OCR Text |
Show I COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 11 who were under its protection, and that he "would not be permitted 1 to hold intercourse with them:" A The meat diminution of the buffalo. and other name. from which the 1n;ians of the plains have heretofore deriveztheik subsistence, has so far reduced them to a state of destitution as to compel them to plunder or steal from our citizens or starve. Hence a main cause, it is believed, of the depredations and outrages committed by the roving bands of Indians of the upper Arkansas agency, within the borders of Texas, and upon trains and travellers upon tbe plains to and from New bfexico. Under the existing state of things they must rapidly 'be exterminated by the whites or become extinct. As a remedy for these dread alternatives the application to these people of the advau-tages of the system of colonization, with the means to aid and instruct them in the cultivation of the soil, is again respectfully suggested. The usual purchases of goods and provisions for presents to the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and Sioux, parties to the treaty of Fort Lara-mie, of 1851, and for presents to the Comanches, Kioways, and . Apaches of the Arkansas river, parties to the treaty of Fort Atkinson, of 1853, were made early in the spring. No arms or ammunition were sent out, although some of the tribes urgently asked for them. Owing to the disturbed state of our relations with some of these In-dians there was a doubt as to the propriety of distributing the pre-sents, and yet the importance of exhibiting friendly feelings and con-fidence towards such as cherished no hostility, was fully appreciated. In this state of affairs it was deemed best to entrust the distribution . almost entirely to the judgment of the superintendent of Indian affairs for the central superintendency, after he should fully consult with the agents and the officers of the army, located or sent out into the coun-try ; and then exercising a sound discretion, according to surrounding circumstances. He was instructed, in the month of April last, to cause all persons engaged in trade with the Indians involved in the murder of Lieutenant Grattan's command, and in the subsequent murder of the mail party, or with any other bands that he might be-lieve to be confederated with them, to cease the trade and leave the country ; and that it was not expected that he would deliver presents to any of the bands referred to, or to other bands that he might have reason to believe were hostile to the United States. He was also directed to act, on all proper occasions, in conjunction with the officers who had been, or might be, entrusted by the War Department with the military expedition a ainst the Sioux, by imparting such infor-mation as might tend to gcilitate their operations, and to co-operate with them in any way that might be agreeable to both parties. Additional instructions.were forwarded to the superintendent for ob-servanceby Agents Whitfield, Twiss, Vaughan, and Hatch, in whose charge are all the wild tribes of the mountain and prairie, from the western boundaries of the emigrated tribes in Kanaas, and the Paw-nees in Nebraska Territory, to the Rocky mountains, and from New Mexico and Texas to the British possessions, These agents were supplied more liberally than usual with funds for presents and con-tingent expdnses, and instructed to visit and communicate, during the season, with all the t r i b r~th at were at peace with the United States, |