Report of the Department of the Interior ... [with Accompanying Documents].

be made a happy and prosperous people. Surely they merit everything possible for their preservation and elevation to a place in human society. These Indians fully comprehend how much in valuable territory they have given up, and while they believe they are entitled to a living in consideration of their sacrifices, the thinking, serious men among them deprecate the idea of being paupers.

The agent, Dr. James Irwin, and Red Cloud, with a party of twenty and upward of the chiefs and principal men of the Ogalallas, traveled in company and camped with the party of the commission.

The Indians expressed great anxiety to move to their new homes as soon as possible, but a move of such importance should be made deliberately, in order that the best location for the agency and the best roads to the agency be secured.

The return trip of the commission, partly over a road of their own choosing, and mainly upon the divide between the main White Earth River and its south fork, shows that a good wagon-road can be made from the depot on the Missouri, below White Earth River, and the new agency of Red Clond.

As these tribes have moved so often, and the names of places called after Spotted Tail and Red Cloud have become utterly confusing, it is respectfully recommended that the agency for Red Cloud Indians be named either Ogalalla Agency or Pine Ridge Agency, and, as before referred to, that Spotted Tail Agency be called Rosebud Agency. We submit an estimate of stock, implements, &c., needed now by these two bands of Indians to enable them to commence their new life. This estimate is not made upon the ultimate needs of the bands, but upon a reasonable beginning in supplying them for one year. The estimate for wagons may appear large, but experience teaches that no appliance of the white man's inventions takes hold of the wild Indian sooner than improved transportation in the shape of wagons; and as Red Cloud's tribe alone has 15,000 ponies, most of them already broken, it is plain what a capacity for work these wagons would give them when fully utilized.

Inasmuch as this commission was appointed to consider matters pertaining to the final settlement of these Indians, we would here respectfully suggest some points which should be made more prominent in our future treatment of them:

First. The individuality of the Indians should be recognized more clearly and decidedly. The efforts in that direction in issuing rations to heads of families instead of to bands have had the happiest results. Each Indian should be made to feel that he sustains a personal relation to the Government of the United States, without regard to the chief he may be under. And each man should have the right to go and select the land he pleases, subject only to the advice of his agent. This may seem a truism, but as regards Indians it is unfortunately not so, for the whole force of the old Indian tribal system is to herd men. And because it is easier for Indian agents to manage them under the same conditions, the temptation is very great to discourage the efforts of the individual Indian who would emancipate himself from this thralldom.

Consequently, a second point we would make is that the domination of the chiefs should be broken up. While the present arrangement of chieftainship among these tribes has had some advantages in the past, it cannot continue to exist without great evil resulting, unless the system is essentially modified in making the office elective for short terms, and limiting its range of authority. For it is next to impossible for an Indian chief of the old style to maintain his pre-eminence and yet be a leader in civilization. However much he may favor civilization and progress theoretically, he soon finds that the roots of his power come from the opposite direction. It is at present the cause of a most unfortunate state of things among Spotted Tail's people. He has found his old power waning, and the only party which could bolster him up is made up of the untamed and thoughtless young fellows of his tribe, who have established what is termed a "soldiers' lodge," and who have put the whole tribe under martial law. Thus a wild, reckless set keeps the peaceably-disposed majority under a terrible terrorism, and Spotted Tail is merely their mouth-piece.

Another thing which we deem important is the segregation of these tribes into small communities. This is not only necessary for political reasons, but it is also an agricultural necessity. The character of the country they are to occupy will require this dispersion in order to settle them upon it. But the Indian is so gregarious that it will require special effort to accomplish this. In the case of Spotted Tail's people, while the main body will be located, according to their desire, on the South Fork of White River, yet it would be of great advantage to allow colonies to return to the Missouri River in case they may wish to do so.

The agricultural resources of the region specifically allotted to Spotted Tail, along the South Fork of the White River, may not prove adequate for the whole tribe; but this want may be met in the way just mentioned, by encouraging some portions of the tribe to occupy the country along the Missouri River. This they will do as soon as the present despotism of Spotted Tail's "soldier lodge" can be broken up. Some four or five hundred might locate in the old Ponca Reserve, utilizing the agency buildings and mills which have been placed there at great expense. Another colony could go in about Whetstone Creek, and another settlement could make the new Missouri River de

REPORT OF THE SIOUX COMMISSION.

WASHINGTON, D. C., August 28, 1878. SIR: We have the honor to report that, under an act of Congress, approved June 20 1878, and in obedience to instructions from the Interior Department, dated Washington, June 28, 1878, the commissioners appointed under the aforesaid act convened at Yankton, Dak., June 4; present, Col. D. S. Stanley, U. S. A., Mr. J. M. Haworth, Rev. A. L. Riggs, Mr. Ed. K. Hayt, secretary. The latter was duly qualified as disbursing officer for the commission.

Upon the 5th of July the members proceeded to the old Ponca Agency (now occupied by Spotted Tail), accompanied by the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr. E. A. Hayt. The Brulé tribe under Spotted Tail had been duly notified of the coming of the commission by their agent, Lieut. James M. Lee, U. S. A., and met in council on the afternoon of the 6th. The council was opened by the honorable Commissioner, Mr. Hayt, who fully explained to the Indians the law, the delays owing to the lateness of the appropriation, and the importance of settling the Brulés near the Missouri, thus avoiding the expense of overland transportation.

Spotted Tail being the authorized speaker for the Indians, followed in a speech in which he went over a long list of promises made to him and his people by former government agents and commissioners and unfulfilled. He complained bitterly of being delayed so long this summer upon the Missouri; claimed this had caused many deaths in his camp. He recited the promise of the President, made to him in Washington last fall, that his people should settle in the place of their choice, which place he described as the South Fork of the White Earth River. He expressed a determination of breaking up his camps twenty miles east of the Missouri in ten days, and setting out for the place of his selection; made threats that he would burn up the present agency buildings; was rather arrogant and dictatorial, and was opposed to the commission visiting and examining the country he had chosen. His speech, summed up, meant that he would not settle upon the Missouri, and that he would settle nowhere but on the South Fork. It was evident that both the manner and words of Spotted Tail's speech were for Indian populace.

General Stanley spoke on the part of the commissioners, carefully explaining to the Indians the intention of the government to settle them in permanent homes; the desire to have them contented; the necessity for economy, and finally the intention of the commission to visit the South Fork country notwithstanding Spotted Tail's objections. This ended the council. The commission looked over the country some ten miles to the eastward of old Ponca Agency, and looked into the valleys of the Niobrara and Ponca Rivers. The country is comparatively destitute of timber, and the grass is of varieties which the winter kills, and only a small band of Indians, say 300 to 500, could ever become self-supporting there.

On the 7th of July, the commission took steamboat for Red Cloud Agency, at which place they arrived on the 10th. Dr. James Irwin, the agent, had notified Red Cloud, chief of the Ogalalas, of the coming of the commission, and upon the evening of the 11th a council was held at the agency, at which first the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and after him General Stanley, on the part of the commission, fully explained to the Indians the object of the law, the mission of the commissioners, the disadvantages of their locating far from the Missouri River, and the intention of the commissioners to thoroughly examine any country they selected for their homes. The chief, Red Cloud, had been instructed and delegated as the representative for the tribe. He made a very dignified reply without any show of bad temper. He recited the hardships his people had undergone; spoke of the many deaths that had resulted from their stay on White Earth River; expressed the great willingness and desire of his people to settle down and try to make a living for themselves. He then took from his wallet a pamphlet containing the account of proceedings of the delegation in Washington last fall, and pointed out the promise of the President of the United States, that provided the Ogalalas went to the Missouri for their goods and provisions this last winter, then this spring they would be allowed to select any location within their reserve for their permanent home. In accordance with this they had unanimously selected Big White Clay Creek, and this place, and this alone, would satisfy them. After this addresses were made by Commissioners Haworth and Riggs. This ended the council.

The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr. Hayt, left for Washington on the 12th, and upon the 13th the commission, having procured escort and transportation, and being themselves handsomely fitted for the plains, through the courtesy of Maj. P. D. Vroom, Third Cavalry, commanding the post at Red Cloud, set out to examine the country chosen by these two tribes of Sioux for their future homes. The first two days and a half were spent in making 65 miles to the traders' stores at the forks of White Earth River. The road follows the Yellow Medicine Creek most of the way, and

leads southwest. There is some good grazing land on the Yellow Medicine, but the land is of the bad lands kind, full of alkali, with flats of wire grass, and unfit for cultivation. The water is alkaline and bad. No timber for building.

After nooning the third day at the crossing of White Earth River, we encamped ten miles above the mouth of South Fork of White Earth River and upon that stream. The contrast between these two branches of White Earth River is very great. The South Fork has a gravelly bed, clear, fresh, and good water, is easily fordable at all points. The North Fork, or the main river, has a bed of quicksand, is difficult to cross, and the water is the very worst found in any river of the great plains, being strongly charged with various alkaline salts, and carrying such a quantity of fine, impalpable powdered earth, gathered in the bad lands, that the running water resembles ordinary whitewash, and differs from the muddy waters of the streams of the Missouri Basin in the fact that the water does not settle when dipped up, but remains turbid and unfit for use. Animals will not drink it if they can find other water, and as wells dug in the White River bottom furnish unwholesome water, this deficiency of water fit to use is an insurmountable objection to the valley of the main White Earth River as a home for Indians.

The main camp of the Ogalalas, under Red Cloud, was near where we camped the night of the third day out, 75 miles from their agency. This is about as close to the Missouri River as this tribe has been, and is as close to the present Red Cloud Agency as wood, water, and grass combined could be found for their use and the subsistence of their animals, and for last nine months they have packed out their subsistence from their agency on the Missouri River the best way they could. This fact alone shows that with a little aid in the means of transportation, and a little organization, these Indians can soon be educated to do their carrying business, and at once solve this vexed subject of transportation.

Following up the valley the fourth day, we found a valley varying from one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile wide, with a goodly proportion of land adapted to cultivation, very fine grazing lands, but with very little timber; camped the fourth night about 30 miles, by the valley, above the mouth of the South Fork.

At this point the pine timber sets in, and continues on both sides of the South Fork for about 45 miles. The pine is found in all the ravines leading into the valley of the South Fork, and is in sufficient quantity to last a community of the size of Spotted Tail's band of Sioux for many years in the future. The pine is not of the best variety, and growing as it does in ravines and cañons can be gotten out only by hard labor, but it will answer all purposes of building and fencing for the Indians. At a point below the middle of this stretch or belt of pine timber a strong creek of water, about 10 miles long, puts into the South Fork from the southeast. This creek, called the Rosebud, is where Spotted Tail said the Brulés wanted their agency. The Rosebud has scarcely any valley, and at its mouth the valley of South Fork is also very narrow; therefore the point selected by Spotted Tail was deemed unsuitable. But the commissioners saw the country sufficiently to convince them that at some point within 5 miles above or below the mouth of Rosebud a good and superior site for an agency and a military post may be found. The commissioners recommend that the agency for the Brulé Sioux, known as Spotted Tail's Indians, be established here, and that it be named the Rosebud Agency.

The road thence to the Missouri River, at a point below the mouth of White Earth River, is over an easy country for wagons, and would be about 70 miles. The march of the commission westward from the Rosebud was along the course of the South Fork for 80 miles. Thus it occurred that the South Fork was examined from its mouth to its source, a distance of 150 miles. The commissioners were agreeably surprised with the favorable character of the valley. It can best be described as first-class grazing country. For 20 miles above and below the mouth of the Rosebud timber is abundant, and settlements will at first be confined to this region, but rich pasture lands extend the entire length of the stream, and the bottoms, varying from 10 to 20 or 30 acres in each bend of the river, will raise the cereals or any of the vegetables of Minnesota. The water coming from the sand-hills is remarkably pure, and the South Fork is peculiar in this feature, that 20 miles from its fountains it has as much volume of water as it carries to its mouth. The main fork and its branches containing living water would give valleys of 200 miles and upward, and in the course of time will all be occupied with prosperous ranches for cattle-raising, we hope in the hands of these Indians. Settlers would soon occupy this country if it were open to their enterprise.

From the last water-holes at the head of South Fork, a short march of 11 miles brought us to the Wounded Knee Creek, which, heading in the same line of sand-hills in which the South Fork has its origin, runs north 25 miles into the White Earth River. After a day's rest on this creek we marched 15 miles west to Big White Clay Creek, the chosen stream and country of Red Cloud. This creek is a bold-running stream of good, fresh water, rising in the pine ridge which runs parallel to the northern boundary of Nebraska, and nearly on the boundary line. The creek has a course nearly due north 25 miles into the main White Earth River. The bottom varies from one-fourth to a

mile in width, and has arable land from its source to its mouth. The timber on the creek is sparse and only sufficient for winter cover for cattle. The fine timber on the head forks and lateral ravines is practically inexhaustible, but can only be utilized by hard labor, owing to the broken country where the timber grows.

The creek was thoroughly examined by the commission and found to be an excellent home for Red Cloud's band of Ogalala Sioux, and too limited in extent to accommodate so many people. The timber, the grass, the water, and the land, so far as it is capable of cultivation, are unexceptionable. The Big White Clay Creek was the farthest point westward examined by the commission, and in any case is as far west as the country could be colonized, being within 15 miles from Nebraska on the south, and the same distance from ceded land on the west. The country west of Big White Clay to the Wounded Knee Creek was examined and found to be a rough country of sharp ridges, the ravines filled with pine timber.

Passing eastwardly the creeks emptying into the White Earth River, the Wounded Knee 15 miles, the Porcupine Tail Creek 25 miles, the Medicine Creek 35 miles, the Corn Creek 35 miles, and the Bear-Running-through-the-Lodge Creek 45 miles, were found to be streams of living water, with a fair proportion of arable land on each, with good grass and abundance of pine timber in the ravines on either side of the valley. This pine country extends in a direction nearly east and west from the Eagle's Nest Butte on the east to Camp Robinson on the west, 100 miles, and will furnish timber for 10,000 people for 100 years to come, and is one of the advantages which recommend this country for an Indian settlement.

The Pass Creek, 15 miles east of Eagle's Nest, and the Bad Lands Creek, 30 miles east of the same landmark, can be utilized as stock country, but are distant from timber; yet it is recommended that these creeks be embraced in the territory of the Ogalalas under Red Cloud. This territory, nearly 100 miles in extent east and west, would contain all the land available for settlement south of White Earth River on the Sioux Reservation, and not assigned to the Brulés under Spotted Tail, and would furnish comfortable and profitable homes for the tribe.

It is thought best that the agency should be placed on the Wounded Knee, as the Big White Clay is near the western border of the Red Cloud land. And as the selection of a site for the agency is a matter of lasting importance, it is recommended that this be referred to the Indian agent and the commanding officer of the post. After returning to the forks of White Earth River, the commission examined the valley of that river to within 20 miles of the Missouri, their attention having been called to this valley by the honorable Commissioner of Indian Affairs. This valley the commission condemned as a home for Indians from the badness of the water of White Earth River (the only water), the sterile soil, and the sparseness of the timber.

The commission were fully aware of the great expense in the matter of transportation in placing the Indians, Spotted Tail 70 miles and Red Cloud 150 miles from the Missouri River, and in council on the 1st August at the Forks of White River, in accordance with instructions received by the commission and as a compromise, it was explained to Red Cloud and chiefs assembled that $20,000 would be paid them in cattle if they would remain on or near the Missouri River at some new location.

This proposition they received in perfect good nature, but answered that they could not do so; that they could not do anything to make a living on the Missouri; that they had selected the White Clay country for their home while in Washington last fall; that their people were unanimous on going there, and nothing else would content them. These promises, which it appears were really made the Indians, seemed to bar any chance of inducing them to remain on the Missouri. And in fact after a faithful examination of the country the commission were forced to the conclusion that if these Indians, excepting in small numbers, were located on the Missouri they must be paupers dependent on the government forever; whereas if located upon the lands recommended, and supplied with stock and reasonably and honestly assisted, within ten years they have a fair and good prospect of becoming self-supporting, and in an economical point of view it should not be lost sight of that for these Indians to become settled and ultimately self-supporting, with homes of their own, they must have houses; and on the Missouri the materials for houses would have to be obtained from some other locality, and the cost would be greater than the cost of transportation of supplies; hence a removal to a locality where building material can be had ready to their hands would in the end be more economical.

We think these Indians fully realize their own condition. Their country, the Sionx Reservation, is comparatively poor in soil and pasturage; no equal extent of territory east of the Rocky Mountains could be laid off so deficient in natural resources. The game is almost entirely gone, the living wild creatures of the Sioux Reservation would not feed its Indian population one week. The Sioux tribes have lost all the resources of their savage life, they have ceased to live as Indians, without having made one single step toward being civilized men. They realize all this themselves, and they now only need proper help. We believe they can be rescued from barbarism, and can