OCR Text |
Show mounted natrol on the weat side of the Rio Graude, for the orp pose of watching the I Nxva,jo traile leading to the reservation, and purauingaod a&sthg suspicious partits of Indians who might be withont a pass from the agent. During the past Sear over one handred head of st,ock haae been taken from thieves among the Nnvajoes by tlhu chiefe, and delivered to the owners througll theagent. At the date of my lnat anneal report the nnrnber of Indiana at the agency was 82x4, and at the lastcnunt (made in September) thsy numbered a b u t 9,114 souls. ~heiocreaseia mainly on .aceonnt of the return of a. large number who have been held in captivity by the Mexioans. Mr. W. F. HaSl, the newlx appointed agent, reported to this office on the 3d of 8ep-tember, md assumed charge of the agency. BOUTEEI<N APACHE AGEBOY. 1 The valley of the Tnlarosa River, commenoing about one hundred a d te n miles west from Fort Craig, on the Rio Grande, having heon selected in August, 1871, by the Hon. Vincent Colyer, speoid Inxiso oo~nmissioner, and declared to be an Iudian res-ervation for the southern and atlrer roving bands of Apaches, I was requested by Colnsnissioner Colynr to remove the Apache qrncy and Iudious from the Caiinda Ala-mora to thatplaceas soan as practi~~hlleI.n structions to this effect wera givento Agelrt 0. F. Piper, of that agency, hut for various reasons it mas deemed advisable to post-pone the removalof t,ho Indians till this spring. During the aioter of IGl-VZ orrlers were imued by the War Department to compel the rorirrg Indians of this agency tn go to Tula~osa after thirty days' notice, which notioe was given in March last by the commanding offioer of this militcry district and mpelf, in person, at the Cariada Ala-musa, and the 1st of May following waa fixed upon as the time for them to be at Tola-roaa. I directed tho agent to ltlovo s b o ~tth e 15th of April with the agency property dims who oaold be persuaded to sooom any him. LieutenaubColonel T. C. ~$i$&ted States Army, who was charged wit{ the execution of the urdcra of the Wrr Department, and myself, reaohed Tularosa on the 2d of May. The sgeny had been established in temporary buildings, (that had been ereotsd by my directlolrs in the fall of 191,) and two oornpanirs ot troop8 were tlrere for its protection, &E. TIle agent hadleft the CaiindaAlamoe%w ithout~vaitiugfotrh eIndianr,wbosaid theyvould gowon thordurnofLooo andparty from tbeMescalero agency stFortStant,on,rudthera was not an Indian at Tularosa. upon our arrival. I at "nos seut rnnners to collect the Indians at the Ojo Cdieute, near the Canada Alamosn, and with the assistance of Mr. Thomaa J. Jedarda anrl Mr. J. C, Stroeter, interpreter for this agency, about threo hundred vereDollected at t,hat place on the 16th of May. Under the orders of the War Department transportstion and an eaoort uf sigtean men were furniuhed, alld abobonb sirry women and children, with their baggage, were taken in wagons to Tolaross, nc-companied by Colonel Devin end myself. The h l a ~ ~ cpern, fming to ehooae their own mode of travel, went across the tuountains with Medessra. Jeffardri and Streeter. After their arrival a t Tularosa thsy were oauilt~da nd turned over to tilnir agent, slld en-premed themselves well pleaved with thair new home. The rantoval was ilcoo~plishsd sucoessfully and peaceful& and wna due, in e great measure, to the genuine cn;oper* tiou of Colonel T. C. Devin, Eighth Coivalry,United States Army, who oownnnded the trovss in Su~~thoNrne w Mexico. After the 10th of June hut, all Indians not on the reservation were virtually turneil over to the nrilitary nuthorit,ias forpnniahmant, aud I ventured to hope the matter was io a fair way to Go effectoally and s&titfaetorily settled in a short time. On the 14th of September last 1 again visited Tulirrosa. ilod met Brigadier-Gnneral 0. 0. Howard, Uuitgd States Amby, Spacial Indian Commissiouer at that agency. The India08 wera very much diasat ia~da, nd parties were oont~inudlyroatningo ver tlre oorlntry in total disregard of the consequenass and of the system of passes that had been autablishecl. They said they did not like the loontion and objected to staying there. Tho principal objsj*otions were that a f o r m agent,'liententant Drew, had promised thorn they should remain at the Caiisda, Alarnosa; that their favorite wild fruits do not =row ;kt Tularosa; that the location is unhedthy; that the water of the Rio ~ u l a r o zis not ood, and that the weather is too cold, &o. In addition to these objections (real or !sowe.d,) th e influence of their old fciends a t the Cacada Alamosa, and elsewhere who visit them, and received viaits from then, in spite of the efirti of the agent to prevent it, has without doubt contributed 1;urgaly toward creating a, prejudice in thair minds mgainat Tuleroao. Thev wkcd to he tskan hook to the.CaEadn.A li~mosaa, tid made tho . nnusl promiaes to rems'io quietly and peaceably upon the reservation, to plaut corn, aud to abstain from raiding opun the citizens, all of which promises amount to little or nothing. I aum up the matter about as follows: The removal to Tuln.roso agaiust the will of many :~ndin spite of the positiva refilm1 of some+ has taught t,hese Indians a leesou that will be remembered, as i t is the fimt tima they have been forced to obey the orders of the Department. They might ha taken Gaok to the Caiisds Al;~mous, sod the im-provwoents of the citizens living in the several towus in that vicinity could he pnr. |