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altogether the best in the superintendency, and are ample for the use of the agency, no more being needed unless it be a few more barns and sheds, which can be built by the regular em ployés without expense to the government.

Many of the Indians are well advanced in agriculture, raise wheat, corn, and vegetables in abundance, and have many horses and cattle. Others prefer to lead a vagabond life about the little towns along the Columbia river, relying upon the prostitution of their squaws, and sometimes a little labor, to provide themselves with whiskey and subsistence.

The former class are tolerably thrifty and upright, always well behaved, and of determined energy in the prosecuting of an object. The latter class are lazy, thievish, and vile. They are as distinct as if they were two different races.

The supplemental treaty made by me with them on the day of, 1865, of which your office has been advised, relinquished on their part the right reserved to them by the original treaty of June 25, 1855, "to fish, hunt, gather roots and berries, and pasture their stock upon lands outside the reservation," has been productive of much good. It now gives the agent enough control over them to confine them to the reservation, and the effect upon the Indians is most salutary, in removing them from the demoralizing effects of whiskey and debauchery, while it affords the whites an infinite satisfaction by ridding them of a nuisance which otherwise would be almost intolerable.

The affairs of this agency, which had relapsed into some confusion by the long vacancy in the agency, caused by the sudden death of Agent William Logan, (drowned on the steamer Brother Jonathan, July 30, 1865,) are now much improved under the efficient man. agement of Agent John Smith. I refer to his report and those of his subordinate employés for further information.

UMATILLA AGENCY.

This agency is situated in the northeast corner of the State, and is a fertile and valuable tract of land. I have described it minutely in former reports, and need not repeat here what I have said. As an instance confirmatory of what I have claimed for it in point of fertility, and also showing the progress in agriculture of the tribes located there, I call your attention to the fact that, at the annual fair of the Oregon State agricultural society, held in 1865, two first premiums and one second premium were awarded to these Indians for agricultural products; and I may add that I know, from personal observation, that products of similar or even superior quality are by no means uncommon among them.

The superior quality of the land, and its location on a great thoroughfare, convenient to the gold mines of Powder river, Boise basin, Oughee, and other points, of course make it attractive to whites. There are constant attempts to encroach upon it, constant attempts, under various pretexts, to locate upon it, and occasional attempts to exasperate the Indians into the commission of some overt act which will justify, or at least palliate, retaliation, and thus give an excuse for plunging the country into another Indian war, the end of which, they well know, would be the expulsion of the Indians from the coveted tract.

This cupidity is the cause of constant trouble to the agent and apprehension to the Indians. If the Indians could be removed to some remote place equally fertile, and there relocated, it would no doubt be to their advantage and immensely to the advantage of the whites, but where is the "more remote" place to be found? Population is rushing into Washington, Idaho, and Montana at the rate of many thousands per month. The only parts now entirely unsettled are barren deserts, quite as incapable of supporting an Indian as a white population.

I estimate that the reservation could be sold for $150,000 to $200,000. Its perpetual possession has been guaranteed to the Indians by treaty, and it would be the grossest of bad faith to take possession of it without their consent. That consent will be obtained with the greatest difficulty, if at all.

Two roads have been authorized by your office to be opened through the reservation with in the past year, one for the use of Thomas & Ruckel, a stage firm, and the other for the use of the citizens of Umatilla county, Oregon. The latter could not be built without passing through several Indian farms, much to their damage, and that I strictly forbade. The result is that the road is not built, and probably will not be. The other road passes through the east end of the reservation, interferes with no farms, and will do no damage.

I call your attention to the fact that the title to this reservation is vested in the Indians, and the right of the department to authorize the opening of any road through, without first obtaining the consent of the Indians, is, to my mind, very questionable, and I further sug gest that, if such orders are to be given in future, they be deferred until such local knowl edge of the ground is obtained as will insure that they avoid interfering with the property of the Indians.

The treaty with these Indians reserved to them the same rights that were reserved to the Indians at Warm Springs by the treaty with them. I refer to the right to fish, hunt, gather roots and berries, and pasture their stock on land outside the reservation. This privilege is simply equivalent to giving them permission to roam at will over the country, and is demor alizing to them and damaging to the white settlers. Their facilities for obtaining whiskey

are almost unlimited. Instructing them in schools, or teaching them the art of farming and its value, are impossible, and the Indians are impoverishe 1, debauched, and demoralized. Every tendency to vice they have is cultivated; the possibility of virtue, advance in civilization or material prosperity is abolished. I believe that a supplemental treaty, similar to that made with the confederated tribes at Warm Springs last year, could be made with them at similar cost. If accomplished, it would be of incalculable advantage to them and to the surrounding settlements. I therefore recommend that an appropriation of $5,000 be made for that purpose, and that the attempt be made.

KLAMATH AGENCY.

It is improper perhaps to style this place an agency. There are no agency buildings there, and no improvements of any sort, except of very small value and very temporary character. Sub-Agent Lindsey Applegate has charge of the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin Snake tribes, with whom a treaty was negotiated in act 1864, and he has (without funds) located some farms at a point on the Middle Klamath lake, (sometimes known as Lake Toqua or Tok-qua,) fifteen miles below Fort Klamath, and made a beginning at farming. He reports the Indians zealous to enter into farming, and willing to work.

None of the appropriations made by Congress for the benefit of these tribes have yet been remitted; but when they are, I look for the founding of a prosperous Indian colony there. There are about two thousand of them, and I consider them as good raw material out of which to make civilized Indians as any on the continent.

The Woll-pa-pe tribe of Snakes, with whom I made a treaty in 1865, came into the rese vation, and remained there last winter; but during the last spring and summer they all left the reservation, and are reported to have again joined the hostile band of Snakes.

This movement on their part does not involve any loss to the government, nor at all give them protection in their predatory raids, for it was expressly stipulated in the treaty that they should remain upon the reservation, and that failing to do so, they should be treated as hostile. Nor were they to receive any benefit of appropriations, unless they did so remain. But it has been unfortunate that they refused to stay, because that tribe, when once established, would have been a nucleus around which all the other tribes of Snakes would soon have gathered, and thus they would have been an instrument of pacification for the whole of southern Oregon, Idaho, and northern Nevada.

I yet am in doubt whether they have really joined the hostile tribes. My impression is that they have spent the summer in the region between Crooked river on the north, Harney lake on the east, Summer and Upper Klamath lakes on the south, and Mount Paulinee and Queah valley on the west. The tract of country included in these bounds has never been penetrated by white men, is nearly destitute of water and timber, but affords fine grass. This band of Indians have inhabited it heretofore, and, in my opinion, have done so this past summer.

INDIANS NOT LOCATED UPON AGENCIES.

Most important among these, both in numbers and consequence, are the various bands of Snakes. Little is known of them except that they are always determinedly hostile. They are a nomadic people, sometimes appearing in Nevada, under the lead of Winnemucco, and treating with Governor Nye; sometimes in Utah, holding council with Brigham Young or fighting Colonel Connor; sometimes warring upon miners or soldiers in Owyhee and Boise; and often making raids upon the friendly Indians at Warm Springs, or the whites on the Cañon City road, but always having their hand against every man, and every man's hand

against them.

What disposition can ultimately be made of them, I do not undertake to say. Now, nothing is to be done but fight and exterminate them. Yet I am painfully conscious that extermination will cost the lives of ten whites for every Indian, and, besides, cost many millions of money.

To attempt to treat with them now, is simple folly; they cannot be even brought to a council, much less to a treaty.

Their ultimate disposition is a matter that must be left to time to determine.

Of their numbers I am not informed, and at various times have made different estimates. Roughly, I estimate them at five thousand. They may double that, or fall below it.

The military forces located in that part of the country have been engaged, during the last year, in warring upon them with varying success, sometimes gaining an advantage, and oftener suffering a defeat; but their operations have really resulted in but little towards subduing the Indians.

The number of troops has been grossly inadequate to the service to be performed, and they have labored under the disadvantages of unacquaintance with Indian warfare, ignorance of the geography of the country, and vast distance from points where necessary supplies can be

obtained.

The Indians scattered along the Columbia river, those on the upper branches of the North Umpqua, a small band on Clatsop plains, and the Nestuccas, Salmon Rivers, and Tillamooks,

number in all not far from 1,200 souls. They are in immediate vicinity of white settlements, in fact intermingled with them, and most of them are as thoroughly debauched and degraded as they well can be.

They are not parties to any treaty, and I do not think it necessary that any treaty should be made with them. Indeed, they are scattered over so vast a country that it would be im possible to gather them together for a treaty. But measures ought to be taken to collect them upon some of the reservations. The Nestuccas, Salmon Rivers, and Tillamooks (about 300 in all) ought especially to be taken under jurisdiction.

The country they inhabit is fertile, has a good harbor, and is filling up with white settlers. They regard the Indians as nuisances, and have more than once asked me to remove them. I have had neither funds nor authority so to do. I recommend an appropriation of $2,000 for gathering together and establishing upon some reservation the Indians mentioned. The amount named would be sufficient, not only to remove them, but to afford them some assistance in opening farms, obtaining farming tools, &c.

EDUCATION.

I have little to add in respect to education to what I have stated in my former reports. The "manual labor" schools—that is, schools where the Indian children are separated from their savage parents, housed, clad, and taught not only the contents of the spelling-book and the Testament, but the elements of agriculture, mechanic and domestic arts; the boys to plough, plant, and hoe, to saw, cut, and frame; the girls to sew, knit, mend, and cook-these schools are the only ones which benefit the Indians. The day schools, at which attendance is optional with the scholars, and often difficult or impossible by reason of the distance at which scholars reside, are of very little value. The scholars attend irregularly, and very often refuse to at tend at all, and when they do attend the good influence of a few hours in school is entirely overcome by the far greater time that they are subjected to savage associations.

I repeat my former recommendation that such legislation as will place all the schools upon the "manual labor " basis be adopted. In default of this, it would be as well to abolish the day schools altogether. The number of schools in the superintendency is five: one at Umatilla, one at Warm Springs, one at Siletz, and two at Grande Ronde.

That at Siletz and one of those at Grande Ronde are upon the manual labor plan, and are a credit to the teachers, as well as a benefit to the Indians. Mr. and Mrs. Clark, who have recently taken charge of the school at Grande Ronde, are the persons who established the school at Siletz, and conducted it very successfully for some time. I take this opportunity to pay to them a just tribute for their moral worth, high intelligence, zeal and efficiency in the discharge of their duties. The Indian children are fortunate in having such instructors. Mr. and Mrs. Fraser, who teach at Siletz, are also very worthy and competent. The school there, however, is much embarrassed by want of funds, and the number of scholars consequently much smaller than it should be. Mr. Gillett, the teacher at Warm Springs, is very competent, and has accomplished as much as any one could under the disadvantages of a day school. The school at Umatilla has recently been placed under the charge of Rev. Father Vermeesch, a Roman Catholic priest, and I anticipate much good from it, if it can be placed upon the manual labor basis. The Indians located there were twenty years ago brought (to some extent) under the influence of the Catholic religion, by a mission established among them near where the agency now stands.

Many of the older ones retain a profound respect for the rites of the church to this day, and they hailed the coming of Father Vermeesch among them with much joy. The reverend father seems very zealous in the good work he has undertaken, and determined to accomplish all he can.

The teacher of the day school at Grande Ronde was detailed by the agent (under my instructions) to act as farmer since last spring. The appropriation for pay of farmer has run out, and consequently the agency is without a farmer. It could better dispense with any other employé, and I therefore directed Agent Harvey, in view of the fact that Indians needed instruction in agriculture more than in anything else, to detail the teacher to act in that capacity. I trust that my action in this case may meet your approval.

ALLOTMENT OF LANDS.

As Indians advance in knowledge of agricultural arts, the desire to own the lands they cultivate seems instinctively to arise. The "wild" Indian never thinks of owning any particular spot of ground. His tribe own a certain district of country, but individual Indians own nothing. But one of the first effects of putting him to work at cultivating the soil is to create a desire to own the land on which he works. This desire is commendable, and ought to be encouraged. The best way to do this, in my judgment, is to allot to each adult male or head of family, who is sufficiently advanced to appreciate it, a tract of land not exceeding eighty acres, the title to which shall descend to his heirs forever.

The power of alienation should not be given, because too often the ignorance or weakness of the Indian would be taken advantage of by the more intelligent white man.

The object should be to inspire in the Indian a confidence that the particular tract which he is laboring to improve will be the permanent possession of himself and his children. In

order to do this, it is necessary to make some surveys. I recommend that an appropriation of five hundred dollars be made for this purpose for each of the reservations at Umatilla, Grande Ronde, and Siletz, and four hundred for Warm Springs, the same to be expended under the joint direction of the surveyor general and the superintendent of Indian affairs. The sum estimated for Warm Springs is smaller because there is at that reservation less land to survey, and the sum named for Siletz will probably be found inadequate, and required to be increased next year. No estimate is made for Alsea, in view of the removal of the Indians, which I have recommended, and none for Klamath, because the Indians there are not yet fit for it.

MILITARY FORCE AT AGENCIES.

By recent action of the War Department all the troops stationed at Fort Haskins and Yam Hill, Siletz block-house, and Warm Springs block-house, have been withdrawn, and the posts abandoned.

Thus the Coast reservation, on which are four thousand Indians, is without a single soldier to enforce police regulations, preserve order, or punish offences. This is not only unwise, but it is hazardous in the extreme. Te agent is powerless to control the Indians, except by moral suasion, and this they oftentimes will not submit to. There is now no way of preventing them from leaving the reservation or obtaining whiskey, and a few drunken Indians may commit outrages which will bring on a war that will cost the lives of many whites and Indians both.

There would be no question as to the result of such a war: the settlers of Willamette valley are strong enough to overpower the weaker Indians, but it is far better to avoid the outbreak altogether. This can be done by keeping a small force, say twenty-five men, at each of the posts, Fort Yam Hill and Siletz block-house, and it ought by all means to be done. I consider it unnecessary to garrison Fort Haskins if Siletz block-house is occupied.

Warm Springs agency is situated in the edge of the hostile Snake county, and constantly liable to predatory raids from them. They have five different times visited that agency and stolen more or less stock and taken many lives. In 1859 they drove off 700 horses and about 100 cattle, killed a great number of friendly Indians, one white man, and had possession of the agency buildings for several days.

The last time they appeared there was in 1864, when, although a small force, under Lientenant Halloran, was stationed there, they got away with over two hundred horses. The li-utenant, with his command, promptly pursued them and recovered a part of the stolen property. The Cañon City road (from Dallas to Cañon City) passes within twenty miles of this agency. It has been the scene of constant depredations from the Snakes. Last year there was scarcely a week passed that there were not some depredations committed: packtrains, with their cargoes, stolen: wagons and teams, with their freight, seized; stock driven off; teamsters, packers, or travellers killed; in fact, to pass over the road was to peril one's life. This year has witnessed a repetition of the scenes of last.

I mention these facts to show the necessity for military protection there, and the difficulties we labor under for want of it.

STATISTICS OF FARMING.

The time when the annual reports of agents in Oregon is required to be made prevents them from giving minute statistics of their crops, &c., for the current year, because the crops not yet being harvested, their extent cannot be ascertained. The "statistical returns of farming," however, from the several agencies for 1865, which is on file in your office, will afford good information upon this subject, and I ask that they be printed with this report and made a part of it.

For further information upon the general affairs of the superintendency, I refer you to the former reports of myself and my predecessors; and the reports of the several agents and employes will afford you very full information of affairs during the current year.

VISIT OF INDIANS TO WASHINGTON.

None of the Indians of Oregon have ever visited their "Great Father," at Washington, or, indeed, seen anything of civilization except the little that exists in Oregon. Their ideas of the numbers, power, and progress of the American people are exceedingly vague and often amusing for their childlike simplicity, and they often, the more intelligent ones especially, express a desire to see the "place where all the white people come from." To bring a delegation of them to the Atlantic side and let them see the factories, the shipping, the arts, the cities, the people-in short, show them the difference between civilization and savage life would, in my opinion, do much towards elevating them, and give them a small conception of the power and consequence of the white race. I therefore ask for authority to bring a small number-say ten or twelve-of the most intelligent ones to Wash

ington. I am confident that no measure could be adopted which would inure more to their benefit. An estimate of the cost of such a movement as is here referred to will be submitted hereafter.

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SIR: In compliance with the regulations of the department, I have the honor to make this my third annual report.

I am happy to state that the Indians under my charge are making steady progress in agriculture, in which they are taking more interest than they have ever shown before, and rely less on hunting and trapping as a means of subsistence.

In my former reports I recommended that the land be divided among the families, as is provided for by treaty, that all might feel interested and encouraged in improving and cultivating their own farms, and also in a measure in breaking up those roaming habits so peculiar to the Indian race, for I have noticed that those families that raise an ample supply of the necessaries of life rarely want to ramble off the reservation, but appear to remain contented, making improvements in their homes and on their farms.

Although I have received no instructions in regard to the matter, I have temporarily divided the land, giving to each family a sufficient amount to raise both grain and vegetables in abundance, thereby securing to each family the fruits of their own labor, and I can say that I am well pleased with the result, for most of them have gone quietly to work in cultivating and improving their land.

Owing to the high altitude of this agency, (situated on the head waters of the Yam Hill river, and almost surrounded by mountains,) the seasons are from two to three weeks later than in the Willamette valey, and consequently the grain is that much later in ripening. Last season the rains set in earlier than usual-before we had all of the grain cut and stacked; the consequence was, before we could get the wheat and oats cut and threshed, a good deal of it was badly sprouted, leaving a part of the Indians without seed this spring, for whom I was compelled to purchase enough to sow their ground. But with the thresher you authorized me to purchase, we can thresh the grain as soon as cut, thereby avoiding any danger from the same cause in the future.

The amount of land in cultivation this year is larger than in any preceding year, and it is as follows, viz:

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The crops at present, as a general thing, look well, and unless some unforeseen contingency should destroy them, there will be an ample supply of grain and vegetables to meet the wants of the Indians for the coming winter.

There are two schools provided for by treaty at this agency, the Umpqua day school and the manual labor school. The attendance of scholars at the Umpqua day school has been very irregular; the scholars attending for a few days and then absent for a week or two, often not returning at all, makes it impossible for the teacher to accomplish much good. Under these circumstances, I detailed (with your approval) the teacher to instruct and assist the Indians in the management and cultivation of their farms and gardens. In this he has been very successful, and has afforded them more useful instruction than he could have imparted to them in any other capacity. The Indians are much pleased with the arrangement, and I hope it will meet the approval of the department to still continue him in that capacity. The school provided for by treaty with the Molel Indians is conducted on the manual labor plan, which, in my judgment, is the only one that will ever be of much benefit to the Indians

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