allowed to do it with. At the time I assumed charge, in September last, nothing had been done by my predecessor except to remove the property to this point, which, with his limited force of men, was all that he could do. Although very late in the season to procure hay, I succeeded in getting a sufficient quantity to carry our animals through the past winter. Such as I did get was of a poor quality, and was found in the ravines near the agency. Most of the buildings being entirely new, were in good condition. Those removed from the old agency-four in number-I found unfinished and really unfit for use; but, with such material as I have had at my command, I have completed them so as to be of service as shops and stables. Two buildings yet remain at the old agency. These are constructed of cottonwood, and are in a fair condition, and, if removed, could be made of service here. Permission was granted last fall for their removal, but so late that it was impossible to do so, except at a great cost; therefore I waited until this summer, and just as I was about to do this work by contract I was ordered to suspend action until further orders. Having only one warehouse at this agency, I find it a very difficult matter to protect all the property intrusted to my charge. I would recommend that either the buildings above referred to be removed, or new ones erected in their place. I have, in a special report to the Department, stated all my reasons for this recommendation. I have been unable (for the want of a proper building from which to issue) to carry out the instructions regarding the new system of issuing rations to heads of families instead of to bands. I am anxious to do this just as soon as possible, as I believe it is the only true mode of issuing to Indians, as each person would receive his equal share; whereas, in the present way, many, and especially the old and sick, go without. A cattle-corral, 150 by 300 feet, has been built by the agency employés, aided by a few of the Indians. This is constructed of logs, and will do very well until I am able to build one of sawed lumber. In connection with this corral I have set up a pair of Fairbanks' standard scales, and am prepared to weigh all cattle received at this agency. In November last a school was opened at this agency, under charge of the Rev. H. Burt, missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The attendance has been good, the average being 25 from that to the present time. Such of the children as have attended regularly have made good progress in their studies. These Indians are favorably inclined toward the school, and many of them have shown a lively interest in the work, and seem to be anxious to have their children instructed. Two school-houses, 20 by 30, were erected by the Government in June last, and as yet have not been occupied; one in the camp at the mouth of White River, the other at Standing Cloud's camp, about 7 miles from here, on White River. In June last a fine church-edifice was commenced at this agency and completed in July. This building was erected by the mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is 20 by 40 feet. Regular services have been held here each Sunday by the Rev. Mr. Burt, in the morning and afternoon in Dakota and in the evening in English. The general health of these Indians has been good during the past year. The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. HENRY E. GREGORY, RED CLOUD AGENCY, NEBRASKA, August 25, 1877. SIR: In accordance with instructions relative to annual reports of Indian agents, I have the honor to submit the following: I first saw this agency on the 27th day of June last, and on the 1st day of July relieved Lieut. C. A. Johnson, acting United States Indian agent under the military administration of affairs at Red Cloud. I found about 6,700 Indians camped within a radius of two or three miles from the agency, including the northern band of Arapahoes and Crazy Horse's band of wild Northern Sioux, and ten or fifteen lodges of Cheyennes. Owing to the disturbances that have lately occurred in this country, and the necessity for military interference, the occupation of the Black Hills country by miners, and the anticipated change of the location of their agency to the Missouri River, the Indians keep up a fever of excitement; but, notwithstanding, I find them generally disposed to be quiet and orderly, and whatever may have been their desires and hopes, and however great their final disappointment, they have accepted the situation with considerable grace, and express their determination to benceforth travel the white man's road," (Crazy Horse is an exception, and will be mentioned hereafter,) and should the new agency be fortunately situated in reference to agriculture and stock-raising, I believe a large number will try and do something for themselves. Many of them are now trying to cultivate patches of land along the little streams adjacent to the agency. Some of them have used their hands for shovels and hoes, and have shown them to me worn and bleeding. My acquaintance with them has been brief, and I find no records of the past in this office to assist me in making out the accompanying statistics, and to furnish me other useful information. It appears to me, where these Indians are now located, that there is little opportunity to improve them in industry and morals; nor do I think there has been any improvement in either respect during the last year, and for the following reasons: There is not enough tillable land to cultivate. The seasons are generally too dry, and irrigating impracticable. The active military operations during the past year have brought them under more wholesome restraint, and driven them toward civilization, but are not expected otherwise to improve their morals. The settling of the Black Hills and country beyond has opened a highway through the agency, and a large number of people are coming and going, making it impossible to prevent traffic in ardent spirits, arms, and ammunition, horse-stealing, &c. The agency is not on the reservation as now defined, but in the State of Nebraska, under whose present legislation and the decisions of the United States courts we are unable to bring crinrinals to justice, and we are for all practical purposes without civil law. The expectation on the part of the Government of moving the agency has deterred those having in charge more particularly their educational and Christian management from commencing operations. Bishop Hare informs me, however, that he will provide a school without further delay; which will be very satisfactory to the Indians, and, I believe, will be well attended. If the Government, when it moves this agency, should be fortunate enough to find them good land, wood, water, and grass, they will, with proper assistance, most undoubtedly, as I said before, try to help themselves. Even though the effort on their part may not be very energetic at the start, it will be a movement in the right direction, and a great satisfaction to the Government and the friends of the service, as well as relief to tax-payers, to know that the thousands of idle people they are now compelled to support, are even slowly working their way from pauperism to independence. If the people would reflect on the fact that the Sioux were a few years ago a powerful, independent, self-sustaining nation, and have been brought to poverty by the loss of their country and the destruction of their game, they would certainly have charity enough to be patient, if they knew the work of reconstruction was radical and certain, and a prospect of relief in the future. When I arrived at this agency, I found Crazy Horse and his band, consisting of about 1,100 people, encamped two miles north of the agency; he has in his band Little Big Man, and several other noted chiefs. Crazy Horse manifests a sullen, morose disposition; evidently a man of small capacity, brought into notoriety by his stubborn will and brute courage. His dictatorial manners, and disregard for the comfort of his people, have caused dissatisfaction among them, and his want of truthfulness with the military department has rendered him unpopular with the leading men of his band, who have drawn off from him, and say they are determined to carry out their promise with General Crook, and their original intention to obey orders and keep the peace. All the other Sioux bands are doing well, and it seems hardly possible that they will ever take up arms again. About 1,100 Arapahoes under Black Coal are attached to this agency, and camped in the neighborhood; they are most thoroughly subjugated, peaceable, and obedient to every order; they will submit to almost anything rather than go to their southern agency, believing they will all die in a few years in that miasmatic country. Regretting the limited opportunity for making a more full and complete report, I am, Very respectfully, your obedient servant, The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. JAMES IRWIN, United States Indian Agent. SISSETON AGENCY, DAKOTA, September 4, 1877. SIR: I have this day turned over to my successor all of the property in my possession belonging to the United States, and also property belonging to Indians stored in the Government warehouse or otherwise under my charge, and have therefore the honor of submitting this my final report of operations at this agency since it has been under my charge. I assumed the duties of this agency May 4, 1875, relieving Rev. M. N. Adams. I found the affairs of the agency in an embarrassed condition. growing out of difficulties between the agent and Indians, and also from the failure of the Department to provide sufficient competent help to systematize and successfully administer the complicated business of the agency. I found the system of issuing supplies to Indians on account of labor performed or produce delivered under way here; found ledger-accounts opened with Indians who had debits and credits; found them charged on a memorandum day-book in single entry with supplies received and credited, with labor performed, &c., but as the books were months in arrears, it was impossible to tell the standing of the Indians, or the condition of accounts, from them, and it was not until the following fall, when the accounts had been closed, and the system changed to a double-entry system and new ledger accounts opened, that the business of the agency was fairly started. Accounts are kept with the United States Indian Department and with each individual Indian who is able-bodied, and the strictest care taken to make no issue until the Indian has credit. These books are balanced semi-annually, and the Department accounts closed each fiscal year. Any officer visiting this agency can, by a few hours' examination, determine the status of the agency, and ascertain the standing of the Indians who labor. I recommend the continuance of this system here, and respectfully suggest that my successor should be allowed an additional clerk or office assistant to enable him to keep the business up. The position of store-keeper and bookkeeper have heretofore been filled by one person. The work to be done is more than sufficient for two persons, and my successor should be allowed an additional $800 for pay of employés, so as to secure the services of a thoroughly competent person. Monthly census-rolls, showing the number of families, the number in the family, and the goods and supplies issued each month, have been kept by me, and are left as agency records. The preparation of these lists, their correction and comparison each month, involve much labor, but they are necessary to enable the agent to properly distribute the supplies on hand, to discover the absence of Indians, &c., and serve to protect him in case any question is raised as to the distribution of supplies. I consider this a valuable feature of our accounts here, and recommend its continuance here, and its introduction at the other Indian agencies. In addition to this, a warehouse-ledger, giving name and quantity of articles received and issued, is kept, accounts being kept in the name of the articles, as flour. pork, &c. This ledger should be balanced weekly, but owing to the pressure of work on hand it has been impossible. I suggest that, in addition to your regular weekly supply reports, it would be well to have a weekly report covering all articles received and issued. These reports to be verified by the receipts of the individuals receiving the supplies, and accompanied by the certificate of the storekeeper that the supplies were actually and bona fide issued to the person named by order of the agent or authorized clerk. This would add to the work, but a competent, industrious storekeeper could do it. By adopting this system, any irregularities in issues or loss of supplies could easily be detected. Receipts for all supplies issued by me since I have been here are on file in the agency. office, and constitute a portion of the records thereof, and as such turned over to my successor. Bills of goods purchased and paid for by me are itemized in full in the cash-book, and bills paid by certified vouchers itemized in the journal day-book, all being posted to proper ledger accounts. Property on hand is shown by warehouse-ledger, and by office, smith, miller, carpenter, and manual-labor-school inventories. The triplicate copies of quarterly accounts I retain for my own protection. The disposition of these Indians is still friendly, and their temper under present distressing circumstances admirable. I cannot too highly commend their fortitude and patience in enduring hunger waiting the arrival of supplies. The turbulence and insubordination prevalent under my predecessor's administration have disappeared. The enforcement of the policy of dealing with individuals, and not recognizing tribal relations, and ignoring chiefs, is generally acceptable to the people, but is bitterly opposed by the recognized head chief here. He deserves well of the Government for his atti tude in the outbreak of 1862, and for what he has done by way of example for this people; but to allow him or any other Indian to exercise authority, decide the proper interpretation of treaties, or determine how and to whom to issue supplies, would be suicidal. My successor should be sustained by all the influence and power at your command in breaking away from chiefs and headmen, and in rewarding individual merit. The system of requiring agents to take the receipts of chiefs and head men for all goods and supplies received and issued should be abandoned, and the individual receipts of the parties receiving the goods substituted. The practice of taking their receipts adds greatly to their importance. It enables them to dictate terms often, and places the agent at their mercy. On two or three occasions, Gabriel Renville and other men he controls have refused to sign vouchers when the goods were issued, because he wanted them issued to relatives and friends who were not justly entitled to them. The sentiment of the people in each case compelled him to sign the vouchers. You can readily see that if you desire agents to cease the recognition of chiefs, you must devise some methods of making agents independent of them in obtaining vouchers for property returns. I commend this subject to your earnest consideration. I cannot part with these Indians without urging upon you to secure a modification by Congress of that provision of their treaty which makes the plowing, fencing, residence upon for five years, and the cultivation of fifty acres of land a condition of receiving a patent for 160 acres. After a careful study of the history of the treaty, and having learned something of the character of the white men who were chiefly instrumental in making the treaty, viz, James R. Brown and Benjamin Thompson, it is my deliberate judgment that they intended to prevent Indians obtaining patents, and this is the accepted opinion among intelligent Indians and others cognizant of the facts. If it is right to give title to intelligent white men after five years' residence, erection of houses, and no stipulated number of acres under cultivation, is it just to establish such a burdensome prerequisite for an Indian ignorant of industrial arts? With the limited resources at their command, not one in fifty can comply with its provisions. I respectfully recommend that when an Indian has built his house, fenced, plowed, and put teu acres in crops, he receive a patent for forty acres, and for every additional ten acres he receive a patent for forty more, until he becomes possessed of one hundred and sixty acres. The fear that no title could be acquired to land here is the cause of the homestead movement from this reservation, and unless there is a modification of these rigorous requinements, many, if not a majority, of the Indians here will seek homes under the "homestead act." I do not deem this advisable. If crops were sure, and not liable to devastation by hoppers," the movement might be encouraged. Now they must either be sustained by the Government or become pensioners on the bounty of frontier settlers scarcely able to sustain themselves. I sincerely trust that you may consider these recommendations favorably, and secure requisite legislation from Congress. Another subject of importance is the preparation of laws and regulations for their govern. ment, as provided for by the tenth article of the treaty. Here again the phantom chief and headman is an obstruction. The people want the laws, and want to elect their own officers. The present headmen will consent to the laws if they enforce them. Last, winter I prepared for them a code of regulations, which the people would have accepted, and which might have been in force now, if my health had not failed me and obliged me to drop the subject. The matter should receive immediate and careful attention. I found upon assuming this agency about seven hundred acres of land cultivated by Indians; to-day there are over two thousand, and it might have been five if the seed could have been furnished. During my administration every able-bodied Indian, whether with or without a family, has been located on a claim, and been started in securing a home. All have been induced to abandon tent-life and live in houses. Most of the heathenish rites and dances have been abandoned voluntarily. Their dead are buried in coffins and put into the ground, not hung up in trees or laid on poles, exposed, as formerly; in short, there has been a "breaking away" from old customs, and a turning to the genial, enlightening influences of Christian civilization. The work of the agency is well advanced. All the hay for the year is cured and stacked at the agency, having been hauled some six miles. All the annuity supplies have been brought up, excepting some 5,000 pounds not yet arrived at Herman. Contracts for all articles needed throughout the year have been made, and await your approval for shipment. To Mr. Hooper I transfer the work of harvesting the grain now ripe. The work of the agency was never in a better state of forwardness, and Mr. Hooper, with the increased facilities for doing work afforded him by the new warehouse, starts his official career under most favorable auspices. I bespeak for him your warmest sympathy and continual support. Difficulties will come up, Indians will be dissatisfied, disappointed contractors complain, thievish white men will stir up strife, and he will be assailed on every side, and unless assured of your confidence and support, his life will be a burden. He comes to no life of luxury, but to one of incessant toil and anxiety, where the most unremitting care and inindustry are not appreciated; to a life of suspicion and constant aggressiveness, and if not warmly encouraged by you he will be apt to give up in despair. Finally, in leaving the agency to engage in other pursuits more congenial and profitable, I desire to extend to you my thanks for the courtesy and consideration shown me, and to assure you of my appreciation of the high sense of justice you have shown in all matters relating to this agency and to myself. I have broken myself down in health in endeavoring to honestly and faithfully discharge my duties, and I leave the service with the knowledge that, though my administration has not been free from mistakes, it has been honest, thoroughgoing, and positive, and successful in most respects. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, The COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. JOHN G. HAMILTON, SPOTTED TAIL AGENCY, NEBRASKA, August 10, 1877.. SIR: In obedience to instructions from your office of 10th ultimo, I have the honor to submit the following annual report of the condition of Indian affairs at this agency: I entered on duty as agent March 3, 1877, in obedience to Special Orders No. 4, from Headquarters Department of the Platte, of January 11, 1877. It is impossible for me to give a correct résumé of affairs here for the past year, owing to the fact that during that time the agency has had frequent changes in agents, viz: First Lieut. M. C. Foot, Ninth Infantry, relieved E. A. Howard; First Lieut. A. C. Paul,, Third Cavalry, relieved Lieutenant Foot; First Lieut. Horace Neide, Fourth Infantry, relieved Lieutenant Paul; and the latter was relieved by myself. While I do not think the Indians have suffered by these frequent changes, still, a permanent agent can, as a rule, work to greater advantage; and I anxiously look forward to the time when I shall be succeeded by one who will make the management of these Indians his permanent business. As is well known, Indian affairs in this section have been very much unsettled during at least half of the past year, owing entirely to the late Indian war. Last winter's campaign closed with the punishment of the Cheyennes, and in February last General Crook succeeded in inducing Spotted Tail to go out north with about two hundred and fifty of his subchiefs and headmen on a mission of peace to the hostiles. Spotted Tail found large camps of the hostiles on the Little Missouri and Little Powder Rivers, and through his earnest efforts and continuous councils he succeeded in inducing them to "bury the hatchet" and come into the agencies. He returned here on April 6, after an absence of over fifty days, and announced that his mission undertaken and carried out in midwinter, through hardships and sufferings from cold and hunger, had been successful; that one hundred and five lodges, crowded with the late hostiles, would soon be here. (He had previously succeeded in sending in about twenty-five lodges which he came across on his way out.) On April 14 the late hostile camp arrived, and numbered by actual count nine hundred and seventeen souls, under Roman Nose, Touch the Clouds, Red Bear, and High Bear. This was the first break in the firm ranks of the hostiles, and Spotted Tail felt assured that the Cheyennes would soon come into Red Cloud, and that Crazy Horse with about two hundred lodges would not be far behind. These predictions have all been verified. The Indian war has been ended. All the hostiles came in except a remnant under Lame Deer and Fast Bull of perhaps sixty lodges of Minneconjous and Sans Arcs who refused to accept terms of peace. But I venture the prediction they will be drawing rations at some agency inside of sixty days. Nine lodges of these Indians surrendered here on the 24th ultimo. This great result has been mainly accomplished by Spotted Tail. He has, though an Indian untutored and uncivilized, been the means of saving hundreds of lives and thousands of dollars of treasure to the Government. What reward or recognition he is entitled to for accomplishing this grand result I leave for those in power to determine. NUMBER OF INDIANS. The number of Indians at this agency is no longer a vexed question. The first correct census ever taken of the Indians here was made by First Lieut. M. C. Foot, Ninth Infantry. This census was completed October 26, 1876, and showed an aggregate of 4,775 persons, including whites and half-breeds. Previous to that there had been fed, on paper, 9, 170, as shown by the number reported and certified to by Agent Howard, Lieutenant Foot's prede cessor. When I took charge of the agency I regarded Lieutenant Foot's census as my basis; and in support of its correctness I invite attention to subsequent accessions and losses: Aggregate of census by Lieutenant Foot..... Accessions from agencies on Missouri River prior to May 31, 1877.. Wahzhazas and other Brulés transferred to agency from Red Cloud prior to May 31, 1877.... 4,775 949 177 1,372 Aggregate..... Transferred to other agencies prior to May 31, 1877.......... Reported balance at agency, May 31, 1877................ 7,273 171 7,102 I was satisfied that the actual number of Indians would be within two or three hundred of the above "balance at agency." On the 31st of May last I began, in obedience to orders from Col. R. S. McKenzie, commanding district Black Hills, a census of the Indians here. I mainly completed the count after eight days' constant work, but as there were changes by accessions and corrections, the census was formally closed on the 24th day of July, 1877. The following table shows the result of the count by the different bands. Some chauges by transfer to other agencies occurred before the final closing of the census, and there has been a slight accession by transfer to this agency since the closing of the census; all such changes are noted separately in the table. |