from their little ones during the night, and being very indulgent to their children will not bring them to the school at all unless with their consent. These unfavorable conditions have been intensified by the belief on the part of some of the parents that the deaths above mentioned were wholly ascribable to their attendance at the school, and though every effort has been made to disabuse their minds of such fallacy, they have been but partially successful. The whole number of scholars who have attended the school one month or more during the year was 70, while the average attendance during that time was but 24, the largest average attendance in any one month being 36. The cost of maintaining the school was— Salaries of teachers and employés All other expenses Total $3, 455. 44 3, 496. 88 6, 952. 32 Industries taught in the school: sewing, cooking, housekeeping, gardening, carpentering, and blacksmithing. An excellent crop of vegetables was growing in the garden when the river submerged rit, and all that could be saved was 40 bushels of potatoes and a few onions. At Walker River Reserve the day school is much more successful in securing scholars, they being allowed to go home at the close of school hours. The whole number of scholars who have attended this school one month or more during the year was 52, and the average attendance during that time was 35, the largest average attendance during any one month being 40. The cost of maintaining this school was- All other expenses.. Total $1, 110. 00 903. 62 2,013. 62 S. S. SEARS, United States Indian Agent. Industries taught in the school: sewing, cooking, and housekeeping. The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. REPORT OF WESTERN SHOSHONE AGENCY. WESTERN SHOSHONE AGENCY, NEV., August 15, 1890. SIR: In compliance with your request of June 1, 1890, I have the honor to submit my first annual report. A census just completed shows the population to be: Leaving 57 below six years of age. Increase over last census, 110, nearly all of whom have moved in from the surrounding country and taken up their abode within the reservation voluntarily. A few that were hunting in the neighborhood of the Juniper Mountains were ordered in. Those that came voluntarily have worked many years among the white farmers, and will be a valuable addition to the reservation. As a rule they are industrious and anxious to build up a home of their own; and I would here state that a decided majority of these people are desirous of having the land surveyed and allotted to them. I have taken a tape-line and measured off several farms, marked the corners with stone mounds, altered the fences so as to conform to the lines laid out, and built a main road on the east side of the valley, moved such houses as were located on the bottom to the high land alongside of the road. It was hard work to start, but once they comprehended my intention fully they worked with alacrity, and the result is that the settlement in the neighborhood of the agency is much improved in appearance. FARMING. Owing to the prevalence of a terrible drought last year the crops were almost a total failure, consequently the Indians were very much discouraged. Very few had seed or the means to get it with, so that the crop planted this year is small in area but promises to be excellent in quality. The hay crop from the natural meadows was large and of fine quality. The Indians have harvested and stacked as individuals about 2,300 tons of hay. No Indian that owns a horse or cow is without his haystack for winter use. The Department sent me a large lot of garden seeds for distribution, and I have succeeded in inducing forty-seven heads of families to plant gardens, but these Indians are failures as gardeners. Work is too confining for them. They will work faithfully during the planting season, but that done they must have a ramble in the mountains; their gardens go to destruction. I have worked very hard to raise a good school garden (as an object lesson), and have promise of fair results. It is visited daily by the Indians, who eagerly watch the details of its management, and show an interest which gives hope of better results another year in the gardening line. IRRIGATION. Nothing can be grown here without irrigation; and as our streams are rivers in the early spring months when fed by the melting snow in the mountains and dry ravines in July and August, it will readily be seen that some means must be devised to store the surplus water of the spring months in order to make farming a success. Hence I would earnestly urge the Department to take such steps as it may deem best to the end that proper surveys may be made to ascertain the cost of storing sufficient water to irrigate the tillable land on the reservation during the months of April and May. I constructed a main ditch 8 feet wide at the bottom and 12 feet wide at the top, with a capacity of 14 inches in depth and 14 miles in length. I then narrowed the ditch to one-third of the full size and carried it 13 miles farther. This work was done wholly by the Indians, with such assistance as I could give them personally, and the work was well and faithfully done. INDIAN HOUSES. One great drawback in the past (and it still exists to a certain extent) in getting these people to erect houses is the practice of burning a house when a person dies in it; hence the Indian house represented the smallest amount of work possible. But this feeling is dying out among the more intelligent and progressive ones and already quite a number of comfortable log and frame dwellings exist, while the promise for the future is bright The practice of the Department in furnishing them shingles for roofs and lumber for floors, doors, etc., works well and is beginning to be appreciated by the Indians. FANDANGO AND GAMBLING. It is the custom of these people to have four fandangos a year, when all, old and young, move to a common camp, selected for the purpose, where they erect tents and willow wickiups and engage in singing, dancing, and gambling until worn out. That it is demoralizing goes without saying, for everything goes to destruction while the fandango lasts. No work is done; crops perish for want of water or are destroyed by stock; the few that have milch cows turn them out; the chickens and pigs die; in fact there can be no true Indian home until the fandangos are broken up, or at least modified. It is useless to forbid the assembly on the reservation for they will retire to the mountains, stay longer and do worse than when under the agent's eye. During the past winter I several times gave little parties to the school children, which the white employés and residents attended. We introduced the civilized dance, which was highly appreciated by the young folks. They proved apt pupils, and were soon bowing gracefully to their partners in imitation of the whites, while the old folks thronged the room watching with interest the performance of the children. These fandangos are both social and religious in their character, and the only feasible way that I can think of to break them up is to substitute something else for them, and I believe that if the agency had an assembly hall, such as every white community of this size has, where weekly parties could be held under the control and management of the white folks, substituting civilized music, methods, and manners for barbarous ones, I believe that the fandango would surely disappear. FREIGHTING. Last October, under instructions from the honorable Commissioner, the Indians began hauling the agency freight. The work of rigging up the wagons and teams with the help at hand was very great, but it was favorably accomplished, and to-day the Indian freighter is a success. Several have purchased new wagons with the proceeds of their freight. SANITARY. There has been considerable sickness during the past year, but the list of fatal cases (except with the aged and infirm) have been few in numbers. The influence of the medicine man is disappearing, and the agency physician is being called very freely, but much of his work comes to naught for want of a place to properly care for the sick. It is often worse than useless to administer strong medicine to sick persons who are lying in a brush wickiup half buried in snow. To successfully care for the sick this place should have a hospital, and I would earnestly and respectfully urge its importance to the Department. I also herewith inclose a report of the agency physician. CRIMES. Last February the chief medicine man of the Shoshone tribe (Dr. Boy) died. Elaborate preparations were at once made by the Indians to appease the gods by a liberal flow of horse blood. This sacrifice I succeeded in preventing; but while engaged in this work one of the sub-chiefs called together a selected lot of young men and ordered that one should be selected to shed human blood to appease the wrath of the gods that had caused the death of this medicine man. The wife of Jack Blossom, a hopeless paralytic, was the chosen victim, and one Joe Buck executioner, who killed the woman by cutting her throat with a pocket-knife. Joe Buck was tried for the crime in the United States circuit court at Carson City, Nev., and acquitted. EDUCATION. I herewith transmit the report of the superintendent of school, Fannie A. Weeks, and in connection will state that the school was maintained during the entire school year of ten months, with a total enrollment of 43 and an average attendance of 28. Some progress has been made by the children, but I would here respectfully suggest to the Department the propriety of selecting a teacher for Indian schools from among those who have some knowledge of Indian character. The Western States and Territories are full of young and active school-teachers who have been brought in actual contact with Indians all their lives, and it seems to me they ought to make a very superior class of teach ers. A new school kitchen has been built, the old school building repaired; stairway, steps, and landings have been rebuilt. A fine liberty pole, 62 feet in height, has been put up in front of the school building. On each Monday morning the school elects one of its number as flag-boy for the week, so the flag is kept constantly flying. INDUSTRIAL. During the month of April an industrial teacher was appointed, and from that time to the close of school, June 30, 1890, the older boys were worked about half of each day in the school garden. They are apt pupils, and under proper management willing to work. I have also built a fine stockade corral for the use of the school cows, and have in course of erection a root cellar and milk-house. In conclusion I will say that when I took charge of this agency ten months ago everything about the place was decidedly out of repair, and the work of rehabilitating the place has been arduous in the extreme; but I have been cheerfully and intelligently sustained by your department throughout, for which please accept my thanks. All of which is respectfully submitted. Very respectfully, The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, WILLIAM I. PLUMB, United States Indian Agent. REPORT OF TEACHER OF DAY SCHOOL, WESTERN SHOSHONE AGENCY. SIR: I have the honor to submit the annual report of the Western Shoshone Indian School for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890. I took charge of said school August 26, 1889, and, to my great surprise, I found the school building and everything pertaining thereto in a most dilapidated condition, and nothing to rely upon for success but one's physical strength and energy. The school had been disbanded the latter part of May, and was still in vacation. The closing of an Indian school in the spring carries with it the greatest disadvantage. No matter for what cause this may be done, the effect upon the Indians is the same, and they desire a vacation from spring until fall each succeeding year. The winter, which was the severest and most rigorous known for a number of years in this section, entailed upon the school much hardship and suffering. The school-room and the heating appliances were by no means suited to the emergency, and it was difficult to keep the children half way comfortable. Their attendance during the long cold months was remarkable. To reach the school many of the smaller children waded through snow up to their waists. This can be more fully appreciated when it is known that they did so on empty stomachs, for most of them came without breakfast, and, shivering in their wet clothes, patiently waited for their dinner. It would be far better if the school could furnish the children three meals a day instead of one. During the year 43 pupils have been enrolled, the greatest quarterly average being 31. They have made rapid and decided progress in their studies, and have aided with most of the work about the school. Their industrial duties would have been willingly and cheerfully performed but for the obstinate resistance offered by their parents and for the influence wielded over them by the squaws who have served in turn as cooks. No Indian who is not thoroughly civilized should be employed in an Indian school. A few of the larger school-boys worked several weeks on the irrigating ditch and have helped with the garden and farm work. Heretofore none of the children have been taught any of the industrial pursuits, but have simply spent a few hours a day in the school-room. The result of this great mistake is this: To exact any work of them about the school, no matter how light-for instance, requiring the girls to wash the dishes once a day-is regarded as great cruelty, and is promptly resisted by their parents. The idea in the East that these Indians are hungering, thirsting, and panting after education is erroneous in the extreme. The number opposing school advantages is greatly in excess of the number favoring them. From time to time more or less sickness has prevailed among the pupils, influenza and scrofula being the most prominent diseases, neither of which, however, has proved fatal, and there is not a single death to record for the school. The children are bright and intelligent and fully capable of taking an ordinary education, but to accomplish even this the parents as well as the children must be disciplined to habits of industry, system, regularity, and respect for those laboring among them. A white person at an Indian agency can work irreparable injury to an Indian school by exerting an evil influence over the Indians and prejudicing them against the head of the school. I regret having to state that this school has suffered intensely from such an influence. During the winter a new kitchen was built for the use of the school, which was greatly needed. A new stairway leading to the upper story of the school building has also been built. Under the stairway a closet has been provided as a wash-room for the children, which is both convenient and useful. The closing exercises of the school, June 30, were thorough and complete. The pupils did remarkably well, and it is doubtful if white children under like circumstances could do better. The school is now in vacation, but will be re-opened September 1. Trusting that you may receive all the necessary facilities and substantial aid for the advancement of the school and for the general interest of these Indians, I am, Yours, respectfully, FANNIE A. WEEKS, REPORT OF PHYSICIAN, WESTERN SHOSHONE AGENCY. WESTERN SHOSHONE AGENCY, NEV., June 30, 1890. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following as the annual sanitary report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890: Having lived and practiced among these Indians for the past two years, I feel that I can speak intelligently of the general nature of their troubles, and make suggestions which will, if carried out, tend to improve their sanitary condition. Some time last summer I received instructions through the agent to make such recommendations as I saw fit concerning the erection of a hospital at this agency, and on September 10 I wrote a long letter to the honorable Commissioner fully setting forth my views on the subject and strongly urging the Department to make suitable provisions for the Indians in time of sickness. Through some oversight this letter was laid away instead of being forwarded to Washington, and has only recently come to light. I beg leave to submit it with the accompanying report. The general health of the Indians during the past year has been remarkably good. With the exception of la grippe, which visited us during the months of January and February, we have had no epidemic whatever. The prevailing complaints have been catarrhal conjunctivitis and acute bronchitis. The unusual severity of the past winter added largely to the number of lung troubles always to be found among these people, and pneumonia claimed more than its usual share of victims. I am glad to note that under the new administration of affairs at this agency the Indians are rapi idly providing themselves with comfortable houses, and instead of building them down on the river bottoms, as has been the rule heretofore, they are locating their dwellings on the higher land, where it is perfectly dry and healthy. I confidently expect to see good results follow the change. The sanitary report for the month of February contains a full account of the death (from pneumonia) of "Doctor Boy," an old medicine man who had held sway here for many years, and the subsequent murder of a squaw who was charged with having practiced witchcraft upon the "doctor." This old man possessed a wonderful influence among his people, and his death has had a very salutary effect in breaking up their superstitious nonsense. The great majority of Indians seek treatment of the agency physician, and seem to have the utmost confidence in the white man's medicine. The number of cases treated during the past year has been far in excess of what it was the year before, being 808, against 440. Out of a population of 477, as shown by the census, 285 individual Indians have received treatment during the year. There have been 20 births and 16 deaths, only 6 of the latter, however, having been under my charge. The almost total absence of enthetic diseases among these Indians is worthy of remark, although I am reliably informed that troubles of that nature prevail among the Indians just north of us to an alarming extent. I sincerely trust that my suggestions concerning the erection of a hospital will be acted upon by the Department without delay, as it is undoubtedly one of the most pressing needs at this agency. A suitable building could be erected at a comparatively small cost, and I do not know of an Indian on the reservation who would not take advantage of the comforts to be found in a well-appointed hospital. Thanking you for your many courtesies and for the assistance which you have never failed to render me in my special work, I am, Very respectfully, Mr. WILLIAM I. PLUMB, J. J. ROBERTSON, United States Indian Agent. REPORTS OF AGENTS IN NEW MEXICO. REPORT OF MESCALERO AGENCY. MESCALERO AGENCY, N. MEX., August 15, 1890. SIR: I have the honor to submit this my second annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890. The census has been made, and statistics collated with more than usual care, and no effort spared to make them both complete and exact. CENSUS. The population by actual count is 513 souls, divided as follows: Males above eighteen years of age.. MESCALERO RESERVATION. 116 195 103 107 39 The out-boundary lines of the reservation measure about 110 miles and embrace about 462,320 acres, of which only from 4,000 to 5,000 acres are susceptible of cultivation, the balance being rugged mountains, covered with forests of pine, cedar, piñon, fir, and scrub-oak, or without water for irrigation. The valleys are very narrow and marshy and require heavy ditching and drainage before they can be brought under cultivation and utilized for farming purposes. Most of these valleys range from 4,500 to 6,000 feet above sea-level. CLIMATE. On account of the great altitude of the reservation and its nearness to the snowcapped peaks of the Sierra Blanca or White Mountains, we have a dry and exceedingly healthy climate. The winters are somewhat severe, but the summers are delightful, the days warm and the nights cool, the air pure and bracing. BOARDING SCHOOL. There are now in attendance at the boarding school at this agency 33 Mescalero pupils, 12 girls and 21 boys. There are 15 pupils from this agency attending the Grand Junction Industrial School in Colorado, 4 at Troy, Ala., and 1 with a white family. Total number of Mescalero children now in school, 53, or more than one-tenth of the entire tribe. Two school children have died during the year from small-pox, and have received Christian burial in the newly established cemetery near the agency. It is believed that the number of pupils in the boarding school will soon be increased to 40, and possibly 50. |