present time 463. In 1846 they numbered 2478. They have a reservation of
483,340 acres, adjoining the Creeks on the west, and between the North
Fork of the Canadian and the Red Fork of the Arkansas Rivers. They
formerly occupied large tracts of country in Wisconsin, Iowa, and
Missouri, whence they removed, by virtue of treaty stipulations, to a
reservation within the present limits of Kansas. By the terms of the
treaties of 1859 and 1868 all their lands in Kansas were ceded to the
United States, and they were given in lieu thereof their present
reservation. These Indians, once famous for their prowess in war, have
not, for some years, made any marked improvement upon their former
condition. Still they have accomplished a little, under highly adverse
circumstances and influences, in the way of opening small farms and in
building houses, and are beginning to show some regard for their women
by relieving them of the burdens and labors heretofore required of them.
There is hope of their further improvement, although they are still but
one degree removed from the Blanket or Breech-clout Indians. They have
one school in operation, with an attendance of only about twelve
scholars. Three hundred and seventeen members of these tribes, after
their removal to Kansas, returned to Iowa, where they were permitted to
remain, and are now, under the Act of March 2d, 1867, receiving their
share of the tribal funds. They have purchased 419 acres of land in Tama
County, part of which they are cultivating. They are not much disposed
to work, however, on lands of their own, preferring to labor for the
white farmers in their vicinity, and are still much given to roving and
hunting.
_Osages._—The Osages, numbering 3956, are native to the general section
of the country where they now live. Their reservation is bounded on the
north by the south line of Kansas, east by the ninety-sixth degree of
west longitude, and south and west by the Arkansas River, and contains
approximately 1,760,000 acres. They still follow the chase, the buffalo
being their main dependence for food. Their wealth consists in horses
(of which they own not less than 12,000) and in cattle.
_Kiowas, Comanches, and Apaches._—These tribes, confederated under
present treaty stipulations, formerly ranged over an extensive country
lying between the Rio Grande and the Red River. As nearly as can be
ascertained, they number as follows: Kiowas, 1930; Comanches, 3180; and
Apaches, 380. They are now located upon a reservation secured to them by
treaty made in 1867, comprising 3,549,440 acres in the south-western
part of the Indian Territory, west of and adjoining the Chickasaw
country. Wild and intractable, these Indians, even the best of them,
have given small signs of improvement in the arts of life; and,
substantially, the whole dealing of the Government with them thus far
has been in the way of supplying their necessities for food and
clothing, with a view to keeping them upon their reservation, and
preventing their raiding into Texas, with the citizens of which State
they were for many years before their present establishment on terms of
mutual hatred and injury. Some individuals and bands have remained quiet
and peaceable upon their reservation, evincing a disposition to learn
the arts of life, to engage in agriculture, and to have their children
instructed in letters. To these every inducement is being held out to
take up land, and actively commence tilling it. Thus far they have under
cultivation but 100 acres, which have produced the past year a good crop
of corn and potatoes. The wealth of these tribes consists in horses and
mules, of which they own to the number, as reported by their agent, of
16,500, a great proportion of the animals notoriously having been stolen
in Texas.
However, it may be said, in a word, of these Indians, that their
civilization must follow their submission to the Government, and that
the first necessity in respect to them is a wholesome example, which
shall inspire fear and command obedience. So long as four-fifths of
these tribes take turns at raiding into Texas, openly and boastfully
bringing back scalps and spoils to their reservation, efforts to inspire
very high ideas of social and industrial life among the communities of
which the raiders form so large a part will presumably result in
failure.
_Arapahoes and Cheyennes of the South._—These tribes are native to the
section of country now inhabited by them. The Arapahoes number at the
present time 1500, and the Cheyennes 2000. By the treaty of 1867, made
with these Indians, a large reservation was provided for them, bounded
on the north by Kansas, on the east by the Arkansas River, and on the
south and west by the Red Fork of the Arkansas. They have, however,
persisted in a refusal to locate on this reservation; and another tract,
containing 4,011,500 acres, north of and adjoining the Kiowa and
Comanche Reservation, was set apart for them by Executive order of
August 10th, 1869. By Act of May 29th, 1872, the Secretary of the
Interior was authorized to negotiate with these Indians for the
relinquishment of their claim to the lands ceded to them by the said
treaty, and to give them in lieu thereof a "sufficient and permanent
location" upon lands ceded to the United States by the Creeks and
Seminoles in treaties made with them in 1866. Negotiations to the end
proposed were duly entered into with these tribes unitedly; but, in the
course of such negotiations, it has become the view of this office that
the tribes should no longer be associated in the occupation of a
reservation. The Arapahoes are manifesting an increasing disinclination
to follow farther the fortunes of the Cheyennes, and crave a location of
their own. Inasmuch as the conduct of the Arapahoes is uniformly good,
and their disposition to make industrial improvement very decided, it is
thought that they should now be separated from the more turbulent
Cheyennes, and given a place where they may carry out their better
intentions without interruption, and without the access of influences
tending to draw their young men away to folly and mischief. With this
view a contract, made subject to the action of Congress, was entered
into between the Commissioner of Indian Affairs and the delegation of
the Arapahoe tribe which visited Washington during the present season
(the delegation being fully empowered thereto by the tribe), by which
the Arapahoes relinquish all their interest in the reservation granted
them by the treaty of 1867, in consideration of the grant of a
reservation between the North Fork of the Canadian River and the Red
Fork of the Arkansas River, and extending from a point ten miles east of
the ninety-eighth to near the ninety-ninth meridian of west longitude.
Should this adjustment of the question, so far as the Arapahoes are
concerned, meet the approval of Congress, separate negotiations will be
entered into with the Cheyennes, with a view to obtaining their
relinquishment of the reservation of 1867, and their location on some
vacant tract within the same general section of the Indian Territory.
A considerable number of the Arapahoes are already engaged in
agriculture, though at a disadvantage; and, when the question of their
reservation shall have been settled, it is confidently believed that
substantially the whole body of this tribe will turn their attention to
the cultivation of the soil. Two schools are conducted for their benefit
at the agency, having an attendance of thirty-five scholars. Of the
Cheyennes confederated with the Arapahoes, the reports are less
favorable as to progress made in industry, or disposition to improve
their condition. Until 1867 both these tribes, in common with the Kiowas
and Comanches, were engaged in hostilities against the white settlers in
Western Kansas; but since the treaty made with them in that year they
have, with the exception of one small band of the Cheyennes, remained
friendly, and have committed no depredations.
_Wichitas_, _etc._—The Wichitas and other affiliated bands of Keechies,
Wacoes, Towoccaroes, Caddoes, Ionies, and Delawares, number 1250,
divided approximately as follows: Wichitas, 299; Keechies, 126; Wacoes,
140; Towoccaroes, 127; Caddoes, 392; Ionies, 85; Delawares, 81. These
Indians, fragments of once important tribes originally belonging in
Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, and the Indian Territory, were all, excepting
the Wichitas and Delawares, removed by the Government from Texas, in
1859, to the "leased district," then belonging to the Choctaws and
Chickasaws, where they have since resided, at a point on the Washita
River near old Fort Cobb. They have no treaty relations with the
Government, nor have they any defined reservation. They have always, or
at least for many years, been friendly to the whites, although in close
and constant contact with the Kiowas and Comanches. A few of them,
chiefly Caddoes and Delawares, are engaged in agriculture, and are
disposed to be industrious. Of the other Indians at this agency some
cultivate small patches in corn and vegetables, the work being done
mainly by women; but the most are content to live upon the Government.
The Caddoes rank among the best Indians of the continent, and set an
example to the other bands affiliated with them worthy of being more
generally followed than it is. In physique, and in the virtues of
chastity, temperance, and industry, they are the equals of many white
communities.
A permanent reservation should be set aside for the Indians of this
agency; and, with proper assistance, they would doubtless in a few years
become entirely self-sustaining. But one school is in operation, with an
attendance of eighteen scholars. These Indians have no annuities; but an
annual appropriation of $50,000 has for several years been made for
their benefit. This money is expended for goods and agricultural
implements, and for assistance and instruction in farming, etc.
DAKOTA, MONTANA, WYOMING, AND IDAHO.
The tribes residing in Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho are divided
as follows: in Dakota, about 28,000; Montana, 30,000; Wyoming, 2000; and
Idaho, 5000. The present temporary location of the Red Cloud Agency has,
however, drawn just within the limits of Wyoming a body of Indians
varying from 8000 to 9000, who are here, and usually reckoned as
belonging to Dakota.
DAKOTA.
The Indians within the limits of Dakota Territory are the Sioux, the
Poncas, and the Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans. ***
_Arickarees, Gros Ventres, and Mandans._—These tribes number 2200, and
have a reservation set apart for their occupancy by Executive order of
April 12th, 1870, comprising 8,640,000 acres, situated in the
north-western part of Dakota and the eastern part of Montana, extending
to the Yellowstone and Powder rivers. They have no treaty with the
Government, are now and have always been friendly to the whites, are
exceptionally known to the officers of the army and to frontiersmen as
"good Indians," and are engaged to some extent in agriculture. Owing to
the shortness of the agricultural season, the rigor of the climate, and
the periodical ravages of grasshoppers, their efforts in this direction,
though made with a degree of patience and perseverance not usual in the
Indian character, have met with frequent and distressing reverses; and
it has from time to time been found necessary to furnish them with more
or less subsistence to prevent starvation. They are traditional enemies
of the Sioux; and the petty warfare maintained between them and the
Sioux of the Grand River and Cheyenne River Agencies—while, like most
warfare confined to Indians alone, it causes wonderfully little loss of
life—serves to disturb the condition of these agencies, and to retard
the progress of all the parties concerned. These Indians should be moved
to the Indian Territory, south of Kansas, where the mildness of the
climate and the fertility of the soil would repay their labors, and
where, it is thought, from their willingness to labor and their docility
under the control of the Government, they would in a few years become
wholly self-supporting. The question of their removal has been submitted
to them, and they seem inclined to favor the project, but have expressed
a desire to send a delegation of their chiefs to the Indian Territory,
with a view of satisfying themselves as to the desirableness of the
location. Their wishes in this respect should be granted early next
season, that their removal and settlement may be effected during the
coming year. Notwithstanding their willingness to labor, they have shown
but little interest in education. Congress makes an appropriation of
$75,000 annually for goods and provisions, for their instruction in
agricultural and mechanical pursuits, for salaries of employés, and for
the education of their children, etc.
MONTANA.
The Indian tribes residing within the limits of Montana are the
Blackfeet, Bloods, and Piegans, the Gros Ventres of the Prairie, the
Assinaboines, the Yanktonais, Santee and Teton (so-called) Sioux, a
portion of the Northern Arapahoes and Cheyennes, the River Crows, the
Mountain Crows, the Flat-heads, Pend d'Oreilles and Kootenays, and a few
Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheep-eaters, numbering in the aggregate about
32,412. They are all, or nearly all, native to the regions now occupied
by them respectively.
The following table will exhibit the population of each of these tribes,
as nearly as the same can be ascertained:
Blackfeet, Bloods, and Piegans 7500
Assinaboines 4790
Gros Ventres 1100
Santee, Yanktonais, Uncpapa, and
Cut-head Sioux, at Milk River Agency 2625
River Crows 1240
Mountain Crows 2700
Flat-heads 460
Pend d'Oreilles 1000
Kootenays 320
Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheep-eaters 677
Roving Sioux, commonly called Teton
Sioux, including those gathered during
1872 at and near Fort Peck (largely
estimated) 8000
--------
Estimated total 30,412
The number of Northern Cheyennes and Arapahoes roaming in Montana, who,
it is believed, have co-operated with the Sioux under Sitting Bull, in
their depredations, is not known: it is probably less than 1000.
The Blackfeet, Bloods, and Piegans (located at the Blackfeet Agency, on
the Teton River, about seventy-five miles from Fort Benton), the Gros
Ventres, Assinaboines, the River Crows, about 1000 of the Northern
Arapahoes and Cheyennes, and the Santee and Yankton Sioux (located at
the Milk River Agency, on the Milk River, about one hundred miles from
its mouth), occupy jointly a reservation in the extreme northern part of
the Territory, set apart by treaties (not ratified) made in 1868 with
most of the tribes named, and containing about 17,408,000 acres. The
Blackfeet, Bloods, and Piegans, particularly the last-named band, have
been, until within about two years, engaged in depredating upon the
white settlers. The Indians at the Milk River Agency, with the exception
of the Sioux, are now, and have been for several years, quiet and
peaceable. The Sioux at this agency, or most of them, were engaged in
the outbreak in Minnesota in 1862. On the suppression of hostilities
they fled to the northern part of Dakota, where they continued roaming
until, in the fall of 1871, they went to their present location, with
the avowed intention of remaining there. Although they had been at war
for years with the Indians properly belonging to the Milk River Agency,
yet, by judicious management on the part of the agent of the Government
stationed there, and the influence of some of the most powerful chiefs,
the former feuds and difficulties were amicably arranged; and all
parties have remained friendly to each other during the year past. The
Indians at neither the Blackfeet nor the Milk River Agency show any
disposition to engage in farming; nor have they thus far manifested any
desire for the education of their children. They rely entirely upon the
chase and upon the bounty of the Government for their support. They,
however, quite scrupulously respect their obligation to preserve the
peace; and no considerable difficulty has of late been experienced, or
is anticipated, in keeping them in order. The Blackfeet, Bloods, and
Piegans have an annual appropriation of $50,000 made for their benefit;
the Assinaboines, $30,000; the Gros Ventres of the Prairie, $35,000; the
River Crows, $30,000. These funds are used in furnishing the respective
tribes with goods and subsistence, and generally for such other objects
as may be deemed necessary to keep the Indians quiet.
_Mountain Crows._—These Indians have a reservation of 6,272,000 acres,
lying in the southern part of the Territory, between the Yellowstone
River and the north line of Wyoming Territory. They have always been
friendly to the whites, but are inveterate enemies of the Sioux, with
whom they have for years been at war. By the treaty of 1868—by the terms
of which their present reservation was set apart for their
occupancy—they are liberally supplied with goods, clothing, and
subsistence. But few of them are engaged in farming, the main body
relying upon their success in hunting, and upon the supplies furnished
by the Government for their support. They have one school in operation,
with an attendance, however, of only nine scholars. By the treaty of May
7th, 1868, provision is made by which they are to receive for a limited
number of years the following annuities, etc., viz.: in clothing and
goods, $22,723 (twenty-six instalments due); in beneficial objects,
$25,000 (six instalments due); in subsistence, $131,400 (one instalment
due). Blacksmiths, teachers, physician, carpenter, miller, engineer, and
farmer are also furnished for their benefit, at an expense to the
Government of $11,600.
_Flat-heads_, _etc._—The Flat-heads, Pend d'Oreilles, and Kootenays have
a reservation of 1,433,600 acres in the Jocko Valley, situated in the
north-western part of the Territory, and secured to them by treaty of
1855. This treaty also provided for a reservation in the Bitter-root
Valley, should the President of the United States deem it advisable to
set apart another for their use. The Flat-heads have remained in the
last-named valley; but under the provisions of the Act of June 5th,
1872, steps are being taken for their removal to the Jocko Reservation.
Many of these Indians are engaged in agriculture; but, as they receive
little assistance from the Government, their progress in this direction
is slow. They have one school in operation, with an attendance of
twenty-seven scholars.
_Shoshones_, _etc._—The Shoshones, Bannocks, and Sheep-eaters are at
present located about twenty miles above the mouth of the Lemhi Fork of
the Salmon River, near the western boundary of the Territory. They have
shown considerable interest in agriculture, and many of them are quite
successful as farmers. They have no reservation set apart for them,
either by treaty or by Executive order. They are so few in number that
it would probably be better to remove them, with their consent, to the
Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, where their brethren are located, than
to provide them with a separate reservation. They have no schools in
operation. An annual appropriation of $25,000 is made for these Indians,
which sum is expended for their benefit in the purchase of clothing,
subsistence, agricultural implements, etc.
WYOMING.
The Indians in this Territory, with the exception of the Sioux and
Northern Arapahoes and Cheyennes, mentioned under the heads of Dakota
and Montana, respectively, are the eastern band of Shoshones, numbering
about 1000. The Shoshones are native to the country. Their reservation
in the Wind River Valley, containing 2,688,000 acres, was set apart for
them by treaty of 1868.
But little advancement in civilization has been made by these Indians,
owing to their indisposition to labor for a living, and to the incessant
incursions into their country of the Sioux and the Northern Arapahoes
and Cheyennes, with which tribes they have for many years been at war.
The losses sustained from these incursions, and the dread which they
inspire, tend to make the Shoshones unsettled and unwilling to remain
continuously on the reservation. They therefore spend most of the year
in roaming and hunting, when they should be at work tilling the soil and
improving their lands. There is one school at the agency, having an
attendance of ten scholars, in charge of an Episcopal missionary as
teacher.
IDAHO.
The Indian tribes in Idaho are the Nez Percés, the Boisé and Bruneau
Shoshones, and Bannocks, the Cœur d'Alênes, and Spokanes, with several
other small bands, numbering in the aggregate about 5800 souls. ***
_Shoshones and Bannocks._—These Indians, numbering 1037—the former 516
and the latter 521—occupy a reservation in the south-eastern part of the
Territory, near Fort Hall, formerly a military post. This reservation
was set apart by treaty of 1868 and Executive order of July 30th, 1869,
and contains 1,568,000 acres. The Shoshones on this reservation have no
treaty with the Government. Both bands are generally quiet and
peaceable, and cause but little trouble; are not disposed to engage in
agriculture, and, with some assistance from the Government, depend upon
hunting and fishing for subsistence. There is no school in operation on
the reservation.
_Cœur d'Alênes_, _etc._—The Cœur d'Alênes, Spokanes, Kootenays, and Pend
d'Oreilles, numbering about 2000, have no treaty with the United States,
but have a reservation of 256,000 acres set apart for their occupancy by
Executive order of June 14th, 1867, lying thirty or forty miles north of
the Nez Percés Reservation. They are peaceable, have no annuities,
receive no assistance from the Government, and are wholly
self-sustaining. These Indians have never been collected upon a
reservation, nor brought under the immediate supervision of an agent. So
long as their country shall remain unoccupied, and not in demand for
settlement by the whites, it will scarcely be desirable to make a change
in their location; but the construction of the Northern Pacific
Railroad, which will probably pass through or near their range, may make
it expedient to concentrate them. At present they are largely under the
influence of Catholic missionaries of the Cœur d'Alêne Mission.
COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, UTAH, ARIZONA, AND NEVADA.
The tribes residing in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Nevada
are divided as follows: in Colorado, about 3800; New Mexico, 19,000;
Utah, 10,000; Arizona, 25,000; and Nevada, 13,000.
COLORADO.
The Indians residing in Colorado Territory are the Tabequache band of
Utes, at the Los Pinos Agency, numbering 3000, and the Yampa, Grand
River, and Uintah bands of the White River Agency, numbering 800. They
are native to the section which they now inhabit, and have a reservation
of 14,784,000 acres in the western part of the Territory, set apart for
their occupancy by treaty made with them in 1868. The two agencies above
named are established on this reservation, the White River Agency being
in the northern part, on the river of that name, and the other in the
south-eastern part. This reservation is much larger than is necessary
for the number of Indians located within its limits; and, as valuable
gold and silver mines have been, or are alleged to have been, discovered
in the southern part of it, the discoveries being followed by the
inevitable prospecting parties and miners, Congress, by Act of April
23d, 1872, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to enter into
negotiations with the Utes for the extinguishment of their right to the
south part of it.
A few of these Indians, who have declined to remove to and remain upon
the reservation, still roam in the eastern part of the Territory,
frequently visiting Denver and its vicinity, and causing some annoyance
to the settlers by their presence, but committing no acts of violence or
extensive depredations. The Indians of Colorado have thus far shown but
little interest in the pursuits of civilized life or in the education of
their children. A school is in operation at the Northern or White River
Agency, with an attendance of forty scholars. Steps are also being taken
to open one at the southern or Los Pinos Agency.
NEW MEXICO.
The tribes residing and roaming within the limits of New Mexico are the
Navajoes, the Mescalero, Gila, and Jicarilla bands of Apaches; the
Muache, Capote, and Weeminuche bands of Utes; and the Pueblos.
_Navajoes._—The Navajoes now number 9114, an increase of 880 over last
year's enumeration. Superintendent Pope considers this increase to be
mainly due to the return, during the year, of a number who had been held
in captivity by the Mexicans. They have a reservation of 3,328,000 acres
in the north-western part of New Mexico and north-eastern part of
Arizona, set apart for them by treaty of 1868. These Indians are natives
of the section of the country where they are now located. Prior to 1864
no less than seven treaties had been made with these tribes, which were
successively broken on their part, and that, with but one exception,
before the Senate could take action on the question of their
ratification. In 1864 the Navajoes were made captives by the military,
and taken to the Bosque Redondo Reservation, which had been set apart
for the Mescalero Apaches, where they were for a time held as prisoners
of war, and then turned over to this Department. After the treaty of
1868 had been concluded, they were removed to their present location,
where they have, as a tribe, remained quiet and peaceable, many of them
being engaged in agriculture and in raising sheep and goats. Of these
they have large flocks, numbering 130,000 head, which supply them not
only with subsistence, but also with material from which they
manufacture the celebrated, and for warmth and durability unequalled,
Navajo blanket. They also have a stock of 10,000 horses. These Indians
are industrious, attend faithfully to their crops, and even put in a
second crop when the first, as frequently happens, is destroyed by
drought or frost. One school is in operation on the reservation, with an
attendance of forty scholars.
_Mescalero Apaches._—These Indians, numbering about 830, are at present
located—not, however, upon a defined reservation secured to them—near
Fort Stanton, in the eastern part of the Territory, and range generally
south of that point. Prior to 1864 they were located on the Bosque
Redondo Reservation, where they were quiet and peaceable until the
Navajoes were removed to that place. Being unable to live in harmony
with the newcomers, they fled from the reservation, and until quite
recently have been more or less hostile. They are now living at peace
with the whites, and conducting themselves measurably well. They have no
schools, care nothing apparently about the education of their children,
and are not to any noticeable extent engaged in farming, or in any
pursuit of an industrial character. These Indians have no treaty with
the United States; nor do they receive any annuities. They are, however,
subsisted in part by the Government, and are supplied with a limited
quantity of clothing when necessary. In addition to the Mescaleros
proper, Agent Curtis reports as being embraced in his agency other
Indians, called by him Aguas Nuevos, 440; Lipans, 350 (probably from
Texas); and Southern Apaches, 310, whose proper home is no doubt upon
the Tularosa Reservation. These Indians, the agent remarks, came from
the Comanche country to his agency at various dates during the past
year.
_Gila (sometimes called Southern) Apaches._—This tribe is composed of
two bands, the Mimbres and Mogollons, and number about 1200. They are
warlike, and have for years been generally unfriendly to the Government.
The citizens of Southern New Mexico, having long suffered from their
depredatory acts, loudly demanded that they be removed; and to comply
with the wish of the people, as well as to prevent serious difficulties
and possibly war, it was a year or two since decided to provide the
Indians with a reservation distant from their old home, and there
establish them. With a view to that end a considerable number of them
were collected early last year at Cañada Alamosa. Subsequently, by
Executive order dated November 9th, 1871, a reservation was set apart
for them with other roving bands of Apaches in the Tularosa Valley, to
which place 450 of them are reported to have been removed during the
present year by United States troops. These Indians, although removed
against their will, were at first pleased with the change, but, after a
short experience of their new home, became dissatisfied; and no small
portion left the reservation to roam outside, disregarding the system of
passes established. They bitterly object to the location as unhealthy,
the climate being severe and the water bad. There is undoubtedly much
truth in these complaints. They ask to be taken back to Cañada Alamosa,
their own home, promising there to be peaceable and quiet. Of course
nothing can be said of them favorable to the interests of education and
labor. Such of these Indians as remain on the reservation are being fed
by the Government. They have no treaty with the United States; nor do
they receive annuities of any kind.
_Jicarilla Apaches._—These Indians, numbering about 850, have for
several years been located with the Muache Utes, about 650 in number, at
the Cimarron Agency, upon what is called "Maxwell's Grant," in
North-eastern New Mexico. They have no treaty relations with the
Government; nor have they any reservation set apart for them. Efforts
were made some years ago to have them, with the Utes referred to, remove
to the large Ute Reservation in Colorado, but without success. The
Cimarron Agency, however, has lately been discontinued; and these
Apaches will, if it can be effected without actual conflict, be removed
to the Mescalero Agency at Fort Stanton. Four hundred Jicarilla Apaches
are also reported as being at the Tierra Amarilla Agency.
_Muache, Weeminuche, and Capote Utes._—These bands—the Muache band,
numbering about 650, heretofore at the Cimarron Agency, and the other
two bands, numbering 870, at the Abiquiu Agency—are all parties to the
treaty made with the several bands of Utes in 1868. It has been desired
to have these Indians remove to their proper reservation in Colorado;
but all efforts to this end have thus far proved futile. The
discontinuance of the Cimarron Agency may have the effect to cause the
Muaches to remove either to that reservation or to the Abiquiu Agency,
now located at Tierra Amarilla, in the north-western part of the
territory. These three bands have generally been peaceable, and friendly
to the whites. Recently, however, some of them have shown a disposition
to be troublesome; but no serious difficulty is apprehended. None of
them appear disposed to work for a subsistence, preferring to live by
the chase and on the bounty of the Government; nor do they show any
inclination or desire to have their children educated, and taught the
habits and customs of civilized life. Declining to remove to and locate
permanently upon the reservation set apart for the Utes in Colorado,
they receive no annuities, and participate in none of the benefits
provided in the treaties of 1863 and 1868 with the several bands of Ute
Indians referred to under the head of "Colorado."
_Pueblos._—The Pueblos, so named because they live in villages, number
7683. They have 439,664 acres of land confirmed to them by Act of
Congress of December 22d, 1858, the same consisting of approved claims
under old Spanish grants. They have no treaty with the United States,
and receive but little aid from the Government. During the past two
years efforts have been made, and are still being continued, to secure
the establishment of schools in all the villages of the Pueblos, for the
instruction of their children in the English language. Five such schools
are now being conducted for their benefit.
The history of the Pueblos is an interesting one. They are the remains
of a once powerful people, and in habits and modes of life are still
clearly distinguished from all other aborigines of the continent. The
Spanish invaders found them living generally in towns and cities. They
are so described by Spanish historians as far back as 1540. They early
revolted, though without success, against Spanish rule; and in the
struggle many of their towns were burnt, and much loss of life and
property occasioned. It would seem, however, that, in addition to the
villagers, there were others at that time living dispersed, whose
reduction to Pueblos was determined upon and made the subject of a
decree by Charles V. of Spain, in 1546, in order chiefly, as declared,
to their being instructed in the Catholic faith. Under the Spanish
Government schools were established at the villages; the Christian
religion was introduced, and impressed upon the people, and the rights
of property thoroughly protected. By all these means a high degree of
civilization was secured, which was maintained until after the
establishment of Mexican independence; when, from want of Government
care and support, decay followed, and the Pueblos measurably
deteriorated, down to the time when the authority of the United States
was extended over that country: still they are a remarkable people,
noted for their sobriety, industry, and docility. They have few wants,
and are simple in their habits and moral in their lives. They are,
indeed, scarcely to be considered Indians, in the sense traditionally
attached to that word, and, but for their residence upon reservations
patented to these bands in confirmation of ancient Spanish grants, and
their continued tribal organization, might be regarded as a part of the
ordinary population of the country. There are now nineteen villages of
these Indians in New Mexico. Each village has a distinct and organized
government, with its governor and other officers, all of whom are
elected annually by the people, except the _cacique_, a sort of
high-priest, who holds his office during life. Though nominally
Catholics in religion, it is thought that their real beliefs are those
of their ancestors in the days of Montezuma.
UTAH.
The tribes residing wholly or in part within the limits of Utah are the
North-western, Western, and Goship bands of Shoshones; the Weber, Yampa,
Elk Mountain, and Uintah bands of Utes; the Timpanagos, the San Pitches,
the Pah-Vents, the Piedes, and She-be-rechers—all, with the exception of
the Shoshones, speaking the Ute language, and being native to the
country inhabited by them.
_North-western, Western, and Goship Shoshones._—These three bands of
Shoshones, numbering together about 3000, have treaties made with the
Government in 1863. No reservations were provided to be set apart for
them by the terms of said treaties, the only provision for their benefit
being the agreement on the part of the United States to furnish them
with articles, to a limited extent and for a limited term, suitable to
their wants as hunters or herdsmen. Having no reservations, but little
can be done for their advancement. They live in North-western Utah and
North-eastern Nevada, and are generally inclined to be industrious, many
of them gaining a livelihood by working for the white settlers, while
others cultivate small tracts of land on their own account.
The Weber Utes, numbering about 300, live in the vicinity of Salt Lake
City, and subsist by hunting, fishing, and begging. The Timpanagos,
numbering about 500, live south of Salt Lake City, and live by hunting
and fishing. The San Pitches, numbering about 300, live, with the
exception of some who have gone to the Uintah Valley Reservation, in the
country south and east of the Timpanagos, and subsist by hunting and
fishing. The Pah-Vents number about 1200, and occupy the Territory south
of the Goships, cultivate small patches of ground, but live principally
by hunting and fishing. The Yampa Utes, Piedes, Piutes, Elk Mountain
Utes, and She-be-rechers live in the eastern and southern parts of the
Territory. They number, as nearly as can be estimated, 5200; do not
cultivate the soil, but subsist by hunting and fishing, and at times by
depredating in a small way upon the white settlers. They are warlike and
migratory in their habits, carrying on a petty warfare pretty much all
the time with the southern Indians. These bands of Utes have no treaties
with the United States: they receive no annuities, and but very little
assistance from the Government.
The Uintah Utes, numbering 800, are now residing upon a reservation of
2,039,040 acres in Uintah Valley, in the north-eastern corner of the
Territory, set apart for the occupancy of the Indians in Utah by
Executive order of October 3d, 1861, and by Act of Congress of May 5th,
1864. This reservation comprises some of the best farming land in Utah,
and is of sufficient extent to maintain all the Indians in the
Territory. Some of the Indians located here show a disposition to engage
in agriculture, though most of them still prefer the chase to labor. No
steps have yet been taken to open a school on the reservation. The
Uintah Utes have no treaty with the United States; but an appropriation
averaging about $10,000 has been annually made for their civilization
and improvement since 1863.
ARIZONA.
The tribes residing in the Territory of Arizona are the Pimas and
Maricopas, Papagoes, Mohaves, Moquis, and Orivas Pueblos, Yumas,
Yavapais, Hualapais, and different bands of the Apaches. All are native
to the districts occupied by them, respectively.
_Pimas and Maricopas._—These, said to have been in former years
"Village" or "Pueblo" Indians, number 4342, and occupy a reservation of
64,000 acres, set apart for them under the Act of February 28th, 1859,
and located in the central part of the Territory, on the Gila River.
They are, and always have been, peaceful and loyal to the Government;
are considerably advanced, according to a rude form of civilization, and
being industrious, and engaged quite successfully, whenever the
conditions of soil and climate are favorable, in farming operations, are
nearly self-sustaining. The relations of these bands with the
neighboring whites are, however, very unfavorable to their interests;
and the condition of affairs is fast growing worse. The difficulty
arises out of the fact of the use, and probably the improvident use, by
the whites above them, of the water of the Gila River, by which they are
deprived of all means of irrigating their lands. Much dissatisfaction is
manifested on this account; and the result is, so far, that many of the
Indians have left the reservation, and gone to Salt River Valley, where
they are making a living by tilling the soil, not, however, without
getting into trouble at this point also with the settlers.
The Pimas and Maricopas are greatly interested in the education of their
children. Two schools are in operation on the reservation, with an
attendance of 105 scholars. These tribes have no treaty with the United
States, and receive but little assistance from the Government.
_Papagoes._—These Indians, numbering about 5000, are of the same class,
in some respects, as the Pueblos in New Mexico, living in villages,
cultivating the soil, and raising stock for a support. They have no
reservation set apart for their occupancy, but inhabit the south-eastern
part of the Territory. Many of them have embraced Christianity; and they
are generally well-behaved, quiet, and peaceable. They manifest a strong
desire to have their children educated; and steps to this end have been
taken by the Department. These Indians have no treaty relations with the
United States, and receive no assistance from the Government. The
expediency of assigning to the Papagoes a reservation, and concentrating
them where they can be brought within the direct care and control of the
Government, is under consideration by the Department. There seems to be
no reason to doubt that, if so established, and once supplied with
implements and stock, they would become in a short time not only
self-sustaining but prosperous.
_Mohaves._—These Indians have a reservation of 75,000 acres, located on
the Colorado River, and set apart for them and other tribes in the
vicinity of said river, under the Act of March 3d, 1865. The Mohaves
number about 4000, of whom only 828 are on the reservation, the rest
either roaming at large or being fed at other reservations in the
Territory. An irrigating canal has been built for them at great expense;
but farming operations have not as yet proved very successful. Over 1100
acres, however, are being cultivated by the Indians. The crops consist
of corn, melons, and pumpkins. These Indians show but little progress in
civilization. The parents objecting to the education of their children,
no schools have been put in operation on the reservation, as they could
be conducted only on a compulsory system. The Mohaves have no treaty
stipulations with the United States; but they are partly subsisted, and
are largely assisted in their farming operations, from the general
incidental fund of the Territory.
_Yumas._—These Indians number probably 2000. They inhabit the country
near the mouth of the Colorado River, but belong to the reservation
occupied by the Mohaves. They refuse, however, to remove to the
reservation, and gain a scanty subsistence by planting, and by cutting
wood for steamers plying on the river. Many of them remain about Arizona
City, performing menial services for the whites, and gratifying their
inveterate passion for gambling. They have no treaty with the United
States, and receive but little assistance from the Government.
_Hualapais._—These Indians, numbering about 1500, inhabit the country
near the Colorado River, north of the Mohaves, ranging a considerable
distance into the interior. They have been, and still are, more or less
hostile. Those who are quiet and peaceable are, with members of other
bands of Indians, being fed by the Government at Camps McDowell, Beal's
Spring, and Date Creek.
_Yavapais and Apaches._—These Indians are estimated to number from 8000
to 12,000, the lower estimate being the more reasonable. Their
ranging-grounds are in the central, northern, and eastern parts of the
Territory. Most of them have long been hostile to the Government,
committing numerous robberies and murders. Earnest efforts have been
made during the past year to settle them on reservations, three of
which, viz., Camp Apache, Camp Grant, and Camp Verde, were set apart for
their occupancy by Executive order dated November 9th, 1871. These
efforts, however, have not resulted very successfully; the Indians
occasionally coming upon the reservations in large numbers, but leaving
without permission, and, indeed, defiantly, whenever so disposed,
oftentimes renewing their depredations before their supplies of
government rations are exhausted. Many of the bands of this tribe (if it
can be called a tribe; habits, physical structure, and language all
pointing to a great diversity in origin among the several bands) are
seemingly incorrigible, and will hardly be brought to cease their
depredations and massacres except by the application of military force.
NEVADA.
The tribes residing in Nevada are Pah-Utes, Piutes, Washoes, Shoshones,
and Bannocks, and are native to the districts inhabited by them
respectively.
_Pah-Utes._—These Indians, numbering about 6000, inhabit the western
part of the State. Two reservations have been set apart for them—one
known as the Walker River, the other as the Pyramid Lake Reservation,
containing each 320,000 acres. These Indians are quiet, and friendly to
the whites—are very poor, and live chiefly upon fish, game, seeds, and
nuts, with such assistance as the Government from time to time renders
them. They show considerable disposition to labor; and those on the
reservations, especially the Walker River Reservation, are cultivating
small patches of ground. The Pyramid Lake Reservation affords, in
addition, excellent fishing, and the surrounding settlements a ready
market for the catch over and above what the Indians require for their
own consumption. No schools have been established for these Indians.
They have no treaty relations with the Government, and receive no
annuities.
_Piutes._—The Piutes, numbering probably 2500, inhabit the south-eastern
part of the State. They have no reservation set apart for them; nor have
they any treaty with the United States. They roam about at will, are
very destitute, and obtain a living principally by pilfering from the
whites, although a few of them are engaged in a small way in farming.
But very little can be done for these Indians by the Government in their
present unsettled condition. They should be brought upon one of the
reservations set apart for the Indians in Nevada, or upon the Uintah
Reservation in Utah, where they could receive suitable care and proper
instruction in the arts of civilized life.
_Washoes._—These Indians, numbering about 500, are a poor, miserable,
and debauched people, and spend most of their time among the white
settlements, where they gain some supplies of food and clothing by
menial services. They have no reservation and no treaty, are not in
charge of any agent of the Government; and vice and disease are rapidly
carrying them away.
_Shoshones._—The Shoshones are a portion of the North-western, Western,
and Goship bands, referred to under the head of "Utah." Those roaming or
residing in the eastern part of Nevada number about 2000. The remarks
made respecting their brethren in Utah will equally apply to them.
_Bannocks._—The Bannocks, roaming in the north-eastern part of the
State, number, probably, 1500, and are doubtless a portion of the people
of that name ranging in Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho. They have no
treaty with the Government, nor any reservation set apart for them, and
are not in charge of any United States agent. They should, if possible,
be located upon the Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho, where some steps
could be taken to advance them in civilization.
THE PACIFIC SLOPE.
The Indians on the Pacific slope are divided as follows: in Washington
Territory, about 14,000; in Oregon, 12,000; in California, 22,000.
WASHINGTON TERRITORY.
The tribes residing in Washington Territory are the Nisqually, Puyallup,
and other confederate tribes; the D'Wamish and other allied bands; the
Makahs, the S'Klallams, the Qui-nai-elts and Qui-leh-utes, the Yakamas,
the Chehalis, and other allied tribes, and the Colville, Spokanes, Cœur
d'Alênes, Okanagans, and others.
_Nisqually, Puyallup, and others._—These Indians, numbering about 1200,
have three reservations, containing, as per treaty of 1854, 26,776
acres, situated on the Nisqually and Puyallup Rivers, and on an island
in Puget Sound. Some of these Indians are engaged in farming, and raise
considerable wheat, also potatoes and other vegetables. Many are
employed by the farmers in their vicinity; while others still are idle
and shiftless, spending their time wandering from place to place. One
school is in operation on the Puyallup Reservation, with an attendance
of eleven scholars.
_D'Wamish and others._—The D'Wamish and other allied tribes number 3600,
and have five reservations, containing in all 41,716 acres, set apart by
treaty made with them in 1855, and located at as many points on Puget
Sound. Many of these Indians, particularly those residing on the Lummi
Reservation, are industrious farmers, raising all the produce necessary
for their support, and owning a large number of cattle, horses, hogs,
etc.; while others are either employed by the neighboring white farmers
or engaged in lumbering on their own account. They are generally
Christianized, most of them members of the Catholic Church. One school,
with fifty-seven scholars, is in operation on the Tulalip Reservation,
where all the Government buildings are located. This school has had a
remarkable degree of success, as reported by the agent and by
disinterested visitors.
_Makahs._—These Indians number 604, and have a reservation of 12,800
acres, set apart by treaty made with them in 1855, and located at the
extreme north-west corner of the Territory. They are a bold, hardy race,
not inclined to till the soil for a support, but depending principally
upon fishing and the taking of fur-seal for their livelihood. One school
is in operation among them, with an attendance of sixteen scholars.
_S'Klallams._—These Indians, numbering 919, have a reservation of 4000
acres, set apart by treaty made with them in 1855, and located on what
is known as "Hood's Canal." Some of them are engaged, in a small way, in
farming; and others are employed in logging for the neighboring
saw-mills. Their condition generally is such that their advancement in
civilization must necessarily be slow. A school has been established on
the reservation, and is attended by twenty-two scholars.
_Qui-nai-elts, Qui-leh-utes, Hohs, and Quits._—These Indians number 520,
and have a reservation of 25,600 acres, in the extreme eastern part of
the Territory, and almost wholly isolated from white settlements, set
apart under a treaty made with them July 1st, 1855. But one of the four
tribes mentioned, the Qui-nai-elts, live upon the reservation: the
others reside at different points along the coast, northward from the
reservation. These declare that they never agreed to sell their country,
and that they never knowingly signed any treaty disposing of their right
to it. The bottom land on the reservation is heavily timbered, and a
great deal of labor is required to clear it; but, when cleared, it
produces good crops. Many of the Indians, though in the main fish-eaters
(the Qui-nai-elt River furnishing them with salmon in great abundance),
are cultivating small patches, and raise sufficient vegetables for their
own use. One school is in operation on the reservation, with an
attendance of fifteen scholars.
_Yakamas._—The Yakamas number 3000, and have a reservation in the
southern part of the Territory, containing 783,360 acres, set apart for
them by treaty of June 9th, 1855. These Indians belong to numerous
bands, confederated under the title of Yakamas. Many of them, under the
able management of their present agent, have become noticeably advanced
in civilization, and are good farmers or skilled mechanics. The
manual-labor school at the Yakama Agency has been a complete success,
and of incalculable benefit in imparting to the children a practical
knowledge of farming and of the different mechanical arts. Their
principal wealth is in horses, of which they own 12,000. The fact that
the reservation for these Indians is located east of the Cascade
Mountains, away from all contact with the whites, has doubtless tended,
in a great measure, to make this what it is—the model agency on the
Pacific slope: though to this result the energy and devotion of Agent
Wilbur have greatly contributed. Churches have been built on the
reservation, which are well attended, the services being conducted by
native preachers. There are at present two schools, with an attendance
of forty-four scholars.
_Chehalis and others, Remnants of Tribes, and Parties to no Treaty with
the Government._—These Indians number about 600, and have a reservation
of 4322 acres in the eastern part of the territory, set apart for them
by Executive order of July 8th, 1864. A considerable portion of the land
in this reservation is excellent for agricultural purposes; and quite
extensive crops are being raised by the Indians of the Chehalis tribe.
None of the other tribes for whom the reservation was intended reside
upon it, declining to do so for the reason that they do not recognize it
as their own, and fear to prejudice their claims to other lands by so
doing.
All these Indians have horses and cattle in abundance. They are
industrious; and, being good field-hands, those of them who do not farm
on their own account find ready employment from the surrounding farmers,
their services always commanding the highest wages. Having no treaty
relations with the Government, no direct appropriations are made for
their benefit. They, however, receive some assistance from the general
incidental fund of the Territory. The Indians herein referred to as not
living upon the reservation are of the Cowlitz, Chinook, Shoalwater Bay,
and Humboldt tribes. They profess to desire a home at the mouth of the
Humboldt and Coinoose rivers, where they originated.
_Colville and other Tribes._—These Indians, numbering 3349, occupy the
north-eastern portion of the territory. They have no treaty relations
with the Government, and, until the present year, have had no
reservation set apart for them. They are now, however, to be
established, under an order of the President of July 2d, 1872, in the
general section of the Territory where they now are, upon a tract which
is bounded on the south and east by the Columbia River, on the west by
the Okinakane River, and on the north by British Columbia. The tribes
for whom this reservation is designed are known as Colvilles,
Okinakanes, San Poels, Lake Spokanes, Cœur d'Alênes, Calispells, and
Methows. Some of these Indians, however, have settled upon valuable
tracts of land, and have made extensive improvements, while others, to a
considerable number, have begun farming in a small way at various points
within the district from which it is proposed to remove their respective
tribes. It is doubtful whether these individuals will voluntarily remove
to the reservation referred to, which is some distance west of their
present location. It is proposed, therefore, to allow such as are
engaged in farming to remain where they are, if they so desire. Owing to
the influx of whites into the country thus claimed or occupied by these
Indians, many of them have been crowded out; and some of them have had
their own unquestionable improvements forcibly wrested from them. This
for a time during the past summer caused considerable trouble, and
serious difficulties were apprehended; but thus far peace has been
preserved by a liberal distribution among them of agricultural
implements, seeds, blankets, etc. No funds are appropriated specially
for these Indians, such supplies and presents as are given them being
furnished from the general incidental fund of the Territory.
OREGON.
The tribes residing in Oregon are the Umatillas, Cayuses, Walla-Wallas,
Wascoes, Molels, Chasta Scotans, Coosas, Alseas, Klamath, Modocs, and
Wal-pah-pee Snakes, besides numerous other small bands. They are all
native to the country. On account of the great number of small tribes
and bands in this State—the number of tribes and bands parties to the
same treaty being in some cases as high as ten or fifteen—these Indians
will be treated of, and the remarks concerning them will be made, under
the heads of the agencies at which they are respectively located.
_Umatilla Agency._—The tribes located at this agency are the Umatillas,
Cayuses, and a portion of the Walla-Wallas, and number 837. They have a
reservation of 512,000 acres, situated in the north-eastern part of the
State, set apart for them by treaty of June 9th, 1855. This reservation
is very fertile, and, as usual in such cases, has attracted the cupidity
of the whites. A proposition was made last year, under the authority of
Congress, to have the Indians take land in severalty, or sell and remove
to some other reservation. The Indians, however, in the exercise of
their treaty rights, refused to accede to this proposition. These
Indians are successfully engaged in agricultural operations, are nearly
self-supporting, and may be considered, comparatively speaking, wealthy.
It is gratifying to state that the introduction of whiskey by whites
upon this reservation, and its sale to the Indians, has, during the last
year, received a decided check through the vigilance of Agent Cornoyer
in causing the arrest and trial of four citizens for a violation of the
law in this respect. All the parties charged were convicted, and are now
in prison. This is especially worthy of note, from the fact that it is
always exceedingly difficult to obtain convictions for such dealing with
Indians in any section of the country. There is one school in operation
on the reservation, with an attendance of twenty-seven scholars.
_Warm Spring Agency._—The Indians at this agency, known as the
"Confederated Tribes and Bands of Indians in Middle Oregon," comprise
seven bands of the Walla-Walla and Wasco tribes, numbering 626. They
have a reservation of 1,024,000 acres, located in the central part of
the State, set apart for them by the treaty of June 25th, 1855. Though
there is but little really good land in this reservation, many of the
Indians, by reason of their industry, have succeeded measurably in their
farming operations, and may be considered as self-sustaining. In morals
they have greatly improved; so that polygamy, the buying and selling of
wives, gambling, and drunkenness have ceased to be common among them, as
in the past. There are some, however, who are disposed to wander off the
reservation and lead a vagabond life. But little advancement has been
made in education among these Indians. One school is in operation at the
agency, with an attendance of fifty-one scholars.
_Grand Ronde Agency._—The Indians at this agency comprise the Molalla,
Clackama, Calapooia, Molel, Umpqua, Rogue River, and other bands,
seventeen in all, with a total population of 870. The reservation upon
which these bands are located is in the northwestern part of the State.
It contains 69,120 acres, and was set apart for their occupation by
treaty of January 22d, 1855, with the Molallas, Clackamas, etc., and by
Executive order of June 30th, 1857. Some portions of this reservation
are well adapted to grain-raising, though much of it is rough and
heavily timbered. An allotment of land in severalty has been directed to
be made, much to the gratification and encouragement of the tribes.
These Indians are inclined to industry, and show commendable zeal in
cultivating their farms, growing crops which compare favorably with
those of their white neighbors. Their customs and habits of life also
exhibit a marked improvement. One school is in operation, with an
attendance of fifty scholars.
_Siletz Agency._—The Indians at this agency are the Chasta Scotans and
fragments of fourteen other bands, called, generally, coast-tribes,
numbering altogether about 2500. These Indians, including those at the
Alsea Sub-agency, have a reservation of 1,100,800 acres set apart for
them by treaty of August 11th, 1855; which treaty, however, has never
been ratified, although the reservation is occupied by the Indians. They
were for a long time much averse to labor for a support; but recently
they have shown more disposition to follow agriculture, although
traditionally accustomed to rely chiefly upon fish for food. Many
already have their farms well fenced and stocked, with good, comfortable
dwellings and out-houses erected thereon. There is no reason why they
should not, in time, become a thoroughly prosperous people. The failure
to make allotments of land in severalty, for which surveys were
commenced in 1871, has been a source of much uneasiness to the Indians,
and has tended to weaken their confidence in the good intentions of the
Government. One school is in operation on the reservation, with an
attendance of twenty scholars. None of the tribes or bands at this
agency have any treaty relations with the United States, unless it may
be a few members of the Rogue River band, referred to under the head of
the Grand Ronde Agency.
_Alsea Sub-agency._—The Indians at this sub-agency are the Alseas,
Coosas, Sinselans, and a band of Umpquas, numbering in all 300, located
within the limits of the reservation referred to under the head of the
Siletz Agency. The remarks made about the Indians at the Siletz Agency
will generally apply to the Indians of this sub-agency. The Coosas,
Sinselans, and Umpquas are making considerable advancement in
agriculture, and, had they advantages of instruction, would rapidly
acquire a proficiency in the simpler mechanical branches of industry.
The Alseas are not so tractable, and exhibit but little desire for
improvement. All the assistance they receive from the Government is
supplied out of the limited amount appropriated for the general
incidental expenses of the service in Oregon.
_Klamath Agency._—The Indians belonging to this agency are the Klamaths
and Modocs, and the Yahooskin and Wal-pah-pee bands of Snakes, numbering
altogether about 4000, of whom only 1018 are reported at the agency.
They have a reservation containing 768,000 acres, set apart for them by
the treaty of October 14th, 1864, and by Executive order of March 14th,
1871, situated in the extreme southern portion of the State. This
reservation is not well adapted to agriculture. The climate is cold and
uncertain; and the crops are consequently liable to be destroyed by
frosts. It is, however, a good grazing country. Although this
reservation is, comparatively speaking, a new one, the Indians located
upon it are making commendable progress, both in farming operations and
in lumbering. A part of the Modocs, who belong by treaty to this agency,
and who were at one time located upon the reservation, have, on account
of their troubles with the Klamaths—due principally to the overbearing
disposition of the latter—left the agency, and refuse to return to it.
They desire to locate upon a small reservation by themselves. Under the
circumstances they should be permitted to do this, or else be allowed to
select a tract on the Malheur Reservation. There is no school at present
in operation for these Indians.
_Malheur Reservation._—This reservation, set apart by Executive order of
September 12th, 1872, is situated in the south-eastern part of the
State. Upon this it is the intention of the Department eventually to
locate all the roving and straggling bands, in Eastern and South-eastern
Oregon, which can be induced to settle there. As no funds are at the
disposal of the Department with which to make the necessary
improvements, and to provide temporary subsistence for Indians removed,
the work has not yet been fairly commenced. The Indians who should be
collected upon this reservation are now a constant source of annoyance
to the white settlers. They hang about the settlements and military
posts, begging and stealing; and, unless some prompt measures be taken
to bring them under the care and control of an agent of the Government,
serious trouble may result at any time. Congress should make the
necessary appropriation during the coming session to maintain an agent
for these Indians, to erect the agency buildings, and to provide
subsistence for such as may be collected and may remain upon the
reservation.
_Indians not upon Reservations._—There are a number of Indians, probably
not less than 3000, "renegades," and others of roving habits, who have
no treaty relations with the Government, and are not in charge of any
agent. The tribal names of some of these are the Clatsops, Nestucals,
Tillamooks, Nehalims, Snakes, and Nez Percés. The "renegades," such in
fact, and so called, roam on the Columbia River, and are of considerable
annoyance to the agents at Warm Springs and Umatilla: others, the
Snakes, 200 in number, are upon the edge of the Grand Ronde Reservation.
These live by hunting and fishing, and profess to desire to have lands
allotted to them, and a school provided for their children. The Nez
Percés, belonging in Idaho, to the estimated number of 200, are found in
Wallowa Valley, in the eastern part of the State. They claim that they
were not parties to the treaty with the Nez Percé tribe years ago; that
the valley in which they live has always belonged to them; and they
strenuously oppose its settlement by the whites.
CALIFORNIA.
The tribes in California are the Ukie, Pitt River, Wylackie, Concon,
Redwood, Humboldt, Hoonsolton, Miscott, Siah, Tule, Tejon, Coahuila,
King's River, and various other bands and tribes, including the "Mission
Indians," all being native to the country.
_Round Valley Agency._—The Indians belonging to this agency are the
Ukies, Concons, Pitt Rivers, Wylackies, and Redwoods, numbering in all
1700. The number has been increased during the past year by bringing in
1040 Indians collected in Little Lake and other valleys. A reservation
containing 31,683 acres has been set apart, per Act of April 8th, 1864,
and Executive order of March 30th, 1870, in the western and northern
part of the State, for these Indians, and for such others as may be
induced to locate thereon. The lands in the reservation are very
fertile; and the climate admits of a widely varied growth of crops. More
produce being raised than is necessary for the subsistence of the
Indians, the proceeds derived from the sale of the surplus are used in
purchasing stock and work animals, and for the further improvement of
the reservation. Several of the Indians are engaged in cultivating
gardens, while others work as many as twenty-five or thirty acres on
their own account.
The Indians on this reservation are uniformly quiet and peaceable,
notwithstanding that they are much disturbed by the white trespassers.
Suits, by direction of the Department, were commenced against such
trespassers, but without definite results as yet; the Attorney-general
having directed the United States District-attorney to suspend
proceedings. Of this reservation the Indian Department has in actual
possession and under fence only about 4000 acres; the remainder being in
the possession of settlers, all clamorous for breaking up the
reservation and driving the Indians out.
The Indians at this reservation have shown no especial disposition to
have their children educated; and no steps were taken to that end until
in the summer of 1871, when a school was commenced. There is now one
school in operation, with an attendance of 110 scholars. These Indians
have no treaties with the Government; and such assistance as is rendered
them in the shape of clothing, etc., is from the money appropriated for
the general incidental expenses of the Indian service in the State.
_Hoopa Valley Agency._—The Indians belonging to this agency are the
Humboldts, Hoonsoltons, Miscotts, Siahs, and several other bands,
numbering 725.
A reservation was set apart, per Act of April 8th, 1864, for these and
such other Indians in the northern part of the State as might be induced
to settle thereon. This reservation is situated in the north-western
part of the State, on both sides of the Trinity River, and contains
38,400 acres. As a rule, sufficient is raised on the reservation to
supply the wants of the Indians. These Indians are quiet and peaceable,
and are not disposed to labor on the reservation in common, but will
work industriously when allowed to do so on their own individual
account. One school is in operation on the reservation, with an
attendance of seventy-four scholars. Having no treaty relations with the
United States, and, consequently, no regular annuities appropriated for
their benefit, the general incidental fund of the State is used so far
as may be necessary, and so far as the amount appropriated will admit,
to furnish assistance in the shape of clothing, agricultural implements,
seeds, etc. Besides these, their agent has a general supervisory control
of certain Klamath Indians, who live adjacent to the reservation and
along the banks of the Klamath River. These formerly belonged to a
reservation bearing their name, which was, years ago, abandoned in
consequence of the total destruction by flood of agency buildings and
improvements. They now support themselves chiefly by hunting and
fishing, and by cultivating small patches in grain and vegetables.
_Tule River Farm, or Agency._—The Indians located at this point are the
Tules and Manaches, numbering 374. These Indians are gradually
improving, are quite proficient in all kinds of farm-work, and show a
good disposition to cultivate the soil on their own account. There is
one school in operation at the Tule River Farm, with an attendance of
thirty-seven scholars. About sixty miles from the agency reside several
hundred King's River Indians, who are in a wretched and destitute
condition. They desire to be attached to the agency, and have in the
past received occasional supplies of food from it.
_Indians not on Reservations._—In addition to the Indians located at the
three agencies named, there are probably not less than 20,000, including
the Mission Indians (so called), the Coahuilas, Owen's River, and
others, in the southern part of the State; and those on the Klamath,
Trinity, Scott, and Salmon rivers, in the northern part. The Mission
Indians, having been for the past century under the Catholic missions
established on the California coast, are tolerably well advanced in
agriculture, and compare favorably with the most highly civilized tribes
of the east. The Coahuilas, and others inhabiting the south-eastern and
eastern portions of the State, and those in the north, support
themselves by working for white settlers, or by hunting, fishing,
begging, and stealing, except, it may be, a few of the northern Indians,
who go occasionally to the reservations and the military posts in that
section for assistance in the way of food.
There are also about 4000 Owen's River and Manache Indians east of the
Sierras, whom the settlers would gladly see removed to a reservation,
and brought under the care of an agent. The Department has under
consideration the propriety of establishing a new reservation, upon
which shall be concentrated these and numerous other Indians, in which
event the Tule River Agency could advantageously be discontinued.
XV.
REPORT
ON THE CONDITION AND NEEDS OF THE MISSION INDIANS OF
CALIFORNIA, MADE BY SPECIAL AGENTS HELEN JACKSON AND
ABBOT KINNEY, TO THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS.
Colorado Springs, Col., July 13th, 1883.
SIR,—In compliance with our instructions bearing dates November 28th,
1882, and January 12th, 1883, we have the honor to submit to you the
following report on the subject of the Mission Indians in Southern
California.
The term "Mission Indians" dates back over one hundred years, to the
time of the Franciscan missions in California. It then included all
Indians who lived in the mission establishments, or were under the care
of the Franciscan Fathers. Very naturally the term has continued to be
applied to the descendants of those Indians. In the classification of
the Indian Bureau, however, it is now used in a somewhat restricted
sense, embracing only those Indians living in the three southernmost
counties of California, and known as Serranos, Cahuillas, San Luisenos,
and Dieguinos; the last two names having evidently come from the names
of the southernmost two missions, San Luis Rey and San Diego. A census
taken in 1880, of these bands, gives their number as follows:
Serranos 381
Cahuillas 675
San Luisenos 1,120
Dieguinos 731
-------
Total 2,907
This estimate probably falls considerably short of the real numbers, as
there are no doubt in hiding, so to speak, in remote and inaccessible
spots, many individuals, families, or even villages, that have never
been counted. These Indians are living for the most part in small and
isolated villages; some on reservations set apart for them by Executive
order; some on Government land not reserved, and some upon lands
included within the boundaries of confirmed Mexican grants.
Considerable numbers of these Indians are also to be found on the
outskirts of white settlements, as at Riverside, San Bernardino, or in
the colonies in the San Gabriel Valley, where they live like gypsies in
brush huts, here to-day, gone to-morrow, eking out a miserable existence
by days' works, the wages of which are too often spent for whiskey in
the village saloons. Travellers in Southern California, who have formed
their impressions of the Mission Indians from these wretched wayside
creatures, would be greatly surprised at the sight of some of the Indian
villages in the mountain valleys, where, freer from the contaminating
influence of the white race, are industrious, peaceable communities,
cultivating ground, keeping stock, carrying on their own simple
manufactures of pottery, mats, baskets, &c., and making their living,—a
very poor living, it is true; but they are independent and
self-respecting in it, and ask nothing at the hands of the United States
Government now, except that it will protect them in the ownership of
their lands,—lands which, in many instances, have been in continuous
occupation and cultivation by their ancestors for over one hundred
years.
From tract after tract of such lands they have been driven out, year by
year, by the white settlers of the country, until they can retreat no
farther; some of their villages being literally in the last tillable
spot on the desert's edge or in mountain fastnesses. Yet there are in
Southern California to-day many fertile valleys, which only thirty years
ago were like garden spots with these same Indians' wheat-fields,
orchards, and vineyards. Now, there is left in these valleys no trace of
the Indians' occupation, except the ruins of their adobe houses; in some
instances these houses, still standing, are occupied by the robber
whites who drove them out. The responsibility for this wrong rests,
perhaps, equally divided between the United States Government, which
permitted lands thus occupied by peaceful agricultural communities to be
put "in market," and the white men who were not restrained either by
humanity or by a sense of justice, from "filing" homestead claims on
lands which had been fenced, irrigated, tilled, and lived on by Indians
for many generations. The Government cannot justify this neglect on the
plea of ignorance. Repeatedly, in the course of the last thirty years,
both the regular agents in charge of the Mission Indians and special
agents sent out to investigate their condition have made to the Indian
Bureau full reports setting forth these facts.
In 1873 one of these special agents, giving an account of the San
Pasquale Indians, mentioned the fact that a white man had just
pre-empted the land on which the greater part of the village was
situated. He had paid the price of the land to the register of the
district land office, and was daily expecting his patent from
Washington. "He owned," the agent says, "that it was hard to wrest from
these well-disposed and industrious creatures the homes they had built
up; but," said he, "if I had not done it, somebody else would; for all
agree that the Indian has no right to public lands." This San Pasquale
village was a regularly organized Indian pueblo, formed by about one
hundred neophytes of the San Luis Rey Mission, under and in accordance
with the provisions of the Secularization Act in 1834. The record of its
founding is preserved in the Mexican archives at San Francisco. These
Indians had herds of cattle, horses, and sheep; they raised grains, and
had orchards and vineyards. The whole valley in which this village lay
was at one time set off by Executive order as a reservation, but by the
efforts of designing men the order was speedily revoked; and no sooner
has this been done than the process of dispossessing the Indians began.
There is now, on the site of that old Indian pueblo, a white settlement
numbering 35 voters. The Indians are all gone,—some to other villages;
some living near by in cañons and nooks in the hills, from which, on the
occasional visits of the priest, they gather and hold services in the
half-ruined adobe chapel built by them in the days of their prosperity.
This story of the San Pasquale Indians is only a fair showing of the
experiences of the Mission Indians during the past fifty years. Almost
without exception they have been submissive and peaceable through it
all, and have retreated again and again to new refuges. In a few
instances there have been slight insurrections among them, and
threatenings of retaliation; but in the main their history has been one
of almost incredible long suffering and patience under wrongs.
In 1851 one of the San Luiseno bands, the Aqua Caliente Indians, in the
north part of San Diego County, made an attack on the house of a white
settler, and there was for a time great fear of a general uprising of
all the Indians in the country. It is probable that this was instigated
by the Mexicans, and that there was a concerted plan for driving the
Americans out of the country. The outbreak was easily quelled, however;
four of the chiefs were tried by court-martial and shot by order of
General Heintzelman, and in January of the following year a treaty was
made with the San Luiseno and Dieguino Indians, setting off for them
large tracts of land. This treaty was made by a United States
commissioner, Dr. Wozencraft, and Lieutenant Hamilton, representing the
Army, and Col. J. J. Warner, the settler whose house had been attacked.
The greater part of the lands which were by this treaty assigned to the
Indians are now within the boundaries of grants confirmed and patented
since that time; but there are many Indian villages still remaining on
them, and all Indians living on such lands are supposed to be there
solely on the tolerance and at the mercy of the owners of said ranches,
and to be liable to ejectment by law. Whether this be so or not is a
point which it would seem to be wise to test before the courts. It is
certain that in the case of all these Mission Indians the rights
involved are quite different from and superior to the mere "occupancy"
right of the wild and uncivilized Indian.
At the time of the surrender of California to the United States these
Mission Indians had been for over seventy years the subjects, first of
the Spanish Government, secondly of the Mexican. They came under the
jurisdiction of the United States by treaty provisions,—the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo, between the United States and Mexico, in 1848. At
this time they were so far civilized that they had become the chief
dependence of the Mexican and white settlers for all service indoors and
out. In the admirable report upon these Indians made to the Interior
Department in 1853, by the Hon. B. D. Wilson, of Los Angeles, are the
following statements:—
"These same Indians had built all the houses in the country, planted all
the fields and vineyards. Under the Missions there were masons,
carpenters, plasterers, soap-makers, tanners, shoe-makers, blacksmiths,
millers, bakers, cooks, brick-makers, carters and cart-makers, weavers
and spinners, saddlers, shepherds, agriculturalists, horticulturalists,
vineros, vaqueros; in a word, they filled all the laborious occupations
known to civilized society."
The intentions of the Mexican Government toward these Indians were wise
and humane. At this distance of time, and in face of the melancholy
facts of the Indians' subsequent history, it is painful to go over the
details of the plans devised one short half-century ago for their
benefit. In 1830 there were in the twenty-one missions in California
some 20,000 or 30,000 Indians, living comfortable and industrious lives
under the control of the Franciscan Fathers. The Spanish colonization
plan had, from the outset, contemplated the turning of these mission
establishments into pueblos as soon as the Indians should have become
sufficiently civilized to make this feasible. The Mexican Government,
carrying out the same general plan, issued in 1833 an act, called the
Secularization Act, decreeing that this change should be made. This act
provided that the Indians should have assigned to them cattle, horses,
and sheep from the mission herds; also, lands for cultivation. One
article of Governor Figueroa's regulations for the carrying out of the
Secularization Act provided that there should be given to every head of
a family, and to all above twenty-one years of age, though they had no
family, a lot of land not exceeding 400 varas square, nor less than 100.
There was also to be given to them in common, enough land for pasturing
and watering their cattle. Another article provided that one-half the
cattle of each mission school should be divided among the Indians of
that mission in a proportionable and equitable manner; also one-half of
the chattels, instruments, seeds, &c. Restrictions were to be placed on
the disposition of this property. The Indians were forbidden "to sell,
burden, or alienate under any pretext the lands given them. Neither can
they sell the cattle." The commissioners charged with the carrying out
of these provisions were ordered to "explain all the arrangements to the
Indians with suavity and patience;" to tell them that the lands and
property will be divided among them so that each one may "work,
maintain, and govern himself without dependence on any one." It was also
provided that the rancherias (villages) situated at a distance from the
missions, and containing over twenty-five families, might, if they
chose, form separate pueblos, and the distribution of lands and property
to them should take place in the same manner provided for those living
near the missions.
These provisions were in no case faithfully carried out. The
administration of the Missions' vast estates and property was too great
a temptation for human nature, especially in a time of revolution and
misrule. The history of the thirteen years between the passing of the
Secularization Act and the conquest of California is a record of
shameful fraud and pillage, of which the Indians were the most hapless
victims. Instead of being permitted each one to work, maintain, and
govern himself without dependence on any one, as they had been promised,
their rights to their plats of land were in the majority of cases
ignored; they were forced to labor on the mission lands like slaves; in
many instances they were hired out in gangs to cruel masters. From these
cruelties and oppressions they fled by hundreds, returning to their old
wilderness homes. Those who remained in the neighborhood of the pueblos
became constantly more and more demoralized, and were subjected to every
form of outrage. By a decree of the Los Angeles aqumiento, about the
time of our taking possession of California, all Indians found without
passes, either from the alcalde of the pueblos in which they lived, or
from their "masters [significant phrase], were to be treated as
horse-thieves and enemies." At this time there were, according to Mr.
Wilson's report, whole streets in Los Angeles where every other house
was a grog-shop for Indians; and every Saturday night the town was
filled with Indians in every stage of intoxication. Those who were
helpless and insensible were carried to the jail, locked up, and on
Monday morning bound out to the highest bidders at the jail gates. "The
Indian has a quick sense of justice," says Mr. Wilson; "he can never see
why he is sold out to service for an indefinite period for intemperance,
while the white man goes unpunished for the same thing, and the very
richest and best men, to his eye, are such as tempt him to drink, and
sometimes will pay him for his labor in no other way." Even the sober
and industrious and best skilled among them could earn but little; it
having become a custom to pay an Indian only half the wages of a white
man.
From this brief and necessarily fragmentary sketch of the position and
state of the Mission Indians under the Mexican Government, at the time
of the surrender of California to the United States, it will be seen
that our Government received by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo a legacy
of a singularly helpless race in a singularly anomalous position. It
would have been very difficult, even at the outset, to devise
practicable methods of dealing justly with these people, and preserving
to them their rights. But with every year of our neglect the
difficulties have increased and the wrongs have been multiplied, until
now it is, humanly speaking, impossible to render to them full measure
of justice. All that is left in our power is to make them some
atonement. Fortunately for them, their numbers have greatly diminished.
Suffering, hunger, disease, and vice have cut down more than half of
their numbers in the last thirty years; but the remnant is worth saving.
Setting aside all question of their claim as a matter of atonement for
injustice done, they are deserving of help on their own merits. No one
can visit their settlements, such as Aqua Caliente, Saboba, Cahuilla
Valley, Santa Ysabel, without having a sentiment of respect and profound
sympathy for men who, friendless, poor, without protection from the law,
have still continued to work, planting, fencing, irrigating, building
houses on lands from which long experience has taught them that the
white man can drive them off any day he chooses. That drunkenness,
gambling, and other immoralities are sadly prevalent among them, cannot
be denied; but the only wonder is that so many remain honest and
virtuous under conditions which make practically null and void for them
most of the motives which keep white men honest and virtuous.
Having thus given as brief a presentation as possible of the general
situation and nature of these Indians, we will proceed to state what, to
the best of our judgment, are the steps which ought to be taken by the
United States Government in their behalf. The descriptions of the most
important villages we visited, and the detailed accounts of
circumstances and situations on which our suggestions are based, are
given for convenience of reference in separate exhibits.
1st. The first and most essential step, without which there is no
possibility of protecting these Indians or doing anything intelligently
for them, is the determining, resurveying, rounding out, and distinctly
marking, their reservations already existing. The only way of having
this done accurately and honestly, is to have it done by a surveyor who
is under the orders and constant supervision of an intelligent and
honest commissioner; not by an independent surveyor who runs or "floats"
reservation lines where he and his friends or interested parties choose,
instead of where the purpose of the United States Government, looking to
the Indians' interests, had intended. There have been too many surveys
of Indian reservations in Southern California of this sort. (See
Exhibits C, H, I, J, L.) All the reservations made in 1876—and that
comprises nearly all now existing—were laid off by guess, by the
surveyor in San Diego, on an imperfect county map. These sections, thus
guessed at by the surveyor, were reported by the commissioner to the
Interior Department, set aside by Executive order, and ordered to be
surveyed. When the actual survey came to be made, it was discovered that
in the majority of cases the Indian villages intended to be provided for
were outside the reservation lines, and that the greater part of the
lands set apart were wholly worthless. The plats of these reservations
are in the surveyor-general's office at San Francisco. On each of them
was marked by the surveyor an additional line in color, showing what
tracts ought to be added to take in the Indian villages and fields. So
far as we could learn, no action was taken in regard to these proposed
additions.
The reservation lines, when thus defined, should be marked plainly and
conspicuously by monuments and stakes, leaving no room for doubt. A plat
of each reservation should then be given to the Indians living on it. It
was pathetic, in our visits to village after village, to hear the
Indians' request reiterated for this thing,—"a paper to show to the
white men where their lands were." Every fragment of writing they had
ever received, which could by any possibility bear on their title to
their lands, they had carefully preserved; old tattered orders from Army
officers thirty years back, orders from justices of the peace, &c., all
worthless of course, but brought forward with touching earnestness to
show us. In no single instance had the reservation lines ever been
pointed out to them. One band, the Sequan Indians, who had never seen
any agent, said they had been told that they were on a reservation, but
they did not know if it were true or not. They had been obliged to give
up keeping stock, because they could not find any place where the whites
would let them pasture cattle. (See Exhibit J.)
There are some settlements of Indians on Government lands not set off as
reservations, in some instances not surveyed. These tracts should all be
surveyed, their boundaries marked, and the lands withdrawn from market
to be permanently set aside for the Indians' use. We use the term
"rounding out" in regard to these reservations chiefly on account of the
complication which results from their being in some cases within the
limit of railroad grants, and made subsequent to those grants. Some are
actually within the limits of the Southern Pacific Railroad grant;
others will be within the limits of the Texas Pacific grant, should that
be confirmed. The odd sections thus belonging to the railroads should be
secured to the Indians. There are also a few claims to lands within
reservation boundaries, which are legal on account of their having been
made before the reservations were set off. These should be extinguished.
(See Exhibit O.)
2d. All white settlers now on reservations should be removed. For the
last four years stray settlers have been going in upon reservation
tracts. This is owing to the lack of boundary definitions and marks as
aforesaid, also to the failure of the surveys to locate the reservations
so as to take in all the ground actually occupied by Indian villages.
Thus, in many instances, the Indians' fields and settlements have been
wrested from them, and they in their turn have not known where they
could or could not go. There is not a single reservation of any size
which is free from white settlers. It would seem that agents in charge
of these Indians should have been authoritatively instructed in no case
to allow squatters to settle on lands known to be within reservation
lines, whether they were occupied by Indians or not. (See Exhibits H, I,
O.)
The amount of land set off in Indian reservations in Southern California
appears by the record to be very large, but the proportion of it which
is really available is very small. San Diego County itself is
four-fifths desert and mountain, and it is no exaggeration to say that
the proportion of desert and mountain in the reservation is even larger
than this. By thus resurveying, rounding out, and freeing from white
settlers the present reservations, adding to them all Government lands
now actually in occupation by Indians, there will be, according to the
best of our judgment, nearly land enough for the accommodation of all
the Mission Indians except those whose settlements are on grants.
3d. In regard to this latter class, _i.e._, those whose villages are now
within the boundaries of confirmed grants, the Government has to choose
between two courses of action,—either to remove them and make other
provision for them, or to uphold and defend their right to remain where
they are. In support of the latter course we believe a strong case could
be made out, and we have secured from one of the ablest firms in
Southern California a written legal opinion on this point. (See Exhibit
A.) It seems clear that this contest should be made by the Government
itself. It is impossible for these poverty-stricken and ignorant people
to undertake on their own account and at their own expense the legal
settlement of this matter. It would be foolish to advise it; inhuman to
expect it. A test case could be made which would settle the question for
all. (See Exhibit B.) In case the decision be favorable to the Indians
remaining, the ranch owners should then be called on to mark off the
boundaries of the Indians' lands according to the California State law
covering such cases. (See Exhibit R.) Whether the lands thus reverting
to the Indians could properly be considered as Government lands or not,
would be a question to be determined. Probably the surest way of
securing them for the Indians' permanent use would be to consider them
as such and have them defined as reservations by act of Congress.
4th. And this brings us to our fourth recommendation, which is, that all
these Indians' reservations, those already set off by Executive order,
and all new ones made for them, whether of Government lands now in their
occupation, or of lands which may be hereafter by legal process
reclaimed for them from the grant lands on which they are now living, be
patented to the several bands occupying them; the United States to hold
the patent in trust for the period of twenty-five years; at the
expiration of that time the United States to convey the same by patent
to said Indians, as has been done for the Omaha Indians. The insecurity
of reservations made merely by Executive order is apparent, and is
already sadly illustrated in Southern California by the history of the
San Pasquale Reservation, that of Aqua Caliente, and others. The
insecurity of reservations set apart by act of Congress is only a degree
less. The moment it becomes the interest and purpose of white men in any
section of the country to have such reservation tracts restored to the
public domain, the question of its being done is only a question of
influence and time. It is sure to be done. The future of these
industrious, peaceable, agricultural communities ought not to be left a
single day longer than is necessary, dependent on such chances; chances
which are always against and never for Indians' interests in the matter
of holding lands. The best way and time of allotting these Indians'
lands to them in severalty must be left to the decision of the
Government, a provision being incorporated in their patent to provide
for such allotments from time to time as may seem desirable, and agents
and commissioners being instructed to keep the advantages of this system
constantly before the Indians' minds. Some of them are fit for it now,
and earnestly desire it, but the majority are not ready for it. The
communal system, on which those now living in villages use their lands,
satisfies them, and is apparently administered without difficulty. It is
precisely the same system as that on which the pueblo lands were
cultivated by the early Spanish settlers in Southern California. They
agree among themselves to respect each other's right of occupancy; a
man's right to a field this year depending on his having cultivated it
last year, and so on. It seems not to occur to these Indians that land
is a thing to be quarrelled over.
In the village of Aqua Caliente, one of the most intelligent of the
young men was so anxious to show us his fields that we went with him a
little distance outside the village limits to see them. He had some
eight acres in grain, vine, and fruit trees. Pointing first in one
direction, then in another, he indicated the places where his ground
joined other men's ground. There was no line of demarcation whatever,
except it chanced to be a difference of crops. We said to him,
"Alessandro, how do you know which is your land and which is theirs?" He
seemed perplexed, and replied, "This was my mother's land. We have
always had it." "But," we persisted, "suppose one of these other men
should want more land and should take a piece of yours?" "He couldn't,"
was all the reply we could get from Alessandro, and it was plain that he
was greatly puzzled by the suggestion of the possibility of neighbors
trespassing on each other's cultivated fields.
5th. We recommend the establishment of more schools. At least two more
are immediately needed, one at the Rincon, and one at Santa Ysabel. (See
Exhibits G, L.) As the reservations are gradually cleared, defined and
assured for the Indians' occupancy, hundreds of Indians who are now
roving from place to place, without fixed homes, will undoubtedly settle
down in the villages, and more schools will be needed. It is to be
hoped, also, that some of the smaller bands will unite with the larger
ones, for the sake of the advantages of the school and other advantages
of a larger community. The isolated situation of many of the smaller
settlements is now an insuperable difficulty in the way of providing
education for all the children. These Indians are all keenly alive to
the value of education. In every village that we visited we were urged
to ask the Government to give them a school. In one they insisted upon
ranging the children all in rows, that we might see for ourselves that
there were children enough to justify the establishing of a school.
In this connection we would suggest that if a boarding and industrial
school, similar to those at Hampton and Carlisle, could be established
in Southern California, it would be of inestimable value, and would
provide opportunities for many children who, owing to the isolation of
their homes, could not be reached in any other way.
We would further suggest that, in our judgment, only women teachers
should be employed in these isolated Indian villages. There is a great
laxity of morals among these Indians; and in the wild regions where
their villages lie, the unwritten law of public sentiment, which in more
civilized communities does so much to keep men virtuous, hardly exists.
Therefore the post of teacher in these schools is one full of
temptations and danger to a man. (See Exhibit M.) Moreover, women have
more courage and self-denying missionary spirit, sufficient to undertake
such a life, and have an invaluable influence outside their
school-rooms. They go familiarly into the homes, and are really
educating the parents as well as the children in a way which is not
within the power of any man, however earnest and devoted he may be.
We would also suggest that great good might be accomplished among these
Indians by some form of itinerary religious and educational labor among
them. In the list of assignments of Indian agencies to different
religious denominations, as given in the report of the Indian Bureau for
1882, the Mission Agency is assigned to the Evangelical Lutheran; but we
could not learn that this denomination had done any work among them. So
far as the Mission Indians have any religion at all they are Catholics.
In many of the villages are adobe chapels, built in the time of the
missions, where are still preserved many relics of the mission days,
such as saints' images, holy-water kettles, &c. In these chapels on the
occasions of the priest's visits the Indians gather in great numbers,
women sometimes walking two days' journey, bringing their babies on
their backs to have them baptized. There are also in several of the
villages old Indians, formerly trained at the missions, who officiate
with Catholic rites at funerals, and on Sundays repeat parts of the
Mass. As these Indians are now situated in isolated settlements so far
apart, and so remote from civilized centres, the only practicable method
of reaching them all would be by some form of itinerary labor. A fervent
religious and practical teacher, who should spend his time in going from
village to village, remaining in each a few days or weeks, as the case
might be, would sow seed which would not cease to grow during the
intervals of his absence. If he were a man of sound common-sense and
knowledge of laws of life, fitted to instruct the Indians in matters of
hygiene, cleanliness, ventilation, &c., and in a few of the simple
mechanical arts, as well as in the doctrines of religion and morality,
he would do more for the real good of these people at present than can
be accomplished by schools.
6th. The suggestion of the value of itinerary labor among the Indians
leads to our next recommendation, which we consider of great importance,
_viz._, that it should be made the duty of any Government agent in
charge of the Mission Indians to make a round of inspection at least
twice a year, visiting each village or settlement however small. In no
other way can anything like a proper supervision of these Indians'
interests be attained. This proof of the Government's intention to keep
a sharp eye on all that might occur in relation to the Indians would
have a salutary moral effect, not only on the Indians, but on the white
settlers in their neighborhood. It would also afford the means of
dealing with comparative promptitude with the difficulties and troubles
continually arising. As it is now, it is not to be wondered at that the
Indians feel themselves unprotected and neglected, and the white
settlers feel themselves safe in trespassing on Indians' property or
persons. In some of the villages, where pre-emption claims have been
located within the last four years, no agent has ever been. It is safe
to say, that had an agent been on the ground each year, with the proper
authority to take efficient measures, much of the present suffering and
confusion would have been prevented. In the case, for instance, of the
Los Coyotes village, filed on a few months ago (see Exhibit F), there
was no reason why those lands should not have been set apart for the
Indians long ago, had their situation been understood; so in the San
Ysidro case, and others. The whole situation of an agent in regard to
the Mission Indians is totally different from that of ordinary agency on
a reservation. The duties of an Indian agent on a reservation may be
onerous, but they are in a sense simple. His Indians are all together,
within comparatively narrow limits, and, so to speak, under his hand,
and dependent largely on the Government. The Mission Indians, on the
contrary, are scattered in isolated settlements thirty, forty, a hundred
miles away from the agency headquarters, many of them in regions
difficult of access. Moreover, the Indians are in the main
self-supporting and independent. Protection or oversight worth anything
to them can only be given by a systematic method of frequent visitation.
What is true in this respect of the agent's work is, if possible, still
truer of the physician's. If there is to be an agency physician for the
Mission Indians at all, he should be a young, strong, energetic man, who
is both able and willing to make at least four circuits a year through
the villages, and who will hold himself bound to go when called in all
cases of epidemics, serious illness, or accidents occurring among
Indians within one day's journey of the agency headquarters. Whatever
salary it is necessary to pay to secure such service as this should be
paid, or else the office of agency physician to the Mission Indians
should be abolished. Anything less than this is a farce and a fraud.
7th. We recommend that there be secured the appointment of a lawyer, or
a law firm in Los Angeles, to act as special United States attorney in
all cases affecting the interests of these Indians. They have been so
long without any protection from the law that outrages and depredations
upon them have become the practice in all white communities near which
they live. Indians' stock is seized, corraled and held for fines,
sometimes shot, even on the Indians' own reservations or in the public
domain. In seasons of dearth roving stockmen and shepherds drive their
herds and flocks into Indians' grain-fields, destroying their
subsistence for a whole year. Lands occupied by Indians or by Indian
villages are filed on for homestead entry precisely as if they were
vacant lands. This has been more than once done without the Indians
receiving any warning until the sheriff arrived with the writ for their
ejectment. The Indians' own lives are in continual danger, it being a
safe thing to shoot an Indian at any time when only Indian witnesses are
present. (See Exhibits C, E.) It is plain that all such cases as these
should be promptly dealt with by equal means. One of the greatest
difficulties in the position of the Mission Indians' agent is, that in
all such cases he is powerless to act except through the at best slow
and hitherto unsatisfactory channel of reporting to the Interior
Department. He is in the embarrassing position of a guardian of wards
with property and property rights, for the defence of which he is unable
to call in prompt legal assistance. In instances in which the Indians
themselves have endeavored to get redress through the courts, they have
in the majority of cases—to the shame of the Southern California bar be
it spoken—been egregiously cheated. They are as helpless as children in
the hands of dishonest, unscrupulous men. We believe that the mere fact
of there being such a United States legal authority near at hand to act
for the Indians would in a short time, after a few effective
illustrations of its power, do away with the greater proportion of the
troubles demanding legal interference.
The question of the rights of Indians living on grant lands to remain
there will, if the Department decides to test it by law, involve some
litigation, as it will no doubt be contested by the ranch owners; but
this point once settled, and the Indians secured in the ownership of
their lands, a very few years will see the end of any special need of
litigation in their behalf. We recommend in this connection and for this
office the firm of Brunson & Wells, of Los Angeles. We have obtained
from this firm a clear and admirable opinion on these Indians' right to
their present homes (see Exhibit A), and we know them to be of high
standing at the bar and to have a humane sympathy for Indians.
8th. We recommend that there should be a judicious distribution of
agricultural implements among these Indians. No village should be
omitted. Wagons, harness, ploughs, spades, and hoes are greatly needed.
It is surprising to see what some of these villages have accomplished
with next to no implements. In the Santa Ysabel village the Indians had
three hundred acres in wheat; there were but three old broken ploughs in
the village, no harness, and no wagon. (See Exhibit G.) There is at
present much, and not unfounded, sore feeling in some of the villages
which have thus far received no help of this kind, while others of the
villages have been supplied with all that was needed.
9th. There should always be provided for the Mission Indians' agency a
small fund for the purchase of food and clothing for the very old and
sick in times of especial destitution. The Mission Indians as a class do
not beg. They are proud-spirited, and choose to earn their living. They
will endure a great deal before they will ask for help. But in seasons
of drought or when their little crops have, for any cause, failed, there
is sometimes great distress in the villages. Last winter the Cahuillas,
in the Cahuilla Valley (see Exhibit C), were for many weeks without
sufficient food. The teacher of their school repeatedly begged them to
let her write to the agent for help, but they refused. At last one night
the captain and two of the head men came to her room and said she might
write. They could no longer subdue the hunger. She wrote the letter; the
next morning at daylight the Indians were at her door again. They had
reconsidered it, they said, and they would not beg. They would rather
starve, and they would not permit her to send the letter.
10th. The second and third special points on which we were instructed to
report to the Department were, whether there still remains in Southern
California any Government land suitable for an Indian reservation, and
if not, in case lands must be bought for that purpose, what lands can be
most advantageously purchased. There is no Government land remaining in
Southern California in blocks of any size suitable for either white or
Indian occupancy. The reason that the isolated little settlements of
Indians are being now so infringed upon and seized, even at the desert's
edge and in stony fastnesses of mountains, is that all the good
lands—_i.e._, lands with water or upon which water can be developed—are
taken up.
We recommend two purchases of land,—one positively, the other
contingently. The first is the Pauma Ranch, now owned by Bishop Mora, of
Los Angeles. (See Exhibit P.) This ranch, lying as it does between the
Rincon and Pala Reservations on the north and south, and adjoining the
La Jolla Reservation, affords an admirable opportunity to consolidate a
large block of land for Indian occupancy. It is now, in our opinion, a
desirable tract. While it is largely hilly and mountainous, there is
considerable good sheep and cattle pasturing on it, and a fair amount of
bottom land for cultivation along the river. The price asked for it is,
as lands are now selling in Southern California, low. If the already
existing reservations are cleared of whites, unified, and made ready for
Indian occupancy, and the Government lands now in actual occupation by
Indians be assured to them, the addition of this Pauma Ranch will be, in
our opinion, all that will be required to make comfortable provision for
all the Indians, except those living within the boundaries of confirmed
grants.
Should the Department decide to remove all these and provide them with
new homes, we recommend the purchase of the Santa Ysabel ranch. (See
Exhibit Q.) The purchase of this ranch for an Indian reservation was
recommended to the Government some years ago, but it was rejected on
account of the excessive price asked for it. It is now offered to the
Government for $95,000. During the past ten years the value of lands in
Southern California has in many places quadrupled; in some it is worth
more than twenty times what it was then. We have no hesitation in saying
that it is not now possible to buy an equally suitable tract for any
less money. The ranch contains 17,719.40 acres; is within the rain belt
of San Diego County, is well watered, and, although it is largely
mountainous, has good pasture, some meadow land, and some oak timber. It
is, moreover, in the region to which the greater proportion of these
Indians are warmly attached and in the vicinity of which most of them
are now living. One large Indian village is on the ranch. (See Exhibit
G.) Father Ubach, the Catholic priest of San Diego, who has known these
Indians for seventeen years, says of it, "it is the only tract to which
human power can force these Indians to remove." We recommend this
purchase only as a last resort in the event of the Department's being
compelled to provide new homes for all the Indians now living within the
boundaries of confirmed grants.
In conclusion, we would make the suggestion that there are several small
bands of Mission Indians north of the boundaries of the so-called
Mission Indians' agency, for whom it would seem to be the duty of the
Government to care as well as for those already enumerated. One of these
is the San Carlos Indians, living near the old San Carlos Mission at
Monterey. There are nearly one hundred of these, and they are living on
lands which were given to them before the Secularization Act in 1834.
These lands are close to the boundaries of the ranch San Francisquito of
Monterey. These boundaries have been three times extended, each time
taking in a few more acres of the Indians' lands, until now they have
only ten or twelve acres left. There are also some very destitute
Indians living in the neighborhood of the San Antonio Mission, some
sixty miles south of Monterey, and of San Miguel, forty miles farther
south, and of Santa Juez near Santa Barbara. These Indians should not be
overlooked in arrangements made for the final establishing of the
Mission Indians in Southern California.
Hoping that these recommendations may be approved by the Department, we
are,
Very respectfully yours,
HELEN JACKSON.
ABBOT KINNEY.
HON. H. PRICE, Commissioner of Indian Affairs
INDEX OF EXHIBITS.
Page
A. Legal brief of Brunson & Wells 475
B. Saboba 479
C. Cahuilla Reservation 481
D. Warner's Ranch Indians 485
E. San Ysidros 488
F. Los Coyotes 490
G. Santa Ysabel 492
H. Mesa Grande 494
I. Capitan Grande 496
J. Sequan 500
K. The Conejos 501
L. Pala and neighborhood, including Rincon,
Pauma, and La Jolla 502
M. Pachanga 504
N. The Desert Indians 506
O. San Gorgonio Reservation 508
P. Pauma Ranch and the proposal for its
sale to the U. S. Government 512
Q. Proposition for sale of Santa Ysabel
Ranch to the U. S. Government 513
R. Copy of California State law for the
government and protection of Indians 513
EXHIBIT A.
Los Angeles, Cal., May 12th, 1883.
SIR,—In response to your verbal request asking our opinion as to the
following questions, _viz._:—
1st. Have civilized Indians and those who are engaged in agriculture or
labor of any kind, and also those who are known as Pueblos or Rancheros
Indians in California, a right to occupy and possess lands which they
and their predecessors had continuously occupied, possessed, and enjoyed
while said lands were under the jurisdiction of the Mexican Government,
up to and at the date of the ratification of the treaty Guadalupe
Hidalgo between the United States and the Mexican Republic, March, 1848,
notwithstanding that said lands so occupied and enjoyed by the Indians
aforesaid had been while they were so occupying and possessing the same,
by the proper Spanish and Mexican authorities before the ratification of
said treaty granted to certain Spanish and Mexican citizens, and since
the acquisition by the United States of the territory embracing said
lands so granted been by the United States confirmed, surveyed, and
patented to the grantees or their legal representatives?
2d. Has the United States Government the right to condemn lands within
the State of California for the purpose of giving Indians homes thereon?
We have the honor to submit the following as our reply and answer to the
above interrogatories. Before and at the date of the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo, all the territory now known as California was a part of and
under the jurisdiction of the Mexican Republic. We do not regard it as
necessary, in order to answer the questions propounded, to give a
history of the land-laws of Spain and Mexico, nor the method of
acquiring land prior to August 18th, 1824.
On August 18th, 1824, the Mexican Congress enacted a general
colonization law, prescribing the mode of granting lands throughout the
Mexican territory. This law was limited and defined by a series of
regulations ordained by the Mexican Government, November 21st, 1828. By
these laws and regulations, which have ever since continued in force,
the governors of Territories were authorized to grant, with certain
specified exceptions, vacant land. By the fundamental laws of 1824, the
regulations of 1824, and the regulations of the departmental legislature
consistent therewith, all Mexican grants in California have been
determined; and by this has been determined the validity of every grant
of land in California. (Lesse & Vallejo _vs._ Clark, 3 Cal. 17.) The
limitations, as well as the fundamental laws mentioned, provided that in
making grants or distribution of land (such as are now known as Mexican
grants),—
1st. It must be vacant land, and, if occupied by Indians, then without
prejudice to them.
2d. That such land as would be granted to the damage and injury of the
Indians should be returned to the rightful owners.
The Mexican Government reserved from private grant all lands occupied
and possessed by the Indians. Great care was taken to make strict
reservation of such land; and by law no valid grant of land occupied or
possessed by Indians could be made so as to dispossess them. When
California was ceded to the United States, the rights of property of its
citizens remained unchanged. By the law of nations those rights were
sacred and inviolable, and the obligations passed to the new government
to protect and maintain them. The term property, as applied to lands,
embraces all titles, legal or equitable, perfect or imperfect.
(Teschemacher _vs._ Thompson, 18 Cal. 12.) The United States never had,
and does not now possess, any power under or by virtue of said treaty
whereby it could or can confer upon a citizen holding and claiming
property granted by the Mexican Government other or different property
rights than those conferred by such Government, and such as were
possessed, enjoyed, and held by him while under the jurisdiction of such
government. It cannot abridge or enlarge the right to enjoy and to
possess property held by virtue of Mexican law at the date of said
treaty, nor can it deprive persons of any right to property which
belonged to them at the date of said treaty.
A mere grant of land by the Mexican governor without compliance by the
grantee with the further requisitions of the Mexican laws forms but an
inchoate title, and the land passed to the United States, which hold it
subject to the trust imposed by the treaty and the equities of the
grantee. _The execution of the trust is a political power._ (Lesse _vs._
Clark, 3 Cal. 17.)
By the fundamental laws of 1824, the regulation of 1828, and the
regulation of the departmental legislature, one condition was that in
making private grants of lands the lands granted must be vacant lands.
Lands occupied by and in possession of Indians were not such vacant
lands; for by the same laws and regulations it was provided that such
grants must be without prejudice or damage to the Indians, and that such
land granted to the damage and injury of the Indians should be returned
to the rightful owners. (New Code, law 9, title 12, book 4.)
The Mexican authorities recognized the rights of Indians to hold, enjoy,
and possess lands, and there are of record a number of grants made by
the Mexican authorities to Indians. They not only had the right to
receive grants of land under the Mexican laws, but also to convey the
lands so granted. (United States _vs._ Sinnol, Hoffman's Reports, 110.)
It will be observed that at the date when private grants of land were
made with some regard for law, the limitation and conditions required by
law to be observed were inserted in such grants, _viz._: L.C., No.
342-6, S. D., 398; L. C., No. 254-219, S. D., 228-407; L. C., No.
740-372, N. D., 208; L. C., No. 326-359, N. D., 389; Hoffman's Report
Land Cases, pp. 35 _et seq._; Surveyor-General's letter, dated San
Francisco, March 14, 1883, and addressed to Mrs. William S. Jackson.