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Show XSIV REPORT OF THE COMM[8BIONER OF IN3IAN AFFAIRS. ilies, and the example has had s good effeet npon the other chiefs of the t,ribe. Not a day passed while I wra a t the og.ncy btlt !vh;~t someof the leading chiefs asked Agent 1Cellt:r for houses to live in, and €or rclots of land to coltivate fur thems~4vds and their followers. In hot, this suhjeot appears to be nppermost in their minds, and ooosideraUe jealousy appears to exist as to whom proviaion shell be firat made for. About One hundred I o d i a n ~lt ave selected loostions for furnls, nod the &gentw ill erect honsrs a t the poiuts ae!eoted as rapidly n. possible. While s t the agency authority was received for the ereotioo of twenty housaa and the breakiog of five ht~odr rd> bores of laed, by cootract. The Iodians received this information with msuy mauifc-ta-tionv of joy and expressions of satisfaction. As stated by them, ir, made their hearts feel good. The disposition manifested upon this subject by such a wil(1, untu-tored, slid uncivilized tribe as the Grows is certainly very encouraging, and is one of the strongest recommendations in favor of the allot.~neilt systein. As a further illnstration of this desire on the part of the In-dians, and of its practical and beneficial results, attention is also in-vited to the folloning , extracts from some of the annual reports of agents. Jalnes McLnughlin, agent at the Devil's Lake Agency, Dalcota, in spenlring npon the subject of the advancement of the Indians at his agency, %hys : Nearly all of them are located on individual olsirns, living in log cahios, aome haviug shingle roofa and pine floors, coltiuatiugfarmsin severalty, and none nre oow ~sl~itrnad to labor in civilized pnrsuits. A majority of the hands of faogiliea have ox-teanss, W ~ ~ O O Bpl,o ws, harrows, &o., and& desireto noeumulete property and excel esoh other is becoming more general. One thousand sores are under cultivation. Four hundred and five aores of new land were broken this year preparatory to sowing wheat next spring. This breaking waa done entirely by Indisos on 110 ditferent alaims adjoio-ing their old fields. Capt. W. E. Dougl~erty, acting agent at the Grow Greek Agency, Dakota, says : L u t sorntnsr one baodof the tribe was located ouland in severaltg,eeoh family tak-ing :+LO acres, upun whieh it begi~ns oma kind of io!provemant. Last spring the de-mand of the Iudisns for the subdiviaioo of the laod end the allotment of it iu severalty became general. A surveyor was a o a ~ r d i n getm~p loyad for the pnrpoae, sod up to the present tiom the followiog-named per-on8 have been allott,ed land, and are liviug on their allotn~eots.or are preparing to move upon them. [Here follons a list of 173 al- .Iotmeots, with the quantity of land ellotted to each.] All the improvements made during the year have beam made on these albtrneuts, aod consist of the eroc-tiou of houses, stables, fences, corrals, &a,, and the breaking of new laod. The latter was dous by the goveromeot, t,he other by the Indian8. U U T ~ IthI e~ p ast year every family on the reservatiun has oootributad more or less to fhaa~lluaoos-ment of ita coodition and welfare, while soma, with the aaaistsuos obttbiued fx.om the ageocy, have made themrelve~ very oomfi,rtsbie, sod are the possessors of oon-siderrble peraonsl property. Furtpfive houses have beau erected, sod ebunt twen1.Y-five moved from the commao land8 and re-ereoted oo land taken in sevar<.y, by the Indians, unaided. Isaiah Lightner, agent for the Santees, in Nebraslra, says : Jllar he r e1 feel tha t I s l ~ o ~alpde ak again of the land title, aa i t i s n nnl,ject I have been writi~8g about for tile laat four gears, and nothing special aocampliahe<l. I muet confess I fnel somewhat discouraged. Bnt as I hare told the Sautee Indiana, witb my hands uplifted, tha t I would staocl by t l leo~u ntil they reoeived e more lnntiug title to their homes, I must repeat here, to you and all who may read what I have formerly |
