chief, who immediately came in, attended by about thirty of his people.

The chief, as well as his people, was so greatly alarmed—apparently

apprehensive that the white men would kill them even in my presence—that

it was with a good deal of difficulty that I could induce him to express

his mind freely. He seemed only anxious to stipulate for peace and the

future safety of his people; and to procure this he was willing to

accept any terms that I might dictate. The chief was evidently afraid to

complain of or censure the slaughterers of his tribe, and for a time

replied to all the charges made against him with hesitancy. After

repeated assurances of protection, he finally answered to the point

every interrogatory. I asked him if he had at any time fired at the man

at the ferry-house. 'No!' was his prompt reply. At the time he was said

to have fired at the white man, he declared with great earnestness that

he shot at a duck in the river, at a distance of some two hundred yards

from the ferry-house, when on his way home, and possibly the ball of his

gun might have bounded from the water. My subsequent observation of the

course of the river, and the point from which he was said to have fired,

convinced me that his statement was entitled to the fullest credit. His

statement is confirmed by the doubt expressed by one of the party at

whom he was said to have fired.

"The white men making the accusation only heard the whizzing of a

bullet. This was the only evidence adduced in proof of the chief having

fired at them. I asked the chief if he, or if to his knowledge any of

his people, had ever fired at the ferry-house. To this he answered,

'No.' He most emphatically denied ever sending threatening language to

the men at the ferry, but admitted that some of his people had. He also

admitted that some of his tribe had stolen from white men, and that they

had used their horses without permission. He did not deny that his heart

had been bad toward white men, and that he had hoped they would leave

his country. He promised to do all I required of him. If I desired, he

said he would leave the home of his fathers and take his people to the

mountains; but, with my permission and protection, he would prefer

remaining in the present home of his people.

"Everything I asked or required of him he readily assented to, promising

most solemnly to maintain on his part permanent friendly relations with

white men. My interview with the tribe occupied about two hours. During

the entire council they listened with most profound attention, evidently

being determined to fasten on their minds all that fell from my lips. At

the conclusion of the council I requested the chief to send for all the

guns and pistols in the possession of his men. You will be surprised

when I tell you that all the guns and pistols in the hands of the

Indians at the ranches amounted to just five pieces, two of which were

unserviceable; as to powder and ball, I do not believe they had five

rounds. Does this look like being prepared for war? Can any sane man

believe those Indians, numbering not over seventy-five, all told,

including women and children, had concocted a plan to expel from their

country some three hundred whites? Such a conclusion is too preposterous

to be entertained for a moment. There was no necessity for resorting to

such extreme measures. I regard the murder of those Indians as one of

the most barbarous acts ever perpetrated by civilized men. But what can

be done? The leaders of the party cannot be arrested, though justice

loudly demands their punishment. Here we have not even a justice of the

peace; and as to the military force garrisoned at Fort Orford, it

consists of four men. If such murderous assaults are to be continued,

there will be no end of Indian war in Oregon."—_F. M. SMITH, Sub-Agent._

The Simon Kenton referred to in the following narrative was an

experienced Indian fighter, and commanded a regiment in the war of 1812.

"In the course of the war of 1812 a plan was formed by some of the

militia stationed at Urbana, Ohio, to attack an encampment of friendly

Indians, who had been threatened by the hostile tribes, and were invited

to remove with their families within our frontier settlements as a place

of safety, under an assurance that they should be protected. Kenton

remonstrated against the movement as being not only mutinous, but

treacherous and cowardly. He vindicated the Indian character against the

false charges which were alleged in justification of the outrage they

were about to perpetrate, and warned them against the infamy they would

incur by destroying a defenceless band of men, women, and children, who

had been induced to place themselves in their power by a solemn promise

of protection.

"He appealed to their humanity, their honor, and their duty as soldiers.

He contrasted his knowledge of the character of those unfortunate people

with their ignorance of it. He told them that he had endured suffering

and torture at their hands again and again, but that it was in time of

war, when they were defending their wives and children, and when he was

seeking to destroy and exterminate them; and that, under those

circumstances, he had no right to complain, and never did complain. But,

said he, in time of peace they have always been kind, faithful friends,

and generous, trustworthy men.

"Having exhausted the means of persuasion without effect, and finding

them still resolved on executing their purpose, he took a rifle and

called on them to proceed at once to the execution of the foul

deed—declaring with great firmness that he would accompany them to the

encampment, and shoot down the first man who attempted to molest it. 'My

life,' said he, 'is drawing to a close: what remains of it is not worth

much;' but, much or little, he was resolved that, if they entered the

Indian camp, it should be done by passing over his corpse. Knowing that

the old veteran would fulfil his promise, their hearts failed them; not

one ventured to take the lead; their purpose was abandoned, and the

Indians were saved."—_BURNET on the North-west Territory._

V.

EXTRACTS

FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSION SENT TO TREAT WITH

THE SIOUX CHIEF, SITTING BULL, IN CANADA.

The commission consisted of Brigadier-general Terry, Hon. A. G.

Lawrence, and Colonel Corbin, secretary. After one month's journey,

_via_ Omaha, Nebraska, Helena, Montana, and Fort Benton, these gentlemen

were met on the Canadian boundary by a Canadian officer with a mounted

escort, who conducted them to Fort Walsh, when they were met by Sitting

Bull and the other chiefs.

General Terry recapitulated to them the advantages of being at peace

with the United States, the kindly treatment that all surrendered

prisoners had received, and said: "The President invites you to come to

the boundary of his and your country, and there give up your arms and

ammunition, and thence to go to the agencies to which he will assign

you, and there give up your horses, excepting those which are required

for peace purposes. Your arms and horses will then be sold, and with all

the money obtained for them cows will be bought and sent to you."

It is mortifying to think that representatives of the United States

should have been compelled gravely to submit in a formal council

proposals so ludicrous as these. The Indians must have been totally

without sense of humor if they could have listened to them without

laughter. Sitting Bull's reply is worthy of being put on record among

the notable protests of Indian chiefs against the oppressions of their

race.

He said: "For sixty-four years you have kept me and my people, and

treated us bad. What have we done that you should want us to stop? We

have done nothing. It is all the people on your side that have started

us to do all these depredations. We could not go anywhere else, and so

we took refuge in this country. *** I would like to know why you came

here. In the first place I did not give you the country; but you

followed me from one place to another, so I had to leave and come over

to this country. *** You have got ears, and you have got eyes to see

with them, and you see how I live with these people. You see me. Here I

am. If you think I am a fool, you are a bigger fool than I am. This

house is a medicine house. You come here to tell us lies, but we don't

want to hear them. I don't wish any such language used to me—that is, to

tell me lies in my Great Mother's house. This country is mine, and I

intend to stay here and to raise this country full of grown people. See

these people here. We were raised with them" (again shaking hands with

the British officers). "That is enough, so no more. *** The part of the

country you gave me you ran me out of. *** I wish you to go back, and to

take it easy going back."

The-one-that-runs-the-Ree, a Santee chief, said: "You didn't treat us

well, and I don't like you at all. *** I will be at peace with these

people as long as I live. This country is ours. We did not give it to

you. You stole it away from us. You have come over here to tell us lies,

and I don't propose to talk much, and that is all I have to say. I want

you to take it easy going home. Don't go in a rush."

Nine, a Yankton, said: "Sixty-four years ago you got our country, and

you promised to take good care of us and keep us. You ran from one place

to another killing us and fighting us. *** You did not treat us right

over there, so we came back over here. *** I come in to these people

here, _and they give me permission to trade with the traders_. _That is

the way I make my living._ Everything I get I buy from the traders. I

don't steal anything. *** I am going to live with these people here."

So profound a contempt did the Indians feel for this commission that

they allowed a squaw to address it.

A squaw, named The-one-that-speaks-once, wife of

The-man-that-scatters-the-bear, said: "I was over at your country. I

wanted to raise my children there, but you did not give me any time. I

came over to this country to raise my children, and have a little peace"

(shaking hands with the British officers); "that is all I have to say to

you. I want you to go back where you came from. These are the people

that I am going to stay with and raise my children with."

The Indians having risen, being apparently about to leave the room, the

interpreter was directed to ask the following questions: "Shall I say to

the President that you refuse the offers that he has made to you? Are we

to understand that you refuse those offers?" Sitting Bull answered: "I

could tell you more, but that is all I have to tell. If we told you

more, you would not pay any attention to it. This part of the country

does not belong to your people. You belong on the other side, this side

belongs to us."

The Crow, shaking hands, and embracing Colonel McLeod, and shaking hands

with the other British officers, said: "This is the way I will live in

this part of the country. *** _These people that don't hide anything_,

they are all the people I like. *** Sixty-four years ago I shook hands

with the soldiers, and ever since that I have had hardships. I made

peace with them; and ever since then I have been running from one place

to another to keep out of their way. *** Go to where you were born, and

stay there. I came over to this country, and my Great Mother knows all

about it. She knows I came over here, and she don't wish anything of me.

We think, and all the women in the camp think, we are going to have the

country full of people. *** I have come back in this part of the country

again to have plenty more people, to live in peace, and raise children."

The Indians then inquired whether the commission had anything more to

say, and the commission answered that they had nothing more to say, and

the conference closed.

The commission, with a naïve lack of comprehension of the true situation

of the case, go on to say that "they are convinced that Sitting Bull and

the bands under him will not seek to return to this country at present.

It is believed that they are restrained from returning," partly by their

recollection of the severe handling they had by the military forces of

the United States in the last winter and spring, and partly "by their

belief that, for some reason which they cannot fathom, the Government of

the United States earnestly desires that they shall return. *** In their

intense hostility to our Government, they are determined to contravene

its wishes to the best of their ability." It would seem so—even to the

extent of foregoing all the privileges offered them on their return—the

giving up of all weapons—the exchanging of their horses for cows—and the

priceless privilege of being shut up on reservations, off which they

could not go without being pursued, arrested, and brought back by

troops. What a depth of malignity must be in the breasts of these

Indians, that to gratify it they will voluntarily relinquish all these

benefits, and continue to remain in a country where they must continue

to hunt, and make their own living on the unjust plan of free trade in

open markets!

VI.

ACCOUNT OF SOME OF THE OLD GRIEVANCES OF

THE SIOUX.

INTERVIEW BETWEEN RED IRON, CHIEF OF THE SISSETON SIOUX, AND GOVERNOR

RAMSEY, IN DECEMBER, 1852.

Claims had been set up by the Indian traders for $400,000 of the money

promised to the Sioux by the treaties of 1851 and 1852. The Indians

declared that they did not owe so much. Governor Ramsey endeavored to

compel Red Iron to sign a receipt for it; he refused. He said his tribe

had never had the goods. He asked the governor to appoint

arbitrators—two white men and one Indian; it was refused. He then said

that he would accept three white men as arbitrators, if they were honest

men: this was refused.

An eye-witness has sketched the appearance of the chief on that

occasion, and the interview between him and the governor: The council

was crowded with Indians and white men when Red Iron was brought in,

guarded by soldiers. He was about forty years old, tall and athletic;

about six feet high in his moccasins, with a large, well-developed head,

aquiline nose, thin compressed lips, and physiognomy beaming with

intelligence and resolution. He was clad in the half-military,

half-Indian costume of the Dakota chiefs. He was seated in the

council-room without greeting or salutation from any one. In a few

minutes the governor, turning to the chief in the midst of a breathless

silence, by the aid of an interpreter, opened the council.

Governor Ramsey asked: "What excuse have you for not coming to the

council when I sent for you?"

The chief rose to his feet with native grace and dignity, his blanket

falling from his shoulders, and purposely dropping the pipe of peace, he

stood erect before the governor with his arms folded, and right hand

pressed on the sheath of his scalping-knife; with firm voice he replied:

"I started to come, but your braves drove me back."

_Gov._ "What excuse have you for not coming the second time I sent for

you?"

_Red Iron._ "No other excuse than I have given you."

_Gov._ "At the treaty I thought you a good man, but since you have acted

badly, and I am disposed to break you. I do break you."

_Red Iron._ "You break me! My people made me a chief. My people love me.

I will still be their chief. I have done nothing wrong."

_Gov._ "Why did you get your braves together and march around here for

the purpose of intimidating other chiefs, and prevent their coming to

the council?"

_Red Iron._ "I did not get my braves together, they got together

themselves to prevent boys going to council to be made chiefs, to sign

papers, and to prevent single chiefs going to council at night, to be

bribed to sign papers for money we have never got. We have heard how the

Medewakantons were served at Mendota; that by secret councils you got

their names on paper, and took away their money. We don't want to be

served so. My braves wanted to come to council in the daytime, when the

sun shines, and we want no councils in the dark. We want all our people

to go to council together, so that we can all know what is done."

_Gov._ "Why did you attempt to come to council with your braves, when I

had forbidden your braves coming to council?"

_Red Iron._ "You invited the chiefs only, and would not let the braves

come too. This is not the way we have been treated before; this is not

according to our customs, for among Dakotas chiefs and braves go to

council together. When you first sent for us, there were two or three

chiefs here, and we wanted to wait till the rest would come, that we

might all be in council together and know what was done, and so that we

might all understand the papers, and know what we were signing. When we

signed the treaty the traders threw a blanket over our faces and

darkened our eyes, and made us sign papers which we did not understand,

and which were not explained or read to us. We want our Great Father at

Washington to know what has been done."

_Gov._ "Your Great Father has sent me to represent him, and what I say

is what he says. He wants you to pay your old debts, in accordance with

the paper you signed when the treaty was made, and to leave that money

in my hands to pay these debts. If you refuse to do that I will take the

money back."

_Red Iron._ "You can take the money back. We sold our land to you, and

you promised to pay us. If you don't give us the money I will be glad,

and all our people will be glad, for we will have our land back if you

don't give us the money. That paper was not interpreted or explained to

us. We are told it gives about 300 boxes ($300,000) of our money to some

of the traders. We don't think we owe them so much. We want to pay all

our debts. We want our Great Father to send three good men here to tell

us how much we do owe, and whatever they say we will pay; and that's

what all these braves say. Our chiefs and all our people say this." All

the Indians present responded, "Ho! ho!"

_Gov._ "That can't be done. You owe more than your money will pay, and I

am ready now to pay your annuity, and no more; and when you are ready to

receive it, the agent will pay you."

_Red Iron._ "We will receive our annuity, but we will sign no papers for

anything else. The snow is on the ground, and we have been waiting a

long time to get our money. We are poor; you have plenty. Your fires are

warm. Your tepees keep out the cold. We have nothing to eat. We have

been waiting a long time for our moneys. Our hunting-season is past. A

great many of our people are sick, for being hungry. We may die because

you won't pay us. We may die, but if we do we will leave our bones on

the ground, that our Great Father may see where his Dakota children

died. We are very poor. We have sold our hunting-grounds and the graves

of our fathers. We have sold our own graves. We have no place to bury

our dead, and you will not pay us the money for our lands."

The council was broken up, and Red Iron was sent to the guard-house,

where he was kept till next day. Between thirty and forty of the braves

of Red Iron's band were present during this arrangement before the

governor. When he was led away, they departed in sullen silence, headed

by Lean Bear, to a spot a quarter of a mile from the council-house,

where they uttered a succession of yells—the gathering signal of the

Dakotas. Ere the echoes died away, Indians were hurrying from their

tepees toward them, prepared for battle. They proceeded to the eminence

near the camp, where mouldered the bones of many warriors. It was the

memorable battle-ground, where their ancestors had fought, in a conflict

like Waterloo, the warlike Sacs and Foxes, thereby preserving their

lands and nationality. Upon this field stood two hundred resolute

warriors ready to do battle for their hereditary chief. Lean Bear, the

principal brave of Red Iron's band, was a large, resolute man, about

thirty-five years of age, and had great influence in his nation.

Here, on their old battle-ground, Lean Bear recounted the brave deeds of

Red Iron, the long list of wrongs inflicted on the Indians by the white

men, and proposed to the braves that they should make a general attack

on the whites. By the influence of some of the half-breeds, and of white

men who were known to be friendly to them, Lean Bear was induced to

abandon his scheme; and finally, the tribe, being starving, consented to

give up their lands and accept the sum of money offered to them.

"Over $55,000 of this treaty money, paid for debts of the Indians, went

to one Hugh Tyler, a stranger in the country, 'for getting the treaties

through the Senate, and for necessary disbursements in securing the

assent of the chiefs.'"

Five years later another trader, under the pretence that he was going to

get back for them some of this stolen treaty money, obtained their

signature to vouchers, by means of which he cheated them out of $12,000

more. At this same time he obtained a payment of $4,500 for goods he

said they had stolen from him. Another man was allowed a claim of $5,000

for horses he said they had stolen from him.

"In 1858 the chiefs were taken to Washington, and agreed to the treaties

for the cession of all their reservation north of the Minnesota River,

under which, as ratified by the Senate, they were to have $166,000; but

of this amount they never received one penny till four years afterward,

when $15,000 in goods were sent to the Lower Sioux, and these were

deducted out of what was due them under former treaties."—_History of

the Sioux War_, by ISAAC V. D. HEARD.

This paragraph gives the causes of the fearful Minnesota massacre, in

which eight hundred people lost their lives.

The treaty expressly provided that no claims against the Indians should

be paid unless approved by the Indians in open council. No such council

was held. A secret council was held with a few chiefs, but the body of

the Indians were ignorant of it. There was a clause in this treaty that

the Secretary of the Interior might use any funds of the Indians for

such purposes of civilization as his judgment should dictate. Under this

clause the avails of over six hundred thousand acres of land were taken

for claims against the Indians. Of the vast amount due to the Lower

Sioux, only a little over $800 was left to their credit in Washington at

the time of the outbreak. Moreover, a portion of their annual annuity

was also taken for claims.

REMOVAL OF THE SIOUX AND WINNEBAGOES FROM MINNESOTA in 1863.

"The guard that accompanied these Indians consisted of four commissioned

officers, one hundred and thirty-five soldiers, and one laundress; in

all, one hundred and forty persons. The number of Santee Sioux

transported was thirteen hundred and eighteen. For the transportation

and subsistence of these Indians and the guard there was paid the sum of

$36,322.10.

"The number of Winnebagoes transported was nineteen hundred and

forty-five; for their transportation and subsistence there was paid the

farther sum of $56,042.60—making the whole amount paid the contractors

$92,364.70.

"The Sioux were transported from Fort Snelling to Hannibal, Missouri, on

two steamboats. One of the boats stopped there, and the Indians on it

crossed over to St. Joseph, on the Missouri River, by rail. The other

boat continued to the junction of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers,

and thence up the latter to St. Joseph; and here the Indians that

crossed over by rail were put upon the boat, and from thence to Crow

Creek all of them were on one boat. They were very much crowded from St.

Joseph to Crow Creek. Sixteen died on the way, being without attention

or medical supplies. All the Indians were excluded from the cabin of the

boat, and confined to the lower and upper decks. It was in May, and to

go among them on the lower deck was suffocating. They were fed on hard

bread and mess pork, much of it not cooked, there being no opportunity

to cook it only at night when the boat laid up. They had no sugar,

coffee, or vegetables. Confinement on the boat in such a mass, and want

of proper food, created much sickness, such as diarrhœa and fevers. For

weeks after they arrived at Crow Creek the Indians died at the rate of

from three to four per day. In a few weeks one hundred and fifty had

died, mainly on account of the treatment they had received after leaving

Fort Snelling."—_MANEYPENNY, Our Indian Wards._

FOOD OF THE INDIANS AT CROW CREEK, DAKOTA, IN THE WINTER OF 1864.

"During the summer the Indians were fed on flour and pork; they got no

beef till fall. They suffered for want of fresh beef as well as for

medical supplies. In the fall their ration began to fail; and the issue

was gradually reduced; and the Indians complained bitterly. *** The beef

furnished was from the cattle that hauled the supplies from Minnesota.

These cattle had travelled over three hundred miles, hauling the train,

with nothing to eat but the dry prairie grass, there being no

settlements on the route they came. The cattle were very poor. Some died

or gave out on the trip, and such were slaughtered, and the meat brought

in on the train for food for the Indians. About the 1st of January,

1864, near four hundred of the cattle were slaughtered. Except the dry

prairie grass, which the frost had killed, these cattle had no food from

the time they came to Crow Creek until they were slaughtered. A part of

the beef thus made was piled up in the warehouse in snow, and the

remainder in like manner packed in snow outside. This beef was to keep

the Indians until the coming June. The beef was black, and very poor—the

greater part only skin and bone. Shortly after the arrival of the train

from Minnesota the contractors for supplying the Indians with flour took

about one hundred head of the oxen, selecting the best of them, yoked

them up, and sent them with wagons to Sioux City, some two hundred and

forty miles, to haul up flour. This train returned in February, and

these oxen were then slaughtered, and fed to the Indians.

"In January the issue of soup to the Indians commenced. It was made in a

large cotton-wood vat, being cooked by steam carried from the boiler of

the saw-mill in a pipe to the vat. The vat was partly filled with water,

then several quarters of beef chopped up were thrown into it, and a few

sacks of flour added. The hearts, lights, and entrails were added to the

compound, and in the beginning a few beans were put into the vat; but

this luxury did not continue long. This soup was issued every other

day—to the Santee Sioux one day, the alternate day to the Winnebagoes.

It was very unpalatable. On the day the Indians received the soup they

had no other food issued to them. They were very much dissatisfied, and

said they could not live on the soup, when those in charge told them if

they could live elsewhere they had better go, but that they must not go

to the white settlements. Many of them did leave the agency, some going

to Fort Sully, others to Fort Randall, in search of food. From a

description of this nauseous mess called soup, given by Samuel C.

Haynes, then at Fort Randall, and assistant-surgeon in the military

service, it is seen that the Indians had good cause to leave Crow Creek.

He states that there were thrown into the vat 'beef, beef-heads,

entrails of the beeves, some beans, flour, and pork. I think there were

put into the vat two barrels of flour each time, which was not oftener

than once in twenty-four hours. This mass was then cooked by the steam

from the boiler passing through the pipe into the vat. When that was

done, all the Indians were ordered to come with their pails and get it.

It was dipped out to the Indians with a long-handled dipper made for the

purpose. I cannot say the quantity given to each. It was about the

consistency of very thin gruel. The Indians would pour off the thinner

portion and eat that which settled at the bottom. As it was dipped out

of the vat, some of the Indians would get the thinner portions and some

would get some meat. I passed there frequently when it was cooking, and

was often there when it was being issued. It had a very offensive odor.

It had the odor of the contents of the entrails of the beeves. I have

seen the settlings of the vat after they were through issuing it to the

Indians, when they were cleaning the vat, and the settlings smelled like

carrion—like decomposed meat. Some of the Indians refused to eat it,

saying they could not, it made them sick.'"—_MANEYPENNY, Our Indian

Wards._

VII.

LETTER FROM SARAH WINNEMUCCA,

AN EDUCATED PAH-UTE WOMAN.

_To Major H. Douglas, U. S. Army_:

SIR,—I learn from the commanding officer at this post that you desire

full information in regard to the Indians around this place, with a

view, if possible, of bettering their condition by sending them on the

Truckee River Reservation. All the Indians from here to Carson City

belong to the Pah-Ute tribe. My father, whose name is Winnemucca, is the

head chief of the whole tribe; but he is now getting too old, and has

not energy enough to command, nor to impress on their minds the

necessity of their being sent on the reservation. In fact, I think he is

entirely opposed to it. He, myself, and most of the Humboldt and Queen's

River Indians were on the Truckee Reservation at one time; but if we had

stayed there, it would be only to starve. I think that if they had

received what they were entitled to from the agents, they would never

have left them. So far as their knowledge of agriculture extends, they

are quite ignorant, as they have never had the opportunity of learning;

but I think, if proper pains were taken, that they would willingly make

the effort to maintain themselves by their own labor, providing they

could be made to believe that the products were their own, for their own

use and comfort. It is needless for me to enter into details as to how

we were treated on the reservation while there. It is enough to say that

we were confined to the reserve, and had to live on what fish we might

be able to catch in the river. If this is the kind of civilization

awaiting us on the reserves, God grant that we may never be compelled to

go on one, as it is much preferable to live in the mountains and drag

out an existence in our native manner. So far as living is concerned,

the Indians at all military posts get enough to eat and considerable

cast-off clothing.

But how long is this to continue? What is the object of the Government

in regard to Indians? Is it enough that we are at peace? Remove all the

Indians from the military posts and place them on reservations such as

the Truckee and Walker River Reservations (as they were conducted), and

it will require a greater military force stationed round to keep them

within the limits than it now does to keep them in subjection. On the

other hand, if the Indians have any guarantee that they can secure a

permanent home on their own native soil, and that our white neighbors

can be kept from encroaching on our rights, after having a reasonable

share of ground allotted to us as our own, and giving us the required

advantages of learning, I warrant that the savage (as he is called

to-day) will be a thrifty and law-abiding member of the community

fifteen or twenty years hence.

Sir, if at any future time you should require information regarding the

Indians here, I will be happy to furnish the same if I can.

SARAH WINNEMUCCA.

Camp McDermitt, Nevada, April 4th, 1870.

VIII.

LAWS OF THE DELAWARE NATION OF INDIANS.

[Adopted July 21st, A.D. 1866.]

The chiefs and councillors of the Delaware tribe of Indians convened at

their council-house, on the reservation of said tribe, adopted July

21st, 1866, the following laws, to be amended as they think proper:

ARTICLE I.

_Section 1._ A national jail shall be built on the public grounds, upon

which the council-house is now situated.

_Sec. 2._ Any person who shall steal any horse, mule, ass, or cattle of

any kind, shall be punished as follows: For the first offence the

property of the offender shall be sold by the sheriff, to pay the owner

of the animal stolen the price of said animal, and all costs he may

sustain in consequence of such theft. But if the offender has no

property, or if his property be insufficient to pay for the animal

stolen, so much of his annuity shall be retained as may be necessary to

pay the owner of said animal, as above directed, and no relative of said

offender shall be permitted to assist him in paying the penalties of

said theft. For the second offence the thief shall be sent to jail for

thirty-five days, and shall pay all costs and damages the owner may

sustain on account of said theft. For the third offence the thief shall

be confined in jail three months, and shall pay all costs and damages,

as above provided.

_Sec. 3._ If any person shall steal a horse beyond the limits of the

reserve, and bring it within the limits thereof, it shall be lawful for

the owner to pursue and reclaim the same upon presenting satisfactory

proof of ownership, and, if necessary, receive the assistance of the

officers of the Delaware nation. _And it is further provided_, that such

officials as may from time to time be clothed with power by the United

States agent may pursue such offender either within or without the

limits of the reserve.

_Sec. 4._ Whoever shall ride any horse without the consent of the owner

thereof shall, for the first offence, pay the sum of ten dollars for

each day and night that he may keep the said animal; and for the second

offence shall be confined in jail for the term of twenty-one days,

besides paying a fine of ten dollars.

_Sec. 5._ Whoever shall reclaim and return any such animal to the

rightful owner, other than the wrong-doer, as in the last section

mentioned, shall receive therefor the sum of two and fifty-hundredths

dollars.

_Sec. 6._ In all cases of theft, the person or persons convicted of such

theft shall be adjudged to pay all costs and damages resulting

therefrom; and in case of the final loss of any animal stolen, then the

offender shall pay the price thereof in addition to the costs and

damages, as provided in a previous section.

_Sec. 7._ Whoever shall steal any swine or sheep shall, for the first

offence, be fined the sum of fifteen dollars; ten of which shall be paid

to the owner of the sheep or swine taken, and five dollars to the

witness of the theft; for the second offence the thief shall, in

addition to the above penalty, be confined in jail for twenty-eight

days; and for the third offence the thief shall be confined four weeks

in jail, and then receive a trial, and bear such punishment as may be

adjudged upon such trial.

_Sec. 8._ Whoever shall steal a fowl of any description shall, for the

first offence, pay to the owner of such animal the sum of five dollars;

for the second offence, in addition to the above penalty, the thief

shall be confined in jail for twenty-one days. The witness by whom such

theft shall be proven shall be entitled to receive such reasonable

compensation as may be allowed to him, to be paid by the offender.

_Sec. 9._ A lawful fence shall be eight rails high, well staked and

ridered. If any animal shall break through or over a lawful fence, as

above defined, and do any damage, the owner of the enclosure shall give

notice thereof to the owner of such animal, without injury to the

animal. The owner of such animal shall therefore take care of the same,

and prevent his doing damage; but should he neglect or refuse so to do,

the animal itself shall be sold to pay for the damage it may have done.

But if the premises be not enclosed by a lawful fence, as above defined,

the owner of the enclosure shall receive no damages; but should he

injure any animal getting into such enclosure, shall pay for any damage

he may do such animal.

_Sec. 10._ Every owner of stock shall have his or her brand or mark put

on such stock, and a description of the brand or mark of every person in

the tribe shall be recorded by the national clerk.

ARTICLE II.

_Sec. 1._ Whoever shall maliciously set fire to a house shall, for the

first offence, pay to the owner of such house all damages which he may

sustain in consequence of such fire; and, in addition thereto, for the

second offence shall be confined in jail for the term of twenty-one

days.

_Sec. 2._ Should human life be sacrificed in consequence of any such

fire, the person setting fire as aforesaid shall suffer death by

hanging.

_Sec. 3._ It shall be unlawful for any person to set on fire any woods

or prairie, except for the purpose of protecting property, and then only

at such times as shall permit the person so setting the fire to

extinguish the same.

_Sec. 4._ Whoever shall violate the provisions of the last preceding

section shall, for the first offence, be fined the sum of five dollars,

and pay the full value of all property thereby destroyed; for the second

offence, in addition to the penalty above described, the offender shall

be confined in jail for the term of thirty-five days; and for the third

offence the same punishment, except that the confinement in jail shall

be for the period of three months.

_Sec. 5._ Any person living outside of the reserve cutting hay upon the

land of one living on the reserve, shall pay to the owner of such land

the sum of one dollar per acre, or one-half of the hay so cut.

_Sec. 6._ No person shall sell any wood on the reserve, except said wood

be first cut and corded.

ARTICLE III.

_Sec. 1._ Whoever shall find any lost article shall forthwith return the

same to the owner, if he can be found, under the penalty imposed for

stealing such article, for a neglect of such duty.

_Sec. 2._ Whoever shall take any article of property without permission

of its owner shall pay the price of the article so taken, and receive

such punishment as the judge in his discretion may impose.

ARTICLE IV.

_Sec. 1._ Whoever shall take up any animal on the reserve as a stray

shall, within one week, have the description of such animal recorded in

the stray-book kept by the council.

_Sec. 2._ If the owner of said stray shall claim the same within one

year from the day on which the description was recorded, he shall be

entitled to take it, after duly proving his property, and paying at the

rate of five dollars per month for the keeping of such animal.

_Sec. 3._ The title to any stray, duly recorded, and not claimed within

one year from the date of such record, shall rest absolutely in the

person taking up and recording the same.

_Sec. 4._ Whoever shall take up a stray, and refuse or neglect to record

a description of the same, as provided in Section 1 of this Article,

shall be deemed to have stolen such animal, if the same be found in his

possession, and shall suffer the penalties inflicted for stealing like

animals. The stray shall be taken from him, and remain at the disposal

of the council, and a description of the same shall be recorded in the

stray-book.

ARTICLE V.

_Sec. 1._ If a person commit murder in the first degree, he shall, upon

conviction, suffer the penalty of death; but if the evidence against him

be insufficient, or if the killing be done in self-defence, the person

doing the killing shall be released.

_Sec. 2._ Whoever shall, by violence, do bodily harm to the person of

another shall be arrested, and suffer such punishment as may on trial be

adjudged against him; and should death result from such bodily harm done

to the person of another, the offender shall be arrested, and suffer

such punishment as may be adjudged against him.

_Sec. 3._ Whoever shall wilfully slander an innocent party shall be

punished for such slander at the discretion of the judge.

_Sec. 4._ Whoever, being intoxicated or under the influence of liquor,

shall display at the house of another, in a dangerous or threatening

manner, any deadly weapons, and refuse to desist therefrom, being

commanded so to do, and put up such weapons, either by the owner of the

house or by any other person, shall for the first offence be fined the

sum of five dollars, and pay all damages which may accrue; for the

second offence shall be confined in jail twenty-one days, and pay a fine

of ten dollars, and pay all damages which may accrue; and for the third

offence shall be imprisoned in the jail for thirty-five days, be fined

twenty dollars, and pay all damages as aforesaid.

_Sec. 5._ Officers shall be appointed to appraise all damages accruing

under the last preceding section, who shall hear all the evidence, and

render judgment according to the law and the evidence.

_Sec. 6._ Whoever shall, being under the influence of liquor, attend

public worship or any other public meeting, shall first be commanded

peaceably to depart; and if he refuses, it shall be the duty of the

sheriff to arrest and confine such person until he becomes sober; and

the offender shall pay a fine of five dollars.

_Sec. 7._ It shall be the duty of the sheriff to attend all meetings for

public worship.

_Sec. 8._ No member of the Delaware nation shall be held liable for any

debts contracted in the purchase of intoxicating liquors.

_Sec. 9._ The United States Agent and the chiefs shall have power to

grant license to bring merchandise to the national payment ground for

sale to so many traders as they may think proper for the interest of the

nation.

_Sec. 10._ It shall be unlawful for any one person to bring any kind of

drinks, except coffee, on the payment ground; and any person who shall

offend against this section shall forfeit his drinkables and his right

to remain on the payment ground.

_Sec. 11._ It shall be unlawful for any one person to bring within the

reserve more than one pint of spirituous liquors at any one time. For

the first offence against this section the offender shall forfeit his

liquors, and pay a fine of five dollars; for the second offence he shall

forfeit his liquors, and pay a fine of ten dollars; and for the third

offence he shall forfeit his liquors, and be fined the sum of

twenty-five dollars.

_Sec. 12._ Any person who shall find another in possession of more than

one pint of liquor at one time upon the reserve may lawfully spill and

destroy the same, and shall use such force as may be necessary for such

purpose. Should the owner resist, and endeavor to commit bodily harm

upon the person engaged in spilling or destroying said liquor, he shall

be taken into custody by the sheriff, and be punished as an offender

against the law.

_Sec. 13._ The sheriff may lawfully compel any man or any number of men,

ministers of the Gospel excepted, to assist in capturing any person who

shall violate these laws.

_Sec. 14._ Whoever shall offer resistance to any capture or arrest for

violating any of the provisions of these laws shall be punished, not

only for the original offence for which he was arrested, but also for

resisting an officer.

ARTICLE VI.

_Sec. 1._ All business affecting the general interest of the nation

shall be transacted by the council in regular sessions.

_Sec. 2._ All personal acts of chiefs, councillors, or private

individuals, in such matters as affect the general interest of the

nation, shall be considered null and void.

_Sec. 3._ Whoever shall violate the last preceding section by

undertaking, in a private capacity and manner, to transact public and

national business, shall be imprisoned in the national jail for a period

not less than six months nor more than one year, and shall forfeit his

place of office or position in the nation; which place or position shall

be filled by the appointment of other suitable persons.

_Sec. 4._ Councillors shall be appointed who shall take an oath

faithfully to perform their duties to the nation, and for neglect of

such duties others shall be appointed to fill their places.

_Sec. 5._ Should a councillor go on a journey, so that it is impossible

for him to attend the meetings of the council regularly, he may appoint

a substitute who shall act for him in his absence.

_Sec. 6._ Certain days shall be set apart for council and court days.

_Sec. 7._ The chiefs and councillors shall appoint three sheriffs, at a

salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per annum each; one clerk, at

one hundred dollars per annum; and one jailer, at a salary of one

hundred dollars per annum, whose salary shall be due and payable

half-yearly; and in case either of the above officers shall neglect or

refuse to perform any of the duties of his office, he shall forfeit his

salary, and his office shall be declared vacant, and another shall be

appointed to fill the office.

_Sec. 8._ The chiefs and councillors shall semi-annually, in April and

October, make an appropriation for national expenses, which

appropriation shall be taken from the trust fund, or any other due the

Delawares, and paid to the treasury.

_Sec. 9._ There shall be a treasurer appointed annually, on the first

day of April, whose duty it shall be to receive and disburse all moneys

to be used for national purposes; but the treasurer shall pay out money

only on order of chiefs and councillors, and for his services shall be

paid five per cent. on the amount disbursed.

ARTICLE VII.

_Sec. 1._ It shall be lawful for any person, before his or her death, to

make a will, and thereby dispose of his or her property as he or she may

desire.

_Sec. 2._ If a man dies, leaving no will to show the disposal of his

property, and leaves a widow and children, one-fourth of his property

shall be set aside for the payment of his debts. Should the property so

set aside be insufficient to pay all his debts in full, it shall be

divided among his creditors _pro rata_, which _pro rata_ payment shall

be received by his creditors in full satisfaction of all claims and

demands whatever.

_Sec. 3._ If the property so set apart for the payment of debts is more

than sufficient to pay all debts, the remainder shall be equally divided

among the children.

_Sec. 4._ The widow shall be entitled to one-third of the property not

set aside for the payment of debts.

_Sec. 5._ If a man dies, leaving no widow or children, his debts shall

first be paid out of the proceeds of his personal property, and the

remainder, if any, with the real estate, shall be given to the nearest

relative.

_Sec. 6._ Whoever shall take or receive any portion of the property

belonging to the widow and orphans, shall be punished as if he had

stolen the property.

_Sec. 7._ The council shall appoint guardians for orphan children when

they deem it expedient so to do.

ARTICLE VIII.

_Sec. 1._ If a white man marry a member of the nation, and accumulate

property by such marriage, said property shall belong to his wife and

children; nor shall he be allowed to remove any portion of such property

beyond the limits of the reserve.

_Sec. 2._ Should such white man lose his wife, all the property shall

belong to the children, and no subsequent wife shall claim any portion

of such property.

_Sec. 3._ Should such white man die in the nation, leaving no children,

all his property shall belong to his wife, after paying his debts.

_Sec. 4._ Should such white man lose his wife, and have no children,

one-half of the personal property shall belong to him, and the other

half shall belong to his wife's nearest relatives.

_Sec. 5._ Should such white man be expelled from the reserve, and the

wife choose to follow her husband, she shall forfeit all her right and

interest in the reserve.

ARTICLE IX.

_Sec. 1._ No member of the nation shall lease any grounds to persons not

members of the nation.

_Sec. 2._ Should a white man seek employment of any member of the

nation, he shall first give his name to the United States Agent, and

furnish him with a certificate of good moral character, and also a

statement of the time for which he is employed, and the name of his

employer.

_Sec. 3._ The employed shall pay all hired help according to agreement.

_Sec. 4._ Any person or persons violating any of the provisions of these

laws on the reserve shall be punished as therein provided.

_Sec. 5._ All white men on the reserve disregarding these laws shall

also be expelled from the reserve.

ARTICLE X.

_Sec. 1._ Whoever shall forcibly compel any woman to commit adultery, or

who shall commit a rape upon a woman, shall, for the first offence, be

fined the sum of fifty dollars, and be imprisoned in jail for

thirty-five days; for the second offence he shall be fined one hundred

dollars, and be confined three months in the national jail; and for the

third offence he shall be punished as the court shall see proper.

IX.

ACCOUNT OF THE CHEROKEE WHO INVENTED THE

CHEROKEE ALPHABET.

"Sequoyah, a Cherokee Indian, instead of joining the rude sports of

Indian boys while a child, took great delight in exercising his

ingenuity by various mechanical labors. He also assisted in the

management of his mother's property, consisting of a farm and cattle and

horses. In his intercourse with the whites he became aware that they

possessed an art by which a name impressed upon a hard substance might

be understood at a glance by any one acquainted with the art. He

requested an educated half-breed, named Charles Hicks, to write his

name; which being done, he made a die containing a fac-simile of the

word, which he stamped upon all the articles fabricated by his

mechanical ingenuity. From this he proceeded to the art of drawing, in

which he made rapid progress before he had the opportunity of seeing a

picture or engraving. These accomplishments made the young man very

popular among his associates, and particularly among the red ladies; but

it was long before incessant adulation produced any evil effect upon his

character. At length, however, he was prevailed upon to join his

companions, and share in the carouse which had been supplied by his own

industry. But he soon wearied of an idle and dissipated life, suddenly

resolved to give up drinking, and learned the trade of a blacksmith by

his own unaided efforts. In the year 1820, while on a visit to some

friends in a Cherokee village, he listened to a conversation on the art

of writing, which seems always to have been the subject of great

curiosity among the Indians. Sequoyah remarked that he did not regard

the art as so very extraordinary, and believed he could invent a plan by

which the red man might do the same thing. The company were incredulous;

but the matter had long been the subject of his reflections, and he had

come to the conclusion that letters represented words or ideas, and

being always uniform, would always convey the same meaning. His first

plan was to invent signs for words; but upon trial he was speedily

satisfied that this would be too cumbrous and laborious, and he soon

contrived the plan of an alphabet which should represent sounds, each

character standing for a syllable. He persevered in carrying out his

intention, and attained his object by forming eighty-six characters.

"While thus employed he incurred the ridicule of his neighbors, and was

entreated to desist by his friends. The invention, however, was

completely successful, and the Cherokee dialect is now a written

language; a result entirely due to the extraordinary genius of Sequoyah.

After teaching many to read and write, he left the Cherokee nation in

1822 on a visit to Arkansas, and introduced the art among the Cherokees

who had emigrated to that country; and, after his return home, a

correspondence was opened in the Cherokee language between the two

branches of the nation. In the autumn of 1823 the General Council

bestowed upon him a silver medal in honor of his genius, and as an

expression of gratitude for his eminent public services."—_North

American Review._

"We may remark, with reference to the above, that as each letter of this

alphabet represents one of eighty-six sounds, of which in various

transpositions the language is composed, a Cherokee can read as soon as

he has learned his alphabet. It is said that a clever boy may thus be

taught to read in a single day."—_The Saturday Magazine_, London, April,

1842.

X.

PRICES PAID BY WHITE MEN FOR SCALPS.

"In the wars between France and England and their colonies, their

Indian allies were entitled to a premium for every scalp of an enemy.

In the war preceding 1703 the Government of Massachusetts gave twelve

pounds for every Indian scalp. In 1722 it was augmented to one hundred

pounds—a sum sufficient to purchase a considerable extent of American

land. On the 25th of February, 1745, an act was passed by the American

colonial legislature, entitled 'An Act for giving a reward for

scalps.'"—_Sketches of the History, Manners, and Customs of the North

American Indians, by JAMES BUCHANAN, 1824._

"There was a constant rivalry between the Governments of Great Britain,

France, and the United States as to which of them should secure the

services of the barbarians to scalp their white enemies, while each in

turn was the loudest to denounce the shocking barbarities of such tribes

as they failed to secure in their own service; and the civilized world,

aghast at these horrid recitals, ignores the fact that nearly every

important massacre in the history of North America was organized and

directed by agents of some one of these Governments."—_GALE, Upper

Mississippi._

XI.

EXTRACT FROM TREATY WITH CHEYENNES, IN 1865.

ART. 6th of the treaty of Oct. 14th, 1865, between the United States and

the chiefs and headmen representing the confederated tribes of the

Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians:

"The United States being desirous to express its condemnation of, and as

far as may be repudiate the gross and wanton outrages perpetrated

against certain bands of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians by Colonel J. M.

Chivington, in command of United States troops, on the 29th day of

November, 1864, at Sand Creek, in Colorado Territory, while the said

Indians were at peace with the United States and under its flag, whose

protection they had by lawful authority been promised and induced to

seek, and the Government, being desirous to make some suitable

reparation for the injuries thus done, will grant 320 acres of land by

patent to each of the following named chiefs of said bands, *** and will

in like manner grant to each other person of said bands made a widow, or

who lost a parent on that occasion, 160 acres of land. *** The United

States will also pay in United States securities, animals, goods,

provisions, or such other useful articles as may in the discretion of

the Secretary of the Interior be deemed best adapted to the respective

wants and conditions of the persons named in the schedule hereto

annexed, they being present and members of the bands who suffered at

Sand Creek on the occasion aforesaid, the sums set opposite their names

respectively, as a compensation for property belonging to them, and then

and there destroyed or taken from them by the United States troops

aforesaid."

One of the Senate amendments to this treaty struck out the words "by

Colonel J. M. Chivington, in command of United States troops." If this

were done with a view of relieving "Colonel J. M. Chivington" of

obloquy, or of screening the fact that "United States troops" were the

instruments by which the murders were committed, is not clear. But in

either case the device was a futile one. The massacre will be known as

"The Chivington Massacre" as long as history lasts, and the United

States must bear its share of the infamy of it.

XII.

WOOD-CUTTING BY INDIANS IN DAKOTA.

In his report for 1877 the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Dakota

says: "Orders have been received to stop cutting of wood by Indians, to

pay them for what they have already cut, to take possession of it and

sell it. This I am advised is under a recent decision which deprives

Indians of any ownership in the wood until the land is taken by them in

severalty. If agents do not enforce these orders, they lay themselves

liable. If they do enforce them, the Indians are deprived of what little

motive they have for labor. In the mean time, aliens of all nations cut

wood on Indian lands, sell to steamboats, fill contracts for the army

and for Indian agencies at high prices. *** Cutting wood is one of the

very few things an Indian can do in Dakota at this time."

XIII.

SEQUEL TO THE WALLA WALLA MASSACRE.

[This narrative was written by a well-known army officer, correspondent

of the _Army and Navy Journal_, and appeared in that paper Nov. 1st,

1879.]

The history of that affair (the Walla Walla Massacre) was never written,

we believe; or, if it was, the absolute facts in the case were never

given by any unprejudiced person, and it may be interesting to not a few

to give them here. The story, as told by our Washington correspondent,

"Ebbitt," who was a witness of the scenes narrated, is as follows:

"The first settlements in Oregon, some thirty years ago, were made by a

colony of Methodists. One of the principal men among them was the late

Mr. or Governor Abernethy, as he was called, as he was for a short time

the prominent Governor of Oregon. He was the father-in-law of our genial

Deputy Quartermaster-general Henry C. Hodges, an excellent man, and he

must not be remembered as one of those who were responsible for the

shocking proceedings which we are about to relate. A minister by the

name of Whitman, we believe, had gone up to the Walla Walla region,

where he was kindly received by the Cayuse and other friendly Indians,

who, while they did not particularly desire to be converted to the

Christian faith as expounded by one of Wesley's followers, saw no

special objection to the presence of the missionary. So they lived

quietly along for a year or two; then the measles broke out among the

Indians, and a large number of them were carried off. They were told by

their medicine men that the disease was owing to the presence of the

whites, and Mr. Whitman was notified that he must leave their country.

Filled with zeal for the cause, and not having sense enough to grasp the

situation, he refused to go.

"At this time the people of the Hudson's Bay Company had great influence

with all the Indians in that region, and the good old Governor Peter

Skeen Ogden was the chief factor of the Company at Fort Vancouver. He

was apprised of the state of feeling among the Indians near the mission

by the Indians themselves, and he was entreated by them to urge Whitman

to go away, for if he did not he would surely be killed. The governor

wrote up to the mission advising them to leave, for a while at least,

until the Indians should become quiet, which they would do as soon as

the measles had run its course among them. His efforts were useless, and

sure enough one day in 1847, we believe, the mission was cleaned out,

the missionary and nearly all of those connected with it being killed.

"An Indian war follows. This was carried on for some months, and with

little damage, but sufficient for a claim by the territory upon the

General Government for untold amounts of money. Two or three years

later, when the country had commenced to fill up with emigration, and

after the regiment of Mounted Riflemen and two companies of the First

Artillery had taken post in Oregon, the people began to think that it

would be well to stir up the matter of the murder of the Whitman family.

General Joseph Lane had been sent out as governor in 1849, and he

doubtless thought it would be a good thing for him politically to humor

the people of the territory. Lane was a vigorous, resolute, Western man,

who had been a general officer during the Mexican war, and he then had

Presidential aspirations. So the governor came to Fort Vancouver, where

the head-quarters of the department were established, under Colonel

Loring, of the Mounted Rifles, and procured a small escort, with which

he proceeded to hunt up the Indians concerned in the massacre, and

demand their surrender. By this time the Indians had begun to comprehend

the power of the Government; and when the governor found them, and

explained the nature of his mission, they went into council to decide

what was to be done. After due deliberation, they were convinced that if

they were to refuse to come to any terms they would be attacked by the

soldiers, of whom they then had deadly fear, and obliged to abandon

their country forever. So they met the governor, and the head chief said

that they had heard what he had to say. It was true that his people had

killed the whites at the mission, but that they did so for the reason

that they really thought that a terrible disease had been brought among

them by the whites; that they had begged them to go away from them, for

they did not wish to kill them, and that they only killed them to save

their own lives, as they thought. He said that for this the whites from

down the Columbia had made war upon them, and killed many more of their

people than had been killed at the mission, and they thought they ought

to be satisfied. As they were not, three of their principal men had

volunteered to go back with the governor to Oregon City to be tried for

the murder. This satisfied the governor, and the men bid farewell to

their wives and little ones and to all their tribe, for they very well

knew that they would never see them again. They knew that they were

going among those who thirsted for their blood, and that they were going

to their death, and that death the most ignominious that can be accorded

to the red man, as they were to be hung like dogs.

"The governor and his party left. The victims gave one long last look at

the shore as they took the little boat on the Columbia, but no word of

complaint ever came from their lips. When they arrived at Fort Vancouver

we had charge of these Indians. They were not restrained in any way—no

guard was ever kept over them, for there was no power on earth that

could have made them falter in their determination to go down to Oregon

City, and die like men for the salvation of their tribe.

"At Oregon City these men walked with their heads erect, and with the

bearing of senators, from the little boat, amidst the jibes and jeers of

a brutal crowd, to the jail which was to be the last covering they would

ever have over their heads.

"The trial came on, the jury was empanelled, and Captain Claiborne, of

the Mounted Rifles, volunteered to defend the Indians, who were told

that they were to have a fair trial, and that they would not be punished

unless they were found guilty. To all this they paid no heed. They said

it was all right, but they did not understand a word of what they were

compelled to listen to for several days, and they cared nothing for the

forms of the law. They had come to die, and when some witnesses swore

that they recognized them as the very Indians who killed Whitman—all of

which was explained to them—not a muscle of their faces changed,

although it was more than suspected that the witnesses were never near

the mission at the time of the massacre. The trial was over, and, of

course, the Indians were condemned to be hanged. Without a murmur or

sigh of regret, and with a dignity that would have impressed a Zulu with

profound pity, these men walked to the gallows and were hung, while a

crowd of civilized Americans—men, women, and children of the nineteenth

century—looked on and laughed at their last convulsive twitches.

"We have read of heroes of all times, but never did we read of or

believe that such heroism as these Indians exhibited could exist. They

knew that to be accused was to be condemned, and they would be executed

in the civilized town of Oregon City just as surely as would a poor

woman accused of being a witch have been executed in the civilized and

Christian town of Salem, in the good State of Massachusetts, two hundred

years ago.

"A generation has passed away since the execution or murder of these

Indians at Oregon City. Governor Lane still lives, not as ex-President,

but as a poor but vigorous old man down in the Rogue River Valley. The

little nasty town of Oregon City was the scene of a self-immolation as

great as any of which we read in history, and there were not three

persons there who appreciated it. The accursed town is, we hear, still

nastier than ever, and the intelligent jury—no man of whom dared to have

a word of pity or admiration for those poor Indians—with the spectators

of that horrid scene, are either dead and damned, or they are sunk in

the oblivion that is the fate of those who are born without souls."

XIV.

AN ACCOUNT

OF THE NUMBERS, LOCATION, AND SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL

CONDITION OF EACH IMPORTANT TRIBE AND BAND OF INDIANS

WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, WITH THE EXCEPTION

OF THOSE DESCRIBED IN THE PREVIOUS PAGES.

[From the Report of Francis A. Walker, United States Commissioner of

Indian Affairs for the year 1872.]

The Indians within the limits of the United States, exclusive of those

in Alaska, number, approximately, 300,000.

They may be divided, according to their geographical location or range,

into five grand divisions, as follows: in Minnesota, and States east of

the Mississippi River, about 32,500; in Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian

Territory, 70,650; in the Territories of Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and

Idaho, 65,000; in Nevada, and the Territories of Colorado, New Mexico,

Utah, and Arizona, 84,000; and on the Pacific slope, 48,000. *** As

regards their means of support and methods of subsistence, they may be

divided as follows: those who support themselves upon their own

reservations, receiving nothing from the Government except interest on

their own moneys, or annuities granted them in consideration of the

cession of their lands to the United States, number about 130,000; those

who are entirely subsisted by the Government, about 31,000; those in

part subsisted, 84,000,—together, about 115,000; those who subsist by

hunting and fishing, upon roots, nuts, berries, etc., or by begging and

stealing, about 55,000.

TRIBES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

NEW YORK.

The Indians of New York, remnants of the once powerful "Six Nations,"

number 5070. They occupy six reservations in the State, containing in

the aggregate 68,668 acres. Two of these reservations, viz., the

Alleghany and Cattaraugus, belonged originally to the Colony of

Massachusetts; but, by sale and assignment, passed into the hands of a

company, the Indians holding a perpetual right of occupancy, and the

company referred to, or the individual members thereof, owning the

ultimate fee. The same state of facts formerly existed in regard to the

Tonawanda reserve; but the Indians who occupy it have purchased the

ultimate fee of a portion of the reserve, which is now held in trust for

them by the Secretary of the Interior. The State of New York exercises

sovereignty over these reservations. The reservations occupied by the

Oneidas, Onondagas, and Tuscaroras have been provided for by treaty

stipulations between the Indians and the State of New York. All six

reserves are held and occupied by the Indians in common. While the

Indian tribes of the continent, with few exceptions, have been steadily

decreasing in numbers, those of New York have of late more than held

their own, as is shown by an increase of 100 in the present reports over

the reported number in 1871, and of 1300 over the number embraced in the

United States census of 1860. On the New York reservations are

twenty-eight schools; the attendance during some portions of the past

year exceeding 1100; the daily average attendance being 608. Of the

teachers employed, fifteen are Indians, as fully competent for this

position as their white associates. An indication of what is to be

accomplished in the future, in an educational point of view, is found in

the successful effort, made in August last, to establish a teacher's

institute on the Cattaraugus Reservation for the education of teachers

specially for Indian schools. Thirty-eight applicants attended, and

twenty-six are now under training. The statistics of individual wealth

and of the aggregate product of agricultural and other industry are, in

general, favorable; and a considerable increase in these regards is

observed from year to year. Twenty thousand acres are under cultivation;

the cereal crops are good; while noticeable success has been achieved in

the raising of fruit.

MICHIGAN.

The bands or tribes residing in Michigan are the Chippewas of Saginaw,

Swan Creek, and Black River; the Ottawas and Chippewas; the

Pottawattomies of Huron; and the L'Anse band of Chippewas.

_The Chippewas_ of Saginaw, Swan Creek, and Black River, numbering 1630,

and the Ottawas and Chippewas, 6039, are indigenous to the country. They

are well advanced in civilization; have, with few exceptions, been

allotted lands under treaty provisions, for which they have received

patents; and are now entitled to all the privileges and benefits of

citizens of the United States. Those to whom no allotments have been

made can secure homesteads under the provisions of the Act of June 10th,

1872. All treaty stipulations with these Indians have expired. They now

have no money or other annuities paid to them by the United States

Government. The three tribes first named have in all four schools, with

115 scholars; and the last, two schools, with 152 scholars.

_The Pottawattomies_ of Huron number about fifty.

_The L'Anse_ band of Chippewas, numbering 1195, belong with the other

bands of the Chippewas of Lake Superior. They occupy a reservation of

about 48,300 acres, situated on Lake Superior, in the extreme northern

part of the State. But few of them are engaged in agriculture, most of

them depending for their subsistence on hunting and fishing. They have

two schools, with an attendance of fifty-six scholars.

The progress of the Indians of Michigan in civilization and industry has

been greatly hindered in the past by a feeling of uncertainty in regard

to their permanent possession and enjoyment of their homes. Since the

allotment of land, and the distribution of either patents or homestead

certificates to these Indians (the L'Anse or Lake Superior Chippewas, a

people of hunting and fishing habits, excepted), a marked improvement

has been manifested on their part in regard to breaking land and

building houses. The aggregate quantity of land cultivated by the

several tribes is 11,620 acres—corn, oats, and wheat being the chief

products. The dwellings occupied consist of 244 frame and 835

log-houses. The aggregate population of the several tribes named

(including the confederated "Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawattomies,"

about 250 souls, with whom the Government made a final settlement in

1866 of its treaty obligations) is, by the report of their agent for the

current year, 9117—an increase over the number reported for 1871 of 402;

due, however, perhaps as much to the return of absent Indians as to the

excess of births over deaths. In educational matters these Indians have,

of late, most unfortunately, fallen short of the results of former

years; for the reason mainly that, their treaties expiring, the

provisions previously existing for educational uses failed.

WISCONSIN.

The bands or tribes in Wisconsin are the Chippewas of Lake Superior, the

Menomonees, the Stockbridges, and Munsees, the Oneidas, and certain

stray bands (so-called) of Winnebagoes, Pottawattomies, and Chippewas.

_The Chippewas_ of Lake Superior (under which head are included the

following bands: Fond du Lac, Boise Forte, Grand Portage, Red Cliff, Bad

River, Lac de Flambeau, and Lac Court D'Oreille) number about 5150. They

constitute a part of the Ojibways (anglicized in the term Chippewas),

formerly one of the most powerful and warlike nations in the north-west,

embracing many bands, and ranging over an immense territory, extending

along the shores of Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior to the steppes

of the Upper Mississippi. Of this great nation large numbers are still

found in Minnesota, many in Michigan, and a fragment in Kansas.

The bands above mentioned by name are at present located on several

small reservations set apart for them by treaties of September 30th,

1854, and April 7th, 1866, in Wisconsin and Minnesota, comprising in all

about 695,290 acres. By Act of Congress of May 29th, 1872, provision was

made for the sale, with the consent of the Indians, of three of these

reservations, _viz._, the Lac de Flambeau and Lac Court D'Oreille in

Wisconsin, and the Fond du Lac in Minnesota; and for the removal of the

Indians located thereon to the Bad River Reservation, where there is

plenty of good arable land, and where they can be properly cared for,

and instructed in agriculture and mechanics.

The greater part of these Indians at present lead a somewhat roving

life, finding their subsistence chiefly in game hunted by them, in the

rice gathered in its wild state, and in the fish afforded by waters

conveniently near. Comparatively little is done in the way of

cultivating the soil. Certain bands have of late been greatly

demoralized by contact with persons employed in the construction of the

Northern Pacific Railroad, the line of which runs near one (the Fond du

Lac) of their reservations. Portions of this people, however, especially

those situated at the Bad River Reservation, have begun to evince an

earnest desire for self-improvement. Many live in houses of rude

construction, and raise small crops of grain and vegetables; others

labor among the whites; and a number find employment in cutting rails,

fence-posts, and saw-logs for the Government. In regard to the efforts

made to instruct the children in letters, it may be said that, without

being altogether fruitless, the results have been thus far meagre and

somewhat discouraging. The majority of the parents profess to wish to

have their children educated, and ask for schools; but when the means

are provided and the work undertaken, the difficulties in the way of

success to any considerable extent appear in the undisciplined character

of the scholars, which has to be overcome by the teacher without

parental co-operation, and in the great irregularity of attendance at

school, especially on the part of those who are obliged to accompany

their parents to the rice-fields, the sugar-camps, or the

fishing-grounds.

_The Menomonees_ number 1362, and are located on a reservation of

230,400 acres in the north-eastern part of Wisconsin. They formerly

owned most of the eastern portion of the State, and, by treaty entered

into with the Government on the 18th of October, 1848, ceded the same

for a home in Minnesota upon lands that had been obtained by the United

States from the Chippewas; but, becoming dissatisfied with the

arrangement, as not having accorded them what they claimed to be

rightfully due, subsequently protested, and manifested great

unwillingness to remove. In view of this condition of affairs, they

were, by the President, permitted to remain in Wisconsin, and

temporarily located upon the lands they now occupy, which were secured

to them by a subsequent treaty made with the tribe on the 12th of May,

1854. This reservation is well watered by lakes and streams, the latter

affording excellent power and facilities for moving logs and lumber to

market; the most of their country abounding with valuable pine timber. A

considerable portion of the Menomonees have made real and substantial

advancement in civilization; numbers of them are engaged in agriculture;

others find remunerative employment in the lumbering camp established

upon their reservation, under the management of the Government Agent,

while a few still return at times to their old pursuits of hunting and

fishing.

Under the plan adopted by the Department in 1871, in regard to cutting

and selling the pine timber belonging to these Indians, 2,000,000 feet

have been cut and driven, realizing $23,731, of which individual Indians

received for their labor over $3000, the treasury of the tribe deriving

a net profit of five dollars per thousand feet. The agent estimates

that, for labor done by the Indians upon the reservation, at lumbering,

and for work outside on railroads, during the past year, about $20,000

has been earned and received, exclusive of the labor rendered in

building houses, raising crops, making sugar, gathering rice, and

hunting for peltries. The work of education upon the reservations has

been of late quite unsatisfactory, but one small school being now in

operation, with seventy scholars, the average attendance being fifty.

_The Stockbridges and Munsees_, numbering 250, occupy a reservation of

60,800 acres adjoining the Menomonees. The Stockbridges came originally

from Massachusetts and New York. After several removals, they, with the

Munsees, finally located on their present reservation. Under the

provisions of the Act of February 6th, 1871, steps are now being taken

to dispose of all of their reservation, with the exception of eighteen

sections best adapted for agricultural purposes, which are reserved for

their future use. They have no treaty stipulations with the United

States at the present time; nor do they receive any annuities of any

kind from the Government. These tribes—indeed it may be said this tribe

(the Stockbridges), for of the Munsees there probably remain not more

than half a dozen souls—were formerly an intelligent, prosperous people,

not a whit behind the most advanced of the race, possessed of good

farms, well instructed, and industrious. Unfortunately for them, though

much to the advantage of the Government, which acquired thereby a

valuable tract of country for white settlement, they removed, in 1857,

to their present place of abode. The change has proved highly

detrimental to their interests and prospects. Their new reservation, the

greater part poor in soil and seriously affected by wet seasons and

frequent frosts, has never yielded them more than a meagre subsistence.

Many have for this reason left the tribe, and have been for years

endeavoring to obtain a livelihood among the whites, maintaining but

little intercourse with those remaining on the reservation, yet still

holding their rights in the tribal property. The result has been

bickerings and faction quarrels, prejudicial to the peace and

advancement of the community. More than one-half of the present

membership of the tribe, from both the "citizen" and the "Indian"

parties, into which it has been long divided, are reported by the agent

as having decided to avail themselves of the enrolment provisions in the

Act of Congress of February, 1871, before referred to, by which they

will finally receive their share of the tribal property, and become

citizens of the United States. Those who desire to retain their tribal

relation under the protection of the United States may, under the act

adverted to, if they so elect by their council, procure a new location

for their future home. The school interests and religious care of this

people are under the superintendence of Mr. Jeremiah Slingerland, a

Stockbridge of much repute for his intelligence, and his success in the

cause of the moral and educational improvement of his people.

_The Oneidas_, numbering 1259, have a reservation of 60,800 acres near

Green Bay. They constitute the greater portion of the tribe of that name

(derived from Lake Oneida, where the tribe then resided), formerly one

of the "Six Nations." ***

MINNESOTA.

The Indians residing within the limits of Minnesota, as in the case of

those of the same name living in Wisconsin, heretofore noticed,

constitute a portion of the Ojibway or Chippewa nation, and comprise the

following bands: Mississippi, Pillager, Winnebagoshish, Pembina, Red

Lake, Boise Forte, Fond du Lac, and Grand Portage. The last three bands,

being attached to the agency for the Chippewas of Lake Superior, have

been treated of in connection with the Indians of Wisconsin. The five

first-named bands number in the aggregate about 6455 souls, and occupy,

or rather it is intended they shall ultimately occupy, ample

reservations in the central and northern portion of the State, known as

the White Earth, Leech Lake, and Red Lake reservations, containing

altogether about 4,672,000 acres—a portion of which is very valuable for

its pine timber. *** _Mississippi Bands._—These Indians reside in

different localities. Most of them are on their reservation at White

Earth; others are at Mille Lac, Gull Lake, and some at White Oak Point

reservations. Upon the first-named reservation operations have been

quite extensive in the erection of school-buildings, dwelling-houses,

shops, and mills, and in breaking ground. At one time during the past

summer there was a prospect of an abundant yield from 300 acres sown in

cereals; but, unfortunately, the grasshoppers swept away the entire

crop; and a second crop of buckwheat and turnips proved a failure. The

Indians on this reservation are well-behaved, and inclined to be

industrious. Many of them are engaged in tilling the soil, while others

are learning the mechanical arts; and they may, as a body, be said to be

making considerable progress in the pursuits of civilized life. About

one-half of the Indians at Gull Lake have been removed to White Earth:

the remainder are opposed to removal, and will, in their present

feeling, rather forfeit their annuities than change their location. The

Mille Lac Chippewas, who continue to occupy the lands ceded by them in

1863, with reservation of the right to live thereon during good

behavior, are indisposed to leave their old home for the new one

designed for them on the White Earth Reservation. Only about twenty-five

have thus far been induced to remove. Their present reservation is rich

in pine lands, the envy of lumber dealers; and there is a strong

pressure on all sides for their early removal. They should have help

from the Government, whether they remain or remove; and this could be

afforded to a sufficient extent by the sale for their benefit of the

timber upon the lands now occupied by them. Probably the Government

could provide for them in no better way.

_The White Oak Point Chippewas_ were formerly known as Sandy Lake

Indians. They were removed in 1867 from Sandy Lake and Rabbit Lake to

White Oak Point, on the Mississippi, near the eastern part of the Leech

Lake Reservation. This location is unfavorable to their moral

improvement and material progress, from its proximity to the lumber

camps of the whites. Thus far the effort made to better their condition,

by placing them on farming land, has proved a failure. The ground broken

for them has gone back into grass, and their log-houses are in ruins,

the former occupants betaking themselves to their wonted haunts. It

would be well if these Indians could be induced to remove to the White

Earth Reservation.

At Red Lake the Indians have had a prosperous year: good crops of corn

and potatoes have been raised, and a number of houses built. This band

would be in much better circumstances were they possessed of a greater

quantity of arable lands. That to which they are at present limited

allows but five acres, suitable for that use, to each family. It is

proposed to sell their timber, and with the proceeds clear lands,

purchase stock, and establish a manual-labor school.

_The Pembina_ bands reside in Dakota Territory, but are here noticed in

connection with the Minnesota Indians, because of their being attached

to the same agency. They have no reservation, having ceded their lands

by treaty made in 1863, but claim title to Turtle Mountain in Dakota, on

which some of them resided at the time of the treaty, and which lies

west of the line of the cession then made. They number, the full-bloods

about 350, and the half-breeds about 100. They lead a somewhat nomadic

life, depending upon the chase for a precarious subsistence, in

connection with an annuity from the Government of the United States.

_The Chippewas_ of Minnesota have had but few educational advantages;

but with the facilities now being afforded, and with the earnest

endeavors that are now being put forth by their agent and the teachers

employed, especially at White Earth, it is expected that their interests

in this regard will be greatly promoted. At White Earth school

operations have been quite successful; so much so, that it will require

additional accommodations to meet the demands of the Indians for the

education of their children. The only other school in operation is that

at Red Lake, under the auspices of the American Indian Mission

Association.

INDIANA.

There are now in Indiana about 345 Miamis, who did not go to Kansas when

the tribe moved to that section under the treaty of 1840. They are good

citizens, many being thrifty farmers, giving no trouble either to their

white neighbors or to the Government. There is also a small band called

the Eel River band of Miamis, residing in this State and in Michigan.

NORTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, AND GEORGIA.

_Cherokees._—There are residing in these States probably about 1700

Cherokees, who elected to remain, under the provisions respecting

Cherokees averse to removal, contained in the twelfth article of the

treaty with the Cherokees of 1835. Under the Act of July 29th, 1848, a

_per capita_ transportation and subsistence fund of $53.33 was created

and set apart for their benefit, in accordance with a census-roll made

under the provisions of said act; the interest on which fund, until such

time as they shall individually remove to the Indian country, is the

only money to which those named in said roll, who are living, or the

heirs of those who have deceased, are entitled. This interest is too

small to be of any benefit; and some action should be taken by Congress,

with a view of having all business matters between these Indians and the

Government settled, by removing such of them west as now desire to go,

and paying those who decline to remove the _per capita_ fund referred

to. The Government has no agent residing with these Indians. In

accordance with their earnestly expressed desire to be brought under the

immediate charge of the Government, as its wards, Congress, by law

approved July 27th, 1868, directed that the Secretary of the Interior

should cause the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to take the same

supervisory charge of them as of other tribes of Indians; but this

practically amounts to nothing, in the absence of means to carry out the

intention of the law with any beneficial result to the Indians. The

condition of this people is represented to be deplorable. Before the

late Rebellion they were living in good circumstances, engaged, with all

the success which could be expected, in farming, and in various minor

industrial pursuits. Like all other inhabitants of this section, they

suffered much during the war, and are now, from this and other causes,

much impoverished.

FLORIDA.

_Seminoles._—There are a few Seminoles, supposed to number about 300,

still residing in Florida—being those, or the descendants of those, who

refused to accompany the tribe when it removed to the West many years

ago. But little is known of their condition and temper.

NEBRASKA, KANSAS, AND THE INDIAN TERRITORY.

The tribes residing in Nebraska, Kansas, and the Indian Territory are

divided as follows: in Nebraska, about 6485; in Kansas, 1500; in the

Indian Territory, 62,465.

NEBRASKA.

The Indians in Nebraska are the Santee Sioux, Winnebagoes Omahas,

Pawnees, Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri, Iowas, and the Otoes and

Missourias. ***

_Omahas._—The Omahas, a peaceable and inoffensive people, numbering 969,

a decrease since 1871 of fifteen, are native to the country now occupied

by them, and occupy a reservation of 345,600 acres adjoining the

Winnebagoes. They have lands allotted to them in severalty, and have

made considerable advancement in agriculture and civilization, though

they still follow the chase to some extent. Under the provisions of the

Act of June 10th, 1872, steps are being taken to sell 50,000 acres of

the western part of their reservation. The proceeds of the sale of these

lands will enable them to improve and stock their farms, build houses,

etc., and, with proper care and industry, to become in a few years

entirely self-sustaining. A few cottages are to be found upon this

reservation. There are at present three schools in operation on this

reservation, with an attendance of 120 scholars.

_Pawnees._—The Pawnees, a warlike people, number 2447, an increase for

the past year of eighty-three. They are located on a reservation of

288,000 acres, in the central part of the State. They are native to the

country now occupied by them, and have for years been loyal to the

Government, having frequently furnished scouts for the army in

operations against hostile tribes or marauding bands. Their location, so

near the frontier, and almost in constant contact with the Indians of

the plains, with whom they have been always more or less at war, has

tended to retard their advancement in the arts of civilization. They

are, however, gradually becoming more habituated to the customs of the

whites, are giving some attention to agriculture, and, with the

disappearance of the buffalo from their section of the country, will

doubtless settle down to farming and to the practice of mechanical arts

in earnest. The Act of June 10th, 1872, heretofore referred to, provides

also for the sale of 50,000 acres belonging to the Pawnees, the same to

be taken from that part of their reservation lying south of Loup Fork.

These lands are now being surveyed; and it is believed that, with the

proceeds of this sale, such improvements, in the way of building houses

and opening and stocking farms, can be made for the Pawnees as will at

an early day induce them to give their entire time and attention to

industrial pursuits. There are two schools in operation on the

reservation—one a manual-labor boarding-school, the other a day-school,

with an attendance at both of 118 scholars. Provision was also made by

Congress, at its last session, for the erection of two additional

school-houses for the use of this tribe.

_Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri._—These Indians, formerly a portion of

the same tribe with the Indians now known as the Sacs and Foxes of the

Mississippi, emigrated many years ago from Iowa, and settled near the

tribe of Iowas, hereafter to be mentioned. They number at the present

time but eighty-eight, having been steadily diminishing for years. They

have a reservation of about 16,000 acres, lying in the south-eastern

part of Nebraska and the north-eastern part of Kansas, purchased for

them from the Iowas. Most of it is excellent land; but they have never,

to any considerable extent, made use of it for tillage, being almost

hopelessly disinclined to engage in labor of any kind, and depending

principally for their subsistence, a very poor one, upon their annuity,

which is secured to them by the treaty of October 31st, 1837, and

amounts to $7870. By Act of June 10th, 1872, provision was made for the

sale of a portion or all of their reservation, the proceeds of such sale

to be expended for their immediate use, or for their removal to the

Indian Territory or elsewhere. They have consented to the sale of their

entire reservation; and, so soon as funds shall have been received from

that source, steps will be taken to have them removed to the Indian

Territory south of Kansas.

_Iowas._—These Indians, numbering at present 225, emigrated years ago

from Iowa and North-western Missouri, and now have a reservation

adjoining the Sacs and Foxes of the Missouri, containing about 16,000

acres. They belong to a much better class of Indians than their

neighbors the Sacs and Foxes, being temperate, frugal, industrious, and

interested in the education of their children. They were thoroughly

loyal during the late rebellion, and furnished a number of soldiers to

the Union army. Many of them are good farmers; and as a tribe they are

generally extending their agricultural operations, improving their

dwellings, and adding to their comforts. A large majority of the tribe

are anxious to have their reservation allotted in severalty; and,

inasmuch as they are not inclined to remove to another locality, it

would seem desirable that their wishes in this respect should be

complied with. One school is in operation on the reservation, with an

attendance of sixty-eight scholars, besides an industrial home for

orphans, supported by the Indians themselves.

_Otoes and Missourias._—These Indians, numbering 464, an increase of

fourteen over last year, were removed from Iowa and Missouri to their

present beautiful and fertile reservation, comprising 160,000 acres, and

situated in the southern part of Nebraska. Until quite recently they

have evinced but little disposition to labor for a support, or in any

way to better their miserable condition; yet cut off from their wonted

source of subsistence, the buffalo, by their fear of the wild tribes

which have taken possession of their old hunting-grounds, they have

gradually been more and more forced to work for a living. Within the

last three years many of them have opened farms and built themselves

houses. A school has also been established, having an attendance of

ninety-five scholars.

KANSAS.

The Indians still remaining in Kansas are the Kickapoos, Pottawattomies

(Prairie band), Chippewas and Munsees, Miamis, and the Kansas or Kaws.

_Kickapoos._—The Kickapoos emigrated from Illinois, and are now located,

to the number of 290, on a reservation of 19,200 acres, in the

north-eastern part of the State. During the late war a party of about

one hundred, dissatisfied with the treaty made with the tribe in 1863,

went to Mexico, upon representations made to them by certain of their

kinsmen living in that republic that they would be welcomed and

protected by the Mexican Government; but, finding themselves deceived,

attempted to return to the United States. Only a few, however, succeeded

in reaching the Kickapoo Agency. The Kickapoos now remaining in Mexico

separated from the tribe more than twenty years ago, and settled among

the southern Indians in the Indian Territory, on or near the Washita

River, whence they went to Mexico where they still live, notwithstanding

the efforts of the Government of late to arrange with Mexico for their

removal to the Indian Territory, and location upon some suitable

reservation. Their raids across the border have been a sore affliction

to the people of Texas; and it is important that the first promising

occasion should be taken to secure their return to the United States,

and their establishment where they may be carefully watched, and

restrained from their depredatory habits, or summarily punished if they

persist in them. The Kickapoos remaining in Kansas are peaceable and

industrious, continuing to make commendable progress in the cultivation

of their farms, and showing much interest in the education of their

children. Under the provisions of the treaty of June 28th, 1862, a few

of these Indians have received lands in severalty, for which patents

have been issued, and are now citizens of the United States. Two schools

are in operation among these Indians, with a daily average attendance of

thirty-nine scholars.

_Pottawattomies._—The Prairie band is all of this tribe remaining in

Kansas, the rest having become citizens and removed, or most of them, to

the Indian Territory. The tribe, excepting those in Wisconsin heretofore

noticed, formerly resided in Michigan and Indiana, and removed to Kansas

under the provisions of the treaty of 1846. The Prairie band numbers, as

nearly as ascertained, about 400, and is located on a reserve of 77,357

acres, fourteen miles north of Topeka. Notwithstanding many efforts to

educate and civilize these Indians, most of them still cling tenaciously

to the habits and customs of their fathers. Some, however, have recently

turned their attention to agricultural pursuits, and are now raising

stock, and most of the varieties of grain produced by their white

neighbors. They are also showing more interest in education than

formerly—one school being in operation on the reservation, with an

attendance of eighty-four scholars.

_Chippewas and Munsees._—Certain of the Chippewas of Saginaw, Swan

Creek, and Black River, removed from Michigan under the treaty of 1836;

and certain Munsees, or Christian Indians, from Wisconsin under the

treaty of 1839. These were united by the terms of the treaty concluded

with them July 16th, 1859. The united bands now number only fifty-six.

They own 4760 acres of land in Franklin County, about forty miles south

of the town of Lawrence, holding the same in severalty, are considerably

advanced in the arts of life, and earn a decent living, principally by

agriculture. They have one school in operation, with an attendance of

sixteen scholars. These Indians at present have no treaty with the

United States; nor do they receive any assistance from the Government.

_Miamis._—The Miamis of Kansas formerly resided in Indiana, forming one

tribe with the Miamis still remaining in that State, but removed in 1846

to their present location, under the provisions of the treaty of 1840.

Owing to the secession of a considerable number who have allied

themselves with the Peorias in the Indian Territory, and also to the

ravages of disease consequent on vicious indulgences, especially in the

use of intoxicating drinks, this band, which on its removal from Indiana

embraced about five hundred, at present numbers but ninety-five. These

have a reservation of 10,240 acres in Linn and Miami Counties, in the

south-eastern part of Kansas, the larger part of which is held in

severalty by them.

The Superintendent of Indian Affairs, in immediate charge, in his report

for this year says the Miamis remaining in Kansas are greatly

demoralized, their school has been abandoned, and their youth left

destitute of educational advantages. Considerable trouble has been for

years caused by white settlers locating aggressively on lands belonging

to these Indians, no effort for their extrusion having been thus far

successful.

_Kansas or Kaws._—These Indians are native to the country they occupy.

They number at present 593; in 1860 they numbered 803. Although they

have a reservation of 80,640 acres of good land in the eastern part of

the State, they are poor and improvident, and have in late years

suffered much for want of the actual necessaries of life. They never

were much disposed to labor, depending upon the chase for a living, in

connection with the annuities due from the Government. They have been

growing steadily poorer; and even now, in their straitened

circumstances, and under the pressure of want, they show but little

inclination to engage in agricultural pursuits, all attempts to induce

them to work having measurably proved failures. Until quite recently

they could not even be prevailed upon to have their children educated.

One school is now in operation, with an attendance of about forty-five

scholars. By the Act of May 8th, 1872, provision was made for the sale

of all the lands owned by these Indians in Kansas, and for their removal

to the Indian Territory. Provision was also made, by the Act of June

5th, 1872, for their settlement within the limits of a tract of land

therein provided to be set apart for the Osages. Their lands in Kansas

are now being appraised by commissioners appointed for the purpose,

preparatory to their sale.

INDIAN TERRITORY.

The Indians at present located in the Indian Territory—an extensive

district, bounded north by Kansas, east by Missouri and Arkansas, south

by Texas, and west by the one hundredth meridian, designated by the

commissioners appointed under Act of Congress, July 20th, 1867, to

establish peace with certain hostile tribes, as one of two great

Territories (the other being, in the main, the present Territory of

Dakota, west of the Missouri) upon which might be concentrated the great

body of all the Indians east of the Rocky Mountains—are the Cherokees,

Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Seminoles, Senecas, Shawnees, Quapaws,

Ottawas of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Bœuf, Peorias, and confederated

Kaskaskias, Weas and Piankeshaws, Wyandottes, Pottawattomies, Sacs and

Foxes of the Mississippi, Osages, Kiowas, Comanches, the Arapahoes and

Cheyennes of the south, the Wichitas and other affiliated bands, and a

small band of Apaches long confederated with the Kiowas and Comanches.

***

_Choctaws and Chickasaws._—These tribes are for certain national

purposes confederated. The Choctaws, numbering 16,000—an increase of

1000 on the enumeration for 1871—have a reservation of 6,688,000 acres

in the south-eastern part of the Territory; and the Chickasaws,

numbering 6000, own a tract containing 4,377,600 acres adjoining the

Choctaws on the west. These tribes originally inhabited the section of

country now embraced within the State of Mississippi, and were removed

to their present location in accordance with the terms of the treaties

concluded with them, respectively, in 1820 and 1832. The remarks made

respecting the language, laws, educational advantages, industrial

pursuits, and advancement in the arts and customs of civilized life of

the Cherokees will apply in the main to the Choctaws and Chickasaws. The

Choctaws have thirty-six schools in operation, with an attendance of 819

scholars; the Chickasaws eleven, with 379 scholars. The Choctaws, under

the treaties of November 16th, 1805, October 18th, 1820, January 20th,

1825, and June 22d, 1855, receive permanent annuities as follows: in

money, $3000; for support of government, education, and other beneficial

purposes, $25,512 89; for support of light-horsemen, $600; and for iron

and steel, $320. They also have United States and State stocks, held in

trust for them by the Secretary of the Interior, to the amount of

$506,427 20, divided as follows: on account of "Choctaw general fund,"

$454,000; of "Choctaw school fund," $52,427 20. The interest on these

funds, and the annuities, etc., are turned over to the treasurer of the

nation, and expended under the direction of the National Council in the

manner and for the objects indicated in each case. The Chickasaws, under

Act of February 25th, 1799, and treaty of April 28th, 1866, have a

permanent annuity of $3000. They also have United States and State

stocks, held in trust for them by the Secretary of the Interior, to the

amount of $1,185,947 03-2/3—$183,947 03-2/3 thereof being a "national

fund," and $2000 a fund for "incompetents." The interest on these sums,

and the item of $3000 first referred to, are paid over to the treasurer

of the nation, and disbursed by him under the direction of the National

Council, and for such objects as that body may determine.

_Creeks._—The Creeks came originally from Alabama and Georgia. They

numbered at the latest date of enumeration 12,295, and have a

reservation of 3,215,495 acres in the eastern and central part of the

territory. They are not generally so far advanced as the Cherokees,

Choctaws, and Chickasaws, but are making rapid progress, and will

doubtless in a few years rank in all respects with their neighbors, the

three tribes just named. The Creeks, by the latest reports, have

thirty-three schools in operation; one of which is under the management

of the Methodist Mission Society, and another supported by the

Presbyterians. The number of scholars in all the schools is 760. These

Indians have, under treaties of August 7th, 1790, June 16th, 1802,

January 24th, 1826, August 7th, 1856, and June 14th, 1866, permanent

annuities and interest on moneys uninvested as follows: in money,

$68,258 40; for pay of blacksmiths and assistants, wagon-maker,

wheelwright, iron and steel, $3250; for assistance in agricultural

operations, $2000; and for education, $1000. The Secretary of the

Interior holds in trust for certain members of the tribe, known as

"orphans," United States and State bonds to the amount of $76,999 66,

the interest on which sum is paid to those of said orphans who are

alive, and to the representatives of those who have deceased.

_Seminoles._—The Seminoles, numbering 2398, an increase of 190 over the

census of 1871, have a reservation of 200,000 acres adjoining the Creeks

on the west. This tribe formerly inhabited the section of country now

embraced in the State of Florida. Some of them removed to their present

location under the provisions of the treaties of 1832 and 1833. The

remainder of the tribe, instigated by the former chief, Osceola,

repudiated the treaties, refused to remove, and soon after commenced

depredating upon the whites. In 1835 these depredations resulted in war,

which continued seven years, with immense cost of blood and treasure.

The Indians were at last rendered powerless to do further injury, and,

after efforts repeated through several years, were finally, with the

exception of a few who fled to the everglades, removed to a reservation

in the now Indian territory. In 1866 they ceded to the United States, by

treaty, the reservation then owned by them, and purchased the tract they

at present occupy. They are not so far advanced in the arts of civilized

life as the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks, but are making

rapid progress in that direction, and will, it is confidently believed,

soon rank with the tribes named. They cultivate 7600 acres; upon which

they raised during the past year 300,000 bushels of corn, and 6000

bushels of potatoes. They live in log-houses, and own large stocks of

cattle, horses, and hogs. The schools of the Seminoles number four, with

an attendance of 169 scholars.

They receive, under treaties made with them August 7th, 1856, and March

21st, 1866, annuities, etc., as follows: interest on $500,000, amounting

to $25,000 annually, which is paid to them as annuity; interest on

$50,000, amounting to $2500 annually, for support of schools; and $1000,

the interest on $20,000, for the support of their government.

_Senecas and Shawnees._—The Senecas, numbering 214, and the Shawnees,

numbering ninety, at the present time, removed, some thirty-five or

forty years ago, from Ohio to their present location in the

north-eastern corner of the territory. They suffered severely during the

Rebellion, being obliged to leave their homes and fly to the north,

their country being devastated by troops of both armies. Under the

provisions of the treaty of 1867, made with these and other tribes, the

Senecas, who were then confederated with the Shawnees, dissolved their

connection with that tribe, sold to the United States their half of the

reservation owned by them in common with the Shawnees, and connected

themselves with those Senecas who then owned a separate reservation. The

Shawnees now have a reservation of 24,960 acres, and the united Senecas

one of 44,000 acres. These tribes are engaged in agriculture to a

considerable extent. They are peaceable and industrious. Many are

thrifty farmers, and in comfortable circumstances. They have one school

in operation, with an attendance of thirty-six scholars, which includes

some children of the Wyandottes, which tribe has no schools.

_Quapaws._—These Indians number at the present time about 240. They are

native to the country, and occupy a reservation of 104,000 acres in the

extreme north-east corner of the territory. They do not appear to have

advanced much within the past few years. In common with other tribes in

that section, they suffered greatly by the late war, and were rendered

very destitute. Their proximity to the border towns of Kansas, and the

facilities thereby afforded for obtaining whiskey, have tended to retard

their progress; but there has recently been manifested a strong desire

for improvement; and with the funds derived from the sale of a part of

their lands, and with the proposed opening of a school among them,

better things are hoped for in the future.

_Ottawas._—The Ottawas of Blanchard's Fork and Roche de Bœuf number, at

the present time, 150. They were originally located in Western Ohio and

Southern Michigan, and were removed, in accordance with the terms of the

treaty concluded with them in 1831, to a reservation within the present

limits of Kansas. Under the treaty of 1867 they obtained a reservation

of 24,960 acres, lying immediately north of the western portion of the

Shawnee Reservation. They have paid considerable attention to education,

are well advanced in civilization, and many of them are industrious and

prosperous farmers. They have one school, attended by fifty-two

scholars. The relation of this small band to the Government is somewhat

anomalous, inasmuch as, agreeably to provisions contained in the

treaties of 1862 and 1867, they have become citizens of the United

States, and yet reside in the Indian country, possess a reservation

there, and maintain a purely tribal organization. They removed from

Franklin Co., Kansas, in 1870.

_Peorias_, _etc._—The Peorias, Kaskaskias, Weas, and Piankeshaws, who

were confederated in 1854, and at that time had a total population of

259, now number 160. They occupy a reservation of 72,000 acres,

adjoining the Quapaw Reservation on the south and west. Under treaties

made with these tribes in 1832, they removed to a tract within the

present limits of Kansas, where they remained until after the treaty of

1867 was concluded with them, in which treaty provision was made whereby

they obtained their present reservation. These Indians are generally

intelligent, well advanced in civilization, and, to judge from the

statistical reports of their agent, are very successful in their

agricultural operations, raising crops ample for their own support. With

the Peorias are about forty Miamis from Kansas. They have one school in

operation, with an attendance of twenty-nine scholars.

_Wyandottes._—The Wyandottes number at the present time 222 souls. Ten

years ago there were 435. They occupy a reservation of 20,000 acres,

lying between the Seneca and Shawnee reservations. This tribe was

located for many years in North-western Ohio, whence they removed,

pursuant to the terms of the treaty made with them in 1842, to a

reservation within the present limits of Kansas. By the treaty made with

them in 1867 their present reservation was set apart for those members

of the tribe who desired to maintain their tribal organization, instead

of becoming citizens, as provided in the treaty of 1855. They are poor,

and, having no annuities and but little force of character, are making

slight progress in industry or civilization. They have been lately

joined by members of the tribe, who, under the treaty, accepted

citizenship. These, desiring to resume their relations with their

people, have been again adopted into the tribe.

_Pottawattomies._—These Indians, who formerly resided in Michigan and

Indiana, whence they removed to Kansas, before going down into the

Indian Territory numbered about 1600. They have, under the provisions of

the treaty of 1861 made with the tribe, then residing in Kansas, become

citizens of the United States. By the terms of said treaty they received

allotments of land, and their proportion of the tribal funds, with the

exception of their share of certain non-paying State stocks, amounting

to $67,000, held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for the

Pottawattomies. Having disposed of their lands, they removed to the

Indian Territory, where a reservation thirty miles square, adjoining the

Seminole Reservation on the west, had been, by the treaty of 1867,

provided for such as should elect to maintain their tribal organization.

It having been decided, however, by the Department that, as they had all

become citizens, there was consequently no part of the tribe remaining

which could lay claim, under treaty stipulations, to the reservation in

the Indian Territory, legislation was had by Congress at its last

session—Act approved May 23d, 1872—by which these citizen Pottawattomies

were allowed allotments of land within the tract originally assigned for

their use as a tribe, to the extent of 160 acres to each head of family,

and to each other person twenty-one years of age, and of eighty acres to

each minor. Most if not all of them are capable of taking care of

themselves; and many of them are well-educated, intelligent, and thrifty

farmers.

_Absentee Shawnees._—These Indians, numbering 663, separated about

thirty years ago from the main tribe, then located in Kansas, and

settled in the Indian Territory, principally within the limits of the

thirty miles square tract heretofore referred to in the remarks relative

to the Pottawattomies, where they engaged in farming, and have since

supported themselves without assistance from the Government.