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Show REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF IPrDIdN AFFAIRS. 43 ' The Oa-si Utes live in the vioinitv of Salt Lake and the valleva extending to thd west m~ f a&r the Nevada line. ~ h epil.o b,bly nnmber four huntired peraoua Some of them are cnltivatiop small p~ttchcuu f p ~ u n d :on e barad in Skull Valley, one ~ s~t D.m p Craek, another at Warut Lipris&*, aucl nt~othora t Salt Jlamh, nwr the N s vada line. They also ather aeeda and fmita, dig roots and hnnt a little, bnt ohietlyauhaist by -hgging. *Tea of them are orcanionally employed by white men. The western band of Shashonees, in the reports heretofore made to the Depart-ment, have been overestimated for Utah and underestimated for Nevada, with re@ to their number and diatrihution. Yonr attention is called to the aceompanyiugatate-ment made by Mr. Gheen, and marked &* After oareft~llye xamining the paper and conferrinp with a number of the principal chiefs and leading men of the Western Shoahonees, the statement is believed to be. shbstantially wrrect. These Indian8 are coltivating the soil to a very limited extent. Some of them are employed by white men a~ herdera and in other labors. They gathe: seed8 d frolte, dig roots, hunt and fish, and eke oiit a miserable subsistence by hsgglng. Of the number of the Northwestern baodaof Shoshooees, yourCommission have no trustworthy information. Their condition does not differ materislly from the Western Shoshmees. They are also divided into smaU tribea, aeveral of which we have viaited. Of the Pa-TI-o-tsoes, or Pah-Utes, of Western Nevada, we have obtained information of three or fonr hundred piha do not report to either of the reservations on Walker River or Pyrmid Lake. Their condition is substantially the same as that of the Sho-shonaea. Of the Wash-oes, mentimed in the report of the Department, we have no definite information. The Indiana mentioned in the foreeoioe ~tatement mnreeiate that they can no IOIIXCliPv e bp hunting. fishing, and ynt'l;rr~i;gr L w ttivo l;<dtlrta u i tbu a,& T h q fnlly unalrl.mtsod that the Y ~ ~ ~ ~ c . I I > )I: I~I tI LeI c anurrg. by wl~iten reu is ittt:vitabln, ant1 kt.wr tln: rully of co~ur.t~~li~ae~~. i o iet ;r i(r,*I tlrl.v ~1.11..~ria.v*k tllat they inpy have lands of theirbwuand lw ildisted to beobme farrneiaaltd atoak-rsiaera, but Gpeci-ally do they a* that they may have onttle. Unring the lavt few weeke that the Commission has been among these Indirrna, it hss conferred with mnug of their ohiefaaud prinoipal men. One of yonr Comruisaioners, 88 8sent for the Pal-Ute8.. for the ~ s srtea r bas trsvelrd mo u e a number of the tribes, andothe other Commisaioher, havikg b&n in ohargc of au expGring expedition forswi era1 years, h a met sud aonferred with numbers of these Indiaos trom time to tinle, and inyaria.bly they have expressed the seutilnents given abue. Their hunting-gronnds have been spoiled, their favorite valley8 are occupied by white men, aud thay are compelled to scatter in sorall bands in order to obtain sobaistenoe. Formerly they were oraanieed into nations, or confederacies, nnder the inflneooo of meat chiefs, but , suoh m& have lost tbeir power in the prescnoe of xrhite met,, aaul it iv-no longer possi-ble to trest with these people ae nations, but each little tribc must be dealt with sepa-rately. The broad tarritnry over which they are scattered has been paroelied out among the tribes by common consent, ustially detwwioed at general counoils, so that each tribe holds a certain district of oonntrv aa its own. Nuw tllu i~luat in!l,urranr ditheultg in tloe.\rar of cuilcctiltg r1tr.w 1,ropla un renurva. t i t m, ie rile iaet that rail8 ~llllbllt riloe ( IF~ITR1*0 h l \ . ~a rvn~1v:lli0LI~ lolll~.vllewl~it'h in tllv llntira of its osru wrritorv. wLirh is itlallifc~tlyi t ~ ~ ) r ~ ~ c r i3c6i t~hbe lI~oJ.. aua could not thus be protected in the&'=ighta, except at B grea6expensa. ' In tho instructiqna furnished your cammissioners for the collection of theye Indiun~, t ~ v om ethods were given, the one to take the Indians on rearmatiom already elltab-lished, and, failing in this, the other was to sct apart new rewrstioos fix them. After a oarefill ertsmiuation of the facts, it is fouud that the last-mentioned method is entirely intpraciioable, as, within the buods of the territory over which thrse t~ibas roam, there ia no district of country with s~ffioielltw ater aud other uatuml facilities for a reservat,ion, not &Ire&4V occupied by white men. In fmt, the lauds along the streams and alumat every important spring hns either been entered or olaimed, and &ould the Gnvernment attempt to purohase a11c.h lands for the benefit of the Indiaun, it woold be found to iuvolve a great outlay of money, ss sakr rights and imp~ove-ments are justly held at very high prices. Nothing tbeu remains but to remove them from the conntry,or let them stay in their present condition, to be finally extinxeished by w;mt, loathsome disease, and the dis-asters oonsaqueut npou iueessant wutiiot with white men. lu view of the remoral and distribution of these Iodisns to the old reservatioua. four important qoestioar were presented to the cornmiwioo, namely: First. Arsthe reservations for the adjacent tribes capale of properly aopportingsn iooresaed oooiber of Indiana? I - I * Thia statement has been omitted, as e more correct enomeration bas bew made. |