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Show I COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 27 While the progress made by the Pawnees will by no means bear a favorable domparison with that of several of the other tribes, it is still very evident from the report of Agent Lushbaugh, to whose efficient management they- are con- 1 fidea, that a very gratifying and perceptible advance bas been made duringthe pas6 year. Hitherto they have been much addicted to a roving and predatory I life., and it has been found almost impossible to codne them to the limits of . thew own reservation. Horse-stealing and petty pilfering of all kinds, from friend and foe, from the whites as well as the Indians, has been a national vice. This has led to numerous claims against them for depredations, has proven a constant source of vexation and annoyance to the agent in charge, and to the department, and has been extremely annoying to the whites residing in their vicinity, as well as the occasion of hostilities between them and other tribes. In this-respect the change for the better is indeed noteworthy. Their agent remarks that "no more complaints are heard from the surrounding country of petty thefts by vagrant Indians, and the roads and highways were never more free of this class than at present." Their irgricultural operations have been unnsually successfil, as also their buffalo hints, and, for the first time in many years, they have an abundant supply for all their wants. A school has been started in their midst, and no difficulty has been found in procuring the attend-ance of all the scholars that, with the limited facilities at hand, could he acoom-modated. !A large and commodious school building is in course of erection, and no doubts are entertained that, when completed, it will be filled to its utmost capacity. Here, as is elsewhere the almost universal remark, the aptness of the pupils in acquiring knowledge is surprising. I confidently anticipate that the new school, which is to be conducted upon the manual labor system, will be, in a few years, productive of the most beneficial results. The Pawnees and Brule Sioux have been for many years inveterate foes. Last May, and agkin in June, the Pawnees were attacked upon their reserva-tion, and several of their squaws,, who were at work in the fields, were killed and scalped. It is probably owing to the presence of United States troops that a bloody massacre was prevented. These frequent raids on the part of the Sioux are begetting afeeling of insecurity among the whites as-well as the In-dians. Unless some measures are adopted to prevent their recurrence, it will be necessq to keep a military force constantly stationed upon the reservation for its protection. Superintendent Branch and Agent Lushbangh concur inthe opinion that a trenty of amity may readily be procured between these hostile tribes. And the sum of five thousand dollars would be sufficient to defray the expense of an attempt to procure such a treaty, and, should our efforts meet with success, would bewisely and bumanely expended. The Pottawatomies are the largest tribe within the superintendency. Their ' nnmbers, at the last cunsus, were two thousand two hundred and seventy-four. During the past summer commissioners were appointed to make the allotments of land in sevel.alty, zontemplated by their treaty of November, 1861, and have nearly completed their labors. It is, however, anticipated that a new treaty will he made with the tribe, providing for its removal to the Indian country, |
