OCR Text |
Show friendly terms with the whites, and have frequently aided them against the hostile Apaches. t' The Papagos Indians, with the exception of a few small villages in another part of the Territory, were found in the vicinity of the ancient Spanish mis-sion church of San Xavier del Bac, nine miles from Tacson. This church is still in a good state of preservation, and presents the finest monument of eccle-siastical architecture of the mrmy, in d~fferenstt ate6 of preservation, orin ruins, which abound in this interesting country. I t has been thus preserved by the Papagos, under the.influence of a traditionthat the Jesuit fathers would re-turn to take possession of it. The presence of one of these fathers with Super-intendent Poston was hailed with delight. A reservation of two square miles, having the church in the centre, was proposed by the superintendent for a home for the Indians, numbering some 5,000, and as it includes nearly all their arable land, the arrangement was satisfactory. Superintendent Poston made no attempt to open communication with the Apaches, who are bitterly hostile to the whites, and constantly engaged in at-tacks upon trains of emigrants and the new mining settlements, or in forays upon the peaceable and friendly tribes. Until these savages are brought by the strong hand of militarj. force to submission, it will be impracticable to open any relatiolls with them, and time and money would be wasted in attempting it. The Apache-Mojaves are a nomadic band, made up of renegades from both of those tribes, and occupying themselves much in the same manner as the Apaches; hut hopes are entertained that most of them may he influenced to ' join and remain with the Nojaves, who are friendly and peaceable. Mr. Poston met at La Pa., a growing commercial town on the Oolorado, with representatives from the Yumas, Mojaves, Yampais, Hualapais, and Ohemihue-vis, tribes friendly to each other and to the whites, and numbering some ten thousand persons. After much discnssion and consideration, the policy was finally adopted, and is submitted for the approval of the department, to set aside a8 a reservation for the use of these tribes a tract of land amounting to some 75,000 acres. lying along the Colorado river, from Half-way Bend to Uur-ner Rock, as laid down by Lieutenant Iver's report.. The snperintendent'a report sets forth in very clear terms the ~ e wesnt ertained by him as to the policy thus proposed, as being, on the whole, the best both for the whites and the Indians. Assuming that the Indians have a right of some kind to tlre soil, Mr. Pos-ton's arrangement proposes a compromise with these Indians, by which on their confining themselves to their reservation, and yieldingall claims to lands beyond it, they shall, in lieu of an annuity in money or supplies, be furnished by gov-ernment with an irrigatingcanal, at a cost estimated at something near $100,000 which, by insuring them their annual crops, will enable them to support them-selves, independently of other aid by the government. This whole matter is respectfully submitted for your consideration and di-, rection. I have frequently heretofore set forth my views of what seems to me the best policy to be adopted for the future welfare of the Indian tribes. This policy involves the abandonmtnt of the system of small reservations, scattered throughout the Territories and States west of the Mississippi, which is liable to be disturbed, and is constantly being disturbed, by tbe rapid settlement of the country and encroachment of the whites upon the Indian settlements, and the introduction of intoxicating drinks aud illegal traffic among them, rendering it almost impossible for the govcrhment agents to accomplish anything for their permanent good, and resulting findly in their removal to some new resemation,' where the same ruinous process may be expected to follow. Instead of this, it has seemed to me advisable to adopt, as soon as practicable, a system of large reservations, or tracts of land, few in number, but sufficiently extensive to fur-nish homes and means of support for all of the Indians; and located in different parts of the great western region, where Indians aloqe shall be allowed to re- |