REPORTS OF SUPERINTENDENT AND AGENTS. APACHE PASS, ARIZONA, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 12th ultimo, requesting a report of the Chiricahua agency up to the time of its consolidation with San Carlos. From the date of my last annual report, August 21, 1875, to the 7th of April, 1876, the only event of importance that occurred was the stealing of a number of horses from the Rio Grande, New Mexico, in the month of September, by a party of thirteen Hot Spring Indians and two Chiricahua Apaches, thirteen head of which stock were tracked to the Chiricahua reservation, recovered from the Indians, and returned to D. M. Reade, of Las Cruces, N. Mex. In the months of September, October, and November large numbers of the Coyotero Indians came to the reservation, claiming that they could not live at the San Carlos, and were not allowed to remain at Camp Apache. The majority of them remained until the 25th of December, when, in consequence of the killing of a chief of the Southern Chiricahuas by one of their number, nearly all of the Coyoteros were forced to leave to escape the vengeance of the Southern Chiricahuas. In February I was informed by the Commissioner that no additional beef could be furnished the agency during that fiscal year, and as at that time there was only a small quantity of beef-cattle due on the contract, I informed the Indians that I should not be able to issue much more beef, and therefore they would have to hunt game in the mountains to partially supply themselves with meat during the ensuing four months. In compliance with these directions a part of the Cochise tribe moved over to the Dragoon Mountains, situated about thirty-five miles from the agency and thirteen from the mail-station of Mr. Rogers, at Sulphur Springs. While in the mountains, a quarrel arose among them, resulting in the death of two men and a grandchild of Cochise. This caused a separation of the band, the larger portion, under Taza, returning to the vicinity of the agency, and about twelve men and their families remaining with Skin-ya in the Dragoon range. In March, four of this party and three Coyotero Indians belonging to San Carlos made a raid into Sonora, and returned with one of their number wounded and about $100 in gold-dust and silver. About the end of March or commencement of April, Mr. Rogers allowed these Indians to know that he had whisky at his house, and sold some to them for silver. I had previously informed Mr. Rogers, both verbally and in writing, that if he disposed of any spirits to the Indians he would be prosecuted and removed from the reservation; and from the information I obtained from the Indians I do not believe that he had done any trading with them for over eleven months. From what I have since heard from reliable Indians, on the 6th of April Mr. Rogers sold whisky to an Indian named Pi-hon-se-nay, and the next day the Indian returned and purchased more. In the afternoon of April 7 Pi-hon-se-nay again returned, accompanied by his nephew. He demanded more whisky, but was refused, when, watching an opportunity, he shot and killed Rogers, and Spence, the cook, they being the only two men at the house at the time. After the murder the Indians stole some horses, ammunition, and whisky, and returned to the camp in the Dragoons; and early on the morning of the 8th, a few Indians, who were yet intoxicated, went over to the San Pedro Valley, killed a Mr. Lewis and wounded a man named Brown, stealing four horses from Lewis. I was informed of the murder of Rogers on the morning of the 8th, and shortly after daylight I started for the rancherias of the other Indians, who were much excited, accompanied by a troop of cavalry. On nearing their camps I found the Indians on the tops of the mountains, and, requesting the officer to proceed with his company to Sulphur Springs, I went to the Indians, and told them to go into camp near the agency and await my return, promising that none of them should be molested. Taking four Indians with me, I followed the cavalry and caught up with them at Sulphur Springs. The bodies of Rogers and Spence were buried the next morning, and we then followed the trail of the Indians, discovering the band of Skin-ya on the morning of the 10th. They had placed themselves upon a peak accessible only by ridges and cañons; and, after exchanging shots, the officer in command not considering the position assailable without the loss of a disproportionate number of men withdrew his troops and returned to Camp Bowie. Upon my return to the agency I di rected the Indians not to camp or hunt west of the Chiricahua Mountains, and so informed the commanding officer at Camp Bowie and the officer in command of the scout out from Camp Grant, and at the same time offered to furnish them with Indian guides. By keeping the agency Indians to the east of the Chiricahua range the renegades were made the only Indians to the west of them, and therefore all that the scouts could find would necessarily be hostiles. None of the scouts, however, succeeded in capturing either the murderers or any of their companions. On June 4 Skin-ya and his party went to the camp of Taza, and tried to induce the band to leave the reservation and become hostile. This they refused to do, and finally the talk ended in a fight, in which six men were killed and three wounded; one fatally. The next morning Taza's band encamped close around the agency buildings. On June 5 Mr. J. P. Clum arrived with a regiment of cavalry, two companies of Indian scouts, and a bodyguard of fifty-two San Carlos Indians, and on the 6th he had a talk with the principal men of the Apaches, who were camped close to the agency. Taza agreed to take the band he had with him over to the San Carlos, as he had previously promised me he would do, but said that he could not speak for the other bands on the reserve. The next morning Pi-honse-nay, who was severely wounded in the fight on June 4, seut in a messenger to see if he would be allowed to come in to die. Mr. Clum sent out a party of twenty scouts and brought him in a prisoner, the women and children of Skin-ya's band coming in at the same time, as their men had either been killed or left the reserve. On June 12 Mr. Clum started for the San Carlos with forty-two men and two hundred and eighty women and children, where he arrived on the 16th, less Pi-hon-se-nay, who had escaped from the sheriffs, and two men and three women whom Pi-hon-se-nay took from a camp while en route. Of the remainder of the Indians formerly belonging to the Chiricahua agency about one hundred and forty went to the Hot Springs agency, New Mexico, and about four hundred are roaming the country from the Rio Mimbres, New Mexico, to Santa Cruz, Sonora, a distance of over three hundred miles; and since the discontinuance of the Chiricahua agency to the present time they have killed twenty men and women and stolen over one hundred and seventy head of animals, besides which there are a number of prospectors from whom nothing has been heard for some months. In conclusion, I have the honor to state that the killing of Messrs. Rogers, Spence, and Lewis was not an outbreak of the Indians of the agency; it was the result of selling whisky to Indians already outlawed from their tribe, and who were anxious to have other Indians join them to make their number sufficiently strong to enable them to become hostile. When at the Sulphur Springs ranch, Lieutenant Henely and myself found a keg of whisky that contained a quantity of tobacco and other materials to give strength to the liquor; and among civilized communities murders by men crazed from spirits are of frequent occurrence. The breaking of their treaty and attempted removal of nine hundred Indians for the criminality of three of their number has been the cause of the numerous murders and robberies that have been committed since the 12th of June. For further particulars of the events that transpired at the agency during the year commencing September 1, 1875, I respectfully call attention to my final report as agent for the Chiricahua Apaches, dated June 30, 1876. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. THOMAS J. JEFFORDS. COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVE, ARIZONA, SIR: I have the honor to submit the following as my first annual report of the condition of affairs at this agency. I assumed charge upon the first day of January last, and found the condition of affairs very different from what I was led to believe. I was almost disheartened, but de * termined to make the best of matters as I found them. I immediately placed my whole force of employés and Indians at work to repair damages, and to complete the tunnels as far as possible with the materials at hand. Before the high water or overflow of the river I had excavated eight and one-half miles of canal, 5 feet wide at the bottom; also excavated and timbered, with top and side lagging, 770 feet of tunnel, 6 feet in height, 5 feet wide at cap and 6 feet at sill, as well as 400 feet of tunneling being retimbered and top lagged. Finding that the material for timbering would give out before completion, I determined to tap the river at old Camp Colorado, and thus secure enough water to irrigate the lands (adjacent to the newly-constructed canal) that could be cleared in due time. In this matter I met with good success, as during the first week of May an unlooked-for and sudden rise of the river filled the canal. A few of the Indians had cleared land of arrow-weed and mesquite, and I am pleased to say had planted about 450 acres with corn, beans, pumpkins, melons, &c., that looked secure for a crop, until July 20, when the water ceased to flow. Although the extreme heat killed all the crops after the water ceased to flow, it has satisfied the Indians that with a constant supply of water they can secure good crops each and every year. The result will have good effect in the future, as they are now determined to cultivate by irrigation. In view of the above, I trust that a sufficient appropriation will be made to complete the tunnels and canal, which, when completed, will furnish a sufficient amount of permanent water to irrigate enough land to subsist all the lowland Indians of this Territory. With tunnels incomplete the canal is worthless. The agency buildings are in a fair state of repair, but need paint and whitewash to protect them from the weather. The tools in the blacksmith-shop are very scant, and a full supply is needed. I have renewed the carpenters' tools, with such articles as were most needed for immediate use. The facilities for transportation are in a deplorable condition; the majority of the mules are old and worthless; others are entirely too small for draught purposes in this deep sand. Fuel has to be hauled some six or eight miles, and for a great part of the distance the sand is so deep that they are unable to haul more than half a load. I would recommend the purchase of six additional mules and the sale of three of the old mules and one horse. I have previously asked for permission to sell three horses and four mules and a substitution of others, but since that report one of the horses and two of the mules have died from sheer exhaustion and old age. The Indians are a fine body and the best and most willing laborers I ever saw. There is scarcely any drunkenness among them; not because they cannot get the liquor, but because they believe it is injurious to them. The day school was closed upon the last day of February, as I did not think the result justified the expense. In reviewing the last seven months' progress, much more has been accomplished than I hoped for, and, with sufficient labor and material to complete the tunnels and canal, much will have been accomplished toward placing the Indians in the way of earning their own support. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. E. MORFORD, The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. United States Indian Agent. MOQUIS PUEBLO INDIAN AGENCY, SIR In accordance with the requirements of your Department, I have the honor to herewith submit my second annual report of this agency. During the past year, peace and a good degree of prosperity have been enjoyed throughout the tribe. But little sickness of a serious character has prevailed among them. Owing to late frosts, that damaged the young corn, the crop is not so abundant as it otherwise would have been, yet it is sufficient to meet the wants of the Indians. It is their chief product and principal subsistence, which they serve up in a great many different forms. Their peaches, which were almost an entire failure last year, are quite abundant this season. This fruit is of a superior quality. Much of it is dried, and forms an article of commerce between the Moquis and other tribes. Last spring I secured from the Agricultural Department at Washington, and from other sources, a good variety of seeds, both cereal and vegetable, which were distributed among the Indians, with instructions how to plant and cultivate them. They are very fond of beets, carrots, parsnips, turnips, onions, potatoes, &c. Some of the tribe have tolerably good crops of these vegetables and cereals this season, which will doubtless be increased from year to year as their value becomes more and more appreciated. Their lands, in the immediate vicinity of their villages, which were never very productive, by cultivation for a long series of years have become almost worn out. In view of this fact, early last spring about thirty families were induced to plant crops in a fertile valley fifteen miles distant. They seem to be much encouraged at this experiment, and it may be the means of inducing them to entirely abandon their present unpromising habitations. According to your instructions last autumn, I used every means in my power to secure their consent to move to the Indian Territory, or some other more promising section of coun try than the one they are now occupying. But they persistently refused to entertain any propositions looking toward that end, saying if it was good enough for their fathers it was good enough for them and their children after them. It is to be regretted that a tribe of Indians, who are an agricultural and pastoral people, and who are so ready and willing to cultivate the soil, should expend their labor where they can reap only a small reward. They told me emphatically they would never leave their present abodes, unless forced to do so. All things considered, it would be unadvisable to resort to coercive measures. They have no reservation or title to the country they are now occupying, consequently they are virtually without homes. This fact being known, they, being a peaceable, inoffensive class of people, are liable to be imposed upon in various ways. The Navajo Indians, immediately on the east, have for some time manifested a disposition to encroach upon their best grazing lands, and have only been restrained from so doing by the presence and influence of the agent. On the west and southwest, within the last twelve months, about four hundred emigrants have settled not far from the lands claimed by this tribe, and I understand several hundred more are expected in less than a year. This being the state of the case, I would most respectfully and earnestly recommend that a reservation, of sufficient extent (say thirty miles square, so as to include all their villages and grazing lands) to meet their wants, be at once set apart by the Government for them, before any further encroachments be made upon the domain which they have so long occupied. Unless this be done, this interesting tribe of Indians will be driven to the wall and reduced to abject poverty. More especially would this be the result if the agency should be abolished. The manual labor and boarding school, established more than a year ago, has been as well patronized as could have been expected. The pupils exhibit an aptness and capacity to acquire a knowledge of letters equal to the average American. Occasionally some of them would be required by their parents to herd sheep and goats for a few days. At such times some of the boys would request the privilege of taking their books with them, and while their flocks were grazing, they would be studying their lessons. A good proportion of the scholars have a strong desire to obtain an education "that they may be like Americans." By their assistance a large supply of good corn and vegetables has been raised for the benefit of the school. In disposing of supplies I have endeavored to follow out instructions by requiring the Indians to labor in some way for the benefit of themselves or their tribe. This I regard as a very important point, for nothing tends to foster and encourage idleness and pauperism more than the gratuitous distribution of supplies to them. The Government has certainly taken a long step in the right direction by requiring the recipients of goods and subsistence to render some equivalent in return. The gratuitous bestowment of supplies upon any class of people, white, red, or black, would so demoralize them in the course of time as to take away all incentive to industry and self-support. I have the honor to be yours, most respectfully, The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. W. B. TRUAX, United States Agent Moquis Pueblo Indians. SIR: I have the honor to submit the following, my first annual report of Indian affairs, pertaining to the Indians under my charge: Having entered upon the duties of agent here, as late as the 1st of May, four months ago, my report will be necessarily confined more particularly to the operations of that period, with a review of the affairs of the year. A short time previous to my taking control of these Indians, your Department placed under charge of this agency the Papagos, a tribe numbering as many or perhaps more than the Pimas and Maricopas together, widely scattered, having their reservation and principal settlement nearly one hundred miles distant. I have therefore been obliged to divide my attention between both these branches of my charge. I shall first speak of the Pimas and Maricopas. ENUMERATION. No census has been taken of these Indians for the past five years. It would be almost impossible to count them at this season of the year. During the winter, when they shall have gathered into their villages, a tolerably accurate census may be taken of them. From the best information at hand I should place their number as follows: Pimas, 4,100; Maricopas, 400. Total, 4,500. SANITARY. I would preface my remarks under this head by saying that it is difficult to obtain the permanent services of a suitable physician, notwithstanding the position is the best connected with the agency as regards pay and lightness of duties. There are many difficulties to encounter in the doctoring of these people, as, not understanding their language; the trouble and uncertainty of getting them to take medicine and apply remedies at their homes; the use of improper diet, and their general mode of life; all of these require a large store of patience, and an earnest and conscientious desire on the part of the physician to really benefit them. I hail it as a sign of their improvement that they are gradually losing faith in their own "medicine men," and seeking relief more generally from the use of the white man's remedies. The general health of these Indians has been good. The majority of cases of sickness (with the exception of those of a venereal character) have been light, and these arise in a measure from their manner of living, eating of unripe melons, exposure, &c. A large number of the children were vaccinated during the months of May and June, but our stock of virus was exhausted before all were so treated. The location of the agency and reserve is healthy, and although more than the usual amount of water has fallen the past few months, I apprehend no sickness of a serious character. LOCATION. These people are mostly on the reserve, scattered here and there, as the fertility of the soil, and the supply of water enables them to select the most advantageous places for their fields. About two hundred families are living on what is termed the Blackwater lands, adjacent to the reserve, where they find good land and more water; where they are quietly living at present, but have been given to understand by your agent that their occupation of these lands is only temporary, and urged to deport themselves peaceably while so occupying them. In my communication to the Department, of May 31, I desired that this portion of the pub. lic domain, containing about seven thousand acres, be added to the reserve, it being at present unoccupied by white settlers, thinking then, as I do still, it to be the easiest solution of the vexed question of "water supply," at least for a few years, until these Indians form a more intelligent view of what is for their real good, and may be induced to consent to a removal. Another portion are living in the vicinity of Salt River, finding water for irrigating purposes from the spare water of the settlers' ditches, and in return help to keep said ditches in repair. While it would be advisable under more favorable circumstances to keep all these people on the reserve, and under the immediate care of the agent, yet at present it would be nearly impossible for them to make a livelihood were their farming operations to be confined solely to the limits of the reserve. I may add, but little if any disturbance between these Indians and the settlers has come to my knowledge. AGRICULTURE. The amount of land cultivated by these Indians is considerable, aggregating between seven and eight thousand acres. Wheat, barley, sorghum, beans, corn, and melons are the principal productions. Their mode of culture is very primitive, not progressive. Their plowing is done mostly with wooden plows, (there being but few iron plows among them.) These are drawn by oxen fastened by the horns, in the old Mexican way, thus scratching up the ground as it were; yet they raise an excellent article of wheat. Work-cattle are scarce among them, and they are obliged to wait for each other to get the use of them, causing considerable delay, and often the best of the season for planting is passed before many of them get in their crops. I would therefore advise that more light plows be given them, some sets of plain chain-harness, and an effort be made to teach them to use their ponies (of which most of them have plenty) to plow with, thus enabling them to put in their crops at the proper time, and rendering them more independent of each other. Affording them facilities for improvement in farming I believe to be in the line of true economy. Their crops this season have not been abundant, yet the more thrifty of them, and those occupying advantageous locations, have raised fair crops, a portion of which they sell to the traders to enable them to purchase other necessaries, or such articles as they may fancy. Those of them that fall short draw liberally on the mesquite beans and other native products to complete their supplies. This mode of living, however, is degrading, and materially retards their development in civilization and their physical and moral improvement, while it is better than allowing them to suffer from hunger or be driven to evil practices from actual want. The lateness of the summer water-supply will hardly give them time to plant and mature a second crop, such as corn, pumpkins, and melons. A few of them are owners of cattle, but the scarcity of pasture on the plains, the trouble of keeping them out of their fields, for want of proper fences, together with an ignorance of the best means of accumulation, a lack of courage to practice self-denial, even for a desired object, and the spending of their money for whisky, keep them from engaging in this pursuit to more than a very limited extent. EDUCATION. The facilities afforded in this most important branch of the service are too limited to expect any but limited results. During the past year but one school has been in operation among these Indians, held at the village of San-tan, two and a half miles west of the agency, in charge of the Rev. C. H. Cook, who for the past five or six years has labored earnestly and patiently among this people as teacher and preacher. This school has had an attendance of sixty-five children, the average daily attendance being 82 per cent. of the number enrolled. A marked superiority is manifest in those children who have had the benefits of the school in intelligence, manners, and dress, showing that day-schools may be carried on successfully among these Indians, and at an expense but little greater than that of public schools in large cities. It is desirable that school-houses be established in some of the other villages, and the necessary teachers employed. In such a case some of the older scholars would prove effi. cient aids, particularly to those teachers who are unacquainted with the language of this |