OCR Text |
Show I REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER. 9 March last, the President was authorized to enter into negotiations with the Indian tribes west of the States of Missouri and Iowa, for the pur oGe of procuring their assent to the settlement of our citizens upon the%nds claimed by them, and ofextinsuishing their title, in whole or in part, to those lands. The Commiss~oner of Indian Affairs was de-signated by the President as the oacer of the Indian department to conduct the necessaiy negotiations, and tlxtt duty was undertaken by him at the earliest period consistent with his other official engage-ments. A preliminary visit to the Indian country, with a vien to ex-plore it, and to obtain such information as would he useful andnecessary in preparing full and detailed instrnctions as to the terms and conditions of the treaties to be negotiated, was deernu~nl ecessary, and was made by that officer in obedience to his instructions. While thus engaged, he visited the Omahas, Ottoes ancl Jlissourias, Ioways, Sacs and Foxes of Afissouri, Kickapoos, Delawnrt.5, Shaxvnees, Wyandotts, Pottawat-' omies, Sacs and Foxes of the ZIississippi, Chip ewas of Swan creek and Black river, Ottowas of Roche tle Bctuf and If lanchard's fork, TVeas and Pianlceshaws, ICaskaskias and I'corias and Miamies. These embrace all the tribes located immediately n-est of &lissouri and Iowa, except the bands of Quapaws, Senecas and Shawnees, and Senecas, who have small tracts adjacent to the southwest comer of the State of Missouri, and who, for want of time, the cornn~issionewr as unable to visit. The same cause operated to prevent his seeing the Pawnees, Kanzas, and Osage Indians, with whom, nltllouoh their lands are not contiguous to the boundaries of either of' tlltsecSta.tes, it is desirable that treaties also he made, should a civil ;uvc.rnrnent be established and the country opened fbr settlcmrut. The cornmissionrr hclil coxncils with every tribe whom hc x.isitrd, ' and discb,srd to them the ol,ject of his journey to their country. He found tl~c Indian mind in an nnhro~tble condition to receive and calmlv consider his Inejsage: For some time previous to his arrival in the Indian country, ~ndividualsf rom the States had been explorin-g portiolis of ir, with i h ~int ention, :ts wn s un~lt~rstoodof, nt tc~~n~ttno, q ~ r ~ a kloc~ :ntio~3 ~r ds sctrlrmcnts. Tho discu;;ion of'tlrc s~i.l, rit~.c acn. 0 the exploration of the country by citizens of the States, alarmed and ex-cited the Indians. Some of them were proposing a grand council, at which it was designed to light up the old Indian fires, and confederate for defence against the white people, who they believed were coming in force to drive them from their country, and to occupy it without their consent and without consideration. Cnder such circumstances it wasvery difficult to quiet the Indians, ordirest tlleir mindsof'a~iri l~pres-sion that the commissioner's visit was not in some \ v 3 ~or utl~erin lcnded to aid the whites in a forcible occupation of the. cc,unt~. .is be pro-" er essed in his "io urne"v.. and conferred with thc tribes. the ditticultv was gradually removed. " With but fen- ceseptions, the Indians were oplu)scd to selling any Dart of their lands. as announced in their renlies to the s~eecheso f the :ommissioner. Finally, however, many tri6es expressed their willing-ness to sell, but on the condition that they could retoin tribal reserva-tions on their present tracts of land. This wlic?- was deemed ohjec-tionable, and not to he adopted if it could he avoided; and with such |