for fuel. The mining and agricultural region north and east of the Rio Los Animas could be occupied by settlers, which would furnish a sufficient homestead for several thousand families, and sustain a population of from one to two hundred thousand persons. The military post being located upon the San Juan, between the settlements and the Indian reservation, would be a protection till the settlers could protect themselves. I would recommend the establishment of the reservation somewhere on the San Juan, south and west of the Rio Los Animas. In regard to the definite location I will say more after I have visited the country this summer or fall, which I propose to do in company with the Utah chiefs as soon as possible after the rivers fall, so that I can move my family to the agency at Abiquiu. I should here remark that west and south of the country I have described as occupied by the Utahs, there is a vast country but little explored or known, which was occupied by the Navajo Indians. This country is principally south and west of where the Rio Animas empties into the San Juan river, and Captain Joseph Walker, who spent several months with the Navajoes in that country, told me that it is as good a mineral and pastoral country as he ever saw, and that it cannot be excelled anywhere. By the establishment of this reservation and military post this whole country can be opened for settlement, and its vast resources developed, and this can be done at a small comparative expense, for it is cheaper to dispose of these Indians in this way than to fight and exterminate them, and it is much more humane. The Wemenutches and Capotes, if placed on a reservation on the San Juan, as proposed, will require an appropriation for the first year of $18,000 for provisions; $7,000 for goods and presents; $6,000 for farming and manufacturing implements and machinery; $3,000 for nursery stock, fruit trees, seeds, &c., including transportation; $3,000 for horses, mules, cattle, &c., to work the reservation farms; $4,500 for agency buildings, school-house, stables, corrals, &c., at the reservation; $5,000 to erect houses for the chiefs and Indians to live in on the reservation; and $3,000 for the removal of the Indians, agents, &c., and their location on the reservation; in all, $49,500. I would state that I found Juan Nopomecena Valdy employed as interpreter at this agency, and I have continued to employ him. In my letter dated May 28, 1867, I requested authority to dispense with the services of a special agent, who receives $1,200 per annum, and to employ two interpreters, one to speak the Spanish and Utah languages, and the other the Spanish and English. The two interpreters can be obtained for $500 per annum each, and would make the agency efficient without the special agent. The pay of one interpreter and the special agent is now $1,700 per annum for this agency. By the above arrangement I would have two interpreters, who would perform all the duties devolving upon the special agent, and the English interpreter could act as school teacher in the first establishment of the school and until the scholars increased so as to require a teacher to devote his whole time; and this would be a saving to the government of $700 per annum, besides the cost of a teacher. I therefore most respectfully request instructions upon this subject, so that I can employ two interpreters. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. F. M. ARNY, United States Indian Agent for New Mexico. Col. A. B. NORTON, No. 54. SANTA FÉ, NEW MEXICO, August 2, 1867. SIR: In compliance with the regulations of the department, I have the honor to submit herewith the following, as my present annual report: In regard to the Indians properly under my charge I have but little to say, unless I reiterate everything contained in my last annual report. This is more particularly the case since no notice seems to be taken by the government respecting the elevation and welfare of these people, notwithstanding the many representations which have been made by the several superintendents and agents on the subject. In my report of last year, as well as in others, I fully explained everything respecting their lands, condition, wants, &c., and also recommended that ample appropriations should be made for the education of their children and other beneficial purposes; in all of which you fully agreed with me, and even supported my views in your own report; but up to this time no action whatever has been taken in the premises, which is very much to be regretted. During the present year I have visited 12 of the 19 pueblos, besides having had several interviews with the governors and principal men of the others, and from all that I have been able to learn, the health of the Indians has been generally good during the year. The abundant crops of last year have also kept them well supplied with the necessary means of subsistence. This, from present indications, I am fearful will not be the case during the next year, owing to the many insects which have made their appearance, and from the overflow of rivers and creeks, which has washed away many of their fields. In the latter part of June last, (during your absence,) I received a letter from your office enclosing one from the Hon. S. B. Elkins, district attorney for New Mexico, requesting that the department here should furnish him with the names of all persons residing upon and occupying lands belonging to the Pueblo Indians. Agreeably to said request, on the following day I started for the Pueblos of Tesuque, San Ildefonse, Nambe, and Pojuaque, and succeeded in obtaining a list of over 200 names of persons residing within the grants of these Pueblos, most of whom were indicted and brought before the district court. Some 30 suits were commenced by United States District Attorney Elkins. The case tried was one against Benino Orliz, to recover the penalty of $1,000 for settling on Indian lands. This case, it was supposed, would settle and decide all the other cases. In that case a demurrer was entered by the defendant's counsel, (Hon. Kirby Benedict, late chief justice of New Mexico,) to the effect that the republic of Mexico recognized them as citizens, and that the United States had not made any special allusion to the Pueblo Indians upon the acquisition of New Mexico on the subject. The chief justice of New Mexico, Hon. John P. Slough, sustained the demurrer. Now, sir, this decision, however wise and well meant, is bound to have a bad effect. Up to this time we have had 7,000 honest and industrious Indians, living quietly in their villages, cultivating the soil for their subsistence, with very little aid from the government or any other source whatever, and in every respect selfsupporting; and the very fact of throwing open the doors, as it were, for such individuals as may think proper to take advantage of these people, of whom there is no lack, will, in the course of years, reduce them to poverty and ruin. No doubt many of them will be driven to commit acts of hostility, and thus our Indian troubles, instead of diminishing, will naturally increase. This is bound to be the inevitable result unless the decision of the court is overruled and the appeal of the district attorney sustained, thereby allowing these Indians to retain full possession of their peaceable homes, as they have had from time immemorial. These Indians, as I have in more than once instance represented to the department, are not prepared, neither do they desire to abandon their old customs and usages. They are willing and anxious to be entirely under the protection and management of the general government, without being molested and interfered with by alcaldes and other local county officers. Many years of intercourse with these people fully warrant me in making the foregoing statement; and should they be left entirely free (as they should be) to express their own sentiments, without being tampered with, they would readily and most assuredly support my remarks, all arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. Again, one of the worst features in the whole of these proceedings is, that our government, ever since taking possession of this country, has been promising these Indians that they would be protected in their rights; that after their lands were surveyed and patents to cover the same were issued to them, they would be placed in full possession of the same, &c.; and now, to dispossess them of what is legitimately their own, cannot but make them lose faith in the justice, ability, and integrity of the government; and it is bound to have its effect, not only with the Pueblos but also with the wild Indians by whom they are surrounded, and with whom they are in daily intercourse. Had the government acted upon the useful and timely suggestions and recommendations contained in your last annual report respecting the Pueblo lands, together with those contained in my own report for the same year, in relation to the same subject, this state of affairs would have never come about. I confidently hope you will use your utmost efforts to represent this grave question to the department as soon as possible, and endeavor to obtain such action as will mitigate the existing evils and will prevent trouble and confusion in the future, Accompanying herewith you will please find two documents, marked A and B respectively, which are intended as part of this report, and which, I trust, after due examination, will prove interesting both to yourself and to the department. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. A. B. NORTON, JOHN WARD, Special Agent for Pueblos. Supt. Indian Affairs, Santa Fe, New Mexico. No. 54. SANTA FÉ, NEW MEXICO, June 10, 1867. SIR: Your letter of the 7th instant, enclosing statistical blank returns of education, &c., have been duly received, and, in reply, allow me respectfully to state, that the time left between the receipt of the returns and that at which you require them to reach your office, with the necessary information, (10th July next,) is entirely too short to make anything like a correct report respecting many of the particulars required in said return. This must be obvious, knowing as you do the location of the pueblos, (villages,) and the great distance between some of them, and the manner in which many of the same are crowded by citizens who have possession of a great portion of the Indians' land, and are cultivating the same as if it were in "common ;" besides the inability of the Indians to give correct information respecting the number of acres cultivated and the quantity of grain raised by them. The only way that an agent or agents can furnish a near statement of these matters is, by visiting each and every pueblo and ranchos, (farms,) at which many of the Indians usually reside during the summer months. This, as you must be aware, would take even two agents at least two months to accomplish the task properly. However, I have filled out the returns, as far as possible, to the best of my knowledge and belief. My report of last year, which is now on file in the Indian Office at Washington, contains many important facts relative to the lands of the Pueblo Indians, as well as many other particulars respecting the condition and wants of these people, together with many useful suggestions in regard to the future management of the same; and it also explains fully the impossibility of giving correct statistical information respecting some of the items contained in the returns herewith submitted, or similar ones, unless ample time is had to perform the duty. And as the only reason alleged by the Hon. D. N. Cooley, late Commissioner, was, that the report alluded to "arrived too late to be published in full," (only a few extracts therefrom having been printed,) I would respectfully suggest that you represent these facts, and request that the department, if consistent, will cause the entire report to be published with that of the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs for this year. The main reason for my making the foregoing suggestions is the fact that there is nothing within the reach of my memory that I could now add or represent respecting the Pueblo lands, &c., that is not already embraced in that report. Indeed, I did my best, at the time, to make it as full and complete as possible in every particular. Of this fact you are fully aware. The only paragraph that might be left out of the entire report now, with any degree of propriety, is that which alludes to the appropriation of "$10,000 for the purchase of farming implements, &c."—that is, providing any action has been taken on the subject; otherwise, the report stands as good and correct as any that could now be made. This is more particularly the case since no action whatever has been taken upon any of the different matters treated therein, so far as I am informed. Besides, the question of the Pueblo lands is one that greatly concerns the interest of these Indians in general, and that of many of the citizens residing within the limits of these grants or reserves, and the government, sooner or later, will be compelled to take some action in the premises. I shall endeavor by every possible means to comply with your request, or rather instructions, in regard to my annual report for the present year, and will commence at once to collect all possible information, in addition to that which I already possess, respecting the present condition and wants of the Indians under my charge. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, JOHN WARD, Special Agent for Pueblos. P. S.-SIR: I confidently hope that neither you nor the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs will think for a moment that the returns herewith accompanying have not been filled up with the information required, either through neglect of duty or for the want of proper energy on my part to furnish the same, for I can assure you that such is not the case. The true and only reasons are fully explained in some of the foregoing paragraphs, which I trust will prove satisfactory. Respectfully, I-Vol. ii-14 J. W. No. 55. SANTA FÉ, NEW MEXICO, SIR: Herewith you will please find a return, marked A, of the several census of the Pueblo or Village Indians of New Mexico, taken at different periods from 1790 to 1864 inclusive. I am not aware that this will be of any great benefit or interest to the department, but it will, no doubt, serve to prove beyond all speculation that at least the Pueblo Indians in the aggregate are gradually but surely decreasing in numbers, and it will also serve to aid in the demonstra tion that such must be the case with the entire Indian race. This will be more apparent when we take into consideration that Pueblos are not so much exposed and are in every way better able to preserve their health, which is usually good. They are subject to no particular disease any more than other people of the country; besides, they seldom, if ever, lose any of their people through conflict either with the whites or Indians. They are entirely free in this respect from the wholesale destruction of lives to which the wild Indians are subject at times. By reference to the return it will be perceived that no enumeration is given of three of the Pueblos, viz: Abiguin, Pecos, and Belue, during our time or since 1809. The first census taken under our government was in 1850. The first and the last of these Pueblos have gone out of existence as Indian communities, although their race can be easily traced among the Mexicans residing at and in the vicinity of those places. The pueblo of Pecos is now a mass of ruins. The few original inhabitants were compelled to abandon the village about eight years previous to our government taking possession of this country in 1846. They left in consequence of their reduced circumstances and numbers and the encroachment of Mexican citizens in general, although in 1790 the number of the inhabitants of this pueblo does not seem from the census to have been large; yet, agreeable to the tradition of the Pueblo Indians themselves in ancient times, this was considered to be decidedly the greatest of all. The number of inhabitants given to the pueblo of Santa Domingo in 1860, as per return, is certainly an error. This pueblo is too well known; it has always been considered (and it is without question) one of the largest on the banks of the Rio Grande. The number given to Jeures for the same year is too large; but taking the population of both pueblos together in the aggregate, will be about right. I am unable to account for the discrepancy in the number given to Isleta in 1860, and those given in 1850 and 1864, unless the person or persons taking the census failed to have the Indians properly collected, as many of them for the most part of the time, particularly in summer seasons, live at their ranchos (farms) away from the village. This is certainly the largest pueblo on the banks of the Rio Grande, and is by far the wealthiest of all. I have thought proper to give the census of 1808 and 1809 for the purpose of testing their accuracy, and, as further evidence, to prove that notwithstanding all the discrepancy or errors to be noticed in the several censuses taken during our time, the decrease of the Pueblo Indians in the aggregate is beyond any doubt. If we take the census of 1808, that being 9,391, which is the greatest number given by the Spanish authorities, (exclusive of the four pueblos within El Paso,) and that of 1850, 7,657, this being also the greatest number given during our time, it will be perceived that in a period of 42 years these people are less 1,734 souls. Taking these last figures as an average ratio for every 42 years, and in about a century and a half these fragments of once numerous and powerful tribes will exist no more. As further explanation and with a view of supporting the foregoing calculations, |