for incidental expenses, which was before insufficient to meet the demand upon it. This fund should be almost entirely expended in the purchase of provisions to furnish the Indians during the winter, when they cannot support themselves, and are dependent, in a great measure, upon the bounty of the government and the settlers. My experience with Indians in this Territory has satisfied me that by judicious management no trouble will be had in maintaining with them the most peaceful relations. I have never been among any people who appreciate more highly any exhibition of kindness and good will. I have known no instance of difficulty between them and the whites in which the Indians were the aggressors. They realize fully the power of the government, and would at all times greatly prefer to remain at peace. In this, as in the other newer Territories, are numerous reckless and unprincipled adventurers, who, for purposes of traffic, will sometimes give the Indians whiskey, or will sometimes shoot an Indian from sheer wantonness, and thus cause the lives of innocent whites to be taken in retaliation for their acts. Fewer occurrences of this nature, however, transpire here than in any other Territory, owing to the fact that the people of this Territory are almost entirely engaged in agricultural pursuits. The most entire tranquillity can be preserved among the Indians in this Territory if they be treated by the government with kindness and liberality. A bale of blankets or a sack of flour will accomplish more than its weight in gold expended in prosecuting military operations against the Indians. It is, too, infinitely more in accordance with the spirit of our insti tutions and our professions of Christianity and civilization as a people to treat these poor and ignorant wards of the nation with a spirit of enlightened charity, than to put in practice the doctrine of military surveillance and extermination, which is worthy of the darkest ages of the race. Within a comparatively short period, with proper management, the Indians of this Territory can be made nearly self-supporting, and may look forward to a future of peace, comfort, and tranquillity, in entire subordination to law. I should be doing injustice to my own feelings did I fail to mention in this report the cordial co-operation I have at all times experienced from all the principal Mormons throughout the Territory. In the execution of my official duties I have been obliged often to ask their assistance and co-operation, and in no instance have I failed to receive the most cheerful and hearty aid. I transmit herewith an estimate for the necessary appropriations for the service during the coming year. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner Indian Affairs. F. H. HEAD, Superintendent Indian Affairs. No. 35. FORT BRIDGER AGENCY, September 15, 1866. SIR: In compliance with the regulations of the Indian department, I have the honor to submit the following report relative to the affairs of this agency: About the 20th of September, 1865, the season being far advanced and game scarce, the Shoshones immediately set out for their winter hunting grounds across the mountains, if possible to reach there before the snow fell. The whole tribe accompanied Chief Washakee thither, with the exception of five or ten lodges, who passed the winter on Green river, about fifty miles from here, where they subsisted on the small game there to be found, and making no demands upon me for assistance. The main portion of the tribe proceeded to the valleys of the Pawpawgee and Wind rivers, where they spent the winter hunting the buffalo, deer, elk, and mountain sheep. They procured during the season upwards of one thousand buffalo robes and a few dressed skins of other named animals, a much larger collection than during any previous year. They also secured a good supply of dried meat. Although the past was the severest winter on record for the past ten years, the Indians of my agency never fared better nor looked so fat and healthy as they did on their arrival here this summer, proving conclusively that they had fared sumptuously every day. Such well-fed Indians could not be otherwise than healthy, so that the mortality among them has fallen far below the average. I did not have a favorable opportunity for taking the census of the tribe this year, but estimate the number of Shoshones at nineteen hundred. Aside from the natural increase by births, which has not fallen short of former years, there has been a considerable addition from neighboring tribes. About four hundred Bannocks, under a chief named Tahgay, (a very worthy Indian, and in whom I fully repose confidence,) who have been residing in the vicinity of Soda Springs and along the Snake river, passed over into the Wind River val ley and located themselves adjacent to the Shoshones, with whom they are at peace. They also accompanied the Shoshones on their visit to this agency, and, from all that I can learn of them, I think they desire to be on the most friendly terms with the whites. I did not have any presents for them, and was informed that they had not received any from the Great Father in times past. The neglect, if any, must be owing to their being so far removed from any agency. I supplied them, however, with a few articles of food for their immediate wants out of my own pocket, and would recommend that such provision be made for them in future that they too may receive a share of the annuity goods with their neighbors, the Shoshones. These Bannocks will undoubtedly return to this agency once or twice during the year. The supply of presents for the Indians of this agency reached me in due time, was ample in quantity, and gave universal satisfaction. Shortly before the distribution I had the pleasure of meeting, in company with Superintendent Head, Washakee and his chiefs in council, on which occasion the superintendent made them a speech, and the best of good feeling prevailed. Washakee has lately received, under the pledge of friendship from the President, a fine large silver medal, bearing the image and superscription of the Great Father. There were present at the distribution about one hundred and fifty Utes from the Uintah agency, who came for the purpose of trading with their neighbors, the Shoshones. Some of my Indians were dilatory in coming in this season, but I did not distribute the goods until all, or nearly all, had arrived. The cause of this delay is the scarcity of game and the consequent difficulty in maintaining an independent sustenance at this post, for they have but little money to buy food with. I would here observe that the location of this agency is a bad one, and for this reason: the Indians are obliged to come a long way from their hunting grounds to receive their presents, and by the time they reach me their stock of provisions is well-nigh exhausted, and for them to maintain themselves in this vicinity without an abundance of game is an impossibility, and discourages some from coming at all. I would therefore recommend that a portion of their annuities be given them in money, to enable them to defray the expenses of subsistence during their visit at this agency. In this connexion I would again recommend the plan of locating this tribe upon a permanent reservation and establishing thereon an agency, and make such other arrangements as I have heretofore suggested for improving their condition. The valley of the Wind River mountains is the territory which the tribe have selected for their home, and this is the place where such a reservation should be set apart and an agency established. The country abounds in game, has a very mild climate, and possesses agricultural advantages which make it a great desideratum to the white man. Numerous oil springs have been discovered and located in the valley of the Pawpawgee, but this tribe are strongly opposed to any invasion of their territory by the whites. I greatly fear that these mineral and agricultural resources of the country will turn out to be a bone of contention between the whites and the reds, and would therefore urge that the tribe have a reservation staked out which may be held sacred to them, and not be encroached upon by the whites. Several of our citizens are looking toward the Wind River country with a view to its development, and I give you a few extracts from a letter written by one who passed the winter and a part of the spring in the valley. He says: "The air is pure, the water of the best, the climate mild and regular. The soil is not second in fertility to that of Illinois or Iowa, farming land enough to support a population of two hundred thousand persons, the climate well adapted to the growth of small grain and fruit, especially apples and vegetables. There is plenty of timber for building and fencing purposes. The scenery is most beautiful and picturesque. There are two oil springs in the valley, one of which pours forth one hundred barrels per day. There are good indications of stone-coal and iron, with numerous quarries of limestone suitable for building purposes. The foot-hills and valleys are covered, winter and summer, with a luxuriant growth of nutritious grass, making the finest grazing region west of the Missouri. The mountains give indications of mineral deposits. But little snow fell, and what did fall soon disappeared. Stock can be wintered without any feeding. Buffalo, and other game, abounds," &c., &c. As long as our Indian tribes are permitted an existence in the land, I contend that they should have a territory assigned them where they can procure a living, instead of being driven away to the poorest tracts of country, where a white man, with all of his superior knowledge, would fail to make a living. Washakee and his tribe deserve a permanent and exclusive reservation in the valley of the Wind river, and I pray you to let them have it at once. The subject demands serious attention, and I hope it will receive a proper consideration. The Indian must be reclaimed from his wild ways, or he will continue to be an expense to the country so long as he lives; and no plan of rendering him a self-supporting and law-abiding citizen is so effectual as that one which civilizes, educates, and christianizes him, and this work cannot be done save on a reservation. The Shoshones have not been engaged in any warfare, offensive or defensive, during the past year with neighboring tribes, have been at peace among themselves, and, I am proud to say, continue faithful to their treaty stipulations. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. F. H. HEAD, LUTHER MANN, JR., Superintendent Indian Affairs, Salt Lake City, U. T. No. 36. OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT INDIAN AFFAIRS, UTAH, Great Salt Lake City, August 13, 1866. SIR: Washakee, the chief of the eastern bands of Shoshones, with some three hundred of his men, came in a few days since to make me a visit. He wears about his neck the medal which you sent him by Judge Carter, of Fort Bridger, and with which he is exceedingly pleased. The enclosed photograph was taken at the time of his visit, and is a very good likeness. He is by far the noblest-looking Indian I have ever seen, and his record is untarnished by a single mean action In your last report you recommended that medals be given Washakee and Ranosh, chief of the Pah-Vants, who is equally deserving of such a testimonial. If possible, I beg you will send me a medal to be presented to Ranosh; I shall visit his tribe in about six weeks, if the new goods arrive when I expect them, and would like to take it with me. It could be safely transmitted by mail. SIR: Black Hawk, a somewhat prominent chief of the Utah Indians, has been engaged for more than a year past in active hostilities against the settlements in the southern portion of this territory. His band consisted at first of but forty-four men, who were mostly out laws and desperate characters from his own and other tribes. During the summer and autumn of 1865 he made several successful forays upon the weak and unprotected settlements in San Pete and Sevier counties; killed in all thirty-two whites, and drove away to the mountains upwards of two thousand cattle and horses. Forty of his warriors were killed by the settlers in repelling his different attacks. His success in stealing, however, enabled him to feed abundantly and mount all Indians who joined him, and the prestige acquired by his raids was such that his numbers were constantly on the increase, despite his occasional losses of men. He spent the winter near where the Grand and Green rivers unite to form the Colorado. On the 20th instant he again com menced his depredations by making an attack upon Salina, a small settlement in Sevier county. He succeeded in driving to the mountains about two hundred cattle, killing two men who were guarding them, and compelling the abandonment of the settlement. His band, from what I consider entirely reliable information, now numbers one hundred warriors, one-half of whom are Navajoes from New Mexico. I am very apprehensive that unless Black Hawk is severely chastised, an Indian war of considerable magnitude may be inaugurated. He has never yet met with a serious reverse, having always attacked small settlements or unprotected families. He has thus acquired a considerable reputation among the various Indian tribes, and I fear many of the more adventurous will join him from the bands now friendly. The ill-feeling engendered by the death of San Pitch, and by the nearly starving condition of the Indians on the Uintah reservation, concerning which I had the honor to address you on the 23d instant, will tend to promote this result. In view of these circumstances, and for the purpose of preventing accessions to the ranks of the hostile Indians, I have, after consultation with Governor Durkee, desired Colonel Potter, commanding the United States troops in this district, to send two or three companies of soldiers to that portion of the Territory to protect the settlements and repel further attacks. I have also sent Indian runners to have an interview with Black Hawk, and to urge him to meet me for the purpose of establishing a permanent peace. I have little hope, however, that he will do this, at least before he is defeated, with the loss of some portion of his war riors, as he has heretofore been boldly defiant, rejecting with scorn all overtures for peace. Colonel Potter has telegraphed to General Dodge for instructions in reference to my appli cation. I should be much pleased to have an expression of your views as to the policy to be further pursued in this matter. Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. F. H. HEAD, Superintendent. No. 38. OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, UTAH, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 39th May, approving my course thus far relative to the acts of the hostile Utah chief Black Hawk. Immediately, subsequent to my communication of April 30, I started for Corn creek, which is one of the nearest settlements to the scenes of Black Hawk's most recent depredations, and near which Kanosh, with many of his principal men, was encamped. Kanosh is chief of the Pah Vents, and is one of the most thoroughly reliable Indians in the Territory. I took with me some presents, which I distributed to the Pah Vents. I engaged as special interpreter, and sent two or three days in advance of myself, Mr. R. K. James, who was for several years the United States interpreter at Spanish Fork reservation, and whose influence with Black Hawk and his principal men, owing to his personal acquaintance with them for many years, I judged might be of value to me in procuring the desired interview. Mr. James carried a letter to Kanosh from me, asking him to furnish two or three Indians to accompany him to the mountains to find Black Hawk. Kanosh responded at once to my request, but the party returned after an absence of four days with the intelligence that Black Hawk, instead of being fifty miles distant, as I had been advised, was over four hundred miles away, in a southeast direction, having gone to endeavor to procure recruits from among the Elk Mountain Utes, the most powerful tribe in the Territory, who can bring into the field upwards of four thousand warriors. I thereupon sent several Indian runners out upon the trail which Black Hawk would take when he returned towards the settlement, asking him to name a place where he would weet me, and talk of peace. Kanosh also seconded my views, sending to Black Hawk, by the unners, strong recommendations that he meet me and make a permanent peace. Various rumors that I had heard from the Indians in Uinta valley, together with some facts communicated to me by Kanosh, made me extremely apprehensive that all the Utah Indians except Kanosh's tribe would join in a general war upon the settlers. The San Pitch Indians, and the various bands known under the general appellation of Goshen Indians, were greatly exasperated at the death of San Pitch, and had all left their usual haunts, and gone over the mountains to the Uinta valley. The Indians in that valley were much disaffected at the nonreception of their presents last fall, which was owing to their not having arrived here in season to be transported to the valley before winter set in. They were still more enraged at not having been fed during the winter, and the winter being an unusually severe one, many had nearly perished of starvation, and a great part of their animals had perished. The expenses of the saw-mill at the agency, of cutting hay, &c., had been so great that nothing was left of the appropriation to be expended for the benefit of the Indians. As I stated to Mr. Kinney, I consider the trouble which grew out of the starvation and nakedness of the Indians entirely attributable to Congress, which failed to make a sufficient appropriation. The appropriation made, although apparently a liberal one, was barely sufficient to satisfy the wants of Agent Kinney and his friends, and nothing at all was left for the Indians, who were somewhat foolishly annoyed at the seeming inequality of the division. The Indians were also greatly disappointed that nothing had been done towards cultivating the farm which had been promised them in the Uinta valley. They claimed that they had sold their farm at Spanish Fork and their claim to other lands to the government in consideration that a good farm be made for them at Uinta valley, but that no preparation had been made for fulfilling the promises on the part of the government. To quiet this source of disaffection, as well as because I considered it would be pecuniarily advantageous, I had sent, about the middle of April, four laborers to Uinta, under charge of Special Agent Thomas Carter, with instructions to clear up, plough, and put into wheat, corn, carrots, potatoes, &c., as much land as possible I might here state that Mr. Carter has accomplished much in the way of farming for the limited time and labor at his command, having cleared from the thick sage bushes, ploughed, fenced, and irrigated some twenty-five acres of land, the crops upon which are looking very well, and will, I think, more than repay the outlay upon the land. The Linta valley is practicaliy inaccessible from the 1st of December to the 1st of June, or thereabouts of each year, owing to the deep snow upon the mountain ranges which it is necessary to cross to enter the valley. I have sent word to the Indians by Special Agent Carter, who with the other laborers crossed the mountains on snow shoes, that as soon as the snow had melted sufficiently to permit the passage of wagons I would visit them, and make them liberal presents of clothing, food, &c., and urged thein especially to wait and do nothing of an unfriendly nature until I had had an interview with them. Owing to their repeated disappointments relative to their presents, I did not deem it an object to visit them in person until I could carry with me their goods. While at Corn creek I learned that the Uinta Indians had at length commenced hostilities by a raid from Uinta valley upon Springfield, carrying away some 150 horses and mules, and also, two or three days later, by a similar raid upon Heber City, from which settlement they took nearly 100 cattle and horses. I, therefore, at once decided to visit the Uinta valley. Kanosh, at my request, directed three of his principal sub-chiefs to accompany me, and to do what lay in their power to prevent further trouble." I returned to this city with the Indians, and, after a trip of four days northward to recover twenty-five horses stolen by the Weber Utes from Kanosh, set out for Uinta, carrying with me the principal part of the goods turned over to me by Superintendent Irish. I set out with the goods in wagons lightly loaded and drawn by four mules each, but on reaching Heber City found the trail over the mountains entirely impassable for miles by reason of high water and deep mud. I therefore transferred the goods to four wagons, each drawn by six oxen, and, after a delay of three or four days, owing to a severe storm, set ont for Uinta by what is known as the Daniel's Cañon route. An idea had become prevalent among the Indians that the Mormons were desiguing to make war upon them, and to remove this impression Brigham Young sent to them as a present seventy head of beef-cattle. The people of Heber City, at the request of Brigham Young, also furnished gratuitously twentyfive men to assist in getting the wagons over the mountains. It was a most difficult and even perilous trip; the water in the streams was very high, the mud, and in many places the snow was very deep, and we were continually interrupted by violent storms of snow, rain. and hail. The men and oxen, however, often laboring together, at length pulled the wagons through and over all obstacles, and we reached the valley. I was greatly indebted to the people at Heber City for their efficient co-operation, both in furnishing men, as before referred to, and in furnishing teams to transport the goods at an extremely moderate price. Interpreter James and the Indians sent by Kanosh reached the valley several days before me, and, finding the Indians had all started southward, followed and overtook them, notified them of my approach, and induced them to return. I spent eight days at the agency, holding numerous councils with the Indians. They were at first extremely surly and disaffected, but, being at length satisfied that the government had fulfilled all its promises and more; that the delay in the reception of presents was unavoidable; that Mr. Kinney was no longer in the service, and that hereafter they would get all that was sent them from Washington, their views were entirely changed, and they expressed themselves unanimously in favor of peace. A part of the stolen property was returned, and the greater portion of the remainder, not already taken, will, I think, be restored to its owners. A liberal distribution of presents was made, and I left them in a very friendly mood. I was much pleased with the result of the conference, and am entirely confident that the Indians will remain friendly. The morning of my departure I was informed by Tabby, the head chief, that when he received notice of my arrival in the valley, himself and all his warriors were on their way to join the hostile Indians, in the southern portion of the Territory, in their war upon the settlements. He also informed me that Black Hawk, having secured a sufficient number of recruits among the Elk Mountain Utes to swell his force to three hundred warriors, was then setting out from the Elk Mountain country to attack the weaker settlements in San Pete county. I advised you, in my communication of the 30th April, that I had applied to the military authorities to send two or three companies of troops to protect the settlers in those portions of the Territory most exposed to Indian raids, and that Colonel Potter, commanding at this point, had telegraphed for instructions. A copy of the response to such communication is herewith enclosed. On reaching this city on my return from Uinta, I communicated the facts in my possession relative to Black Hawk to Governor Durkee. General Wells, one of the principal militia officers, after consulting with the governor, has raised two or three companies of militia, and proceeded to the threatened locality to protect the settlers from the expected attack. I have now several Indian runners in the mountains who will see Black Hawk and urge him to meet me for the purpose of making peace, and I shall within a few days proceed to San Pete county to endeavor to further that object. I have written you at length in regard to the present state of our Indian matters in accordance with the suggestions in your communication of the 30th ultimo, and when any further progress is made will advise you at once. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hou. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner Indian Affairs. F. H. HEAD, Superintendent FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS, General Pope telegraphs that the Superintendent of Indian Affairs will have to depend for the present on the militia to compel the Indians to behave at Selina. By command of Major General Dodge. Colonel CARROLL H. POTTER, SAMUEL E. MACKEY. Acting Assistant Adjutant General. Commanding District of Utah. |