Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs - 1900 (Pt I)

Page 79

June 25, 1896, the Acting Secretary returned the report of June 4, 1896, with the followine conclusion: The r e i~r .w, ith.,ut addlrlooal expert tenimnnr sr lo the a~lvilvlbilllyof thechange rpron~meeclcd, and fuirhcrininrmsuonur~~ntl~sp~~nrarsitaid.ti*nIr ller, I snl r f rhr .e~inlbrtlh at rhp i,ut~*rrurtiun shnuldpmrped upon Illc line- I.ki-1 d,wn in the contrael r i l h r h c~om pany !ndmrd Agmt Tc t e r and hfr. Smirh werd 3dvihed n~corditl~bly I ~ l e g r 3mof~ .I unc2d, 1896. Juoe 16, 1896, ALw,2.ot Terer reported 0 1 tllia uffice rhar the Idzlw Canal ('umr,xnv L . was ready on ~ n n e l1,8 96, to deliver the first 100 cubic feet of water at the point designated by Engineer Mitchell, under the conditions of the contract with said company. June 29, 1896, Inspector McCormick, in accordance with the verbal instructions of the Secretary, wss directed to carefully examine the canal from its head in Snake River to the point designated by Engineer Mitchell, and report whether it had been constructed in accordance with the contract snd on the line laid down on the map of de6nite location. July 9, 1896, Inspector McCormick submitted his report, in which he pointed out material variations in the construction of the canal from the terms of the contract, as follows: Fmm my instructions I infer thst all I amexpooted orrequired to do is to report ss to whether this -1 has been constructed in aeoordsnee wtth the contract: am not exDeoted to make snv reoom-mendationa contrary to the letter of the eontrset. heref fire, proceeding upon thia theory. I yiill irl8teibd~unal ixnl,! constructed in nct.vrd*$tvc rilh 1111 rulllrael nnll m the linc 1a:d d.jvnan the map of derlni~elo rf.orr, srld I r i l l clrldrnvur tu alluw wherein rl dlderr fnlnl th,: c.,#ttra<:i,n r : The vonlturf provlder rbnL a crnel $hall hc rurlr~rucl .4 aud ram1.11~~ 1 1im n! r1.c Sr8aL.e l i w ~ ra,t or s b o v ~ r h e l ow~R~mo il l , tuthv lt1ackfn.t Kiv~r,nadl h r r ~ l ~ r r o n v chgg~s iil anbra r r~r i h c l n h r k . fwt River lu ihr F. ?r llall R~s r r a t l~l lbsy, the hiCheir ]~r.%r!irahroll~rl r 10 lie-5 F,rh Cwck, said route to be ahown by a map of definite .nrarlon, and to I I *~rl ,j,.<r to the apprn\.i c,i i i l c : Xr'rrrary of the Imerior, erc. lnsleadui r d n v c ) # nt~h is uatrr By durn* sx i.errdrllr*cl, rcrues r h ~IO ackirot River, [lac a a ~ ~ r l a crnpr1.d in~orh c Ul~teU~oRlU w, sud udnq the rhanocl dl thc wid Blarki~r~forr x dircrnw GI1 0 to 12milce, lrrnrrlrd ma polot al,o!rt Jmllvr w!rtl!on.l ui 1111. LIWU ~d Rla kioq slnti I ~ _ $ . I I r*kmour of s u n Rlnclioul Rlrer l~yanlrrxyl on 1101811, i!~xiO.-~ilil,l llr tlistxlat.on the Fr,rl Us11 Rl.~ervali~~~.581d point having heendesipn%tedb y ~ n i i n e eMr itchell for thedelive~yof m e . As will beseen from the abov~911tl.;t:1et.l, l1xisi.11 .f il. nvrordrncc r n l l 1 1 , ~n ,l.lrrcl. I!# that rhc \valcr, rrlrrrxel I Lr1!1gc(m-vryrll I g flurn..ncn~\llir nlarkit~II r u the lrsrr ui 8lvflt.it.. Ic,:*r.ua Gppo.tleihe Oul.~r nr.tl i l ~ ~ ! ~ e ~ e o e - v~yed1 ,: w i , ~ io n th.5 llnc <.I .Icilrailt~l uc8tion lo a y III~II ) be d$,lcanrcll hy Ihr C O ~ ~ I ~ M ~ B ~ ~ ~ I ~ V indilUl Afar". Orill8*rCICdllQdn yslll, isell.l,tiCd illb>Ih~'<!..ll>ldlltlld mlllFh'tl 3Vlfi1 tile wat,.laul the BIat'kfrnt fur n d~rcancco f 141 or I2 smilr+,~ nndr l>c~t~.n.vne y.*l i l l ihc uld canal bed, uhieh ihas bren r.n~dwedt. ~ the ~ ~ , ldneti ~sns t rnI, " i;tlulne,r M~ ~ C I I P I I . 1 1t i i k e th&t b e lw euiic feet oi water has been dehvered at the time soeaified and at the mint 1 aeaignated bytheaooreditedagent of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, buiit hasnot heendelivered on tlw lleesadriined or1 the mar, II N .(us rtiurr at iuur is ns to rh? ~onrcru.~lnorf. rlbe'.,r.trarr the Illahu Canal Co!tml a:,? i88eihl:np that tikc C O I I I ~ ~ Ci1I.w ~ : L I Lm rrk tl 0111 to the l ~ t t~~lnr.f iln *plrit. BR Shuwll LY IrfIFldardJ I1.c ill! IItetant. h%~ l . i l~lII<CI .MCII wh l h OoSrlron. hr!WTer. 1 L ,nlldl. ad herein-before &timed. This question 18 oneof too much importan& not & be settled immediately. The expenditureof 890,Nm in constructing& a n a l whioh, after it is built, may not be worth90eentsto anybody, should be settled before iurther expenditure. However, as I do not cldm to be an "expert," nor have I been oalled upon for iurther testimony, I have a hesitancy about offering my Oplnlon until it is oalled for: nevertheless, the question a t M e ia so plain thst any man of pmct ial common sense o&n see, after going over the ground, the immense beneRta to be derived by the Goy-ernment by reconsidering the contract. July 20,1896, I made report to the Department upon a eommunication~from F. A. Smith, preajdent of the Idaho Cand Company, in regard to the contract of said com-pany, in which I stated the facts in the &se up tothat time, but made no recam-mendation in the premises. September 4,1896, the Acting Secretary addnssed a communication to this office, in which he referred to the above report of July 20, 1896, inviting attention to aceom-panying reports from Inspector McCormick, dated August 13, 1896, and Mr. Arthur P. Davis, hydmgrapher of the Geological Survey, dated August 31,1896, both of whom had been detailed under Department instructions to proceed to the reservation to