nature, you do not feel inclined to take all the responsibility on yourself, and ask that instructions should be given you, and some precedent established for your guidance in the future should similar events occur, and, for the peace, safety, and correct discipline on the reservation, this Indian who committed the murder should be hung.

In answer, I would state that in cases of murder by an Indian or Indians in this State, capital punishment can only be inflicted by and through the civil authorities. The law must take the same course as in case a white man had committed the act, with this difference in case of the Indian-Indian evidence or testimony is admissible. The superintendent, agent on the reservation, nor the military authorities have any power or authority by law to inflict capital punishment in cases of this kind, and the civil authorities of your county should, on your complaint that a murder has been committed by an Indian, as you have stated, have him arrested, tried, and punished, or, if you have arrested him, he can be delivered to the

civil authorities for trial.

The civil jurisdiction in cases of this kind may not be the best so far as the punishment of the Indian is concerned, but on Indian reservations in this State the civil laws of the State have jurisdiction, and for the agents to ignore that jurisdiction by taking a different course would subject them or him to penalties for a violation of the laws, which could not be advised or approved by the superintendent.

You must be the judge of the criminality and of the punishment which should be inflicted, and if justice and the safety and the preservation of good order on the reservation demand it, the criminal should be delivered to the officers of your county if in your custody; and if not, measures should be taken for his arrest and conviction. Indians located on lands of which the government has no title are subject to the laws of the State, although they may be under the care and charge of government agents, and for capital offences must be convicted and punished by said laws. In Indian territory, or on reservations located on government lands, they may be tried and convicted in United States courts.

Yours, respectfully,

WM. BRYSON. Esq.,

CHARLES MALTBY, Superintendent Indian Affairs, California.

Indian Agent, Smith River Reservation, California.

C.

SMITH RIVER RESERVATION, CALIFORNIA,

May 8, 1866.

SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith my report of Indians for the month of April, 1:66.

The Indian referred to in my letter some days ago that committed the murder I have since executed. He declared his intention to kill any one that undertook to arrest him. As Mr. White and myself were walking out one evening we came upon him and tried to catch him. He got away from us and ran. White ran after him and overtook him; the Indian struck at him with a knife, cutting him on the neck over the artery; his shirt collar and cravat alone saved his life.

I then told the Indians they must catch him. The Smith River Indians volunteered to help. He was finally caught by the reservation Indians and brought in, and I hung him in the presence of all the Indians in the county, and restored peace to the reservation, which would have become much disturbed had I not pursued the course I did. Indians sometimes have to be dealt with severely and promptly. I made no mention of the execution in my report of Indians, as I did not know whether others could see the necessity for it that I did, and thought it as well to say nothing about it to the authorities at Washington.

I am convinced I did what was best for the service and the Indians generally, and had I not pursued the course I did, I am satisfied I would have had trouble.

Hoping my action in this matter will meet with your approval, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. CHAS. MALTBY,

WILLIAM BRYSON,

United States Indian Agent, Smith River Reservation.

Superintendent Indian Affairs, California.

D.

OFFICE INDIAN AFFAIRS, CALIFORNIA,

San Francisco, May 22, 1866

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your communication under date of May 8th instant, in which this office is advised that you have executed, by hanging, the Indian guilty of murder referred to in your letter to this office under date of April 24th ultimo.

In your letter of above date you stated that you would take no action as to the punishment of the Indian until you were instructed from this office. I think you could not have received my instructions, judging from the action you have taken in this matter.

Your letter asking instructions was received May 3d instant, and instructions were forwarded by mail same date, advising you that the criminal must be delivered to the civil authorities for trial and punishment.

I have no doubt, from the statements and information contained in your letters of the 24th of April ultimo and 8th of May instant, that the Indian referred to was guilty and merited the punishment he received, but, in the absence of law and authority for the action and course you have taken in this matter, you have assumed a responsibility which I could not have advised, and which action cannot be approved by this office.

Copies of the correspondence relative to this subject will be forwarded to the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs by next steamer.

Very respectfully,

WILLIAM BRYSON, Esq.,

CHARLES MALTBY, Superintendent Indian Affairs, California.

Indian Agent, Smith River Reservation, California.

No 22.

LOS ANGELOS, CALIFORNIA,

August 5, 1866.

SIR: As this is the time for making my annual report in relation to Indian affairs, I beg leave to make the following statement:

In consequence of the very small amount which has been furnished for the Indians in the southern portion of the State very little has been done for them, and except the Mission Indians and Cahuillas nothing. The condition of the Mission Indians has changed very little since my last report. The difficulties at that time existing have quieted down, and the authority of the chief, Manuel Cote, appears to be respected.

The small amount of seeds and farining tools furnished during the last year very materially benefited and assisted the Indians in raising their own subsistence, and were it not for certain persons living in their vicinity and among them who furnish them with intoxicating liquors, and in return get nearly all they raise, the Indians might live quite comfortably. In fact, the selling of whiskey and influence of lawless whites causes all the difficulties that exist among the Indians. I can suggest no remedy, except a reservation, from which all lawless persons could be excluded. There has been some trouble among the Cahuillas, and the difficulties can nearly all be traced to the influence of bad white men.

I have not visited Cabeson valley since last spring, but am informed the Indians made good use of the few seeds and tools distributed to them, and I can only renew my suggestion that a reservation be established in that valley, and that a practical and experienced man be placed in charge. The expenditure would be comparatively small, and I have no doubt in two years the Indians would be self-sustaining.

The Chimchinves on the Colorado river, and the Pah-Utes of the desert, have been quite troublesome during the last year. Several persons have been killed by them, and many animals stolen. These Indians are composed of roving bands, having no fixed habitation, but changing from one watering place to another on the desert, in order to pick up a precarious living. I can suggest no other course to pursue with these wandering tribes than to gather them together in a reservation at some point on the Colorado river and compel them to stay there. They will be much more difficult to manage than the other Indians west of the Colorado, but I think by judicious management they can, in a short time, nearly, or quite, support themselves. These Indians have lately made a foray and driven off the government stock from the military post at Camp Cady, on the Mojave river. They were pursued by the soldiers, when they turned and gave battle, killing three of the soldiers and mortally wounding one, the remainder being obliged to retreat. Re-enforcements have been sent from Drum barracks, but the damage is done, and it will cost the government more to replace the property stolen and chastise the Indians than it would to have fed them all on a reservation for a year. The Chimchinves are undoubtedly a branch of the Pah-Ute tribe, and I am satisfied they are concerned in running off the stock from Camp Cady. They have been for some time at war with the Mojave Indians on the Colorado river, and are in a state of starvation. They have no means of subsistence except lizards, desert rats and mice, and occasionally a jack rabbit, if they can kill it. I have in a former report represented the condition of these Indians, and suggested the only remedy I can see. I have had no authority or means of providing for them, and it would be of no use to go among them without both. I think there would be no difficulty in getting nearly or quite all of them on to a reservation on the Colorado, and when once there, by proper management, they can be kept and taught to work. Accompanying this you will find an estimate of the personal property, land cultivated, and other matters relating to the Mission Indians. I am sorry to say they have been sadly neg

lected, although, in point of intelligence and industry, they are far ahead of any other Indians in California, and I would recommend that schools be established among them at an early day.

Trusting that my report may meet your approbation, I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

CHARLES MALTBY, Esq.

J. Q. A. STANLEY,
Special Indian Agent.

Superintendent Indian Affairs, San Francisco, California.

No. 23.

OFFICE Indian Affairs, CALIFORNIA,
San Francisco, March, 1866.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of date February 13, ultimo, relative to the establishment of schools on the Indian reservations in this State, requesting report and estimate from the office on this subject. Also enclosed copy of extract from a report adopted by the Presbyterian Synod of the Pacific, relative to the establishment of schools on each of the reservations in California.

The information desired in your letter embraces, first, what kind of schools-manual-labor or day schools-should be established; second, the cost of establishing and maintaining schools of either description on each reservation. In reference to the first proposition I would recommend the establishment of mauual-labor schools on the several reservations as soon as practicable. I am fully satisfied that from schools of this kind the Indians will derive more real and lasting benefit than from day schools. But little real benefit will the young Indians receive from any efforts to educate them unless, in connexion with those efforts, they are instructed in habits of industry, neatness, and economy, those being taught in connexion with their education, which can only be done effectually in manual-labor schools. Much good may be anticipated, and the desired results, so far as effected, will be of real and lasting benefit to them. The condition of the Indians on this coast, far behind in intelligence and advancement many of the Indian tribes on the Atlantic slope, will not warrant us in expecting that success, at first, in the establishment of schools that otherwise might be expected and desired, but the duty of the government is no less to make the effort and attempt to elevate and improve the condition of the Indians in this State, over which it has assumed supervision and care. It is a work that will require money, time, and perseverance before much good can be effected; but of the good results I have no doubt, if proper and persistent efforts are made. I shall, therefore, in making my estimates of the cost of establishing and maintaining schools on the different reservations, do so with reference to the establishment of manuallabor schools, as soon as the conditions of the several reservations will admit, advising that day schools be established at Round Valley and Hoopa Valley reservations, and the employment of a male and female teacher-a man and his wife preferred-for each, as soon as the necessary appropriation is made. Estimates will be made, as requested, for Smith River and Tule River reservations, but for the want of suitable buildings at those agencies no schools can be established until the title to the land is obtained by the government and their location permanently fixed.

I estimate the cost of establishing and maintaining a school at Smith River agency as follows: For the erection of school house, eight hundred dollars; erection of buildings for teachers' residence and scholars, twelve hundred dollars; furniture for the same, three hundred dollars; salary for two teachers for six months of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1867, at six hundred dollars each per annum, six hundred dollars.

At Hoopa Valley agency, repairs and additions on building for school-house, twelve hundred dollars; for house for residence of teachers and scholars, four hundred dollars: for furniture for same, four hundred dollars; for salary of two teachers, as above, six hundred dollars. The transportation of goods to this agency is expensive, which increases the amount necessary for furniture. Buildings in this agency are erected of sufficient accommodations for the residence of teachers and scholars, and for a school-house, some repairs and additions being necessary.

At Round Valley agency: For building school-house, twelve hundred dollars; for house for residence of teachers and scholars, fourteen hundred dollars; for furniture for same, three hundred dollars; for salary for two teachers, as above, six hundred dollars.

Should the government obtain full possession of the valley and the improvements of the settlers, which is desired, buildings of sufficient capacity for the residence of teachers and scholars and for a school-house will be obtained, and no cost will be incurred in buildings or houses for that purpose.

At Tule River agency: For the erection of school-house, eight hundred dollars; for the building of house for the residence of teachers and scholars, twelve hundred dollars; furniture for the same, three hundred dollars; for salary of two teachers, as above, six hundred dollars; the books and clothing of scholars, six hundred dollars; making a total of eleven thousand three hundred dollars. No estimate is made for the subsistence of teachers and scholars, anticipating that they will be subsisted from the products of the reservations. The

estimates have been made with due regard to economy, and with the belief that the necessary buildings can be erected at the cost of the amounts estimated, with the labor which may be obtained from employés and Indians. Estimates for the salary of teachers have been made for six months of the year only, as some time must intervene after the appropriations are made before the necessary buildings can be prepared.

I have had, since the receipt of your letter, an interview with Rev. John Edwards, of Gilroy, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Synod of the Pacific. He expressed himself decidedly in favor of manual-labor schools, and of the imperative duty of government to establish schools for the amelioration of the Indians on this coast. He will give his cooperation in this worthy object, and his experience in conducting Indian schools on the Atlantic side of the mountains will be of value in this direction.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. D. N. COOLEY,

Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

CHARLES MALTBY, Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Estimate of amount of funds necessary for the establishment and maintaining schools on each of the Indian reservations in California for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1867.

No. 24.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

Office of Indian Affairs, June 26, 1866.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th ultimo in relation to Indian reservations in California. Before proceeding to answer specifically the inquiries contained in your letter, I think it proper, in order that you may have a correct understanding of the whole matter, to give a brief history in reference to the establishment of reservations for Indian purposes in that State. The information in possession of this office, received from time to time from the superintendents and agents in California, is not as specific as could be desired, being general and diffuse in its character, but from it I am able to give the following:

Commencing in 1853, (for it is not thought to be necessary to go back of that date for the purpose in view,) I find that on the 13th of April of that year, Edward F. Beale, superintendent of Indian affairs for California, was instructed by Hon. R. McClelland, then Secretary of the Interior, to proceed to carry out the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1853, (Statutes at Large, vol. 10, page 233,) which provided for five military reservations for Indian purposes, not to exceed 25,000 acres each, and appropriated $250,000 for the purpose of subsisting and removing the Indians to such reservations, and for their protection. In August, of the same year, Superintendent Beale reported great difficulty in the way on account of the conflict with Spanish grants and pre-emption claims in localities that were desirabie for reservation purposes. On the 28th of August, 1854, he reports that one reservation had been established at Tejon pass, to which about 700 Indians had been removed. Passing over a period of some two years, during which time various reports were received in reference to Indian affairs in California, general in their character, on the 4th of September, 1856, Superintendent Henley, the successor of Superintendent Beale, reports that four permanent reservations had been established, viz: the Tejon, in the southwestern part of the State; the Nome Lackee, in Colusa county; the Klamath, on a river of same name in the northern part of the State: the Mendocino, fifty miles south of Cape Mendocino, on the shores of the Pacific. In addition to these he reports several temporary reserves or farms, upon which small numbers of Indians have been collected; among these are Fresno and King's River and Nomecult, (Round Valley.) On the 15th of August, 1857, Superintendent Henley reports five permanent reservations, Fresno River being added to the four above mentioned.

In 1858 Mr. G. Bailey was appointed as special agent to investigate the condition of the Indian reservations in California; and Commissioner Greenwood, in 1859, referring to the report of Agent Bailey, speaks of the "unsatisfactory condition of things in California;" "that there is a greater number of reservations than is necessary," and recommends the abandonment of the present and the substitution of a different plan of operations.

The act of Congress approved June 19, 1860, (Statutes at Large, vol. 12, page 57,) authorized the Secretary of the Interior to divide California into two districts, and in accordance therewith the State was divided into the northern and southern Indian districts, and agents were appointed for each.

Commissioner Dole, in his annual report for 1861, remarks as follows: "Within the southern district of the State not a single reservation exists that is not claimed or owned by the whites, nor is there one that is at all adequate in extent to the wants of the Indians. They appear to be simply farms a few hundred acres in extent, about and upon which the Indians are expected by hundreds, and in some instances by thousands, to congregate, and from which a small portion of their wants are supplied. Within the northern district the Jeservations are owned by government, but, with the exception, perhaps, of that of Round Valley, they, too, are insufficient in size, and, in consequence of their occupation under one pretext and another by whites, are of no more real utility to the Indians than those of the southern district."

Agent Wentworth, for the southern district, reports, July 14, 1861, that Fresno River reservation has been abandoned; and Agent Hanson, for the northern district, reports, in July of the same year, virtually to the same effect in reference to Nome Lackee, "that there is no land enclosed and under cultivation, buildings are neglected," &c.; that a portion of the reservation has been taken possession of by whites; and on the 31st of December of the same year he reports the entire loss of Klamath, as a reservation, by a freshet which carried off the soil and covered it with sand.

In 1862 Agent Hanson reports in favor of a reservation at Smith river, in the extreme northwestern portion of the State; and on May 3d, of the same year, by direction of the Hon. C. B. Smith, then Secretary of the Interior, the Commissioner of the General Land Office ordered its survey and reservation from sale.

On the 3d of December, 1862, Agent Wentworth reported that he had laid off a reservation at Owen's river; and on the 24th of July, 1863, he reports that Tejon reservation having been patented by the United States to late Superintendent Beale and other parties, the Indians on that reservation had been removed to Tule River farm.