OCR Text |
Show REPORT OF THE BOARD OP INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. 49 GILA RIVER AGENCY. The agency building is a good one, though too small for the work to be done. A school- house and room for the teacher should be built. Agent Stout and his young wife, the Rev. Mr. Cook, the teacher, and the physician were at home and attending to their duties. Mr. Stout complained of want of means, the remittances received from Superintendent Beudell being too small to meet the quarterly dues for salaries of the oilicers. The chiefs were called together the next day, September 22, and we had a talk with them. Those present were Anton ieAztil, the head chief; S \ va- mas- kor- si, chiefof Ki- ki- mi village; Ki- o- sot, 2d, chief of Ki- ki- mi village; Ki- co- chin- caue, chief of Shu- uk village; Miguel, chief of Sta w- to- nik village: Candela, chief of Stu- ka- ma- soo- satick village; Se- per, chief of Pep- chalk village. I told them that, by the President's directions,! had been sent to learn about their troubles, especially with regard to their quarrel with the settlers on Salt River, and the diversion of the supply of water from their acequias, and to inform them that, under your direction, I had set apart reservations for the Apaches. They, in common with the Papagos, have been in the habit of raiding on the Apaches, and I informed them that this must cease ; that if the Apaches came down there and troubled them they were to defend themselves and punish the Apaches; but that they must not go up to the Apache country and make war upon Ihem, unless they were requested to do so, officially, by some Army officer, which request would come through their agent. 1 told them they must also quit their raids on the white settlers on the Salt River, or else they wonld be punished. They had made several wholly unprovoked attacks on the settlers on the Salt River, destroying their crops of corn and tearing to pieces their houses and furniture ; one poor man, now employed as farm- hand at the agency, hav-ing lost everything he possessed by them. The chiefs replied that they had some bad young men in their tribe as we had among white men. That they go up to Salt River, notwithstanding their remon-strances against it ; if they got into trouble or were killed they could not help it and no one would be sorry, but that their whole tribe ought not to suffer for it. They have always lived peaceably with the whites and they meant to continue to do so. They said they required more laud than the present limits of their reservation allowed. In their early days they lived more by hunting; deer abounded in that country be-fore the white man came, and that with deer- meat and mescal they then got along very well, but that now they had to depend for subsistence almost wholly upon farm-ing, and as they now had schools and were rapidly learning the ways of the white man, they needed more land and larger water- privileges. They were always led to suppose that the white men wanted them to kill the Apaches, but that if they knew the boundaries of the Apache reservation they wonld keep oft' from it. I explained the boundaries of the Camp Grant reservation and told them that the Apaches complained bitterly of the Pimas and Papagos for their constant warfare upon them, and particularly of late of the Papagos for having assisted at the massacre at Camp Grant and carrying off their children into slavery, and again repeated that these feuds must cease. That the President would have peace. They promised to tell their young men ; separated from us on very good terms, and, lingering about the agency for some time, rode off well mounted on brisk- looking ponies. Most of their tribe seemed quite prosperous and independent in their manner ; indeed this last quality they carry so far it becomes rudeness. They have a very large idea of their own im-portance and prowess, and I was informed that on one occasion when Colonel Alex-ander, who had command at Camp McDowell, the nearest military post, threatened them with chastisement for some misconduct, they drew up five humlred fighting men of their tribe and dared him to come on. As Colonel Alexander had but one small company of cavalry, he had to forego the " chastisement." I fear their young nien will need a little disciplining before we shall have things run altogether smoothly on their reservation, and I sincerely hope Congress will make provision to purchase the additional laud they really need for their support and com-fort. The school under Rev. Mr. Cook is hopefully under way, and I think the Govern-ment is fortunate in securing his efficient and earnest services. On my return to Washington I received the following letter from the agent, show-ing how much the Pining and Maricopas are suffering from the want of the water of the Gila River, diverted by the white settlers, and how serious is their dissatisfaction : " Gila River Itcscrva" tiUqNn, ITAErDizoSnTaATTEerSriItoNrDyI, AONctAoGbeErN1C9Y,, 1871. " DKAII SIR : When you wore hero it was supposed from the amount of water in the bed of the river above here that there would be a sufficient quantity to reach thelower p; irt i them TforthtihsererseecrevpetitooneonfabtlheeiroucrrepItn*. diaTnhsotuogihrrtihgeartee twhaesir afpiepladrseanstluysupallenitnyporfepwaartienrg 4 I G |