OCR Text |
Show REPORTS OF SCPERIBTENUENTS OF SCHOOLS. 409 REPORT 01" SCHOOL AT FORT LEWIS, COLO. FORT LEWIS INDIAXI NDZ~ ~TRIALS CHOOL, Fort Lewis, Colo., Allgust SO, 1898. FIR: In aocor<lanoe with illstructions from )-our office, I have the honor to sub~uit this my second and lxst report of the Fort Lewis sohool. Securing pnpi1s.-The sol~oohl as now been in existeuce almost a year and 8, half, and though it baa passed through some dark and discouraging days it is at present in condition to da mod work. At the time of it8 establishmelt, it was the intention of the Indian 08loe, tnnder the direotiou of gour predooessor, to make the school a large one, and it was thought that but little difficulty wonld be experienced in obtaining 200 or 300 pupils for the eohaol in ou short time. 1 was informed by the office that the school could be filled from tworeservations in southern Arizona, if none co~lldh e obtained from the less distant tribes. The district superrisor who had been detailed to devote his entire time, if neoes-saw, to filling the soh001 had been very sucoessful ill this work, never having failed to seanrs auy numbsr of pupils he had bcen asked for, and had filled to its utrnost. oapLpaoity every training school in his district s u ~hla d sent s, large number to Genoa, Nebr., and some to Haskell Institute, outside of his district. Hi8 labors so far had been oonfined to a few tribes in the southorn past of tho tarritory over whioh he had suporvision; but \\-hen transferrer1 to the t,ribes farther north, the Navajoea, Sonthern Utm, and Jicarilln Apaches, he, like others beforehim, failed to inrluoe the parenta to send their children to school; his eflorta anrong the Southern Utes, the tnbs nearest the sohool, having been defeated by the interference of whites inter-ested in their removal from their present reservation. After a great deal of tilue had been lost among these Indians, opon returning to tho tribes fi.om which be had obtained so many pupils tho prerious year, he found n ohange of sentiment townl.ds tlle acl~oola,d ue, no doubt, to the faot ths t many of their children hadnuw been away from tholn almost a year, and that during that time q ~ d t ae number had died, and here also he failed to secure any cl~il~lrlre~~. Cousnguently, after making ar~.sngernrutn for n large number of children we receirod bnt &bunt fifty, and Congress, somctime after t,ho beginning of the year, haviug passed s. law that not rnoro t l ~ a n$2 00 per capita shoi~ldb e expended for the education a.nd snpport of lwpils in nuy sohool, I was oompelled to redues my force of elaploy0s and out down expenses in every nay possible. I dispensed with t,he ~orviees of the carpenter, blnelrsmith, tailor, clerk, teacher, aud phpieian. This made it necessary for the few emplogAs who remained in the sohool to attend to t,he duties, each, of two or three ljositions. Most of tho work of the shops was neorsaa-rily discontinued, but tho literary and other necessary work of the aohool went on througl~outt, he yen?. Near the ololie of tho third quarter, however, we received an a*dditionof45pnpils, which at that time gnre us 311 enrollment of 93, a sndicicnt nnmbt.r to seoure funds nooessary for n poor1 xvorlriny foroe of emplor6s during tho pmaellt )-ear. Location and surroundings.-Tho location of the sollool is an ideal one; in the valley of the Ln Pl%t.tibR iver, a t t l ~ efo ot of the monut;!ins of the sane name, with a eli-mate nuaurpassed for hanlthfnlness or pleasantness. The soil is rich ant1 well adapted to the productiorr of veget:,llies, hay, and snlnli grain. The snrronnding country nit'nr<llss plendid pasturage. while the river f8rnrishcn plent,g of wa,ter of the rlenrest and pnrest, for domostir and ogrioultural pnrposes. Lsud needed.-I recornmmtled to your office, under date of June 8,1892, thst about 10 sections of the sorronucling~uilitaryr eservation lie set apart far the school. This recomlneudation wsa indorsed by Superintendent Dorchenter and also by Inspertor Garduor. and 11nr still of the opiniou thst nu lea8 thau tllia shorld be retained. With iinch sn amount of laud the iiohool oould ongage extcnaively and profitab1~-i n stock-r;lisiog, and within a f e v )-ears could he able tu supply its beef from its ovn herd. 'Phero are huildiugs snEcirnt to shclter 300 or 400 head of cattle and store feed fbr 3,-iutering them. Farm.-We have over 400 acres inclosed with barbed-wire fence, with cedar posts and polesto prevent atoek from rnuning against tho wire. During. the prosant year we h:we cnltivate'd about GO acres, the eatimatatl yield of whioll is na follows: Oets Ilay ............ .tous.. 30 Beaus, green.. .... bushels.. 20 Potatoes. ......... bushels.. 1,500 Pease.. ..............d o .... DO Onions ............... do .... 100 Beets ................ do .... 300 Onion sets ...........d o.. .. 10 Parsnips.. ........... do.. .. 10 Tornips .............. do .... 100 Carrots .............. do .... 10 Cabbage ............ heads.. 3,000 Besides planting and tending the crops, all of whieh had to be irrigated as well ax oultir:tted, t1,e school hna, ainc'e the 1st of April last, fenced about 300 acres of pns- |