No. 150 e. KESHENA, August 18, 1866. SIR: Another year calls upon me to acknowledge the progress made in my department of instruction, the sewing school. The goods furnished by government not only increases the interest in my school, but also in the other two, as the children, when destitute of suitable clothing, are not regular in their attendance. The want of material for working has obliged me to discontinue my school during the summer. The number of articles made during the year are three hundred and seven, as follows: coats, 37; pants, 96; shirts, 42; dresses, 36; skirts, 39; gowns, 37; stockings, 8 pair; socks, 7 pair; mittens, 2 pair. Respectfully, Hon. M. L. MARTIN. No. 150, f. JANE DOUSMAN. KESHENA, August 18, 1866. SIR: According to instructions, I present you the annual report of the school in my care. In taking a retrospective view of the progress of the school during the past year, I feel gratified and happy in assuring you of the gradual improvement of the scholars in all their respective studies. The total number of the pupils registered during the year is sixty-nine, of which thirty-eight are boys and thirty-one girls; the average attendance per day is thirty-four to forty-five. The branches taught are orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and English grammar. Books used in the school are Sanders' New Series of Readers and New Speller, Willard's History of the United States, Ray's Arithmetic, part first, second, and third, Monteith's and McNally's National Geographical Series, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4.) Pinner's English Grammar, Spencerian System of Practical Penmanship, and Payson, Dunton, and Scribner's. During the year death struck from our list two promising boys; one died of consumption, the other of fever. Both were Christians. Many of the scholars were afflicted with sore eyes, from which some have not yet recovered. With these exceptions, I consider the general health of the school good, and in a prosperous condition Respectfully, M. L. MARTIN, Indian Agent. No. 150 g. KATE DOUSMAN, Teacher, Menomonee Reservation. KESHENA, September 10, 1866. SIR: I herewith submit my first annual report as Menomonee farmer. In compliance with your instructions, I have devoted some two weeks of my time in visiting every farm on the reserve, and examining their crops, and ascertaining the quantity of land under cultivation. The following is the estimated number of acies cultivated, and the products: Acres. Estimated bushels. The potatoes and rye are not more than half a crop, and oats not more than a third of a crop; the wheat is very poor, and will hardly be a tourth of a crop. We had a light frost in August, which injured the corn and potato crop some, and destroyed nearly all the vines. I find, as personal property, owned by Indians on the reserve, as follows: 112 ponies, 16 cows, 8 heifers, 2 bulls, and 10 hogs. Respectfully yours, Hon. M. L MARTIN, United States Indian Agent, Green Bay, Wisconsin. PAUL FORTIER, Menomonee Farmer. No. 150 h. MENOMONEE RESERVATION, September 8, 1866. SIR: Herewith I submit my first annual report as miller on the Menomonee reservation. As I have only been here since the 1st of August, I have not had time to do much. The grist mill is in good running order, and I have ground 67 bushels, including all kinds of grain. You are aware that the saw-mill is quite old and decayed, having been put up more than twenty-one years ago, and for this reason I have not sawed any lumber. It will be necessary to put up a new mill before there can be any more lumber sawed on the Menomonee reserve. The mill is without millwright or carpenter tools. It will be neces sary for me to have a kit of tools before I can do any building or repairing. Very respectfully yours, HENRY TOURTILLOTT, Menomones Miller. No. 150 i. KESHENA, September 10, 1866. SIR: In accordance with instructions. I send you my annual report as Menomonee blacksmith. Since my last annual report I have made 6 coulters for breaking ploughs, 4 rings and staples for ox yokes, 120 wedges for scythe snaths, 60 iron-tooth rakes, 26 tapping gauges, 40 trammel and chains, 7 half-round adzes, 150 pair sturgeon spears, 100 fire steels, 200 buckskin needles, 100 awls, 6 crook-knives, 4 tomahawks, 5 grubbing hoes, 4 grubbing axes, 10 small chains and hooks for hanging sugar kettles; welded 10 axes; shod 18 yoke oxen, 40 ponies, 1 span of horses. I also repaired 20 wagons. 15 ox chains, 15 grain cra dles, 20 scythe snaths, 3 stoves, 150 guns, 50 sugar kettles, 100 traps, and ironed 7 pair of bob sleds. SIR: I am in receipt of your letters of the 23d December, 1865, February 6, and February 23, 1866, all setting forth the necessities and starving condition of the Stockbridge and Munsee Indians. In your letter of the 23d ultimo you suggest the propriety of purchasing the necessary subsistence for these Indians, and paying for the same from funds which will be received for burned pine, which is being removed this winter. This suggestion is approved; but as it does not appear that such funds are now available, I have this day taken steps to have the sum of one thousand dollars remitted to you at Appleton, Wisconsin, from the appropriation "Provisions for Indians," for which sum you will account under your bond. You will use the funds so remitted, so far as may be necessary, in procuring subsistence for these Indians; and when funds are realized from the sale of the pine to which you allude, you will bring the same into your accounts under the head of “ Provisions for Indians," to replace the funds used for this remittance. As the subsistence for these Indians cannot be procured too soon, you will purchase the same in open market, securing the best terms attainable. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, MOSES M. DAvis, United States Indian Agent, Appleton, Wisconsin. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner. No. 152. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SIR Referring to your report of the 20th ultimo, in reference to the claim of the State of Wisconsin to certain lands in the Menomonee Indian reservation, I enclose herewith a copy of a report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the 5th instant in reference to the same, from which it appears that the lands referred to were erroneously patented to the State as swamp lands. A letter has been addressed to the Governor of Wisconsin (copy enclosed herewith) requesting him to return the patent to this department, that the same may be cancelled as far as the tracts embraced therein are within the said Indian reservation. The right of the Indians to land embraced within a tract reserved for their exclusive use should be scrupulously respected, and nothing should be done to disturb their possession or to bring their title in question. It is eminently desirable that the action of your bureau and of the General Land Office should not conflict, and that there should be no attempted disposal of such lands by that office. To this end early and authentic information from your records of the extent and limits of all Indian reservations should be communicated to the Commissioner, and proper entries made upon the books of the Land Office. You will therefore cause such information, accompanied by diagrams, to be sent to him at once, and hereafter, upon land being so reserved, the Land Office should be promptly notified of the fact. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. JAS. HARLAN, Secretary. AGENCY FOR CHIPPEWAS OF MISSISSIPPI. No. 153. Office of the UNITED STATES INDIAN AGENT, Chippewa Agency, Minnesota, September 24, 1866. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith my second annual report. The Indians of this agency as enrolled at the last payment number as follows, to wit: I have the satisfaction to inform you that they have been generally friendly and peaceable the past year. The winter was passed without any material suffering among thein, so far as came to my knowledge. Rabbits, which were very plenty, contributed materially to their means of living. The following statement will aid in forming some idea of the wholeFale slaughter of these animals. Their skins have not heretofore been considered of any value. Last winter one trading house off red to pay four cents apiece for them, and the result of their experiment was that about fourteen thousand were purchased. It is probable that only a very small proportion of them were saved. Nearly all the Indians who were able made their usual hunting tours. For the estimated amount of furs taken, also for rice crops, &c., I refer you to my statistical report. There were, nevertheless, a good many women and children, and infirm Indians who had to be helped with rations of flour. The season for sugar making was not as good as the average, yet they made generally from two to six mococks" to the family. The mococks (birch buckets) hold from sixty to eighty pounds sugar. Some made much more. One family at Leech Lake sold 1,800 pounds. The price ranged from eight to fifteen cents per pound, according to quality. That is the price when they sell. Many sell so closely (reserving only for present use) that they soon find themselves in need, and then purchase back at double the price for which they sold, apparently without discovering that they have lost anything by the bargain. FARMING AND CROPS. The Mississippi Indians are cultivating about their usual amount of ground. Their gardens range from half an acre to three acres. Their farm productions consist mostly of potatoes, some corn, with turnips, squashes, pumpkins, melon, and garden vegetables for Three teams were furnished them in the spring to assist in ploughing their Summer use. gardens. The prospect of an early removal of these Indians to their new reservations prevents any efforts to increase their farming operations. At Leech lake and Winnepeg, eight government oxen and two horse teams were em ployed ploughing during the season. These bands cultivate about the same crops as the Mississippi Indians, with a large proportion of corn. They all depend largely upon their own rice crops At Red lake I had eight government oxen, which were kept busy during the ploughing season. The farmer estimates at least one hundred and thirty acres ploughed Many more gardens are cultivated on all the reservations than the teams could plough. The Red Lake Indians gather less rice, but cultivate more corn than the other bands. I have recently visited Leech and Red lakes, and f und the crops looking well. At one place on the Red Lake shore, where the gardens are contiguous, we passed one continuous cornfield which we judged to be three miles in length. It was perfectly clean from weeds, and looked finely. A letter from Dr. Kennedy (physician at Red lake,) received at the time of my present writing, says "the Indians will have abundance of corn, potatoes, and squashes Another extract may also be of interest as relating to these Indians. Their ponies and cattle are made to shift for themselves in winter, which they do on the bushes in the neighborhood, and many of them in the spring are fat. The land in cultivation is all on the margin of the lake, and is of good quality, originally covered with a growth of sugar maple, basswood, &c, with undergrowth of hazel. The Indians are industrious, and for the advantages they possess are thrifty and comparatively comfortable. The Pembina bands are too remote to receive much personal attention from the agent. They have no government employés, and their annuities are the principal help they receive. The Indians are at present mostly engaged in rice-making, of which there is a fair yield. Cranberries are also plenty, and as they find a ready sale at two dollars per bushel, (here,) they contribute something to their meagre comforts. Whiskey brought into the country by the travellers continued to be a great curse to the Indians, and a perpetual source of annoyance to all who sincerely desire their improvement. As this is a chronic complaint in all Indian reports, I will forbear to speak of its evils in detail, but suffice to say that at the United States district court, held at Winona and St. Paul in June last, Wm. J. Hern, E. Briggs, Wm. Fairbanks, Rodger Aitkins, and Simeon Weaver, comprising the principal whiskey dealers in Crow Wing, together with several of their "runners' and some other parties, were indicted for selling liquor to Indians. Some of these parties are under several previous indictments for the same offence. Their trials are set for October proximo. The moral effect of these indictments has been salutary upon the traders, so far as to make them more cautious in dealing out their "fire water" to indians, so that we have really had a respite of three months from beholding drunken Indians. It would be cause of rejoicing if the above-named parties would so conduct themselves that another year their names would deserve a better place in history. NEW AGENCY, ETC. In pursuance of your instructions of March last, Special Agent H. W. Reed and myself, early in April, visited Leech Lake and the New Mississippi reservations, with a view to selecting the best place for the farms, and making improvements preparatory to the removal of the Mississippi Indians to their new home, also to locate and submit plans for the new agency buildings. The result of our examinations and couference was communicated to you in our joint report of April 19. I have never heard from your office in reference to said report. The understanding, however, was, if you desired any change from the plans proposed, you would so report immediately, otherwise I should proceed to prosecute the work according to said plans and estimates. I accordingly commenced the first day of May to prosecute the same. My letter of the 23d ultimo informed you of the progress of the work at that date. The steamboat has been completed, ready for receiving the machinery, which has been sent forward. For the clearing recommended in our report, and also embraced in your instructions of March 5, I advertised for proposals, which were duly received, and a contract entered into with A. D. Prescott, esq., (the lowest bidder,) on the 5th of August, for clearing, stumping, grubbing, and breaking one hundred acres at $29 75 per acre. The contract and boud were duly forwarded to your office for approval, and I am still waiting your reply. For the sanitary condition of the Indians, I refer you to the reports of Dr. A. Barnard, physician at agency, and Dr. V. P. Kennedy, physician at Red lake, which are herewith submitted. Most respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. D. N. COOLEY, Commissioner Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. EDWIN CLARK, Dr. Kennedy's report is not yet come to hand will forward it as soon as received. OFFICE OF UNITED STATES AGENT, Chippewa Agency, Minnesota, September 24, 1866. SIR: The number of Indians whose sanitary condition is made the care of the physician resident at this place is about four thousand. They are scattered over a large extent of territory; the location of some of the bands being one hundred miles from the physician's house. It has been made a rule to visit, at least once a quarter, a large portion of them at their several home rendezvous, and their frequent calls at the agency and other accessible points have afforded opportunities for seeing nearly all of them. The health of this people will compare favorably with that of the term preceeding, embraced in my report for 1865. Cases of acute disease have not been numerous, and for obvious reasons, only a few of these have been personally attended by me. Inflammatory affections of the chest and rheumatism during the winter and spring, and the ordinary bowel complaint in the warm season are the principal of this class. Inflammation of the eye is endemic, caused chiefly by smoke and filth, but readily yields to the usual remedies. Complaints of a chronic character are those for which relief is most often sought, and it is this class of maladies which has received particular attention. Venereal affections, rheumatic pains, injuries from strains, bruises, &c., but especially those forms of obstinate and loathsome skin diseases derived from the taint of scrofula and syphilis. With the nomadic habits of this race, the business of the doctor is of course to some extent a mere dispenser of drugs, to be used ofttimes as the judgment or caprice of the patient may suggest. When these people shall have been gathered, and become fixed in homes on their reser vations, means for the prevention and care of their physical ills, with others for their social, mental, and moral improvements, may be used with the prospect of a larger measure of success than has hitherto attended effects to this end. A. BARNARD, SIR: Having examined the new reservations of the Mississippi Indians, and had a full conference together upon the subject of our instructions, we have agreed as follows, viz: 1. To locate the new agency buildings upon the south side of Leech lake. 2. To erect, upon the site selected, buildings as follows, to wit: For agent, two story dwelling-house, 30x40 feet, with an L 18x20 feet, to cost.... $3,000 For physician, story-and-a-half house, 24x32 feet, with an L for office, 12x14 feet.. 1,700 For carpenter, story-and-a-half house, 24x32 feet For blacksmith, story-and-a-half house, 24x32 feet.. For teacher, story-and-a-half house, 24x32 feet For engineer, story-and-a-half house, 24x26 teet For farmer, two-story house, 32x36 feet For school house, one-story, 24x40 feet.... For warehouse, two and a half stories, 24x40 feet... For carpenter shop, 24x32 feet... For blacksmith shop, 24x32 feet. For agent's office, 24x32.. Cisterns and out-houses 2,000 feet stockade, six-inch wall...... ...... 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,500 700 1,300 500 500 1,000 800 3,500 18,500 The walls of the buildings to be sawed timber, six inches in thickness, firmly pinned together; to be covered with good boards and shingle roofs; each of the dwelling houses to have good double floors, and to be divided into rooms of convenient size, as indicated in the accompanying plan, with all necessary doors and windows; to be lathed and plastered; Each of the dwellings to have good cellars and cisterns. Agent's house to be clapboarded the doors to be made of clear pine, pannel style, and the windows of good material, and each to contain twelve lights of glass. The offices and school-house to have double floors, |