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Show FORTY YEARS AMONG THE INDIANS. 321 were about destitute of provisions. I went and made arrangements with Mr. Hayden for their bread stuff. The ditch was enlarged, during the fall and winter, so that there were several hundred acres of grain sowed by ourselves and Indians. I helped many of the Indians get their seed grain, and some of them borrowed from their more prosperous friends ; they also got cattle to plow their fields from the Indians on the Gila. As these people began to prosper, others came and wished to join in and continue to enlarge the ditch, and clear off and level down the broken lands. Sometimes the stock, belonging to the Indians living on their own lands on the opposite side of the river from our camp, would encroach on our fields. This was extremely annoying and many of the whites were sorely tried. I was continually working to get a right understand-ing established. The Indians claimed that no one had a right to occupy more country than they could fence or guard, and said that the people owning the fields were the ones to take care of them and watch the cattle. Some of the settlers accepted the situation, and when the Indian stock would get onto their grain fields they would shoot them down. This rather got away with the Indians yet they would not get mad but would take the carcasses for food. Owing to this trouble many of the white settlers became opposed to the Indians remaining longer on Salt river, so petitions were circulated and signed asking the government to remove them. The agent visited me one day while I was working on the ditch, with some forty Indians helping. He accosted me in a very uncivil tone and manner and wanted to know what I was doing with his Indians. I |
