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Show MOAPA 101 Instead of accepting responsibility for this "gross neglect" and seeking somehow to "inaugurate reform," the government revived the idea of removing the Nuwuvi to one of the Northern Paiute reservations. Spencer was ordered to investigate conditions at the Walker River Reservation in hopes that they could be removed there, but it seems that nothing further was done about this recommendation. Moapa and the Nuwuvi were again left by the government to seek their own means of survival. The extent to which the government ignored Moapa is indicated by the Nevada Agent's annual reports to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. In 1881 there was one small mention of Moapa, saying that the Indians show no interest in farming there because of the continued trespass by white-owned cattle and that Spencer's recommendations should be carried out. In 1882 there was no mention of Moapa. In 1883 the Agent reported that the Nuwuvi had begun to show some interest in farming. In 1884 there was again no mention. The Agent during this time apparently made no effort to get an accurate picture of conditions at the reservation over which he had direct control. No one seems to have known or cared what was happening at Moapa. The only information was provided by an occasional letter or report from W. R. Bradfute, farmer-in-charge, a man who was later found to be dishonest. There is little record of what the Nuwuvi were doing at this time other than they were not living on their reservation. Most had retreated further and further into the desert or had connected themselves to scattered white settlements like Bunkerville, St. Thomas, and Las Vegas. The Utah Nuwuvi had become more and more dependent on the Mormon settlements in that state. It was clear that survival was becoming harder and that their population was shrinking. In 1885 a Nevada Agent finally visited Moapa and reported that the population was shrinking rapidly. An estimate the year before had placed the Nevada population at 600. In one year the farmer-in-charge had reduced his estimate to 157, only 24 of whom resided on the reservation. The others were located as follows, "At Bunkerville, 30; St. Thomas, 35; Las Vegas, 23; Pioche and Panaca, 25; Hico, 20."28 It is probable that these figures were inaccurate because they failed to take into account the Indians who lived in extreme western |