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Show REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. Ill along the shore. The owner, a trader from the interior, leaving them there, crossed the river with us. On being asked if the Indians would not steal them, he replied: " No, sir. If all the Avhite men were on one side, and all the Indians on the other, I would always leave my goods on the Indian's side." Mr. Wilbur informed me that although the Indians were constantly coming and going, he did not use locks at the agency, and had never lost anything. The record of the council held on the Yakama reservation is herewith submitted. ( See appendix. ) On the 5th I left Dalles City for the Umatilla reservation, where I arrived on the 7th and attended the council, which lasted until the 13th. A report in regard to the Indians, with the minutes of the council, was transmitted to the Secretary of the Interior under date of 15th November, to which you are respectfully referred. ( See report, & c., Appendix P.) I returned to Portland, after the Umatilla council, with the intention of proceeding at once to Grande Ronde reservation, in Western Oregon, and thence to California ; but the receipt, of letters and statements in regard to alleged abuses in Washington Territory led rne to change the intention and go to Olympia. After my arrival, and on consultation with General T. J. McKenney, the superintendent, it was thought best to employ a small steamer as the only mode by which the agencies on Puget Sound could be visited in a reasonably short time. Pending this arrangement, I visited Victoria. On the 26th of August I left Seattle on the little steamer Black Diamond, Captain Hill, and, accompanied by General McKenney, we arrived on the evening of the same day at the TULALIP RESERVATION. By the treaty of Point Elliott, five reservations were set apart, bordering on Puget Sound, viz : the Tulalip, Port Madison, Muckleshoot, Swinomish, and Luuimi. The num-ber of Indians belonging to the treaty was from four to five thousand. It has been reduced by death since that time to less than 3,500. Many of them are scattered about the sound, fishing or laboring in the mills, or logging- camps ; and it is difficult to get a correct estimate of the number properly belonging to each reservation. There are about 1,000 who proba-bly belong to the Tulalip. The reservation contains 33 sections of land, the most of which is heavily timbered. About 70 acres has been cleared, and a part of it put under cultiva-tion. The expense of clearing the timber- land is very great, and the soil is generally poor. There is a tract of marsh- land called the " Beaver Meadows," said to contain about J ; 000 acres, and to be susceptible of being easily drained. The soil of the Beaver Meadows is deep and rich. Under the management of Agent Hale, the predecessor of Captain Hill, and of the present agent, much timber was cut from the reservation, ostensibly to raise money to drain the marsh. It is to be regretted that a small portion of the labor had not been applied to digging the ditches. When the Beaver Meadows shall be drained, it will afford homes, and soil to cultivate, for a number of Indians who now work for others. Nearly all of these Indians are disposed to work. They dress like the whites, and some of them are professing Christians of the Catholic faith. Across the sound, in sight of Tulalip, is a fishery and brewery, where many of the Indians find sale for their fish, at a small price, getting much of their pay in drink. Of course this, which is but an example of the many temptations and evil influences to which the Indians of the sound are exposed, is demoralizing in the extreme. The agency buildings for the Indians of this treaty were chiefly erected here, as the central point at which it was supposed in time all the Indians would concentrate. They are in good order and suitable to their purposes. The present agent is Rev. E. C. Chirouse, of the Catholic church, who has had long experience as a teacher among the Indians. The most successful feature of the reservation is the school. It is an industrial boarding-school for boys and girls. The boys being now under the care of two assistant teachers, and the girls under three sisters of charity. The buildings are separate, but too small for the purpose. There were twenty- three girls and twenty- four boys in the school at the time of our visit, and an examination of their attainments showed that they were being well instructed in the common English branches of education. The annual cost of the school to the Government is $ 5,000. It was established under a contract made by Hon. L. Bogy, Commissioner of Indian Affairs some years ago, with Rev. Mr. Chirouse, in which the latter agreed to board, clothe, and instruct not less than forty- five pupils for the sum named ; and he has continued on the same terms by Mr. Bogy's successors. I most cordially rec-ommend the continuance of the appropriation, and an additional sum for enlargement of the buildings. The next reservation visited was the SWINOMISH, about thirty- five miles north of Tulalip. It is situated on a channel separating an island from the mainland, and which is passable for small steamers only in high tide. It was intended for the Skaggit and Swiuomish tribes, numbering in all about 260. About 130 |
