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Show I REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 53 schnol has been kept up to advantage, haeng an averageof twenty-six scholars The property of indi~dual sis estimated at $9,664. The Kansas or Raw tribe, numbering 670, is loqted upon a reeewe still fur-ther \vest than the Sacs and Foxes, and they are also wild Indians, doiitg scarcely anything in the way of agricnltnre. They were very s~~ceeesfninl their hunt late last fall, and ?*turned with the skins and meat of about 3,000 buffalo, and sold $21,000 worth of furs. They also raise many horses for sale, having disposed of $15,000 worth in the conrse of the year. The agent repre-sents them as imnrovinn in their disnosition to an"r icnlture, and states their crons at 5,000 bnahelsbf car;. They have had a manna1 labor school under the charge of the Friend's Mis-sion, hut its success bas been very small, and it is now closed. The agent reported, some time previous to its close, tllat the scholars were not well enough clothed and fed, aud that the system adopted by the teachers was nok such as to attract the children. The Santa FB route crosses the reservation, and the facilities with which the Indians obtain liquor is very demoralizin,a to them. Doubtless the condidion of the tribe could bi much imiroved by removing them to a more southern loca-tion. We have no reports from either of the agent8 having charge of the Niamies, ,Peorias, Weas, and Piankeshaws, and of the Ottewas. As to the people of the former tribes, in charge of Agent Colton, there are reasons to believe that it is with them as with most of the others in Kansas, and that a large number of them would be glad of an opportunity to make a treaty and sell their lands, with a view of going South; indeed, some of them have already been making some preliminary negotiations with the tribes of the Neosho agency. Many, however, are educated and very intelligent people, and would gladly avail them-selves of the opportunity to sever their connexion with the' tribe and .become citizens. Amngcments are in progress to renew for the Miamies the privileges and benefits of a school at a couver~ient locatinn, while a number of their chil-dren enjoy the benefits of the St. Mary's Mission school, their parents them-selves paying one-half of the necessary charges. These Indians hare suffered greatly from the tronblesome tax question which vexes and harae~ess o many of the Kansas tribes. The Ottawas are a small tribe, holding lands in severalty, living in all respects like whites, and cultivatiug their farms with success. They will, by the terms of their treaty, become citizens of the United States July 25, 1SG7, and will then, of course, have no use for an agent. Indeed, but for managing to some extent the sales of their lands, ~ n datt ending to the interests of the "Ottawa University," the present agent would find little occasion for his services. The institution referred to is an enterprise in which the Indians take great interest, and have endowed it with a liberal share of their most valuable lands. ' Pallties in the east, as well as others in IKansas, have aided it materially, and a large building is well on its way to completion, the design being to fully es-tablish an institution of learning which shall provide not only for Ottawa chil-dren, but for the children of d l other Indian tribes rho may desire to partici-pate in its benefits Ly endowing it with a portion of their educational funds. The plan appears to be an excellent one, and its success would he a real bencfit to the Iudian tribes generally. 'Treaties were made in the fall of 1865, as heretofore stated in this report, with the Kiowas and Comanches, and with the Arapahoes, Cheyennes, and Apaches. A The latter tribe had before been associated with the Kiowas and Comanches and the agency for the three was located in sonthri-estein Kansas, that being, however, hut a rendezrous for such of the tribes as were disposed to friendship with the whites. |
