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be vacated. Settlements have sprung up all around them, and the value of the lands has been largely appreciated thereby. I can see no reason why the government should not avail itself of these facts, and in effecting the consolidation of the Indians and the opening of the lands for settlement, sell the same for an amount sufficient to support the Indians in their new locations, without any actual drain on the Treasury in the future. The lands belong to the Indians, and they are clearly entitled to receive the full value of the same when sold. The government is desirous of reducing the cost of the Indian service to the lowest possible limit, consistent with the best interests of the Indians. This can be done by the sale of the lands, the funding of the surplus after the removal and settlement of the Indians, and the application of the accruing interest to the payment of the current expenses of the respective agencies, and that without affecting in the least degree the interests of citizens.

By following these views to a legitimate conclusion, the seventy-four agencies now existing by law can, with material benefit to the Indians, be reduced to a very limited number. An opportunity will thus be given the Indians to earn a sufficient support for themselves. Schools can be opened and maintained, and their attention will be drawn to new and interesting pursuits. The history of the few tribes to whom permanent homes have been given, with guaranteed title to the same, and a reasonable degree of aid and instruction, shows clearly, as before intimated, that as a race, when honorably and intelligently dealt with, Indians yield readily to the influences of a civilizing policy. The adoption by the department, under authority of law, of the policy of consolidation herein proposed, with a permanent title to the land, in which the Indians will be fully protected against the encroachments of the whites and the changes incident to new legislation, both of which have been prolific causes of Indian wars, will, in my judgment, in a comparatively short time, remove all cause for discontent on the part of the Indians and insure future pleasant relations with all the tribes.

With a view to pressing this important question before Congress at its next session, a new bill will be prepared by this office for presentation at an early day, giving wider scope and more permanent direction to the matter.

A PERMANENT LAND TITLE.

The question of greatest importance to the present and future welfare of the Indians is that of a uniform and perfect title to their lands. The constant removals incident to the former land policy of the Indian service have been freighted with evil consequences to the Indians. Even when placed upon reservations they have come to consider, notwithstanding the most solemn guarantees from the United States that the same should be kept sacred and remain theirs forever, that the title to their land is without permanency, and that they are subject to be removed whenever the pressure of white settlers upon them may create a demand for their lands either before Congress or the department. So fixed has this opinion become among the more civilized tribes, that in the main they decline to make any improvements upon their lands, even after an allotment in severalty has been made, until they have received their patents for the same.

But after the issue of patents, the difficulties surrounding them do not cease. A few, it is true, hold to their land and make rapid and encouraging progress in agricultural pursuits. The major portion of them, however, yielding to the pressure surrounding them, fall victims

to the greed of unscrupulous white men, and, one by one, part with or are defrauded of their lands. Every means that human ingenuity can devise, legal or illegal, has been resorted to for the purpose of obtaining possession of Indian lands.

The question which now presents itself is, shall tenure of title to the land in the various reservations remain as now, or shall a new system be adopted, which shall protect them against all interference with their lands by whatever authority.

Before proceeding to consider the best means to be adopted for the protection of the Indians in this regard, it is perhaps best to show the method heretofore pursued, with a brief statement of the results which have followed. The older and more common Indian title has been title by occupancy. This title has from time to time been extinguished by treaty stipulation. Of the lands thus acquired, there have been at various times certain tracts set apart for the several tribes by treaties ratified by the Senate, in which possession in common has been guaranteed to them forever. These reservations have in general been established far beyond the limits of white settlement. As the settlements incident to the rapid growth of the country have approached the boundaries of the reservations, the pressure has in many cases become so great that the Indians have been compelled, as a matter of self-protection, to ask for a new reservation, or their lands have been seized by the settlers, and they have been ousted from possession of the same. War in defense of their rights has generally resulted in such cases, which it has been the duty of the government to suppress. Many of our Indian wars have arisen either from the bad faith of the government in the observance of treaties with regard to Indian land, or from the seizure of the same by its citizens, in violation of expressed treaty stipulations granting the reservation to the Indians in perpetuity.

In some cases title in severalty in fee simple has been given to the individual members of the tribes for a certain quantity of the lands embraced in the reservation. Experience has shown that even the most advanced and civilized of our Indians are not capable of defending their lands when title in fee is once vested in them. The reservations in such cases are at once infested by a class of land-sharks who do not hesitate to resort to any measure, however iniquitous, to defraud the Indians of their lands. Whiskey is given them, and while they are under its influence they are made to sign deeds of conveyance, without consideration. They are often induced to sign what they are informed is a contract of sale for a few trees growing on their land, with a receipt for the consideration paid; or some party goes to them claiming to be an agent of the State or county, distributing funds to the poor. This party will pay the Indian five or ten dollars, and procure his signature to a pretended receipt for the same, when in reality the paper signed is a warranty deed, which is recorded, and generally the land is sold to a third and innocent party before the Indian discovers the fraud which has been practiced upon him.

In other cases the Indians complain, and, as it appears, not without cause, that they are subjected to unequal and unjust taxation which they are unable to meet, and are thus divested of the title to their lands.

Again they are induced to mortgage their lands for small sums which they are told will enable them to make money and improve their farms as their white neighbors have done. These mortgages are made payable generally at a time when the Indians are likely to have no money; an attorney fee of seventy-five or one hundred dollars is inserted. At maturity if the mortgage is not satisfied, which generally happens, fore

closure is had, the land is sold, and the Indian is left homeless and hopeless, a pauper for the community to support.

Out of 1,735 Indians to whom patents were issued about the year 1871 on the Chippewa Reservation of Isabella County, Michigan, fully fivesixths have sold, or in some manner have been cheated out of, their lands. A few of them have sold at something near a fair consideration. Many have been defrauded of their lands by some of the measures above named or other equally nefarious practices, while others, in large num bers, sold their lands before the selections were approved or patents issued, receiving only a nominal price (about twenty-five cents per acre) for lands worth from $5 to $25 per acre. One of these selections was purchased for $15, and the party who purchased the same has been offered $4,000 for it but refused to sell.

All the circumstances connected with these sales point directly to collusion between the agent and the parties purchasing in the execution of these unmitigated frauds.

So well have the Indians of Isabella County, Michigan, become convinced of their entire inability to protect their lands, that at a recent council with them, held by a special agent of this office, at which a number of allotments were made, they unanimously requested that the patents for the lands allotted be issued to them without the power of alienation. These Indians are citizens and voters, and a few of them hold office in the towns where they reside. The investigations heretofore made show that the most intelligent of them have been victims of some of the practices above enumerated.

Under numbers of the treaties with the different tribes, patents have issued restricting the right of sale, except upon the approval of the Secretary of the Interior and the President. In cases of this character, where the guards against fraud would appear to be sufficient to insure the most perfect good faith and to prevent a sale by a party not entirely competent to transact his own business, the records of this office show that frauds have been committed. Instances of this character will be found in the history of the Shawnee, Miami, Sac and Fox, Pottawatomie and other Indians of Kansas, to whom patents in fee or otherwise were issued, and who have been despoiled of their lands, and to whom the government has since been compelled to afford an asylum in the Indian Territory.

It has been strongly urged that citizenship should be extended to all of the so-called civilized Indians. Such citizenship, if conferred indiscriminately, would, in my judgment, while the Indians are in their present transition state, be of incalculable damage to them. We should move slowly in the process of making Indians citizens, until they are prepared to assume intelligently the duties and obligations of citizens. The experience of the past has shown us that to make them citizens hastily is to make them paupers. Indians of full age are infants in law; and in fact they need a long tutelage before launching them into the world to manage their own affairs. Entire civilization, with education, a knowledge of the English language, and experience in business forms and matters, especially such as relate to the conveyance of lands, should precede citizenship if it is the intention of the government to save the Indians from pauperism and extermination.

The progress made in Indian civilization, the history of each tribe, the reports of this office, and of each and every officer who has intelligently investigated this question, all go to show the necessity for a permanent home for the Indians with an indefeasible title to the same. If this desired reformation in the management of their affairs can be

effected, I am assured that the progress of the Indians will be rapid and permanent, and that all cause for the maintenance of an armed force to restrain the Indians and secure peace in the Indian country will be at an end. They will then fall readily within the jurisdiction of the laws, and their future status as a peaceable and law-abiding people will be fixed.

After a careful consideration of this important question I have come to the conclusion that as fast as the Indians are consolidated upon reservations, as recommended in another part of this report, or in cases where they are now located on good agricultural lands, where it is deemed best that they should remain, the Secretary of the Interior should be authorized by a law applicable to all the tribes to allot the lands in such reservations among the Indians belonging thereon, in tracts not exceeding 160 acres to each head of a family, or 80 acres to each single person over 21 years of age, and to issue patents therefor without the right to sell, mortgage, lease, or otherwise alienate the same for the term of twenty-five years from the date of the patent, after which time the same may be alienated under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior, for the time being, may see fit to impose; said lands so patented to be exempt from taxation and from levy or sale under process of any court for a like term of years; all property acquired by the Indians, aside from the lands received from the government as above suggested, and the annuity or other tribal funds derived under any treaty with the government, to be subject in all respects to the laws of the State or Territory in which the party may reside. This may be accomplished by retaining the reservation intact for all purposes connected with the title to these lands.

Such an act would, I am satisfied, afford to the Indians the degree of protection necessary to their civilization and lead them gradually to a full comprehension of the rights, privileges, duties, and responsibilities of American citizenship, which I shall hope to see accorded to them whenever in the future they may become fully competent. A bill embracing the material points above indicated will be prepared for submission at the coming session of Congress.

INDIAN AUXILIARIES.

The scattering of seventy-four Indian agencies over a wide extent of territory has apparently necessitated the establishment of a greater number of detached military posts. The dividing of the Army into so many small detachments tends to deprive it of the strength needed for the suppression of a sudden outbreak. For the past year it has been almost impossible to obtain even an escort of cavalry or infantry, inasmuch as the number of men at each military post has been sufficient only to furnish it a respectable garrison. The history of the past three years has proven conclusively that this attenuation of the Army renders it impossible to administer even a homeopathic dose of coercion until after a lapse of considerable time. This weakness emboldens the savages, so that a mere handful, like the 87 warriors, with their 200 women and children, under Dull Knife, can cut through a military department and spread terror and slaughter for a month with impunity. The consolidation of Indian tribes upon fewer reservations, as recommended elsewhere, would enable the Army to concentrate and become more effective. There is, however, another remedy for the evil indicated, which, in my judgment, can be and should be quickly adopted to save the loss of life and property consequent on Indian outbreaks, and the great expense now entailed on the government by Indian wars. An auxiliary force of Indian cavalry should be organized, enlisted from the

young men of the most warlike tribes, and placed under the command of Army officers of experience. Such a force should be held ready for effective service at a moment's warning. The mere fact of its existence would serve to check the tendency to outbreaks, and by enlisting the young and warlike from the various tribes, the element of strife that is now chafing for the excitement of the war-path would find legitimate occupation that would tend to repress the natural disposition for indiscriminate war and bloodshed.

Another consideration which calls for the organization of such a force is the fact that our Indians are among the best, perhaps are the very best, horsemen in the world; and it is no disparagement to white soldiers, whose bravery is deservedly held in high esteem, to admit that Indians are their superiors in following the trail of a foe. They will not stand up in the open field and fight like our white soldiers, but mounted and set upon a trail they will follow it with a persistent speed that no white man can equal.

Such an auxiliary force, not exceeding 3,000 men, could be so placed as to be brought rapidly into action, in case of any threatened outbreak. It should be held in large bodies, to be effective, and not divided up infinitesimally, as would be the case with ordinary army scouts; and it would put an effectual stop to raids running a course of from 700 to 1,800 miles. Of its feasibility there need be no question, for there can be no truer friend or braver man than the American Indian of the better type, and his loyalty to the government, when once enlisted in its service, is beyond any reasonable doubt. If the English Government can trust the sepoys of India, we can place full confidence in our Indian allies.

I would urge the speedy organization and equipment of this auxiliary force, to which the objections raised by many to the increase of the Army would not apply, because it could be used only to suppress, prevent, or shorten the duration of any Indian disturbance. Added to the Army, it would entail very little expense, and detract nothing from the productive resources of the country. Moreover, the utilizing of a portion of our population which we are now obliged to feed, and often to fight, would be an act of public economy. Under proper officers, this corps might even become a valuable training school, in which, when not in active service, the education of those enlisted could be greatly advanced. In the light of past experience, this would seem to be the only weapon with which to terminate this perpetual warfare without largely increasing the Army, and thereby drawing from the effective industry of the country.

It should be distinctly understood that the Indian auxiliaries would be entirely under control of the War Department, and that such an organization should not subtract one man from the number of enlisted men in the Army as at present provided by law. In view of the necessity of protecting white men from hostile Indians, the Army is insufficient in numbers. An addition of three thousand Indian auxiliaries would give it only the support it greatly needs, and enable it to cope successfully with the enemies of our peace.

THE OUTBREAK OF THE BANNOCKS.

The delay in carrying out the provisions of the treaty of July 3, 1868, for lack of any sufficient appropriation of money, and the small quantity of supplies furnished to the Bannocks by the government, have forced these Indians to continue their nomadic life to the present time.

It is not possible for them to settle upon the reservation which has been set apart for them until such time as sufficient funds are appro

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