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Show COMMISS~ONEE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 7 without regard to the disposition of the dottee to occupy the land allotted him, his previous good conduct, or his ability to cultivate or derive any benefit there-from. This practice should be abandoned, and in its stead we should make the allotment of a tract of land to the Indian a special mark of the favor and appro-bation of his "Great Father," on account of his good conduct, his industry, and his disposition to abandon the ancient customs of his tribe, and engage in the more rational pursuits of civilization. I submit these suggestions as being applicable to our entire policy in the management of our Indian relations, and with your approbation shall he pleased to render every aid in my power in carrying them into practical effect. Such . other suggestions and recommendations as seem to.me suitable and appropriate will be fbund under the heads of the respective superintendencies and independ- ! ent agencies. OREGON. A perusal of the various reports from this superintendency showsthat very considerable progress has been made in reclaiming the' Indians, and that with proper effort on our part our relations with all the tribes within its limits may in a short time he placed in a satisfactory condition. During the past ye& uninterrupted peace has been maintained with all the Indians with whom treaties have been negotiated, and a very large proportion of those who have heretofore escaped from the reservations, and been the canse of much complaint on the part of the whites, have been returned. Between the Cascade mountains and the coast there is hut one hand, numbering abont sixty, who are not located upon reservations. East of those mountains all the Indians, except portions of the Klamaths and ~o d o b sa, r e in a state of active hostility. Their numbers are estimated at about five thousand. The country they occupy abounds in gold fields, to which large numbers of miners have resorted. I t is also traversed by emigrant routes leadmg from the east to Oregon. To the . emigrants and miners the hostility of the Indians is a source of great annoyance, and no time should he lost in an endeavor to secure amicable relations with them, which, it is believed, may he readily accomplished. The necessity and importance of immediate action in this regard will he apparent from a pernsal of a report from Lieutenant Colonel Drew to Brigadier Gencral Wiight; to be found among the accompanying papers, to which I invite espe'cial attention. Within the superintendency there are the following agencies, viz : the Uma-tilla, Warm Springs, Grande Ronde, Siletz, and Alsea. The Jndians of the Umatilla reservation are the Walla Wallas, Cayuses, and Umatillas, of whom there are about nine hundred. They are regarded as supe-rior in point of physical and intellectual power to most of the Indians of the State, and have one of the best of locations for the purposes of an Indian reser-vation. Considerable dissatisfaction exists among them in consequence of a failure hitherto to complete the mills to which they are entitled nnder the pro- .visions of their treaty of 1855. An appropriation was made in 1860 for the purpose of erecting these mills, a large part of which, nnder a former agent, |