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Show REPORT OF THE COMMIS8IONER OF INDIAN AFFAIES, .59 SOHOOL VISmORS. In order to awaken a more lively personal interest on the part of the Indians in the work of education, I have authorized the appointment of school visitors, with the hope that Indian parents who.are dignieed by appointment and intrusted with the responsibility of visiting the schools and personally supervising their work will themselves become better acquainted with educational matters and be able to arouse a more general interest among their fellows in this important subject. (See Appendix page 153.) SOHOOL SUPERINTENDXi?T. I I desire to make special mention of the faithful, intelligent, and effi-cient work rendered by Superintendent and Mrs. Dorchester. They have been indefatigable in toil, and during more than three years have traveled very extensively, braving dangers, hardships, and fatigue, ex-posed to the intense heat of Arizona and the severe storms of the Da-kotas. They have been thoroughly painstaking, cautious in their investigations, and particularly full in their reports upon what they have ,seen. They have, of course, made a specialty of the matter of inspecting schools, but they havenot con6ned themselves alone to this. Superintendent Dorchester has made a special study of the whole envi-ronment of the Dakotas last year and of the New Mexico Indians during the present year. I commend especially his exhaustive report on that subject. They have renaered valnable service, not only to the cause of educa-tion, but to the whole matter of Indian elevation and improvement. Their verypresence on reservations is helpful to all good influences and deterrent to all evil forces. Under the system of supervision now in successful operation, the schools are receiving a kind and amount of oversight which have never been extended to them before, and by.reason of this the quality of the work done in them has greatly imp'roved. When we compare the supervision given to these Indian schools with that given in. the cities of the country, it is still very imperfect and inadequate; but, owing to the fact that these schools are scattered over such an immense region of territory, it is prmtically impossible to afford them that kind of supervision which their highest efficiency requires. PmECHaSE OB LARD FOR SOHOOL SITES. An BCt of Congress approved February 16,1591 (26 Stats., 764), pro-vided for the establishment of three new Indian schools, one upon the Pipestone Reservation in Hiunesota, another in the county of Isabella, Mich., and the third in Wisconsin, near some railroad by which the Indian reservations of the State might be conveniently reached. For |
