Kans., the terminus of the telegraph-line to the Osage Agency, is carried but once a week; consequently, if a message is not sent by a special messenger, at a very considerable cost, it must lie over for the weekly mail. This renders the telegraphic service, so far as that agency is concerned, very nearly useless. The distance of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency from telegraphic communication was a great obstacle in the way of a prompt suppression of the recent Cheyenne outbreak. The time required for communication with Washington was sufficient to enable the Indians to get out of the way of an immediate pursuit; and the cost of this outbreak alone to the government is more than sufficient to make a telegraphic connection with every Indian agency. It would be a wise economy to have telegraphic communication opened at once with all the larger Indian agencies. In most cases the Indians would cut and deliver the necessary poles, and the expense of the wire and setting the poles would not involve a large outlay. NECESSITY FOR A WAREHOUSE IN THE WEST. This bureau should have a large warehouse located at some convenient spot on the Missouri River, where a collection of wagons, harness, and agricultural implements of all kinds should be kept constantly in store, in order that when any of these articles are needed at an agency the want could be promptly supplied. As it is the policy of the office to discourage open market purchases, and as agricultural implements bought in the open market in the vicinity of any of the agencies are very expensive, and the time required for the filling of an order and the delivery of the article is often an obstacle in the way of its use, by having a depot for such articles there would be greater facility in conducting the agricultural work for the support of the Indians. INDIANS AT HAMPTON. The Cheyennes, Kiowas, and Arapahoes who had been held as prisoners of war at St. Augustine, Fla., for the past three years were released in May last and brought back by the way of Norfolk, and the adults (40 in number) were sent to their home in the Indian Territory. Capt. R. H. Pratt, U. S. A., who had been detailed as their agent, interested himself with benevolent people at the North and succeeded in obtaining support sufficient to educate 18 of these youths at Hampton Normal Institute, Hampton, Va. Four were sent to Syracuse, N. Y., to be educated under Bishop Huntington's care. On September 2, 1878, Captain Pratt was requested by this bureau to go to Dakota and secure 50 more scholars from among the Indian youth of the various tribes in Dakota. As the result he obtained from the Yankton Agency three girls and nine boys, from the Crow Creek Agency one girl and five boys, from the Lower Brulé Agency six boys, from the Fort Berthold Agency four girls and nine boys, from the Standing Rock Agency one girl and three boys, and from the Cheyenne River Agency nine boys; and he was directed, in company with his wife, to take these children to Hampton. They arrived on the 5th day of November, and already give promise that the opportunity thus afforded them will not be lost. In his report, which will be found on page 173, Captain Pratt states that he could with ease have secured three thousand Indian children for the school, so anxious are the parents to have their children educated. One Indian woman would not let her daughter go alone, and she therefore accompanied her, and remains at Hampton to watch over her. The anxiety displayed by the Indians to have their children educated suggests the establishment of industrial schools of like character more convenient to the Indian population of the country, where their education might be carried forward on a more extensive scale. CHANGES AMONG AGENCIES. During the year several important changes in respect to agencies have taken place. A reduction of two has been effected by the consolidation of the Winnebago and Omaha Agencies in Nebraska, and the Wichita and Kiowa and Comanche Agencies in the Indian Territory. It is intended to consolidate the Lemhi and Fort Hall Agencies in Idaho by removing to Fort Hall the 900 Indians who are unfavorably located at Lemhi. The Union Agency was abolished by law on the 30th of June last. The interests of the service require that it be restored. The bureau needs to have some officer on the ground who can investigate and furnish information in regard to the various questions arising among the different tribes in the Indian Territory which come before this office for decision. The Fort Belknap Agency has been re-established. It was discontinued in 1876, and the Gros Ventres and Assinaboines ordered to report at Fort Peck. The Gros Ventres, however, have steadily refused to join their old enemies the Yanktonnais at that point, and they, with a portion of the Assinaboines, are again allowed to receive supplies at Fort Belknap. That agency also includes the River Crows, who make their home in that vicinity, and decline all invitations of the Mountain Crows to settle with them on their reservation south of the Yellowstone. The Mission and Hoopa Valley Agencies, in California, and the Moquis Pueblo Agency, in New Mexico, have also been re-established. Their discontinuance was caused by failure of Congress to appropriate for salaries of agents. An agency for the Western Shoshones, in Nevada, has been created. A good reservation in Duck Valley, on both sides of the boundary line between Nevada and Idaho, was last year set apart for their benefit by executive order, the first opportunity ever afforded them for making per manent homes. Hitherto they have been homeless wanderers through Nevada, without incentive to industry, although some of the most enterprising have cultivated lands owned by whites. If they live up to their protestations, that all they want is a fair chance to support themselves, they will soon be able to report progress in civilization. Houses, schools, farming implements, seeds, and partial subsistence until crops can be raised, should be furnished by the government. BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. This organization, composed of gentlemen of high standing and large business experience, renders valuable aid to the government by its constant oversight of the business of the bureau. All bids received for furnishing supplies and annuity goods undergo careful examination by the board, and no contracts are awarded without first receiving its approval. At the New York warehouse, the board employs its own clerks, who keep a complete and independent record of all goods received, inspected, and shipped, and have access to all books and papers kept by the department clerks. This double supervision affords the best possible protection against fraud, as well as against loose and irregular methods of doing business. The members of the board also acquire a practical knowledge of the wants of Indians by visiting the various agencies in person; at the same time they examine the supplies on hand, and are thus enabled to certify positively that the articles purchased for Indians are received by them. Such close and extensive supervision obliges a large majority of the commissioners to devote much valuable time to the Indian service, and when it is remembered that these services are rendered by them gratuitously, their opinions on questions of Indian management should be received with full confidence. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. A. HAYT, The Hon. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. Commissioner. |