| OCR Text |
Show 144 REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. somebody would jnmp the claim. So they would here. I think I helped the Government and helped the Indians. The horse Crawford gave me ; it is nothing ; it was lame ; I don't care for it. Palaier, who was superintendent, was a good man. I had a good farm outside, at Umpqtia. I had sixty head of cattle. I lost them all helping the Indians. I did not want to come here. Mr. BRUNOT. Some of you men want six blacksmith- shops and three wagon- maker shops ; some want a great many plows, clothes, and other things. If I had all the plows in the country, and all the blacksmith- shops in the country, I do not think I would give you so many, and this is the reason: If I wanted an Indian to be as the best white man in the country, would I set him on the fence, and bring him food, and clothes, and a bed? If I did that, he would never be able to do anything for himself. I want you to get things as white men do. You must work and get them yourselves. I do not promise you anything. My heart is for you to get everything you ought to have from Washington, but I don't prom-ise you anything, for 1 am not the President. I will carry your words to him, and tell him you are trying to do right. The treaty is, almost over. I hope you will get all that is com-ing to you, but you must make the most of it. It is not yet too late to learn something. If you have no place here to teach them, Mr. Meacham can fix it so that your boys can go to town and learn. Some one said they only got a little wheat to sow. How does the white man do? He saves as much of his crop as he needs for seed. I will take your words to the President, and he will be glad to hear that you are men. Mr. MEACHAM. I am proud ot you; you are not savages, but men. Sometimes the Gov-ernment is slow, but it will do right in the end. The laud is surveyed ; every man shall get his land. All will be right. The saw- mill is almost done. You have made it your-selves. No white man owns any of it; it is yours. I asked you if you wanted a mill; you said yes ; and so the money sent for blankets and calicoes goes to pay for your mill. Mr. Rhinehart says in ten days the saw- mill will be done. Now, if yon take the stones of the flour- mill, build a little house beside the saw- mill, and move the grist- mill stones into it, use the same wheel, it will take but little money and little time. But it will take more money from your blankets and calico. I want to know what you want. Mr. Brunot then spoke to them on polygamy, care for the old people, and other subjects tending to their Aveliare ; alter which Rev. Mr. Parrish talked to them in Chinook, contrast-ing their present social condition and appearance with the time when he first came among them ; when they wore no clothes and ate grasshoppers, and pounded sunflower seeds. All the Indians then shook hands with and bade good- bye to Mr. Brunot and the gentle-men who accompanied him. THOMAS R. CREE, Cleric. APPENDIX A e. REPORT OF INVESTIGATION OP ALLEGED CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES IN CALI-FORNIA, AND VISITS TO HOOPA AND ROUND VALLEY RESERVATIONS, CALIFORNIA, BY COMMISSIONER J. V. TTARWELL. Hon. FELIX R. BRUNOT: SIR : I have the honor to report herewith the results of my recent visit to California in the interests of the Indian service. Before leaving home under your directions to report at San Francisco, I received a request from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to investigate a large number of old claims against the Department, under several different superintendents, ( see appendix,) amounting in the aggregate to $ 373,133 0* 2. Immediately upon rny arrival in San Francisco I caused the following notice to be inserted in the principal newspapers of that city : " NOTICE. " SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 1871. " All persons having claims against the Government arising out of contracts made with duly authorized agents of the Indian Department, in the State of California, are hereby noti-fied to present all evidences of such indebtedness, by mail or otherwise, to the undersigned, at the office of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 224 Kearney street, San Francisco, on or before the 5th day of August next. " FELIX R. BRUNOT, " JOHN V. FARWKLL, " Special Indian Commissioners." This was published daily until August 5, 1S7J. As the result of this notice only two letters were received, representing two of the two bundled and sixty- seven claims included in the schedules, and these simply stating- that the claims had been in Washington for a long time. |
