The tribes residing in Nevada are Pah-Utes, Pi-Utes, Washoes, Shoshones,
and Bannocks, and are native to the districts inhabited by them
respectively.
_Pah-Utes._--These Indians, numbering about 6,000, 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.
_Pi-Utes._--The Pi-Utes, numbering probably 2,500, 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 2,000. 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, 1,500, 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.