OCR Text |
Show 18 REPORT OF THE of June, 1856. Its various incidents, and the causes from which it originated, it is not now deemed necessary to review. The reports received with reference to these hostilities were' laid before the Pres-ident early in March last, and he immediatelv recommended an an- - propriation for maiutaini'ng and restoring &ace with the 1ndiku tribes on the Pacific coast, which was placed at his disposal by the act of 5th April, 1856. Temporary provision having been made early in December, 1855, frola appropriations at the command of the department, for the extra-ordinary expenses of preventing an extension of the spirit of dissatis-faction among the tribes, and of collecting the peaceful Indians in locations withdrawn from eontact with hostile bands, the placing of the appropriation, by the President, at the disposal of this depart-ment, enabled its officers to extend their plans and prosecute them with vigor. In both Territories the same policy of collecting and temporarily subsisting the peaceful tribes in large numbers, and encouraging hostile hands to surrender their arms, and join the friendly Indians, was adopted -and carried out with considerable success. Hostile bands were met and chastised by the military power of the Territo-ries and the United States army, and, until the latest advices, the reports were that peace had been restored in bothTerritories ; but the superintendent of Oregon Territory, in a communication dated the 10th of October, reports a renewal of hostilities east of the Cascade mountains, and that one-half of the .very powerful and hitherto friendly tribe of Nez Perc6s Indians had joined the war party. No information was received from Governor Stevens, of Washington, but the public journals state that he was obliged to leave Walla-Walla, and that the indications were that a general Indian war was inev-itable. The policy pursued by this department has been attended with a considerable expenditure; and it was hoped that the results of its operations, of both a tem orary and permanent character, would show that, all things consiiered, it had been the best that could be adopted, and the most humane and economical. It cannot he dis-guised that a portion of the white population of the Pacific Terri-tories, entertain feelings deeply hostile to the Indian tribes of that region, and are anxious for the extermination of the race. Referring to a paragraph in my annual report for 1854, your atten-tion is called to the provisions of law, to be found in the 2d section of the act of September 11, 1841, respecting investments for Indian tribes, which have been construed to require the department to invest a11 Indian moneys held in trust in stocks of the United States. The high price at which these stocks have been held, as compared with the stocks of the States bearing a like rate of interest, has caused the execution of the act to injuriously affect the interests of the Indians. Accordingly, since the 4th of March, 1853, no purchases have been made; hut where liabilities of this kind have resulted from treaty stipulations, the department has estimated annually for appropria-tions from the treasury for five per cent. on all suc11 trust-funds. Congress has responded to these estimates, and a policy has thus been |