another crop, and it is to be hoped they may not again be driven to the state of necessity and destitution that they were last winter. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, EDWARD R. GEARY, Esq.. DANIEL NEWCOMB, Superintendent Indian Affairs, Portland, Oregon. SIR: I have the honor herewith to submit the following as my report as teacher of the school under my charge at this agency. I commenced the school or the 1st of March last, and continued it to the 13th of August, when I thought it advisable to suspend until after the harvest. The attendance was very irregular, varying from ten to forty, the average attendance being about twenty. Those who have attended the school have shown no unwillingness to attend, but have been kept out by their parents to assist them in procuring food. This has been the greatest source of embarrassment to the school. Those who have attended the school seem to possess excellent minds, and exhibit an aptitude to learn not exceeded by white children of the same age. Quite all have learned the alphabet, ten spell quite readily in words of two syllables, and two are reading in easy readings. It seems to be of little use, however, to attempt to keep the school with any permanent benefit to the children, unless they could be taken from under the control of their parents and placed where they could be boarded and taken care of, and instructed in agricultural and mechanical pursuits. I think, by adopting the course I have indicated, that much good may be accomplished. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, DANIEL NEWCOMB, Esq., E. B. BALL. Indian Agent. No. 88. YAQUINA BAY, Oregon, SIR: In compliance with the regulations I have the honor to submit the following as my first annual report. The Indians under my charge embrace the Umpqua, Coose, Alcea, and Siuslaw Indians, numbering 460 souls, of which the Coose and Umpqua tribes, numbering 279, are living in the vicinity of fort Umpqua, the remainder being located upon the Coast reservation. In obe dience to the direction of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, contained in his letter of the 3d September, 1859, I have taken preliminary steps for the removal of the Umpqua and Coose Indians to the place designed for their future home, and shall proceed to this work at once, hoping to be able to effect the desired object at an early day. These Indians should be removed as soon as possible, as it will be impracticable to do so late in the fall, and if it is done early it will afford them time to build houses for the coming winter. In accordance with instructions received from your office, I commenced making improvements on a portion of the land selected by me for their future location, situated on the Coast reservation about six miles south of the Alcea river, and sixty miles north of Fort Umpqua, where I have caused to be erected two small agency buildings, and have had planted about twenty-five acres of potatoes and garden vegetables. I have employed Indian labor in making these improvements as far as practicable. It will be remembered that the Indians in my charge are not parties to any existing treaty with the United States, and of course are not beneficiaries under treaty stipulations. They are embraced in the treaty with the coast tribes of Oregon negotiated by Superintendent Palmer during the months of August and September, 1855, but which treaty has not as yet been ratified by the United States Senate. Great dissatisfaction has long existed among these Indians on account of this matter. They are continually asking why it is that the great father (the President) does not send back their paper, i. e. treaty, as he promised, and pay them for their lands. They say they are tired of w iting for it, and complain bitterly that their land has been taken from them without their having received any compensation therefor. I would respectfully urge that either their treaty be ratified, a new one made, or some congressional action be taken in reference to these Indians by which they will be placed upon an equal footing with the other Indians on the Coast reservation who are provided for by treaty stipulations. None of the Indians in my charge have ever been engaged in hostilities against the whites. The Umpqua and Coose tribes are naturally industrious, but owing to the fact that they have had for a number of years free intercourse with the whites, they have acquired many vices, such as the use of liquor, &c. Notwithstanding my most strenuous efforts to the contrary they sometimes obtain liquor from unprincipled white men. After their removal to the Coast reservation, however, which I hope to effect at an early day, their intercourse with that class of men will be entirely cut off, and the nefarious traffic wholly suppressed. The Siuslaw tribe live upon the Siuslaw river, and are the most advanced and industrious of the tribes within my district. I have furnished them this spring with some agricultural implements and some seed, and they have without assistance cultivated small gardens, which bid fair to yield a good crop. The Alcea tribe are not so enterprising and industrious as the Siuslaws, but are inclined to be lazy and indolent. I have, however, induced a few of them to work on the farm, and I hope with proper encouragement to effect in a few years a salutary change in their disposition, and place them in a condition to support themselves. Since I took charge of these Indians, (on the 30th November, 1859,) there have been eleven deaths and seven births. During the spring months there was considerable sickness, but those affected having received careful medical attendance it did not prove serious. The general health at present is quite good. Last fall, Major J. B. Scott, commanding Fort Umpqua, issued to these Indians a large amount of condemned clothing, which enabled them to pass the winter quite comfortably without assistance from the Indian department. Many of them now, however, are nearly destitute of clothing, and without a proper supply will be exposed to great suffering during the inclemency of the coming winter. I trust that proper steps will be taken at an early day for the establishment of a school at this point, as I am satisfied that the children, could they receive the benefit of instruction, would improve rapidly. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, EDWARD R. GEARY, Esq., J. B. SYKES, Superintendent Indian Affairs, Portland, Oregon. No. 89. OFFICE GRAND RONDE AGENCY, SIR: In compliance with the regulations of the Indian department, I have the honor herewith to transmit my fourth annual report. The Indians on this reservation are in better health, and appear to be better satisfied than they have been at any time since I took charge. Our crops of grain this season are much larger than those of any previous year; and I think we will have sufficient breadstuffs to supply the wants of the Indians for the next year. We will also have a good crop of potatoes and peas, as well as an abundance of forage to supply all the stock on the reservation. The assignment of a portion of the soil to each separate family has had a very salutary effect, nearly every head of a family having his house and land separate and apart. These they have all fenced in, and many of them cultivate their ground with a great deal of industry. The following table will give a comparative statement of the expenses of this reservation from the time I took charge to the end of the last fiscal year: During the quarter ending December 31, 1856, about $500 per day. Do do March 31, 1857, June 30, 1857, By the above table will be seen the enormous reduction which has been made in the expenses of this agency in less than four years; and I think that in a very short time the expenses, outside of treaty stipulations, will be comparatively trifling, the whole of the arable portion of the reservation being well inclosed with good and substantial fences, and the subdivision of the fields almost completed. In accordance with your instructions, I have expended a portion of the annuity funds on the mills. They are in good running order, though the flouring mill is far from complete. After the spring crops were put in I gave permission to a portion of the Clackamas, Molalla, and Oregon City bands of Indians, who formerly resided in the vicinity of the salmon fisheries, to leave the reservation for the purpose of fishing; and they succeeded in obtaining a considerable supply; but all the other Indians, including the Rogue River, Umpqua, and Cow Creek tribes, are entirely destitute of meat of any kind, and it will be absolutely necessary to purchase a small supply of beef, especially during the fall and winter months, or great suffering will ensue. Having in my former reports given my views in regard to the education of the Indian children, and the establishment of schools on the reservation, I will merely report that we have again tried the experiment, a teacher having been employed from the 1st of December, 1859, to the middle of February, 1860, with no better result than all former attempts. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, EDWARD R. GEARY, Esq., JOHN F. MILLER, Indian Agent. Superintendent Indian Affairs, Portland, Oregon. SIR: In compliance with the requirements of the regulations of the Indian Bureau, I have the honor to submit this, my annual report for the last year. In accordance with instructions from your office, I relieved Agent A. P. Dennison in the charge of this district on the 30th of December last, and will confine my report to affairs connected with this agency, but will remark here, that the Indians in Klamath Lake district, formerly under my charge, continue on terms of friendship with the United States, no difficulties of importance between them and our citizens having occurred since my last report. The number of Indians in this district will approximate to 5,000 souls, including the confederated tribes and bands of Middle Oregon, the confederated tribes of Walla-Wallas, Cayuses, and Umatillas, the Mountain Snakes and Diggers, with a few scattering families of other bands. Of this number, only about 1,200 have as yet been collected on one, the Warm Springs, reservation; the others being scattered over a vast extent of country, from the Cascade mountains to the eastern boundary of the State. The Sho-sho-nees, or Snakes, and Diggers, have assumed an attitude of hostility to the United States and many of the friendly tribes. Their depredations on the Indians at Warm Springs reservation during the past eighteen months has been most annoying, as well as prejudicial to the success of that institution. Since I have had charge of that reserve they have driven off and killed about eighty head of horses and a few cattle, the property of the reserve Indians. WARM SPRINGS RESERVATION. This reserve was set apart for the confederated tribes and bands of Middle Oregon, by the treaty of June 25, 1855. The location of this reserve is unfortunate in some respects. It is from forty-five to seventy-five miles distant from the fisheries on the Columbia river and tributaries, the right to fish at which, in common with citizens of the United States, is guaranteed to this people by treaty. The distance makes it necessary for the Indians to remove to, and to reside at, the fisheries during the time that they are engaged putting up their annual supply of salmon, which is in the summer months, from the first of May until the middle of September; consequently, their crops are neglected, and the indolent, profligate, and debauched have a season in which to indulge these propensities in and near the white settlements, where the influence of the agent is partially counteracted by vicious and unprincipled white men. The amount of good tillable land on the reserve is scarcely sufficient for the number of Indians to be located there. There is abundance of good grazing lands, which is of great importance, and well adapted to the wants of the Indians. When I took charge of this reserve I found the Indians in great fear of their mortal enemies, the Snakes, and during the early spring they were greatly distressed by the depredatory incursions of those unconscionable thieves. It was necessary to herd all stock during the day and corral it at night, and to observe the greatest vigilance at all times. To leave a band of horses or single animal without being guarded for a few hours, was to insure its loss. It was with the greatest difficulty that I was enabled to keep the Indians on the reserve until their crops were planted. I used every means to get into communication with the Snakes, in vain; they kept away from I furnished the military authorities of the department of Oregon full information regarding the difficulties and precarious condition of the reserve, and applied for a small force to be stationed there temporarily; but, for causes unknown to me, which I presume appeared satisfactory to the commanding general, no step was taken for our protection. True, a detachment of twenty-five or thirty men, under |